The Mortal Queen | The Cruel Prince / Wicked King Fanfic

Seventeen

Nicasia

Three hours earlier.

I slowly open the door, glancing at the clock one last time before I slip out. Midnight.

The halls are all but silent, the sounds of the revel downstairs drifting through. Still, I don't want to be seen, so I climb the staircase to the top floor where it's nearly silent. I open one of the secret passages Cardan and I used as children, and disappear unnoticed.

It's pitch black in here, but my vision is more sensitive than the land-dwelling folk, thanks to my Undersea heritage. I have what some would call night vision, though it's not as strong as it would be in the water. I'd compare it to walking in the dark with a nearly burned out lantern. Very faint, but just enough to see where you're going, so I move slow to avoid running into a wall.

This particular passageway appears to have not been used for a very long time. There are cobwebs and dust everywhere, and it smells damp and stale.

I count my steps to find my way through the maze-like passage, like in years past, and come upon the corner where the passageway turns and makes its descent to the main floor. It's steep. Cardan and I used to run through here, racing each other to see who could get to the bottom without crashing face-first into the wall at the end. Faerie are pretty graceful by default, but there are still times we get careless and are not so graceful. My heart aches with the memories of the past--of when Cardan and I were still together, before Locke came in and ruined everything. Like he always does.

I go slow down the steep decline, and when I reach the bottom, that's when I hear it. Or, rather, think I hear something.

I pause and listen, flattening myself against the wall in case I'm not alone.

I hear a faint dripping of water, echoing as if it were far away still.

Then I hear it. Hushed voices. Someone doesn't want to be heard.

I've made it to the bottom of the steep tunnel. There's one more turn, and then a short distance to the door that connects to a small passage near the back of the castle.

I slowly approach the corner, and listen.

"Your Majesty, it's now or never." A gravelly voice whispers.

A short pause, then, "I know. Are you sure everything is in place?" The other voice responds. I know that rich, velvety voice anywhere.

Cardan.

I carefully peek around the corner, but don't see them. There's a large vertical vent in the top half of the heavily rusted metal door. They must be on the other side of it, tucked away from any prying eyes on the outside of the castle.

Perfect.

With no one directly in my path, I seize the opportunity to tiptoe up to the door to get a better view of them.

Through the vent I can see Cardan's silhouette, about ten feet away from me. The moonlight is streaming in through the vent in the other door. I can't see who he's talking to, but I can hear them.

"This may be the last time you can pull this off before someone figures out what you've been up to." The mystery adviser says cautiously.

"I know. But there's no other choice this time. And I might suffocate if I don't go to her." Cardan says.

He's talking about Jude. I knew it. The impulse to roll my eyes is so strong right now. I knew he was going to see her all this time. But why? Why is he chasing after someone he exiled? It doesn't make sense. What's the trick? It can't be that he's actually in love with her. She's not even a good match for Cardan, the High King. Jude is a pathetic human, and plain--bordering ugly by faerie standards, and not even a princess! What's the obsession with her?