Destined for Deception ✔️

Chapter 9

Jade sat in Corinne's private quarters, fidgeting with the edge of the tablecloth. Corinne was sitting opposite her, waiting for a servant to finish pouring tea. The two of them met for tea on a regular basis and though Jade usually loved their conversations, she was far too preoccupied to think about chit-chat.

Her child's mind, as far as it could be called that, was buzzing. She could sense it everywhere she went, at any time of day, making it impossible for her to forget even for a second that she was pregnant. And why should she want to forget it? This should send her reeling for joy. She should be ecstatic. And she was – or at least she felt she could be – but the timing was so awful, and it was all too soon, and she was overwhelmed already.

"Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if you had never met Aaron?" Corinne asked, when the servants had trickled out and they were left alone in the room.

Jade's head shot up. Was that a trick question? Corinne chuckled and made a dismissive gesture.

"Don't look at me so frightened, dear. It is an honest question. I wonder sometimes, you know. Where I'd be if I hadn't met Al. I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere, my bones eaten bare by scavengers, but sometimes I wonder if I wouldn't have amounted to something. It was never my intention to be someone's sidekick for the rest of my life."

"You're not Alder's sidekick," Jade said, swallowing a chuckle.

"Aren't I? I live here because Alder needs me to, I'm queen because Alder is king, I'm dressed in these fancy clothes because that's what he prefers, I'm stuck inside these walls all day because his status puts me in danger. My life revolves around him, and for a selfish creature like me, that's not always easy to swallow."

She leant forward and scooped some sugar into her cup. "Look – I even take sugar in my tea now. I'm domesticated. Me. Domesticated. Can you imagine?"

Jade laughed. "You're everything but domesticated, Corinne. You're still wild. You just know when to show it and when to keep your free spirit in check."

Corinne shook her head and lifted her index finger. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? But no. Because sometimes when I'm in bed, and Alder has deigned to join me at a reasonable hour, and we're both just reading and sitting there, I surprise myself by thinking I'm quite content." She sighed, her hand fluttering through the air. "I have to face it. I have become a bore in my old age."

"If you're a bore, it doesn't bode well for the rest of us. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things in life. You don't need to be tough all the time." All of a sudden she felt like she was talking to Ryleigh and her heart cramped at her loss. Corinne's question was placed in perspective. If she hadn't met Aaron, would she still be close to Ryleigh? Would they still be each other's entire world? Is that what she wanted?

"Perhaps not," Corinne said. "I just had such different plans, you know? I was going to see the world and stir up trouble wherever I went. And now I'm adhering to the law, I am the law, and my mate is a workaholic and a straight arrow if ever I saw one." She dragged a spoon through her cup, leaning her elbow on the table and her head in her palm. "How the mighty have fallen."

"Where is this coming from?" Jade reached for her own cup and cautiously took a sip. The liquid was still scorching hot, just as she liked it.

Corinne sighed. "I just never see him anymore, you know? Al's always working. And I mean, always. He's always been a busy man; I've accepted that ages ago. But this is different. He hardly sleeps, and when he does come to bed, he just stirs all night, and his mood has been awful, and Goddess knows where his sense of humour has gone to. I get that times are hard, but good gracious, how hard is it to give me a minute of your time." She dragged herself upright. "No, I am not being fair. He is king. What is he to do? Neglect a country because I am so self-centred that I would demand his attention even when he has no attention to spare? I can't do that. And yet."