Beautiful Torment *Book One of the Beautiful series*

20) Behind the Guise

The mage mimicked a slow dance with himself, arms reaching up as he twirled around the executioner. Lucy could only reason that he was completely insane. Or perhaps that she was. Or that she had fainted in the hall and fell into some bizarre nightmare where magic existed and people could turn into animals.

"Well?" The king boomed, glaring eagerly at the changeling. "Is your master here, filth?"

Realizing he was not getting out alive, the creature stopped sniveling only to laugh. His wide open mouth dripped with blood from a kick to the face and exposed his horrible yellow teeth. "Master will be long gone by now." His puffy, beady eyes found Lucy through the dim light and he grinned at her. "By bow I am sure Master has the red haired princess. He will return for you, Princess Luciana and he will eat your heart. Just as he did your mother and fathers!"

Losing all self restraint, Alexander stormed forward, drawing his sword. His father and the Duke made to stop him, but he pushed past them both as though they were nothing but air and drove the tip of the blade through the creature's neck.

All the blood rushed to Lucy's head as the words finally made sense. Red haired princess. "Victoria!" Lucy screamed, the sound gut wrenching. She dove for the stairs, but a pair of strong arms locked around her midsection, lifting her off the ground, kicking and screeching like a wild beast.

"I will go. Keep her here," Alexander snapped, coming down from his blood red, murderous rage.

The kings voice followed after his son. "Go with him!" He commanded his lead guard and the left tenant. The soldiers rushed after their prince, leaving Lucy alone with the King, mage, executioner, and Duke.

In horror, she realized it was the latter who had her in their clutches. His vile body pressed tight against her back. She felt him bury his nose into the side of her hair, inhaling deeply.

"Mm, how is sweet Victoria? I have been aching for her oh so strongly. Like a lovesick fool. Had I known you two were princesses, I would have paid triple what I did to that miserable old bawd woman," he crooned into her neck.

Lucy squirmed against his hold, Bile rising to the back of her throat. She hoped the others would notice, but their sights were set on the changeling corpse. Lucy gritted her teeth and hissed. "Let me go. Now!"

The Duke sighed, his hands roamed the length of her dress, slipping into the tear, he paused right above her waistline and whispered. "You are lucky he is in love with you," before letting her go with a little shove that sent her stumbling forward into the wall. She caught herself just before smacking her face, looking over her shoulder. A furious glare marred her beautiful features.

"One day," she promised, spitting at his feet. "I will end you."

The Duke only raised an eyebrow, as though he would be delighted to let her try, before turning back to the three men who hovered over the body. The mage's high pitched voice drifted over to Lucy as he spoke.

"Perhaps I can extract the memories from his corpse. It will take time, mi Lord. I will have to tweak a few spells to get the perfect result. But I would hate that all your efforts would be for nothing."

"Hmpf," the king growled, only half satisfied. "You get me the proof they struck first, Woflyn, and it is all we need to convince the council and men of Espen to go to war."

"Efforts?" Lucy spat, a fire roaring in her chest emboldened her to advance on the king. "Proof!" She roared, eyes red rimmed and half crazed. The executioner, thick with muscle and holding a sharpened ax, moved to block her way, but the King only held up his hand, waving the man off.

He stared mournfully into Lucy's face, as though willing her to understand, but when he spoke his voice was steady as the marching of time. "Yes, my dear. Efforts. Proof. I knew my enemies in Wrisea would not be able to resist finishing the job if they believed a member of the Dawmeir family had survived. Let alone two. I had hoped to catch them in the act. Unfortunately, that meant I needed bait." His dark eyes regarded her.