VILLAIN

Chapter 21

King Douglas sneered down at Tiger Lily through his vulture-like eyes. Even viewing him through the glass of my mirror, I couldn't stop the shiver that ran down my spine. There was something very, very wrong with that man, and I had a feeling he wouldn't hesitate to throw every single one of our group into the dungeons. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that our plan banked on exactly that.

"Well, well," he said, voice dripping with glee. "What do we have here?"

Tiger Lily showed no sign of the surprise I knew she had to be feeling, instead subtly letting her hand fall to her side, where it rested nonchalantly on her bow. She neither smiled nor frowned at the king, her chin held high. She made no move to respond to his question, though I wasn't sure exactly what she would've said if she had. She stared him straight in his hungry, gleaming eyes, and once again I was caught in admiration of her courage. I watched, heart skipping several beats, as I waited to see what would happen next. This hadn't been part of the plan, and I could see Tiger Lily's mental gears turning as she contemplated how to get it back on track.

"Did you lose your way?" King Douglas asked, a note of condescension not unlike his son's in his tone.

Tiger Lily shook her head once, still remaining determinedly silent.

"Why did you leave your rooms, then?"

Tiger Lily lowered her eyes from his in respect, but I noticed she didn't incline her head like she did to her father or to us. Then she began to make a series of strange gestures with her hands – a language of signs, I realized. I couldn't make out what she was saying, and from the look on the king's face, he couldn't either. Tiger Lily kept her expression stoic in the way she always did, moving her arms and fingers in complicated patterns. The king merely watched, his hungry expression slowly morphing into something like irritation. He was as confused by Tiger Lily's signs as I was, and I had a feeling that was exactly her intention.

"Let me get you a translator," he eventually told her.

Tiger Lily gestured to the dining room, and the king followed her gaze. "In there?"

She answered with a nod. King Douglas opened his mouth to ask her another question, then seemed to think better of it, merely grumbling something under his breath and allowing her to follow him into the room. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding when she crossed the doorway. If he'd sent for someone to take her away or something, it would not have been good. He still seemed suspicious of her, but at least he had allowed her inside. Now came the tricky part.

Once Tiger Lily had entered, her eyes scanned the room quickly, coming to rest on Max. She gestured to him emphatically, still keeping purposefully silent.

"Lily? What happened?" Max inquired, standing up from his seat. His hand, as well, rested on his sword, and I could tell in his eyes that he knew something was going on.

Tiger Lily continued to gesture to him for the king, her eyes trained carefully on Max's. I had a feeling she was communicating more to him with her eyes than she had with all her fancy sign language to the king. Understanding seemed to dawn on him, and he turned to face his father, who was still watching Tiger Lily's production with equal parts confusion and suspicion.

"I can translate, Your...Majesty," Max explained, almost choking on the address.

An indignant feeling flared in my chest for the umpteenth time that day, and I was left to contemplate how utterly unfair it was that pigheaded Maximus Quarterly had to refer to his own father as His Majesty, like he was nothing but another commoner. I didn't like Max, and I certainly didn't find myself feeling compassionate toward his arrogant self all that often. But nobody deserved to be denied by their own parent. It wasn't Max's fault that the king had been caught in indiscretion with a Peasant, so why did he have to pay for it? I huffed, suddenly thankful for the peace of mind I had always had that my parents loved me and wanted me. They might be gone now, but I was confident that I'd rather them be gone from my life because of death than be distantly present in it and refusing to even acknowledge me as their own as Max's father did to him.