Rani is well on her way to getting drunk. It seemed like the thing to do after the day she's had. Not only had Li come back into her life at the most inopportune moment, but then she'd had to face hours of accusations hurled at her from that Second Army General.
The entire group that she's come to think of as the King's trusted advisors had assembled. Well, trusted advisors and Rani. Over the course of their discussion, Zoya had implied Rani was the source of the castle breach so many times she had simply stopped counting. Tamar, to her surprise, had stayed quiet. She and the Heartrender seemed to be gaining an uneasy trust.
They had gone around in circles. There couldn't be a Shu spy in the Palace. Well, there was. Then it must be the Shu assassin that you plucked off the street and brought into your castle. Rani isn't up for discussion. Who else could have let a spy in? There's no one in the Palace we suspect.
Around and around like that until Rani was ready to bang her head against the table. So when they adjourned she headed straight for the kitchen, snagging a bottle of Kvaz before wandering aimlessly through the twisting palace halls.
So no, she wasn't drunk. But she was trying hard to remedy that.
Somehow she's back standing before the doors to the King's office. Rani swore she had taken the turn back to her vacant room, but this stupid place still had her wandering in circles even after all these weeks.
Leaning against the wall, she takes a swig of Kvas as her eyes bore holes into the thick oak. She's trying to pinpoint when she started trusting these Ravkans so much. It's infuriating. Especially since none of them trust her.None but their King, the man she hated so much.
Now she can't quite muster that same anger, not after everything.
The door before her swings open and, as if her thoughts summoned him, the King steps out.
"If you're here to kill me again, I'm afraid this is a bad time," He leans back against the half-open door, a smirk turning up the sides of his mouth.
Saints, even he knows that her allegiances were so easily turned. Rani had never thought of herself as a traitor. Then again, was she ever really loyal to the Shu Han? The only person who had ever had her loyalty was Tara. So as soon as she was adrift, alone in the world with no semblance of purpose - of revenge - few nice words, her sister's room, a shiny new job, and she was all theirs.
His gaze drops to the bottle in her hand and a brow flicks up, "Bad night?"
Rani doesn't respond. She just raises the bottle to her lips again.
The King leans back, opening the door further. A silent invitation. Rani doesn't hesitate to stalk through. As she passes, she sees the King flick a hand at the first army soldier down the hall. He backs away.
A dry laugh passes Rani's lips. Here she was thinking he trusted her and she had forgotten the guards that shadowed her day in and out.
Dropping onto one of the couches flanking the desk, Rani pulls her legs to her, cradling the drink in her lap.
Papers are strewn messily over the low table before the couch. Rani pokes at them as the King walks back, dropping onto the couch a few feet away.
"It has to be one in the morning and you're still working?"
"The country never sleeps."
"So neither do you?"
He shrugs.
After a silent moment, Rani offers the bottle to the King. He takes it from her, turning it in his hands for a moment before he takes a sip. His eyes are sharp, missing nothing, as he passes the bottle back to her.
YOU ARE READING
heartless | nikolai lantsov
Fanfiction"You enjoy knowing someone in your palace would as soon have a knife to your throat as help you?" "Oh, I count on it, keeps my wits sharp." \\ Kidnapping the King of Ravka was easy. Until it wasn't. When her plan goes awry, Rani is given two choi...
