ALL US VILLAINS

Chapter Thirty-Five

For the past week and a half, the guards have been singing Diana's praises. They have been congratulating her for killing Anton and ending the war. They have treated her with a strange camaraderie that she has never been honored with in her twenty-one years of life.

It has been a long time since Diana has had a good day, let alone a good week. An uneasiness lingers with the good feeling that has been following behind her like a shadow. She's almost paranoid that something is going to come at any moment to take it away from her.

The words on the paper before her are only small blobs, practically illegible to her unfocused mind. She stares and stares at the book in front of her, trying to bring her mind back into the present and away from her fear.

How long can her peace truly last? Every time that Diana is content, something bad always comes around to ruin the moment for her. There are many different ways that her happiness can be ruined now. She has spread her weaknesses out far too thin and now she has to worry about them all.

Her mind is so distracted, she does not even notice the queen's presence in the library. Cold, cruel eyes glare down at Diana. Katherine is unimpressed by the sorceress and quite possibly annoyed by Diana's lack of respect.

Getting to her feet, Diana offers the queen a respectful bow. "Your Majesty," she states. She holds the bow for a few seconds longer than necessary before straightening back out. "I was just catching up on some reading."

"My son seems to think that by aiding the kingdom, you have become our savior," the woman states. She offers no greeting, getting straight into her point. "What do you think about that?"

Liam has been trying to get the queen to warm up to Diana in hopes that it may soften the blow of their marriage announcement. Unlike her husband, Diana is not naïve. She's aware that her relationship with the queen will forever be strained. No amount of good deeds will replace the bad one that Diana did.

"I am no one's savior," Diana responds. Slowly, she sinks back into her chair. "I'm just a woman cleaning up her own mess."

The woman turns her back to the sorceress, eyeing the columns of bookshelves that fill the entire library. She's silent for a moment, making Diana slightly uncomfortable. To disguise her discomfort, Diana picks her book back up to read.

"I do not understand how you do it," the queen claims.

Taken aback by the statement, Diana sets her book onto the arm of the chair. "Do what, Your Majesty?"

There's a pain in the woman's eyes that Diana is all too familiar with. Unshed tears make her eyes glisten in the room's soft sunlight. "I do not understand how you get my sons to turn to you."

Words escape Diana's mind while she stares at the queen. Diana waits and waits for the queen to speak further, unsure of what to say. "I had always believed that Andrew viewed you as his new plaything. You were something he would have grown out of within a few years." Katherine shakes her head, laughing quietly to herself. "Everything my sweet Liam feels, he feels deeply. When he hates someone, he makes it quite apparent." Any hint of amusement leaves the queen's face while she stares at Diana. "And when he loves, not only does he do it deeply, but also openly."

Perhaps her assessment of Andrew's intentions toward Diana is what made Katherine reject the marriage in the first place. It might never have been about the queen's disdain toward the girl or her presumptions about Diana. Katherine may have been protecting Diana from Prince Andrew's whims, which always changed with the wind.

"It has never been my intention to attract the attention of your sons," Diana informs the queen. She maintains eye contact with the woman, studying Katherine's weathered face.