Pen & Sword

Prologue

Penelope

The day everything ended was also the day everything should have been within reach for me. 

It started off as a simple thing: an announcement at a lunch held in celebration of the Crown Prince's birthday.

It started off innocently enough, with the Crown Prince raising his glass to get everyone's attention. I think I had smiled up at him when he had caught my eye. But instead of smiling back, he had a nervous trepidation in his eyes that was quite unlike him. My apprehension spiked, and it only grew when his eyes slid from me to her, the one woman who shouldn't have been at this table that was only for the royal family and, of course, us. 

We had earned our place at this table. And with my betrothal to him, it made sense for my family and I to join his family to celebrate his birthday in an intimate setting before the ball in the evening, where the other nobles would be in attendance.

The only person who shouldn't be here was her. I had been surprised to see her come in with the Crown Prince, but nevertheless, I had been graceful to her because she was his guest. 

And yet, the way their eyes locked together and the lingering glances they had shared all through lunch had made me uncomfortable. 

My trepidation was quickly replaced by shock as the Crown Prince made his announcement. And the resulting commotion seemed far away as I stared numbly at the glass of wine in front of me, debating whether I should just drink it all and try to forget that all my carefully constructed plans had been blown to bits. 

Damien

My eyes turned to Penelope the moment my brother made his announcement. 

She had gone pale, her eyes cast down as she stared at her wineglass in front of her. I had half a mind to take the bottle of wine away from the table because she looked like she would down it in one sitting.

Being in the shadows has always given me an advantage of knowing what thoughts filter through someone's head just by reading their body language. But sitting two chairs away from Penelope on the other side of the table, it's the first time I have been stumped. 

I can't get a read on her. Sure, she looks shocked. 

But who wouldn't be after the announcement my idiot-of-a-brother made just now. Shock and anger would be predominant. Hell, even I feel angry on Penelope's behalf right now, when I had always repressed my feelings and emotions before.

Repressing my emotions had made me a perfect observer. Until now.

But then Penelope's eyes move. Her head lifts and turns to look at my brother standing next to me. Where I expected heartbreak and anger, I find only anger and a barely repressed hate in her eyes. Her gaze shifts to her, watching as she walks over to my brother, and he pulls her close to him, his lips close to her ear as he murmurs something that is only for her ears only, her small hand placed on his chest and trembling from the burst of volatile emotions in the room right now.

I watch as she grips her salad knife tightly in her right hand, her knuckles turning white. If my brother had been next to her, and they were alone, I'm sure Penelope wouldn't have hesitated to reach over and plunge the knife deep into her chest before she turned her wrath on my brother.

Penelope Langston had always been interesting. 

But now?

She had become intriguing.