The Deadliest Game

Three - Conflict is a Cradle

Lady Catalina White

Oh, how sweet the irony will be. My bed is soft, the lighting dim. I won't sleep much. There's a new life growing inside me, and according to the doctor, it'll be born on Kylan and Siaren's seventeenth anniversary. My stupid younger sister's happy day. Finally, I won't be just the sad sister of the Queen, but I'll be a Mother. I'll raise my child how I should have been raised, and teach them how to stand up for themselves. Oh, Siaren will be furious. I wasn't supposed to get pregnant. She and Kylan didn't approve the out of wedlock baby, but they'll have no choice but to pretend they did. Otherwise, how would that look to the court? To the people of Alkali?

For all these years, I've stayed quiet. Done what they wanted. Never gotten married. But I'm not getting any younger. Thirty eight is really old to be having a baby, and I will have my own heir, even if nobody cares about them. I'll care about them. I'll love them, and cherish them.

"Lady Catalina?" There's a knock at the door, and my heart soars. Normally I lock my door, so I get up and out of bed to open it. Standing outside is exactly who I expected. Dane Quill. Not even a Noble, but still probably the father of my child. Dane is tall and strong, will light brown hair cut to fit the guard haircut.

"Dane, come in." I smile, closing the door softly behind me.

"I've noticed you're looking bigger. Are you-" Before he can finish I assault him with a kiss. I'd hoped to put off this conversation, but I was foolish to think he wouldn't notice. Finally, Dane pulls away from me, and finishes his sentence. "-pregnant?"

"Yes." I nod, bracing for the next question. 

"So the King and Queen approved it?" His eyes are mixed with hope and worry.

"No." I shake my head. Dane's eyes grow wide. He knows what that means. Siaren will throw him in jail should I point the finger at him, maybe even kill him. A small price for my child.

"You- You-" Dane flies into a rage, and punches me. I scream like he's got a knife, and my guards burst into the room. It only takes a minute to detain him, and I ball my eyes out for dramatic effect. "Lady Catalina! You can't let them do this to me!"

"The purple bruise on my cheek says otherwise!" I yell at him. Dane's a fool, a sorry fool who has served his purpose to me. Pity, I was starting to like him.

It takes less than ten minutes for the doctors to arrive, along with a press team. Siaren is here too, and I can tell she's fuming for the inconvenience, but she has to make an appearance for the press. She's so loving, she came to help her abused sister. There's a wicked smile plastered under my sobs, as I lay on the bed.

"Lady Catalina will be okay!" The doctor announces to the cameraman.

"Thank the sun!" Siaren rushes forward, tears in her eyes. Mother taught us to be great actresses. "What happened, Catalina?"

"He... he attacked me! My own guard!" I cry and cry. Siaren gasps, as if she can't believe it. I see right through her just as she sees right through me. But we do it for the press. I see the cold darkness behind her eyes, the fire that courses through her body, powering her like a heartbeat. I wonder if she sees the same in me.

"Don't worry, he can't hurt you anymore." Siaren hugs me, and I let her. How'd I'd love to take the dagger under my pillow and just stab her, but I know I'd get shot on the spot, pregnant or not.

"Thank you." I sob. "I just need to be alone."

"Okay." Siaren looks grateful for the excuse to leave, and ushers everyone out. "I need to talk to you for a moment." Siaren says to the cameraman. They all walk out, save my Head Guard.

"We can chose Sir Quill's replacement in the morning, if you feel able, my Lady. Until then, Dame Hurchain will fill in for him."

"Thank you, Sir Bourne." I say weepily. He bows, and exits. The moment he's gone, I get out of bed. A purple oval shape is forming on my right cheek where Dane hit me. What a fool. I could have saved him, but I don't want to anymore. So my baby will grow up without a father. I did too, and I turned out fine.

I turn the lights back off, and crawl into bed. The pain in my cheek is gone, replaced by the wave of love I feel for my baby. Riding on thoughts of names to call my bundle of joy, sleep carries me off.

Queen Siaren Bishop-White

"I need you to run this story tomorrow morning after I make an official announcement. If you run the story before I make the announcement, I'm afraid it'll be the end of your Network, and quite possibly the end of you." This is not where I want to be right now. I want to be in bed, curled up next to Kylan, basking in the fruits of my hard work. But no, Catalina's guard had to lose his mind and now I have to deal with it. Standing in a hallway in my silken nightgown, a too eager press team hanging on to my every word.

"It will be done, my Queen."

"Good. And I want to review everything before it's aired." When the whole crew of six nods, I raise my chin and say, "Now get out." They shuffle down the hall, on the way out of the castle, a guard tailing them.

"Thank stars that's over." I yawn, as it must be close to one in the morning. I'm almost back to my chambers when someone comes running up to me. Her brown hair reaches her a little past her shoulders, and she wears a casual jacket. This better be important.

"Your Highness!" She drops to one knee, eyes down on the ground. What in the heavens is she doing awake? "If I may, Princess Velvet and Prince Axel want me to pursue a case, but I seek your permission before I spend time on it that could be better used to serve you."

"Are you an attorney?"

"Yes, my Queen. Attorney Amélia Moon."

"What is the case about?"

"It's claimed that Apollo Arves, the hired dance instructor, was too... um... forward about asking for his pay, and that the job description never even offered pay."

"Yes, look into it in the morning. You're dismissed." I wave Amélia away, and she hurries towards her chambers. As I walk, I can't help but wonder how young this Apollo is. He's not Noble, and I don't recognize the last name. Maybe he's an immigrant. The court will go easier on him if he's an immigrant. And by the court I mean Kylan. If it were only up to me, he'd be exiled for a year.

"Siaren?" I'd know that sleepy voice anywhere.

"One of Catalina's guards attacked her." I yawn to Kylan, and he pulls back the covers for me. I slip into the bed.

"That's so terrible." Kylan whispers, cuddling closer to me.

"You don't have to lie, sweetheart. No one else is in here."

"But it'll be another long court day." He yawns.

"Yeah, I guess so." I snuggle even closer to Kylan.

"I love you, Siaren."

"I love you too."

"Goodnight." He kisses my forehead.

"Goodnight."

Kylan's breathing grows heavy quickly, but I can't sleep. Sometimes this happens, when I just can't sleep. It's like partial insomnia. Some nights I'm fine, some nights I don't fall asleep for hours. I slip out of bed, and over to our bookshelf. I pick up a book, and go out on to the balcony. When the sun rises, I swear I see Velvet and Axel going to the stable, but I must be hallucinating. So after four hours, I can slip back next to my King, and sleep.