Gun Princess Royale - Book 3 - Princess of the City (web version)

Chapter 9 - Part II & III

– II –

Erina's eyes had a bruised look to them as she stared at me in silence after listening to me recount my encounter with Sanreal.

She sat on the med-bed that quietly monitored her condition, wearing a hospital gown, her hands neatly folded over her midriff.

She'd been allocated to a suite that was identical to mine but in the villa's opposite wing. I figured the med-bed in her bedroom was a necessary new addition, however the large bedroom had no trouble accommodating it and the pre-existing queen-sized four-post bed.

With the bedroom's large window behind me, I sat on a chair beside the med-bed. After I finished telling her about what happened between Sanreal and I, silence had shrouded the bedroom and it dragged on for many minutes until Erina decorously cleared her throat, and then calmly asked, "What will you do?"

I didn't meet Erina's eyes. I didn't need to. I could see her well enough as I looked down at her legs pushing up the bed covers from underneath. "What do you mean?"

"When you return to Ar Telica will you continue to live with me? Or will you seek other living arrangements?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it...."

Within the edge of my peripheral vision, I watched Erina lean back against the pillows that helped prop her up.

Again the room was quiet for a long while, and again it was Erina who eventually broke that silence. "I will tell you one thing. Sanreal is a wily old fox. You haven't earned their trust. They're going to watch you carefully. And though Sanreal has said he won't box you, I'd take that with a kilo of salt. To Sanreal, restoring House Novis to the rank of Alus is important to him. He'll do what it takes to make that happen. He won't have any qualms about manipulating and using you, especially when you're at your most vulnerable."

This time I spared her a glance. Most vulnerable? Where does she get off telling me that? Who do you think is the most responsible for me being at my most vulnerable!

I relaxed my jaw enough to reply, "I know that."

After Fatina had guided me back to my suite, she'd embraced me, and warmly congratulated me. She described my decision as an important milestone in my journey to discover my life. Her feelings had felt pure, so I earnestly thanked her but asked her to be alone.

After she left, I'd lain on my bed for a long while as I turned my situation carefully over in my head, looking for as many angles as I could identify. What I concluded with a dull chill was that I wasn't out of the woods. Sanreal's acceptance was more like a reprieve. In other words, when considered rationally I understood that I had somehow earned myself a suspended sentence. I also acknowledged that I was going to have to be a lot smarter from now on. I had realized that in one respect I had entered into a game of deception, not with Fatina, but with Sanreal.

I raised my head slightly as I looked at Erina. "I'm not that naïve. But I don't want to keep fighting. I'm tired of fighting."

A game of deception, indeed, and Erina was one of the players.

Erina's eyes narrowed but not with doubt. She was openly scrutinizing me. "So you've decided to zig-zag instead. Remarkable. There is a brain inside that head of yours."

"You should know. You made me."

"I only wish you'd used it before."

"Frek you, Erina," I snapped. "Ever the bitch." I rose from the chair I'd been sitting on. "I really don't know why I came here. Talking to you is a waste of time. But I'll tell you one thing. I may not trust them, but I'm going to give them a chance. And Sanreal is doing the same. He's taking a chance on me. I'll admit I've been acting stupidly. I've been all over the place, literally. But I can't keep going like that. I had a close call. A near miss. Now I've got to rein myself in before they do."