"My Lady, you can't." Ylvia lowered her voice in fear that someone would hear her and know of the mortifying statement that Delaney had uttered.
Meanwhile, Delaney was unfazed. She pulled off the golden jewelry adorning her head, wrists and ears and grabbed a simple brown dress that looked out of place in a princess's closet.
Ylvia was on her heel, trying to talk her out of leaving. "If you get caught, you will be beheaded."
Delaney stopped for a second to consider the possibility. "I will not get caught." She brushed past Ylvia, grabbing a cloak to throw on. She didn't have enough time to get changed so she hurriedly packed the two dresses she had secretly bought along with jewelry and snuck into the library.
A large portrait hung on one wall of the library but behind it, she had secretly dug a way out in the past. It was only as a precaution in the past but now, it served a different purpose. On the other side was a cave and once she got out of it, she was out of the castle.
"Your Highness." The stableman was waiting on the other side, taking shelter behind the large tree.
She looked around for the agreed horse and back at him. "Did you bring Admiral?"
He responded by disappearing into the thick bushes and returning with the black horse he had tied to a tree. She let out a breath in relief and dug for a bag of silver to hand over to him.
He was puzzled. "Your highness, we agreed on a bag of cobalt."
"Take it." She rubbed the horse's neck. "Take your family with you and leave Ivrasea as fast as you can. Everyone will be too focused on finding me for now but once they realize that Admiral is missing too, you will be in trouble."
She took off without waiting for his response. Admiral was impressively fast and it wasn't long before the sounds of celebration in the Itrusian Castle faded out. It was indeed the perfect day to leave. The entire kingdom was celebrating her wedding and no one would notice her departure until it was too late. However, what she felt was far from the relief she anticipated. She was conflicted. About what, she had no idea, but when the galloping of horses reached her ears and she heard them heading her way, she turned around in panic. They were still too far for her to see them clearly but from the crimson color of the riders' clothes, they were not Ivrasean soldiers.
"Itrusian Soldiers!" She cursed under her breath. She had to come to a sudden halt when she was sorrounded. How was this even possible?
"Admiral, stop." A deep voice commanded and to her disappointment, the horse obeyed the man. She bit the inside of her cheek, gripping the harness when she saw him clearly. Darius.
"You came after me." She muttered in disbelief.
Darius got down from his horse, the mischievous grin on his face making it difficult to read his expression. "It's a bit difficult to have a wedding without the bride, don't you think?"
That wasn't what she meant. If he hated her so much, shouldn't he be overjoyed if she left? On the contrary, it seemed as though he had laid a trap and had been waiting for her to fall into it all along.
"How did you…" her words turned into a gasp when the stableman was pushed forward and onto his knees by an Itrusian soldier.
"Did you think through the consequences of your actions?" Darius reprimanded her. Hergaze was still locked on the stableman. What did they do to make him talk?
As if reading her mind, Darius tipped his head back, laughing. "A bag of gold. That was all it took for him to betray his master."
His laughter died down as a soldier sliced his sword through the stableman's neck.
"He betrayed his master. He deserved to die."
She looked away. Not because she couldn't bear the sight of blood but because he was right. She had been selfish. What would have happened to Ylvia once they found out that she was aware of her disappearance? They would blame it on her and punish her—or worse, kill her. Darius cleaned his hands with a piece of cloth passed to him by the man who stuck on his side like a shadow—Lord Harcourt, who she was quite familiar with after meeting at a ball years ago. Had he been by Darius's side when the latter first visited Ivrasea, she would not have made a fool out of herself by asking who he was.
Lord Harcourt inched closer to Darius to ask, "My Lord, about the maids-"
"Let them be." He dismissed the matter while looking right into her eyes. She knew they were talking about Ylvia and Sianna. She should be relieved that he was sparing them but something told her it was too early to celebrate.
"I'm certain Reginald can't wait to punish them." He added, and her stomach dropped. Of course.
Her gaze landed on Lord Harcourt as she contemplated. He was easier to speak to than his bloodthirsty lord. If she pleaded with him, would he convince Darius to spare her maids?
The neigh of Darius's horse pulled her out of her thoughts. His glare bore into her skin with about the same intensity as his words. "First, you try to run away and now you look at Felix like you want him? Aren't you gutsy?"
"I wasn't-" She opened her mouth and gave up when he speared her with a glare.
___
The ride back to Ivrasea had felt like a nightmare, with her sorrounded by Itrusian soldiers like she was the price they won from their conquest.
She could hear the whispers when she arrived. Everyone suspected she had tried to run away and mumbled about what Darius would do to her to punish her for the humiliation she caused him.
"She's so beautiful. Why did she accept the Itrusian King as her husband?" A gossipy woman asked. "With her beauty, she could easily marry any powerful king."
"No king would accept her." Another woman whispered. Delaney recognized her voice but she couldn't quite place it. She had heard it in the castle a few times; it must be a former castle maid.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't be deceived by her. She has demon blood running through her veins. Not only that, but the whole royal family is cursed. It's a dramatic tale. Have you ever wondered why two males of the royal family have never existed at the same time before?" The former maid asked, spiking the interest of her friend.
Delaney looked over just in time to see the maid get secretly pulled away from the crowd and barely seconds later, she heard the sound of a sword slicing through flesh.
That was how the royal family had kept the truth about the curse hidden away from Ivrasea and the rest of the world. Whoever uttered a word of it would have their tongue sliced off or killed. Or both. It was a thousand-year-old curse that started with a demon betraying the goddess of the sun—a major reason why she felt uneasy about this marriage. Darius was supposedly the helio, and while she was nothing like a demon, she couldn't say the same about her ancestors. Itrusia and Ivrasea had been enemies for an entire millennium. Why would Darius want her as his wife? Unless he was not joking about wanting to kill her…