"Is the water too cold for you again?" The woman asked the girl in the tub when she noticed the girl hugging her knees and wasn't moving.
The young Lauren smiled shyly at her mother, Lady Mildred.
As the King's concubine, most people knew that Lady Mildred wasn't of noble birth and was just a daughter of a lowly mage. People thought her life got better when she got pregnant and the King let her live in the palace, but she knew better.
The servants may not talk when she was around, but behind the curtains, she was ridiculed. And although the Queen was always polite to her in the presence of the King, her keen eyes knew the truth. Queen Thalia was sharp and territorial, which made her fear for the future of her daughter.
Lady Mildred put her hand on the water. She was only a lowly mage, but she knew some little spells, and one she usually used was changing the temperature of the water when Lauren took baths. If there was one thing Lauren couldn't stand the most, it was the cold, and her mother knew her better than anyone else.
"You are so amazing, Mama. Can you teach me how to make the water warm, too?" Lauren asked in her small voice. The lockets of her auburn hair were touching the water as her innocent and hopeful eyes were locked on her mother's.
"Of course, darling, when you grow up," Lady Mildred promised.
Lauren's lips curved up, but the smile on her face vanished when her mother started coughing. "Are you sick again, Mama?"
Although Lauren was just a girl of seven, she had been aware of the deteriorating health of her mother. Lady Mildred had been assuring her that she was fine, but as Lauren grew older, she learned that it was not as simple as she thought. Her mother was seriously sick and it was worsening with each passing day until she saw her spitting blood.
The King had the royal physician aid Lady Mildred, but he wasn't able to determine the cause of the lady's bad health and all he could do was give her pain relievers.
Until the day Lady Mildred died, no one had determined what caused her death. Lauren mourned her mother's death deeply without blaming anyone but herself. She thought she could have done something if she only practiced spells instead of playing. Her heart was scarred at a young age. She felt like she had no one to depend on, that no one was going to protect her from the people who hated them.
And as the years went by, she realized it was true. She was all alone in the palace. She had no one's back but her own. Her sisters hated her to bits, her father didn't like her, and her lovely stepmother was an evil witch. She had been meaning to dig the Queen's grave since the day she discovered she was behind the death of her mother.
Queen Thalia poisoned Lady Mildred.
Lauren told the King about it, thinking that he would be fair and give justice for her mother's death. She was his woman, after all. But instead, he wanted to keep her mouth shut because it might stain the royal family's reputation. He knew all along but he turned a blind eye to it like he never cared. Everyone in the palace knew.
That was when she was totally convinced that her mother was her only family in that cursed place. Her anger was like an undying fire in hearth, it burned her soul. It consumed her.
And a burnt soul would only find refuge in fire… in vengeance.
That was why she didn't care now. She didn't care if she would sell her soul to the devil in front of her. As long as she could use him to get what she wanted, she was willing to embrace the hellfire that came with his being.
"What if I say no?" Alec asked, his steely eyes holding her blue ones intensely.
"Every man has greed. Are you saying that you do not have greed, my lord?"
He smirked. His eyes squinted a bit, making his gaze look sharper.
"Do you know what you are doing right now, princess?" He moved away and went back to leaning on the table. "This is clearly a manipulation. You want to manipulate me to get what you want. You want to rule the royal family, don't you?"
"I'm offering you a give and take agreement. I believe it's not a manipulation if the other party has also benefited from it," Lauren spoke with eloquence. She was already in front of the man, might as well give her all in persuading him.
"If I want the throne badly, I can marry one of your elder sisters instead. They are a lot better than you in terms of reputation. So, why do I have to choose a rebellious princess like you?"
Lauren held her head high, not minding how he imparted that she was the least of his choices. She then answered, "Simply because I'm smart. And I am doing this for a purpose. If you marry me, we will just be married in name. You don't need to fulfill your duties as a husband. I won't nag you, I won't care what you do as long as you keep your actions from the public eye. You can think of me as a business partner and not a wife."
"A business partner," he echoed in a low voice but the hint of mockery didn't escape her. "Does that mean you are also not entitled to your duties as a wife?" He held the wine glass and the crimson color of the wine reflected in his eyes. "Does that mean… I cannot touch you?"
Lauren, without a doubt, knew what kind of wifely duty he meant.
"I told you, didn't I? I can offer you everything I have," she said bravely. She felt a lump in her throat for a moment, but she didn't let any hint of hesitation or intimidation show on her face.
Alec stared at her in silence, as if weighing her words.
She waited.
After a long minute, he then spoke, "Give me some time to think."