The Paper Crown

2. An Unwanted Deal

He looks well.

He is as tall and broad and straight as ever. He looks like a soldier, not a king. A man of arms, not brains. The golden hair slicked back over his head is still thick, though he is past fifty now. It does not grey, but fades in streaks to a dull darkness. His face is tanned and its lines show the ghosts of more smiles than scowls.

But he cannot smile at me.

"Lord Fauser, take these men and wait in the next room. I will call you if you are needed."

"Your Majesty, Princess Alexandra is a prisoner."

"I will not let her escape."

Lord Fauser's beady eyes dart nervously to my hands. "For Your Majesty's safety, I beg allow me to leave two soldiers behind."

"My niece is no danger to me. I will call you."

With one last nervous glance, Lord Fauser leaves and the soldiers file out after him. Uncle Edmund and I are alone. I cast my eyes around the room.

"I could take up that poker and hit you with it," I say. "Or I could break the windows, and stab you with shards of glass."

"Are you going to try? I will call the soldiers back, and we will have this discussion without the comfort of privacy."

"I have no wish to discuss anything with you."

"You don't even know what I am going to say."

"You will ask me to forgive you. And I will say no."

His eyes shadow with sorrow. "Then that is answered. But that is not the only thing I have to discuss with you, Alexandra. I have come to offer you a deal. A second chance."

I know I should refuse – King Edmund never offers unbarbed favours – but I cannot make myself utter the words. I spent three years waiting to die, waiting for my execution to be legal, for under Rothalian law, no one may be executed until they reach their legal majority. I knew that when I tried to kill the king three years ago, but I never expected to survive the attempt. I thought his guard would kill me then and there. I did not expect my uncle, blood flooding through the hands he pressed over his heart, to shout, "Don't kill her! Don't kill her! By the crown, keep her alive!"

Nobody died that day, despite my best plans. The body of a sixteen-year-old girl is too weak to drive a dagger deep into a grown man's flesh. The heart of the man is too weak to let her die, as she should.

And I am too weak now to smother the flicker of hope within me.

"A royal pardon?" I ask. "Do you think I deserve one?"

"I have found an opportunity for you to earn one. The Duke of Selica is in need of a bride. I made a political alliance with his father last year. I took his kingdom under my protection and had it consolidated as a semi-autonomous duchy under my rule. Our alliance is to be sealed by a dual marriage. His eldest daughter will marry my eldest son. And I will send one of my daughters or nieces to marry his. I would like to send you."

Of all the things I might have expected my uncle to say, I would never have imagined this. The flicker of hope within me grows to a flame. I school myself not to smile. This must be a trap. If my uncle is involved, there is always a trap. I try to recall what I know of Selica. A tiny mountain kingdom, rich in silver, somewhere on the north east border. I cannot recall the name of its king or princes.

"Why me?" I ask suspiciously. "Why not Viktoria, or someone... prettier and less..."

"Troublesome?" King Edmund smiles for the first time. "Perhaps I see the opportunity of getting rid of you."