How to Fool a Kingdom

"Do we have a script prepared for the announcement of the marriage?" Katherine asked before she took another bite of her food.

The uncertainty of her mom's whereabouts paired with the public speaking she would have to endure later was killing her appetite, but she knew she had to eat and keep her strength up.

At the question, Marcus's brow furrowed and he gave a confused look to Katherine. "Are all of your speeches usually scripted?" he curiously asked her.

"Of course. Aren't yours?" she asked him, matching his level of confusion.

Marcus chuckled and shook his head. "Absolutely not. As a ruler, you need to know how to address your people. You can't have a script if you're having a live conversation with someone, so why would you have a script if you're telling them something? Social skills are necessary to be a monarch, Katherine. You have a lot to learn."

Before Katherine could retort and defend herself, Charles broke the growing tension between Marcus and Katherine by saying, "I can do all of the talking, Kit, just follow my lead."

She looked over at him and he gave her a reassuring smile. Yet again, she found herself grateful to have him with her.

She had no idea what she would have done if the time came to address the people and she had no script. Katherine found herself missing Eric and all of his tight planning that went into absolutely everything she did for the public.

"It will be best if you can sell that you two are marrying not only to strengthen the alliance between our lands, but more importantly because you're in love," Marcus said as they all continued to eat.

Upon hearing that, Katherine choked on her food and found herself in a coughing fit. Surely she thought she must have heard Marcus wrong.

When she had calmed down enough, she addressed Marcus, "In love? You want us to lie to our entire kingdom? Make it seem like this marriage isn't a sham and isn't strictly out of convenience for Eos and Helios?" Katherine asked incredulously.

She knew her voice was raised and full of anger, but she could not help it. It was bad enough she had to marry someone against her will, but now she had to pretend that she was hopelessly in love with Charles?

Next to her, she could feel Charles stiffen. His usual calmness and connectedness was gone, leaving no buffer for the uncontrolled emotion of Marcus and Katherine.

"Yes, child," Marcus said with vexation, "Strong, united front, remember? And what would be better than the couple who have been infatuated with each other since they were children? Who had been in love practically their whole lives and finally have the chance to come together and live happily ever after? After all of the misfortune Helios has had the last few weeks, this will be the perfect distraction for the people and the perfect 'fuck you' for the rebels."

Marcus leaned back in his chair. The anger he felt had caused his neck to go red, and the heat was slowly creeping up to his face. "Plus, we all know it's not entirely a lie," he spat out before he stood up. "Keep your phones on you today. I'll call the second I hear anything from the soldiers."

Katherine barely had time to process what he said, and Marcus did not wait for either of them to reply as he walked towards the door to leave.

"Oh, and Katherine," he said over his shoulder, "wear something cute and innocent for the announcement. We want the people to love you and be excited, not fear you and pity Charles for having to marry you."

Katherine felt her jaw tighten in disbelief at his audacity as he left the room and the door closed behind him.

Next to her, Charles let out a sigh and brought his elbows to the table so that he could rest his head in his hands.

"Do you think you can at least pretend to be in love with me for a couple of minutes?" Charles asked Katherine without looking at her.

She was taken aback by his question, and immediately looked over to him. She could hear the frustration and even a hint of sadness in voice, and it added to her anger.

"You don't trust me either that I won't make a fool out of the both of us?" she spat at him. She felt hurt that he didn't seem to have any faith in her either. He was supposed to be her friend.

He dropped his hands and turned his whole body to face her. She saw her anger reflected in his eyes, and immediately felt her anger lessen. She was not used to seeing him angry, and it shocked and worried her.

"No one would think you the fool, Kit, don't worry. That role would be reserved exclusively for me," he told her without breaking eye contact. He let out a long breath and looked to the door before he continued in a softer, dejected voice, "I'm going to go shower. Call me if you need anything."

Charles got up and walked out of the room, once again leaving Katherine behind. She turned back towards her food and attempted to take a few more bites of some fruit before she gave up entirely.

She brought her fingers up to her head and rubbed her temples in hopes to ease some tension and prevent a migraine from coming on. As she felt her anger dissipate as she calmed down, it was replaced with anxiousness.

The last time she waited for her mom to be brought back to her, it ended with that horrible video and ultimatum from the rebels. It was hard to have hope that today would end differently, but hope was all she had to hold onto.

With a sigh, Katherine got up and left to walk back to her room with Max trailing close behind.