Plans

Lady Diana stormed through her quarters, breaking things as she walked. Vases, jewelry and furniture lay everywhere on the floor, broken or destroyed.

The last time Lady Diana had felt such rage was when she had fought her sister and was beheaded. But now that princess, no that bug, worth less than the dirt under her shoes, was defying her, making her look bad.

Lady Diana slammed another vase of roses at a nearby wall, it shattering and throwing broken glass, water and flowers everywhere.

“That forsaken wrench! How dare she defy me?!” Lady Diana screamed. “Does she not realize who she's messing with?!”

Lady Diana suddenly paused at the thought. Raquel had only started acting up recently. Until now she had been crawling around the palace acting like she didn’t exist.

But now, she was acting like she was better than everyone. What had changed to make her this way so suddenly?

The Westerwyn boy?!

“Of course…” Lady Diana murmured as she sat down on her soft bed. “Ever since he arrived, she has become like this…”

But why help her? He was better off gaining his own influence and then dethroning her once she became empress. That is what anyone wanting the throne would have done. Even just waiting for the curse to take her was the smart move.

No, the boy was after something else.

The Westerwyn Trip. Could he be helping her with her curse? Lady Diana gritted her teeth in annoyance. She hadn’t felt any witch magic from him and her daughter had discovered he was a mage.

None of the people he had bought seemed to be witches. They were either mages or humans. So, he couldn’t have realized who cursed Raquel. But if they went to Westerwyn, the witches there would immediately recognize the curse marking. Especially her sister.

She would be at risk.

No, he wouldn’t risk Westerwyn like that. Despite being a mage, Lady Diana knew the duke wouldn’t tell Raquel about the witches. It was too much of a risk to him and he was loyal to Westerwyn first.

The only motive she could think of was that he was investigating the curse. Perhaps killing that boy had peeked Westerwyn’s interest.

“Yes, that’s it…” Lady Diana exclaimed, chewing on her thumb nail, it soon bleeding.

She needed to find the last piece of Hale’s Text. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about everything. She would become a goddess, ruling over everything like she was meant.

But that damn governor was taking his sweet time calling for help. Was the count even doing his job properly releasing those monsters? She had been paying him a lot to release those monsters.

“Dammit!”

Nothing seemed to be going to plan. She needed to stop the duke and Raquel from going on their trip but she couldn’t.

They were already preparing for it and she had no reason to stop them. She could try to kill the duke but it wouldn’t work either.

Magic would just draw the attention of the Westerwyn witches and she wasn’t powerful yet to destroy them.

As for poison or assassins, the duke probably had magic spells in place for those. She also didn’t have the funds for it with that damn girl calling for an investigation nor did she want loose ends if they failed and someone was caught.

No, she needed to be patient. The duke and Raquel were merely a distraction to her master plan. Lady Diana needed to focus on the current investigation and tie up loose ends.

Once that was done, she could focus on Hale’s Text. When she had the final piece, it wouldn’t matter if those damn witches went after her. It would be too late for everyone. She would have gained all her power back and some more.

Lady Diana grinned at the thought. Yes. That was it.

“Let those two have fun in Westerwyn.” Lady Diana sneered. “It’ll soon be their last moment. Those witches will soon regret the day they rejected my power and stopped me.”

***

Raquel and Ryker walked through the quiet hallways of the palace, heading back to their respective quarters. Raquel felt a sense of relief flow through her as they headed back.

For so long she had wanted to do something to Lady Diana and put her in her place and now…

She had finally done it. Raquel knew there would be consequences but she wanted to enjoy the small victory before the war began. At the thought of a celebration, an idea sparked in her mind.

“Duke Ryker… I know this is sudden and probably stupid but let’s ditch work tomorrow and have some fun” Raquel said, turning to look at Ryker.

Ryker came to a stop in front of her quarters. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a festival starting tomorrow as part of the royal wedding celebrations.” Raquel started explaining. “If you’d like, we can go together.”

Ryker was silent for a moment before he nodded. “Alright, let’s go. One day of missing work should be fine now that most of the backlog is done. Besides, this will be our last chance to relax before the real mess begins.”

“Alright. Meet here tomorrow morning?”

“Yes.”

“Okay… Wear something that isn’t fancy. We’ll have to sneak out if we want to really enjoy the festival.” Raquel said before adding, “Oh… and wear a cloak too.”

“Of course…” Ryker smiled.

Raquel was silent for a moment before she said, “Will you be okay? You’ve probably attracted her attention now.”

“I’ll be fine. It was going to happen sooner or later.” Ryker said. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve prepared everything. Just remember the stone I gave you.”

Raquel nodded her head. After they had come up with the plan to take the palace budget away from Lady Diana, Ryker had prepared some magic stones in case she sent assassins.

“Alright then, your highness, I’ll be taking your leave.” Ryker said, lifting Raquel’s hand to his lips and placing a kiss on it. “Good night. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

With those words, he left, leaving Raquel standing alone blushing heavily at his actions.