I detest being wrong.
Midas made her into something ostentatious, a gaudy prize to flaunt. Men always have their fixations, especially when it comes to women. Their enthusiasm for their obsessions always straddles the line between infatuation and hate. One simple move, and the master will turn on their pretty pet.
But perhaps in this case…the pet was the one to turn on her master.
The fear in my mind digs down into my belly. If she can truly thieve powers, then what if she tried to steal mine? What if she succeeded?
My teeth click and grind. Instead of falling into panic, I need to figure out how I can weave things to my own advantage. Because if Lady Auren tried to steal what is mine, I will ruin her.
Seeing the hardened metal is what solidifies my own spinning thoughts. Midas is encased in gold like he’s been cast in a mold, ready to be plucked out and sharpened by a blacksmith.
I thought he was useless to me dead, but perhaps not. Perhaps all I have to do is use what he’s been forged into.
A weapon.
“When he gold-touched her, some of his power must’ve transferred to her,” I say quietly. “He wouldn’t have wanted anyone to ever know that.”
Midas was secretive about everything, but this? This is an entirely different layer of dangerous secrets. Is that why he kept her around? Because he trained her to take on the powers of others to use to his advantage?
“This isn’t good,” Keon says.
“Kaila,” my brother begins. “What if it wasn’t a fluke? What if that’s her magic? Being able to take on the magic of others if they use it on her? Did you…？”
“I did,” I say with a sharp nod, fresh anger budding through me.
“What if she steals your power?”
I don’t like hearing my own worry spoken aloud. My knees lock together, tongue pressing against clenched teeth. My gaze on Midas shifts to my blotted reflection shining from his gilded chest.
This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go. I wasn’t supposed to be in danger of someone taking my power and using it against me.
“How are we going to use this?” Manu says, because like me, he’s grown up learning how to always spin every instance to our own political advantage. Tonight is no different.
I glance around the ballroom, but we’re still alone other than a blubbering Mist, who’s sobbing into her hands. “We tell people the truth,” I say. “That Midas’s favored turned on him. That she had an affair with King Rot to make him jealous. That she was jealous of my engagement with Midas.”
“Make sure everyone knows she’s the villain.”
I nod. “All of Orea will hate her.”
“But what about Sixth Kingdom?” Manu asks. “Now, there obviously won’t be a marriage.”
“But we publicly announced our engagement,” I reply. “It will be difficult, but if I play it right, I can still push for control.”
“The people there are still rioting,” Keon says. “Plus, they murdered their old queen. What makes you think they’ll accept you with Midas dead and no marriage ceremony?”
I shoot him a smile. “Because I’m not the Cold Queen. I’m the warm, charismatic, beautiful Kaila Ioana. I’ll make them love me as my own people in Third love me.”
“We know how beloved Kaila is to our people. She can sell it,” my brother says with a definitive nod.
“We will have to move fast,” Keon says. “As soon as we can, we will need to visit Sixth, do some sort of ceremony to honor Midas’s life, make you the grieving betrothed for them to sympathize over.”
If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s to make a kingdom love me.
“I can do that.”
More sharp, gasping wails behind us make me want to grit my teeth, and I spare Mist another look.
She will still have to be dealt with.
If I’m going to try and take Sixth, I certainly cannot have her bastard heir being born from her womb. But that will be a problem for another day.
“There will be a lot happening now,” I go on quietly. “Once the other monarchs find out about Lady Auren’s ability to steal power, they’ll want to get involved. Plus, there’s the issue of Fifth.”
“I actually have an idea about that,” Manu says, and my attention immediately sharpens.
My brother isn’t my advisor for nothing. He has a brilliant mind, knows how to play a room, knows how to read people, and above all, he will always be loyal to me.
“Since our focus now needs to be on how to secure Sixth, as well as how to take care of Lady Auren, the last thing we want is to lose all the work we’ve done to create a foothold here in Fifth. So, I propose that we immediately put in the search for the closest kin of Fulke, because now that the prince is dead, Ranhold needs an heir. We will track down whichever ones have power, and sift through the best candidates. Then we will choose which heir gets the throne. We will determine who takes power. And in exchange for our support…they will support us, and us alone.”