Throne of Secrets (Prince of Sin #2)

Forty-Eight Adriana

I HURRIED THROUGH the main corridor, clutching Axton’s suit jacket to ensure that anyone passing by noticed it—and my state of dishevelment. I might have also run my hand through my loose curls, ensuring they were a bit wilder than normal. It wouldn’t do to only have a few witnesses.

If we were going to cause a scandal, it needed to spread quickly.

Footsteps rounded the corner I’d just turned off of, racing along the marble. I knew it would be Ryleigh before she called out.

“Are you going to explain the state of your gown, Adriana?”

Something in me bristled at her tone. I wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.

I paused, glancing around the hallway. No servants or staff or courtiers. That could change without a moment’s notice, though. I spun around.

“Would you like to tell me why you used the Hexed Quill?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “What exactly did you hope to gain from using it on me?”

Ryleigh’s expression was almost as frosty as the walls in our cavern had been.

She stared at me like she didn’t recognize me. “You think I used the Hexed Quill to help you make the same mistake with the prince?”

“No. I think you used the quill at the All-Sinners Ball and destroyed my life. Then carried on every day as if nothing was wrong. I deserve to know why.”

“Have you and the prince been lovers this whole time?” she fired back, her voice ringing throughout the hallway.

I stared at her for a moment. She very clearly hadn’t answered either question.

A deep hurt twisted inside me. All this time my friend had known, had wielded the weapon that ripped my heart apart. And she could not care less.

“That’s all you care to ask? No apology for the hurt you’ve caused me? No admission of guilt?”

“Did the prince plant this ridiculous notion in your head?”

There was such vehemence in her tone, I drew back. “I need to hear you tell me it’s not true.”

She crossed her arms, her expression filled with disgust.

“I will not. I won’t entertain something so insulting. You ought to know I would never harm you. Have you ever even hated him, or has it all been a lie?”

“Why won’t you answer me? It’s a simple question. Did you use the Hexed Quill or not?”

Ryleigh could be wildly stubborn when she wished to be. And her expression indicated she would not answer me unless I gave her something first. If that’s what it took, so be it.

“Not everything’s been a lie,” I said. “Unlike the secrets you’ve kept from me for the last decade.”

Ryleigh narrowed her eyes. “You truly believe I could look you in the eye every day, knowing what I did? Is that what you think of me? What motivation would I have?”

She seemed so adamant, so hurt. It didn’t ring false. I suddenly wasn’t sure what I believed. Ryleigh was either the best stage actress the realm had ever known, or she was being truthful. And one thing I knew for certain: she did not care for the theater.

Still, the evidence pointed to her.

“You are the only one I know who sought the quill. Not only that, but you were also searching for it before the ball, then suddenly gave up.” I searched her face. There was nothing to be read in her expression. “What would you believe? The evidence is damning, Ry.”

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I would believe in our friendship. No matter how damning the evidence. In fact, I would have gone directly to you the moment I heard such a rumor. I don’t keep secrets from you, but it seems that’s not reciprocated.”

I exhaled, most of the fight going out of me. Along with the sense of betrayal.

Unless she’d used the Hexed Quill on herself and rewrote her own memories, I didn’t think she was to blame. I softened a bit more.

My friend was right—I had been keeping a lot of secrets, and if we hoped to move forward from this entanglement, it was time to answer one of her earlier questions.

“Axton was my stranger from the Seven Sins. We only discovered the truth recently. I didn’t tell you I kept seeing him because until tonight I hadn’t figured out how I felt or what to do.”

Ryleigh’s expression darkened, and it took me a moment to understand why the explanation caused more strife. I hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about visiting my stranger on several occasions. In fact, I’d kept that information very close, not wanting to share it.

If I thought the realm finding out the truth was going to be bad, this was even worse.

It felt as if a line of gasoline had been lit on fire and little explosions were going off in quick succession.

“And what dark magic is at play here?” She motioned between us. “Causing you to lie to your friend? Or is that simply a character flaw I never knew you possessed? Regardless of my personal opinions on the matter, I would have been there for you. Like I’ve always been.”

I drew in a deep breath.

I hated how hurt she was, I hated that my actions and secrecy caused it. Everything was a mess and I had a feeling it was going to get much worse before it got better. And I owned that. This was my fault. I made the mistake and I hoped one day she could forgive me.

“I didn’t tell you about seeing my stranger because I didn’t want to admit that I cared. Everything was already so complicated. It had nothing to do with trusting you or not. I swear it.”

“I kept wondering why you’d grown distant.” She looked ready to either stab me or cry. I wasn’t sure which was worse. “And it wasn’t about me at all. It was you making the same mistake you’ve spent a decade trying to get past. Have you suddenly forgotten how much you hate him? Magic or not. You were heartbroken. That was real.”

“Ryleigh…”

“I was there. Every day, Ad. Every day, watching you try to emotionally rebuild, hating how deeply you’d been wounded. I’ve always supported you. And after years of friendship, you simply throw it away for what? The thrill of a secret romance? Or were you too ashamed of sleeping with someone who is very publicly searching for a wife?”

It felt like I’d taken a punch to my center. I drew in a slow breath and released it.

“It’s different this time; he’s different. It was never his fault. The Hexed Quill—”

I cringed. I knew how that sounded. How it always sounded to an outside observer.

But it was different. He’d trusted me with his royal mark and his true name.

I still couldn’t quite fathom the casual way he’d told me one of the biggest secrets a prince possessed. That action alone made me trust him now.

“Of course. The Hexed Quill. It’s to blame for everything and your prince is absolved of all wrongdoing. Do you honestly believe this time is different?” She was practically yelling now. I’d never seen my friend so upset. “Was the quill responsible for the way he treated you these last ten years? The way he barely acknowledged you or taunted you at every event? Where is he now, Ad? You come back to the castle, clearly from a tryst, he kisses you in front of his suitors, and he leaves. The circle will tear you apart and drink you dry.”

I had no defense for that. It was all true.

Ryleigh tossed her hands in the air and shook her head.

“I cannot stand by and watch you make the same mistake. He hasn’t changed, Ad. And when he breaks your heart this time, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, hating that we’d ended up here. “I truly am.”

“I am too. You will not come out of this scandal unscathed. Everything you’ve worked and sacrificed for will be destroyed. I hope your little secret adventure was worth it.”

Without another word, Ryleigh turned on her heel and strode from the corridor, finished with me and our conversation.

I blinked tears back, refusing to let them fall in public.

“How utterly pathetic.” Omen stepped out from around the corner. “You didn’t really think he’d choose you, did you? The prince hunts. You were simply prey he couldn’t pass up.”

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat.

I only had to endure their taunts for a few hours. Then Axton would make his announcement and everything we’d suffered through for the last decade would be restored to how it always should have been.

My emotions warred with one another—I believed Axton when he said this was different, that we were in this together. But I’d believed him once before too. He hadn’t given me his true name or royal mark back then, but he’d also gotten better at playing the part of charming rake.

Was I really the fool in this scenario? Maybe Ryleigh was right—maybe the quill was only the catalyst and all the hurt that came after was not because of any hex.

I started to walk away, needing air and a few moments to breathe. I refused to engage with Omen and make the situation worse for myself.

“There you are.”

Sophie’s voice drew me up short.

I slowly pivoted to face her. My stepmother’s expression was a mask of forced indifference as she scanned me. My unkempt hair, my wrinkled gown. The prince’s jacket hanging around my shoulders like a victory flag. I wanted to crawl into a hole. Of all the demons in the realm, I did not want my stepmother to see me in this state.

“Get to our suite. Now.”

She started walking in the direction of our private quarters, her pace punishing. I hurried after her, leaving Omen and whatever rumors she’d spread behind me.

“Is Eden okay?”

Sophie shot a look over her shoulder that silenced any further questions. We sped along decadent corridors until we came to our extravagant suite. I followed my stepmother inside and she rounded on me, finally unleashing the fury I’d sensed.

“How dare you ask if your sister is all right when you have been scheming in secret.”

My blood ran cold. “What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?” Sophie’s nostrils flared. “I mean that despite the ball he’s hosting for his suitors tonight, all the servants could whisper about was how the prince was caught in a very interesting position with his public rival.”

I dropped onto the settee in our living room, burying my face in my hands.

If the servants were already passing the news around, it meant the scandal sheets would catch on to the story soon enough. Our ruse had worked, brilliantly.

We’d planned for it, but still… the reality of facing the consequences alone started to weigh heavily, especially as my stepmother paced in front of me.

It was for the safety of the realm, the court. I knew that, but my family didn’t.

I drew in a steadying breath, then looked up at my stepmother.

“Does Eden know?”

“Not yet. She’s off with Vanity getting fitted for her gown and has missed all the gossip. But you better pray to whatever old god you can that this remains a secret until after the ball. Do you have any idea what a scandal of this nature will do to our family?”

“We live in a realm of sin. It’s hardly—”

“Sin is one thing. Fornicating with the prince of our circle, while he’s hosting a realm-wide competition to find a princess, of which your own blood is vying for that coveted crown, is reprehensible behavior. Have you no honor or loyalty to family? What would your father think?”

My eyes suddenly burned. “You’ve crossed a line, stepmother.”

“Have I? Because I’d argue you crossed a line when you spread your legs again for a male who is clearly uninterested in taking you to wife.”

I flinched as if she’d struck a physical blow.

Sophie watched me closely, her cruel mouth twisting into a sneer.

“Stupid girl. Nearly thirty and still unable to see the truth. The prince doesn’t care about you. If he did, he’d call off the competition right this moment, publicly declare himself to you, and prevent any rumors from spreading.”

If she only knew, that was precisely our plan.

I kept my mouth shut, unwilling to share the truth. In a few hours everyone would know.

Sophie glanced around our empty sitting room.

“Do you see him here? Hunting you down to make sure you’re all right? Ensuring no one speaks ill of his beloved?” She shook her head. “Do not be surprised when this explodes across the realm and he does nothing. Once again.”

Despite my best efforts to will the tears away, a few spilled down my cheeks, dripping onto my silken gown. I hated my stepmother in this moment. Not because she was cruel or cutting as usual, but because I knew she was trying to protect me in her own twisted way.

She had been there when Axton ran off with someone else at the All-Sinners Ball.

We’d gotten caught in the garden and he left me directly after we’d been together to feed his sin, and the papers had gone wild with how foolish I’d been to try to go up against a noble.

Maybe he never really went off with another; maybe none of it ever happened before the magic came into play; maybe the Hexed Quill simply made us all believe it; but the vicious rumors and gossip about me that were printed for the realm to laugh about were very real.

The backlash of that night did impact me and our family. Eden had been young, so we’d shielded her from most of it. But Sophie and I had borne the brunt of the scandal.

Now my stepmother believed we were standing on the precipice of the same mistakes. If I could only confide in her, maybe she would understand. But I promised Axton I’d play my role.

“It won’t simply be your life that’s ruined this time,” Sophie continued. “Eden will not come out unscathed. Who will have either of you? To work or to wed? Did you even consider what the consequences would be for us all?”

It had been difficult to find a paper that would hire me. And now, as much as I hated to admit it, Sophie was right. Once the scandal sheets reported that Axton and I had been intimate again while his competition was heating up, he wouldn’t be the one scorned across the realm.

I knew that. And yet I’d still make the same choice.

There was so much more at stake. If the realm found out about the dragons, the Hexed Quill… chaos would break out. And if the dragons finally attacked? Countless lives could be lost.

“He’ll do better this time,” I said, hoping to will it into existence, even if doubt crept in.

Sophie gave me a pitying look. “We’ll see soon enough.”

Secrets and Scandals The Rake of Rakes Continues His Infamous Ways

By Julian Wren, The Wicked Daily

Dearest Sinners,

We here at the Wicked Daily have the most delectable story for you to indulge today. The Prince of Rakes has truly shocked the realm with his latest indiscretion. Rumors are flying across the Seven Circles about a delicious scandal that took place on the grounds of House Gluttony with none other than our own Miss Match. Talk about staying scandalous!

For those unaware of her true identity, allow me to exclusively reveal it here: the prince was found with his sworn nemesis, Miss Adriana Saint Lucent. The pair of secret lovers were caught post-tryst trying to sneak into the castle. Witnesses report he kissed her before dashing off.

We’ve reached out to Prince Gluttony for comment, but he’s not speaking to the press at this time. Adriana Saint Lucent is also staying unusually quiet—if she had hopes of becoming the true victor of the prince’s heart, they must be dashed now. Prince Gluttony has made it clear through his silence that he will choose to tie himself to another.

When asked about the scandal, her sister and favorite suitor to the prince, Eden Everhart, simply stated the ball ought to be the focus of the day. We disagree. One thing all the scandal sheets and contestants can agree on is how impressive it was for Miss Match to fool us all with her romantic advice, all while trying to steal the prince for herself.

A report from the palace suggested the winner of the competition will be crowned at midnight, so it seems her scheme failed. One thing is certain—the ball should be a thrilling event.

Until next time.

I’m Julian Wren, signing off.