I huffed and moved down to the drawers that lined the sides of the desk. The first drawer contained only standard office supplies, and I quickly moved to the next drawer, not bothering to search through the quills, ink pots, and blank pieces of parchment. I sorted through each drawer, riffling through the contents and looking for anything that would help me or give me any information.
When I hit the bottom drawer, I found a ton of files. I grinned widely as I took in my prize and started flipping through them. The first few were unhelpful for my needs—or so I thought. They were budgets for businesses, in addition to Cyrus’s personal accounts. The first one stated it was for “The Den of Desire”, which made me twitch reflexively with surprise.A brothel?My eyebrows rose to my hairline, assessing why he would own such a place. He certainly didn’t need the money. Unless it was so he had full access to the girls? I snorted with disgust as I began flipping through once more.
The following pages contained the budgets for gambling houses. The ‘Bad Beat Den’ and ‘The Get Down’. I couldn’t believe it. The Crown Prince of Dusk owned and operated all sorts of businesses in the seedier underbelly of society. This was useful information to have for the future, but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I read through the rest of the files searching for something with a tangible use when I found a document that was worth all the time spent pilfering through Cyrus’s files.
A list of his spies.
Or rather, his list of payments made to them. I read through the list of people he was paying off, Fae and human alike. I was right, he was employing lords, ladies, business owners, workers, and slaves. Most of them were employed at Dusk, a couple at Dawn, and one at Sunset, but that was it.
There was a missed opportunity if Prince Cyrus was actively fighting against the Night Kingdom, and he had no spies there. Even if it seemed impossible to get someone into the Night Kingdom, surely, he could hire one in the other surrounding kingdoms. Was the lack of spies in his network due to the difficulty of getting spies into Night, or was it due to his arrogance and assumptions that he didn’t need spies there? Or perhaps he was more worried about his family and his enemies closer to home. Either way, I thought he was foolish for not hiring a spy or two for the Night Kingdom.
I read the list of names several times, trying to memorize them. Noting the many names with acronyms beside them that matched up with his brothel and gambling dens. Places where people let their guards down, drank to their heart’s content, and then let their lips loose secrets that should have been kept. Then I carefully placed everything back exactly as I had found it. I stood to my feet and made my way to the bed, leaning over and feeling under the mattress. My grin was triumphant as I pulled out a thick brown leather book. I untied the closure and flipped it open. I quickly thumbed through the pages until I found something of note.
I stopped as I reached the more recent entries and found my own name staring back at me. Cyrus mentioned his “acquisition” of a new slave, one he wanted to possess fully. I felt like throwing up, but I forced myself to keep reading.
“She is willful and angry. And in truth, besides her beauty, her unyielding force is what draws me to her. I see the same rage in my own eyes when I look in the mirror. I must have her fully, but her willfulness will prove to be a problem, though not an insurmountable one. Ensuring she sees us as being on the same side will help for now to ensure her easy compliance. Her temper may prove a fun challenge, and I’ll allow her to put up her little show of protest until the time comes. She is a human,after all, and her will is not equal to a Fae’s. It will not take long to break her.”
Reading his words made me want to burn this place to ashes. He thought he could manipulate me into siding with him? Well, the joke is on him, as I never believed the nonsense he tried to woo me with. It was just like a man to hear a woman say “no” and think he can manipulate his way around it. He thought me “willful”, like a horse that needed to be broken in, but by the end, I would find a way to ensure that he was the broken one.
I closed the journal back up and put it back under the mattress where I found it. I looked around as I cracked Cyrus’s door back open, hoping no one was there. I sighed with relief at the empty room and crept to Cyrus’s second desk that resided in the solar. Bending down, I pulled out all of the files in the drawers. I moved over to the sofa and sat down, spreading them out on the table. It was a risk, but I was livid enough that I didn’t even care.
I made my way through each file and when I saw the names on each one, I smiled. Weylin. Kian. Vikal. Daneiris. Twyla. Astraeus. Stelara. He had files on every member of his family. I opened the one on Weylin. Reading through the notes, I found observations on places he went, people he saw, things he purchased, plans he made.
My eyes lit up and my smile grew wider. A rush of energy thrummed through me as I read everything I could and rushed to put everything back in place before Cyrus walked through the door. If knowledge was power, Cyrus had unintentionally left me the key to mine.
Chapter 8
Acoupleof weeks later, Cyrus informed me that he wanted me to see the city. In an effort to engender in me some attachment to Dusk, he wanted me to see more of the kingdom, starting with the capital. So today we’d be heading out into it and giving me the opportunity to explore. I knew he was just trying to find ways to convince me to give in to him, manipulating me by first trying to get me to fall for the city itself. His journal entry made that clear enough, only adding fire to my already burning instincts that told me not to trust the prince—pretty face be damned.
Regardless, he said he’d be back after lunch, so I took my time finishing up my tasks. Cyrus officially handed off the responsibility of overseeing his slaves to me, which included his spies. This put me in a perfect position, as it allowed me to gain information I wouldn’t have otherwise. It also meant thateverything he learned was filtered through me. I knew I must tread carefully, however. Gaining information was one thing, but I had to prove myself before I could start spinning reports from his spies. I didn’t doubt he would be testing me, and I was sure there were spies I didn’t know about, ones that he kept completely off his records. I was playing a dangerous game, one that could see me lost to the machinations of the court, but I was left with no choice thanks to Cyrus.
My mind was spinning, thinking of the meeting I just concluded with one of said spies, so I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have been when Emmie and I managed to crash into one another.
“Old Gods, Asteria! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention, and—” Emmie began, babbling apologies.
“Emmie! I’m fine. It’s fine.” I chuckled, my eyes sweeping over her to ensure I hadn’t bumped into her too hard. “I wasn’t paying enough attention either. It happens.”
Emmie sighed, relieved. Since I began carrying out my duty under Cyrus’s command, I’d noticed the people who hadn’t blinked twice at me before had quickly become more skittish around me. The personal slaves of the royal family were seen as being at the top of the human food chain around here, and I was now one of them. It was ridiculous. Even Emmie seemed to be afraid to displease me, as I was now considered an extension of Crown Prince Cyrus.
Emmie gave me a tentative smile, which made me hopeful that she could stop seeing everything through the lens of positions and politics as the Fae did.
“How are you doing? I haven’t seen you around much. Cyrus must keep you busy.” She giggled, her eyebrows rising, but her eyes told me she was putting on a show for those around us who were walking suspiciously slow down the hall as we spoke. Sheknew very well how I felt about the situation with Cyrus. Still, my eyes nearly popped out of my head at her insinuation.
“I—well, I’m—” I stammered out, trying to land on the right response. If it had been anyone except Emmie, I would have just glared them into submission, but she was the closest person I allowed to be anything like a friend.
The very last thing I wanted was the rest of the humans thinking I was just jumping into bed with Cyrus, the man who owned us. Then again…they didn’t seem to care. The rest of the humans who wereactuallydoing such things seemed to be eating their positions and their privileges up. I had no issue with people fucking whomever they want, as long as it was consensual.
But when it came to master and slave…well, the power dynamics left things feeling distinctly...vile.
“Old Gods, no, no! Not like that.” Emmie giggled again at my fumbling response, but she reached out a hand and placed it on my forearm.
“Are you doing alright, Asteria? Really?” She asked as she looked into my eyes, and I couldn’t help casting them down to the floor. Was I? Debatable. I knew I was being treated much better than most humans. I wasn’t being forced into back breaking labor or mistreated. But I couldn’t help the feeling that I’d yet to see the true Cyrus. I’d seen glimpses of something distinctly darker underneath the charming prince routine. I knew he was manipulative, but I was sure it went much deeper than that. The glimpses were so few that I couldn’t get a handle on it, and it left me feeling off balance around him.
Despite how attractive he was, there was just something about him that sent warning bells off in my mind. I didn’t want to test how far his patience and restraint would pull before they snapped. I was fairly certain that the other shoewould eventually drop, showing me what monster truly prowled beneath his skin.
Still, I forced a smile for Emmie’s benefit. “I’m okay. How are you doing? Is Princess Daneiris treating you well?”
My eyebrows furrowed in worry. The only times I would see Princess Daneiris were at the nightly dinners the king and queen insisted on. She always seemed to be vapid and catty, but I’d also recognized there was an edge to her. One she tried to hide behind pretty smiles and dresses. She fostered an image that made her seem like nothing but a spoiled princess, one that made most overlook her as a true threat. But, unlike Cyrus, I was sure there was more going on beneath the surface.
