I Taught Lady Marina Manners

Marina came the next morning.

Loudly.

I woke to shouting beyond my door and opened it with my hair loose, eyes half-shut, and patience already dead.

“Maya,” I murmured, “what is this noise?”

Maya bowed.

“This woman claims she must see Your Highness. I arrived only yesterday and did not recognize her, so I refused entry.”

This woman.

Beautiful.

I looked past her.

Marina stood in the courtyard, dressed like a queen and behaving like a marketplace rooster.

Her face twisted when she saw me.

“You still dare sleep this late?”

I yawned.

“Lady Marina, disturbing someone’s rest at dawn is poor breeding.”

Her eyes flashed.

“Do not think that just because Adrian showed you a little pity, you can still dream of becoming queen.”

Ah.

So that was today’s performance.

I leaned against the doorframe.

“My title as Princess Selene does not come from Adrian’s pity.”

Her face stiffened.

“Without him, what are you?”

“A daughter raised by Queen Mother Helena,” I said. “A royal princess recognized by court decree. Tell me, without Adrian’s favor, what are you?”

She went pale with fury.

“I am the future queen.”

I laughed.

Softly.

That made it worse.

“Maya.”

My guard stepped forward.

“Yes, Princess.”

“If House Holt failed to teach Lady Marina palace manners, we will help.”

Marina took a step back.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Publicly claiming a crown you do not possess,” I said, “is treasonous arrogance.”

I tilted my head.

“Slap her.”

Maya moved.

The first strike cracked through the courtyard.

Marina screamed.

The second came before she could breathe.

By the fifth, her cheeks had swollen.

“You will regret this!” she shrieked.

“Add five.”

Maya smiled.

I turned and went back inside.

Each slap sounded like rain after drought.

Was it petty?

Yes.

Was it satisfying?

Deeply.

An hour later, Adrian arrived furious.

I was back in bed, wrapped in blankets, looking as if I had just woken.

“Selene,” he said, “Marina says you struck her.”

I rubbed my eyes.

“I have not left my chamber.”

He stared.

I called, “Maya.”

Maya entered and knelt.

“Did you strike Lady Marina?”

Maya looked perfectly confused.

“Your Highness, I do not know Lady Marina. I only entered palace service yesterday.”

Adrian’s face darkened.

He knew one of us lied.

He could not prove which.

I lowered my head.

“I know His Majesty loves Lady Marina. But must she accuse me again so soon after I return? Was three years in the desert not lesson enough?”

Silence.

There.

Not too much.

Just enough.

Adrian left without another word.

That afternoon in the imperial garden, Marina saw me again.

Her face looked remarkably like a boiled pig’s head.

I leaned toward Maya.

“Does she not resemble the great boar Azar keeps in the southern pens?”

Maya examined her work.

“A little.”

Marina stormed over.

“What did you say to Adrian? Why did he believe you?”

I smiled.

“It seems the lesson did not take.”

She stopped dead.

Then turned and fled.

I watched her run, silk skirts flapping.

Three years ago, I would have feared her.

Now?

She was only noisy.

The true danger in this palace wore a crown.