Regina had never planned to have a conversation with Artem about treason.
It did not escape her that, while her initial vision had involved her being falsely accused of treason, her only path to current survival might come through actual treason.
Thinking of her feelings towards the King and, frankly, Prince Aaron, Regina could not bring herself to feel anything but delight at the thought of their destruction. After all, Prince Aaron was the cause of most of Regina’s misery thanks to her vision of his coldblooded destruction of her life as his fiancee.
Meanwhile, though Regina had never even set eyes on the King, she wanted nothing more than to tear his head from his neck after hearing of how he had been the main cause of Artem’s lifelong misery.
Unfortunately, Regina suspected that Artem had better feelings for his family than she did.
“My father will be taken care of shortly,” said Artem soothingly.
Or perhaps not.
“I assume,” said Regina, her head swimming, “that you do not mean that he will be taken care of on a long, relaxing vacation of some kind.”
“Now that,” said Artem, his smile growing so wide it was nearly blinding, “is the kind of brilliant idea I would expect from my darling falcon.”
It seemed, thought Regina, starting to resign herself to the inevitable, that treason was in her blood.
Even so, though Artem was alarmingly ready to apparently overthrow the other men of his immediate family, Regina wanted to make sure that this was of his free will.
There was also the problem of something being used to control both Artem and his mother and Regina was unsure of what would happen should Artem try to actively harm his father or brother.
“If you,” Regina haltingly said, “take… care of your father and take on the role of the crown prince from your brother, you will be the next King. Artem, that would mean that you will then take on the burden of all of Carcosa. While it would be sweet to shut the mouths of those who laughed at you all these years…”
Artem’s gaze was strangely steady as he looked at her, as though he had calculated this all already.
Stumbling, Regina murmured, “Is that truly the life you want to lead?”
For a moment, Artem went still – as still as one of the beautiful golden statues that the Alpins kept in their palace as a sign of their greatness and wealth.
Then, with slow and deliberate moments, Artem removed his somewhat ragged shirt from his body… only to place it on Regina instead.
“You seem,” Artem said gently, “a little cold, darling.”
Regina was bruised, nearly naked, and covered in blood and dust.
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She was so many more things than cold, but somehow Artem, shirtless and equally bruised, moved her close to tears once more.
Trying to get herself back under control, Regina nuzzled the edge of Artem’s shirt and closed her eyes.
The shirt smelled distinctly of Artem – a blend of crushed flowers and metallic powders that was so inexplicably him.
Feeling oddly refreshed, Regina opened her eyes and met Artem’s firm gaze once more.
Then Artem gave Regina a very slow and very sweet smile before he said, “Darling, if we do not become the ones with power, we will die. Do you not know this already?”
Regina knew that a part of her would always mourn the fluffy dandelion she had thought she was marrying… but this newfound side of Artem did make some things much easier to handle.
“Yes,” said Regina steadily, “we will die. However, will you and your mother not die if you harm the King or your brother?”
“Ah,” said Artem, his eyes brightening as if he was delighted by her question. “You do know, do you not, that there is no such thing as oath magic?”
Regina was utterly confused. “Then are you not bound by the King’s will?”
“Oh, we are bound,” said Artem, still in that cheerful voice. “However the nature of the binding means that we have… options that a magical oath could not provide. You say that we cannot harm the King and that is mostly true.”
He smiled and it was nearly the happiest Regina had ever seen him.
“We cannot harm him… directly,” said Artem in a near purr.
He smiled even wider. “Or rather my mother cannot harm the King directly. I can do whatever I wish… though the King does not yet know that.”
Regina looked at the dark resolve underneath Artem’s smile and decided that the King deserved whatever Artem had planned.
However, it did not escape her that he had not once mentioned Aaron.
“My older sister Ava,” said Regina haltingly, “was murdered by my paternal grandfather because my father dared to beg for her life.”
Artem froze, his smile vanishing in a mixture of grief and shock.
“Your grandfather,” he said, in a voice so even it was terrifying. “One of the elders attending our wedding?”
Regina nodded shakily, unable to talk any further about that monster.
Then, gathering herself, Regina continued.
“Ava’s death destroyed the lives of my family,” said Regina, determined to push forward, to no longer let the poison sit unnoticed. “It destroyed my life for many years afterwards. My sister was strange and kind and a little ridiculous and even though I knew she could not shield me from the world forever, I loved her very much. When she died, my parents seemed to just… stop loving me and for a very long time, I did not know why. All I could do was try to… try to avoid dying the way she did, even though that fate seemed inescapable at times. So I would not-”
Artem once again took Regina’s hand in his own, giving her the strength to continue.
“So I would not,” she quietly finished, “make you feel that way for a brother I know you love.”
Artem stared at Regina in what appeared to be complete bafflement.
“What do you mean?” he said finally, looking utterly lost.
“Only one Alpin heir can be the crown prince,” said Regina in complete frustration. “How do you mean to-”
“That,” said a voice from behind Regina, “is a problem easily solved… my dear sister-in-law.”
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