It was not every day that you managed to discuss murdering your future brother-in-law five minutes before your wedding and had him overhear the conversation.

  Perhaps, thought Regina with a combination of nervousness and fear, that was normal for her considering how many of her conversations seemed to involve both murder and unfortunate eavesdroppers.

  Regina braced herself for Aaron to loudly call in the guards, to be carted off for treason once more by the same man who had betrayed her in her first vision.

  As Aaron walked towards Regina, a grim expression on his face, Regina closed her eyes, bracing herself for what was coming –

  Yet when she opened them, Aaron was nowhere to be seen.

  Slowly, dread building in her heart, Regina turn around –

  Only to see Aaron gently smoothing Artem's blood-streaked hair with his fingers.

  "This," said Aaron, brows furrowing, "is not going to work."

  Regina sucked in a breath.

  Aaron took off his shirt.

  Regina stared.

  Aaron took his shirt and handed it to Artem, a wrinkle of distaste forming on his forehead.

  "You look cold," Aaron gruffly told his younger brother. "Put this on."

  As Regina continued to stare in shock, Artem just smiled widely and put on his brother's shirt, even as Aaron winced and started rubbing his fingers against his pants.

  It was all for nothing though, because five seconds later Aaron was back to trying to smooth out Artem's hair.

  It reminded Regina remarkably of a mother dog she had once seen trying to clean a very dirty puppy before the elders had killed them both.

  "Thank you," said Artem cheerfully, beaming at his brother with obvious affection. "Did you come to wish us well before the wedding?"

  "No," said Regina in dawning horror as she finally realized what was happening. "That is not why he is here."

  Aaron turned towards her for the first time, raising an eyebrow in the process.

  "That is correct, " he said with a voice flatter than her father's account books.

  "You overheard me, did you not?" said Regina, not sure why she was pushing this particular wound, but finding herself unable to stop.

  "I did," said Aaron, no indication of his thoughts in his voice.

  Regina pressed forward.

  "You have a plan," she said. "A way to avoid the inevitable if you and Artem continue."

  "That would," said Aaron mildly, "seem like a good idea."

  Regina did not claim to be the most perceptive person in the universe, but she did have both object permanence and pattern recognition.

  Based on her experiences, there was only one plan that Aaron would be offering to her and Artem.

  "Let me guess, " she said in a haze of numb exhaustion, "you plan to fake your own death and disguise yourself while escaping to a neighboring country."

  Aaron stared at her for a very long awkward moment of silence.

  "That is," Aaron said flatly, "the stupidest plan I have ever heard… and I have heard many in the past."

  Having just unwittingly insulted nearly every person in Regina's life, including his beloved brother, Aaron merrily continued.

  "Are you sure this is the woman you want to marry, Artem?" he said, one brow arched so far up his forehead it was a wonder it remained on his face.

  Regina considered it a testament to her great love for Artem that she did not proceed to beat Aaron’s arrogant arse to death with her remaining corset stays.

  It did not help that Regina had to acknowledge that in all fairness, it would have been ridiculous to discover a sixth secret plan to smuggle someone out of the country.

  After calming herself enough to go on without murder, Regina said, "Then you must be here to share some kind of plan with us, seeing as how you have not yet called the guards.”

  Aaron gave Regina a sideways look, as though staring at her head-on would challenge his sanity.

  "Oh," the Crown Prince said, sounding perturbed. "You can occasionally make sense."

  Regina rethought her plans for homicide immediately.

  Luckily, before she could get to the treason too quickly, Artem interrupted her.

  "Older brother," Artem said, his voice gentle though his eyes were steely, "you must be here to do something other than insult my most perfect and amazing little crumpet waterfall eleganza glittering gorgeous amazing queen of love and beauty."

  Regina revisited her plans and wondered whether she could ask Artem to wear a mouth-gag for the rest of his life.

  Before she could introduce this possibility as her wedding gift, Aaron went on.

  "Never," the elder prince said, looking shaken, "refer to your bride in those terms again. Artem, I have endured the prancing and the sheet-music and even the stage-plays -"

  (Regina really did not wish to know).

  "But those nicknames are a step too far."

  "Stop insulting my Regina," Artem said sweetly, so sweetly it almost did not seem calculated in the least, "and I will do as much."

  Regina's eyes went wide even as Aaron slowly, reluctantly smiled.

  Regina was not sure Aaron could ever be anything but condescending and pompous… but there was a brief moment as Aaron looked at Artem in which Regina could see how someone might want to spend more than five seconds with the crown prince.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  That was, she could see it… until Aaron opened his mouth again.

  "Ridiculous and nonsensical as your bride is," said Aaron, "she is correct. We cannot both be crown prince."

  That, Regina realized, was the crux of the matter.

  Artem needed to be king because that was the only way they could gain enough power to fend off all the hounds after them.

  After all, even if they guarded themselves against the Nevilles, there were so many other greedy and ruthless noble families that could target them.

  There was also the matter of the Sheridan family elders. If Artem was not King and she the Queen, they could still pressure Regina to do their bidding. If nothing else, they could threaten her with the lives of her parents, Henrietta, and all the other youngsters in the family.

  The only way she and Artem could ever hope to be free of such threats would be to ascend to the ultimate throne of Carcosa…

  Yet if they did, what would become of Aaron?

  In any case, as Regina looked over at Artem, she knew this decision was out of her hands.

  "I will," Artem firmly told his brother, "never sacrifice you to become King."

  Regina wondered what Artem was even saying since she was sure he had just agreed that he needed to become King to save both their lives and their loved ones.

  Did Artem somehow expect Aaron to have missed that?

  Did Artem think he could make someone as perceptive if arrogant as Aaron believe that Artem planned to flee the country, especially since it was not an option for Artem?

  Yet miraculously, it seemed that Aaron did believe that Artem planned to cede the throne.

  "You will never," said Aaron flatly, "be able to escape factions trying to make you King now. Fleeing the country-"

  "No," Regina snapped.

  Aaron gave her a dirty look.

  "As I was saying," he continued, "fleeing the country is not an option."

  It was the most sensible thing Regina had heard anyone say all day… until Aaron opened his mouth again.

  "So I changed my name to Erin," said Aaron.

  Regina and Artem stared at him.

  "Your name," said Artem slowly, "is Aaron."

  Aaron shook his head and then spoke very slowly. "I changed my name to Erin. E. R. I. N.”

  Regina had not experienced problems with spelling since she was a young child… but there was apparently a first time for everything.

  “I changed my name this morning,” Aaron – no, Erin blandly continued, “in front of every single noble gathered to attend your wedding. It would have been impossible to gather the required number of witnesses otherwise."

  Yet if the… former (?) Crown Prince had changed his name from one that began with the Royal A to one that began with an undistinguished E, that meant…

  Artem was immediately in front of his brother, grasping his shoulder so tightly that Regina was sure it would leave bruises.

  "Are you mad?!" Artem hissed, no trace of the charming goldfish in his genuine fury. "If you changed your name to one that does not begin with an A, you can never be King! Father will-"

  "Father," said Erin clearly, staring straight into Artem's eyes, "can go shove a rusty metal stake up his –"

  That was when Regina decided she had enough of family drama, of life, and of the world in general.

  She just wanted to get married.

  "Oh look," said Regina, exhausted by everyone in the entire universe, "they are playing our wedding march music. Time to go be wed, dearest."

  The door to the wedding hall was so close.

  Regina could see it.

  She could even hear the music as she stared at the door to the Alpin hall.

  Just a few steps and her long nightmare of a morning would finally be over.

  "That is an excellent idea," said Aaron, distracting Regina from her door-related fantasies.

  "We are not finished-" Artem snarled.

  That was when the last threads of Regina’s sanity snapped.

  "Do you," Regina asked Artem, pulling out her final piece of blood-bedamned skill out of sheer frustration, "not want to marry me?!"

  Artem instantly went from looking ready to take on the whole of Carcosa to terrified.

  "O-of course I do!" Artem cried in genuine panic. "I want nothing more, my beloved sea urchin falcon darling cupcake of chaos!"

  "Then let us go," said Regina, wisely ignoring everything that came after ‘I do,’ "and get married before something else comes to interrupt us!"

  Knowing her luck, she would next find a towering behemoth of a feet fish waiting to reveal the arcane secrets of magic.

  Regina just wanted to get out of this blood-cursed hallway and be wed before that time.

  "That would be a good idea," said Erin, smiling in a way that made Regina distinctly uncomfortable. "Go on, Artem. You have work to do beforehand and I have a few final... blessings to share with my future sister."

  Artem’s eyes went wide, even as he did not move.

  Unfortunately, Regina knew just what she had to do.

  "Go," said Regina, finding some last piece of courage in her heart. "Greet our guests and assure them all is well. Artem, I will join you soon."

  So, with one last fleeting and anxious smile, Artem left Regina to speak with his older brother.

  As soon as Artem was gone, Erin settled back on his heels and glared at Regina again.

  “I can already foresee,” Regina said, “that I am going to enjoy your… blessings.”

  “Then you foresee the future about as well as you can tie corsets,” Erin snapped. “Do you not realize that you have invited disaster to Carcosa, seeing as how my brother is utterly unsuited to be King and you would – if anything – make for an even worse Queen?”

  The worst part was that Regina could not entirely disagree, especially the part about her own suitability to rule a country.

  Her family had never prepared her to rule anything beyond a small group of villages or perhaps a modestly sized city or two. She knew how to be a ruling lady to a baron or a marquess or perhaps even a duke –

  Yet she had no idea how to be queen.

  Even worse, Regina knew, was the fact that she only wanted to be queen to save herself, Artem, and her own family.

  If – no, at this point, when she became Carcosa’s next queen, she would take on a burden she had no real training for…

  Even as she needed to support an equally unprepared Artem to the best of her abilities.

  Even as Regina wavered from this hard truth, Erin’s next words slashed at her.

  "Unfortunately," said Erin, "your rash and ridiculous actions have made it impossible for my little brother to survive unless he becomes King, so I have done everything in my power to give you a stable beginning together."

  Regina stared at him.

  “I have already stepped down from my position as Crown Prince,” he quietly said, “by changing my name in front of the most powerful nobles in the country. Even if the King wished to stop me or to eliminate Artem, his hands are now tied. So my brother will be King, you will be his Queen, and if you hurt him in any way while pursuing power…”

  Erin’s eyes somehow reminded Regina all too much of the Queen’s, for all that they had no tie of blood.

  “You had better hope,” Erin said with no mercy or kindness, “that assassins kill you before I do.”

  It had been a very long day.

  It had been an even longer six months.

  Thus, Regina firmly decided she was tired of Aaron – er – Erin’s threats when she would never do anything to harm her beloved… and future king.

  "If you," said Regina, meaning every word with all her heart. "had married my sister, I would have killed you in the first week."

  The two of them exchanged a look of complete mutual understanding.

  Then, with a simultaneous nod, Erin started walking back to the audience in the wedding hall…

  And Regina finally walked towards the future of her own choosing.

  and an insufferable jerk to Regina. She is really lucky she jumped ship for Artem, even with all the madness that came about later on.