Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 284: Violet: A Message

23 September, 1348. Magdaline Castle, Islia

She was going to lie with him.

Violet had decided she was going to lie with Prince Leo and give him her virtue. She’d play her trump card and offer him the one thing Ilse wouldn’t.

She needed to break the stalemate she currently found herself in. Because every day that passed made it more clear how badly she needed to change the balance of power between her and the prince.

He’d summoned her to his apartments two more times in the past fortnight. It was clear he was arranging trysts with her because Violet was willing to perform acts that other women, except the very humble, would balk at doing.

In public though, she didn’t seem to exist for Prince Leo. He didn’t dance with her, didn’t talk to her, merely nodded and kept walking when their paths crossed.

At first, Violet told herself he was being considerate and doing his utmost to protect her reputation. Now however, she suspected it was because she held no interest for him outside his presence chamber.

Ilse did, of course.

Violet feared that without intending to, the Thierre sisters had fallen into a pattern where between the two of them, all of the prince’s needs were being fulfilled.

One sister existed in the shadows, there to sate his lusts in secret.

The other sister existed in the bright light of day, because she was for romance. She was for dancing and companionship and revelling in her presence. Not to mention, for showering with costly trinkets.

Violet sure as hell knew which role she’d prefer, if she had the choice. But the choice wasn’t in her hands.

It was the evening of the festival of Saint Pio, when she decided that she needed lie with the prince. Violet had spent most of the evening watching as Ilse whirled around the banquet hall in a new gown made from the most exquisite rose coloured silk. The fabric had been another gift from the prince, along with a strand of creamy pearls.

My sister is gowned and fawned upon like a princess. While the only thing I have to show for my efforts is an ache in my jaw again, Violet fumed. Where are my silk and pearls? I’m working just as hard at her, if not harder!

She refused to just keep sharing Prince Leo with Ilse. She needed, and she deserved, his undivided attention, for a while at least. She knew she could reap longer lasting benefits than just gowns and a few pretty trinkets.

Violet was well aware the court would be setting off from Magdaline Castle in a little over a week and relocating to Westerhaven Palace for the colder months. She’d been told the journey would take a number of days, during which the court would spend their nights at various manors along the route south.

This break in the usual routine would mean there would be opportunity to share time alone with Prince Leo, without being discovered.

In fact, it was said that the spring and autumn progresses were the days of greatest debauchery at court, with the changing sleeping accommodation being used by many courtiers to jump from bed to bed.

So that night, while her sister slept and probably dreamed of being romanced by her handsome prince, Violet lay in bed and planned.

She needed to get a message to Leo before the progress got underway. That way, he could make arrangements ahead of time for the two of them to meet. He’d likely be familiar with the layout of at least a couple of the manor houses the court would visit. More importantly, Violet knew he’d be assigned a fine bedchamber at each stop.

But how to get a message to him? She was reluctant to send a note with his page, who she’d since learned was named Alexei. Firstly, she feared it falling into the wrong hands.

Secondly, she was ashamed of her ability to scrawl a note that wouldn’t have Prince Leo laughing at her terrible writing skills. Thanks to her parents, she was barely literate.

If the prince would just dance with her or walk with her even once, she could tell him she was offering herself to him. She knew that would pique his interest, especially if Ilse was still holding him at arm’s length.

But he didn’t. Not the next night or the one that followed. Whenever Violet tried to make eye contact, the bastard would stare right through her.

What was she supposed to do?

Violet would lay awake every night, her panic growing as the date for the court’s departure grew steadily closer.

She’d have to use Alexei to get a worded message to Leo.

That night, Violet continued wrestling with her thoughts while Ilse slept at her side. Could she really do it? Could she really proposition the prince so boldly, having seen how smitten her own sister had become with him?

Then she remembered seeing Ilse and Leo over the last couple of months. In the banquet hall, practicing archery together, sitting in the gardens. Wherever they went, even a blind man could see how their bond was strengthening more and more as they spent time together.

Violet would never have expected that two people she considered so unintelligent, could chat and laugh together so enthusiastically.

That’s because he likes Ilse, her mind’s little voice taunted her. He genuinely likes her for her warmth and sweetness. Yes, the prince can feel lust for you and enjoys seeing you on your knees for him. What man wouldn’t enjoy such a sight?

But he doesn’t necessarily like you, Violet.

A fear so stark, so deep suddenly struck her like a vicious blow to the chest. For a moment, it felt like she couldn’t suck enough air into her lungs.

Leo was treating Violet like a common whore. But he was treating Ilse like a beloved.

A beloved...or a wife?

Leo couldn’t be courting her twin, could he? Yes, everyone knew he needed a wife and was expected to choose an Islian bride because there were no suitable foreign princesses.

But he wasn’t seriously considering marrying the beautiful, charming daughter of a penniless duke, was he?

Oh my lord, maybe he was.

Maybe Ilse had bewitched Prince Leo the way she’d bewitched countless others in her life. And now the man saw her as a lady who could stand by his side.

Without even trying to make it happen, Ilse could end up not only marrying into one of the richest dynasties on the continent, but also find herself the Crown Princess of Islia.

Without even trying, Ilse would get everything in life and Violet would find nothing left for her. Yet again.

Violet felt her throat closing up. If her worst nightmare came true, how could she ever compete with her sister as a future queen?

She may as well throw herself down one of the castle wells, for all that anyone would care what became of her then.

She had to proposition the prince. She had no choice.

- - -

Violet found Alexei in one of the gardens the following morning, loitering near the Bellevue Pavillion. With a quick sideways glance, she signaled to him that she wanted a word with him. The lad duly lingered nearby while Violet patiently bid her time for an opportunity to speak with him.

She continued keeping the queen company, alongside the other ladies in the pavilion. Queen Celia was in a pleasant mood, listening to one of the women strum a harp.

Finally, Violet was able to slip away when all the ladies were tasked with gathering the very last of the summer blooms to decorate the queen’s collection of priceless vases. She strolled past the page leaning against a tree. Without ever looking at him, she whispered instructions.

"I need to get an urgent message to your master, do you understand?"

Alexei nodded, pushing his wispy hair out of his eyes.

"Tell Prince Leo that Lady Violet Thierre requests a dance with him after dinner tonight. She has the most delicious offer to make him." she said very softly.

The page looked nonplussed. "That’s all? It hardly sounds urgent, my lady. Is there really nothing else you want me to tell His Highness?"

Violet bristled and nearly snapped at the boy for his rude response. Then she paused. Leo must get dozens of messages a day, from courtiers constantly asking him for things or from sycophants trying to get on his good side. Why should he listen to her message above all the others?

She finally glanced at Alexei’s young face. She was going to have to trust him. "Very well. You may tell you master that everything I’ve held back from him, I’m now offering on a platter of gold. I’m at his disposal, his for the taking. He just needs to dance with me tonight so we can make arrangements. Do you understand the message you must share?"

Alexei nodded.