Playing with Fire

"I think it's time we left you back to your work, my King." Carina purred softly, leaning across to press a kiss to Sven's cheek. Totally oblivious to the conversation several floors below them, Carina was in total bliss. How pitiful it was that she was thinking just how well and perfect her life was in that moment. She couldn't imagine what could happen that would break the looking glass that she had so clearly stepped through.

She reached out to gently take Lorcan from Sven's arms, cooing and shushing the babe quietly as he began to stir with a sneeze and discontented gurgles. "I'm sure Natalia will be back soon and I wouldn't want her to think I was distracting you from your work when there's clearly so much to be done." She continued, walking around the coffee table to stand in the centre of the room with their son in her arms.

Once she had quietened the baby, Carina looked up and smiled, watching her husband for a moment. She truly was becoming soppy, enjoying such moments in which she could just take him in and appreciate the luck that had fallen onto her. Onto them.

"You know, I do believe your little fire kingdom is beginning to melt your ice queen, dear sir." She teased finally, making joke of her behaviour, an automatic reaction to her showing more of her emotion than she was used to. Carina was fully aware that she promised to be better at being open and the like, however, old habits died hard. Years of cool composure wouldn't melt in a few months; it would take time and to Carina, she believed they had plenty of it. In time, she would learn to show her emotions without worrying about being ridiculed or punished.

Keeping Lorcan held close to her chest with one arm, Carina reached out with the other to brush her fingers through the side of his fiery locks, the grin on her face turning into a tender smile, "See you for dinner? Or if I don't, please make sure you eat... it's important you do."
 
  • Like
Reactions: potassiumboron
His wife's insistence that he eat, that he take of himself and not neglect his needs in favour of work that could wait, only made Sven smile in acknowledgement of how much she cared for him. He couldn't exactly deny that he was being stern and even unfair on himself when he had every right to take a few days off from working as hard as he was; people in his kingdom would surely understand that as a new father, he was tired and overcome with the emotions of having a baby.

He didn't want to have to let them down and fall behind on his work even if a) the kingdom would understand and b) he had support around him to help him cope. It was Carina's insistence and her earlier firmness on the subject that left him nodding in agreement to dinner. He had planned to simply work in his office and eat as he sorted through papers, but disrupting his routine and exhausting himself more than the sleep-deprived state he was currently at just wasn't something he would advise anyone else do, so he knew it was advice he had to now follow himself.

Besides, he enjoyed the dinners with Carina. Those were the moments where he recalled most vividly falling in love with her as they conversed over a meal, at first forcing it but their words becoming more natural and more meaningful over time. He didn't want to ruin what had become one of his favourite times of the day because of work; that wasn't the man or husband he wanted to be.

And so he attended the dinner as he ordinarily would, before opting to just spending the rest of that day relaxing. He had a glass of wine beside the fireplace, retreating to the bedroom for a hot bath before slipping under the covers a little earlier than normal in order to catch up on his sleep before Lorcan inevitably woke in the night or early hours of the morning for a feed. Until then, Sven was content to rest close to Carina in their bed, sleeping peacefully and undisturbed until Lorcan decided to wake.

...He would never imagine that sleep being disturbed by anything other than his son, especially not his former best friend and former lover plotting his demise that very night.

Having spent the entire day acting as though everything was normal, like nothing out of the ordinary was going to occur, Lauren was admittedly starting to grow more and more nervous as she took each step towards the royal couple's quarters. She had psyched herself up as much as she could, convinced herself that success was guaranteed and therefore she had no reason to feel anything other than confident, but walking towards the bedroom, knowing that the weapon in her hand was to be plunged into Carina's chest... how could she not feel nervous?

She clutched the handle of the blade tightly as she came to a stop outside the door to collect her breath, her head low and eyes glued to the darkness beneath her feet in the desperate attempt to grab the inner strength she needed to see the next moment through; the moment that would change her life no matter if the outcome was success or failure. When she stepped into the room, her life was going to change.

She just had to hope that it would go in her favour.

"...Are you ready?" She asked under her breath, daring a glance up at Thorin as she managed to work out his features from within the darkness. "We... We can't back out now. On three, we go in, okay? No turning back."
 
Carina had prepared for bed as she normally would, with a few exceptions now that Lorcan was a part of their lives. After feeding and burping their child, the young mother bathed Lorcan in warm, soapy water with a soft sponge. All the while she murmured and whispered warm compliments, cooing to him as he squirmed on occasion. From there, she dried him carefully with a fluffy towel and changed him for bed, singing an Ignisian lullaby that she had learned at Sven's request.

Then it was time for her own bath, taken once Sven had had his since she had been busy settling their son to sleep. She was quick, eager to get into bed and enjoy the comfort of her husband back at her side. She had curled up at his side, tangling her legs between his as she usually did and rested a hand on his chest.

Lorcan slumbered peacefully in the crib beside her side of the bed, stomach full and tenderly swaddled in his blankets, little gloves on his hands to avoid him scratching at his own face.

It didn't take long for Carina to fall asleep, knowing that her son was happy and well-fed, while she nestled close to her husband, with whom she felt she could face anything with.

How cruel it was for that to be her last thought before falling asleep, unaware of what was about to happen.


"Three...two... one." Thorin breathed as his hand pushed down on the handle and opened the door. It was dark, understandably, but it did make things slightly more difficult as they were unable to see. Neither of them had been in this room before either, so it wasn't as if they could go on muscle memory alone.

Squinting through the darkness, the blade twirled in Thorin's hand, a habit from his experiences with weaponry and slowly progressing towards the enemy. A fidget made to keep his hands busy. Just able to make out the furniture, and more importantly the bed, the guard stalked around the foot of it to the figure he believed to be Sven.

Everything seemed to be going so perfectly, it was dead silent, and no guards were chasing them down into the room. This was it. It was truly going to happen.

Thorin's heart pounded furiously, glee beginning to gleam in his eyes as his confidence grew. They were truly going to get their revenge, fate was going to be kind. Something in this universe wanted this to happen, and so it was.

However, as Thorin was just about to round the bottom of the bed to walk up Sven's side, Lorcan began to fuss.

The former Head Guard froze, blade suspended mid-air and lingering there in the sudden, cold fear that the baby's snuffling created within him. His head had snapped toward the noise, eyes wild and wide. He didn't dare move, as if that would keep the baby from releasing the piercing cries he had heard before.

It didn't work.

Lorcan began to cry.

As a result, Carina mumbled groggily, and Thorin looked back sharply to see the Queen roll away from Sven and onto her other side. Carina's eyes were still closed, but a hand raised to rub them open.

"Lauren-- what--" Carina breathed, brow furrowing as she propped herself up on her one elbow slowly, the adrenaline not yet kicked in to work off the sleep.

Thorin reaffirmed his grip on the blade, teeth gritting, "Now, Lauren!" He hissed, stumbling forward in his haste now to get the job done. However, in his panic of being caught, the former guard did not land his blow correctly. The blade came down to pierce the outer side of Sven's thigh, to retract and move higher again, but still not in the right place. The side of his abdomen, this time. Another attempt lead to his arm being the victim. By this point, Thorin was getting frantic.

A copper, metallic scent stained the air, jolting Carina from her sleepy stupor. "Sven!" She screamed, reaching out a hand to send a shard of ice towards the blade coming down a fourth time. A curse broke through the air as the blade clattered somewhere, unseen in the darkness, and Carina turned to Lauren.

Why the maid hadn't tried anything while Carina was distracted by her husband's injuries was unknown to the young queen, however, she didn't care to find out.

Lorcan's cries had now turned to yells, high-pitched screams, which drove Carina with motherly instinct to protect her son. The ice queen propelled herself out of her bed and wrapped a hand around the maid's throat, driving her backwards until she had her former friend pinned to the wall. Betrayal and pain and anger seethed within her veins, causing the hand on Lauren's skin to begin to bite with cold, the tips of her fingers turning a white-blue.

"Why?" She whispered, vision becoming blurry and watered, "You were supposed to run. You were supposed to start anew. You told me that." The hand tightened around the maid's throat, a tear dripping down her cheek.

However, Carina found herself in capable of dealing the final blow to see the end of her former friend. The companionship Lauren had provided her, the confidence and warmth that she had experienced from the maid when no one else gave it to her began to haunt Carina. It wasn't possible. She couldn't do what undoubtedly needed to be done. Just as she hadn't told Sven about Lauren's involvement to ensure she wasn't killed, Carina knew she was incapable of killing her friend now.

"Go." Carina used her grip on Lauren's throat to shove the girl towards the door, "Go. Leave. Run."
 
The moment the door swung open and the maid headed into the room to commit the deed she had long planned and prepared for, Lauren wanted to desperately believe that everything would work out for the best but she had the distinct feeling that things were going to downhill fast.

The lack of confidence that hit her was mostly out of fear that they were being too rash, that there were better ways of killing the two that could give them more space from suspicion. Poison, perhaps, was a more discrete method of getting their revenge, with the chefs inevitably placed for blame above anyone else. Yet, there was no backtracking and insisting they be more subtle when Thorin was now stood over Sven with the dagger in hand.

Even then, Lauren wasn't sure he would be able to go through with it. She had carefully made her way to Carina's side of the bed with her own blade in hand and yet found herself frozen beside it. The thought of plunging the weapon into Carina's chest, watching her struggle to comprehend what was happening as she bled out... the thought of it horrified Lauren. She knew it was something she had to do, especially with Thorin present expecting her to hold up her end of their plan, but it wasn't easy, far from it; she would have to push herself to commit the act.

So glancing up and making out Thorin's confidence as he prepared to murder his former best friend, seeing that glint in his eyes in preparation for the glory he hoped would be bestowed upon him in time... it was just as horrifying to the maid who felt no such joy in the act. She even winced and clenched her eyes shut as she saw the dagger raised in the air, bracing herself for the inevitable sound of it tearing through Sven's skin--

Though Lorcan awoke to prevent the decisive blow, the baby's piercing scream sending chills through the maid who stumbled back from Carina in her panic in spite of Thorin's insistence that she use the opportunity in all its chaos to lunge at the young Queen. But she couldn't. Her bottle and her confidence had disappeared the moment Carina awoke, staring in a mixture of horror and guilt at her former friend as she stirred to the horror being committed around her.

Namely the attack on Sven, whose panic from the first stab transitioned into immediate pain at the second, which, even if it wasn't in his heart nor enough to cut a major artery, still impacted him; the blow to the abdomen was agonising and the stab to the arm was terrifying, considering he had raised it to prevent an attack to the face and only just managed to succeed in that endeavour. Even amongst the injuries, even with the smell of his own blood leaking onto the bedsheet beneath him, the King attempted to climb out of bed to protect both his wife and newborn son. He didn't even manage to fully comprehend who was doing the attacking because it didn't matter at the moment; not with his family's lives at stake.

Lauren's inability to do anything but stand lifelessly to the spot allowed her to witness the scene unfold before her eyes. She watched Carina launch onto the offensive, making short work of Thorin before turning her attention to the maid that still tightly held the blade in hand. Her eyes took in Lorcan in his bedside crib, his cries loud as Sven attempted to make his way over to him, only to collapse on the floor incapable of pulling himself along further when the dagger had delved deeper into his abdomen than he first thought it had.

"I... I didn't... I couldn't run. You-- had to pay," came the mumbled response from the woman who seemed to barely even reply to the hold around her throat. Carina's anger was obvious, the fury radiating from her in waves, but Lauren was detached from it entirely, her eyes glazed over and focused entirely on seeking out Thorin's body in the darkness... though the lack of movement or noise from him told her all she needed to know about his state.

The emotion didn't quite break through in all the chaos, the only indication of it being the tears building in her eyes that she had no choice but to let fall.

"I'm sorry," she eventually whispered, away such an apology would mean absolutely nothing given the circumstances but she had nothing else to say. She assumed her life was at its end, incapable of envisioning a scenario where she would be spared - though Carina proved herself to be unpredictable as she pushed the maid to the door and gave her her orders. The suddenness of it, as unexpected as it was, caused Lauren to freeze as if it was some sort of twisted joke, eyeing the door cautiously and then Carina once more. But she wasn't prepared to wait around to hear if it was a joke or not, her senses returning to her as she nodded once, panicked and frantic, and fled from the horror she had had a hand in creating.
 
The apology landed flatly on Carina's ears, as the young queen didn't much care for it. In that moment, she realised what was happening. The attack had continued without her even knowing, she hadn't told Sven about Thorin and Lauren's involvement, and now that had come back to haunt her. So naïve she had been to believe Lauren. But perhaps that was because she wanted to believe the maid. She wanted to believe her former friend wanted a new life elsewhere with a man she had come to love. Perhaps Carina had reflected her own wants onto Lauren, and saw only what she wanted to see.

As the door remained open after Lauren's departure, Carina felt like time had slowed. She was uncertain as to what to look after first, in the chaos that had descended upon them. Lorcan continued to scream bloody murder (no pun intended) in his crib, but Sven laid wounded and covered in his own blood beside it.

Motherly instinct told her to soothe her child, but her selfish heart wanted to ensure her husband's safety.

Turning, Carina stumbled over to where Sven laid, a quick glimpse in Lorcan's direction informing her that the babe held no wounds of his own.

"Somebody help us! Get help! Please!" Carian screamed desperately, kneeling at Sven's side as she looked at the wounds. Tears came fast and steady now, seeing the state her love was in. Her hands raised, shaking as they hovered in the air before gently resting over the largest wound, the one on his abdomen.

She applied pressure, soft whimpers of fear escaping her as she kept her eyes firmly on him, not daring to look away, "S-Sven, keep-- keep your eyes open, okay? L-Look at me, just keep looking at me." She instructed, voice thick as her mind raced with what she could potentially do to help him.

Her head turned abruptly, "Someone! Get the doctor!" She yelled again frantically. She barely felt any relief as a guard finally appeared at the door, his eyes widening with the sight before him. "Don't just fucking stand there! Wake whoever you need to wake! Get the doctor! Fucking move!" Carina instructed harshly.

The guard nodded, stumbling out of the doorway to race down the hall. Lorcan continued to cry.

Carina looked back to Sven, a bloodied hand reaching to cup his cheek, "I-- I'm going to use s-some ice, okay? T-To slow the bleeding." She didn't dare tell him to trust her, not after tonight. She had ruined all of that between them now.

The hand over the main wound grew cold, and soon that ice began to tentatively creep into Sven's skin, but keeping to the surface to restrict the blood cells there. "Eyes open, my love. Please, please keep them open."
 
If there was any genuine belief in Sven's mind that he could possibly be nearing death, he would have remained on the floor of his bedroom, ensuring he didn't make any sudden movements that might cause him to bleed out more. However, whether it was delusion or confidence, he didn't feel like he was on his death bed. The physical pain was agonising and the emotional pain hurt more than a thousand daggers to the chest could, but he didn't believe for one second that this was it for him. He wasn't aware where he had been stabbed or how deep the blow to the abdomen had been, but he did knew that this wasn't the end of his life; that he had far more to give to his kingdom and to his son.

He wasn't going to lay down and accept defeat when he had far too much to live for.

Carina would have ordinarily been part of that desire that left him (albeit weakly) pushing aside her desperate attempts to calm and support him, but even amongst all of the chaos that had rained down upon them, Sven was quick to work out what had happened. His best friend had saw fit to plot against him, seek to end his life without regret or remorse if the ferocity of his attack was anything to go by... and he had no reason to assume Carina was innocent of it.

How could she be when she had admitted to plotting such a plan to his face? Even in all of the pain coursing through him, the anguish that tore at his heart, he recognised the monumental coincidence at play - or he would deem it a coincidence if he didn't believe she was a part of this, which he reluctantly did.

He had no other option but to believe she was part of the plot; that her promises that such plans had been left in the dark were merely a cloak for Thorin and Lauren to act out the plan without notice or suspicion.

"G-Get your hands off me, d-don't-- don't touch me," he grunted as he made an effort to at least sit up from the ground. The pressure it placed onto the stab wound was immense and caused a gushing of blood to expel out from the wound, through the fingers of the hand he placed desperately against it to slow the inevitable bleeding down a little. He could hardly look the woman in the eye as he took a deep breath in and stumbled to his feet, breath as shaky as his words were as, perhaps for one of the first times in his life, he genuinely felt... cold. His fingertips felt like ice, his complexion pale as though he had been stood out in the snow of Eira, but the growing dizziness and consistent waves of pain wouldn't deter him from his next course of action, the sound of Thorin's breath in the darkness reminding him of what he needed to do.

Killing his best friend, someone who had been his brother for years, would be something the King would perhaps cry over in the coming hours, but right now, it was the only action he could take after witnessing the murderous glint in Thorin's eyes. The man wouldn't rest until Sven was dead, until those he loved were hurt... unless he died first.

One hand held desperately onto the nearby armchair for support and steadiness as the other raised out into the darkness. It took every ounce of energy he had left within him to allow flames to engulf his hand, the light illuminating the bloodiness of the scene around him as his eyes scoured the black for sight of his friend. Once landing on his body, there wasn't even a second of hesitation as he flicked his fingers with ease. The light from the flames that quickly encompassed Thorin danced across Sven's expression which remained indistinguishable, the only alteration being a faint grimace of pain as he sank down into the armchair against his will, his body demanding he take a rest after such an expulsion of his energy.

"...I am not your fucking love. I am not your anything. Y-You-- You lied to me, m-manipulated me, I... I would be impressed if I wasn't s-so--" He winced again, turning his face back to the flames as the screams of his best friend died down as his life ebbed away. Focusing on keeping conscious even if the desire to close his eyes and drift into unconsciousness was strong, he shakily breathed out and lifted his head to maintain some dignity, even in such a weakened state.

"You will pay f-for your deceit and your lies-- a-and your-- cruelty, C-Carina. I trusted you but-- but you're just like the rest of them."
 
  • Spicy
Reactions: Viverescribere
"Sven..."

Her voice was small, quiet. Carina knew this reaction would undoubtedly be coming but that didn't make her any more prepared for it. For a brief moment, she selfishly wished she had kept Lauren in the room, so she could force the maid to tell him the truth. However, her one chance, her one opportunity, to prove that she truly had no part in the continued plot was gone. Besides, she wasn't even certain if that would even matter, since she still withheld the full truth.

She continued to kneel on the floor, nightdress splashed with his blood. Her hands, also stained red, rested pitifully in her lap.

Lorcan's cries had diminished into whimpers and whining gurgles now that the loud noises had disappeared. Carina wanted nothing more than to check on their son, but didn't dare move, not after what Sven had just done to Thorin. She feared she would be next with the coldness and stiffness to his posture.

Her heart ached as he sat in the armchair, recognising immediately what he was doing. Composing himself, maintaining his dignity. And she allowed it, she also couldn't find it in herself to stand. She didn't want that to be misconstrued as her attempting to lord over him, when all his thoughts were wrong. She didn't attempt to lie or manipulate or betray him. Her lips even parted to argue as much, to desperately plead to him that it wasn't like that. She loved him, anyone could see that. But soon her mouth closed again, knowing it would end in more hurt.

So instead she bowed her head slightly, turning it to face the direction of Lorcan's crib. Another pang of pain rang through her, as she wondered what this would mean now for her relationship with her child.

Carina dropped her gaze from there too, settling to simply stare at her hands as more guards, the nanny and the doctor arrived.

Instantly the physician moved towards the king as the nanny made for Carina, who waved her on to Lorcan. The doctor himself paled at the sight of the blood that had been lost. He was quick to bark his orders, and ask for help moving their King onto the bed.
 
As strongly as he wanted to present himself, to be seen as tough (at least in the way he interpreted tough to look like), even Sven couldn't waive aside the help that arrived. He had been stabbed brutally, and if the pain of the attack wasn't enough to shock him, the realisation and acknowledgement of those responsible for it was enough to do so - especially when he deemed his own wife to be involved in it all. Now Thorin had been dealt with, and the immediate threat lessened, he had no reason to maintain that sense of alertness and while he felt mildly irked by having to accept help into his own bed, he couldn't deny the agony he was in - nor the sight of the now blood-soaked carpets, the amount having settled within them making him feel queasier than he already was.

"I'm fine, do-- do s-stop fussing. Just-- get someone to remove the body, would you? I can't bear to look at it," he continued once eased onto the bed, the groan of pain and discomfort unsubtle despite his best attempts to bite his lip and prevent it escaping. He shot a glance at the simmering corpse left behind from his abrupt decision to set Thorin on fire to deal with him, the sight making him swallow hard in the eventual acceptance that that was his former best friend; the man who he had seen as a brother. The very man he had always imagined being a godfather to his children, and vide versa.

Now the threat had been dealt with, Sven did rest back into bed in resignation of the facts: that very same man had tried to kill him; had stood over his bed with a dagger and murderous, violent intent. No matter what, Thorin's fate was sealed the moment he stepped into that room; he would have been arrested and sent to the dungeon awaiting trial, the outcome of which would have inevitably been a hanging at the gallows. Either way, Sven would have had to come to terms with losing his best friend, but to do so like this, knowing he had been the one to end his life... it wasn't easy to take in.

In fact, the young King found his throat tightening as tears found their way to his eyes, the conflicting emotions that Thorin brought to him (both anger and guilt at his decisions and fate) being unsettling to deal with... but so too were the emotions Carina now provoked. His eyes drifted slowly across to her in realisation she was still stood in the room, his breaths slow and steady despite his racing heart and even faster thoughts.

A few hours ago, he had gone to bed content and happy with her at his side, resting at her side with nothing but love... and now he could barely look at her without wanting to give her the same fate Thorin had suffered. Suck dark thoughts had been missing from his mind for months now, since he started to work on himself under the faith and belief of Carina who knew he could be a better man. How could he maintain that effort, be the person he was supposed to be, when the person that had helped him become that person was, in his eyes, a manipulative, cruel traitor who had plotted to have him killed?

"...Get her out of my bedroom, she is to come nowhere near me. P-Put her in... in a spare bedroom, I'll decide what to do with her tomorrow," he muttered to a nearby servant in refusal to acknowledge Carina himself, his eyes now shut again as his consciousness started to slip. He wanted to simply have her dragged down to the dungeons and left there until he decided what her punishment ought to be, but he couldn't; not when he still loved her as much as he did. He couldn't send her to a place she hated and had been tormented in; his love for her prevented it.
 
Carina found herself incapable of moving, feeling as though she was a ghost and no one could see her as servants, guards, the doctor and the nanny all moved around her. Sven's blood was starting to dry on her hands, cracking and stiffening as it tightened her skin. There was a smearing of it on her cheek too, from where she had wiped away a tear and not even thought of the consequences. It reminded her of the blood of Emmett that Sven had left on her cheek over a year ago now. She had the blood of a loved one on her hands then.

It was just the same now.

Her gaze, fixated on Sven as they got him onto the bed, was finally drawn away as the nanny approached with Lorcan, offering her an opportunity to ensure their son was alright. She knew not to touch him though, wanting to avoid him being tainted with this night as much as possible. Her lower lip trembled and a handful of tears escaped down her cheeks.

"Take him to the nursery. He doesn't need to see anymore of this." She whispered, looking to the nanny who nodded in confirmation and left.

It was a gruesome sight, seeing Thorin's charred, cindered body being carried from the room. It left her stomach turning, and Carina was forced to turn away from it. The back of her wrist pressed against her lips as bile rose, from a mixture of what she had just seen but also the fear that her fate would now be similar. He may not be able to command it now, but surely Sven would see to it she received some sort of punishment.

Perhaps the bracelet would be returned to her wrist. His love would already be rescinded, and to Carina that would be punishment enough.

She couldn't see how she could ever make things work for them again. She had ultimately betrayed him, whether she wanted to believe it or not. She hadn't told him about Lauren and Thorin because, so stupidly, she had believed her former friend's words about running away. She had been so blinded by her love and hope for Sven, by her lingering loyalty to Lauren, that she had been willing to accept anything she had been told.

The tears blinded her quickly, the wrist pressed to her lips remaining there as she tried to get a handle on her emotions. However, that was not possible, not this time. Despite it paining her that he would believe it all to be fake, that the tears she cried would be crocodile tears, Carina couldn't get control of the sorrow and grief and guilt that overwhelmed her. It only worsened at his command to have her taken from the room, recognising he hadn't ordered it to be the dungeons she was taken but that she still would be unable to see him and know that he would be alright.

As a guard and a servant approached her, the former taking hold of her upper arm, Carina lowered her wrist from her mouth and shrugged him off hastily. Her gaze moved from the guard to Sven, then to where the doctor was already beginning to work. She longed to stay, to make sure he would be okay. The amount of blood on the carpets and the sheets, on her clothes and on his, weighed her down with a fear she had never felt before. However, she knew better than to linger, not wanting to cause him any further stress.

Turning, Carina reluctantly allowed herself to be escorted from their room, and to her former one. It would have made her laugh bitterly, if she had not been so dumbstruck by the whole situation. She had truly come full circle, and all of her own making.

A click sounded from the door, and she closed her eyes as she came to terms with the fact she had just been locked within her former room. She swallowed thickly, before talking herself into action. She went to the sink in the en suite bathroom, slowly scrubbing the blood from any skin that it had landed on. There, she stripped, and left the bloodied nightgown on the bathroom floor. The wardrobe, mercifully, still had one or two of her non-pregnancy nightgowns within it. They were a little snug, but it was better than nothing.

Numbly, she walked to the far side of the bed to sit on the floor beside it. It allowed her to remain partially hidden by the door, only the top of her head peaking above the mattress and sheets. Her legs stretched out in front of her, and her hands clasped quietly together in her lap. The clock on the wall said it was only 1.20am. However, Carina knew she wouldn't get any sleep now.

Not when she didn't know if Sven would be alright.
 
The events of the early hours would spread around the kingdom by the time the sun arose to mark the start of the new day. How the news of the attack first broke out of the castle was a mystery, given the express demands upon those within the building to keep silent on what they had witnessed. Yet, the news had found a way to sneak out and as the Ignisian civilians arose from their beds for another working day, word of Sven's potentially fatal condition would drift from household to household until most of the kingdom knew precisely what had occurred.

Albeit not in extreme detail. Despite Sven's reaction to Carina and the confusion his banishment of her to her old bedroom caused, nobody was about to assume she had any part in the plot; not when she had cradled him close and screamed for hep as though her own life depended on it too. She looked every inch the distraught, panicked wife, with only Sven being aware of her former confession that such a night had been one of the plans she had contemplated acting out.

As such, the only names spoken were that of the victim, Sven, and the perpetrators: a now deceased Thorin whose fate was spoken out in hushed, disbelieving tones, and Lauren, who had apparently fled into the night and evading capture and repercussion. Gossip had undeniably twisted some of the minor details, but the general story was well known - their King had been defenceless in bed when an attack commenced upon him by his former friend and a former lover, working together to rid the kingdom of its ruler.

The only person that knew the truth (or the version that Sven believed to be the truth, at least) was Natalia. Having rushed to the bedroom the moment she became aware of the commotion in the room above her own, she had been at the King's side the entire night, watching on anxiously as the royal physician sought to clean and stitch the wounds before any more blood could be spilled.

Drifting in and out of consciousness meant Sven wasn't entirely coherent when he did mumble something to the adviser at his side, but she had gathered enough to feel she had an understanding of what had occurred that night. Yet, out of consideration for her friend, she neglected to do or say anything about it until he was finally allowed to rest with the help of a remedy to help him sleep through the remnants of pain. Only then did she pull herself together and head for a shower to get herself cleaned up - she wasn't necessarily dirtied by the blood but she felt like she was. She wanted to have a shower and cleanse herself of the last few terrifying hours, and at least look together and composed when she stopped by Carina's room - how could she not pay the woman a visit when she had been told that she was part of the reason Sven had been stabbed?

It took everything she had not to attack the other woman once the bedroom was unlocked, withholding a few choice words that came to mind as she politely thanked the guard, her hands unclenching from the tight fists that had unconsciously formed at her sides.

"...Carina," she greeted quietly, her tone lacking any politeness that she ordinarily would have put on for formality. There was no need to make such an effort now. She surveyed the room critically for a space to sit, eventually opting for an armchair besides the window overlooking the kingdom, knowing that the steps leading up to the castle would soon be overflowing with flowers and gifts from well-wishing citizens; a generosity that would never have been accepted from former rulers but things were understandably different under Sven and Carina's leadership.

"Lorcan's been fed and is currently sleeping in the nursery, tended to by a nurse. He had a bottle; I took it upon myself to make the decision. I felt a wet-nurse might have been a little... I didn't think you'd like that. That courtesy to you was made before I learnt what a treacherous little bitch you were, though. I would never have been so thoughtful if I knew you were plotting his death and came incredibly close to achieving it - unfortunately for you, Sven's alive and well. Your little plan didn't work."
 
Not one ounce of movement had been made by Carina in the hours that had passed since she had been banished to her former room. She was exhausted, drained, worried sick about Sven and falling into the deep pit of self-hatred and despair. Her head had lolled forward a handful of times throughout the night, testament of her body crashing but the jolt of her head falling forward forcing her awake again. As soon as that happened, the emotions came swooping in, and the cycle began again.

It tormented her, listening to the footsteps go past her room but never stopping in front of it. No news arriving of if Sven had survived. Then there was the other worry of Lorcan. She hadn't fed him since dinner, and not once had there been a knock on the door with him on the other side in the nanny's arms.

A fain sheen of ice had formed over the furniture nearest to her, including the bedside table and the wooden frame of the bed she sat behind. It crackled and gleamed weakly in the morning light once the sun had started it's journey into the sky, full access granted into the room given she hadn't closed the curtains. Hadn't thought to. Sven had occupied all resources her mind had to offer.

When the door opened, her head partially turned. Her heartbeat picked up and it felt as though it had pounded its way up into her throat. The nanny would have knocked, not just walked straight in. So it was one of three people. The executioner, Sven or...

Natalia.

Her head turned back, even the blink of her eyes lethargic and heavy as she pulled her legs back to herself to cross, ensuring the nightgown kept her decently covered.

Carina closed her eyes at Natalia's words, tears immediately burning there as she listened to what the other woman had to say. She couldn't even begin to focus on the fact that her downfall was probably something Natalia had longed for. They had never seen eye to eye, and Carina had been in such a position of power yesterday morning. It was such a stark contrast.

Wetting her lips, Carina's hands rubbed hard against her knees, "I hadn't been plotted his death for a long time, Natalia." She murmured, shaking her head, "But I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise, it would simply be a waste of my breath and I can't imagine I have many of them left." Carina exhaled heavily, the sound shaky. Eventually she forced herself to look up at the woman, eyes red with shadows lingering underneath them. "Why are you here? Hurt me, if you're here to do that. Tell me what my fate is, if that's the news you have to deliver. Mock me, if that's what you want. But let's not prolong it. He will... be needing you."

She didn't dare say that she was relieved to hear that Sven was alive. Her heart soared at the news, the relief providing a weakness to her body that she was certain would have caused her to sit down if she hadn't been already. However, what good would it do to utter such words? They wouldn't be believed.
 
Seeing anyone in such a state would be enough to provoke sympathy even in Natalia who was often deemed to be unrelentingly cold and unsympathetic and had reasons to dislike Carina. Her misfortune ought to have brought her great sympathy - even if they had ironed out their issues to some degree and promised to move forward under this new chance Natalia had been afforded. Admittedly, Natalia wasn't entirely fond of the woman in spite of her promises; she didn't hate her with such a passion that she actively sought her downfall, but their past couldn't be forgotten about over a single meeting of no more than ten minutes.

But even with all of that past between them and the faint dislike that still remained, Natalia did take in Carina's state with genuine sympathy - if only for a second before she realised what Sven had told her and what a traitor that made the Queen to be. The sympathy vanished in spectacularly quick fashion after the acknowledgement that she was sat in front of someone who had a part in trying to kill Sven (or so she thought, at least).

Such a person was undeserving of her kindness.

"He isn't needing me right now. Not that it is any of your business, but he's... resting. I've been with him, at his side, for hours - and I will return to him after I've had my breakfast. Right now, it seems like I'm the only person he has after your... remarkably cruel deceit. I have to admit, you even fooled me and I'm not easily fooled. I always knew you were trouble but I waived that aside in time, fully believed you loved him and meant every word you uttered in his favour. You've made a fool of us all, it seems: you, Thorin and that little maid."

She tutted under her breath as she rested her hand on the arm of the armchair, eyes straying to her fingernails. The casual demeanour wasn't reflective of her actual feelings. No, she was fuming on the inside, her anger eating away at her the longer it went unreleased, but she knew she wouldn't be doing Sven any favours if she lost her composure. If he wanted to punish Carina, he ought to do so without anyone stepping in and taking the duty upon themselves, however tempting it was to Natalia.

After all, she had spent hours at Sven's bedside, watching the physician stitch up the deep wounds and hearing her friend groan and cry in both physical and emotional agony. She was crushed on the inside and she was in the presence of someone she thought was responsible - how could she not want to smash her head into the wall or drag her by her hair until she begged and pleaded for her to stop?

"...How could you do that to him? How could you manipulate him into thinking he had a future? He changed the kingdom for you, he-- he worked on becoming a better person because he believed he had you at his side supporting him. But that was fun for you, wasn't it? Seeing him feel so hopeful for a future you never intended on letting him achieve. You can sit there crying those false tears, but you have singlehandedly ruined all these months of progress for my friend and my kingdom, Carina. I wanted to like you when I returned, I wanted to make things... better, but now? Now I despise you."
 
The flinch that came as a reaction to Natalia's words was undeniable and Carina drew her knees to her chest. She turned her head away and crossed her legs at the ankles, drawing in on herself in everyway. Her lower lip trembled, wobbling dangerously as the threat to lose the weak grip on her emotions loomed.

"N-none of my emotions were ever fake. I did love-- I do, still, love him. I... I let my b-better judgement... get in the way." She wiped a fist across the side of her face to catch the few tears that had escaped, keeping it in place afterwards as if her arm and hand would help protect her from the truth of Natalia's words.

Because the woman was right. She had ruined everything. She had lost Sven. Lost Lorcan. Lost her dignity and her pride and all the hard work she had been helping Sven with on the kingdom. She could see no way back from this, as she doubted she would never be believed regardless of what was said or what was done. Hell, even if they found Lauren and tortured her into revealing the truth - that being that Carina had no idea that the plan was continuing - then she still didn't think she would ever be worthy of love in any shape or form.

She had hurt Sven. Betrayed him, broken his trust, perhaps even broken him. She had singlehandedly ruined everything they had built, not just on the kingdom but with them. It was beginning to feel as though every thing she loved ended up dying or destroyed. It happened to Emmett, after all.

The thought made her choke and Carina suck in an audibly sharp breath, eyes squeezing tightly shut.

"I wanted to give her a second chance, she said she was going-- going to leave." Carina lowered her hand from her face, reluctantly allowing herself to face the full blow of whatever Natalia had to say like before, "I-I was wrong. I n-never wanted this to happen. You won't b-believe that b-but that's my truth. I... I love Sven a-and I'll never... never forgive myself for what happened. S-so whatever punishment i-is coming my way... let it be."

It was why she stayed. If she was guilty and really wanted what happened, Carina would have had no qualms with using her powers (which were still not regulated and blocked) to make her escape from the castle. She wouldn't risk staying, understanding that everyone saw her as a traitor and what punishment that often required. Execution. However, she had to stay. Her love and care for Sven compelled her to do so, even if that relationship now laid in tatters, she couldn't leave knowing he was still recovering. Not to mention, if she wanted to see him dead still, why would she have stemmed the bleeding? Why would she have used her power to constrict his blood cells and slow the blood that had been seeping from his wounds?

However, Carina had no energy to make these points to the adviser. A verdict had been reached, and Carina knew what that meant - there was no changing it.
 
Natalia hadn't arrived in expectation of learning anything. She assumed that Carina was guilty and was so confident in that assertion that she didn't even care to hear her try and explain her motivation - not she anticipated such confessions. It was the wisest thing to do in her mind; admit her wrongdoings and appear remorseful for them, but she didn't think Carina would admit to the guilt she thought she ought to feel; not when she could cry and act as though she was innocent.

Which she was, at least in regards to the continuation of a plan she had no part in - but her initial involvement and that admission to Sven left him unable to see that innocence. How could he when the pieces lined up so conveniently? He would be a fool to think she was innocent when she herself had admitted to plotting an event like last night?

So while her admitting that she had no idea what was going to happen were sincere, Natalia snorted in ridicule at what she saw as a pretty laughable excuse. The derisive laughter only stopped when she fully acknowledged the other's words, her brows tilting a little in the surprise. She didn't want to get caught off guard and even consider that there was more to the story than either she or Sven were aware of, not when she thought Carina was a master manipulator who could easily be shifting blame from herself... but she was also far too intrigued to let the remarks hang in the air, unclarified.

"...Who are you talking about? Who said they were going to leave? That little maid, Lauren?" She questioned curiously as she leaned forward in her chair a little. She might believe any of the words that would leave Carina's mouth (at least, she was likely not to) but she wanted to hear what she had to say regardless, if only to report back to Sven so he had the full story. She wasn't seeking to land Carina in more trouble and convince him to take the most severe of punishments; she was remaining as unbiased as she possibly could. She didn't want to revert to past behaviour where she sought to bring others down to lift herself up - she was serious about the second chance she was given, after all.

So even if these were excuses, she wanted to hear Carina out.

"She was planning this too, wasn't she? Sven said a few days go that you and her had fallen out; that you no longer had her working directly for you. Was that a deliberate agreement between the two of you to avoid suspicion? So servants wouldn't see you two whispering and conspiring together? You had better tell me, Carina; I'll tell Sven and if you're honest with me, it might work in your favour. He'll appreciate honesty however... much it might expose your deceptive cruelty."
 
Her hands stilled in her lap, having been fidgeting with the material of her nightdress as Natalia probed her with more questions, specifically attempting to find out what she meant by her comments. She bit hard on the inside of her cheek, material scrunching up into her palms as her hands formed fists. Carina knew that there was no point in withholding anything now. Thorin was dead, Lauren was undoubtedly long gone. And she would be paying the price for it.

Yet she still felt anxious to even think about revealing everything. What she had told Sven about when she halted her own involvement was true, and she knew she would at least die knowing that. But just the fact that she had withheld items of the truth from him... and now confessing them, made her stomach twist and bile rise in her throat.

Not to mention, she was at Natalia's mercy. The woman may be Sven's friend and on a second chance with him, but she owed Carina nothing.

"Please, we both know my word to him now means nothing. He'll forever doubt anything I feel for him or say to him." Carina sniffed, hand lifting to wipe at her nose with the back of it. Another trembling exhale slipped past her lips as her fingers relaxed from around her bottom of her nightwear, one hand moving to the other to massage at the knuckles which ached with the tightness she had clenched them in.

Carina couldn't bring herself to look up at the adviser, especially not now she had leaned forward. It certainly felt like an interrogation now, however, she supposed she ought to consider herself lucky. Better Natalia with no real means of hurting her to get the truth out rather than Sven with his flames or someone paid to do it.

"She's... from H-Harenae. The same island that Ignisi attacked and pillaged. She survived, came here to work, to... to get close to Sven." Carina breathed out, disbelieving to the words that were finally coming out, "We'd been plotting it from the morning after Sven killed my brother. S-she told me what he was saying or doing, especially about me and what he had planned for me." She swallowed hard, hands once more fidgeting in her lap, "The plans to keep me away from our children. All of it. She wanted what I wanted: revenge. R-rather simple really."

Clearing her throat, she reluctantly pushed herself up to sit up straighter. Her eyesight became blurry, tears once more in full force as she recounted the last few months. Reluctantly, the young woman looked up to the other and continued to tell her everything. That the plot to murder Sven had been in place since the morning after he murdered her brother. About the moment she and Sven shared in the library, how he humiliated her not long after because of the lies Natalia spread yet she still had her doubts. Then how she, in her mind, called off the plan. Lauren's anger and their falling out. Lauren finding her and Sven sleeping in the library and them having it out once more, that being the last time they ever spoke.

"S-she told me she was going to run away with Thorin. I offered her anything she needed to do so, horses, money... anything. S-she was the only person who-- who talked to me, who liked me. I-- I didn't tell Sven because... because she had been my only friend..." She wiped at her cheeks again, a crackling coming from the beside table and post of the bed, the ice there becoming more opaque as it thickened. "I-- I thought she really was just going to run, and I w-wanted her to have that second chance."

Her head soon rested in her hands, body leaning over slightly, shoulders hunching and muscles tensing as she fought back the wrenching sobs that wanted to wrack her body. They could come later, when she was alone. When they wouldn't be misconstrued as anything other than sincere and pained. She sighed, expelling a breath as she sat back up eventually.

"I don't know what you'll do with what I've told you, or if you'll ever believe it. Relay it back to Sven or don't. It doesn't matter anyway - everything is ruined, just like you said. His love will turn to hatred, Lorcan will be kept from me. It might be dramatic, but what have I got to live for now, hm?"
 
Natalia didn't want to believe a word that came out of the other's mouth, not when she had entered the room believing her to be a backstabbing, treacherous manipulator who had been unarguably involved in a plot to kill the only friend Natalia had; the only person she could ever count on to be at her side. If Sven had died, she would have nobody and that inevitably made her angrier towards Carina that she otherwise would have been.

But the advisor wasn't blinded by her current dislike of Carina. She had no reason to doubt Sven's version of events and what he thought to be the truth until she heard the Queen's side of things, taking in each word and finding that her ability to see it as a pack of lies began to diminish the longer she continued. She didn't want to believe it when it would only complicate matters and possibly provoke Sven's anger (if his mind was set, her appealing to him with a different version of events wouldn't go down too well) but she couldn't, in good conscience, ignore the feeling that Carina was being sincere with her.

For all the criticisms of Natalia and her behaviour, much of it fair given the actions she had taken in her past, she was someone who valued justice. She was a good person who just wanted there to be fairness in Ignis (which was why she had had such a problem with Carina, finding her marriage to Sven incredibly unfair when she had been in love with him much of her teenage and young adult life). How could she even contemplate letting Sven go ahead with whatever punishment he felt was appropriate for Carina if the latter wasn't as involved in the plan as suspected?

Because it didn't make any sense to Natalia for her to confess to the initial plot. If she was guilty of everything she was accused of, why admit to planning to do Sven harm instead of pleading total innocence? It was a confusing angle to take that only made her position look worse given the events of the early morning... unless it was the truth and she had no other option but to be honest and admit to it for the purposes of honesty; something Sven valued dearly nowadays.

"...I never liked that little bitch, she was always suspicious to me. I knew she wasn't as innocent as Sven always believed she was. Evidently, neither are you - but I already knew that, we all did. You never pretended to like Sven at the beginning. You plotting his demise isn't as shocking to me as Lauren doing so. I... I'm not sure if every little detail you told me is accurate but the general story, I... it makes sense. Why would you own up to wanting him dead when it reflects so dreadfully on you now unless it's the truth?" She reasoned quietly as she eased back into the armchair, not for relaxation but because of the stress she felt piling onto her at her own admission.

She was the last person who should offer Carina even a glimpse of hope by believing her story given their fraught, venomous past... but she wasn't prepared to lie and watch someone possibly be sent to the gallows if they weren't deserving of such a fate.

"You should have told him about Thorin and Lauren being initially involved in the plans, you realise that, don't you? I'm sure you've spent hours detesting yourself for the lack of honesty but you... could have spared us this if you had just been honest with him. This could have been prevented," she grimaced as she ran her hands over her face with a deep breath, her fingers eventually finding themselves in her auburn hair, eyes shut tight as she considered her next course of action.

"Right, okay. All of this considered, I... I can talk to Sven. Though there's nothing I can do if his mind is set, Carina. It's just your word and your actions, your admissions... they don't prove them to be true. Thorin's dead, he can't corroborate anything. Lauren is the only one who can and-- she's gone. If they find her, you have hope. If not, I... genuinely don't take any pleasure in admitting to you that your fate is... probably condemned to the gallows or the prison if Sven takes some sympathy on you. I... I'm sorry, Carina."
 
"I know... I know..." The whisper came weakly, the young queen not needing to be told just how differently this all could have been if she had just told Sven the entire truth. She had been lied to and betrayed too, after all. Lauren had stood over her with a knife, clearly with the intention to kill her too. But the maid had stopped, hesitated, lingered far too long to be able to do any damage. Which was why she came away unscathed, making it look all the more worse for her. However, that was also another reason why Carina let her go, not that it mattered now. Because she had stopped.

"She was going to kill me too, you know. I-I know neither of you will believe that, not now I've... told you everything... but there was a knife in her hand just like Thorin's. I-- I hadn't thought about how terrifying that was... until now. If she hadn't hesitated... if she'd gone through with it, l-like Thorin--" She cut herself off, finally dropping her gaze from Natalia.

Her head bowed slightly and she brought her knees to her chest, arms wrapping around them, "I d-didn't want this to happen. I... was the happiest I've ever been, you know. Even before being forced to live here, in Ignis. S-Sven, he... he made me happy. I l-love him and... I thought I'd... I thought it was stopped. I-I never thought they would... they would actually..."

Carina wasn't looking for sympathy, instead just reflecting on the events of the early hours to the morning. Her mind drifted to the blood that stained the sheets and the carpets, that soaked Sven's clothes.

"Whatever he decides, I'll deserve it. I-- I won't run. I won't... try and escape. I'll accept whatever he decides, I promise." She added quietly, staring down blankly at the floor in front of her toes.

Exhaling heavily, she planted her chin on her knees and raised her eyes to Natalia, "I... know you don't like me, Natalia, now more than ever but... but thank you. I think we both know what the outcome will be but I... I'd like to thank you now, for at least trying. I know we've never seen eye to eye and this will be more for... his sake than mine... but I will still appreciate it. Regardless of what happens." She pushed some hair back form her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"And, uhm... n-next time, if there is a next time, you might come here... I-I want him to know I'm willing to accept any punishment that he believes is suitable, even if-- even if--" She took a moment, composing herself at the prospect of death by the hand of someone she loved, "If I was truly guilty and wanted to escape l-like Lauren, I would have done so by now but-- but I don't want to. S-so maybe... because we both know he won't trust me anymore... you might bring the bracelet. The one for my powers. Then he'll know for certain I won't be going anywhere. C-can you do that? Please."
 
Not that she imagined ever revelling and taking enjoyment in any situation that involved Sven almost dying, but Natalia had at least presumed she would feel some sense of superiority when she entered the Queen's room. Seeing Carina in such a lowly state, everything she had cherished crumbling around her, ought to have provoked even an iota of smugness from the adviser who had never quite liked the woman for a whole plethora of reasons, more now than ever before. But... she didn't. She felt hollow, empty and even sympathetic for her, unable to quite budge that sympathetic expression from her features in time.

Because she knew what it was like to have everything she had worked for, everything that made her happy, ripped from her abruptly. She knew what it was like to feel the severe consequences of her own actions and have to live with the fact she had jeopardised everything she loved and cared for over one silly decision that she couldn't take back - she had lied about a pregnancy and couldn't backtrack, just like Carina had lied about every detail of the plot to kill Sven and couldn't expand on it without establishing herself as someone who had lied about being fully honest with her husband.

Their situations were different but Natalia perhaps understood more than anyone what it was like to be on the side of Sven's wrath; to lose his trust and care and be thrown out into the abyss. It had taken her months to work her way back to a position in the castle, and even then she was wary of ever move she made, aware that her second chance could be rescinded at any moment.

"...He forgave me, Carina. What I did was abhorrent and... cruel, yet he found it in him to forgive me. It took time, he had to heal and move on, but he forgave me. My punishment wasn't easy to take, I... I lost myself for months, but I didn't give up hope and now I'm back where I belong. So my advice for you is... don't give up. He loves you, you have a son together. Don't resign yourself to a defeat that hasn't even arrived yet," she eventually responded, her voice low and quiet to avoid the guard outside the door overhearing the fact she was giving sincere advice to the person they believed to be at the forefront of the plot to kill the King. It was a risky move to make when she was on her second chance and couldn't afford messing up, but she also couldn't remain hard-faced and pretend that Carina's tearful confessions and seemingly broken spirit weren't having an effect on her.

She wasn't a heartless, solely work orientated woman who had no sensitivities or sympathies. She rarely showed them granted, but they still existed nonetheless. She just didn't expect them to arrive in response to Carina, a woman she had made no secret of despising - but right now, she perhaps understood her more than she ever had done during the time they had known one another.

"I'll bring the bracelet if he allows it - the fact you haven't broken yourself out is a good indication of you truthfulness, I think. He might see it that way too," the adviser concluded as she eased herself from the armchair with a faint sigh, biting the inside of her cheek as she observed the effects the other's powers had had on the surroundings.

"...I know you won't feel like eating but you are entitled to some breakfast; it's inhumane not to when you've recently given birth and need all the energy. Sven will understand that. I'll have something sent up to you and... rest assured, Lorcan is being taken care of. He's being fed, he's being kept warm and cosy in his nursery. You won't have to worry about him, I'll... update you on him whenever I can. It isn't fair for a mother to worry."
 
"But you didn't plot to kill him." Carina breathed, pained to continue associating such a plan with herself. It had been a big part of her life for the majority of her time in Ignis, yes, that was without question. But things were not as they were back when she concocted the attempted murder of her husband. She was not the same person, and he most definitely was not. "How could he continue loving me, after what has happened now? Even if they were to find Lauren and she told the truth... things won't ever be the same. I--... I can't allow myself to think, to hope, that they will. L-Lorcan... he-he'll grow up and learn, he'll think of me as a monster too."

The thought brought on a new flood of tears to which Carina had no chance of hiding. She pushed her head into her hands, fat tears being caught in her palms and dampening the rest of her face while her shoulders trembled.

Feeling this shattered, this defeated, was a sensation that Carina was unused to. Even when Eira fell and she and Emmett were brought to Ignis, she continued to hold her head high and remain strong because she had her brother. When Emmett was murdered, she clasped a tight grip around her friendship with Lauren and a firm eye on the promise of revenge. Then, she found love. With her enemy, yes, but love nonetheless. That kept her upright and strong and encouraging Sven and Ignis to do the right thing became her new passion.

Now she had nothing to keep her together and she could feel herself crumbling as she tormented herself with that realisation and the prospects of her son being taught what a manipulative, traitorous bitch his mother truly was. And Sven... I'm not your anything ... that's what he said. Her only friend, her love and her husband... he hated her, undoubtedly, because how could he not? She had lost the only person she had ever loved.

It was the only time she had ever felt broken.

"I'm not hungry-- please don't. Don't send anything up... I'll just be sick at the sight of it." Carina swallowed hard as she raised her head from her hands, eyes squeezed closed as a handful more tears rolled down her cheeks. "I-I appreciate the concern, but truly... I don't want anything to eat. Not right now. Just-- just keep taking care of Lorcan. I know what I said and that it doesn't count anymore anyway, but please look after him. H-He needs to wear his little gloves, okay? O-otherwise he'll scratch his face with his nails. H-he doesn't know what he's doing--"

Carina cut herself off, her tearful rambling not doing anyone any good, she realised. She sniffed a handful of times, hands wiping at both cheeks with the palms.

"A-And take... take care of Sven. I-I know you will, and I know I have no right to ask that of you. B-but you know what he's like... he'll try and... and act okay. But we... we both know... how much anger will be under the surface. Hurt, betrayal. I-I don't want him to... just take care of them both. P-please."
 
"...I'll take care of them, I'll... certainly do my best, Carina. I promise." Natalia managed as she made her way across the door, finding the new dynamic rather a lot to wrap her head around. She hadn't enjoyed feeling inferior to the other nor the wariness that had settled in in recent days around her (if Carina decided to revoke the second chance, Sven would have abided her wish without hesitation after all) but they were much easier to handle than the genuine sympathy that Natalia now felt instead.

She didn't enjoy seeing Carina like this as much as she perhaps thought she would have. It wasn't enjoyable to see a woman so racked with guilt and regret, in a position of losing everything she had loved that Natalia could painfully relate to. If the adviser had to deal with feelings of wariness and inferiority just to have Carina back at Sven's side on the throne, then she would do because it was far more fairer than seeing the Queen reduced to a lowly position like this.

Especially given the fact Natalia had the faintest inkling that it wasn't deserved. Sure, Carina had held back details that could have spared the attack from occurring in the first place out of loyalty to a friend who had all but betrayed her, but she wasn't guilty for trying to murder Sven, and yet that was the current charge against her. Her crimes weren't deserving of such a severe sentence yet that was what Natalia feared would be handed to her, even after she spoke to Sven and informed him of everything she had found out and of Carina's request for the bracelet to be returned to her.

Sven, however, didn't see the request as a sign of her refusing to wish him harm. He had stirred from his slumber sometime around dinner and though his body ached, he sat up in bed to dine with Natalia at his side, talking him through her meeting with Carina. Even if he could see in his friend the fact she thought Carina to be innocent of the crimes put against her, he couldn't believe a word of it. He couldn't believe that she wasn't involved in this plot to hurt him and he flat out refused to accept her request for the bracelet to limit her powers as anything but a strategic manipulation tactic.

To appear innocent and loving despite him now believing her to juxtapose such traits.

He had been told to rest after the traumatic incident and the painful stitches that could tear open with abrupt movement, but he couldn't lay in bed when his mind was swarming with unanswered questions. The physical pain was bad but his emotional anguish was worse and he couldn't heal from the latter without questioning Carina outside of the trial he intended to put her through. He needed to see her in private, see her reactions to his words with his own eyes even if he found himself certain of her guilt.

And so, against all advice and his own body crying out for him to return to his room to rest, the young King gestured the guard to stand aside before entering the bedroom. His eyes took a cursory glance around its interior before settling on his wife, an immediate rush of emotion coursing through him. He couldn't focus on just one when they were all clashing: one moment he felt like he wanted to pull her close and erase the pain; the other, he wanted to start a fire and watch her panic, to feel as betrayed as he currently felt.

In the end, he took his spot in the same seat Natalia had sat in earlier that day and rested his hands on his knees, determined to ignore the warmth spreading to them and the urge he had to let that warmth become something far more dangerous.

"...Natalia mentioned you wanted your bracelet. I've refused the request. It's manipulation. I admit it almost worked, I questioned the desire to cut your own power off, but then I realised. It would make me consider your innocence and make me feel as though you're... telling the truth. It's impressive, but you can't kid a kidder. I may not practise manipulation but I know how it works; I tricked a fucking kingdom into thinking I wasn't a threat. I think I can see through your attempts with ease, so no, you won't be getting your bracelet - you wouldn't dare to use your powers because you know that would be a death sentence," he murmured softly, though his tone became harder and slightly more venomous the longer he spoke, the final words being spat out in a mixture of disgust and, inevitably, hurt.

"So what's this little tale you've spun to Natalia that she seems to believe then, hm? That me being stabbed and almost killed wasn't your plan? Do excuse me if I find that laughable, carina. It's very clearly what you've had planned for months on end now."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back