The ploy

At the kingdom of Ranic, King Marius sat at the table with his family. His nose flaring, eyes blazing, the servants kept their distance because their king was once more furious and agitated.

"A month. Thirty days, is all we have to defeat Olympia if this wedding continues. We have killed their greatest warrior, we can't afford to lose now."

The union between King Vincent and Princess Zaria was keeping him awake at night. He spent years at war with his neighbours. This was the only time he was so close to victory he could smell it.

"We won't lose, Daddy. Sarika is certain that there will be no wedding. Our man is close to winning Zaria over,"Princess Catherine reported but her father was still not at ease.

"Can someone tell me why we are relying on that nosy girl to do such an important job?"

"She's the one with connections to both Vincent and Zaria, My Love. And, she has vested interest in their union failing,"Queen Penelope lovingly explained to her husband.

She and her daughter were the masterminds behind the whole plan.

Raising his one eyebrow, King Marius was now intrigued. Deceit and manipulation were his turf.

"Is that so?"

Queen Penelope and Princess Catherine exchanged excited looks. They knew that the king would be thrilled by their ploy.

"She wants Vincent to herself and her bestie is on her way," the queen proceeded with a big smile.

"So as every girl out there," Prince Duke responded with a melancholic voice that was misinterpreted by his sister.

He was the heir to the throne but felt out of place with his always conniving family. He just did not get why they could not focus all their energy on developing their own kingdom instead of trying to steal another's land and getting their men killed in the process.

"Don't be jealous now, Duke. King Vincent is in a league of his own," Princess Catherine replied dismissively, but her brother was getting weary of the whole thing. The people were confiding in him their concerns about consistently attacking their neighbours. They were tired of dying and losing loved ones for nothing. They had already lost a lot of men and now they were indirectly messing up with King Vincent of Tario, the most powerful king alive. Unfortunately, none were brave enough to contradict their blood-thirsty king. King Marius punished the slightest disobedience with the harshest sentence.

"Yes, he is, and only wants Zaria, despite all the lies all of you have been perpetuating,"he snapped while his sister rolled his eyes.

"Quit with that righteous attitude, Son. It's disgusting," King Marius sneered before turning to his beloved daughter.

"I would have thought you, my Princess, would be the best candidate to wed Vincent."

"Off course, Daddy," Princess Catherine beamed. That would be a dream come true.

"That's the second phase of the plan, My Love," Queen Penelope explained while Prince Duke shook his head. He knew his family too well and longed for a much more normal family.

"You are planning on stabbing Sarika at the back and steal Vincent from her, aren't you?"

"Well, she's doing the same to her bestie,"Princess Catherine confirmed his brother's suspicions.

"That's my girl! We need an ally like Vincent on our side," King Marius beamed, pleased. This was just what he needed to have everything he ever wanted.

"Until he finds out that you are responsible for his heartache," Prince Duke responded but his sister waved her hand dismissively.

"Argh, he won't even mind when I'm done with him. Zaria will be a mere memory."

"That's My Princess!" King Marius beamed again right before the royal steward walked in to announce Princess Sarika's arrival.

They all listened to the nosy princess's update. King Marius was initially suspicious of the supposedly man for hire none of them have met in person.

"He is the Earl of Geon. I have done a proper background check on him, Your Highness," Princess Sarika tried to reassure the king. She needed to, considering the amount of money they were paying her for her mission. She decided to omit mentioning the fact that she herself had not managed to meet in person with the Earl. To reassure her allies, she told them about the blooming relationship between Princess Zaria and their hired man. Everyone, except Prince Duke was thrilled to hear that Princess Zaria had even kissed their man for hire.

"I bet Vincent will not take kindly to his fiancée kissing another," King Marius could not hide his conniving grin.

"No, he won't. He thinks she is some kind of an angel," Princess Sarika cried. She really hated how King Vincent viewed and praised her best friend despite her opinionated attitude and defiance.

"We need to show him that she is not," she added.

"Well, Zaria did stand by him when all of you deserted him."

Prince Duke's response was not received well. They all knew too well how dumb they were to have sided with King Vincent's conniving uncle and did not need being reminded of it.

"Shut up if you have nothing constructive to say!" King Marius rebuked his son while Princess Sarika continued with her update.

"Rumours are he is coming to the royal ball and planning on sweeping his fiancée off her feet."

Hearing this unsettled the king. If King Vincent ended up being intimate with Princess Zaria before their wedding, their union would be sealed. He will not even have the month he was complaining about. He would never have Olympia's coal and gold. He would be defeated.

"The masked ball is a few days away. We need more time to destroy that alliance. This is not good, not good at all."

"On the contrary, Your Highness. You see, he needs to be able to pick her up in a room full of masked women all wearing the same colour gown."

"I don't get how that's helpful,"the king confessed.

"My spies inform me that he wants to know everything about his fiancée's gown. That's so that he can be able to identify her amongst the multitudes. I plan on replicating that to the T. The only person King Vincent will dance with that night is me. Many bastards have come out of that ball, except mine will be royalty," Princess Sarika successfully put the agitated king at ease.

"I see and I like it."

King Marius did not have to enquire how the princess planned on getting pregnant with King Vincent's heir. It was general knowledge that many prince's have indeed been drugged with aphrodisiacs and ended up in wrong beds at that ball.

He secretly winked at his daughter while Princess Sarika continued to reveal her plans to trick and steal King Vincent at the masked ball.

"Zaria already hates his reputation, this will tip her over. King Vincent will have no choice but do right by me when I am carrying his heir."

Princess Sarika could not hide her excitement. She was so close to getting everything she ever wanted. She was however not aware of how many others had that very same dream, her new alliance Princess Cathrine included.

"Wonderful!" King Marius beamed. "You are brilliant, My Dear. The kingdom of Ranic will double your pay for this!"

"Thank you, Your Highness," the princess curtsied and was on her way to prepare for the biggest day of her life.

King Marius and Queen Penelope turned to their daughter as soon as Princess Sarika was out of sight.

"You are the one who will dance with King Vincent that night."

"Off course, Daddy."

"We will have to get the same designer who is designing Zaria's dress. Your dress has to be exactly like hers," the king suggested.

"I will organise Deli to teach you seduction. Vincent's heir will cement your place as his queen,"the queen suggested to her son's bewilderment.

"You are going to get a prostitute to teach your own daughter seduction?" Prince Duke could not believe the extent his parents were willing to go for this. His sister was the exact opposite. She was nodding her head, her eyes sparkling the whole time.

"I will not fail you," she swore.

King Marius let out an evil laughter, really pleased.

"Perfect! Without Vincent's help, Olympia's coal and gold is as good as ours!"

"Do you realise that all this can backfire? What do you think King Vincent will do to you when he wakes up and discovers that you drugged him? Let's say you somehow manage to win him over and he visits here. How are you planning to hide all evidence that we sided with his uncle when he overthrew him?"

The prince could think of multiple scenarios where the ploy to separate King Vincent and Princess Zaria could go wrong. King Vincent was known for his ruthlessness. He wanted to shake some sense into his parents, but to them he was the odd one.

"Shut up, Duke, and leave Vincent to us. You can start planning on marrying that Sarika. It will be a consolation to her for losing Vincent to our Cath," his mother suggested.

"I would rather die alone!"

The thought of marrying a nosy manipulative and backstabber of a princess made his mouth bitter and his stomach revolt.

"You can wed Zaria then. She will be available once I marry King Vincent. I know you all like her," Princess Catherine suggested. The excitement on her voice was unmistakable. It was as if she already had King Vincent.

The princess's suggestion caught Prince Duke's attention. All the princes fancied Princess Zaria. Not only because of her unmatched beauty, but also because of her principles, loyalty and maturity. He had a crush on her ever since he saw her for the first time at kindergarten. At that time, because of the treaty and her love for him, Princess Zaria completely belonged to Vincent who was a prince at the time. A lot has changed since then. Princess Zaria no longer loved King Vincent and wanted out of the treaty.

A new hope started forming in his mind. Life would definitely be much more meaningful with Princess Zaria by his side.

"On second thought, Zaria will most likely want to have your head after we take their land, not wed you,"Princess Catherine's words made his brother curse inside. Princess Zaria's temper and love for her people was also common knowledge. His hope dissipated as fast as it formed

"Olympia is our enemy, they will forever be. Duke can never wed their princess. He will wed Princess Sarika of Damaro. That girl is smart and bold, she will fit perfectly with us,"King Marius' response did not only crash his son's hope but also suggested his nightmare. His father as his king did have a final say on whom he wedded.

"We do need Sarika on our side, she knows too much already," Queen Penelope agreed with her husband.

Prince Duke's mood was suddenly darkened, his will and motivation to live blinked. Just when panic washed over him and walls slowly closed in, another thought and possibility crossed his mind. He was certain that his family would eventually rip what they were sowing and had no plans of perishing with them. Getting up and leaving them still plotting, he had a much better and superior plan to stamp his name on the history books. Princess Sarika and his whole family did not feature anywhere in it.