Nightmare seeds are planted in the night, but bloom in the day (Part 1 of Folie à deux)

Everybody waited for Daphne to explode at the dinner table. Guards stopped talking, the Queen stiffened in her chair, and I waited in fear. Even the king waited, his eyes steely. Waited for Daphne to yell, scream, argue. Something that would set off the king like last time.

That last time, he hit her so hard she couldn't chew for a few days. Before that, he'd broken two fingers.

But Daphne said nothing. Her face just froze tightly, the colour in it being washed away with white-hot anger. The scar from his ring glinted faintly on her cheek.

The king returned to his meal, viciously pleased with Daphne's silence.

The Queen looked relieved. She thought it was high time that Daphne learn the way of the world, but I felt like I was watching a tigress whose last whipping was too fresh for her to bite the trainer.

I knew it took every ounce of Daphne's strength not to blow up. She seethed the whole way back to her rooms, trembling with rage.

"Leave," I told the guards, and after Daphne marched past them, they made to leave.

One guard grinned as he left, "Be a good little freak and protect her with your life."

I stared at him, shutting the door behind us. Daphne was breathing furiously and I watched her as she swept the contents of her vanity onto the floor.

Glass bottles shattered discordantly, brushes bounced away, and Daphne slammed her hand onto the table, screaming.

I gestured at the maid lurking in a corner. "You, go away." The maid ignored me, her eyes fixed on Daphne.

"How dare they? How could they just-" Daphne snarled, the tightness in her snapping, unravelling. Her fingers dug into her dress and the maid rushed forward to help.

Frowning at the maid, I warned her. "Don't-"

The maid reached for the ties on the back of Daphne's dress. "Let me help you, your grace-"

Daphne shrieked, turning to shove her onto the floor. "Get out!" She snapped, hair tumbling out of its braid. "Get out! You little-"

I helped the scrambling maid up, hurrying her out the door. "The princess doesn't mean it," I muttered to the woman. "She's just-"

"Spare me, halfbreed." The maid snarled, ripping her hand from my grip. "Maids talk and we know all about her royal bitchiness-"

I slammed my hand into her throat, pinning her into the wall.

The woman gasped, clawing at me as I began to press. Her pulse thundered under my fingers, and I let her see that there was no help.

Blood drained from her face, and I kept my voice low. "You think it's a hardship for me to silence some maids? You're going to shut up. And if anyone, anyone asks," I shook her, hitting her against the wall. "Her highness is the most gracious mistress, and you messed up. Is that clear?"

The woman choked, nodding frantically and I released her, dropping against the wall.

"Go away," I told her again and this time she listened, casting me a terrified look as she sprinted.

Guilt twinged in me somewhere, and I knew this would only add to the stories about me. From stupid, orphan, half-bred, I'd now become violent and dangerous too. More maids would give me that horrified look before they even knew me.

I guess it didn't matter in the end. When I entered the room again, Daphne was sitting on a plush chair, tears streaming down her face, knife in hand.

Her beautiful, cobalt dress was in tatters. I padded over, gently undoing the laces at the back of the dress.

Daphne didn't look at me, her hand idly wiping at a tear. "They just sold me. Sold me like-I don't like him. I don't like him, Isel. I've heard the stories...oh God." She sobbed, and I cast an eye over at the vanity, where she'd gouged scars into the wooden surface.

"It's okay." I went to run the bath, coming back to get her after the hot water was in. "Come on."

She let me steer her there, and I looked away as she climbed in. "What if he..." Daphne clenched her teeth, shutting her eyes in anger. "I just want to kill him."

"Prince Kylan?" I asked, just to be sure. Water splashed as Daphne grabbed the sides of the tub.

"He doesn't care. He'll marry me for some goddamn military alliance, and nobody cares what will happen to me. I'll just be another mention in history." Daphne growled, looking at me. "Daphne Maris, wife of King Kylan of Westling. I'll be less than a nobody, and he can...." She stared at her hands, at the little scars she'd cut when bored or angry.

I said nothing. Daphne had inherited her anger and love of blood from her father. I'd seen him execute those who were proven to be innocent, he'd hit me when he was angry, or bored, or the crops were failing.

I doubted that Prince Kylan could hurt her.

But then I stared at her thin arms. Her tightly clenched fists. How she only hurts maids or herself. I saw the whip her father cracked when he saw the defiance in her eyes.

Kylan could hurt her. Maybe not at the start, but the power went to all their heads. The control, the paranoia, the fear. He'd do it once, and then again.

And my tigress would become a nobody. A ghost flitting around a castle, scaring her daughters to be as quiet.

"What if I killed him for you?" I asked, and Daphne looked at me, eyes wide.

"I thought you wouldn't do it again after Eric," Daphne said, testing to see if I was honest.

"He's in the guest chambers now. But I could do it. Tomorrow, while he hunts. I could just kill him. It would be an accident." I had practised smiles in the mirror, over and over. And I did it now.

"No, no, both sides go up." Daphne pointed at her own face, then she tilted her head to the side. "You would do that for me?"

What would I not? "He's like Eric." I shrugged and stopped smiling. "And after, he wouldn't hurt you."

"You know I love you, right, Isel?" Daphne asked, her eyes alight, smile perfect. Wide.

I nodded. "Tomorrow then."

"What about the next one? Maybe his brother, maybe another one." Daphne asked, cheeks pink.

"What about your father?" I asked, my eyes tracing a scar on Daphne's shoulder.

The princess' face darkened.

"Isel, come here." She commanded, and I went, kneeling by the bathtub.

"That's treason," Daphne told me quietly, brushing hair out of my face. "And, besides, he's mine. I kill him, is that clear?"

It was clear, I'd learnt that tone of voice from her. I nodded, feeling her hands on my ruined face.

"I don't know what everyone's so afraid of," Daphne murmured, her hands a breeze on my cheekbones. "You look perfectly alright to me. A little different from everyone else, but you're not boring. It's pretty in its own way."

My cheeks warmed, and I tried smiling again, and Daphne scoffed.

"But that smile, now that's almost too interesting." She traced the curve of my lip with her thumb. "Let's be careful about putting it on."

"Okay." I agreed, watching her, her timeless, carefully structured beauty. She was like a horse, a little, in that way that every plane, every jut of bone added to the picture. The glaring beauty, with big eyes and a secretive grin.

"I want you to know, that you're the only friend I've ever had." Daphne whispered, and for the first time I saw the freckle under her eye. A tiny imperfection. "And you shouldn't give a shit what anybody says. When I'm Queen, halfbreeds-no don't look away." She seized my chin, forcing me to meet her eyes. "Half breeds like you will have a place in my court."

"I already have a place in your court," I replied, and she giggled, water splashing over on my knees as she did.

"Ah yes, and you better get used to kneeling I'm afraid. I'm planning on being a horribly wicked queen." Daphne smirked at me, the gentleness in her eyes dimming. "Where are the rose petals?"

I shook my head, confused.

"For the bath? I always need rose petals, go find some." She yawned, craning her neck over the edge. "Hurry!" She hissed and I staggered up, stumbling towards the door.

"Where are they normally?" I asked, turning back in the nick of time.

The princess waved me away. "Who knows, ask that idiot maid. Tell her I don't like to be kept waiting."

"I kind of-okay, yeah." I sprinted off into the dark halls, wondering where I'd find petals in the middle of the night.

In my experience, only darkness bloomed here.