To know your enemy, you must become your enemy (Part 3 of Folie à deux)

My heart's racing as I make my way towards Daphne's room, barrelling past servants and guards. I glare at Kylan's flunkies, swinging open the doors, wordlessly telling them I'll remember their faces.

Daphne looks up from her book the second I stride in, her blue eyes studying my face.

Kylan's only moments behind me, I realize, and open my mouth, trying to give her any advantage. "He's alive, and-"

"My lady," Prince Kylan emerges through the door and I watch Daphne's face pale with horror. "We have much to talk about."

The Princess shoots me an angry look, then arches an eyebrow at the Westling Prince. "Without a chaperone? My father would be furious."

"On the contrary, he'd be delighted at how well we're getting on. And Isel can ensure no honour is lost either way." Kylan inclines his head at me politely and I avoid Daphne's cruel eyes.

"You're less dead than I expected," Daphne tells Kylan icily, slamming the book in her hand shut.

"Don't be angry with Isel, better assassins than her have failed. The guards outside your room would have executed you if I was to die." Kylan's explanation is not meant to be soothing, it's an open, existing threat.

The Princess looks coolly disinterested, turning slightly to me. "You bought that? He'd lose the military alliance he's so crazy about, and be fighting two wars instead of one."

My face gets hot with embarrassment, and Kylan laughs with surprise. "My lady, if I'd known the truth about you, we could have been scheming together from the start."

Daphne tilts her head at him and Kylan continues. "I'll remove your father as soon as I can. You'll be the logical inheritor of the throne, and we can rule together. Crushing my enemies and uniting our kingdoms."

My sister smiles and I tense. Daphne's smiles are dangerous, each one a jewelled knife with a different purpose. "You would do that for me?" She asks, voice soft and surprised.

Kylan glances at me, and I know what we're both thinking. Who is she putting this act on for?

Kylan warily looks pleased, and I sense actual relief in his relaxed shoulders. Part of him doesn't want to negotiate with children, he just expects us to go along with it. "Of course. Once we're married, you will rule as my formidable equal. Your father will never hurt you again, and Isel will make sure I never hurt you."

I glare at Kylan's smile, and his dead, unchanging eyes.

In a shifting of silks, Daphne's close to him, one gloved hand on his jaw. "You must think I'm a horrible hostess, cold and awful as I've been." It's a test.

Kylan stares her down, and I see his hand twitch for the knife at his belt. "Not at all. Your sister has told me many good things about you."

I reach for my own knife, knowing that my fae reflexes could cut off Kylan's head before that knife gets anywhere near Daphne.

There's a knock on the door, interrupting the heavy, tense atmosphere that's built up in the room. A guard, one of Kylan's boorish ones, enters, his face shutting down politely once he sees the Prince and Princess. "Uh, Your highness, the king requests your presence."

"I wonder what that could be about. Be careful," Daphne whispers to the Prince conspiratorially, and I see his calculating nod before he leaves.

Something tells me I've missed a great deal of manoeuvring and calculation, so I wait for Daphne to explain.

The princess waits until their footsteps have properly receded. When I open my mouth, she raises a hand. "There are still guards. Isel."

Daphne breathes in deeply and carefully, eyes dark as she plots. I'm almost afraid to be in the same room as her right now; she has the same look she did when she ordered me to throw Prince Declan off her balcony.

Daphne retrieves a music box she had specially made during a state visit to Temor Kingdom. As it plays, I startle, hearing her voice and mine fill the room, discussing wedding nonsense.

I follow Daphne into the small chamber attached to the room.

"Next time, if it comes down to it, execute the person threatening me if you can't verify the threat."

"The guards changed this morning," I argue, feeling ashamed. Here I was panicking over her, and both the Prince and the Princess seem to view death threats as minor inconveniences. "I thought it was real enough."

Daphne shakes her head, half disgusted, half amused. "He's going to die. Do you understand? I don't care if it's poison or execution. I'll tell my father some scheme of his myself if I have to."

That catches me by surprise. "What? He offered to let you rule with him. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Power that can be given, can be taken away too, idiot." Daphne rolled her eyes. "Remember the powerful treaty made, exchanging your safety for Fae surrender? Tell me, have you been safe here?"

I have gravely miscalculated. While I was out negotiating some equal compromise for her, I underestimated my sister's ambition. She doesn't want an equal, she wants full control. She's the kind of cut off her right hand if it insults her left.

"What are we going to do?" I ask, sighing deeply. How do they muster the energy for plots, counter-plots, and counter-counter-plots?

Daphne smiles, "I thought you were on the Prince's side, dear sister?" She teases, flapping a hand when I frown. "Technically, we aren't going to do anything. Kylan is going to assassinate the king, but the plan will fail."

"You want me to hire an assassin pretending to be Kylan," I say slowly, already thinking of the Grey Market, or the school of killing in Erdshire.

"Yes, or we could foil whatever existing plan he has. In the meantime, Kylan needs to catch one of our plans and see us punished for it."

Daphne takes punishment like somebody drinking a little bit of poison at a time, attempting to develop strength against it. It scares her very little now.

At my uneasy expression, Daphne giggles. "Oh please, a man that clever? Kylan will know we're not to give up that easy. It'll satisfy his cleverness if he catches some devious ploy and exacts revenge. Preferably, revenge that comes from my father."

Daphne sits down on the edge of the tub, eyes clouded with thought. "If I get caught doing something meant to humiliate or incriminate Kylan, something meant to end our marriage, my father will react badly."

I hate where this plan is going but Daphne's eyes are ablaze with deviousness. Her father's reactions are all violent, all bad, and no joking matter.

"Kylan will believe I've learnt my lesson, that now I'll truly side with him, unable to put up with my wicked father anymore. It'll be the final blow."

I nod. "So he'll let us into his plans." I can imagine it now, Prince Kylan reasoning with us much like he reasoned with me near the waterfall.

"Making it that much easier to trap him." Daphne finishes with a smirk. "I'm actually glad now you didn't kill him, this is much more fun."

"What are you thinking of doing?" I ask quietly, exasperated by her games.

Daphne smiles and purses her lips, thinking. "There's a state banquet soon."

"Daphne, your father might kill you!" I say uselessly, knowing that Daphne played with her own chess piece like it was a pawn to be sacrificed.

"I'm the only bargaining chip my father has." Daphne scoffs, tossing her sheet of gently braided hair over her shoulder. "You brought this on me, silly halfling. If you hadn't told Kylan how petty, or vengeful I was, we wouldn't need to convince him of it."

Just as I start feeling guilty, Daphne grabs my hand. "It's not your fault, and I'm touched by how much you care for me. Was it difficult, stopping him from killing me?"

I glare at Daphne and she laughs. "What a terrible mistake the wicked king Oberon made, letting us grow up as sisters. He was so afraid of your rebellion that he cut your little wings off, but you still rebel." Daphne grins, and I give her a tiny, malformed smile in return.

It's dizzying seeing her like this, full of life and her infamous cruelty directed so intensely.

I realize that she's always going to love her dangerous game of lies, and open deceit. She would be incredible in the treacherous, Fae courts.

I wonder if she's also half-Fae. "What do you need me to do?" I ask, ready to help my sister with whatever she needs."

Daphne puts on her most dazzling smile. "You need to find me a pregnant woman of the peasant class, a crooked guard, and some of that aloe cream. And promise that you're always going to be part of my schemes."

Oh no, I see her plan now. "You already have the last thing," I tell her and Daphne laughs.