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Magnus was at his wit’s end with Karena. She had always acted in an entitled and arrogant manner with almost everyone, but knew the difference between subtle jabs, and outright insults. After hearing Maevis, Shasta, and Peggy’s stories, the King had had enough..

Over the past two months, Karena’s actions and displays of tyrannical behavior had been hard to cover for. Recently, she’d heard a lord’s daughter mention how dashing the future king was, and had her locked away in the dungeons for a week. Another incident occurred involving a young woman that had been accidentally assigned to tend to Karena.

She had her whipped for spilling a cup of tea on the floor. The lass’ father had been furious, but Magnus and Marco had convinced him to accept an elevation in status via an overly generous marriage proposal to a baron’s son. Since the lass had been a simple servant, the ridiculous rise in rank had easily silenced her family, regardless of the lass’ feelings on the matter.

Magnus now owed Baron Rayleigh a favor due to Karena’s idiocy, and that was just the tip of the iceberg with her indiscretions. Both Marco and Magnus had grown tired of dealing with the fallout from Karena’s attitude. So much so that Magnus was completely serious about sending her back to her brother.

King Victor Garcia would be furious to have her denounced as the Future Queen of Alcon, but wouldn’t have any say on the matter. His activities and trades with the Sync Kingdom had all but set off a war, which would most likely still happen.. ‘Based on the way that the kingdoms are dividing up, a full-blown world war might be brewing...’

As the thought crossed Magnus’ mind, he was attempting to listen to Karena’s excuses. She was going off about how Shasta and Skye were wasting taxpayer dollars by purchasing unnecessary materials for the wedding. Lawrence looked ready to snap at her as well, but Magnus beat him to it again.

“What part of Stay in your quarters until I call for you did you not understand?! Those were a Direct order from your King!” Magnus had turned and glared at Draco as he finished.

He was angry with the guard for disobeying him, but that was something Marco could deal with on his behalf. Right now, his biggest thorn was Karena herself, and what to do with her..

.....

“Do you no longer wish to be Queen of Alcon?!” the king all but screamed at her.

“What do you mean?! I Am the Future Queen-”

Magnus took a threatening step towards her; “THAT! Right there! That attitude of yours is about to cost you the Crown! How stupid can you be, Lass?! You are Not a Queen yet! You are an arrogant, selfish bairn with no sense in her head to keep quiet when her King is speaking!”

“Thanks in large part to your hubris, you have no allies left in court. If I send you back to your traitorous brother, no one would do as much as bat an eye about the decision! Do you understand?!”

Karena narrowed her eyes at her king; “What proof is there that he has betrayed Alcon?! The word of creatures Barely better than the animals they resemble?! My brother and Meccano have been an ally to Alcon since before we were born! If my brother has done anything, it was with the knowled-”

“Enough of this!” Marco yelled as he walked over to Karena, and stopped barely a foot away from her.

She had instantly shrunk back at his intimidating stride, and flinched several times as he came within arm’s length of her. Skye and Tidas shot each other glances, letting the other know that they had seen it again. It wasn’t the first time that they had noticed her fear..

They had no doubt that Marco hurt Karena, but they didn’t know if it was a re-occurring issue. All they knew was what their experiences had taught them. The warning signs were all there: Karena was a victim of abuse.

It didn’t excuse her nasty behavior, but it did help them to understand her circumstances a bit. Neither understood why Karena was so possessive over a man that had hurt her, or why she let the irrational emotion push her to do horrible things to women fooled by his fa?ade. Because of it, Karena was now isolated amongst the courtiers.

Acting as if she were better than everyone else had slowly turned the entire court against her, and the mess that her brother was making wasn’t doing her any favors. Rumors were already spreading about his deals with the Sync Kingdom, and they were destroying any ties that Karena had left.

If Magnus really did follow through with his threat, no one would speak on her behalf. Knowing it already, what Marco whispered to her nearly made her yelp out loud; “If you cause one more issue today, then I will send you back to Victor. And you will not be in the same state as when you arrived..”

Karena’s breath trembled in fear as she stared into Marco’s lifeless eyes. There had never been any warmth there for her, but at least before he put on as good of a show as she did. People used to envy her, saying that her husband must’ve loved her dearly since he was always spoiling her.. But they were utterly wrong..

Their lovey-dovey act had worked well until Skye and Tidas had showed up. Once everyone saw the genuine love and devotion between them, it was obvious that Karena and Marco were faking their bond.. ‘It’s always Her...’

Karena wanted to glare at Skye, but she was too afraid of what Marco would do to her. He was far more twisted than she was, and knew that if she pushed him: he would strike back ten times over. After apologizing to her husband, then her father-in-law; Karena walked the couple feet over, and bowed deeply to Lawrence.

Shasta had caught that Karena had obviously positioned herself so that her body was only directed at Lawrence.. ‘Gods forbid she actually show Me some respect..’

As she straightened back up, Karena made it a point to keep her sight low. To avoid Marco’s piercing gaze. Skye and Tidas were focused on Karena’s situation, but Lawrence had been focusing on what Karena was saying when Marco cut her off..

‘She said that Victor wouldn’t act without The knowledge.. Whatk knowledge? Who’s knowledge? ....Marco maybe? Does she mean that Marco knew that Victor was trading with Sync? That makes no sense..’

‘Why wouldn’t he tell anyone if he knew?! Father, Me-someone?! It’s his future kingdom that they’re threatening! That can’t be it.. It doesn’t make any sense..’

As the thoughts bombarded Lawrence, Shasta felt him tense. She could sense the stress pouring out of him, and worried if it was Karena, or her that had caused him so much stress. Not sure of what to do, she gently squeezed his hand, then said; “I’m here whenever you need me, love. Just tell me, and my ears are yours.”

Lawrence exhaled a breath that he hadn’t been aware of holding. He squeezed hers back, then winked before saying; “Thank you, dear. We’ll talk later: too many ears here when I only want to whisper in yours..”

Shasta smiled, but it was edged with concern. Lawrence usually didn’t lose himself to his thoughts, but had clearly been miles away a moment ago. As she wondered what had distracted him so much, Magnus gave Karena her final warning..

“If I hear one more complaint against you from now until After the wedding, I’ll send you to Meccano the following morning! Does Your King Make Himself Clear?!”

“Yes, My King. I will remain in my quarters for the next month,” Karena replied, hoping for one final shot at manipulating him.

Magnus sighed; “You don’t have to be-”

“I think that is an excellent idea,” Marco interjected; “I will escort you to the banquet hall for meals, and I will have anything sent to you that you request. It’s better doing it this way since you can’t be trusted. None of us will have to worry about you.”

Karena looked like she’d been punched in the gut, and Magnus didn’t approve of how he had spoken to his wife. He chided Marco for being too harsh, then told him to escort her back while they waited for him. Before she left, Magnus ordered her to apologize directly to Shasta, which she refused to do.

“It’s fine with me if she doesn’t apologize as long as she’s kept caged up. I don’t want anymore issues with my wedding,” Shasta stated with a smirk.

She had purposely used the word ‘caged’ to irritate Karena, and it had worked. She flashed Shasta one of the most hateful expressions that Lawrence had ever seen, then walked towards the door with Marco. As they went, he blatantly stared at Skye, which infuriated Tidas, but there was nothing he could do..

************

Karena and Marco passed several doors and other small hallways before he led her to the place he entered the secret passageways. After a quick glance around, Marco, Karena, Draco, Sheri, and an unseen Ahriman slipped inside. As soon as the hidden door closed, Marco slapped Karena hard enough to make her fall over.

The three guards did what they always did in these situations: acted like they didn’t see or hear anything. The shards in their necks from Marco’s amulet bent them to his will, and forced them to follow his orders no matter their moral standing. Sheri wanted to yank him away from Karena, but knew that she couldn’t..

As Sheri’s morality was kept in check with a kind of suffocating despair caused by the shard, the other two watched with twisted smiles. Ahriman just liked to see others in pain, and grinned broadly as Marco slapped her again. Draco just looked jealous of his king for being the one to beat her.

Marco kept his hand hovering above her as he spoke in an unnervingly calm voice for what he was doing; “What were you about to say out there, Karena? Hmm? Because it sounded like you were about to tell them that I was the one who okayed Meccano and Sync’s trade.”

Pure fear shined in her tears eyes; “I-I-I swear that I-I wasn’t going to say anything about that! I Swear! I was just going to say that my brother wouldn’t accept the trade deals without knowledge o-of foreseeable profits! That’s all! I swear!”

Marco lowered his arm; “Good.. You know what will happen if you say anything, correct?”

Karena nodded timidly; “Yes, sir. But isn’t it a good thing that you’re instigating trades with former enemies? Turning them into allies of Alcon?”

Marco turned and stared at his na?ve wife a few moments. He couldn’t believe how stupid she was sometimes..

“Oh, Karena.. They won’t be Alcon’s allies, they’ll be mine...”