Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 336: Violet: I Need You

Violet gasped. "You really think I’m jealous of either silly girl circling William?"

"Of course you are! You’re jealous of anyone that doesn’t come from a line of impoverished nobodies! And you know what? You’d still be a nobody if it weren’t for me. So show some fucking gratitude for your station in life and stop sticking your hand in things you don’t understand!"

Violet swallowed as the bile started rising in her throat.

"If your plan was to persuade my cousin to turn his attention to the Princess of Havietten, then it failed. You’ve achieved the exact opposite." Leo rubbed his temples. "Will’s furious with her. He’s vowed to me on his father’s name that he’ll never marry Sarai, no matter what the king threatens him with."

"He said that?"

"Yes, all thanks to your meddling."

"Well, so what?" Violet waved her hand dismissively. "He doesn’t doesn’t make the final decision. And he doesn’t have to like Sarai, he just has to wed her. If that’s the outcome the king wants, what make a spoiled boy think he has any right to argue against it?"

"The fact you even have to ask that..." Leo actually slapped his own forehead in disbelief. "Let me explain, nice and slow. The spoiled boy governs almost half the country, thanks to his inheritance from Johan. So if he decides to rebel against his king in protest, can you see how that might cause a problem or two?"

Violet paused. She hadn’t predicted William would fight against marriage so fiercely. Couldn’t he just do as King Edward wanted, get a boy from Sarai’s belly and then spend the rest of his nights with mistresses? That was a time honoured Devon tradition, wasn’t it?

Leo continued raging at her. "You’ve caused a mess. And don’t give me any shit about how you were trying to help our family! You did it for yourself. Because you hate some poor orphaned girl for committing the sin of being more beautiful than you."

At that, Violet’s mouth dropped open as she stared at her husband.

Him as well? Had Leo also fallen under the chit’s spell and was now taking her side over his own wife’s?

Were all men really that weak against a pretty face?

"So you admit you find her beautiful then? A pagan who probably also dabbles in witchcraft?" Violet was less surprised she’d caught Leo’s roving eye and more that he’d admit to being attracted to a barbarian.

Leo had been striding towards the bedchamber door, but suddenly stopped. He threw her a dismissive look over his shoulder. "So what if I do? I have eyes, don’t I? It means nothing. And don’t try to change the subject! This has nothing to do with-"

"It has everything to do with it!" she shrilled. "How am I supposed to feel when you’re choosing some feral girl’s side over mine?"

"What? Have you run mad? Are you listening to yourself, wife? I’m trying to stop this situation from getting even uglier and all you can do is complain like a child in a tantrum!" Leo bellowed. "Have you learned anything in all these years, or are you still the same girl who enjoyed sneaking around behind her sister’s back?"

Violet sucked in a deep breath, truly hating him in that moment. She slowly stood up from her dressing table as she whispered, "You monster. Are you making a mockery of Ilse’s death?"

"No, but you are! I thought you would’ve learned something from how you carried on back then, Violet. I thought you might’ve learned that no good comes from scheming and backbiting between women. But clearly you haven’t and you’re still every bit as selfish! You still believe you should have everything your way and to hell with what everyone else thinks!"

Leo threw the bedchamber door open but just before he stormed out, he hurled one final insult at her. "The barbarian could be the plainest woman in the world and she’d still be more beautiful than you. Because it’s your pettiness and spite that make you ugly! They always have."

"You dare talk to me like that?" she screamed, really screamed at him in a way she hadn’t in years. Violet tore through the presence chamber and chased him, not caring that she might be heard by anyone who happened to be walking along the corridor. "You dare compare me to her? I am the mother of a future king! Not just some useless wench that warms your bed!"

Leo just looked at her with distaste when she grabbed his arm to stop him from walking away. He shook off her touch. "Then start acting like the mother of a king! Grow the fuck up, Violet! And be honest about your intentions. You’re targeting that chit because she isn’t overawed by you. You hate that she doesn’t give a single fuck about you!"

Violet was about to reply with something truly vicious, when Leo’s next words shut her up.

"It’s pathetic how you’re willing create problems for the entire kingdom because some girl dared to dent your pride. Imagine if this was happening under our son’s rule. You’d crucify any woman who dared undermine his plans behind his back."

Violet stepped back from her husband’s broad frame, which was quivering from rage. But his next words were frighteningly soft.

"If Father finds out you caused all of this, he won’t hesitate to banish you. If not worse. And you know what? I can’t even stop him."

She felt like she’d been plunged into an icy river.

Various images flashed through her mind of being exiled to some remote, rundown property at the edge of the country. Far from her children and far from any influence.

A place like Orravalo, perhaps.

If she wanted to avoid that awful fate, she needed to appease Leo. Quickly.

Because it was clear she’d overstepped her limits and had now caused unforeseen trouble.

If Leo’s reckless young cousin wanted to raise his sword against King Edward to protest the bride chosen for him, that was his business.

But it couldn’t ever get back to the king that Violet had had something to do with it.

Which meant she needed to convince her husband to keep his mouth shut. He could be as angry as he wanted privately but publicly, she needed him to take her side.

Otherwise, who would?

Swallowing her resentment, Violet looked up at him. "I was only trying to help, Leo. I thought Sarai could merely warn the pagan girl to get her claws out of your cousin, and make your father’s goals easier."

"What claws? You said so yourself, she isn’t letting Will bed her. If anything, he needs to get his claws out of her. All you’ve done is make Will more determined to fight against a union with Sarai."

It was truly a shame when Leo not only remembered her words but used them against her.

"What do you want me to do then, husband?" she asked with forced calm. "How can I help fix this?"

Leo’s voice remained soft, like a deadly snake poised to strike. "You mean how do you stop Father finding out you’re to blame for Sarai’s dowry lands to not coming under Islian control? Such extensive lands that would’ve extended Devon authority all the way to the Elleiser Mountains?"

"Yes." she managed to squeak out. She could feel the back of her neck slicked in cold sweat.

"I’m only going to say this once." Leo stared down at her, his eyes bitterly cold. "I need you to stop interfering and trying to manipulate people into acting how you want them to act. Learn your goddamn place. These are not matters you get to decide. They have consequences beyond what you can imagine. Do you understand me?"

She nodded, her pride smarting from his words. At least Leo had stopped yelling and seemed to be calming down slightly.

"Are you going to tell your father what I did?" Violet had to ask.

Leo snorted. "What the hell for? So he can tear strips off me for not keeping my wife in line?" He looked down at her, weariness on his face. "Your behaviour impacts me as well. I’ll keep my mouth shut not to protect you, but to protect me."

"Thank you, husband." She hated the words, even as she tried to sound sincere while forcing them through her clenched jaw.

"And the next time you’re caught interfering in matters above your station, I won’t lift a finger to defend you. You’ll have to face whatever punishment comes your way. Understand?"

Violet nodded as she continued looking up at her husband, his face so comfortably familiar after a decade of marriage. She’d never loved him.

But goddamnit, she needed him.

He could easily be without her but she could never be without him. That was a woman’s unfair lot in marriage.

With a final hard stare, Leo finally left their presence chamber. He slammed the door hard as he marched into the corridor.

Violet stared at the doors for a long moment, half expecting him to stride back in and start yelling again. When he didn’t, she turned around slowly and staggered back towards the dressing table on shaky legs.

She sank down on the cushioned stool and tried to calm the sickening fear oozing through her.

When she glanced back into the mirror, her gaze was drawn to the diamond ribbons that Elspeth had woven through her braids. The gems winked back, as if they were dozens of little laughing eyes.