Lady Regina Sheridan did not think of herself as being a prideful person. Growing up within her murderous family made her paranoid, secretive, fearful, and startlingly good at detecting the causes of murder. However, it did not fill her with an enormous sense of self-importance.


    She had never thought of herself as particularly beautiful, intelligent, cunning, or talented. However, in the aftermath of the noble conversation that she had just overhead, Regina realized she was indeed prideful in a way that could prove fatal.


    Now, far too late, Regina could see that she had harbored too much pride in the conclusions that she drew from the information she knew.


    Unfortunately, according to the nobles she had overheard, she had been wrong about everything.


    ‘All this time,’ Regina frantically thought as she hugged the walls of the masquerade ball, ‘I thought I was seen as the crazed clown of Carcosa’s Capital! Yet if these masked nobles are to be believed, I am actually a diabolical genius who manipulates Artem to gain power at a rapid pace. Moreover, I am also gaining popularity among commoners and even nobles so quickly, it appears as though I am aiming for an elevated station. If that is truly the case…’


    Only the thankfully wainscoting-less walls behind Regina’s back kept her from a disgraceful collapse.


    ‘If that is truly the case,’ Regina realized, ‘then it is no wonder that my enemies wish to murder me. I too would want to murder a rival if I thought she would eventually become the Queen!’


    The idea that she wanted to make herself the Queen was so outlandish, Regina wanted to believe that no one else could believe it. After all, nobody who had ever spent time with her could believe she wanted to be a queen after years spent longing for a quiet, peaceful life.


    ‘I just want to live in the countryside in peace, with a pleasant husband and a passel of children and a few flocks of sheep!’ Regina cried inwardly. ‘The last thing I want is to become the Queen of Carcosa and have even more people out to manipulate or murder me!’


    Even so, Regina could not remain in denial forever. After all, as she now realized, nobody in the Capital outside of Henrietta and Artem knew her well.


    The commoners and nobles of the Capital merely knew her as a young lady who came from an ambitious and relatively new noble family. She was the woman who had turned down an engagement with the coldly calculating Crown Prince for his far more amiable and easy-going brother.


    She could also be seen as the ambitious upstart who was constantly attending grand public engagements while proclaiming herself the “people’s princess” and saving others from danger in the most flamboyant manner possible.


    Regina suddenly recalled the masses of nobles and commoners alike who had wildly cheered for her in the aftermath of her rescuing masses of orphans at the theater after she had declared that she and Artem were ‘patriots of the Carcosan people’…


    …and felt a migraine begin to bloom between her brows.


    ‘All this time,’ she realized, ‘I thought that I was making a foolish spectacle of myself. Yet apparently, the Carcosans watching me find this spectacle so entertaining and enjoyable, they might even want me to be their Queen! By the blood, what have I done to myself?!’


    Even worse was the sudden realization that more than just the nobles at this party might believe that Regina was making a play to be on the throne.


    ‘No,’ Regina thought with mounting horror. ‘My greatest worry is not whatever the commoners or nobles or even my enemies think… it is what the Sheridan family elders believe! If those monsters think they could make a queen out of me, they will push me onto the throne no matter what it costs or how many assassination attempts I experience after I wear their crown. They will never stop hounding me or allow me to retire to a peaceful life in the country!’


    Of course, the grand joke was that if Regina ever amassed any form of power, she would immediately use it to suppress her family as much as possible!


    Though Regina loved Henrietta and had some sympathy for the younger Sheridans in the same position as her, she could not give a damn about the rest of her family. If she actually became Queen, her first act would be to use all the knowledge she had of their inner workings to destroy all their power bases.


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    ‘Even so,’ Regina glumly acknowledged, ‘by the time I have enough power to destroy the Sheridan elders, I will have to become Queen and stay in the Capital forever. Even if vengeance on my family would taste sweet, I would still be trapped here. Even worse, poor Artem would be trapped with me. As much as I hate the thought of being queen, he would loathe being king!’


    The thought of Artem momentarily calmed Regina, leading her to crane her neck to look for him. Thankfully, she soon found him wearing a blinding number of new baubles even as he continued making more for a long line of admirers.


    ‘Oh Artem,’ Regina wistfully thought, even as she sighed at the realization that her attempt to keep him safe looked far too much like her manipulating Artem to gain favors. ‘I hope I have not doomed you as well as myself.’


    After hearing the nobles gossip that she was ‘manipulating’ Artem, Regina feared she might have made Artem’s life so much worse than it previously had been.


    She had no illusions about Artem. While Regina now knew that she… treasured him, she had spent enough time observing him to know that Artem was far too sweet and naive to harbor political ambitions on his own. Though she sometimes marveled at how someone as gentle as Artem had come from a family as ruthless as the Alpins, Regina knew Artem would never seek out political power.


    She knew that all Artem wanted to do was frolic in peace while basking in her company.


    Artem would be scared and upset if he realized he was being positioned to battle his elder brother, Aaron, for the throne. Regina had heard of the legendary Alpin battles over the throne and she knew that the last thing Artem wanted to do was duel his brother to the death.


    What’s more, even if Crown Prince Aaron somehow went away without bloodshed, Artem would be unable to carry out his new duties as king. She could not imagine sweet, single-minded Artem taking on the many responsibilities of the throne without breaking down in the end.


    Even worse, Regina had a feeling she now knew why her assassin might have killed Artem in her last vision.


    After all, if her assassins were desperate to ensure she would not be queen… their attempts on her life might become so sloppy and reckless it could kill Artem as well as herself!


    ‘Blood be damned,’ Regina cursed. ‘I am not going to allow anyone to harm Artem, especially if it is because of me!’


    Suddenly overwhelmed by worry, Regina forced herself away from the comfort of the wall she was against and began looking for Artem once again.


    ‘Please do not drown in any fountains,’ she silently begged as she searched for him. ‘I can save you if needed – I have fished plenty of my cousins out of puddles when the elders felt that my cousins were getting a little too opinionated. Even so, I hope I will not have to rescue you by beating the water out of your lungs – I never could do it without breaking a few ribs!’


    Several of the cousins that Regina had rescued from ‘warning’ drownings have even begged her to let them drown next time. Apparently, her way of ‘rescuing’ people was just that… intense.


    A wave of relief overcame her when she saw that he was where she had last spotted him, still safely surrounded by a group of admirers.


    ‘Thank the blood,’ Regina thought, ‘that Artem is safe. We need not linger at this ball now that I have learned so much. All I need to do is make my way to him and tell him we need to leave–’


    Unfortunately, right after Regina gathered up her impressive swath of skirts and began making her way to her fiancé, someone interrupted her march by tapping her on the shoulder.


    As Regina froze, that same someone asked, in a voice so magically altered she had no means of tracing it, “My lady, would you care to dance?”


    Even without looking at her would-be partner, Regina wanted to say no and continue on her path. The last thing she wanted to do was waste time while she had so much on her mind and so many challenges ahead of her.


    However, after another moment, Regina chose instead to slowly turn back to her new partner and nod.


    ‘After all,’ she reminded herself, ‘I am here to gather as much knowledge as I can, not be standoffish. Artem is safe with so many around him and no one could possibly trace my identity after it has been concealed with magic. If this unknown noble wants to dance with me, so be it. I have been so careful and bland tonight that no one else is likely to approach me. So I should take advantage of this opportunity.


    ‘Perhaps I can even wheedle some more information out of him about who my potential enemies may be. Surely they cannot include everybody in this room!’


    With that hope, Regina gave her new partner a smile half-hidden by her falcon-mask and said, “Of course, my lord. I am always happy to dance. I look forward to what we can share with one another.”


    Her breath caught in her throat as the lordling turned fully towards her.


    For the first time, Regina had a full look at the man who wished to dance with her and she wished she had not.


    “Oh my lady,” said the man in the golden death’s head mask, “I believe we have much we can share.”