Chapter six

GAMES OF POWER

XENIA’S POV

The palace had not changed. Still as golden and cold as I remembered — a fortress cloaked in marble and secrets. But this time, I wasn’t the trembling girl tossed into a stranger’s bed like unwanted scraps. This time, I was the storm walking through its halls.

I stared out the arched window of my chamber, hands clasped behind my back, watching the maids bustle through the courtyard below. My breath fogged the glass as I whispered softly, “Let the games begin.”

There was a knock.

“Enter,” I said, without turning.

The door creaked open and I caught the scent of rosemary. Cassia, the shy maid from my previous life. She was kind — one of the few who didn’t treat me like filth.

“My Lady,” she curtsied, eyes cast low, “the seamstress would like to take your measurements for tomorrow’s dinner banquet. The king has ordered new gowns for you.”

Ah, yes. Rico was playing the remorseful husband card now. Dresses. Jewels. Honeyed words.

He thought he could buy my forgiveness like a merchant haggling for silk.

I smiled faintly. “Tell her I’ll come after sunset.”

Cassia nodded, then hesitated. “If I may, My Lady… You seem different.”

I turned to her fully, letting my gaze soften. “Perhaps I’ve finally woken up.”

She blinked, unsure how to respond, and backed out the room with a quiet apology.

As the door clicked shut, I reached under my pillow and pulled out the folded parchment I’d found tucked inside my dresser drawer the night before. Old. Yellowed. The handwriting messy — rushed. But unmistakable.

“The girl must never know. She is not Astral’s blood. She must remain hidden, for the prophecy can never be fulfilled.”

I didn’t know who wrote it — not yet. But I knew who it was about.

Me.

RICO’S POV

I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

She moved differently now. Spoke with sharpness in her tongue and ice in her eyes. Not that innocent girl who flinched at my voice. This Xenia… she carried herself like royalty. Like fire wrapped in silk.

And I was burning.

Elvis stood beside me in the war chamber, going over reports, but my mind was elsewhere.

“She hasn’t asked to see me once since the wedding,” I muttered.

Elvis didn’t respond right away. Then, cautiously, he said, “My King… do you think she might remember?”

I turned sharply. “Remember?”

He shrugged, looking nervous. “Things… from before. If we were truly granted a second life, like you believe, what if she…?”

I clenched my jaw. The idea haunted me. The guilt was a rot I couldn’t scrub clean. If she did remember everything — the cruelty, the indifference, the betrayal — how could she ever love me again?

“I have to earn her back,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone.

Elvis cleared his throat. “Then start by looking into Freya. She’s been… unpredictable.”

I nodded. It was time to start peeling back the layers of this rotten palace.

XENIA’S POV

That evening, I walked the halls with measured grace. Every step, a performance. Every smile, a lie.

I passed servants who barely concealed their sneers. Good. Let them underestimate me.

“Lady Xenia,” came a familiar purr from behind.

Freya.

I turned slowly, forcing my expression into pleasant indifference.

“You look radiant,” she said, her red lips curled. “Marriage suits you.”

I held her gaze. “Thank you, Lady Freya. Though I wasn’t aware mistresses gave style advice.”

Her smile twitched.

I stepped closer, my voice lowering. “He doesn’t want you anymore, Freya. You can feel it, can’t you? Like the chill before snowfall.”

She laughed, but her eyes flashed with fury. “You’re bold now. I wonder… what changed?”

I leaned in. “Maybe I stopped being afraid of mice pretending to be wolves.”

I left her there, seething.

Later that night, I slipped into the forbidden archives — the ones no one thought I knew about. But I remembered. From my first life, I remembered everything. Even the things I wished I didn’t.

My fingers trailed over scrolls and leather-bound books, until I found it.

A sealed letter addressed to Lord Orion Castle.

With shaking hands, I broke the wax.

“The girl will die, and the throne will be yours. Rico will never suspect you. The wolf king believes she is his daughter — and so does she. The timing is perfect. Strike before she turns twenty.”

My heart thundered.

Orion. Rico’s best friend.

The betrayal ran deeper than I thought. And the letter confirmed something else — I was never Astral’s sister. I was someone else entirely. And someone had gone through great lengths to keep it hidden.

I slid the letter into my cloak and blew out the lamp.

The shadows welcomed me as I slipped out the door, whispering promises to the darkness.