The castle gardens were peaceful at night time. The air was cool, heavy with the smell of roses and lavender. A full moon rose overhead, flooding the stone paths with silver light.
Aric roamed the hedged corridors, having traveled enough times through them to know the path, but his mind already at the game.
Lady Evelyne Blackthorne.
Where Isadora flirted with seduction and hiding, Evelyne played with power and fear — she was nothing like Isadora. They had been seriously dangerous in their ways, but Aric Rikter was not about to be a pawn for anyone.
He arrived at a secluded courtyard with Evelyne waiting for him under a stone arch, robed in deep crimson. Her golden eyes danced with joyous mischief as she scrutinized him.
"You don't hesitate, do you?" she murmured.
Aric smirked. "I like to keep it interesting."
She chuckled. "Good. My loser men who waste my time."
She turned and motioned him to walk with her. The stillness of the world around them fell into silence as the style dripped between one another along the poorly lit road.
"Today you made quite a spectacle of yourself," Evelyne said. "I understood beating Reynard was no small task. But humiliating one of my knights?
Aric looked over at her, reading between the lines. "You sound impressed."
Evelyne smirked. "I catch a feeling of it, of men who know how to put strength to good use."
She halted by a marble fountain, whose gentle trickle filled the air. Then her expression hardened.
"But you've also made yourself a target."
Aric was leaning on the stone lip of the fountain. "You're concerned about the Duke."
Evelyne's gaze darkened. "Not just the Duke. Isadora, the Council, the nobles you threaten. "You're walking into a nest of vipers, Aric."
Aric chuckled. "I like vipers. They do not bite unless they are frightened."
She inquired with an intrigued tilt of her head. "Are you suggesting you want them to fear you?
Aric's smirk widened. "I'm saying they should."
Evelyne looked at him for a long moment, then sighed. "You remind me of someone."
Aric arched a brow. "Let me guess. A careless idiot who would not bow?"
She chuckled. "Something like that."
And then, her voice became hushed. "I have a proposition."
Aric leaned in a little, waiting.
"The Duke will put up with you for only so long," Evelyne said. "And Isadora… she's charming, no? But she's a spider spinning a web. She will use you till you are of no use."
Aric wasn't surprised. And he had known from that first moment in which Isadora approached him that she was playing a long game.
Evelyne stepped forward, golden eyes fixing on his. "I don't promise loyalty or feigned promises of pleasure like Isadora. What I offer is protection. Resources. Power. If you stand with me, I will make sure you have everything you need to not just survive — but thrive."
Aric let out a laugh as he threw his head back. "And what are you asking for in return?
Evelyne smiled, slowly and intentionally. "Your strength. And your readiness to act, when the moment comes."
It wasn't seduction. It was strategy. She needed an ally, not a plaything.
And it was an offer, I thought, hard to refuse.
Before Aric could answer, they were interrupted by the noise of approaching footsteps.
At the entrance of the garden stood a lone figure—Lady Isadora.
She radiated regal effortless in midnight silk. But her emerald eyes.. they burned.
"Oh, dear," she said, her voice as smooth as ever. "I hope I'm not interrupting something."
Evelyne didn't look, but her position changed. A subtle, sharpened edge.
"Just a conversation," she replied.
Isadora smiled, slow and knowing. "How fascinating. "I thought your game and mine were different, Evelyne."
Evelyne smirked. "Are we? Or are we merely vying for the same slice?"
Aric sighed, amused. "Ladies, I appreciate the applause, but I don't remember signing up for a prize."
Heaving, Isadora stepped towards him, eyes glued to his. "No, darling. You're not a prize."
She ran a finger down his arm, a touch both intimate and possessive.
"You're an investment."
Evelyne rolled her eyes. "How poetic."
The tension in the room between the two women was so palpable it could be cut with a knife. They weren't just noble rivals — they were deadly foes in a war of control.
And Aric was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Isadora focused all of her attention on Aric. "Be wary of your trust," she cautioned, her voice silk and steel.
Evelyne scoffed. "That's rich coming from you."
Isadora ignored her. "The Duke is watching. "Because if you stand with the wrong person, he's going to destroy you."
Aric chuckled. "And you're the right person for that?"
Isadora's smile didn't fade. "I'm the one who knows the authority you have. And I am the only one who knows how to use it."
Evelyne crossed her arms. "And after all that, here Aric, listening to me still."
There was an unspoken skirmish between the two women. A battle for control.
And Aric? He was in the middle of it.
He could choose the side of Isadora, the Duke's shadow, the woman who toyed in secrets and desire.
Or he could join his lot with Evelyne, the noble warrior, the woman who thrived in raw power and strategy.
Or…
He could play them both.
Aric takes a slow breath then smirks.
"You each have very solid points," he said. "But I think I'm going to do what I do best."
Evelyne arched a brow. "Which is?"
Aric's silver eyes glinted. "Keep you guessing."
Isadora laughed softly. Evelyne grinned.
They both understood.
Aric wasn't choosing sides.
He was playing his own game.
And in a world of vipers and queens, what's the most dangerous piece…
And was the one they never saw coming.