The Shadows Between Us

by Tricia Levenseller

The world will need to know that I’m the last royal left. Their queen.

The point is to stand out, Father. Not blend in.”

The rebel in me loves to throw dirt in the face of decorum.

When a man sees something that several other men want, he can’t help but want it, too.

The Shadow King smells delicious.

“Not that anyone would notice. You stand out like a spark in a dark room all on your own.

I handled Hektor as I have handled everything else in my life: alone and with the utmost thoroughness.

He swallows the bite in his mouth. “Alessandra Stathos, that’s positively despicable.” He says the words like they’re the highest compliment he can give me. “You are an absolute gem, do you know that?” My whole body warms at the praise.

The poets can say whatever they damned like. A woman’s worth is not decided by what’s between her legs but by what is in her mind.

I’ve made a point of doing my best to give ladies the same rights as men. It’s what my mother would have wanted. And besides, how can men expect all the ladies to remain virgins while they don’t? The numbers don’t add up.”

“Have you ever been in love?” “No,” he says. “Not ever. What’s it like?” “Horrible.”

“I merely think we should be afforded the same rights as the men. Even in the bedroom.”

lied. You’re the most stunning thing to ever set foot in my palace.”

“By being myself. By discussing what I wished to discuss and behaving how I wished to behave and wearing what I wished to wear. It is not conforming to a standard that drew His Majesty’s attention. If you wish to make a happy match, I think you should do the same. Don’t be afraid of who you are. Say what you wish. Be who you wish. Don’t try to be someone else. You don’t want to catch a man who wants me. You want to catch a man who wants you.”

I try for a humble tone, but since I’ve no idea what that sounds like, I’m not so sure that I manage it.

“Friends don’t let friends go to gentleman’s clubs alone when someone is trying to kill them.”

“Well, a lady must always get what she wants.”

“My little hellion. Quite the force to be reckoned with, aren’t you?

“I think that when you care enough for someone, you reach a point where it’s far more painful not to have him at all than to have him and risk losing him. You realize the risk is worth it. Because happiness, however short-lived, is always worth it.”

“I want a life with you, Alessandra, one without the shadows between us.

The Shadow King, it turns out, was well worth the wait.

It is your body to do with as you will.”

Waiting. Not waiting. One lover. A hundred lovers. There should be no judgment either way. A woman is not defined by what she does or doesn’t do in the bedroom.

My first real friends. I thought women were always my competitors, people to be jealous of. How wrong I was.

“I’m not a trollop,” I announce to the empty room. “I’m a sexually empowered woman, and there is nothing wrong with that.”