KARA'S POV
"Your Highness?" Griffith exclaimed as all three men looked at me in horror and confusion.
My cheeks turned red in both embarrassment and fear when my hood came off my head.
"If you do anything to me Viktor will know it was you!" I burst out in a panic, worried they might attack me or hurt me since I had been eavesdropping their conversation.
However, all three men continued to look at me stunned and unmoving. They too appeared terrified. Of course, they were terrified, the woman who worked very closely with their enemy had possibly heard their plans to kill him. They probably thought I was here to get them punished.
In that case, I would have to speak first if we were going to get anywhere.
"Look, I know you're all wondering what I'm doing here," I started cautiously as I looked at each of them, awkwardly trying to figure out what to say to them. "... I can assure you that none of you are in trouble, however, having said that, the reason I am here is because I know why you three are meeting down here, you're planning to rebel against the king."
Their expressions then became tense and they exchanged nervous glances amongst each other.
"What is it you want Your Highness? To threaten us?" Griffith asked speaking up first.
"No. I'm here because I want to help you in achieving your goal. I too want to be a part of your plan." I stated.
Then, as if synchronized, their eyebrows all raised in disbelief.
"What?" Griffith asked.
"That's it, enough of your games," Aldric yelled at me as he came toward me. I then backed away from him in fear.
"Aldric," Griffith called out for him to stop.
"First on the day of my punishment, then in the dungeons, and now this. What are you really up to? Is the King here as well? Did you bring knights with you or something? Just get it over with. We know we're done for anyway."
Despite fear creeping into my body as I looked at Aldric's intimidating frame that towered over me I tried to hold my head high and keep my eye contact with him. He wore simple trousers and a shirt like the other two but his shirt was unbuttoned and I could see his bandaged torso. My eyes softened in guilt.
"I'm here alone," I told him. "The King doesn't know I'm here either. I came here because I genuinely would like to extend my help as well as to ask for your help,"
"Now we both know that's bullsh-" Aldric tried to dismiss me again.
"Aldric wait, let's hear her out," Isaac interrupted.
"What do you mean let's hear her out!?"
My eyes met with Isaac's. He had light brown eyes that almost appeared red. Whilst I could see skepticism in them I also saw curiosity. Now finally having met him up close I saw he looked...beautiful. But he sort of looked like an F-boy/ womanizer. But all in all Kara's husbands were all handsome in their own right.
Aldric's anger was very telling. If I didn't find a way to defend myself I wasn't going to be able to convince them. I had to choose my words carefully.
"Look I know you all hate me," I began to explain. "As you should, I have done some terrible, no, horrible things to you all that I can never make up for. As you all know I have mainly done everything Viktor tells me to do because I was hoping he would soon approve of me and allow me to keep my position as princess. However, recently I've come to realize that he doesn't care for me at all and that one day might discard me.
Kara's husbands were rightfully questioning my reasons for wanting to join their plan since it wasn't in line with Karas's character nor did it make sense. So I had to make her reasons match her selfish personality so they were more likely to believe me.
Once I finished speaking all three of them had looks of surprise. Confirming not only that they all knew Viktor was using Kara but they also seemed surprised she knew it. In the book, Kara is said to have been oblivious to the fact that Viktor didn't care for her and that he was just using her.
"Is that it then? You realized your master doesn't give a damn about you so now you're running to us to help you? Is that why you stopped my punishment the other day and you gave me food in the dungeons? You really thought if you gave me food that I would forgive you for everything you've done? I can't believe this, " Aldric asked in a mocking tone. You're fine with everyone else being treated like shit by him but the moment you realize you have a chance of being treated the same way now it's a problem?"
"Look I don't expect you to forgive me for what I've done to you three. Neither do I expect you to. However, none of you realize that you're in danger. Viktor already knows you're planning a coup against him. He knows you meet down here. he's known for a while. He's mentioned it before, it's how I knew to find you three down here."
Shocked expressions appeared on their faces as they looked at each other.
"You just said he doesn't know you are down here but then say he knows that we're having these meetings. How do you know that he doesn't know you're here now?" Aldric asked me.
"I said he knows you meet down here but I didn't say he follows up on each of your meetings. "
Whilst Viktor knew the three Dukes met in secret in the underground rooms he never had someone listen in to each of their meetings. He didn't have to. From the very beginning, he planned to aggravate them to force them into rebelling against him. He was one step ahead of them the whole time. He simply predicted the actions they would take. He knew they would target him at a time when he had the least protection around him whilst in the Akron kingdom.
When he went to Akron to finalize the takeover he planned to kill two birds with one stone. Deal with Akron and the three dukes in one go. There's no way I can tell them I read a book that explained to me what's going to happen.
"If the King already knows that we meet here in secret why doesn't he punish us already then?" Aldric interrupted.
"Because he wants you to go through with your plan. He wants you to feel like you have the upper hand only to surprise you. You know what he's like and how he's obsessed with playing mind games."
That's just how sadistic and cruel Viktor was.
"So how do we know you're not playing a similar game with us, to satisfy your own sadistic urges? Or that you weren't sent by him to mislead us?"
Aldric just kept on pressing. He really didn't trust me, which was understandable. I let out an exhale as I tried to remain calm.