Kathy's face changed completely.
Great. Just the way to begin her day, she thought.
The king.
She hated him just as much as she hated her stepmother.
"Do not worry about your... I mean the king. I am sure it is nothing," Martha said nervously.
"Do you know the difference between me and Cinderella, the tale I hate so much?"
Kathy asked as she walked toward the door. "Her father was never there."
"We'll speak later."
Then she left.
But they couldn't speak later.
They had to run away, Martha thought.
She had to make the preparations.
Kathy made her way to the throne room.
Only royals, advisors, and, of course, the guards were permitted inside.
She walked slowly, taking her time as she looked at everyone present.
She could not bring herself to look at her father's face.
It was too painful.
Instead, she looked at the others.
Her uncle Williams.
Her aunt Clara.
Her aunt's husband, Matthew.
Her older stepsister, Paulina.
And, of course, her witch of a stepmother.
She took her seat, facing them all.
She was upset, yet powerless to do anything.
"You sent for me."
Silence.
No one spoke for a while.
"Well... yes, we did," Clara finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "D... did you hear the news?"
She sounded nervous.
Kathy allowed herself a faint smile.
"My sudden marriage?" she asked. "I did. Why?"
"Do you approve?" Williams asked.
"Does my approval matter? I do not even know the name of the man I am to marry."
"How deceitfully cunning of you, Emily. So you never even told her who she is to marry?" Williams asked.
"I did not feel the need to," Queen Emily replied.
"You never cease to amaze me, Emily," Williams said with a sarcastic smile.
The queen merely shrugged.
"So... will someone finally tell me who I am to marry?" Kathy asked as innocently as she could.
Paulina scoffed.
"It is Prince Damian Alliengn of Althreaze," Queen Emily said without the slightest emotion.
"The Rumoured One," Kathy said slowly.
"Yes."
Emily did not even blink.
"And may I ask what dreadful circumstance compelled you to arrange a marriage that is no different from a death sentence?"
The room fell silent.
Everyone stared at Kathy.
She was never the one to question anyone.
Much less speak against them.
"Oh? It seems you have sharpened your tongue," Emily remarked.
"Your Majesty appears so determined to be rid of me in the cruelest manner possible. Tell me... why should I continue to hold my tongue? If you truly wish to see me dead, why not poison me instead?"
Once again, the room fell silent.
Was this truly the Kathy they knew?
The king remained silent throughout.
For that, she was grateful.
"Listen, Kath. None of this was planned. It simply... happened," Matthew tried to explain.
"And I had a hand in it, did I?" Kathy replied. "
Then tell me... why must it be me? Why am I the one to be offered to the lion? Why not Paulina instead?"
"What? How dare you, you lowly—"
Emily was cut short.
"Lowly... yet worthy enough to be offered to a prince."
Kathy met her gaze without fear.
"Now that is rather interesting."
"Listen to me, you ungrateful wretch. If I say you are getting married, then you are getting married. That is the end of it," Queen Emily said, seething with anger.
"You should choose your words with care, Queen Emily. You have given me nothing to be grateful for," Kathy replied.
Emily was so furious she looked ready to burst.
"So, Kath... you do not wish to get married, is that right?" Clara asked, her voice unsteady.
A thought crossed Kathy's mind.
Did Aunt Clara want her to marry the prince?
"Why are you asking her? She has no say in the matter," Emily said.
"Oh, really?" Williams said. "Then let Paulina marry him instead. After all, we all know she is the whore."
Emily gasped.
"How dare you speak of my daughter in such a manner!" she shouted.
"Your daughter is standing right here, Emily. Ask her yourself. There is no need to raise your voice," Clara said.
Paulina's face turned crimson.
"Hold your tongue, you miserable little thing," Queen Emily snapped.
"Kathy, do you wish to marry or not?" Matthew asked.
Kathy found herself wondering why they kept asking her.
"I said she has no say," Emily began again.
"Emily, enough."
King Ethan finally spoke.
Kathy gritted her teeth.
The sound of his voice alone was enough.
How she had come to despise every part of him.
"Kathy," her father called gently.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Do you wish to marry the prince?" he asked.
Kathy felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck her.
He was asking.
They all were.
Why?
There could only be one reason.
They wanted her to say yes.
She could think of no other reason they would ask whether she wished to marry a devil.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the satisfied smile on Paulina's face.
The king's words left her feeling strangely weak.
She hated him.
Yet she had never imagined he would abandon her so completely.
"Do you all wish for me to say yes?" she asked quietly.
Silence answered her.
"Of course not," Clara said at last.
"Then why ask?"
"Well..." Clara forced a nervous laugh. "We would rather not make enemies of the Althreaze, would we?"
"Certainly not," Matthew agreed.
Williams rolled his eyes.
"So, Kathy..." King Ethan asked once more, "do you wish to marry?"
Kathy's hands slowly tightened.
What was wrong with her so-called family?
Why must it always be her?
At last, she raised her eyes to meet her father's.
Then the truth struck her.
He wanted her to go.
He had three daughters with his wife.
Why not send one of them?
She was the only child her late mother had left behind.
So why was she the one expected to walk into hell?
"Do you wish for me to marry the prince rumoured to be the mad one?" Kathy asked, her eyes fixed on the king.
"Kathy..." the king began.
"Do not call me by that name. You no longer have the right," Kathy said.
"You little pest," Emily spat.
"I shall do as you command," Kathy said to the king.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"What did you say?" the king asked in disbelief.
"Kathy, listen to me. You cannot do this."
"Yes, I can. I shall listen only to you. So tell me... speak your command. I shall do as you say."
She waited.
The silence in the throne room became unbearable.
No one spoke.
Even Queen Emily seemed taken aback.
Kathy never took her eyes off the king.
For the first time in a long while, she wanted to hear the truth from his own lips.
Somehow, her sixth sense told her Paulina was smiling.