《The 10: Venera》


 An Unexpected Choice

    Venera was at the lab when Micha burst in and called everyone to attention at the head table. This wasn''t an official meeting but all of the 10 were there in a flash, as news from Micha were always valuable.


    The lab usually didn¡¯t feel as crowded as it felt that day. For most of the 10, there wasn¡¯t any work at the moment, so some were relaxing on bean bags in the middle of the room, while Sabrina was laying on the black stone floor and laughing at the boys, who were training in the fitness corner.


    Micha entered the lab, and as he was catching his breath, Venera saw the twins, Netta and Nat, looking over at him and giggling from their bean bags. It was an open secret that Netta had a huge crush on him, but he is clueless as they come. Micha¡¯s ashy blonde hair was all over the place and he looked really spent, his glasses had slipped down to his nose and he looked like he was impersonating a grandpa, backed up by his grey eyes. No wonder they were amused.


    He announced that tonight the girls the prince had picked as candidates to become his princess would be declared. He explained that the 10 might be able to use the chaos in the palace at this time to probably cause some chaos and get more information about the chips. He explained that there will be a show on the National TV channel on which they will announce it. He had no idea when exactly the girls would be taken to the palace, but he suspected it would be in the next two days at the latest, immediately and the soonest. The 10 would need to intercept the transportation to hopefully send a chip of their own into the palace to collect more information.


    When he mentioned the chips Venera saw her brother, Luca, who was sitting next to Micha, immediately reach for his ankle. He isn''t used to his chip replica yet. He is still too scared he will get caught with it. The 10 were able to finally take his chip out just weeks prior. Most of them had had theirs either deactivated or spoofed for years now, but Luca was the first that got his chip fully removed.


    Venera stood up once Micha was finished and made her way to Dan, who was pondering over something else on the other side of the table, and when she leaned on his chair, he snapped out of it. He whipped his head and locks of dirt brown hair whipped Venera''s face. Dan instantly got up and led Venera to his station to get away from the others, who were continuing to question Micha.


    "Are we going to your place for the show, or do you want to stay here and watch it with the rest?" he asked Venera. She wanted to go home so they both rushed to clean up their stations.


    It was very important to keep them as clean as possible. Venera¡¯s station was always the most well kept, as organizing her experiments was key when it came to her chemicals and medicines. Every bottle, jar, and ampoule was neatly labeled and arranged into a box of similar purpose substances. Then the boxes went on lines of shelves over her desk. She closed her laptop and put back the box she had been working on before the announcement.


    Venera had to screw the lids on all the other ingredient containers and put most of them in her refrigerator. She wiped down her black desk and took the trash bag with her on the way out. Dan was waiting for her at the door and they both dove into the metal tube that got them to the balcony of the abandoned first-floor apartment below the lab, from which they jumped down into the alleyway. Venera threw her trash into the container on the side of the building and the two of them made their way through to the street.


    It was an early afternoon, the weak wind caressed their arms and the sun lazily illuminated their skin. The streets were mostly empty, only some families outside with younger kids enjoying the late spring weather. Dan pulled Venera to the stand of a churro street vendor on the main street and they got some to bring back to Venera''s apartment.


    Once they stepped into the apartment, Dan immediately jumped on the couch and nearly knocked over one of Venera''s plants.


    "Watch it!" hissed Venera as she made her way across the room and threw him the TV remote.


    ¡°It¡¯s brown anyway, what will some dirt change?¡± he snickered as he was setting up the TV. Venera ignored him, went over to pop some popcorn, and got the churros onto plates for the both of them.


    The show was starting just as the microwave beeped. Venera rushed over with the popcorn to see the show hosts Molly Millions and Derek Debermann starting their segment on the prince. They both were wearing inflatable crowns and a slideshow of pictures of the prince was playing on the screen as well. Molly¡¯s crown kept slipping off due to her pink wig and Derek kept teasing her about not being princess material.


    The hosts moved on to shooting facts at the audience about the prince and his likes and dislikes. They mentioned his favorite color is blue and Dan smirked.


    "I told you, I didn''t lie to you when you dyed your hair blue," he laughed and wrapped a strand of Venera¡¯s hair on his finger.


    Venera smiled but pulled her hair back. This kind of banter is why the two were such good friends. It allowed them to be really honest with each other, but also make each other do crazy things. Like convincing each other to dye their hair different colors for the stupidest reasons. Dan''s hair is now brown because of Venera convincing him that being blonde makes him stand too much when out on the street. And he convinced Venera she needed to dye hers blue, cuz it is the prince''s favorite color.


    "Here we have a picture of Prince Felix, he recently had laser eye surgery to get rid of his glasses, certainly in anticipation for his princess," noted Molly showing before and after pictures of the prince.


    "Now his striking green eyes can certainly pop, am I right Molly?" Derek threw back.


    "They do indeed suit his auburn hair. He is certainly handsome." Molly noted.


    "Did they really just say that or was I imagining it? Why is this so cringy?!" Venera exclaimed and both of them started belly laughing.


    After talking about the prince, they started talking about what qualities a princess should possess. Dan quickly took Venera¡¯s notebook from the coffee table in front of them and started writing them down. There was a poll in the magazine last week about it and the hosts were trying to guess what the audience had voted.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "A princess should be educated!" Molly called out.


    "A princess should be, um, beautiful!" called out Derek.


    A princess should be...


    Humble


    Polite


    Caring


    Respectful


    Independent


    "Hey, V, you tick all but one, you know?" noted Dan.


    "Oh, yeah? Which one do I not tick?" Venera asked sheepishly.


    "Girl, you haven''t been humble a day in your life!" and just like that, the two were back to rolling on the floor laughing.


    "Shush, they are starting the announcement, I want to test my hypothesis." Venera cut off.


    Venera''s hypothesis was simple: she wanted to know if the girls were a random sample and if the prince had a type and what was similar between all of them.


    They started drawing names out of the big glass ball on the stage and reading the names of the girls, followed by a slideshow split screen with pictures of the girl that was drawn and one of the hosts reading out information about her.


    The first 5 girls were all blonde and daughters of pretty remarkable people. Venera was smelling a correct theory, then it all crashed down with girl number 6, black hair, pretty short, and a daughter of one of the king''s advisors.


    Venera was still pondering on the previous girl when blue hair flashed on the TV.


    "Venera Vorobyova, 18."


    Pictures of Venera with different hair colors were being shown on national tv. Dan was just as shocked and kept looking between the Venera in the room and the Venera on the TV.


    "She graduated from ASBSOS last year with honors and majored in international relations and history. She is currently a translator here in the capital. She has translated numerous books in the last year and recently translated our favorite new guilty pleasure Russian tv series, Kitchen. Her hobbies include gardening and learning languages." Molly Millions announced.


    Time froze for Venera. The look in her eyes was getting more and more concerned.


    She then looked at Dan and the same confusion was all over his face.


    Luca burst through the door and was about to say something when he saw that the two were also watching the broadcast.


    "Venera, they''ll be here to pick you up. We don¡¯t know when but you have to get ready to be taken to the palace. Make sure your chip is in order and take anything you might need. We need to think about how we can use this to our advantage. I¡¯ll suspend all other plans." Dan said, shaking off the shock.


    Venera was going to the palace, she was going to be so close to the person who scares her the most in this world, the King. She was still rationalizing everything when Dan instructed Luca to get to the lab asap and take everything from Venera''s station and all her belongings from there.


    "I need a moment to get over this and think straight." she finally spoke.


    The prince had chosen her to go to the palace. This meant so many things, but most importantly it would give the 10 even more inside information into the palace. Venera was trying to remember everything the twins had taught her about thinking on her feet and talking to the enemy. How should she speak to the prince?


    "You will need to make the prince fall in love with you, Venera." Dan declared. "You will need to stay there as long as possible. If you can convince him to become the princess, getting rid of the king and the chips would be way easier than we have ever imagined," he said hopefully.


    Venera nodded, still taking deep breaths to prevent her anxiety to overtake her.


    "I know you also aren''t emotionless, you have some feelings for the prince." he spit out. "I''ll make sure Micha comes over as much as he can, to keep communication open between what''s happening in the palace and what we are planning. If you can get the prince to trust you and turn on his father - even better."


    Micha was the prince¡¯s cousin and the two were really close as children, now they were still very good friends. Micha had convinced the 10, that the prince wasn¡¯t evil like his father, so Venera didn¡¯t have any fear for him, just the King.


    "Dan, I''m not like the twins, I''m no good at spying and extortions. I''m no good at seducing men." I reminded him.


    "You''ll know what to do when put on the spot," he assured Venera. She shook her head ignoring his answer. She instead started packing things into her leather backpack.


    Luca came back with her things in record time.


    "Everyone at the lab was watching it too. Micha had no idea the prince had chosen Venera, but he has a clue on why she was a choice in general. He had snuck profiles of all of our girls into the palace months previously when he first heard the prince was thinking about getting married." Luca explained.


    Venera started going through the box Luca had sprinted back with and moved to her backpack one of every type of box. She then went into her bedroom and took a wooden box from the bookshelf wall.


    When she got out of the bedroom, she saw two guards at the door the boys had opened.


    "We are here to take Venera Vorobyova to the palace. You have been summoned to fulfill your duty as a daughter of Anglonia and answer the invitation of the prince."


    Venera stared at them blankly for what felt like hours to her. It finally hit her that this wasn''t a cruel joke and begged them for some more time to pack her bags.


    The guards gave her 10 more minutes and she slammed the door in their faces.


    Luca had fallen into panic, as his old chip was downstairs and he was scared of getting caught with the fake. Dan was on the sofa, head in his hands, trying to make sense of everything.


    ¡°Snap out of it boys, I need to borrow your heads for processing power,¡± she ordered and motioned Luca to the sofa as well. ¡°Tell me everything I should know before going to the palace. I have 0 experience in the field,¡± she said sitting on the glass coffee table facing the boys.


    They started shooting at her tips about whatever scenarios came to mind to both of them.


    Then the guards knocked on the door and shouted for Venera to get going.


    She instructed Dan to take care of Luca, while she was gone and for the 10 to be careful with fieldwork while she was gone, as she wouldn¡¯t be there to patch them up. She left her scientific journal to her brother and told him to use it to treat the 10 while she was gone by following the instructions in the journal.


    She finally opened the door and was met by the guards.


    Venera felt even smaller than usual, standing between the two castle guards, both towering 3 heads above her. They got her outside and into the back seat of a black jeep, placing Venera in the middle seat and both of them guarding each of the doors.


    "You can do whatever," the tall black-haired guard said, "We have around 40 minutes until we approach the palace. Don''t mind us, you might want to change or do whatever. The prince will meet you on arrival," he informed Venera, who hadn¡¯t even gotten to thinking about her appearance. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a checkered mustard-and-black flannel shirt. Good enough, she thought.


    "Can I listen to music on my headphones?" Venera asked innocently.


    The guard just nodded.


    Venera took out her phone and headphones at once from her backpack. The music helped calm down her thoughts and build a plan of action.


    After a while, she took them off and asked the guards if they had any idea why the prince chose her.


    "It''s probably the hair." they laughed and Venera''s ears burned with embarrassment.

 Striking green eyes and rose bushes

    When the car approached the palace, Venera put back everything in her backpack and brushed hands through her hair to smooth it, the fading blue locks tucked behind her ears, which were still burning red.


    The palace was made from a sparkly white rock on the outside and it glistened in the sun. The weather was getting chillier in the later afternoon, so Venera was beating herself up for not taking a jacket, on the way out of the apartment. Her clothes weren''t appropriate for the weather. She had taken only 2 changes of clothes and her old kevlar bodysuit if things got heated at the palace, which seemed enough when she was packing but too little now that she was faced with the reality of the palace.


    The guards calmed her down by telling her there are dresses sewn for each of the girls the prince had chosen for them waiting in her room and she would be able to change once she got to her room, the prince wouldn¡¯t see her like that, they tried to boost her confidence.


    On the 40 minute ride, she was able to small talk and win some respect from the guards.


    When the car stopped at the entrance to the palace, the guards rushed Venra out and the big doors of the outer wall opened for them. The gravel path that spread in front of them was around half a kilometer and led straight to the main entrance of the palace. The guards ushered for Venera to walk fast, so they could get her to her room so she would have time to change.


    The main doors were open and Venera could see the prince conversing with the guards circling around him. Shit, she thought, too late, can¡¯t change into proper clothes now.


    As Venera approached the entrance, she met the prince''s green eyes. He immediately stepped in her direction and waved the guards to leave him.


    Venera''s guards stopped in their tracks and introduced her to the prince, who couldn¡¯t contain his smile.


    Venera curtsied and smiled at him, ears burning red once more.


    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Venera. Would you mind joining me for a walk in the gardens?" the prince offered.


    The guards left Venera''s side at once, receiving the sign from the prince. He offered the blue-haired girl to hook her hand through his and follow him to the garden.


    "Am I this scary?" joked the prince, as Venera hesitated.


    Venera gave herself a pep talk and took the prince''s hand. ¡°I guess you are, your majesty,¡± she replied.


    He led her into the gardens encircling the palace, in which the wind picked up the scent of the blooming flowers and kept bringing it to the two.


    "Your majesty, Why am I here?" asked Venera shakily as they passed a small marble bird fountain, breaking the silence.


    "Because I think you have what it takes to be a princess, Lady Venera." he laughed flashing an endearing but slightly crooked smile. "Tell me about yourself, Venera, introduce yourself."


    "I''m nothing special, your majesty. I translate books and tv shows for a living, I garden in my free time." she lied through her teeth, as she knew that boring was better than the truth.


    "Micha has told me about you, and your group of interesting friends. I know you even introduced him to his girlfriend. I didn''t know you gardened" the prince clarified, getting a serious face.


    What exactly has Micha been telling the prince all this time, wondered Venera. And which girlfriend? Was he dating Netta in secret all this time? Micha would have a lot of explaining to do on his first visit here.


    "Tell me about your time at ASBSOS, how did you get into the school?" the prince continued his inquiry.


    "Actually, you are partially to blame for that, your majesty." Venera laughed, remembering the story. "Nearly 15 years ago now, there were these advertisements about learning languages for kids starring you. They used to run on the kids channel between my favorite cartoons. So I got hooked on learning languages, and my parents, both being teachers, had signed me up to learn whatever language I wished. By the age of 7, I knew 4 languages fluently and was accepted into ASBSOS on a linguistic scholarship."


    The prince was visibly impressed. So he inquired about what she did at ASBSOS.


    "I specialized in languages and I know 6 fluently. In the special program, you probably know Micha focused on Media Studies and Propaganda. I focused on chemistry and medicine. I synthesized a new medicine, while at ASBSOS but also learned all ins and outs of a combat medic. I''m no surgeon, though." Venera explained.


    They passed a big oak tree, as the prince was thinking over her life story.


    "What is your dream, Venera?" asked the prince after the pause.


    "I want to be a diplomat or work for the ministry of foreign affairs. I''ve studied all my life to hopefully get the chance to," she explained.


    "So you don''t dream of becoming a princess?" he asked, smirking.


    "Who dreams about that?" Venera exclaimed, with a whiff of offense.


    "Apparently all the other girls," he noted, as he saw Venera''s hand flew to her mouth in the realization of what she just said.


    At that moment Venera wanted to disappear into thin air. Did she just tell the prince, she didn¡¯t want to be his princess, to his face? She knew she wasn¡¯t meant for fieldwork, but this was a new low for her, for sure.


    Venera pushed aside the awkwardness created by her answer and turned to question the prince. "Now you know so much about me, your majesty. It is your turn to tell me about yourself."


    As they were walking the prince brought them to a bench next to a rose bush, where they sat and he answered her question.


    "Most people know all there is to know about me. I don''t have much time to indulge in many hobbies, but whenever I can, I like to indulge in music. I can play the piano. That''s mostly it. I used to read a lot when I was younger, but don''t have the patience to do it anymore." he concluded. "Which gets me to my next point. I am going to request each of the girls to present me with three songs, one that can introduce you, one that talks about what you feel towards me, and then your favorite song."


    "Smart, that will probably be a great way to shortlist and figure out where girls stand." Venera agreed. "You''ve probably thought a lot about it," she commented on the task he had assigned to her. It was blatantly a way for him to put labels on all of the girls as soon as possible. And Venera didn¡¯t blame him. Who can be bothered to get to know so many girls all at once and then be expected to marry one? On short notice as well.


    "I still can''t wrap my mind around this. I have to choose one of you to be my queen, and it is a weird dynamic in which I will never be sure about anyone''s intentions. And there are no remakes, so it is even more pressure." the prince shared and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.


    "I see, you are scared you will end up lonely for your whole life if you chose wrong. It''s understandable. I don''t blame you," Venera replied, trying to empathize with the prince. She didn¡¯t have to do anything like that, but she reminded herself, he wasn¡¯t his father and everyone deserved a chance at love.


    "How do you know how I feel? Am I this transparent?" he wondered, more to himself, than to Venera.


    "No, but I''m good at reading people," she winked.


    Venera had opened the floodgates it seemed because the prince started to explain why this was so important to him. The prince didn¡¯t want a loveless marriage like his father¡¯s, and he talked about how his heart always broke for his mom when his dad would go after other women. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Upon finishing his thought, he asked Venera what love meant to the people outside the walls of the castle.


    "Everyone has a different explanation for love, your majesty, that''s why there are millions of love songs out there. Everyone feels or explains it in a different way. " Venera started. "For me, love is mutual respect between two people, who have common goals and are ready to work on a relationship. Love isn''t a feeling, in my opinion. It starts with a feeling of attraction, that the two people have to nurture into love eventually. Attraction isn''t love. But my opinion is in the minority"


    "Do you feel attracted to me, Lady Venera?" asked the prince, with a newfound enthusiasm.


    "I guess I do, your majesty," Venera replied back. It wasn¡¯t a lie. He was breathtakingly handsome in real life, the TV didn¡¯t do him justice, in Venera¡¯s opinion


    The prince took her hand and brought it up to his lips, and planted the faintest of kisses on it.


    "Let me show you where you will be staying, Venera, and please, call me Felix from now on."


    As the prince and Venera were making their way back to the castle, a group of guards opened the front doors and let them in. The prince led Venera up 2 flights of stairs and into a long corridor of doors to the left. The marble flooring made all of their steps echo through the palace.


    He opened the first door on the right wall and invited Venera in.


    The room was small but cozy. A long stained wood desk took one wall with a mirror over it. A huge bookshelf next to the window opposite the door and the largest bed Venera had ever seen smack dab in the middle of the room. The bed was dressed in dark green coverture with huge beige pillows. On the left wall, there was a door that led to the bathroom.


    "So, how do you like it?" inquired the prince.


    Venera was in awe and thanked the prince for the effort.


    They got to talking again, she sat on the bed and he sat on the chair at the desk.


    "What did you do on the way here?" asked the prince.


    "I listened to music, trying to hype myself up and get out of the initial shock." she laughed. Venera took her phone and showed him her playlist she listened to on her way to the palace.


    The prince took a look at them and said he knew none of them but wanted to listen to them. He asked if he could play them.


    "Most of them are foreign... and thus banned over here. Friends had brought them on USBs from going abroad." Venera conceded.


    They got into a conversation about how stupid it is to censor music from other countries. The prince had never gotten to discuss music with someone before, so he really loved Venera''s openness to talk. After a while, Venera once again gave her phone to the prince and he chose songs for them to listen to and Venera would explain where the song is from and anything she knew about it.


    "This one you were listening to on the way here," he noted and put the song on. It was one of the songs that always put Venera in the zone and gave her concentration. It went along with a popular dance that she showed the prince. She both was and wasn¡¯t realizing what she was doing. She had shown pirated music to the prince and made a fool of herself teaching him a dance. Was she out of her mind?! She was acting as if he was an old friend, not the prince of the country!


    "Why do you like it so much, Venera?" he asked pointedly.


    "It is like admitting I can explode at any point, but that''s ok because I''ve gotten this far in life anyway. I can explode from anything, from emotions I had bottled up, from stress, from fear. From anything really." she admitted.


    Venera hadn''t struck the prince as an enjoyer of this kind of music but he could see it now, that she shared the connection she had with music.


    "Will you keep my music a secret?" asked Venera, worried about the pirated music and the implication that had.


    "It''s safe with me, Venera," he winked back at her. The prince didn¡¯t hold it against her it seemed.


    After an awkward silence, Venera picked back up.


    "When are the other girls coming, you''ve been with me for 2 hours now, and no one else has shown up?" she noted, looking at the setting sun outside.


    "They will be here tomorrow. Tonight it''s just you," he replied. "I honestly couldn''t wait another day without getting to know you, Venera."


    He just dropped that bomb on her like it wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    "Why am I getting special treatment? Is there something I don''t know about?" Venera went on the defensive. Am I in trouble? Have the 10 been caught? Is this a trap? these questions circled her head.


    "All of the other girls were chosen by my dad''s advisors. One even chose his own daughter. To be honest I couldn''t care less about their picks." he said. "I chose you and I want to get to know you, in the most normal way I can manage."


    "What has Micha lied about me, to get you to think I''m something special?" Venera exclaimed. "You must be insane to choose me over the others."


    "Don''t lie to yourself, you feel it as well. You felt it when we were in the garden. My mind was made up when Micha described you to me a year ago when you helped his mom with her medicine and later they took you on holiday. He told me all about it."


    Venera took a moment to think. But with every second, she was getting angrier and angrier. The prince was delusional, and she needed to correct his opinion of her.


    "Look me in the eyes, Felix." she snapped. "I said look at me. You think your best shot at love will be with a poor girl who will dote on you because you are prince charming who came to save her, that''s why you chose me. You don''t want to marry a power-hungry daughter of some political figure, who doesn''t want you but wants the crown instead... You better get to know the real me, before you make a stupid choice and regret it for the rest of your life because I ain''t a doll for you to dress up as a princess. As you said, you¡¯ve got one chance at this. Don¡¯t. Screw. It. Up."


    Prince Felix was shocked. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it. Then finally decided to ask anyway."But what about you, Venera, who am I to you? Who have you drawn in your head?"


    Venera started but bit her tongue. She then reconsidered and spilled it anyway.


    "You are a hopeless romantic, who wants a fairytale of a relationship. You''ve got something you are hiding, and don''t want anyone to know. There is a cloud of pressure hovering over you because you aren''t ready for any of this. You are also scared as shit and threw yourself at the first person to show you genuine kindness without an obligation to do so." she listed. "You can stop me when I make a mistake, by the way."


    The prince was baffled at how accurate she was. "I will, go on."


    "You''re depressed about something. You have never had a genuine friendship in your life because everyone treats you like a prince and not like Felix. Your parents haven''t shown you any affection in years and you feel a disconnect from them. You want to be recognized by them for something and not be brushed aside. You probably did something to disobey them recently but it didn''t go as you thought." she finished.


    "How do you know all that? It''s all true, but how?" he was amazed and kind of scared.


    "It took 4 years of psychology. And you have no filter on your face so I can see if what I''m saying is correct immediately from your expressions." she smiled.


    After an awkward pause, Venera started once again.


    "How much do you know about what''s happening in the country, Felix?" she asked, wondering about the extent to which the prince was sheltered from reality.


    He shook his head and Venera rolled her eyes and got comfortable on the bed.


    She asked him if he knew about the chips first. He answered he knew the army was chipped.


    "Everyone has been chipped, Felix. Everyone over the age of 7 is chipped and monitored. There are two types of chips - the normal location tracking chips like which I have and the voice recording chips that are injected into foreigners and influential figures." Venera explained moving her hair on her other shoulder.


    The prince was still taking in the information when she asked if he knew anything about the rebels. He shook his head and a drop of fear clouded his eyes.


    ¡°There are a few groups of rebels, most of them get caught pretty regularly these days and executed in the town squares. All because of the chips. Some just want the chips to be removed. Some want to kill the monarchy as a whole. Some want just the king dead and you on the throne. And some want just a stop to the meaningless wars the king has been starting in the last 10 years.¡±


    "How do you know about that, Venera? Is it common knowledge?" he asked.


    "It isn''t common, but it''s pretty easy to find out if you are looking for it," she explained.


    The prince asked if Venera shared the ideas of any of the rebels. She hesitated to answer at first but decided to share a piece of the truth.


    "I wouldn''t mind getting rid of the chips at all. Knowing how they can ruin lives, I would rather see them gone." she expressed, exposing the chip on her left ankle.


    How can a chip ruin a life, the prince asked and Venera told him about the people who had initially tried to remove them and got paralyzed. How people had gone mad from faulty chips, and how children have died from allergies to the metal in them. How improperly put chips could poison children''s blood and leave them with chronic issues for life.


    "All that, not even talking about how unethical it is to control the population through such surveillance and fear," Venera added in conclusion.


    The prince nodded and went quiet as he tried to rationalize the information in his head.


    "Thank you for being honest with me and telling me Venera. I''ll be back after dinner. Yours will be here soon as well. I would be happy if you think about the three songs I told you about earlier." he said and left the room.


    Venera went completely numb as soon as she was left alone. She started going over everything she just spilled on the prince and started to unpack everything she just learned.


    Soon a plan formed in her head. She was going to convince the prince to join the 10''s cause. But she has to sort out her feelings for him as well. Was she really falling for him? Would her feelings for the prince ultimately make it harder to assassinate the King, or will they fuel her hate even more?

 Poisons and Falling Crowns

    Venera had been listening to music for some time, when the tall black-haired guard from earlier knocked on her door with her dinner. She tried to invite him in and keep her company, but he refused so Venera left the door open and talked to the guard stationed at her door.


    She learned his name.


    ¡°So, Manny, why are you at my door? Isn¡¯t the palace safe? Why am I being guarded?¡± Venera asked.


    ¡°I have no idea as well, lady, but those were my orders, so I am here.¡± he tossed casually.


    ¡°What do you do at the castle usually?¡± she followed up.


    ¡°Normally I guard the front entrance and the garden exit on the east, but I will be stationed with you for the duration of your stay here, lady.¡± he sighed.


    I bet it is a bore to sit outside the door and count flies, thought Venera.


    ¡°Why are you so exhausted? You look like you have been working like a horse for weeks.¡± she inquired further, noticing his deep dark under-eye circles and bloodshot eyes.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had more than 4 hours of sleep in the last 2 years, Lady Venera. They keep making us drink this shot that tastes like plastic and sugar every morning which prevents us from sleeping. I know they used to have it in some energy drinks that they sold in shops, but people got addicted to it, so they stopped using it. There was a big scandal.¡± he shared. He looked truly broken and hopeless.


    ¡°They make you chug shots of glucofine?! Are they crazy?¡± Venera blinked in disbelief. Glucofine was one of the most misused substances, it was never supposed to be used outside of a medical emergency.


    ¡°Do you know about it, lady Venera?¡± Manny shot back, his curiosity peaked.


    ¡°Of course! I was the one who invented it!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°Your body is going to give up some time soon if they continue to do this. And I also bet they can¡¯t synthesize it to a pure substance either. Do you have problems with digestion?¡±


    He just nodded his head, eyes in disbelief.


    Venera bolted from the desk chair to take a closer look at the guard sitting on the small chair in front of her room. His eyes widened, visibly surprised by her actions. She got in his face and noted his eyes being bloodshot, the whites of his eyes having a yellow tint to them, the skin on his face losing elasticity. She also noted his hand slightly shaking.


    ¡°Try to keep your hand steady like so Manny,¡± she showed him to extend his arm and keep it straight. As she was positive of the tremor she noticed. Only affected the hand for now.


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t noticed it, lady, is this bad?¡± he replied, in disbelief of seeing his arm twitching.


    ¡°Try to find some magnesium supplements and consume as much diary as you can. Drink apple juice before going to sleep to hopefully sleep deeper. If you can get away with it, stop drinking it.¡± Venera instructed. ¡°Try to keep this on the down-low. And no word you heard this from me.¡± she clarified.


    Venera was horrified by what she heard and saw. The king was killing his guards slowly and painfully. Their livers are going to fail if they continue taking it like that.


    ¡°If you can fake the shot in the morning and bring it to me to take a look at, I can offer more help. I can also get you the clean substance so the side effects can subside for some time.¡± she proposed, going back to her chair.


    Manny¡¯s jaw was on the floor. He had nothing to say so he just stared at the young woman devouring her food after delivering such a diagnosis.


    ¡°I owe you a favor, lady Venera. If you think of anything that I can repay you with¡­¡± he trailed off.


    ¡°I will reach out when I have something on my mind,¡± she replied noncommittally.


    When she finished the best food in her life, Venera returned the plate to Manny and he disappeared to get it back to the kitchen.


    Venera went back into the room and continued to listen to music and write songs down in the little notebook she brought from home. She wondered if her choice to be honest with the prince was the correct one. If she would still have a chance at a relationship with him if the 10 succeed to kill the king. Would he choose her again or find someone else?


    The light coming from the floor-to-ceiling window was dimming and Venera turned on the lights in the room. The glass chandelier showered the room in soft light. She decided to go for a quick shower, anticipating the prince to return. Upon opening the closet to look for a towel, Venera found it full of dresses, made out of the most lavish materials and cuts. She wasn¡¯t stupid not to appreciate that those were masterfully crafted, even though they weren¡¯t to her taste. The guards weren¡¯t lying, they were custom sews, she barely found clothes that fit her properly in the shops, but all these dresses were tailored to her.


    The bathroom was a box of creme-colored marble with a shower cabin on the furthest wall and bathtub on the right wall, a ceramic toilet, and a sink on the left. Venera decided to go for the shower, in the end, expecting the prince any minute now. She took the quickest shower she could. She didn¡¯t allow herself to savor the smell of jasmine that radiated from the shampoo and coconut from the soap.


    After getting out of the bathroom she dressed into one of the two pair of jeans she took from home and her favorite T-shirt - a beige crew neck with small writing on it, written with bloody red letters ¡°Be quiet and behave¡± in Italian, the title of a hit song from her favorite Italian band, Dan had gotten her for the birthday a few years ago.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    It was getting late and the prince hadn¡¯t returned, contrary to his promise. Venera was beating herself up over thinking so highly of him. She made sure all her belongings were still in her bag, certain she would be going home tomorrow. Or worse, she was going to be taken to be interrogated by the king for everything she had revealed to the prince. She was ready to die, to keep the 10 safe, but she would have liked to at least give them the information about the guards.


    She finally convinced herself to go to sleep. Manny was constantly tapping his foot just outside her door, so she took it upon herself to bring him a valerian tablet so he would stop. She put her headphones in and put a playlist on to distract herself from the sound, which was driving her insane while trying to fall asleep. His tremors were probably worse than she had initially thought.


    After what felt like just a few moments of sleep, Venera was awoken by a hand covering her mouth. Instincts kicked in right away and she kicked as hard as she could, prepared to scream when she heard metal hit the carpeted floor.


    Venera blinked and saw a crown roll on the carpet next to her. She immediately jumped off the bed and found she had kicked the prince square in the stomach. He was trying to regain balance and breath when she turned the lights on.


    ¡°What the fuck Felix!¡± she whisper-screamed.


    He tried to speak but nothing came out of his mouth, he just sat on the bed and stared at the floor. His eyes were swamp green, strained, and filled with pain. His hair was a mess. He wore the same suit from earlier that day but it was wrinkled all over.


    Venera was still trying to make sense of everything when she saw a drop of blood drip on her sheets from under the prince¡¯s suit jacket.


    ¡°Why are you bleeding Felix?¡± she whispered and got closer to the prince. His face was still pale and in pain.


    He lifted his suit jacket and shirt to reveal some sloppy bandages going across his back. Venera was horrified. Not at the sight, but at the meaning of all of this. It wasn¡¯t the worst she had seen by far.


    ¡°Can you talk? I need you to speak. What is under the badges and what is it from? How long ago did it happen?¡± she whispered and got closer to examine, still not daring to remove the bandages.


    ¡°Whip marks, whip, maybe 2 hours,¡± he whispered back weakly.


    Venera¡¯s eyes saw red. Two hours and still bleeding through bandages.


    ¡°When did you change the bandages?¡± she asked back, getting ready to remove one.


    He shook his head and replied that it had been half an hour.


    Venera recoiled immediately and went to dig into her backpack. First, she found her only jar of glucofine concentrate and took a pipette. She carefully suctioned only a drop and went to the prince.


    ¡°Open your mouth,¡± she instructed, but the prince shook his head.


    ¡°If you think this is poison, you shouldn¡¯t be giving it to your guards every day for breakfast. It¡¯s glucofine, so you don¡¯t pass out from the pain.¡±


    ¡°What kind of pain?¡± he pulled back.


    ¡°The one you will feel when I disinfect your whole back. You have clearly done something wrong if it isn¡¯t clotting and I need to see what it is.¡±


    The prince let her squirt out the drop on his tongue and he swallowed sharply. It did indeed taste like it smelled at first but left the worst aftertaste of plastic.


    Venera then dug out her strongest antiseptic and got another pipette. She started from the top and removed the first bandage that covered his shoulder blades. She inspected the wound for anything that may be preventing it from clotting but could find nothing.  It was evident this wasn¡¯t the first time the prince was whipped. He had old scars which had healed horribly. Venera piped the first pipette along the length of the wound.


    The prince stifled a scream, so Venera passed him a towel to bite from the bathroom. She moved on to the next bandage and it revealed two other big slashes. They were deeper. Venera took an empty flask and scraped some of the blood to look at why it didn¡¯t cloth in the slightest later. She quickly removed the next bandage as well and disinfected everything. There were 5 big slashes across his back in total with only the bottom one having only partially started to clot.


    She then dug out a third flacon out of her backpack that contained a mustard-colored salve inside.


    ¡°This will hurt like hell, and you will feel like ants on fire are crawling around for a while, but believe me, it will be worth it.¡± she prefaced, as she started thinly spreading the salve on the wounds. Venera made sure to cover all of the insides of the wounds as well, not leaving a spot bare.


    The bleeding stopped almost immediately but the prince¡¯s hissing was getting louder by the second. Venera squeezed his hand and told him it will stop in a few minutes.


    She got to cleaning right away and went to soak the bandages in cold water, so the blood would let go. When she emerged from the bathroom the prince had stood up and was trying to look at his back in the mirror.


    ¡°Stop flexing the muscles or you will tear the skin and you will have to endure this twice,¡± warned Venera sneaking up behind him.


    ¡°How did you make it stop bleeding so fast? Why weren¡¯t they clotting before?¡± he asked.


    ¡°First, all you need to know is that it works. Second, I have no idea, but you were both smart and stupid enough to come to me to fix this. Now tell me who tortured you and why?¡± she hissed through her teeth. Anger was building up inside for who dared to hurt him in this way.


    ¡°But you have to tell me what you did to me, Venera, I don¡¯t buy the bullshit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a salve I invented. It stops bleeding by shrinking all blood vessels and provides the needed conditions for platelets to start rebuilding the skin as soon as they get there. It clots a non-lethal bullet wound in 2 hours.¡±


    ¡°Is that even possible?¡±


    ¡°You just witnessed it in action. Now go lay on your stomach on the bed. You need to relax your back.¡± she replied, urging him to take the bed.


    ¡°Now tell me what kind of trouble you got yourself into,¡± asked Venera.


    ¡°I decided to confront my father about the chips and he didn¡¯t like it,¡± he replied, already sprawled on the bed face down.


    ¡°Are the previous ones from him as well?¡± she asked weakly.


    He nodded.


    ¡°You are an idiot, you know that right? Why would you go blabbing about that? I hope you learned your lesson to keep whatever I tell you to yourself after this debacle.¡± she snapped back in outrage, in pure disbelief that the prince had done that.


    ¡°I was never going to put you in danger, Venera,¡± he mumbled.


    ¡°Spare your words, you have no idea what you are doing.¡± she spit right back.


    ¡°What am I doing Venera?¡± he retorted.


    ¡°Your father is the most paranoid person alive and you just showed him you are weak. Be prepared for more of what you just experienced and worse in reaction to the smallest of missteps in the future,¡± she warned.