The King Is A Woman

"Tomorrow, I will become king." Prince Adrian's words had barely left his mouth when the assassin's blade entered his chest. Princess Amara caught her brother as he staggered backward. His blood soaked through the white shirt he had chosen for his coronation, staining the royal crest embroidered over his heart.

"No!" she screamed.

The assassin pulled the dagger free.

Amara pushed Adrian behind her and reached for the sword hanging beside the bed. She had trained with weapons since childhood, but nothing had prepared her for the sight of her twin brother bleeding in front of her. "Who sent you?" she demanded.

The assassin said nothing and lunged at her, Amara swung the sword wildly, as steel struck steel, and the force of the impact drove her backward. The assassin was faster than she expected. He twisted around her blade, kicked her knee, and sent her crashing against the bedpost. By the time she recovered, he had reached the window.

"Stop!" Amara screamed at him trying to stand on her feet, He looked back for a brief moment, and then the moonlight revealed the black serpent embroidered on his sleeve as he disappeared into the darkness.

Amara scrambled to her feet and ran to the window, but the assassin was already gone.

Behind her, Adrian groaned in a deathly pain. Amara turned to see her brother was on his knees.

"Adrian!"

She rushed to him and lowered him carefully onto the floor.

"Stay awake. Please, stay awake Adrain, help is almost here."

He pressed one hand against his wound and blood slipped between his fingers.

"Amara..." he said weakly through gritted teeth

"I am here Adrain, please stay calm,

"You have to listen."

"I will get the physician."

"No." His fingers closed around her wrist. "There is no time."

"Do not say that."

"Tomorrow... they will crown Lucien. "Amara froze.

"What?"

"After I die, the council will claim I left no legitimate heir and crown our cousin Lucien."

"You are not going to die."

"Listen to me!" "Listen to me Amara"

His voice was weak, but the urgency in it made her stop arguing.

"Lucien has been waiting for this, and you know he has people in the council, People in the guard, He has people everywhere and he will take the throne."

"Then we will stop him together."

Adrian's expression broke.

"Amara, I am not going to survive this."

"No."

"Promise me you will not let him become king."

She shook her head violently.

"Adrian, I cannot do this without you."

"You can."

His hand loosened. "Take my place." The room went silent as Amara stared at him.

"What?"

"Take my place. Wear my clothes. Wear my crown. Become King Adrian."

The words were impossible.

"You are asking me to pretend to be you?"

"I am asking you to save Valoria."

A cough shook his body as blood spurted out from the corners of his mouth.

Amara pressed her hands against his wound. "Please. Just hold on, I cant loose you, you are my twin"

His eyes searched hers.

"You are the only person I trust. Tell them nothing. Not yet. Let them believe-"

He did not finish.

"Believe what?"

His grip disappeared and his head fell to the side.

Amara stopped breathing.

"Adrian?"

She shook his shoulder, "Adrian, wake up."

Nothing.

She pressed her fingers against his neck, No pulse.

"No.!!!"

She bent over him, her forehead touching his.

"No, no, no..."

Then the door opened and Mira Adeyemi entered first, a candle in her hand, and stopped so suddenly that the flame guttered. Behind her came the royal physician, summoned by a guard who had heard Amara's scream.

Mira took one look at the blood on the floor and covered her mouth.

"Your Highness-"

"Close the door," Amara said. Her voice did not sound like her own anymore "Close it now."

Mira obeyed before she understood why.

The physician knelt beside Adrian, pressed two fingers to his throat, and went very still.

"Your Highness," he said quietly. "He is gone."

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Amara looked up at him. "If you walk out of this room and say those words to anyone else, my brother's murderer wins by morning."

The physician's eyes moved from her face to Adrian's, body and back again.

"What would you have me say instead?"

Amara did not answer right away. She was still holding her brother's hand, still feeling the last of his warmth fading out of it, when she understood what he had been trying to tell her.

"Let them believe that he is alive," she said. "That he was attacked and gravely wounded, and that his condition is uncertain. Nothing more."

Mira's face had gone the color of ash. "Amara, you cannot ask him to lie to the entire council."

"I am not asking him to lie forever. I am asking for time." She looked at the physician. "One day. Perhaps two. Long enough for the coronation to proceed as planned, with Adrian too weak to be seen by anyone but the three of us."

The physician did not move.

"Your Highness, if this is discovered"

"Then it will be discovered whether you help me or not. The only difference is whether Valoria has a chance." She met his eyes, "My brother knew this was coming, He asked me to take his place. I intend to honor that. What I am asking of you is silence, not deception you will have to maintain for long."

It was Mira who broke the silence that followed.

"The guards outside heard the princess scream, they will already be asking questions."

Amara looked down at Adrian's body, and then at the coat still hanging in his open wardrobe across the room.

"Then we had better decide what they are permitted to know before they ask."