That combo had been particularly potent in her case because she’d slayed every single take all day long no matter who stood opposite her, and that had been a revolving door for hours. The next few days called for a series of scenes that included the full royal ensemble cast. Thankfully, the actors playing the king and queen were old professionals who showed up prepped and ready to work without extraneous drama. Brian, on the other hand, had shown himself even less adept than usual when accounting for shot scenarios featuring more than two people. At one point she’d even had to tell him bluntly that he’d reversed their positions from the previous shot without having either of them move on camera. That wasn’t even a rookie mistake, it was sheer stupidity.

And still, she hadn’t once harboured any elaborate murder fantasies where he played the role of corpse. Each time her frustration rose to a threatening level, her eyes found Victoria’s. Blue. Confident. Steady. The timing always seemed fortuitous, or maybe she’d started to seek Vic subconsciously. She chose not to dwell too much on the why and instead focused on how the move affected her. All Sophia’s animosity evaporated as quickly as Vic appeared in her periphery.

She’d actually been marvelling over that fact during one of their many resets when she first noticed the sound of softly shuffling feet from a nearby servants’ passage. She’d initially written them off as the product of sensible staff trying to thread the needle between the movie crew and the tourists two rooms over, but a few minutes later she heard hushed whispers outside the door, and what the voices lacked in volume they more than made up for in their frantic tone.

She managed a few more solid takes deep in character, yelling at the King about the injustice of patriarchal power structures before someone interrupted them outright by opening one of the heavy wood-panelled doors.

“Bloody hell,” Brian shouted in a way that made it clear he was merely trying out the local lingo.

James didn’t show the slightest chagrin. In fact, she wasn’t sure James had ever broadcast any emotion other than disappointment, distaste, or disdain, but he did manage to convey the latter two simultaneously as he approached Vic and Talia, who’d both been watching from a distance. The three of them had a quick discussion, which consisted of him talking and Vic doing her best to hide her emotions behind her most professional façade.

First her eyes went wider, followed by a tensing of her shoulders so subtle it would likely have gone unnoticed by someone who hadn’t spent part of last night sinking her teeth into those very muscles. In the next second a wall dropped over her alluring features.

Sophia shivered at the chill radiating off Vic from all the way across the library.