When I arrived, I found the kitchen abuzz. Clearly someone had beaten me here with the news. Questions bombarded me from every direction, but I shook my head until silence fell. “I need bread and water for the prisoner. I won’t know the answers to your questions until I have a chance to interrogate him.”
Interrogate? Are you going to beat him?
I frowned, unsure from Gordon’s voice if the prospect excited or repelled him. “Of course, I’m not going to beat him. It’s a cruel and ineffective means of obtaining information. I will merely speak to him. If he ever wishes to be let out of whatever cell Dominic has found for him, he’ll answer me.”
I hope you’re right, Your Highness, said Gilda. I don’t like this situation, not one little bit.
I forced myself to smile, attempting to lift the mood of the room. “There is no need for so much pessimism. This may be a chance to gain valuable information. And, at the very least, we have evidence that it is now possible to cross the wilderness unharmed. Such a thing should be a cause of rejoicing.”
For you, maybe, muttered a voice I recognized.
I rounded on Connor. “Do you never work, Connor? You seem to always be here, in the kitchen. Perhaps I should speak to the steward about increasing your duties, since they are clearly so light?”
He didn’t respond and I rolled my eyes. “No? Well, see if you cannot work on a change of attitude. I have done nothing to deserve your constant snide remarks.” If I wouldn’t let a cursed prince speak to me in such a way, it was high time I stopped allowing a footman to do so.
Yes, indeed! Be gone with you, Connor, said Gilda. She said nothing else, so I assumed he must have complied.
A tray floated toward me with a rather stale looking hunk of bread and a small wooden cup of water. I eyed it skeptically but sighed and accepted it. Apparently, the servants shared Dominic’s perspective.
They’ve got him down in the dungeon, burst out a puffed voice moments later. It sounded young, one of Gordon’s sometimes friends among the stable boys, perhaps. I can show you the way down there, Your Highness.
Don’t be ridiculous, Michael, said Gordon, confirming my guess. I’m the princess’ page boy, so I’ll show her the way.
I hid a grin at the proud note in his voice. “Thank you, Gordon. And thank you for bringing the message, Michael. Perhaps the chef might have sticky bun to give you by way of thanks.”
Thank you, Your Highness!
I hoped the treat might go some way toward soothing his disappointment as I followed a bobbing, unlit candlestick out of the room. Gordon and I had long since adopted the use of a candle to make our trips through the castle easier.
Gordon seemed bursting with excitement as we hurried down toward the dungeon, and my remonstrances only served to calm him for short bursts. Given his long-standing fascination with the place, I could hardly be surprised at his current excitement at finding it occupied.
My fears, which had revolved around rats, darkness, and terrible smells, turned out to be unfounded. The dungeons were lit by a plethora of brightly burning torches, and the worst smell was that of stale air. Neither the corridor, nor the couple of cells that I peeked into, even appeared particularly dirty. The cold stone was certainly not appealing, but it was a great deal more pleasant than I had pictured.
Gordon’s excitement seemed to dim somewhat, and I wondered if he felt the same. Perhaps Gilda should have allowed him down here long ago. She might have found the location soon lost its appeal.
Several guards called out their presence as we walked past, and we found Cole in the furthest cell. Dominic stood outside, his body tense, shooting frequent glances toward the closed door. When we approached, he frowned, first at the tray I carried and then at me. He held out his hands as if to take it from me, but I shook my head and tightened my grip.
“I’m taking it in there, myself.”
I don’t want you anywhere near him.
“We need information. Do you really think he’s likely to say anything to you?”
I raised my eyebrows, and Dominic looked away, the frustration clear on his face.
Well, I’m coming with you.
I shook my head again. “No, I need to speak to him alone if I’m to have any hope of getting the answers we both want. But by all means stay right out here, ready to rescue me, if need be.” I smiled as winningly as I could, and he seemed to soften a little.
Fine. But the door remains open.
I nodded, turning to face the cell door and ordering the invisible guards to open it for me. When I stepped inside, I was pleased to see that Cole had been left untied, and that someone had even managed to strew fresh straw across the ground.
He looked up warily at my entrance, but his face relaxed at the sight of me standing there alone, and I knew I had made the right decision. He glanced past me to the open door and Dominic standing out in the corridor, but I didn’t even attempt to close it behind me. I had no desire to be shut in a small cell with Cole.
I placed the tray down on the ground and retreated several steps away from both it and him. He looked as if he meant to approach me but stopped at the expression on my face.
“I’m sorry, Princess Sophie.” He kept his voice low. “I didn’t intend to harm you. I came to rescue you, and merely wished to get you away from that monster as quickly and silently as possible.”
I frowned at his reference to Dominic and had to remind myself that I had once thought of him the same way. It seemed an increasingly distant memory.
“Why should I believe a word you say after what you did in Marin?”
“You mean what my father did.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “No, you’re right. I bear some responsibility, too. I didn’t know the full extent of his plans, but I knew enough, and I shouldn’t have gone along with them.”
He shook his head. “At the time, I thought it was the best hope of saving Marin.” He paused uncomfortably. “And I’ll admit, I didn’t mind the idea of seeing my family elevated in such a way.”
He met my eyes, his look open and honest. “But I’ve had plenty of time for reflection since then, both on my conduct and on my heart. I’ve racked my brains for a way to atone for my behavior. I knew no one else had dared to come after you due to the dangers, but I had no right to value my life so highly. If I died in the attempt, then perhaps it was only what I deserved.”
I regarded him with furrowed brow, trying to read the truth in his eyes. “Why should I believe anything you say?”
He shrugged, holding his arms out wide. “I would understand if you did not. But please consider. I made no attempt to free my father or sister when I made my escape. And then I risked my life by coming here, which I did not have to do once I was free.”
I stared at him, my mind troubled. Could he be speaking the truth?
Chapter 22
I was almost silent during the evening meal, turning Cole’s words over and over in my head and trying to glean his true purpose from them. He had answered all of my questions openly, but somehow had provided no real answers. He didn’t know how he had made it through the wilderness. He had heard wolves in the distance, but he had carried firewood with him and lit a fire each night which he believed had kept them away.
His horse had managed to escape its ties on his final night, however, and had fled. He had expressed remorse and sorrow that looked genuine, fearing that the animal must have since fallen afoul of one of the wolf packs or of a bear.
You cannot believe such a ludicrous tale! Dominic at least seemed to share none of my feelings of confusion.
I shrugged. “We can no more prove it to be false than he can prove it to be true. It is not entirely implausible. And he seems genuinely repentant, as much as such a thing can be judged from protestations alone.”
I don’t trust him.
I sighed. “No, neither do I. I wish I could talk to Lily.”
It isn’t safe, Dominic was quick to squash the suggestion I hadn’t made. Whatever he
has claimed, you cannot risk leaving the castle grounds.
I chewed on a ringlet, afraid he was right. After what had happened last time, it was too risky. Especially when Lily was unlikely to have any more insight than we did.
I glanced up at Dominic. “He claims to regret allowing himself to be carried along by his father’s evil schemes.” My voice dropped to a whisper, amazed at my own boldness. “Do you have no sympathy for such a situation?”
Dominic froze, such a stricken look on his face that I instantly regretted my words. Memories of his father could cause him nothing but pain, and he had shown he didn’t deserve to be compared to Cole. I held my breath, hoping he might finally tell me something of his curse, but he remained silent. In fact, neither of us spoke for the rest of the meal.
When he asked me at the door if I would marry him in the morning, his voice seemed to hold a greater urgency than ever before. I refused him with a heavy heart. Cole might well be hiding the truth from me—but, if he was, he wasn’t the only one in the castle doing so.
I spoke to Cole again the next day and the next, always with Dominic lurking just outside in the corridor. His story did not change, and he remained surprisingly accepting of his imprisonment in the dungeon cell, his manner humble and open.
On the third night after his arrival, I tossed and turned in my bed, too perturbed by the unanswerable dilemma to sleep. Finally, I threw off the covers and got up, wrapping my thickest robe around me.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that Cole was hiding something from me. But each time I had visited, his uncomfortable glances in Dominic’s direction had increased. I would never convince Dominic to let me see Cole alone, but I might never get the truth from him with the prince looming nearby glaring murder.
I crept from my chambers, listening intently for any sound of voices. Hopefully it was late enough that all the servants were in bed. As I passed by the entryway, a small sound caught my ears, and I stopped to peer carefully inside.
Dominic paced back and forth in the large space, a fire burning low in the fireplace despite the warmer turn in the weather. So, I wasn’t the only one unable to sleep then. I watched him for a minute, captured by the strength in his long stride and the concern etched across his face. I knew he was motivated only by consideration for my safety, and I hated going behind his back in such a way. But our situation could not continue as it had.
When I arrived in the dungeon, a confused sounding guard hailed me, but I put on my most royal face and ordered him to take me to the prisoner. When he hesitated, I raised a single eyebrow, and he stammered an apology and bid me continue on. Calling after me, he ordered one of the other men to open the cell door for me.
When I stepped inside, Cole climbed slowly to his feet from a small nest of straw. I flushed at the poor conditions, although he had never complained. If he had come to rescue me, this was a sorry way to treat him.
He had clearly just awoken and looked confused, glancing behind me. “Princess Sophie! This is unexpected. You are alone?”
I ignored him, ordering the guard to close the door. I didn’t think Cole would tell me the truth if he thought a guard might overhear us. When the man hesitated, I snapped, “Now!” He complied, the door swinging slowly closed, a mute protest against my order. I knew there was some risk, but I didn’t think Cole was likely to harm me, even if he was lying. Not locked in a cell with guards outside.
“I wanted to speak with you alone. I think there’s something you’re not telling me.”
Cole shook his head. “You’re very perceptive, Princess. You’re right, I didn’t tell you the truth before.”
I stepped back hurriedly, and he amended his words. “I didn’t tell you the whole truth, that is. I couldn’t, with the…prince standing there.” He had noticed my reaction to his previous references to Dominic as the Beast, then.
“Well he is not here now. I will have the truth, if you please.”
He sighed and rubbed his face. “It’s hard to know where to begin. I escaped the prison in Marin with the help of some true friends, who did not wish to see me imprisoned. But I knew that I couldn’t simply walk free. As I told you, I needed to atone for my past conduct.”
He paused and glanced at me, ruefully. “I will admit that rescuing you did not immediately occur to me. However, a party of guards sent from Marin caught up with me, somewhere inside Talinos. Prince Jonathan and Princess Lily were with them.”
I gasped at the mention of my sister. It did sound like her, though, to go chasing off after the escapee herself. Especially when she had been forced to sit idle in Marin while I came here. Although she hadn’t mentioned it to me when we had spoken in the forest. But that had been many weeks ago. Perhaps my clue from the mirror had directed their search.
“I had as little luck convincing them of my change of heart as I have had with you. But it quickly became apparent to me that they were far more concerned about the darkness in Palinar than they were about me. They seemed to think I was spreading the curse around the kingdoms or something.”
He shrugged as if confused by such a concept, and I narrowed my eyes in thought. Once again that sounded like something Lily and Jon would have said. It was, in fact, exactly what we had feared. But I knew more now than I had known previously. The curse on Palinar, if it could even be called that, was far more complex than we had assumed. It wasn’t the whole of the kingdom that had been cursed, only the royal family, and then Dominic separately—possibly, that part was still conjecture.
Jon’s godmother had been clear that the darkness twisting Dominic had found its way through him into the Tourney, and that the Tourney must therefore be destroyed. But we had merely assumed that the same darkness infected Cole and his family. Perhaps it had been pure greed that motivated them after all?
Cole had paused, as if aware I was considering his words, but when I said nothing, he continued. “I could also see how concerned Princess Lily was about you. So, I offered to prove the truth of my words by rescuing you. And all of Palinar, if I could manage it. They didn’t like the idea, of course, but I was their only option. And I suppose they considered anything better than you remaining betrothed to a cursed monster who would keep you prisoner here.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that I wasn’t a prisoner, but closed it without speaking. In every way that mattered, I was one. And I could no more deny that Dominic was cursed than that I was trapped here. I didn’t need Cole to tell me how much Lily hated the situation.
“The question is whether you know about Palinar’s succession laws.” Cole’s abrupt change of topic caught me by surprise.
“Succession? No, I don’t think it’s ever come up.” Uneasily I wondered why it had not. I knew the king was dead—why had I never asked why Dominic remained a prince? I suppose I had just assumed that everything was frozen while the curse remained.
“I’m not surprised.” Cole’s voice sounded dark, his eyes expressing anger and disgust that I somehow knew wasn’t directed at me. “I’m sure he has done everything he can to conceal the truth from you.”
I wished I could deny it, but it was exactly what Dominic had done, even ordering the servants to silence.
“Palinar has rather unusual succession laws. The heir doesn’t automatically inherit on the death of the previous monarch. Instead, the throne is considered vacant and the heir a regent, until such time as he—or she—speaks the binding words of the coronation in the great throne room in the palace of the capital.”
I frowned at him. Why would Dominic not have been crowned?
Sudden realization broke through. While the curse continued, he could not speak. There was no way for him to speak the coronation oath. So, I had been right that the whole kingdom was trapped in place until the curse was lifted.
“But,” said Cole, immediately dispelling my wrong impression. “There is a limit. The heir must speak the oath within three years, three months, three weeks and three days of the death or abdication of the previous monarch
.”
I stared at him, my eyes widening. When exactly had King Nicolas died? Time is running out, the servants had said.
“But…what happens if the heir does not do so?”
Cole took a deep breath. “Then the heir forfeits his position, and the crown goes to whichever Palinaran royal is the first to make the oath. Of course, usually that would be whichever royal had the most support from the nobles, people, and guards. Especially the guards. I believe it has only ever happened once before, and they barred the entrance to the throne room to all except their preferred royal.”
My mind raced. “But what if there are no royals?” None who could speak the oath, anyway. The entire kingdom was as incapacitated as Dominic.
“What, indeed. We fear it means the whole kingdom will remain forever cursed.”
I leaned back against the stone wall, clutching my robe around me. “But what can we do?”
Cole leaned forward. “It’s clear you have some sort of softness for the prince, you even seem able to understand his growls, somehow.” He paused as if hoping I would explain, but I remained silent. “But it is equally clear that he cannot—or will not—fulfill the coronation requirements. The allocated time must be getting close. Do you know the date King Nicolas died?”
I shook my head, and he looked disappointed. “Well, we will need to find out, somehow or other.” He took a deep breath. “Because it’s up to you—to us—to save Palinar.”
I had come to this castle with exactly that aim, but I still wasn’t sure how I could do so, or what role Cole thought he would play. “What do you mean?”
“We must marry.”
I jerked backwards and bumped my head against the stone wall behind me. Rubbing the spot with one hand, I glared at him. “You must be mad. Even if I had any desire to do so, I am already betrothed. I will not break my engagement and risk destruction on my own kingdom.” Was I never to cease receiving strange proposals?
Beyond the Four Kingdoms Box Set 1: Three Fairytale Retellings (Four Kingdoms and Beyond Box Sets Book 3) Page 47