“What brings you for this visit?” Nadia asked Christoph. “It’s been so long since you’ve stood in this house, I can’t even remember how many years it has been.”
Christoph had slowly moved toward her the moment Nadia entered the room. He didn’t stop until he was positioned halfway between the door and Nadia, so it wasn’t obvious that he was blocking her exit. This forced Nadia to turn her back on Poppie, who was on the other side of the room.
“We are going to discuss your recent activities and who you are associating with,” Christoph replied.
Nadia laughed. “No, we aren’t. That’s none of your business.”
“Actually it is, Nadia, when I have just found out that your lover murdered one of his cohorts. No loss, apparently, just another thug like he is. But I also know he works directly for the Bruslans.”
“He’s no rebel,” she quickly denied.
Christoph said pointedly, “I didn’t say he was, but that’s quite a revealing statement, that you should connect the rebels with the Bruslans. If I didn’t already know, then I have you to thank for confirming that connection.”
Nadia’s cheeks flushed with angry color. “I have nothing else to say to you!” she snapped, and marched toward the door.
She didn’t get more than two steps. Christoph’s hand locked on her arm. She started to actually scream for help, until he shook her hard.
“You might want to make this easy on yourself, Nadia, and cooperate. If I have to take you to the palace, you—”
“Get your hands off my daughter!”
Everard Braune stood in the doorway. Blond hair turning gray, well dressed, still wearing the cloak he had just come indoors with. And a pistol in his hand pointed directly at Christoph.
But Christoph wasn’t inclined to obey the angry demand. He turned, placing Nadia between himself and her father, making her a shield. It didn’t defuse the danger because Everard just pointed the pistol at Alana instead.
Alana gasped and dropped down behind the sofa, crawling her way to the side of it where she could peek out and see where Christoph was standing, and Poppie beyond him. She couldn’t see the door and Nadia’s father from that position, so she didn’t know that Nadia had run to Everard and he’d pushed her out of the room to safety. But it was a good guess that the pistol was back on Christoph, with him just standing there empty-handed now.
She should have demanded her own weapons back as soon as she was moved into the palace, but she hadn’t even thought of them since her father’s men protected her now. She could have disarmed Braune with a well-placed bullet while Christoph distracted him. Poppie was probably waiting for her to do just that. But all she had was his long-bladed dagger from the sleigh, and unlike him, she was only mediocre at throwing daggers. She’d been taught to use them for defense, but not against a pistol!
She took the long blade out of her boot and showed Poppie that was all she had to work with, then moved to the other end of the sofa where she could peek around at Braune. She might still be able to distract him, long enough for Christoph to take him down. At the very least, she could try to knock the pistol out of his hand.
“Do you even know what your daughter does here while you’re away?” Poppie asked the man to draw his attention away from Christoph.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Do you, Everard?” Christoph pulled the man’s eyes back to him.
“Yes, I know what she does. She does what I tell her to do. She’s an obedient daughter.”
“You told her to sleep with a Bruslan lackey?” Christoph asked next.
“No, she merely took a liking to him,” Everard said. “I couldn’t disapprove when I have kept her from marrying anyone but you.”
“Why me?”
“You were supposed to succumb completely to her, that would have neutralized you. But we overestimated her allure.”
“We?”
Alana peeked around the other sofa corner for a second before she hid again. Her heart was beginning to pound. Good God, what was Christoph doing, asking so many questions before he had control of the situation? Or did he think he did have control? He was armed, though he wasn’t revealing anything other than the saber on his hip. But he’d taken two pistols out of his saddlebag and stuck them both in the back of his pants before they’d entered the house. Yet if Braune admitted to an involvement with the Bruslans, he was going to have to kill them all to make sure it went no further than this room, and he still held the pistol!
She positioned the dagger in her hand, then peeked once more. She had a clear shot at that pistol, as well as Braune’s wrist and arm, which were extended as he pointed the weapon. She might not be able to knock it out of his hand, but she would definitely distract him long enough . . .
“Nadia and I,” Everard said.
Christoph laughed shortly. “So you would have foisted a used bride on me?”
Alana groaned with the realization. Christoph was getting a confession, one he might not get if Everard didn’t think he had the upper hand. And that’s why he’d made no move yet. He wanted that confession! He’d be furious with her if she interrupted it by trying to save him. She moved quickly back to the other side of the sofa to gauge Christoph’s intention. She’d actually have a better view of her target from there, all of the man, instead of just his arm. Christoph couldn’t get angry if she just helped when the time came.
“That wouldn’t have mattered if she had succeeded,” Everard said. “In the meantime, it did no harm for her to toy with the young man she likes. She doesn’t like you any longer, apparently. And he delivers messages for me, so he is often here. It is difficult, visiting my friends without stirring up suspicions. You have them watched too closely.”
“Of course I do, and Karsten Bruslan will soon be arrested for treason.”
Everard laughed. “Arrest him, no one cares. He was a fool to let his men attack the palace after someone, I daresay not you and your men, beat him up. Probably some jealous husband.”
“The rebels weren’t his idea?”
“Of course not. All of you have misjudged the Bruslans. They’re rich, and spoiled, and lazy. They like other people to do their work for them. This new generation is not like Ernest and the old guard. They were fighters!”
“You’ve prodded them?”
“The young bucks, yes. Someone had to so you’d keep your eyes on them. There were only ever two Bruslans who took the initiative, Ernest and his mother. His mother had the right idea, to just get rid of Frederick, and she paid for a number of assassins, but luck remained with Frederick. Then she lost her mind, and her memories, and no one else in that family would take up the gauntlet, they were too complacent. The truth was, no one was left who wanted that throne enough to kill for it.”
“I should have known. You were one of the nobles that had been hit the hardest when the Bruslans lost the throne. You had been the most outspoken in advising King Ernest to gain Napoléon’s favor with a real army instead of money, which was all that had been asked for. It might even have been your suggestion to begin with.”
Everard laughed. “Now you give me too much credit.”
“I doubt that. You’ve kept the flame alive when it might have otherwise faded away.”
It was as if the man simply couldn’t help bragging. The smirk was in his tone when he said, “Perhaps.”
“Why rebels? What did you actually think you would accomplish with that plan?”
“An army, one big enough to storm the palace, a repeat of history.” At Christoph’s laugh, Everard added, “Yes, I know. We should have taken that approach before Frederick proved himself such a worthy king. We underestimated how beloved he really is. We instilled fear, that he was sick, dying, but the fools were horrified at the thought of demanding he step down because of it, they would rather have him right up to the day he dies than another in his place. And you!” Everard finished in disgust. “If Nadia had succeeded in seducing you to our side, nothing else would have be
en necessary. You’re the one who forced us to desperate measures because you’ve made it impossible to get near him.”
Leonard spoke up, “Who hired me to kill the princess eighteen years ago?”
Everard gave him a blank look. Alana didn’t think it was contrived. He didn’t really seem to know.
Drawing the same conclusion, Christoph asked, “Who is the we that you mentioned?”
Everard smirked. “Do you really need that spelled out? The other nobles like myself who lost so much when a Stindal took the throne.”
“So all these machinations are just to get your land and titles—”
“Our power is what we want back. We want a more pliable, shall we say more wealth-oriented, man on the throne, such as one of the older Bruslans.”
“Not Karsten?”
Everard shrugged. “He was our first choice only because he’s their first choice, but the boy has become much too industrious lately. Someone else would serve our purposes better. But he’s still pliable with the right incentive. Women. He is a philanderer at heart, after all.”
Alana wondered if her father knew his choice for her was still such a womanizer. It didn’t sound as if Braune knew she had returned either, so maybe Nadia’s lover wasn’t playing both sides, but merely keeping an eye on what Braune’s secret group of nobles was up to for his Bruslan employer, and delivering messages for Braune just to keep the door open.
“Your rebels were a waste of money,” Christoph said. “You have an alternative plan?”
Everard actually laughed. “We always have alternatives lined up. And you have conveniently supplied another one. Finally, Frederick won’t have you to depend on.”
“You really think one bullet can stop me? Make it count, old man, you won’t get a chance to fire the other.”
Alana was about to stand up, but she heard heavy footsteps pounding into the room, then four bullets were fired! She was still on the side of the sofa where she could see that Christoph was still standing there unharmed. It was Poppie who had to dodge those bullets!
Three Braune men had rushed into the room, obviously summoned by Nadia, but only two of them held double-barreled pistols, the third just a saber. They immediately tried to take out the smaller second man that their lord didn’t already have a pistol trained on. Everard began swearing at them for not asking for their orders first. He would have had them shoot Christoph instead to make sure the real threat was ended. But they’d acted on their own initiative, and fortunately, servants carrying weapons they didn’t really know how to use usually missed, and they did. Poppie dove and rolled out of the way, and when he came to his feet, he threw a dagger. His excellent aim left only two men charging at him now.
An assassin dealt with shadows and single targets, situations he could control. He didn’t do so well in an open fight with more than one opponent. Sabers had been drawn. Poppie only had more daggers to work with. But Christoph was slowly edging toward the fight to help. Everard must have been watching it as well, or he would have warned Christoph not to move. She wasn’t sure why Everard didn’t take advantage of the distraction to fire his own pistol, unless Christoph’s warning had made him too nervous to try it without his men ready to back him up. Then she saw yet another man outside, looking through the window behind Poppie, raising a rifle and pointing it at his back!
Alana screamed, “The window!”
Poppie was concentrating too deeply on avoiding the two sabers. He might not even have heard her. Christoph did, and the second he saw where the rifle was pointed, he threw his weight in that direction. He tackled Poppie out of the way, knocking over one of the two men, taking a saber slice from the other man to his back that had been meant for Poppie’s throat. The shot fired a moment later. Glass broke. The bullet continued across the room. Alana stood up in time to see Everard flinch as it struck the wall next to him, but then with an angry visage he took aim at Christoph, who was still on the floor. She threw her dagger at his chest to stop him. Not even close! But it did embed itself in his upper arm just as his pistol fired, then yet another shot was fired.
It all happened so fast. Everard’s aim was thrown off because of the dagger in his arm. Christoph’s aim was true. The older man looked down at his chest before he fell to the floor. But it was still mayhem in the other corner of the room. Without wasting time to get up first, Poppie threw another dagger through the broken window. The man out there ran instead of shooting again, the same man he’d followed up here, who must have circled back to investigate what they were doing turning in this direction. Christoph swiped a leg to knock over the last man standing, then pounded a fist into his face to keep him down, before he did the same to the other one.
Christoph had just saved Poppie’s life and taken a wound for it. Alana’s only thought was to make sure it wasn’t a serious wound, yet Christoph wouldn’t stop to let her look at it. He moved across the room and leaned down and examined Everard to make sure his chest wound was as serious as it had looked. It was. Then he stood up and shook her.
“Next time stay hidden until I say it’s safe to get up,” he growled at her. “We’re not out of this house yet.”
“You saved Poppie” was all she said before she threw her arms around his neck.
He squeezed her so tightly, for a moment she couldn’t breathe. “Come on, I’m getting you out of here. This was no time to try to make amends to you by giving you your way. Be warned, that will never happen again if danger is even remotely involved. My men can clean up this nest of vipers later.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
WHY WAS SHE NOT surprised? Restricted to the palace until after the wedding!
Her father had been quite upset after Christoph’s report because she had been in the Braunes’ parlor when bullets had been flying. She hadn’t been present for Christoph’s account of the surprisingly violent confrontation, but Frederick visited her afterward in her rooms.
After she realized why Frederick was upset, she actually tried to place the blame on herself by pointing out, “Do my orders not override his? I told him I was going with him. We both thought it would be safe.”
“I understand what was assumed, but Christoph knows better, and, no, your orders do not override his. Yet this entire unfortunate situation with the Bruslans is now resolved because of it. I may not have to deal harshly with any of them now that we know those younger bucks were instigated to action, that the rebellion wasn’t actually their idea. Quite a surprise, that. We knew Braune was up to something, but nothing of this magnitude. If Christoph hadn’t gotten that full confession, we may never have known.”
“You have Poppie to thank for that,” she reminded him, hoping Leonard would get a full pardon now because of it. “He led us there.”
Frederick finally smiled. “I am aware of what your Poppie has done.” But then his expression got stern again. “But you, daughter, will not be leaving the palace again until after your wedding. Consequently, the betrothal will be formalized tonight at dinner.”
She groaned. “Father, please, you can’t send me to live with the very people who may have tried to kill me!”
“We don’t know who did that yet. If Karsten is your husband, it will assure your safety.”
“But I’ll know it could have been one of them. I’ll never trust any of them. I’ll live in constant terror. Is that really what you want for me?”
“I want you protected. This is the way to assure—”
“I’ve been protected since I arrived!” she cut in desperately. “Your captain has seen to that.”
He got tight-lipped at the mention of Christoph. “I’ll see you tonight. Look your prettiest.”
She started crying the moment he left. Christoph had been right. Because Frederick knew they had been intimate, he was still furious with his captain. So even if she told her father that she loved Christoph, it wasn’t going to make any difference right now. In time it might, but she’d be married to the wrong man before then!
She prepar
ed for the dinner, but she felt as if she were going to a funeral. Christoph arrived to escort her. He didn’t look too happy himself, had probably received a tongue-lashing for endangering her, but at least he hadn’t been dismissed for it. But her own expression was too revealing.
He lifted her chin. “You told the king you don’t want Karsten?”
“He wouldn’t listen, and now I’ve upset him, too. He still thinks this is the only way to assure my safety. I think I need to leave—just go away and not come back. Can you get a message to Poppie? He’ll take me out of the country and hide me again.”
Christoph took her arm and led her down the hall. “I’ll take you away from here, if it’s what you really want. But let’s see what happens tonight. Sometimes things right themselves.”
He said that almost . . . mysteriously. That wasn’t like him at all.
“Let’s see? Are you actually invited this time?”
“It’s a formal matter that requires witnesses. And your father doesn’t quite have all the facts yet.”
“What doesn’t he know?”
“How likely it is that I’ll kill Karsten if he agrees to marry you.”
There he went again with that silly notion. “No, you won’t. I think you even like him. But thank you for making me smile.”
They arrived at the royal chamber. Karsten and his grandmother were already there. Auberta was glowing with happiness. Karsten came forward immediately to escort Alana the rest of the way into the room.
“No hard feelings, eh, Christoph, if I walk away with the prize?”
“She’s not a trophy, Karsten, another notch for your belt. And if you touch her, you’re going to end up on the floor. Everyone will wonder why, and I’ll have to mention the three mistresses you’re currently supporting. One is never enough for you, is it?”
Karsten actually laughed. “They’ll be sent on their way, of course, after the wedding.”
When Passion Rules Page 29