“What are you implying?” demanded Jonan furiously.
“I’m not implying anything!” Giles retorted. “I’m openly stating that a man of honor wouldn’t have prevented her from coming home like you did.”
“I didn’t prevent her from—”
“Didn’t you?” challenged Giles. “You’re telling me you didn’t insist on her marrying you before you’d let her come back here? Let me guess—you said it was so she’d be safe.”
He leaned closer, but Scarlett still had no difficulty hearing his angry words. “I’m not so easily duped, Jonan. I know as well as you do that you wanted to pressure her into marrying you while she was far from her home and her family, with no other options, so that she wouldn’t come to her senses and realize what a mistake it was!”
“It wasn’t like that at all!” Scarlett cut in, stepping up to stand beside Giles, her fists balled. “No one pressured me, and I resent the suggestion that I’m easily duped!”
Again neither man looked at her, both breathing hard as they glared each other down. Scarlett had expected Jonan to have an angry retort of his own ready, but she thought he looked suddenly less mutinous and more unsettled. The sight filled her with a vague disquiet.
“I know you think you don’t need anyone to look after you, Scarlett,” said Giles, turning to her at last. “But even you can’t deny that you were vulnerable over there in Kyona, all alone. You tell me Jonan saved your life, and of course I’m glad he did. But if he really had as much integrity as he claims, he would have brought you safely home, and sought the blessing of the head of your house to pursue you honestly.”
“That would have been difficult,” said Jonan belligerently, “since I had just run my sword through the man’s heart. There was no head of her house to consult.”
“Lord Wrendal seems to feel otherwise,” Giles snapped. Jonan froze, his face showing nothing but shock, and Scarlett jumped in before his imagination could run too wild.
“He means Scanlon.”
Jonan frowned at her, distracted for a moment from his argument with Giles. “Your brother? What does he have to do with it?”
Scarlett didn’t immediately answer, her attention again drawn to the soldiers who were still grouped around them, listening keenly to every word. She was sure she hadn’t imagined it. The rustle that had passed through the group at the mention of Scanlon had turned into a barely contained ripple of mirth at Jonan’s question.
Giles took advantage of her silence to regain control of the conversation. “Of course you wouldn’t think her own brother has any relevance to the question of her well-being. Enough. I have other things to do than stand here and argue with you. Especially now that you have probably undone all my previous efforts on your behalf. If I manage to get you out of Nohl alive, it won’t be any thanks to you.” He glared at Scarlett. “Or you, Scar. If you had let me arrange to have the marriage set aside, Jonan might even now be safely on his way back to Kyona.”
“If you think,” growled Jonan, “that I’m getting back on that ship without Scarlett—”
“I don’t,” said Giles curtly. “I think that short of something miraculous, you’re not going anywhere, at least not in one piece. But you can’t say I didn’t try.”
And Scarlett had to admit that he didn’t look happy about Jonan’s probable fate as he turned to the soldiers gripping Jonan’s arms. “Return him to the dungeons, pending a decision by the crown.”
He glared the soldiers down in turn. “And no more unsanctioned beatings. We are in the king’s city, not the jungle. I will keep a closer eye on him this time, and I will personally ensure that anyone who perpetrates violence against him while he is in the royal dungeon will share whatever penalty the king decides to impose upon the prisoner.”
The soldiers muttered and glanced at each other, but unlike their deceased leader, none of them were willing to openly challenge Giles and the crown he represented.
“Wait!” said Scarlett, as the soldiers began to move away, Jonan borne along in their midst. “I said wait!”
The soldiers ignored her, and Jonan wouldn’t meet her eyes, his expression uncharacteristically subdued. She started after the group, but Giles’s hand shot out, holding her back in a firm grip.
“Leave it be, Scarlett,” he said grimly. “He’s in enough trouble already, and frankly so are you. If we’re lucky, everyone will focus on Jonan’s little stunt and will forget that you were the first one to start attacking soldiers. Honestly, what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that my husband was about to be flogged for no reason, and as usual you were too passive to intervene!” Scarlett shot back. “This isn’t good enough, Giles. I want him released. You should be rewarding him for preventing that soldier from committing murder in the castle courtyard, not throwing him back in the dungeon.”
“Scarlett.” Giles’s face was very grave. “You know I’ve been trying to help him, but he’s made it all but impossible with this last offense. It’s going to be almost too easy now for Scanlon to get him executed.”
“Scanlon doesn’t want him executed,” said Scarlett quickly, but Giles just raised his eyebrows.
“I’m sure he told you that, Scarlett, but surely you’re not that naive.”
“No, he didn’t—never mind,” said Scarlett, still too worked up about Jonan’s situation to want to get into her theories about Scanlon. “I’m going to talk to Jo.”
“Scarlett, that’s not a good—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Giles,” Scarlett cut him off. “I stayed away all day yesterday on your instructions, and it did more harm than good. And I don’t trust you anymore when you tell me he’ll be safe there. Maybe you’re too blind to see it, but the crown is losing control of the soldiers.”
“Of course I’m not blind,” said Giles, nettled. “I’m the one who told you that the crown is in a precarious position. Public opinion is volatile at best. But the soldiers aren’t going to disobey my direct order. Not now that the corrupt one has been…removed from the equation.”
Scarlett followed Giles’s gaze and barely repressed a shudder. As they spoke, the head soldier’s body was indeed being removed from the courtyard by some of the soldiers formerly under his command. The looks on the men’s faces as they glanced toward the prince and his disgraced cousin told Scarlett that they weren’t going to let this go easily. She suspected that the incident was already being reported to whoever was really behind the deceased soldier’s insubordination.
“You can’t really believe that man was one corrupt soldier acting on his own impetus when he openly defied your authority, Giles,” she said. “Aren’t you concerned that he seemed to have no fear of any consequence from disobeying you?”
“I think he’s more than paid for his insolence, Scarlett,” said Giles.
But the thoughtful frown on her cousin’s face suggested to Scarlett that he knew there was more to the incident than he was letting on. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him about his decision not to share his thoughts with her. From long force of habit he was used to thinking of her as someone who would have no interest in military or strategic matters, and nothing to contribute. It must be hard for him to remember that her superficial persona had been an intentional facade. And any danger to the Balenan crown was his concern, after all. She had a more pressing problem to resolve.
“You’re wrong about Jonan, you know,” she said softly. “He didn’t steal me away from better prospects. I’m the one who’s lucky to be married to him. I’ve never met anyone else who I respect more, or who I would be happier with. And well before I ever met him, I was fully resolved not to marry any of the fools from the Balenan court who were pursuing me for my face, and my position.”
Giles met her eyes, his expression giving nothing away. “And you’re wrong about what happened,” Scarlett continued. “Jonan didn’t pressure me not to come back. I didn’t want to come back, not straight away. I was afraid of what might happen to m
e now that people know about what I did in the resistance.”
She could see that he wanted to interrupt, and she stopped him with an upraised hand. “Yes, Jonan was worried about my family trying to turn me against him, as well as about my safety. But I was just as concerned about that as he was. You claim that he pressured me, and being pressured was exactly what I was afraid of, but not from him. From you, and the rest of the family. And since the moment we got here, you’ve been validating that fear with every word you’ve said. You were even ready to annul my marriage without my consent!”
She took a deep breath. “This mess is my fault. I put off coming back for too long, because I was afraid. I realize now that was a mistake. It made you think I was ashamed of having married Jonan, or afraid of what you would think about my decision. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you still want any relationship with me, you have to accept the choices I’ve made, and you especially have to accept Jonan. Stop blaming him for the fact that I deceived you. Even if he was executed, I would return to Kyona, because it’s my home now. But,” her expression became fierce, “he’s not going to be executed, because I won’t allow it to happen.” She held Giles’s gaze. “Whatever I have to do.”
Chapter Nine
Without giving him a chance to reply, she turned and began walking toward the dungeon. She paused for a moment as she saw her aunt hovering nearby, evidently having heard the last of Scarlett and Giles’s conversation. Scarlett had forgotten that Aunt Mariska was present. She couldn’t blame the older woman for failing to intervene in the recent crisis—not all Balenan noblewomen had taken it upon themselves to train in knife fighting after all—but she was glad her aunt had witnessed the confrontation, because Scarlett was done hiding.
The two women locked eyes briefly, but Scarlett didn’t wait to see what her aunt thought about what she had done or said. She wanted to see Jonan, and she wasn’t delaying any longer.
She swept into the castle, through the entryway, and down toward the dungeons without breaking stride. She pushed past a confused and nervous-looking royal guard in order to enter, and was unsurprised to discover a couple of soldiers still lingering in front of Jonan’s cell, trying with their words to inflict the injury Giles had forbidden them from inflicting physically.
“What are you doing here?” one of them demanded rudely, stepping forward to intercept her. “You’re not supposed to be down here.”
“I’m here to speak to my husband,” said Scarlett with icy calm, fingering the hilt of the dagger that she still clutched in one hand. “So get out of my way, or I will force you to choose between being knifed by me, or killing me right now and facing the consequences.”
The soldiers exchanged a glance, then, with one last appraising look at her face, retreated from the dungeon in disorder. Scarlett watched them go with narrowed eyes, turning back toward Jonan when she was satisfied that they had left.
He had been slouched against the wall in apparent nonchalance when she had entered, but had jumped up at sight of her and approached the bars, which he now gripped with both hands. Their eyes met, her face still hard from her showdown with the soldiers. For a moment Jonan was silent, then he broke into a grin.
“You’re never more attractive than when you do that, in case you weren’t aware.”
She held his gaze for a moment longer then, without another word, strode purposefully forward, dropping the dagger to the stone floor with a clatter. She reached through the bars and grabbed the back of his head with one of her hands, winding her fingers through his hair as she pulled him toward her and pressed her lips against his. The cold metal of the bars seemed to sting her temples, but the fire that raced through her from Jonan’s lips was more than worth it.
He reached for her, eagerly, his arms managing to twine around her waist despite their shortened reach. She kissed him fiercely, ferociously, pressing herself against the bars in silent defiance of the barrier that had so unjustly been placed between them.
Her heart was still pounding from the crisis in the courtyard, and the gesture was full of determination, with nothing of goodbye in it. She was not going to let him die. He returned her kiss with his usual enthusiasm, his lips moving passionately against hers as one hand reached up to her face, his fingertips traveling over her forehead, her nose, her cheekbones, as if reassuring himself of her familiar features. She could sense in his touch the same frustration and anxiety at their separation, the same relief mingled with fear at their reunion, that had been consuming her.
After a frenzied minute, Jonan seemed to master himself, pulling back and resting his forehead against hers through the gap in the bars.
“Curse these bars,” he panted. “And happy anniversary.” His voice was low and unsteady.
“I’ve missed you,” Scarlett whispered. The hand still on her waist tightened in acknowledgment, but otherwise Jonan didn’t respond.
The security of his well-known touch, the comfort of mutual silence, overset the last of her control. She felt an involuntary sob in her throat, and the next moment silent tears were coursing down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry,” Jonan soothed. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“I’m so sorry, Jo,” Scarlett sobbed. “This is all my fault. You were right—we never should have left home. I’m so sorry I forced you to come. I’ll get you out of this mess, I swear.”
“Don’t be silly,” said Jonan lightly, “this isn’t your fault. And you didn’t force me to do anything. I don’t regret coming.”
She pulled back at this outrageous comment, giving him a look. He was infuriatingly stubborn, but at least he had succeeded in stopping her tears, she supposed.
“What?” he said incorrigibly. “I’m starting to feel quite at home, really. Nice to be back in my old little corner of paradise.”
She frowned. Looking around, she realized with a fresh surge of anger that they had put him in the execution chamber this time.
“How dare they?” she cried. “Giles didn’t tell them to put you here!”
Jonan shrugged. “Yeah, well, I get the sense that dear old Giles is not quite as in control as he thinks.” His expression darkened. “Even though he made it clear that I can be executed for all he cares.”
Scarlett sighed. “He has been trying to help us, Jonan, in his own misguided way.”
“To help you,” Jonan corrected. “Mainly to help you get away from me, from what I can tell.”
“Jo…”
“Well, who can blame him?” said Jo, his tone bitter. “No one wants to see someone they care about stuck with a controlling, dishonest husband. And when you confirmed his suspicions that I was the one keeping you away for fear you’d have better options—”
“I never said that!” cried Scarlett, stung.
“I know you didn’t,” said Jonan, letting go of her and stepping away. “You’re much too kind, and too loyal, to say anything of the sort.”
At the loss of his touch, she felt suddenly cold, despite the humid air. Jo put his hands up to his head, looking more miserable than she had seen him in a long time. Somehow the gesture made him look younger and more vulnerable, the bruises on his face standing out clearly. She reached through the bars, only just able to reach him now that he had stepped back, and touched a hand gently to the cut above one eye.
“Oh, Jo,” she whispered, tears standing in her eyes. “I wish I’d been there. I should never have let Giles convince me that you were safer if I stayed away. But I thought it was worth waiting the extra day if only so that it would be too late for the king to undo our marriage. Why did you let them beat you?”
Jonan closed his eyes at her touch, gripping the bars with one hand and leaning his head against it. “I didn’t exactly let them. There were a lot of them, and I was bound, after all.”
“But—” Scarlett glanced down at the rock on its chain around Jonan’s neck. “You really couldn’t fight them off? How many were there?”
Jonan shook his head, underst
anding her meaning perfectly. “I can’t access the rock’s power. It hasn’t been working for me, except just then when I fought that soldier who was about to kill you.”
Scarlett frowned over the unexpected information, trying to make sense of it. Looking up, she saw Jonan watching her closely, a wistful, almost longing look in his eyes.
“Don’t worry, Jo,” she said quickly. “We’ll figure out what’s causing the problem, like you figured out how to work it in the first place. Besides, you don’t need it—you’re strong enough and smart enough without it.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that. I’m not worried about the rock.”
She waited, but for a long moment he was silent.
“Jo?” she prompted.
“I never meant to manipulate you, Scar.” His voice was little more than a whisper.
“What?” she said, startled. “Of course you didn’t. What are you talking about?”
“What Giles said,” Jonan went on, his eyes pleading with hers. “I swear I didn’t mean to—I never thought of it that way. I wanted to protect you, but maybe he’s right. Maybe I also didn’t want to risk you changing your mind. I mean…everyone in our community loves you so much, you fit so well, I forget you’re not Kyonan. I didn’t really think about what I was asking of you, what it means for you to leave all your people behind.” He swallowed. “I can’t stand the thought that maybe I did take advantage of your vulnerability, when you were there all alone.”
“I wasn’t alone,” Scarlett choked out. “I was with you.”
“That’s exactly the point,” said Jonan, looking more distressed than ever. “You had no one but me, and maybe it was the move of a scoundrel to tie you to me without coming back here, without including your family. I filled your head with my fears about your safety if we came back, but now that we’re here, it’s pretty clear I’m the problem, not you. Without me, everyone would be happy to welcome you back.”
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