by C. J. Pinard
Mariselle looked at Zackary as he stood and stared at it. A few considerable moments passed, and then she finally spoke. “You’ve been here a few days. Have you never seen this fountain before? Alexander made it to commemorate Amber, and I—”
“No,” he replied. “I’m staying in the stables. I haven’t been in the castle much.”
Mariselle blinked incredulously at him. “You’re staying… in the stables… I think I must have heard you wrong.”
Zackary tore his gaze away from the fountain and put it back on the redhead. “I did not misspeak. I would rather be outdoors, watching the sun set and smelling hay while staring up at the stars than in this stuffy castle where the help is more afraid of their shadow than the thought of losing their own lives.”
Mariselle pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stared up into Zackary’s hazel-green eyes. “I don’t think the staff—”
Her words were cut off when Zackary pressed his mouth to hers and then wrapped his arm around her backside. He slowly slid his hand down to her bottom, and then gave it a squeeze.
Mariselle groaned in the back of her throat and pushed her body in closer to his. She could feel how much he wanted her, as it was pressed into her stomach.
“My staff don’t fear for their lives. I treat them very well.”
Mariselle and Zackary broke apart when the voice startled them.
Panting and feeling horrible for kissing Zackary, Mariselle bowed slightly at Alexander. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, cut the shit,” Alexander said, his jaw bunching in annoyance as he looked at her. Then his gaze flicked to his brother. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Zackary wore a mask of amusement, his arms folded over his chest and a smug grin on his face. “What ever do you mean, brother?”
“Bad-mouthing my staff, making me out to be no less frightening than a dragon. You are a guest here. Mind your words.”
Zackary’s grin didn’t leave his face. “I believe I am a guest of your horses, not you.” He jutted a thumb behind him and continued. “I sleep in the stables for a reason. Why are you busting my chops?”
Alexander’s serious expression grew stormy, and his icy-blue eyes flicked over to Mariselle, then back to his younger brother. “I think you know why.”
Zackary raked a hand through his short hair. “I don’t. Enlighten me, big brother.”
With his chin raised, he reached up and snatched the crown from the top of his head. Alexander set it on the bench surrounding Amber’s fountain and then scraped his fingers along his thin, dark beard. “You’re either playing dumb, or you really just don’t get it.” Alexander again glanced at Mariselle, then back to Zackary. “I think it’s time we talked. There is much to discuss. Meet me in the solar room in fifteen minutes.” He pierced Mariselle with a serious stare. “And you, back to your chambers. You and I also need to have a discussion.”
“Yes, sire,” Mariselle said, bowing slightly and heading into the castle.
Zackary also nodded and brushed past Alexander, shoulder-checking him as he went inside.
Alexander gathered up his crown with a huff, and with a glance at Amber’s fountain, turned on his heels and headed inside.
Mariselle skulked up to her chambers and slammed the heavy wooden door behind her.
With an annoyed sigh, she stalked to her bed, but halted when a squeal sounded out from the other end of her chambers. She looked up to see Shawna scrubbing out the metal bathtub that sat in the corner of the room.
Shawna stood, inclined her head in a bow, and then said, “I’m sorry, miss. I didn’t know you were returning so soon.”
Mariselle sighed and plunked down on her bed. “It’s okay, Shawna. No need to apologize.”
Unsure as to what she should do, Shawna asked, “Is there anything you need?”
Mariselle lay back flat on the bed, her arms sprawled out as she stared up at the ceiling. With a laugh, she said, “Yes, there’s lots I need. Nothing you can help me with, however.”
She felt the bed dip when Shawna sat down. She began to stroke Mariselle’s hair in a motherly gesture and said, “Are you sure? You look blue.”
Mariselle closed her eyes and huffed. “I think I just caused a fight between Zackary and Alexander.”
“How so?”
“Well, Zackary kissed me in the courtyard and Alexander saw. Zackary also thinks his brother treats the staff here badly.” She opened her eyes. “Do you think that?”
Shawna again wondered if she should tell Mariselle more about Lord Henry, but then dismissed the idea. She decided to change the subject. “King Zackary kissed you?”
She couldn’t stop the grin on her face. “Yes. He’s very… how should I put it?”
“Handsome?” Shawna finished.
“Oh yes, he is that. There’s just something about him that makes my knees weak.”
Shawna chuckled and stood up from the bed. “I do believe I heard you say that about King Alexander, also.”
“I’m sure I did. I guess I’m just confused.”
After picking up the rag she’d been using, Shawna dipped it into the water and began scrubbing once more. “A young lady like you with all those suitors. It is a bit much. But we all understand why—” Realizing she’d said too much, she put a hand to her mouth. “Apologies, miss.”
“What did you mean? We?”
“Permission to speak freely?” Shawna asked, standing up.
“Of course,” Mariselle replied.
“You have to understand that the staff see and hear everything. Well, mostly everything. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by us that the kings all fancy you. Not only are you beautiful and young, the whole of Syracuse is aware of your… your… monthlies. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but you need to understand that you’ve given us a little hope. All the maidens are barren. I hear the younger ones crying at night because they long to be a mum. We have hope that you can break the curse. For all of us.” She bowed slightly, a blush on her cheeks.
Mariselle stood a little speechless, and embarrassed, but not angry at the older chambermaid. She had spoken truthfully, and it was all she had asked for. “I see. Well, that’s a lot of pressure, but I really wish you wouldn’t put all your eggs in my basket. It did not happen last month, and”—she put her hand low on her belly—“by the feel of things, I don’t think it’ll happen this month, either. I already feel like I do before it shows up.”
Shawna smiled at her. “The symptoms can be very similar. Let’s just wait and see.”
Nodding, Mariselle went to the window and looked out over the fields and stables. She watched Emily and Richard take two out and go riding around the fields, exercising the horses.
She thought about what Shawna had said and knew exactly what Alexander and Zackary were discussing. She started to feel a little angry and used. With her finger to her lip, she let out a sigh and turned around. Shawna was rifling through Mariselle’s gowns, looking for one she would wear to dinner tonight.
“I’ll be back later,” Mariselle said, heading to the door and slamming it behind her.
She stalked down the hall and headed down the staircase. She passed the grand hall, and then headed toward the servants’ quarters, where she slowed her movements and then came to a halt before entering the long hallway.
What was she doing here? She didn’t know. Well, she did know. She wasn’t very happy with the way Alexander spoke to the staff some of the time, but she didn’t feel he mistreated them one bit. She did remember, however, Shawna’s comment about Sir Henry. It was for this reason she came down to the servants’ quarters. She was glad she remembered how to get there after Shawna had taken her on a tour of the castle last week.
Mariselle put her hand on the torch-lit walls, the stone feeling rough under her soft fingertips. Perhaps if I’m quiet, I may be able to hear them talking. Maybe it will confirm what Shawna had told me.
A noise jarred her from her thoughts—shouting. She
crept closer to the door, which was ajar, and peered through the gap. A man she recognized as Lord Henry had his hand grasping another man’s as he held it millimeters from the flame of an oil lamp. “You dare steal from the king?” he roared, while the other man whimpered and was trying to pull his hand back.
“No, sir. No! It was extra food—just going into the trash. My wife and I were hungry, we hadn’t eaten today, and—”
“We feed you meals! You had your chance to eat, so therefore, that is stealing! Nobody gave you permission to take it!” Lord Henry dropped the man’s hand and backhanded him across the face instead. “Ten days in the hole!”
“No, please, sir, no!” the young man cried with his hand to his face. “No, please. My wife is sick, she needs me…”
“I don’t care,” Henry gritted out. “You’ll be made an example of!”
Mariselle watched in horror as Henry continued to scream at the man. With tears blurring her eyes, she turned on her heel and ran back down the hallway and out of the servants’ quarters.
As she ran up the stairs, instead of stopping at her room, she kept running until she reached the stairs leading to the turret.
Chapter 14
More angry male voices greeted Mariselle once she reached the top of the turret and the solar room, which sat directly across from King Alexander’s bedchambers.
“You’re just angry because I kissed her. Admit it! You don’t give a good goddamn about your staff and what they say about you.” Zackary’s voice was angry and smug.
“Mind your words, little brother. Have some respect. This is my home, and my castle. If you don’t like things here, then bloody leave. But you’re not taking Mariselle with you.”
“Once it’s shown she’s not with child, I’m taking her back to the West Haven and I will show you and Griffin how to put a baby in a woman. Perhaps your cock—”
Mariselle slammed open the door to see the two kings standing on either side of a long stone table. Zackary’s hands were flat on it as he stared angrily at his brother. Alexander stood opposite him, his arms folded over his chest and a stormy expression coloring his handsome features. A fire was burning in the fireplace’s hearth, and two armored guards stood at both room’s entrances.
“Stop it! Just stop!” she cried, the back of one hand on her forehead, the other one on her hip. “Please. Stop.”
She couldn’t hold it in any longer and started to sob. She was overwhelmed at the horrific mistreatment she’d just witnessed, and now to hear the kings fighting with each other. She had no doubt that if King Griffin had been there, he would’ve been in on the fight, too. She had loved these boys since she was small, and it hurt her young heart to hear them bickering—and even worse, bickering over her.
Both kings rushed over to Mariselle and made her sit on a nearby armchair perched in front of the massive fireplace.
“What’s wrong?” Zackary asked. “Why the hysterics?”
Alexander shot his brother a look that said shut the fuck up. Down on one knee in front of her, he put his lips to Mariselle’s forehead. Then, pulling back, he looked into her deep green eyes and said, “Please tell us, sweetheart.”
With watery vision, Mariselle stared at the devastatingly beautiful kings. “Please don’t fight. Please just… stop. I am confused and overwhelmed by all of this. Shouldn’t I be the one to choose who I want to marry? To have children with? Why am I being treated like a prized cow?” She looked down at her hands, and her lip wobbled.
Zackary had grabbed a stool from the corner of the room and placed it directly in front of the chair she sat in. With his hand, he reached out and tilted her chin up so she had to look at him. “Mariselle, you are no cow. You are beautiful and special and worthy. You need to understand that we are doing this king thing blindly. Our parents are gone. We don’t know what we’re doing, and we certainly hadn’t expected some bloody curse to be placed on the kingdom. We all want you, and not just for what you can give us.” Zackary looked frustrated, and he dropped his hand from her chin to rub it along the back of his neck. He stared pleadingly at his big brother.
Not needing another prompt, Alexander continued for his brother. He touched the redhead’s shoulders, and she turned her head to look at him. “Mariselle, listen. We all love you. We have since we were children. If Mathias and Griffin were here, they would be nodding their heads in agreement. We just have to decide what’s best for all of Syracuse. The telegrams and letters we receive about this curse are overwhelming. The country is hurting. They’re frightened, angry, and most of all devastated. And they all blame the Rothhavens. When Marcus brought you to Griffin and told him the good news, it spread fast. We just want what’s best for Syracuse.”
Mariselle nodded and looked at both kings. “But you don’t care about what’s best for me?”
“Of course we do,” Alexander replied quickly. “That’s why this has been so difficult. Along with the pressure of being a king, we’re fighting our attraction to you. I think Zackary and I can both agree, here, that you drive us crazy. We both want you, and I know Griffin was torn about having to go back to the East Haven to tend to his kingdom. He didn’t want to leave you. Yes, we all want you to be the mother of our children, but we also realize what an incredible burden that places on you. But we are under pressure, too. Our people love and respect us, and want us to fix this.”
“Yes,” Zackary interjected, and the ire and frustration in his voice were all but gone. “We know at any time, there will be torches and pitchforks surrounding our castles. We may have deserved the curse that was placed on us, but the common folk did not. Our father’s betrayal of Angelique has now been passed on to us, and there isn’t a damned thing we can do about it, except pray to whatever god will listen that it be broken.”
Mariselle’s heartrate slowed and the sick feeling in her stomach subsided. Having them explain their side—and what they were going through—had helped tremendously. She again looked at the sexy Rothhaven brothers and smiled a little. “Will you at least stop fighting, then? I promise that you both can have me. As long as you don’t fight about it.” She looked at Alexander. “If my monthly doesn’t show up next week, I want to stay another month here with you. If again, I am not pregnant, then I will travel to the West Haven and Zackary and I will try. These are my terms, and I am not going budge. So, what say you?”
Both kings looked at each other, a little bit of pain etched with excitement coloring their handsome faces. Then, looking back at Mariselle, they said unison, “Agreed.”
This made Mariselle happy. She stood, and with her arms folded across her chest, she felt a little bit powerful and in control. She liked it. Inclining her head at both men, she said, “Shake on it, boys.”
With smiles on their faces, the two kings shook hands.
Without another word, Mariselle turned to leave the solar room. Then, remembering why she came, she glanced quickly at Zackary, and then back to Alexander and said, “Zackary’s right. You have a staff problem. It’s probably time you fired Lord Henry. He’s grossly mistreating the staff… and I can prove it.”
With that, she turned and walked out of the room, closing the heavy door behind her.
“What in God’s name is ‘the hole’?” Mariselle asked, storming back into her room.
Shawna was laying out an emerald-green gown and choosing hair combs to match, when she froze and stared wide-eyed at Mariselle.
“Pardon, miss?”
Mariselle pulled the pins out of her hair and began throwing them on the dressing table. She was feeling empowered and confident after her encounter with the kings. “I’m not angry at you, Shawna, but I know you are playing dumb. Please just tell me?”
Shawna dipped her head and set the combs down gently on the dressing table. She looked at young Mariselle and said, “It’s a punishment room.”
Mariselle nodded. “Go on.”
Shawna’s hands wrung together and her brows dipped together. “It’s where the staff are sent i
f they do wrong.”
“You just reworded what you had already said. Who puts people into ‘the hole’, and why?”
“Well,” she started, seeming to not want to talk about it at all. “Lord Henry is in charge of the staff. If there is wrongdoing by us, he is in charge of punishment.”
Mariselle turned around, indicating for Shawna to unzip her gown. With her back to the chambermaid, she said, “Punishment, or abuse?”
Once Shawna had run the zipper down of Mariselle’s gown, she helped her slip out of it. “It’s not my place, madam, to repeat the staff goings-on. I’m sorry.”
Mariselle turned around and looked at Shawna. “You need to tell me. King Alexander has already been informed about that cretin, Lord Henry, and his mistreatment, so the more things you can tell me—”
Shawna gasped and dropped the gown to the floor. “How did you know?”
Mariselle, now in nothing but a corset, which pushed her ample, pale breasts up and out, shrugged a shoulder. “I went down to the staff quarters and saw it. That arsehole was trying to burn a guy’s hand for taking the leftover food. I watched through the gap in the door. He was going to burn the man’s hand on a lamp. Instead, he just slapped him. The servant said he had a sick wife, but Henry didn’t care. He told him he was spending ten days in ‘the hole.’ What kind of monster is this guy? I’m going to suggest to Alexander to hang him.”
Shawna looked at Mariselle and her eyes got teary. “Lewis. Poor Lewis.”
“Who’s Lewis?” Mariselle asked.
“The man whom Henry was punishing. His wife has some kind of disease. She eats, but cannot put on weight. He takes the extras to see if she can gain some weight and get better.”
Mariselle felt horrible for Lewis. “He said he was only taking what the royals hadn’t eaten, and that he wasn’t stealing.”
Shawna nodded. “Yes, miss. That’s what I had told you before. That we take what the king and his table did not eat. It’s not stealing.”
“So, are you telling me the king doesn’t feed you at all? Your own meals?”