Ivan chuckled. “You act like she had much warning before you arrived in the Rendezvous. To hear her tell it, she barely had time to learn your name before you were in a dirt cell demanding answers from her.”
“Answers she punked out of giving me, by the way,” I said, shaking my head. “She sent Gerald in to talk to me when I turned out to be a total blank slate.”
“And who better to give you a history of magic than someone who was alive before the war began?” Ivan pointed out. “That does not sound like ‘punking out’ to me.”
“You don’t even know what it means, do you?”
“No, but I was able to guess from the context.”
I laughed at that. “Oh yeah. If you’re going to stick around and teach me how to do all the royal witch things, I’m going to have to return the favor. I’ll introduce you to human customs and phrases, and if Theresa stays for any period of time, we’ll have movie nights. She had a pretty great collection before they all got run out of house and home.”
“Elaine told me about movies,” Ivan said with a smile. “She said she watched some on the cruise she took with you and Andrew, too.”
“It’s a great way to unwind,” I promised. “Aaron and I used to sneak into movie theaters all the time. The theaters were warmer, too, and we were sort of living on the street at the time, so we used them to keep from freezing.”
“Then we will have to invite Aaron and Izzy to the movie nights,” Ivan agreed.
“Oh, absolutely. Communal movie nights, Ivan. You’ll love them.”
Just like that, we settled into a lively discussion about the kinds of group activities I’d like to run at the Rendezvous to introduce a little Halfsie fun into the mix—with Izzy throwing in her favorite movies and games as well—and the half an hour it took Sarah to get everything set up to receive us went by in no time at all.
Chapter 20: No Pressure
As Sarah had promised, everything was ready for us when we got back to the Rendezvous. She’d created a cell deep in the ground a lot like the one where I’d been held when I first met Elaine—but with a few obvious differences. The first was the chair that Wendy would be tied to, and the second was the disturbingly familiar-looking chains.
Sarah followed my gaze and winced. “I know. But this is the best way I can think of to keep her from accessing her magic.”
“There’s got to be something better than my father’s torture devices,” I said, my arms crossed—though I didn’t stop Sarah from chaining the still-unconscious Wendy to the chair all the same. She was right: I didn’t exactly have a more permanent solution.
“The ropes you have on her depress magic, but she can still get around them if she has enough time. These can only be opened if she’s dead, and the spell will alert a guard if that happens.” Sarah shook her head. “I’m sorry, but your father did invent the best method of containing witches that we’ve seen in centuries.”
“There’s got to be a way to use it without resorting to torture.”
“It’s only torture if she uses magic. We’re not going to starve her and make her use her healing abilities to feed into the chains,” Sarah promised. “She knows what these things do. If she’s smart, she won’t try anything.”
I shook my head at her. “You and I both know she’s Family. Which means she’ll try anyway.”
“Well, I’m not the one who brought a Family member home, am I?” Sarah asked, one eyebrow raised before she broke into a teasing smile. “I know Elaine has been teaching you, but you don’t have to do everything she does.”
“You’re hilarious,” I said dryly.
“I know,” Sarah said, smiling wider before she finally stepped back from Wendy. “Alright. She’s secure. And I’ll make sure she knows the rules.” She clapped her hands together and then turned my way. “So. What happened? How on earth did you end up with a Family member?”
“It’s a long story,” I admitted. “Basically, the Family got fed up with Andrew being part of the Rendezvous and sent her to curse him to either scare him back into the fold or get him captured or killed and dragged back to them anyway.”
Sarah looked stunned, and I tried not to look too smug about it. I knew that she and Andrew had never gotten along, mostly because she had never actually believed that Andrew had joined the Rendezvous as anything but a spy. She wasn’t wrong, necessarily, but she had completely missed his conversion. So for her to be forced to reckon with the lengths the Family went to in order to get revenge—well, I was definitely happy that she couldn’t possibly deny that this latest development, at the very least, was proof of his allegiance.
“And where is Andrew now?” Sarah asked at last.
“With Elaine,” I said.
“And Michelle needs to talk to King Peter,” Ivan broke in. “The king should be apprised of the latest danger the Family is trying to level against Elaine.”
“Right.” Sarah nodded quickly. “He’s still here. He was meeting with some of the generals, but that’s supposed to have ended by now. If it went long—and it usually does—then you’ll find him in the War Room. Otherwise, check the throne room.”
“Thanks,” I said, then turned to Izzy. “Do you mind me ditching?”
Izzy shook her head quickly. “No, you go off and talk to your uncle. I’ll talk to Sarah about getting new rooms set up for me and Aaron in the meantime. Pretty sure you won’t be sharing with us this time when you’re doing royal things,” she said. “Don’t get too caught up in your family drama and forget to visit us. You know Aaron will have the whole place looking like an art museum before too long.”
“He’ll have his murals spilling out into the hallways by the end of the week,” I agreed with a smile before I turned to see Ivan offering his arm, the way Andrew always did when he escorted me to see the king. I took his arm, glanced up at Ivan, and gave him my biggest grin. “Shall we?”
“Of course,” Ivan said, leading me through the unfamiliar tunnels.
This wasn’t the same Rendezvous group I had left behind when I went to the Amazon, but then again, the Rendezvous was always shifting and changing. That was where the “Rendezvous” name came from: the members of the rebellion went on missions so often and had to move their hideouts so frequently that they only really got to see each other in short periods of time—a rendezvous with other rebels before the next mission.
“You knew Sarah was in the same group as King Peter,” I said to Ivan as we walked. It wasn’t a question; I meant it as a sort of encouraging and grateful acknowledgement instead. “That’s why you had me write to her.”
Ivan nodded. “I did promise to help you.”
I smiled and gave his arm a tight squeeze. “Great. Then you can help me explain to my uncle everything that happened.”
Ivan’s eyes were sparkling with trouble. “Oh, I am not brave enough to face that peril, even if I am asked by such a beautiful young woman.”
“Punking out on me,” I said, laughing at his expression when he tried to feign innocence.
“As you say,” Ivan said, laughing outright when I hit his arm for it—without any real power behind it.
But that meant that we were both in good moods when we got to the throne room (the War Room was empty). Ivan stopped to bow before the king, and I did the same before we both straightened up as King Peter grinned my way.
“Ah, my favorite niece,” he said, gesturing for me to come forward. “How are you?”
“I’m alright,” I promised, smiling despite myself—though standing in front of him, I couldn’t help but notice how much older my uncle looked. He hadn’t exactly been physically young when I met him, but now, he had wrinkles, and his hands were bony. The war was really taking a toll on him, and it occurred to me for the first time that he might not survive it.
But I pushed that thought aside and instead went for a smile and a tease: “I’m your only niece, you know.”
“And, therefore, my favorite,” King Peter said. “Now, what brings you here
? I was under the impression you were still with Elaine, looking into the magic my brother poured into your mind.”
“I was,” I said before I let out a long sigh. “I have a lot to tell you, Uncle Peter.”
The king frowned and came down from his throne, taking the few steps between us until he had one hand resting on my shoulder. He glanced toward Ivan. “Leave us,” he said, and Ivan simply bowed and walked out, leaving me alone with a concerned-looking uncle.
Peter shifted so that his arm was draped around my shoulders, and he pulled me closer to him as he turned with me to walk away from the grandeur of the throne room to someplace more private. He had a study just off of the throne room, and once we were there, he pulled up chairs for both of us to sit, giving me his full attention. “You’re brimming with nervous energy,” he told me; he was a talented mental witch, so he could easily read emotions. “What happened?”
I took in a deep breath—and then everything came out at once. All of it. Not just the strategically important things like what had happened with Andrew and Wendy. I told him about how the monolith in my mind was open, about how I missed my family, about how much Elaine meant to me as part of the family I’d built up in the Rendezvous, about how I just wanted her to be happy.
Which was what led into the explanation of the impromptu marriage ceremony that I’d conducted. By that point in my storytelling, Peter had lost a lot of his smile, and I think he might have yelled at me for enabling Elaine in such a bad decision if not for the fact that I was talking so quickly—and probably the fact that I looked like I was about to burst into tears if he did yell.
“And I couldn’t tell Elaine not to follow her heart, especially when anyone who sees her with Andrew knows exactly how she feels, so . . . so I promised to come here and do whatever needs to be done in her place so she can stay with him and help him,” I finished at last, the last of the oxygen in my lungs coming out in a rush. “I’ll stand in or stand up for her—whatever has to happen here.”
Peter had leaned forward, resting his chin on his clasped hands. And now that I was silent and braced for his reaction, he was still.
I had my tongue between my teeth in a wince, waiting for him to berate me, but when nothing happened, I asked, “Well?”
At that, Peter finally let out the breath he had been holding, and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “This is exactly what I have tried to keep her from doing since the day she met that boy,” he said at last.
“Uncle Peter,” I said, trying to keep my tone consoling, “you know he’s not part of the Family anymore.”
“Yes, I did hear your story, Michelle,” Peter said, his anger finally seeping into his tone, though it sounded more like irritation than rage. That was good, right? I hoped so. “I’m glad that he has finally admitted why he came to us in the first place. But it is so frustrating to be both right and wrong in the same moment.” He shook his head slowly. “I was right not to trust him. And yet it seems I was wrong to think he was not sincere in his affections for Elaine.” He looked up at me at last. “You see, that is why I never really believed his story about leaving the Family. If he had really done that, the Family would have cursed him from the beginning to force him back into their gang.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.” When Peter looked triumphant, I was quick to add, “But that means he really loves her if he was willing to go against his family anyway. He fell in love, and that’s what made him leave. And isn’t that the whole point of getting married? Finding someone you’d do anything to be with?”
“There is more to it than that, Michelle. And you know that.”
I nodded. “I know. I do. But don’t look at it like a king. Look at it like a father.” When Peter narrowed his eyes, I spread my hands in a gesture of peace. “I’ve raised a few kids in my time, Uncle Peter. And I can tell you now I was much happier for them when they married someone they loved—even someone poor or someone their parents didn’t like—than I was when my family members married out of obligation or, worse, because of money. Those marriages never lasted—and when they did, they were never happy.”
“And this is supposed to make me feel better about allowing my only daughter to marry a man with a target on his neck who might not even survive until her coronation? Am I supposed to celebrate her impending heartache?”
I blinked at him. I hadn’t expected him to take up this particular argument. I’d been completely prepared to argue with him about Andrew’s loyalties and where his heart was, but this? This wasn’t on my radar.
To be fair, every time I’d seen Peter and Andrew interacting, the arguments had always been about whether or not I could trust Andrew and whether or not he was a good influence on Elaine. So I think I was perfectly justified assuming those were the arguments he’d try to use now.
But, then again, maybe he couldn’t make those arguments when Andrew was being hunted by his own family and therefore proving his love and loyalty. Or maybe he couldn’t argue against a marriage that had already taken place. Whatever the case, I had no idea what to say as I watched my uncle sitting before me looking honestly upset because Andrew might die.
“Michelle, I understand what you’ve told me,” Peter said. “I understand that you truly feel you’ve done the right thing. But I am trying to protect my daughter.”
“I know you are,” I promised breathlessly. “Or I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you. I know the difference between protective fathers and controlling ones.”
Both of Peter’s eyebrows shot up at that, and he fell silent, once more resting his chin on his hands. “Yes,” he said at last. “Yes, that much is true.”
“You know there’s an entire posse of friends and family that would throw themselves into danger to save Elaine if anything happened, right? She’ll be alright.”
“And when her new husband is killed?” Peter asked. “Not all hurt is physical, Michelle. As you well know.”
“I won’t let that happen,” I swore. “They both have good friends in the Rendezvous. And I’ll do whatever it takes to defend my family. That includes my cousin and her husband.”
Peter scrubbed a hand over his face again, obviously trying to come to terms with all of it. And I simply let him think it over, sitting in silence and already coming up with a million different arguments about how this was what Elaine wanted and he had to give her the chance at actually finding love instead of forcing her to be a perfect princess her whole life.
But when Peter looked up from behind his hands again, he simply looked tired. Older than I’d ever seen him. “As a king, I absolutely do not approve of this marriage,” he said at last. “The Family helped my brother dig himself deeper and deeper into the pit of corruption. My daughter cannot follow that path—and she cannot be allowed to appear to be swayed by them, either, and lose the support of our people.”
“And, believe it or not, that’s exactly what Andrew said when he tried to leave,” I said. “They know the risks.”
Peter held his glare for a second longer before he let it drop along with his shoulders. “As a father, I’m angry that I missed my daughter’s wedding,” he continued, in a calmer, more even tone than before.
I winced. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
Peter sighed. “It’s alright. You’ve made plain where you stand on the matter since you first arrived. You were also following your heart.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re taking this a lot better than I expected.”
Once more, Peter let out a sigh, but this one seemed longer and wearier than the last one. He held up a hand for me to see the way he couldn’t stop it from shaking. “I’m fast approaching the age when any witch starts to careen toward the end of his or her life. Once our physical bodies start to fail us, we can spend our life forces healing and staying upright—but that ages us further.” He shook his head. “And that, Michelle, is why this is a perfectly inconvenient time for my daughter to lose her head. I know I’
m dying. I know I have been taking risks trying to ensure the throne for her future before I do so. She needs to be here, not gallivanting around with some merc-” He paused. “Well. She needs to be here.”
Dying.
Hearing him say it out loud left my mouth dry and my heart pounding in my ears. Dying. He couldn’t be dying. I knew he looked old, but—but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet. I’d barely gotten to know him!
And it hurt even more because, well, I had seen every single one of my human family members grow old and die before my eyes. Seeing it happen to a full-blooded witch was somehow even more of a blow, because I’d barely started to wrap my head around the idea of a family with Elaine and Peter.
I didn’t even think about my reaction before I simply wrapped my arms around Peter’s neck in a hug. And I’m pretty sure the move surprised him, too, because I felt him jump slightly—and then relax into the hug, pulling me tightly with his shaking hands.
“How long?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” Peter admitted. “I’m doing what I can to prolong my time. I have removed myself from the front lines. For the first time in my life, I will lead from behind. That should allow me to find a few more years.”
“I’ll tell Elaine what’s going on,” I said, barely able to whisper the promise past my horror. “She’ll come and see you.”
Peter smiled at that. “You really are my favorite niece,” he said. “Yes, tell her—but don’t worry her. This is our safest Rendezvous stronghold. It’s held for decades. If she wants to have a honeymoon, if she wants to search the world for a way to save her husband, she has the time.”
I knew that he was trying to put on a brave front for me, and I knew that he was also trying to be a father and uncle instead of a king, like I’d asked him to be when I told him Elaine’s news. But why did he have to listen to me now, when he was dying and he had every reason to want his daughter to be there? Surely we could find a middle ground between letting Elaine take care of the love of her life and also letting her be there for her dying father. Right?
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