The Return of Absent Souls (After The Rift Book 6)

by C. J. Archer

  Talk at the market was all about one thing: war. I tried to listen to as many conversations as I could to gauge which duke had the most support, but few outwardly stated who they wanted to be king. Everyone was unanimous that they didn’t want to be swallowed up by King Phillip of Vytill, and most wished the dukes could come to an arrangement to avoid war altogether.

  “It won’t end well for anyone,” said the elderly fishwife.

  “We’ll lose our best young men,” said her customer with a shake of her head.

  “Who’ll fund it?” asked another. “That’s what I want to know.”

  The fishwife handed over the fish with one hand and took the coins with the other. “I heard a declaration is imminent, but they said that over a week ago too. What are they waiting for?”

  “Who cares, as long as it’s delayed? Maybe they’re having another think and it won’t happen after all.”

  A delay! Dane’s letters must have worked, thank the goddess.

  But clearly the plan for war had not been abandoned altogether. The blacksmiths were all busy. Forges blazed fiercely and all seemed to have several apprentices buzzing about. Activity had also increased at the saddler and bootmakers’ workshops, but there was no excitement in the extra energy, only somber faces. These men were the lucky ones. Their work was necessary to the war effort, and they would not be pressed to join one army or another if they didn’t want to. Many others wouldn’t have that choice. Tenant farmers had to follow their feudal lord’s allegiance and his orders. If Lord So-and-so chose to support one duke over another, his able-bodied tenants would have to take up arms and join the paid mercenaries. With very little training in weaponry and fighting, many wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Dane’s mood had been grim too, ever since leaving Upway. We’d hardly spoken to one another since the meeting with Princess Illiriya. The blame for that lay entirely with me. I avoided being alone with him. The shared cabins on the boat made it easy, but once we settled into the Tilting inn for the night, I couldn’t avoid bumping into him.

  Especially when he hooked me around the waist as we passed on the landing and pulled me against his chest.

  “What do I have to do to get your attention these days?” he asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Do I need to dance naked around a fire?”

  I smiled, despite myself. “It would certainly get my attention when the fire set the boat alight.”

  He frowned in mock seriousness. “You’re right. It would also earn the attention of Captain Obsidian and his men. Very well, no fires, just dancing naked.”

  “Apparently you’re quite a good dancer.”

  The reminder of his tutored upbringing in all the courtly arts wiped the smile off his face. I winced, wishing I could take back the quip.

  Erik and Kitty squeezed past us on their way upstairs so Dane took my hand and led me down and outside.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “To the river to be alone.”

  “But the sun won’t set for some time yet.”

  He smirked. “I meant for us to talk, but it’s nice to know your mind wandered elsewhere.”

  I swatted him lightly and his expression sobered.

  We kept our faces averted as we headed through the streets towards the river. We weren’t close to the docks, but the riverbank was muddy and smelly, not at all like the grassy bank where we’d made love in Noxford.

  We continued on and found an area of parkland where women were gathering in washing after laying it out on the grass to dry. Dane steered me towards a large tree and pressed me back against the trunk. He did not kiss me, however. He looked serious.

  “I need to know if you still care for me,” he said with earnest. “Or do you just desire me?”

  My quip of earlier still bothered him. That, and perhaps what I’d said about Glancia needing a good king like him. It would seem we were both in need of reassurance. Sometimes I forgot how vulnerable he could be.

  I stroked his cheek. “Can I not love you and desire you at the same time?”

  His gaze searched mine, that small furrow still connecting his brows. Then it cleared and he suddenly and very thoroughly kissed me. It was a passionate kiss, full of contrasts. It was desperate yet loving, giving as well as taking, both needing and wanting.

  In that moment, our troubles faded to nothing. I could believe that we would always be together, that Glancia would stay peaceful, and that he would always love me. His kiss made me feel alive, invincible, and very, very fortunate.

  But as soon as the kiss ended, the doubts returned. I could see they did for him too.

  “You want me to take it,” he said darkly. There was no need to explain what he meant. His Glancian birthright had weighed on both our minds to the exclusion of almost everything else since learning about it.

  “It’s the right thing to do,” I said. “Your claim will end the war before it begins. How can that not be a good thing?”

  “That didn’t answer my question. I want to know if you want me to take it, not what everyone else wants.”

  “Yes.” I closed my eyes. “No. I don’t know, Dane.”

  He stepped back and looked around then settled his hands on my hips. “Forget what’s best for the country, just tell me if it’s what you want.”

  “I can’t answer that.”

  “Do you want to be queen?”

  I blinked. “No. I’d make a terrible queen.”

  “You’d make an excellent queen, but that’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking if you want to rule over Glancia.”

  “No.”

  He released a breath. “Good.”

  “Good?”

  “I don’t want to be king, but I’d consider it if you had your heart set on being queen.”

  A bubble of laughter escaped my lips. “You’ve got it back to front. Your decision shouldn’t depend on me. And before you say anything,” I said, cutting off his protest with a finger to his lips. “Just because you don’t want to be king now doesn’t mean you’ll always think that way.”

  He removed my finger and clasped my hand between both of his. His earnest gaze drilled into me, the one that made me feel like I had no secrets from him. “So it is as I thought. You want me to marry Illiriya.”

  “See, you already call her by her first name.”

  “This is not a joke!”

  One of the washerwomen glanced our way with a scowl then settled her basket on her ample hip and walked away.

  “If I take the throne,” Dane said, quieter but with no less earnestness, “I am not marrying her. Kitty and Balthazar both confirmed that a king can marry whomever he wants. There are no laws to say he has to wed a princess.”

  I tipped my head back against the tree trunk and sighed. My heart felt too sore to argue with him. I didn’t want to argue with him. I wanted to cherish every moment we had together because the future was uncertain.

  I put my arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips. This kiss was much less fierce, but the passion was still there in abundance, only it was a quieter, deeper passion that went beyond surface desire. It was all the more wonderful because of it.

  We walked back to the inn in silence. I suspected he was thinking about the future just as much as I was, and he confirmed it when he stopped me outside near the door.

  “I’ll consider declaring myself to the dukes,” he said, “but only after I get my memory back and only if you are my queen.”

  My heart lodged in my throat. “The duke of Buxton will guide you.”

  “Not about marriage. I’ll be ruled by my heart in that matter and my heart wants you.” His fingers skimmed mine. “I am never giving you up, Josie, so if you want me to become king, you’d better be prepared to be queen.”

  He kissed me lightly on the lips, an exclamation point at the end of his declaration. In so many ways, he’s said precisely what I hoped he would say. My heart was full with his love for me a
nd the love I felt for him in return.

  But my head protested all the way back to my room where I lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling until dinnertime.

  Chapter 7

  We traveled swiftly and reached the palace as dusk fell three days after leaving Tilting, just as we’d planned. Instead of going straight to the palace itself, the women stayed in the cottage on the estate. Hidden in the forest, the cottage had been my refuge from the clutches of the Deerhorns on more than one occasion. We needed that refuge again. With Kitty supposedly dead, she could not show her face, and Meg and I were vulnerable. If Brant caught either of us, he could use us to blackmail Dane and Max into handing over the gem. As much as I hated hiding, and as much as Meg and I both wanted to return to Mull, we stayed in the cottage while the men traveled on to the garrison.

  Meg took the delay well, although her frustration boiled over when Yelena began pacing back and forth around the sitting room. It was such a small room that she was in danger of wearing out the floor and had refused all reasonable requests to sit down. Martha even offered to bring her food and a glass of wine, but Yelena merely waved her away, as if she hadn’t heard a word.

  “Do stop,” Meg snapped. “The wait is excruciating enough.”

  Yelena bristled. “What can you possibly have to worry about? You’re young, healthy, have a man who loves you and not a care in the world.”

  “My brother may have to go away to fight soon, I haven’t seen my family in months, and the last time we were in Mull, there’d been rioting. Perhaps those worries pale when compared to yours, but they are worries nevertheless.”

  Yelena’s nostrils flared. “I’m going for a walk in the garden until Dane returns.”

  “But it’s dark,” Kitty protested.

  “Mind the rabbit traps,” I called after her.

  The front door slammed, making Kitty jump. “Honestly, you’d think she’d be more patient after waiting so long for Dane to grow up and fulfill his destiny.”

  “There’s no such thing as destiny,” Meg chided.

  “You sound like Miranda. I believe in destiny, fate, or whatever you want to call it.”

  “So you believe I was born to be a village girl and you were born to be a duchess?”

  “Well, yes, I suppose so.”

  “What about Josie? Is her destiny to be a village girl or queen?”

  Kitty flounced onto a chair. “I don’t know. I’m not a fortune teller. Whatever happens is meant to be, that’s all I know.”

  I put a hand on Meg’s arm and shook my head. There was no point arguing with Kitty. She’d never change her mind.

  “If it helps,” Kitty went on, “I understand your frustration. It’s bad enough for me being so close to the palace and all its luxuries, but it must be awful for you being near your family and not able to hug them. Come and sit with me and we’ll commiserate together.”

  Meg smiled, her temper cooled. It was impossible to stay mad at Kitty for long, even when the spoiled duchess came to the fore. She was a thousand times better company than Yelena.

  I looked at the door. I should speak to her.

  The door suddenly opened, however, and Yelena rushed in, followed by Dane. “There now,” she told him. “We are all here. Tell us how your meeting with the dukes went.”

  “How did the other servants react?” I asked.

  Kitty indicated that Dane should sit with a lazy wave of her hand. “Did they take the news of their imprisonment well?”

  He smiled. “One question at a time. The dukes haven’t arrived at the palace yet but are due tomorrow. We went straight to the garrison and the guards there were pleased to see us—and relieved. They reported that some of the servants who’d traveled with us to Tilting had returned, deciding to wait for news rather than go on alone. I called a meeting with the heads of each department, as well as the maid named Tabitha who’d been Laylana’s maid in Noxford before their arrest. When they arrived, we told them everything.”

  “Everything?” Yelena and I asked in unison.

  “Not about myself,” he clarified. “Everything about the prison mine, the likely reasons for their arrests, and how the sorcerer whisked all here when the palace was ready upon Leon’s wish. We told them how the Freedland authorities put out the story that we all escaped but were subsequently recaptured and executed. Then I told them they are all pardoned and can return home, if they wish. Theo told Tabitha about her parents and what we knew of her life in Noxford.” He smiled. “She was overwhelmed but excited to learn of her loved ones.”

  “I’d wager they were all overwhelmed with the news,” I said.

  “There were a few moments of stunned silence then quite a bit of rejoicing. They couldn’t wait to pass on the information to the staff in their departments.”

  “And Laylana?” I asked in a small voice.

  His smiled faded. “I spoke to her separately, alone. I told her what we knew of her life and that she and I are betrothed.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “And?”

  “And she read the notes she’d written on the back of the paper with a drawing of my face. Then she released me from the obligation before I asked her to.”

  My fingers ached, and I realized I’d been digging my nails into the cushioned chair arm. I released it, leaving half-moon dents in the fabric.

  Kitty reached over and patted my hand. “There, see. All that worry for nothing.”

  Meg smiled at me. “That is a relief. Did Laylana say why she quickly made up her mind?”

  “Apparently the notes on my portrait told her that I had feelings for Josie and she for me. Laylana also has her own love interest now. She shares a room with the footman who sketched our profiles. She was relieved to release me because now she knows that she is free to wed him, as long as he is free to wed her.”

  Kitty clapped her hands. “Wonderful news. I do love a wedding.”

  Yelena made a harsh sound in her throat. “I should see her.”

  Dane shook his head. “She doesn’t remember you.”

  “I should still see her and tell her what her life was like before she lost her memory.”

  I glanced at Dane, but he was looking at his mother and didn’t notice. “It doesn’t matter what you tell her,” he said. “She won’t retain the information for longer than a few days, maybe some weeks at the most. She loses her memory over and over again.”

  Yelena frowned. “How odd. Is she the only one?”

  He nodded. “We don’t know why.”

  “Perhaps wait until after the wish is granted,” Meg said. “Once they all get their memories back, you can see her, but I agree with Dane that it’s pointless now.”

  Yelena’s gaze narrowed but Meg merely smiled sweetly. I suspected she was worried that Yelena might talk Laylana into taking back her word and not releasing Dane from the betrothal. I didn’t think Laylana would do so, but Meg always had my interests at heart.

  “Was Brant there?” I asked.

  Dane shook his head. “He had been back to the palace, but he has since vanished. I asked the heads of the departments to check if any of their staff knew where to find him.”

  Max entered and greeted us, smiling. It would seem the servants were in good spirits after learning about their pasts and that lifted the spirits of our men.

  “It can’t be soon enough,” Meg said, welcoming him inside.

  Martha brought out wine in cups then returned to the kitchen after curtseying to Yelena. Yelena only had eyes for Dane, however.

  “So you plan to wait for your memory to return before you tell the dukes who your father is?” she said.

  He hesitated. “Our meeting tomorrow will be about King Phillip’s manipulation only.” It neither confirmed nor denied whether he would tell them he was the rightful king.

  “Don’t wait or it might be too late,” she urged. “They will leave immediately after tomorrow’s meeting to visit the lords whose support they’ve not yet secured and you might not have a chanc
e to speak to them again.”

  “Mother,” he said levelly.

  “It will solve all of Glancia’s problems without bloodshed. Glancia is not full of revolutionaries like Freedland. It’s crying out for a good, strong king, and everyone who knows you believes you will be precisely what the country needs. I don’t understand why you’re hesitating. You taking the throne is the best outcome for the country.”

  “But is it the best outcome for me?”

  “Of course it is,” she bit off.

  He studied the wine in his cup as he swirled it. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. The dukes won’t believe me without evidence. No one will.”

  Yelena stared at him, her gaze fixed only on Dane. He must have felt the ferocity in it because he looked up.

  “I have evidence,” she said with a defiant lift of her chin. “I have irrefutable proof that you are Prince Hugo’s son. All they need are some documents with his handwriting on them and the letters I carry with me can be compared to those. It will be obvious to anyone who looks that they were written in the same hand.”

  Dane went very still. “Do the letters talk about your marriage and my birth? Because if they don’t—”

  “They do. They are not love letters, if that’s what you’re thinking. We were never in love, which is why I never wanted them revealed to you. They will show that we entered into marriage for purely political reasons. When you were younger, I worried that might upset you. You were not an overly sensitive child, but you had an idealized picture of your father. You believed we’d been in love, that us being together was destiny and your birth was fated by the god and goddess, as was your inheritance of the two kingdoms of Averlea and Glancia.”

  “And you didn’t want to shake that belief,” Dane said, his voice guttural.

  “It can still be considered fate,” Kitty cut in. “If one believes in destiny then all this was supposed to happen, even the memory loss.”

  “Not now,” Meg whispered.

  “Where are these letters?” Dane asked.

  “I’ll produce them when the time comes,” Yelena said.