by Anne Wheeler
“His Majesty’s military strategy is of little consequence to me, anyway,” I whispered.
He laughed as he jerked me from the wall. “You can’t lie to me, Riette. Never could. What girl wouldn’t want more than he’s given you? Especially now. You must already be wondering how much he truly appreciates your power. Or maybe he only appreciates you for your power—you can’t believe he respects you, as much as he’s kept you in the dark like he has.”
With a shake of my head, I tried to twist from Thomas’s grip, but he gave a jab of the pistol as he pulled me down the alley. A few Vassian women stepped outside to dump the remains of cooking water outside, but no one said a word—and I wasn’t going to beg one of them for help. No, I would have to wait until I had a chance at overwhelming Thomas, before he could bring me somewhere from which I would never escape. The inn faded into the distance, but footsteps behind us grew louder.
“Riette?”
Thomas and I both froze. Well, he froze, then shoved the gun against me so hard I gasped, then spun me around to face our follower. I squinted at her—for the voice was undeniably feminine—but the moon had set, and she was hidden in the shadows.
“You have the wrong person,” Thomas growled. “Now leave us, before you regret it.”
“I think it’s you that has the wrong person, Thomas Wennink.”
My breath caught.
Oh, heavens.
Elsanne?
There was no way Laurent’s mother could be standing here in a dark alley in Windersay, in the Kingdom of Vassian, but she’d been at Lochfeld long enough that I knew her voice, and now, the familiar posture of a woman who’d long ceased to fear anyone like Thomas. Did she have a sword under that cape? Probably. Knowing Elsanne, it might even be a musket.
Thomas jerked me closer to him. I swung my free hand at him, momentarily forgetting the pistol. He must have done the same, for when he reached out to catch my wrist, the gun clattered to the cobblestones. I kicked it away as he grabbed me, catching my shoe in my skirts and tripping backward, away from him.
Elsanne’s shadow grew larger in the dim alley, and before I could find my feet, she’d yanked me back into a doorway behind us. Finally, I scrambled up, searching for the pistol somewhere out on the darkened stones, but there was no use. Thomas gave us one last look and took off north, giving me only a brief glance over his shoulder as he sprinted.
She turned to me and put a cool hand to my cheek. “Are you injured?”
For a moment I could only stare, trying to figure out if I was imagining her. Was this another of Laurent’s games? Not likely, I decided. No matter what it gained him, Laurent would never involve his mother in something like this.
“No—he didn’t hurt me.”
“Surprising, given how poorly you fight.” Her eyes glistened in the shadows as she focused on me. “And where might my son be?”
I gawked at her. “An inn.”
“Well? Are you going to take me there or just stand here?”
“I—yes, of course, Your Majesty.”
I skulked back into the alley and led her toward the inn where I hoped Laurent was still waiting safely, the hair still standing on the back of my neck. Though desperate to know how and why Elsanne was here alone—and how she’d found me—I didn’t dare question her after she’d asked for Laurent in that tone. I didn’t even dare to fill the bucket I’d left near the pump when Thomas had grabbed me. Cadaval could do so, since he’d been so motivated before. Maybe he could take Elsanne with him, for I wasn’t sure I wanted to see how Laurent was going to react to her appearance—or the fact Thomas had grabbed me.
Four soldiers meandered about the hallway outside Laurent’s door when I climbed the stairs, and I didn’t look any of them in the eye as I slid inside and approached the bed. Laurent’s eyes were closed, a blanket pulled up over his bare chest, and I placed a hand on his, ignoring Cadaval’s critical expression. He could try telling Elsanne she couldn’t enter if he felt like it.
“Sire? There’s—there’s someone here to see you.”
He brushed his fingers over mine, smiled, then cracked one eye.
“She made it, did she?”
“Indeed I did,” Elsanne broke in before I could formulate any kind of stunned reply. “Only to find Riette here being dragged off by that Wennink creature. All these soldiers milling about, and you couldn’t assign one to protect your wife? What were you thinking, Laurent?”
Laurent sat bolt upright, a man on his throne instead of a dirty bed in a foreign inn.
“She what?” he asked, his eyes landing on mine.
“When I went to get the water.” I collapsed in the nearest chair and placed a palm where Thomas’s pistol had been. “He was right there. Like he was waiting for me. He—they’ve returned to the village. They must be watching the inn. Why they haven’t yet barged in here, I can’t begin to imagine.”
Laurent snapped his fingers, and two of the soldiers who’d followed Elsanne and me inside vanished out the door. “And then?”
“She tried to hit him when I showed up.” Elsanne’s voice dripped something. Not scorn, but certainly not approval. “And he ran.”
“To Damir, most likely,” Laurent replied. “And if he recognized you, he’ll know exactly why you’re here, and we won’t have that much time. We must move quickly.”
“Much time for what?” I asked foolishly.
My chest closed in, but I wasn’t sure it was from the utter fatigue or Thomas’s suggestions regarding my marriage. Maybe Thomas was right. Laurent had told his mother his plans but not me? Did he not trust me? Not love me? Not think me capable of acting as a crownkeeper? Or worse, his wife?
“Marius—” Laurent began. Cadaval shot him a sharp look, so he paused, glanced at Elsanne, and then back to me. “He’s been leading his army toward Vassian since . . . well, for several weeks now, I would imagine. Ever since my mother used my departure from Lochfeld as an opportunity to run home to Iraela like I expressly ordered her not to.”
Elsanne’s mouth dropped open. “I—”
“Are predictable, Mother, yes.” He winced as he shifted. I stood and moved toward him, but he waved me off. “And your arrival in Iraela was enough to tip off Marius that things had been set in motion, enough to let him send a rider to his men waiting in the wastes of the Coalwood Basin. Tobias Erstad is with them, in case you were wondering,” he said to me. “Vahl’s men chased him out of Meirdre, and he stumbled across Marius’s army, terrified he’d fated you to death. I’ll let you apologize.”
A shudder of relief ran through me. I’d long believed Erstad dead.
“As for Marius,” Laurent went on, “I may owe him the next seven generations of my children, but at least Meirdre will be safe—and I’ll have cemented an alliance with Iraela as well. Properly this time. Splitting a conquered kingdom between each other tends to do that.”
I straightened in my chair and stared at him. “You mean to say—”
“That we intend on taking Vassian?” Laurent gave me a brilliant smile. “Yes. We unlocked the door. Marius and the Iraelan Army will knock it down.”
Chapter Fourteen
The room grew silent. Elsanne stared at Laurent, her lip twisted in a disappointed expression—but even she knew to be silent when her son had made such a declaration. Me, I had no such restraint, not anymore. If Laurent wanted to reprimand me, at least now he knew exactly who he was reprimanding—a crownkeeper who’d just proven she could control the tides.
“You don’t mean that,” I breathed out.
Cadaval cleared his throat.
Laurent’s brows rose. “What part of this plan was confusing for you, my dear?”
“None of it, sire. I only . . .” I stopped, finally aware of my foolishness. “But where is King Marius? If he’d been here, I wouldn’t have had to—do what I did.”
Laurent shrugged, casually, like I hadn’t just saved him from further whipping and death. “He’s heading this way, I would imagine
. Round south the Bolcour Mountains or taking care of that stronghold at Edrista first, I have no idea, but they’ll be here, and soon.”
“You said unlock the door,” I began hesitantly. “What exactly did you mean?”
His smile fell. “The plan was for Damir to let his guard down a bit at the border once he had me. Makes Marius’s job of passing through the Basin easier—our own soldiers following behind as well. But it seems he was too impatient for my death—that’s changed the timeline a bit, as you’ve probably figured out. We’ve bought ourselves tonight, after what you did in the plaza, but after that, we’re going to have to come up with something different.”
“And Thomas. He found me and he’ll know you’re close by.” My heart began to pound again. “It won’t be long until they find you.”
“Likely.” Laurent glanced up, as if he’d just remembered Cadaval and his mother were still in the room. “I need to speak with Riette alone, please.”
Cadaval simply nodded as he disappeared out the door, but Elsanne straightened.
“You used me.” Her tone was low with fury. “Once more. I should—”
Laurent sighed, cutting her off. “I am righting a wrong, Mother. One I was partially responsible in creating.”
“You were thoughtless,” she snapped back at him. “And now you’ve wrapped two kingdoms up in your careless plot.”
“You’d prefer to kneel to Damir?” It sounded like a threat that should have been shouted, but Laurent’s voice was terrifyingly even. “Because you would, eventually. Yes, even with Marius’s army. You know Vassian won’t stop at Meirdre, especially with us having the most tenuous connections to another kingdom. I did what I had to do, and Marius agreed. If this all ends poorly, it ends poorly, but history will not accuse me of not doing everything I could to protect my land and people after so foolishly doing the opposite before.”
I swallowed at his mention of the bargain with Iraela. Elsanne gave a small huff, no doubt annoyed at the reminder of being sold as a hostage as well.
“Do you trust me?” he asked. “Do you trust Marius? You travelled all the way here on his order after all—alone, no less—apparently knowing very little of why he commanded it of you.”
“I try.” Her shoulders sagged, making her look less like a queen in costly traveling clothes and more like a woman accepting the inevitable. “But this plan of yours is difficult to trust.”
“Your loyalty will not be in vain.” He struggled to his feet and gave her a quick kiss on each cheek. “I promise you that, Mother.”
“Then I will not question you again.” She cupped her hand on his jaw, and I suddenly saw him as the beloved child he must have been at one time. “But this had better be the last time I fall into one of your plans. Next time I will not be so understanding, sire.”
Regardless of her words, I doubted Laurent had seen the last of her, but she disappeared into the hall with a respectful nod. I threw a cautious glance at the door, then guided him back to bed.
“I would never have said it in front of my mother, or even Cadaval, but things happened too quickly,” he said, collapsing. “Fool I might have been, but I didn’t realize Damir was so eager for my death.” He angled toward me, and I leaned against his chest, avoiding several whip marks. “I doubt Marius is as near to Windersay as he should be at this point. And now that Wennink knows where I am—there are precious few places we can hide until the Army of Iraela arrives.”
“And Vassian soldiers are protecting the Meirdrean border, no doubt.” I reached for another rag, but he waved me off.
“There is no going home now.” He sighed once more. “Not yet.”
“So, we need to delay.” I matched his sigh with a deep exhale of my own. “For how long?”
Laurent ran a hand through his hair. “A week, possibly.”
Heavens. A week. He was wrong. He had to be. I doubted we had another day in this inn.
“You must have an idea,” I replied. “You wouldn’t have said anything to me if you didn’t.”
He reached for a glass of water by the bedside and drained it in one gulp. “A few bad ones,” he admitted. “Cadaval suspects the direness of our circumstances. He wants me to make a run for it, but I won’t leave my men—or you. And I fear our other options are similarly poor. Make no mistake, this is not the end, but things have become rather complicated.”
I stared at the floor for a long while. A tower flashed into my mind, a stone window and the feel of the ocean breeze on my skin, a too-recent memory I’d rather have forgotten. But could it be the answer? I didn’t want to broach the subject, but Laurent almost seemed to be asking for my thoughts. And mine was certainly better than Cadaval’s ideas of running, well-intentioned though it was.
“Damir still wants me,” I said quietly. “I’m sure of it. When the water came, he was watching me as I stood, and he wasn’t surprised by what was happening in the least. I don’t believe he expected the water, but he expected something. He wants my power for himself, and badly. My appearance would startle enough to distract him from his plans for you.”
“No.” If it was possible after his whipping, Laurent’s face paled even more. “I know what I said before, but now—I forbid it.”
“Do you have a better solution?” My mouth was dry with fear, but I pressed on. “He was desperate to see if a crownkeeper’s power will work outside of Meirdre. Now he knows—the only question remaining in his mind is if he can make it work for him.”
“It could work.” He stood and paced to the far wall before dropping on the bed again. Blood seeped through the bandages, but I knew better than to tell him to rest. I watched him instead, trying to decipher his expression, but his face was stone. “But I will not permit it.”
“But sire—”
“I will not risk your life like that.”
I ran a finger down his jaw. “Isn’t my life already at risk?”
“It is.” Laurent turned my face toward his and leaned against me, cheek to cheek. He was silent for a long time. “And because of that, I’m inclined to let you do this, however ill-advised it may seem. But I must ask you one thing . . . is it Thomas Wennink you want? Is that what this is about?”
For a moment I thought he had slapped me, such was the heat that passed over my cheeks before taking over my entire body.
“Sire, I would never—”
“Perhaps not. But I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t question it.” There wasn’t anger in the statement, not even an accusation. Fear? Yes, some of that. Fear and desperation. And I understood. I hadn’t ever truly loved Thomas, but I couldn’t blame Laurent for wondering. Especially not now. “Especially since you left with him once before,” he added.
Tears filled my eyes at his decidedly unregal fear. I had been stupid, naïve, untrusting. Had hurt a man who’d only wanted a loving marriage. Was it any wonder he was worried about my intentions now?
“I love you.” The words were so easy to say now. “No one else. Ever.”
“Prove it.” His voice grew husky. “And once we return to Meirdre, you will wear the crown that started this all.”
“I don’t care about the crown.” I shifted toward him, suddenly frantic for his touch. “Just you.”
His command wasn’t a challenge, I knew. More of a desperation to love me like he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do the night of our wedding. He pulled me onto his lap with only the slightest flinch. The fire crackled as he drew my dress over my head, and he didn’t speak as my lips lingered on his, promising something unsaid, something too insistent to be uttered with words. I shrank back then, wordless and afraid of his wounds, but he gripped me so fiercely that I almost forgot to breathe as I gave in to desire—though I wasn’t sure which one of us needed and wanted it more. I’d meant to reassure him, but he’d ended up comforting me.
Still, I knew, while I watched his chest rise and fall in exhausted slumber afterward, that when he woke, all those reassurances would mean nothing.
Chapter Fifteen
The backstreets of Windersay were silent when I slipped along a row of houses several hours later. Even the wharf was quiet, though a sailor who’d been brave enough to return was singing somewhere in the distance, a melody of homesickness and loss. I had stopped shivering once I turned and the buildings blocked the wind, but I still shook as I hurried along, turning backward every so often to check for pursuers. Nothing could block the fear.
Nothing could block my feeling of failure, either. I’d been wandering around the village for almost a half hour now, and surely someone would have seen me by now. Surely someone would have recognized me as the woman who’d summoned water to rescue the king of Meirdre, and they wouldn’t hesitate to turn me back over to Damir. I certainly didn’t want to show up at the front gate of his clifftop fortress. Confused and angry was the plan, not immediate surrender.
Even so, I turned west, toward the colossal tower that loomed over the thatched roofs and sails. The soldiers would be more numerous the closer I got to the fortress, and perhaps Damir wouldn’t question it. A scorned woman, wandering in circles, trying to decide if she was going to commit treason tonight . . . yes. And Thomas, finally useful, could confirm that yes, Riette has a tendency to abandon her duties, run off and follow her childish emotions. Even when they lead to treachery.
The idea of seeing him again made my stomach churn, so I focused on the cobblestones I’d walked just hours before, so certain I would witness Laurent’s death. He’d made it out of that, hadn’t he? Without me knowing the extent of my crownkeeper abilities, no less. Not that I was certain I knew the full extent now—what else was the magic hiding from me? I didn’t feel it now, but perhaps that meant nothing. I’d felt nothing but despair watching Laurent ride down the hill in that wagon, after all—until I hadn’t.
I mused over that as two Vassian soldiers passed me by. They looked me up and down, but their interest appeared personal instead of professional. That alone was enough to set my hair on edge once more. I quickened my step, trying to decide how I would explain to Damir that I’d passed up several of his soldiers before deciding to surrender. But no matter how suspicious that was, I couldn’t turn around and speak to them now without them asking questions themselves.