by Renna Peak
He pulls me into his arms, turning me to him as he slides his arms around my waist. “You’re going to have all eternity to share those secrets with me. And I can’t wait for you to reveal them all one by one.”
His lips crash against mine a moment later, and before I’m aware of what’s happening, I’m pulling of his shirt as he’s unbuttoning mine.
William lifts me, and I wrap my legs around his waist, our lips never parting as he carries me over to the bed. As we join together, I’m finally able to let go of so many things and be present in the moment.
“I love you.” He breathes the words into my neck as his body covers mine. “How did I ever think I could live without you?”
My hands grasp at his back, my nails digging into his skin as he brings me closer and closer to the edge. “I love you, too,” I gasp, just as a wave of ecstasy crashes over me. “More than you can ever know.”
The words must have an effect on him, as he reaches his own finish a moment later. We lie together, entangled, for a long time before William finally rolls to my side.
He reaches up to brush a few strands of hair away from my face, smiling at me. “Do you remember the game we played once?”
“We’ve played many games, William. Some of them not so kind.”
His grin doesn’t waver. “I mean the one where you tell me something about yourself.”
“Oh, I think I remember that one. Wasn’t it something about if I told you something, you would behave yourself in front of my family?” My smile falls immediately, and something twists in my chest at the words. My family. I suppose I no longer have one of those.
He seems to read my thoughts, placing a hand on my bare abdomen, as he slides the other up to support his head on his elbow. He smiles down at me. “This is our family now, you know. You, me, and these two miracles. It’s all we really need.”
Tears fill my eyes, and I struggle to keep them from falling as I nod at him. He’s right—we have all we need right here. And soon, we can return to Montovia, and I’ll do what I can to be part of his extended family. I never thought I would have to leave my country forever, but William left his for me once. And if he can, I know I can, too.
“The rules of this game are different.” There’s something warm in his eyes. This isn’t one of his silly games where he intends to make a fool of me—I’m certain of that. He keeps his hand pressed firmly against my abdomen as he smiles again. “The only rule of this game is that you tell me something about yourself that I don’t know.”
“And what do I get in return?”
“I’ll tell you something about me that you don’t know.” His smile widens. “Though, I suppose you know quite a lot more about me than I do about you. But we can play it by ear. If you think you might want something else, you only need to say so.”
“Hm. I’ll have to think about that. There are probably things about you I don’t want to know.”
He feigns shock before he chuckles. “I suppose I could say the same. Though, now that I’m thinking about it, I want to know everything. Every single thing about my wife.”
“I suppose you’re going to make me go first, then?”
“Of course,” his grin widens. “It’s only gentlemanly.”
I shake my head, trying to hold back a smile. “Is there anything in particular you want to know?”
He looks up at the ceiling for a moment before returning his gaze to mine. “I suppose I’d like to know what you’ve been writing about these past weeks while we were apart.”
“That’s too easy. I wrote about you, of course.”
“Really?” His eyes twinkle. “Would you care to share any of it?”
I shake my head. “No, and I doubt you’d want to hear it.”
“Ah, you called me a bastard in those poems, no doubt. And rightfully so.”
I clasp the back of his hand, the one still pressed against my belly. “It seemed fitting at the time, but I’ve had a change of heart.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Truly.” He looks into my eyes for a moment, still grinning. “I suppose it’s my turn? Is there anything you want to know?”
“What did you do? When we were apart? You said there were no other women—”
“There weren’t.”
“Then how did you spend your days? Honestly?”
His smile falls. “I don’t think I’ve ever known a sadness as deep as I felt when we were apart. I…I can’t even describe it.”
He doesn’t have to describe it. I know exactly what he means.
“But to answer your question, I did some family things—went to a few ceremonial events and such, as I told you before. But mostly, I fenced. Alone, just as your brother was doing when we found him.”
“Hopefully not just as my brother was doing.”
He chuckles, but there’s something almost sad in it. “No, I suppose not. But I was alone. I suppose that is my point.”
I nod. “I’m sorry.”
He turns his hand to lace his fingers through mine. “No, I am the one who is sorry. I never should have agreed to annul our marriage. It is the single biggest regret of my life.”
I squeeze his hand. “We’re together now.”
He nods. “We are. And there is nothing that could possibly make me happier.”
Even though we’re far from safety, I couldn’t agree with him more. I don’t think I’ve ever known happiness before I met him, and now that we’re together again, I can’t imagine a life without him.
“I suppose there is one thing that might make me happier.” He slides closer to me, leaning into my neck.
“Oh?” I barely suppress a giggle as he nips at my earlobe. “And what is that?”
“I’ll have to show you…” He tilts his head to kiss at the sensitive spot behind my ear, sending a pulse of electricity through me.
My heart begins to pound in my chest—so loudly, I think I can hear it.
But it isn’t my heart at all—someone is pounding on the door of our suite.
It takes a moment, but William finally hears it, too. He slides off the bed before he pulls on his pants.
He has to leave the bedroom to answer the door, and he should be out of earshot from where I am. But the way he yells at whomever is there, I’ve no doubt the entire wing of the palace hears him.
“What the hell do you want?”
William
I shouldn’t be surprised that Reginald has shown up at our door, but part of me is still shocked that he has the gall to face us after what happened in the gymnasium. He has half a dozen members of the Royal Guard at his back, but that isn’t shocking—if our past brawls and the sling on his arm are any indication, I’d likely win if it came to blows. And this would very likely come to blows if there weren’t other people here to stop it.
Bloody coward, I think, trying to relax my fists. I should have known Reginald wouldn’t grant us a moment’s peace, but that doesn’t keep me from feeling furious at his presence.
“I understand you had words with Dr. Milbrecht,” Reginald says. “He says you have something of his.”
“Do you know what he did?” I demand. “Did your Father let you in on all the dirty details?”
Reginald scoffs. “I know that he was working for the glory of Rosvalia, and that’s all that matters.”
“You bloody bastard,” I growl, losing the battle with my temper. “Do you know what your family has done? I shouldn’t even be trying to help you—I should let my father ruin you. You deserve worse than that.”
Reginald’s eyes flash, and I know I’ll only have the chance to get one good punch in before the guards stop me. I start toward him, but as if out of nowhere, Justine is suddenly between us, her arms outstretched to keep us apart. She managed to throw on a robe before coming out here, and when she realizes she’s at least temporarily kept us apart, she hastily tightens the sash around the waist.
“Enough of this,” she says. She shoots me a look that tells me without words how she feels abo
ut me attacking her brother. I don’t know why she would even want to protect him after everything he’s done, but I won’t raise a hand, not with her anywhere in the vicinity. The lives she carries inside her are too important.
She turns to her brother. “You have a lot to answer for if you had anything to do with that man’s work,” she tells him.
“I don’t have to answer to anyone,” he says with a sneer. “This time tomorrow, I’ll officially be sovereign of the land. I’m above the law, and above your irrelevant opinion of me.”
“And that won’t help you in the face of war,” Justine says. “You and Father’s actions will have consequences, and King Edmund doesn’t give a damn about your pride. This is real, Reginald. This is a real threat, not something you can bully your way out of. This is bigger than you. Bigger than all of us. And unless you face that, we’ll all suffer. Your people will suffer. Our treasury is already low—what do you think will happen if Edmund’s sanctions go through? Within a year you won’t be able to afford your fancy clothes or vacations or even your personal staff. You won’t have money to go on your lavish trips or fill your kitchens with gourmet food. You won’t even be able to employ half the current Royal Guard.”
“Are you trying to scare me?” Reginald says with a sharp laugh. “I won’t suffer your nonsense, whore.”
“This isn’t nonsense. It’s the truth. While you were playing rich prince, jaunting around spending lavishly and doing whatever you pleased, I was actually paying attention to what was going on around here. When was the last time you even looked at the treasury accounts? Do you have any idea what you’ve inherited? Ruling is about more than doing whatever you like and making war against Montovia. And if you don’t realize that soon, you’ll lose everything. Everything.”
A shadow has moved across Reginald’s eyes, though I have no idea what he’s thinking. But he’s silent for an uncharacteristically long amount of time, just staring at his sister. I wait, attempting to fight down the remains of my temper. I don’t like standing still, not with Reginald and half a dozen armed guards at my door.
Suddenly, Reginald starts, as if coming out of a trance.
“I’m not falling for your tricks,” he says to Justine, practically spitting the words. “You’re not going to scare me out of my rightful place on the throne. Get over it—it’s over for you. You had your chance to make your four heirs, and you lost it. I’m king, and you’d best accept that.”
“You’re not king yet,” I remind him.
His glare could cut steel. “If you’re not there at my coronation, the both of you, ready and willing to kneel to me and kiss my ring, then my first act will be to throw you both in prison for disloyalty. I swear it.”
He spins around and gestures to the guards, who fall into line behind him. As they march away down the corridor, I close the door and pull Justine close to me, her back against my chest.
“He’s not going to listen to us, is he?” she says quietly. “He’s never going to abdicate. His pride won’t let him.”
“It’s certainly looking that way.”
“Which means we won’t be able to avoid war,” she says softly, twisting around so that her face is against my chest. “What are we going to do?”
“He’s not king yet,” I remind her. “We still have a full day…”
“And you think that’s enough time to change his mind? After what we just witnessed?”
“No,” I tell her honestly. “But I’m not going to give up hope until we’re forced to.”
She looks up at me. “Neither am I.” Her gaze shifts in the direction of the hidden compartment. “At least he didn’t try to take Dr. Milbrecht’s papers. Not that it matters. The damage has been done. There’s nothing…” Suddenly her eyes widen, and she looks back up at me.
“What?” I ask, my stomach tightening.
“It’s a long shot, but…do you remember my friend Carter? The one who came to the conference I planned?”
I frown. Why is she bringing up that bastard now?
“How could I forget him?” I grumble.
“Well, his boyfriend is a professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT back in the U.S. Even if he can’t help us, he might very well know someone who can.”
“Wait, what?” I say, trying to process all of this.
“He’s only been teaching for a couple of years, but he’s obviously got years of research experience. And he has a lot of contacts—”
“No, that’s not what I mean. Carter has a boyfriend? Why the hell didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?”
She raises an eyebrow. “Why the hell does it matter?”
“Because…I thought… I mean, if I’d known, then I never would have thought…”
There’s a twinkle of humor in her eyes as she listens to me sputter. “It shouldn’t have mattered either way. Not if you trusted me.”
My cheeks are slightly warm, but I try to ignore that. “In my defense, you did run off without saying a word…”
“And now that we’re married, we’ll have the rest of our lives to argue over who was right and who was wrong in that situation. But I’d prefer to spend our time together doing other, more enjoyable things.” Her tone suggests exactly what enjoyable things she has in mind.
“Point taken,” I say, fighting a grin. “Now about this engineer guy…”
“I call Carter immediately. There’s a scanner in my office—we can send as much as we can tonight. It might not lead to anything, but…”
“But at least there’s hope.” I place a hand on either side of her face. “It might not stop Reginald from becoming king, but it might save Montovia.”
She nods. “I’ll take any victory we can get right now. Tomorrow night…”
“Is still twenty-four hours away,” I remind her. “That’s a very long time, in troubled times.”
“Twenty-four hours to save Rosvalia…” she murmurs, almost to herself. “And we’re going to need every single one of them.”
Justine
Carter is only too happy to help. His time in Rosvalia may not have been pleasant, but he’s still one of my dearest friends.
William and I work through the night, scanning and faxing every bit of information we have. Most of it is gibberish to both of us—chemical formulae and plans that almost look like blueprints.
“I should have paid more attention in my chemistry studies.” William smiles at me from the fax machine. “Perhaps I could have been more useful than feeding these papers through this contraption.”
“You’re being very useful.” I’m working at the scanner attached to my computer—many of the papers we’ve recovered are too large to fit into the fax machine and have to be copied piece by piece. Of all the work I’ve accomplished in this office, this has to be the most dull—but on the other hand, the most exciting, too. If my brother had known we’d already taken all this information, he probably would have had us both thrown into prison with my mother.
As the night wears on, it becomes increasingly clear that my brother’s interests lie elsewhere—likely on the upcoming coronation. I can’t even imagine what it is he’s thinking right now with the entire weight of the country upon his shoulders.
It’s already morning when my telephone rings—we’re just finishing sending the last of the papers. I answer the phone and put it on speaker so William can hear, too.
Carter is frantic. “David’s had the entire chemical engineering department looking at this, Justine. Most of them weren’t even there—they’re all out for the semester break.”
Right. It was only a few days ago that I myself was attending college. I should have remembered…
He rushes on. “They…they’re all…I don’t even know what the right word is. Excited. Horrified.”
There’s a shuffling on the other end of the phone, and Carter’s boyfriend takes the line. “Stunned. I’d say we were all stunned. Where exactly did these come from, Justine?”
“They were plans we fo
und in the offices of the Royal Guard. Some scientist claimed they were his—Milbrecht. I think he said his name was Milbrecht.”
“Oh, God.” He pauses for a long moment. “I think almost everyone thought he’d died—or at least hidden himself away in some village in South America somewhere. He’s guilty of a number of atrocities. Brilliant mind, but horrific. Basically a gun for hire. An evil gun for hire.”
Something tightens in my stomach, and my heart pounds. “Is there…is there anything you can do?”
“We’re working on it. Everyone here has sent it out to everyone else we know in the field. There are literally hundreds of chemical engineers looking at these plans at this very moment. But here’s the thing…”
The way he pauses says it all—I already seem to know what he’s going to say.
“The damage is done. There’s just no way to undo it. Not that anyone has figured out so far, anyway. Give us a couple of years, and I’m sure someone can figure out a way to at least clean up the toxicity… But until then, it’s not safe for anyone to be in those mines.”
“We were down there,” William says. “Both Justine and I, along with dozens of miners. Are we…?”
“You’ve been exposed to the weapon. It’s like nothing any of us have seen, which is pretty typical for one of Milbrecht’s projects. The guy’s a genius. But it’s going to take the best minds in science years to unravel all of this.”
“But can you tell if there are going to be any consequences?” William looks over at me, and I see the worry in his expression. “Say if a pregnant woman were exposed…?”
“I’d say, I hope you didn’t allow a pregnant woman into those mines. That would have been idiotic.” He pauses for a moment, not seeming to understand that William was talking about me. “We won’t know anything for a while. But I would say the mines are not fit for humans to be anywhere near—you’re probably going to have to close off a twenty-five mile radius, just to be safe.”