by Cara Coe
“Yes, it’s gotten bad,” Millie agreed. “I finally came to stay with my parents. The convent wasn’t the same without you. Talon, Captain Lucas, and I would meet secretly and have the fiercest debates on whether to fetch you.”
Amelie’s eyes sparkled with amusement imagining the scene. Millie was definitely the most insistent of the three. She wouldn’t have cowered, it didn’t matter that they were larger than her and loaded down with weaponry.
“The arguments never amounted to anything. None of us knew how to find you. I guess Talon figured it out.” She snorted. “And he was the one who always fought against bringing you back. To think that it was finally him that did.”
“Yes, well, we haven’t a moment to wait. As soon as Talon is healed and Simon has properly rested, we will be on our way to the palace.”
“As will I,” Millie said. “Candor needs help and with you here, I can finally be of assistance. Your sister was, how shall I put it? Less than receptive of my help.”
Amelie scrunched her face in a puzzled expression. “Really? I suppose the two of you never knew each other really well.” Amelie realized how isolated the two most important women in her life actually were from each other. Claudia must have felt like Millie was a stranger.
Millie bit her lip cautiously. “Amelie, Prince Seth is at the palace and when he realizes you’re alive-“
Amelie held up a determined hand. “Stop. Talon already told me everything. This isn’t about Seth or the treaty or anything other than making sure my sister is safe and Candor does not fall into the wrong hands. I have spent a year in the White Forest learning how to live with my abilities instead of under them. I am stronger for it. And we will not speak on the subject of men. They are not my concern.”
Millie read the look in her friend’s eye and tipped her head. “You are still stubborn.”
Amelie would have smiled if the subject were even a hair lighter. “I am broken, Millie,” she confessed in a raw voice. “I am asking you to please leave me be on this topic.”
Millie clasped Amelie’s shaking hands. “Of course,” she promised. “Whatever you need from me is yours.”
A knock on the door and Millie’s answering “Come in!” produced her father’s head through the cracked bedroom door. “Fish stew for dinner,” he announced. The scent of fishy broth descended on the room and Amelie’s stomach answered with a low rumble.
“Thank you, Father,” Millie answered. “My friends will leave soon and I’ll be going with them. If you can manage.”
Mr. Ketter stepped into the room and kissed Millie on the forehead. “Of course, dear. Amelie is home. You are needed. I have a messenger waiting if you’d like to send word.”
“Yes, thank you,” Amelie replied, though she didn’t know what words she could possibly pen to paper to reverse her death without causing alarm. She did suppose it would be prudent to do so. The alarm she would cause would be a hundredfold if she just rode in unannounced, a ghost of a princess come to haunt them. “I shall draft it now and then join you for dinner.”
Chapter 24
Amelie
Amelie chose the back of the castle near the grove to make her entrance. The recuperation the group had received at Millie’s home allowed them to press on for longer days. Amelie was anxious to see the palace, her sister, and the captain now that the course was set for her return. She hoped she could remain composed when she finally had Seth in her sight again. She hoped her hands would be steady as they took his to give him the welcome bow into her family. Her grip tightened on her horse’s reins. They would be steady. They would not fail her. She could do this. It was a large part of the reason she left in the first place.
She glanced to her left. Talon sat sure atop his horse, his ordeal finally releasing his body. He still wore traces of it in his eyes but Amelie could tell he was stronger than he was even a few hour ago. Knowing their travel could shift to horseback, she’d spent some energy on him last night, taking on the last of his ailments. A slight heat was all that was left. Amelie didn’t know if the flush of it was from her healing or seeing Seth. She supposed it was comprised from a bit of both circumstances,
The palace came into view suddenly, startling Amelie even though she had traversed these lands all her life and could pace the landmarks to the palace grounds. One moment she’d been deep in thought about the implications of her return and in the next moment, it was a reality.
She sat still for a moment, the horse’s tail swishing silently in the powder of dust the group’s hooves kicked up from the graveled road leading through the orange grove. Millie reared her horse and turned back to look at her.
“Are you ready?” she asked. It was a weighted question in Amelie’s mind and by the look of Millie’s face, she’d asked it with the same gravity.
Amelie nodded and the group resumed.
Sir Duncan came out of the back hurriedly, his steps a series of stumbles.
“Great angels, great angels.” Amelie couldn’t hear him clearly but knew he was mumbling something along those lines as his steps picked up speed. It wasn’t until a loud, “Great angels!” left his throat in a surprised cry that she confirmed it and she dismounted off her horse in a hurried fall as Sir Duncan closed in and wrapped his arms around her. She clutched his bony body through his soft thick robes and cried. He swayed with her, stroking her back and suppressing sobs of his own. It was the most emotion Amelie had ever seen this man display in all her life.
“How is this possible?” he implored holding her back at an arms-length to study her face. “How are you here?”
“There is much to tell,” Amelie answered cryptically wiping the tears from her face. “On both our parts, I believe.”
Sir Duncan nodded solemnly in agreement. His eyes lingered intensely before he shook himself from his reverie. “Forgive me, I am in shock.” He nodded acknowledgement to the rest of the party as they dismounted their horses.
“Understandable, as I have risen from the dead. Please, can I see…” Amelie struggled with who she requested to see next. Claudia rose in her mind but her mouth almost betrayed her heart.
“He’s away at the moment on a hunting trip with his brother,” Sir Duncan said quietly.
Amelie shook her head, even as her skin prickled with the news. She wanted to know where he was, what he was doing, how he was feeling. Her mind thirsted for any and all knowledge that included him but she needed to suppress the ache.
“No, I meant to ask after Claudia,” she said. “May I see her?”
Sir Duncan’s face clouded but he nodded. “She awaits you in the King’s Study,” he said. “I will accompany you. I will speak for you.”
“Speak for me? There’s no need for ceremony, where is my sister?”
Without waiting for an answer, Amelie pushed by Sir Duncan and ran into the palace. She took the turns she knew so well until she was in front of the study. Pushing the door open, she burst into the room out of breath.
“Claudia,” she huffed anxiously, her eyes settling on her younger sister.
Claudia rose, but did not come forward to greet her. Her eyes were cold and her posture was stiff.
“Amelie,” she replied without moving from her stance. Amelie, her muscles itching to go and embrace her sister, stilled at the detached address.
Frowning slightly, she bowed. “Your Majesty,” she said. Her eyes rested on the ring on Claudia’s finger. “Congratulations on your wedding.” Amelie could see the frustration on Claudia’s face. Worry and lines were etched into her features. Perhaps this was the reason for the coldness. “Talon sent word that the king has not awoken. That the situation is stressed.”
Claudia’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, funny how Mr. Talon neglected to mention his talent for raising the dead to deliver messages.”
Amelie cast her eyes down. “I am sorry. I only disappeared because I thought it would be best for everyone.”
Claudia finally walked towards her. In a regal form Amelie did not remember
from before, she circled her much like her mother used to do during a scolding.
“Yes, I read as much in your message. You thought it would be good for everyone. It seems like it was for your own good, more like it,” she accused. “It has always been about you. My brother died because of you. My mother died because of you. My father lies near dead because of you.”
She walked back to the desk and leaned on it, her knuckles resting on the wood, her back towards Amelie heaving slightly. When she whirled around again, her cheeks were lined with tears.
“Everyone always loved you more,” she said bitterly. “Phillip worshipped you. He’d rather hang himself than harm you. My father sacrificed himself to save you. My mother died going after you. Sir Duncan keeps to his room every night in heartache when I need his counsel. Even Seth couldn’t help seeing you when he looked at me.
“I had no one. No one! The only one I had was you and you left. I kept this kingdom together! All you did was cause destruction and harm to everyone you touched. So don’t you dare gallop back in here to save the day. Don’t waltz in here and expect me to embrace you. You were once hidden, once dead, and as far as I’m concerned, forever gone.”
She cut her eyes to the other end of the room. “Guards,” she demanded curtly and Amelie was immediately seized on either side from palace soldiers.
Amelie had no words. Her eyes filled with hurt and she knew that’s what was shining back at her sister at this moment.
Claudia squeezed her eyes shut, stifling a frustrated scream. “The dungeon,” she ordered and without another word, Amelie was pulled from the room.
Chapter 25
Seth
He’d left the hunting party early. Handing his kills to Derrick, he rode his horse hard in the direction of the castle as soon as the page found him to tell him of Talon’s return.
“He found them, did he? All the scoundrels Rankor worked with? He felled them all?”
Seth was maniacal with pleasure. He hadn’t heard a word from his friend since his last communication from the Stone Ridge village in Draeden. He’d been silent for weeks. The page tried to interject as Seth clapped his hands victoriously and paced between the trees.
“Your Highness, that is not all,” he tried to tell him.
Seth laughed. “Oh, this shouldn’t feel so good. I must see him. I must ready my horse.”
Seth took to saddling the horse he came to care for after all those morning rides.
“Your Highness, there is more. He is not alone.”
“Even better. He saved some for me. My sword is ready.”
“He rode in with her, your Highness.”
Seth stopped abruptly. His arm was frozen in fastening a buckle. Swift shifted nervously at her rider’s sudden change in demeanor.
Her.
He didn’t like the way the page said it, flooding the word with importance. Slowly, Seth turned to face the him, finally listening.
“He rode in with whom?” he asked evenly.
The page faltered, suddenly feeling the weight of the prince’s full attention. “With Princess Amelie. His riding party included…” he trailed off scared to continue, so piercing was Seth’s look. Seth moved to the page in two strides and took him up by the front of his shirt. His breath was angry and close.
“Do not speak lies to me!”
“It is the truth I speak!” the page cried frantically. “I was sent straight away by Sir Duncan himself. She has returned!”
“She is dead!”
“No, your Highness. Alive in the flesh, I saw her. She is alive. Alive.”
Seth released the page and ran a troubled hand through his short, midnight hair. He walked back to the horse and pulled the buckle he’d started taut. Derrick emerged from the woods, perplexed at all the commotion. Seth unhitched his bounty from the hunt and heaved it at Derrick. “I must depart. There’s no time to explain. You can gather further information from this one,” Seth said quickly, nodding his head in the direction of the page. He mounted his horse and with a “Yah!” he was gone.
* * *
He didn't bother with his muddied boots as he banged through the entrance hall. His heart raced wildly. His skin was on fire. He cared not for his windblown hair and he was out of breath as he quickly scanned each room he passed. All empty. There had been someone to torment him in these hallways with a question or a comment every single day he mourned, where were all these blasted people now when she was so close?
He passed the study and sailed through the door without knocking.
Claudia looked up at him from her seat behind the desk with boredom. She placed her quill down on the parchment she was working on and crossed her hands on the surface in front of her.
"Did you cut your trip short?" she asked tartly.
He could not bring himself to exchange the idle pleasantries he should after returning from an extended trip in the country. His chest heaved with impatience. "Where is she?"
"Good day to you as well," Claudia returned darkly.
Seth could hardly contain his composure. He gave a short bow. "It was a pleasant trip but urgent news called me back," he said emptily. He was hungry for the small talk to be over. Apparently, Claudia didn’t feel like participating either.
"I knew it would only be a matter of hours until you burst in here," she muttered. "You never could hide how you felt about her. Everyone bends to her. Magic or no."
"Did she return to the convent?"
"That drab place? No. I've upgraded her quarters to the dungeons below."
"What in the name-"
"Do you know where she's been the last year while I dealt with everything going on? While you thought your precious love to be dead? Having a grand time learning the mage ways in the White Forest. She gave not a thought to you, to me, or to this kingdom." Claudia rose roughly from her seat and took a position next to the tall windows overlooking the orange grove. "She did not arrive alone," she continued, not looking at him. "Talon knew her whereabouts all along. He brought her back. And she came with a mage. Handsome one, too. He rode alongside her, very protectively I might add."
Each word Claudia spoke buried Seth under more grief. Amelie had lived freely this last year? Not dead? Not captive? With mages? He shut his eyes painfully and when he opened them again his voice was quiet and sure. "Even so," he spoke. "That is your sister you imprisoned."
Claudia's eyes danced with fire. "My sister would not have abandoned us in this time of need. I don't know who it is down there, but she's no sister of mine."
Her words struck Seth. Yes. Rankor could shape shift. Talon had detailed some of Rankor's powers in his letters back. Suppose it wasn't Amelie at all. Amelie would have never run from her kingdom. He remembered their night in the forest when she refused to run away with him, when she refused to turn her back on her kingdom.
"I shall see for myself. If you'll excuse me."
Claudia waved a dismissive hand. "As if you would be bound to my permission. All rules are worthless to you where she is concerned. Go. Go and see for yourself."
Seth noted Claudia's bitter tones but she was right. He would go. He would always go.
Chapter 26
Amelie
The clang of the prison gate reverberated so loudly the walls seemed to vibrate in its wake. His heavy footfalls hurried down the descent of the stairs. She saw no face and heard no voice but the urgency of the movements told her it was him. Her heart caught in anticipation.
“I was told no visitors, your Highness,” the guard said desperately. It was a stark contrast to the taunting gruffness he’d used on her as he locked her in the cell.
A jingling of keys and the soft thud of a body hitting the stone floor was the answering sound to the guard’s protest.
Amelie scooted back in her cell, moved forward, scooted back again. She didn’t know how to position herself. She didn’t know what to expect.
He rounded the corner quickly. He brought himself all the way to the cell, pressed his fa
ce into the bars. Amelie and Seth said nothing. They stared at each other over the expanse of space in her confinement.
“Rankor can change into other people,” he finally said. “Are you him? Are you that disgusting mage here to torture me with her image?”
“Seth,” Amelie pleaded. What could she say to explain her actions?
“Don’t. Speak. My. Name.” Each word was deliberate and full of hurt. He eyed her angrily. “Are you him?”
“I am not he. I am the woman you once knew.”
“The woman I once knew would not leave me to grieve her death, a fate I consider worse than my own demise.”
Amelie shut her eyes painfully. “That was not my intent.”
“How do I know?” he almost whispered. “How do I know you are her?”
“You once told me that it didn’t matter what world we lived in. A world we created of trees or the real world. You told me I was your world.” It hurt to speak the words but Amelie had to choose the most private moment she could think of to convince him of her authenticity. Even if those words were no longer true.
His eyes shimmered with tears as she spoke. He sucked in a large breath to draw them back in, draw in his sadness. He looked at the ceiling, the side wall, the small square window above her head. He looked everywhere but at her, not trusting his voice. Finally, he pressed his forehead into the cool steel of the prison bars. The keys dangled from his hand. Still he did not move to open the cell.
Amelie, though she ached to, didn’t dare touch him. She didn’t know if it would make it worse or better.
“You’re alive,” he finally said. Confusion and relief seeped into his eyes where wariness had clouded them.
"Yes. I am. I've been in hiding. I thought it was best for everyone if I just disappeared."
Those were the wrong words. Seth reeled at this. The relief on his face darkened until his features were twisted in anger. He began to pace in front of the cell. "It was not best for me! A part of me died that day, Amelie. A part that I can never get back."