by Kristen Reed
Though the sense of foreboding didn’t lift from her spirit, Ingrid set her anguish aside and walked to the drawing room early. She hoped to distract herself from her inexplicable affliction by appreciating the priceless artwork Ansgar had purchased and commissioned during his reign with a fortune in unjust taxes.
Not long later, Lady Marlene arrived. The future queen wrapped her arms around her dear friend in a warm embrace. Liesel entered shortly thereafter wearing a beautiful burgundy gown trimmed with cream lace, which Ingrid procured for her that morning. Marlene studied Liesel for a beat, astonished by the girl’s presence and elegant dress. Despite her initial shock, Marlene greeted Liesel with the same genuine affection she showed Ingrid.
For the next fifteen minutes, the three discussed the story of Ingrid’s unexpected engagement as well as her new friendship with Liesel. Once the planning commenced, Marlene walked them through how she planned her own wedding two years before. Though her husband was one of Ansgar’s many wealthy cousins, the duchess’ nuptials had been a relatively simple yet still elegant event, which made her the perfect person to seek counsel from. Despite acting as the lady of her house since her mother’s death, Ingrid still had little experience in hosting events since Edmund only entertained guests when he felt obligated to.
Liesel shared Ingrid’s inexperience in the art of wedding planning, but she also felt odd being a guest at a tea instead of the help. Rather than wallowing her discomfort, she distracted herself by volunteering to record the details that the women discussed. Writing down the arrangements for Ingrid’s wedding dissipated some of her uneasiness as the afternoon pressed on. The former slave even found herself enjoying the fragrant tea and buttery biscuits, which she never had the pleasure of enjoying in her master’s household. Two pots of tea later, the women confirmed the merchants they would employ and guests they would invite to the modest affair, which they scheduled for December twentieth.
Ingrid would be a married woman in five days.
Once the trio reached a consensus about the royal wedding and divvied up the work, Ingrid and Liesel walked Marlene to the door. As the duchess departed, she gave both women warm hugs and invited them to join her for supper at her estate in the New Year. After Marlene began her journey home, Liesel and Ingrid walked back into the palace and continued chatting about the young lady’s upcoming nuptials.
Although Ingrid loved her life with her father and siblings dearly, she had been trying to fill her mother’s shoes for years. This meant being the mistress of the home Lady Carina left behind because of her untimely illness and showering her brother and sister with the love and care their mother would have given them. Now, Ingrid was stepping into a role that was hers alone and embarking on a new adventure … One she never could have imagined for herself.
Ingrid’s growing conviction that God wouldn’t have orchestrated her unexpected betrothal if he didn’t intend to guide her through it helped assuage some of her lingering anxiety about being permanently bound to the grisly King of Villriket. However, her heart immediately ached and her disquiet returned when they ascended to the second floor and the sound of weeping reached Ingrid’s ears.
It was Ansgar’s daughters.
Rather than retiring to her room as planned, the maiden walked to the girls’ room and addressed the soldiers protecting them.
“May I see the princesses?” Ingrid asked.
The two men exchanged an uneasy glance.
“I’m not sure if that’s wise, my lady.”
“Since when is comforting children who are obviously in pain unwise?”
The soldier on the right took a deep breath and pushed the door open, allowing Ingrid and Liesel to enter. Without a thought, the future queen rushed over to the two girls and placed her arms around them.
Albrect and Doris had laughed and played with Ava and Annette many times on their visits to the palace, so seeing the six- and eleven-year-old princesses sobbing uncontrollably shocked Ingrid and broke her heart. Closing the door behind them, Liesel joined Ingrid in consoling the girls, whose weeping didn’t subside for half an hour.
“What’s wrong, Ava?” Ingrid asked the youngest daughter, who’d chosen to curl up in her lap.
“P-Papa’s d-dead,” she stammered, tears spilling down her chubby pink cheeks, “and Mama too.”
“They’re not dead, sweetheart. They’re … living somewhere else,” she assured the girl, smoothing her ebony waves.
“That’s not what he said.”
“He who?”
“Prince Halvard,” Annette croaked from her place in Liesel’s arms. “He said King Viggo was going to put them to death tomorrow. They arrested Anton too.”
The color drained from Ingrid’s face as she turned her hazel eyes to the door.
“It can’t be true,” she whispered to herself.
“Are they going to kill us too?” Ava sniffled.
“No! I’m not going to let anyone hurt you,” Ingrid swore, kissing the princess’ forehead as a protective fire sparked in her heart. “Liesel, can you stay with the girls for a bit? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Of course.”
Lifting Ava from her lap, Ingrid rose to her feet and vacated the room. Once the maiden closed the door behind her, she rushed down the stairs as swiftly as her feet could take her, picking up her skirts to keep from tripping on the suddenly cumbersome garments.
Upon reaching the first floor, she darted over to the library and found both the pernicious prince and his churlish brother poring over maps of Schlagefilde. The triumphant smirk gracing Halvard’s lips heated Ingrid’s blood until she felt as if she was cooking from the inside out. Alas, the joy radiating from Viggo’s eyes when he turned his eyes to his betrothed did nothing to abate her fury.
“Ingrid, I wasn’t expecting you until supper,” the king said, coming from behind the desk to join his fiancée.
“How could you?” she quaked. “Ansgar was supposed to receive a fair trial.”
“I changed my mind,” the king said, the warmth gone from his gaze and deep voice.
“But you said—”
“I know what I said,” he snapped. “That blackguard dishonors my parents and the hundreds of others who died at his hands with every stolen breath he takes.”
“What about Ansgar’s children?”
“What about them?”
“I just came from comforting two sobbing little girls because your brother callously told them that they’re going to be orphans! Losing their father to prison or an execution is traumatic on its own, but having their whole family ripped away so swiftly and mercilessly broke them!”
“Don’t lecture me about the pain associated with losing one’s parents! Halvard and I know it better than you ever will. Besides, I did those girls a favor.”
“Cruelty is never a favor! My mother may not have been murdered as your parents were, but I know the pain of loss. If you kill Ansgar and Bettina like this, you will be no better than him. You’ll leave his brokenhearted, traumatized children in your wake on your quest for power and vengeance!”
“Do not compare me to him!”
“Then don’t act like him! When I first heard about your war against Ansgar, I was terrified, but I also felt hopeful. I prayed for you to somehow bring healing to this broken kingdom, but you’re continuing Ansgar’s legacy of violence. You just deposed one despot and replaced him with another!”
“How can you let her insult you?” Halvard barked, coming to stand beside his older brother. “I know you think she’s beautiful, Viggo, but you can’t afford to marry a disrespectful foreigner. She’ll undermine you as your queen and be a thorn in your side until she drives you into an early grave.”
“I’m sorry for speaking so severely, but I’m not undermining you, Your Majesty. I’m warning you,” Ingrid corrected, forcing herself to calm down but also refusing to address the prince directly. “I don’t know what happened between last night and this afternoon, but please listen to r
eason. Yes, you’re a king with the power to do whatever you desire with Ansgar and his family, but you must remember who gave you your crown. God didn’t entrust you with this power and give you this victory so you could throw away what could be your greatest gift to this land by satiating your thirst for revenge. If you begin your reign by administering the justice everyone has been craving, you will win the people of Schlagefilde. If you take vengeance, you will rip this kingdom apart and soil your hands with blood in the process.”
Viggo clenched and unclenched his jaw with his hands balled into fists at his side as he took in Ingrid’s passionate plea, but he remained silent.
“Your Majesty, please—”
“I will not reverse my decision to execute Ansgar, Bettina, and their teenaged son, but I’m seriously rethinking my decision to marry you. If you cannot support me in this, I may have to look within my own borders for a queen who will give me the respect I deserve. Either find it in your sweet little heart to apologize by sundown or consider the engagement off.”
Before Ingrid could say another word, Viggo stomped out of the library, leaving Ingrid with his infuriatingly smug brother.
“It looks like Viggo is coming to his senses in more ways than one,” the haughty prince smirked.
“Don’t you love your brother at all?” Ingrid asked, her voice hoarse with emotion.
A frown crossed Halvard’s lips.
“Of course I love him.”
“Then how can you set him on this destructive path and let him blacken his soul with hatred and murder? Don’t you realize Viggo can’t come back from this? Once they’re dead, he can’t reverse his decision.”
“Exactly.”
Following his older brother’s example, Halvard made a hasty exit and left Ingrid trembling alone in the library. Resisting the temptation to wallow in her anguish, the young lady trudged back to the princesses’ room, where Liesel still embraced the two children.
The former slave shifted her focus away from the girls to meet Ingrid’s eyes with a questioning gaze. Not confident that she could speak without sobbing, the forlorn young lady shook her head and lowered herself on the bed, pulling little Ava into her arms again. With every beat of her anguished heart, she begged God to comfort the princesses and to grant her the strength necessary to persevere no matter what the future held.
♦ ♦ ♦
After the children fell asleep, Ingrid and Liesel crept into the corridor to return to their rooms. Upon seeing the stars shining through the large windows at the end of the hallway, she realized dusk had come and gone without her apologizing to Viggo.
Their engagement was over.
Ingrid’s chin quivered and unshed tears shone in her eyes as she suppressed the unexpected grief welling up in her soul. The two continued their silent trek until they parted ways with a wordless hug outside of Ingrid’s bedroom. The instant she stepped inside and saw her equally bereft father, Ingrid let herself fell the full weight of her agony for the first time all day.
She wept not only for her broken engagement and Ansgar’s family, but also for the man whose actions inspired her lamentation. Viggo was drowning in his rage and refused to seize the hands of those who only wanted to save him from himself.
Edmund let his distraught daughter take solace in his fatherly embrace for the longest five minutes of his life. Once her weeping gave way to silence, which she punctuated with occasional sniffle, he finally spoke.
“I’m so sorry, Ingrid. I could have prevented this by being more careful or more bold when Viggo came to Anselm.”
“Even if you did, those little girls would still be in this predicament. It kills me that Halvard swayed Viggo to commit this travesty. What happened to the conviction he had yesterday?”
“When a man is standing on the edge, it doesn’t take much for him to fall. Viggo and Halvard were both the victims of a horrible crime. If their present behavior is any indication, they didn’t receive the guidance necessary to overcome it. We are all completely lost apart from the Lord and face temptation to commit grievous sins, but not everyone takes the way of escape God provides.”
“I’m such a fool. I actually believed he was capable of changing. Now, I fear he’s so lost in his thirst for vengeance that nothing will bring him out of it.”
“He was changing, but if you could influence him, someone else could easily sway him as well. Godly sorrow is what leads to true repentance, not worldly affection.”
Edmund left his daughter’s side for a moment to fetch her Bible, which lie open on the small desk to the left of her bed. The count flipped through the holy book until he came upon a passage from the Bible’s book of wisdom.
“Do you know Proverbs 22:24-25?”
Ingrid shook her head, wiping her eyes.
“‘Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul,’” Edmund read. “So long as Viggo is in deeper fellowship with his vengeful brother than he is with God, he will be susceptible to Halvard’s influence. Viggo must realize his need for the Lord’s guidance and stop walking in the counsel of his wicked brother.”
“I agree, but I doubt he’ll listen to anyone but Halvard after our argument this afternoon. I was so angry with him that I lost control and scolded him like a child when I should have spoken to him like a king.”
Edmund flipped back one chapter to quote another verse.
“‘The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.’ Our Lord is bigger than your lost temper, so let’s pray for God to do what only he can and change Viggo’s and Halvard’s hearts.”
Edmund extended his hand, and Ingrid clasped it before the two knelt on the ground and prayed for the enraged king and his spiteful brother. Ingrid listened to her father’s prayers and prayed beside to him without uttering a single word aloud. The father and daughter lost track of time as they inclined their hearts to God and asked for his perfect, divine intervention.
Shortly after the nine o’clock hour, Espen knocked on Ingrid’s door and summoned her father for an audience with the king. Giving his daughter a hug and kissing her cheek, Edmund left Ingrid for the night. Without her father’s comforting presence, she continued pouring her heart out to God. As much as she loved the count and hoped that his words would sway the king, only her Heavenly Father could prevent the evil that the Villriketian royals had their minds set on and heal their broken hearts.
Chapter 5
Ingrid arose and resumed her prayers to God an hour before dawn the next day, and she resolved to fast in honor of Ansgar’s children. Each time her stomach churned during their time together, Ingrid remembered the greater lack the somber princesses faced and prayed for them all the more. When the girls distracted themselves from their sorrows by playing with dolls after lunch, Ingrid left them in Liesel’s care to search for her father. Much to her dismay, she couldn’t find the Count of Anselm anywhere. Though Ingrid was tempted to fear the worst for her beloved Papa, she forced herself to remain calm and added his safety to her desperate, earnest prayers to God.
At six o’clock, Johan appeared at the door to the princesses’ room, prompting Ingrid to leave the children reading with Liesel and join the soldier in the hallway.
“His Majesty has sent me to tell you that supper will be held at seven.”
“Does he still plan to execute Ansgar, Bettina, and Anton?”
“Yes, my lady,” he sighed.
“Please send my apologies. I cannot dine with him this evening.”
With a nod and worry in his weary eyes, Johan marched back downstairs to his awaiting king and left Ingrid with an even heavier heart. Though she only rejected the supper invitation to continue her fasting and silent prayer, she feared Viggo would take offense to her refusal. Was it better for her to accept the invitation that could have been a peace offering or to honor her conviction?
Recalling her father’s words from t
he previous night, Ingrid decided that if Viggo’s only anguish came from losing her instead of offending God, it wasn’t enough. With that in mind, she resolved to abstain from supper and prayed her absence would do more good than harm. However, she still urged Liesel to go downstairs for supper an hour later and read Ava’s favorite book to the girls while she was gone.
The seven o’clock hour and the princesses’ meal passed without any incident, and Liesel checked in on the trio after she finished eating. She had little news to report other than that the king’s surly disposition had returned with a vengeance, and Ingrid convinced her weary friend to retire for the evening. The young lady continued entertaining and comforting the princesses until the time came to put them to bed. Ingrid helped them change into their nightgowns and tucked them in before singing a lullaby her mother had often sung her to sleep with as a child.
“Good night, good night,
Sweet children of light.
Embrace the love
Of your Father above
Who holds you safe in his arms.
Good night, good night,
Sweet children of light.
Let sleep come in
And sweet dreams begin
To carry you to His kingdom.
Good night, good night,
Sweet children of light.
Don’t fear at all
There within your walls.
His angels will protect you
From harms and frights
That creep in the night
Because you are his children.
Because you are his children.”
Before the final dulcet note eased from Ingrid’s lips, Ava and Annette had fallen asleep. The maiden leaned over to kiss their foreheads, praying for the old lullaby’s lyrics to prove true and for God to protect them from Halvard’s and Viggo’s wrath. Once she finished her silent entreaty, Ingrid rose from the bed and turned to leave. A gasp escaped her lips, and she dropped Annette’s discarded doll when she beheld Viggo’s imposing form darkening the doorway.