Neither she nor Wolf volunteer an answer.
“Please help me. I am King and yet one of my subjects is betraying me. Maybe more than one. Someone is being traitorous to me. It’s just not fair.”
Ginata hides her smile by taking a bite of bread. He swings from mood to mood like a spider on the thread of his own web. First, he is furious, then he is hurt; baffled by how unkind life is being to him, then he is murderous again, in the space of minutes. Who could please this man? This King?
“My King,” Wolf says, wiping the sweat off his brow. “I have searched the castle and the grounds and beyond. I cannot find her anywhere.”
“So tomorrow you will start sweeping the villages. She must be somewhere. And now Addyson is with her. And whoever is helping them must die.”
Ginata swallows thickly. The tension is too much for her. If she is found out, she will die. The knowledge of that is making her insides loosen, her hands sweat.
“Take this,” Millard says, passing her a drink. “You look thirsty.”
“I am.” Ginata downs the drink in one go, glad to have something to do.
“What about,” Wolf says, brow crumpled, thinking making his head hurt. “Instead of looking for her in all the villages, we draw her out?”
Ginata rolls her eyes; now Wolf decides to become a tactical genius. It’s a really good idea, but Ginata doesn’t want Everleigh lured out of hiding.
“With Addyson gone, there’s nothing to tempt her out of hiding with,” Ginata says, a sorrowful look on her face. “It would have been a good idea, if we still had her.”
Millard is nodding his head. “Wolf. You are brilliant. Lure her out of hiding. She’s somewhere in the Realm, we just need to get her in to the open.”
“But how?” Ginata’s tries to convey the hopelessness of the situation in her tone, but Millard is beaming, and she is struck again by how handsome he is, when he’s not killing people.
“We don’t have Addyson anymore, but we do have someone she cares about.”
A sick feeling bubbles in Ginata’s stomach, mixing with the stress she is already feeling. She knows what’s coming and she knows it will work and she knows it’s the worst thing that could happen. Damn Wolf. And damn Millard.
Millard grins at Wolf. “Bring me the fool.”
Lanorie
I AM FREE. I AM FREE. I am free.
And I have decided to never be brave again.
I will keep my head down. I will do as I’m told and I will serve my Queen.
I have changed from Addyson’s dress into one of Della’s. I am clean and my hair is brushed. I don’t feel like rats and spiders are running over my skin anymore.
But I don’t feel completely happy. I don’t like this marked girl – Ceryn – who rescued me. Not one bit. Her friend is handsome and very kind but she is nasty looking and mean.
She might have saved me from the tower and death but she isn’t very friendly.
And everyone is acting like they don’t care about that thing on her face, but they do. They must. It’s scary. She looks like she’s been burned or something. It’s so red and angry looking. She washed all the paste off and it’s so bright. So horrible looking. I reckon it’s catching, so I make sure not to touch anything she’s touched or sit anywhere near her.
Everleigh keeps smiling at me and patting me, like she can’t believe I’m alive. I know what she means. I thought I was dead for sure.
But her and Addyson are so happy to see me and so grateful that I helped them, I feel all warm inside.
Once Della has fed us all and Everleigh has done some magic tricks – which I saw her do ages before anyone else – we all decide it’s time for bed.
Ceryn is going to sleep in Ginata’s cottage with Addyson and Everleigh and me, but Della, Finn and Weaver are going to sleep next door.
I don’t want to sleep anywhere near Ceryn but I won’t leave Everleigh either. I know her better than any of these, maybe even better than Addyson. I spend the most time with her. But I can’t even pretend to be nice to Ceryn.
I keep looking at her and she catches me, and I look away because I can’t even smile at her. I don’t know who she thinks she is.
Everleigh is talking with her and laughing so I interrupt, making sure not to stand too close to Ceryn, or the nasty stain on her face.
“I’m going to go for a walk,” I say, hoping Everleigh will stop me, make a fuss of me.
“Really? It’s getting dark.”
“I’ve been locked up for days. I need fresh air.”
“I think you should stay here,” Ceryn says, trying to look concerned about me, though I’m sure she’s not. “It might not be safe out.”
“No one’s looking for me. Only her and Addyson.”
“True...” Everleigh smiles at me.
“Still.” Ceryn folds her arms, staring at me.
“I think I’ll be fine. I’ll just take a walk for five minutes. Enjoy not being locked up, you know.”
“Let me come with you.” This marked girl is a nag.
I’d love Everleigh to come with me instead and leave Ceryn, but I reckon she’d just follow along to annoy me, so I shake my head. “I won’t be long.”
Everleigh says, “Just be careful, stay close to the cottage.”
As I walk out of the door they are laughing about something and I decide I’ll be longer than five minutes. Make them worry about me.
They seem to have forgotten that I’ve been locked up and all alone for days.
It is nice to be outside. I wish I could go to the castle and see Cook but I’m not that stupid. I’m sure no one is looking for me or even remembers me what with Everleigh missing but I won’t go to the madman’s castle.
The river will be nice though. It will take me ages to get there and back and then they’ll all be worrying about me.
Good.
I sit by the river and think maybe I am being a bit silly. Everleigh is so happy I’m free I shouldn’t try to spoil it. And that marked girl will leave soon and then we can go back to being like we were before.
I head back along the path and see one of the King’s men riding along. I keep my head down; sure he won’t look at me. I don’t look like I work at the castle in Della’s clothes.
“You!”
I turn away and walk faster but he gallops to my side, jumps off his horse. “I know you.”
“No,” I say wishing I was still at the cottage, even with that horrible woman there.
“You’re the Kingmaker’s maid. The King is looking for you.”
“No.” I say it again, hoping he’ll listen, but he doesn’t.
He lifts me off my feet and even as I struggle he throws me over the horse so I’m facing the floor with my backside in the air. He sits behind me and once he’s holding the reins I can’t move much at all, and tears are stinging my eyes but I manage to kick off one of my shoes.
Maybe Everleigh will see it and realise something’s wrong.
As he rides away from the river and takes me back to the castle I’m crying.
What have I done now?
22
“I’M WORRIED ABOUT HER; she’s been gone ages.”
“She’s probably just sulking,” Addyson says, going to Della’s side; she spends a lot of time by Della’s side and she’s blooming with the love and attention of a mother figure. It means Everleigh can be a sister again.
“Do you think?” Everleigh is biting her lip. “We’ve only just got her back.”
“She loves a sulk,” Addyson says.
Ceryn shakes her head. “She’s a pest, but we’ll go and look for her. I’ll go and fetch the boys and see you in a bit.”
“Don’t be too cross with her.”
“I won’t.” Ceryn grins at Everleigh but she’s got a nasty glint in her eye; she’s gone before Everleigh can say any more and Everleigh sinks into the chair, groaning.
“She’s sure to be fine.” Della rubs Everleigh’s arm and then pours her a drink.
>
“I’ve got a bad feeling. I told her to be careful.” Everleigh cries and Della moves to her side, pats her shoulder. Everleigh looks up at her. “Why can’t everything be simple? And everyone be safe?”
“Ah lovely. It doesn’t seem like it, but if life were simple it would be boring. Trouble and strife are what make us stronger. Lanorie will be just fine, probably got caught up in her freedom, or fell asleep with nothing to worry about any more.”
“I hope so.”
“I’m sure so.”
WILL IS PULLED FROM the floor, where he was showing off a head stand, and dragged to the great hall, by two guards and Wolf, grinning, but silent. Will knows this isn’t a good sign. Millard is obviously cross again – maybe ready to question him about where Everleigh is again. Well, Millard can ask, and he won’t say, same as last time.
As they approach the doors, the guards let go of him, and allow him to straighten his clothes. “No funny business, fool,” Wolf says and the guards laugh.
Will isn’t as foolish as everyone believes. He walks quietly to the dais and bows low to Millard, whose smile is icy.
“Will. I have to apologise for what’s about to happen, but I need to find my sister and I-”
“My King, I don’t know where she is.”
“I believe you. I really do. But I know how much Everleigh loves you. You’ve been her friend all her life. If you’re in trouble, then she’ll come.”
“But I’m not-” The truth dawns on Will simply because he isn’t a fool. “I am in trouble?”
Millard smiles at him, nodding his head slowly, a strange glint in his eye.
Will lowers his head; bows low. “My King. I have loved Everleigh all her life and you are right, if I am in trouble, she’ll come. I understand.”
Ginata works hard at keeping her face a mask. She cannot allow Millard to see that her heart is breaking. Everleigh will come out of hiding to help Will and Millard will lock her up or kill her. But she cannot think of anything to say or do to alter what’s about to happen.
“Let me go!” The voice is recognisable to both Will and Ginata who look towards the heavy doors of the great hall.
Lanorie.
Millard looks over at the furore and gets to his feet, a nervous look on his face. He sees three of his men holding on to a screaming, fighting, shouting woman and shakes his head for them to move away from the great hall and the crowds of people and out to the corridor again.
They follow his silent orders and he nods and smiles at his fellow diners as he threads through the tables to see what’s going on. He nods for the men holding Will to come with him. Wolf and Ginata follow without being asked and Will tags along too.
Millard’s face is etched in fury as he stares at his guards. “Why would you bring this screaming, shouting bint into the great hall? With all my subjects there? With every eye on me?”
The men bow their heads and don’t even try to give excuses.
“Who is she?”
By now Lanorie has been stood back on her feet, a guard holding on to each elbow and one behind her. She’s no longer screaming or struggling; instead she is crying and wailing.
Ginata stands next to Millard; she wants Lanorie to see her face when she finally stops performing; to see the silent warning she’s trying to give, if she ever stops performing.
She knows what this girl is like, how her mouth runs away with her, the problems she has already caused for Everleigh. She sneaks a glance at Will and can read on his face that he has the same fears. If Lanorie mentions that she has been in the tower, then they are both dead.
“This is Everleigh’s handmaiden,” one of the guards speaks up, though his voice is trembling. “We thought you’d want to see her straight away.”
“I would.” Millard’s face has changed again, his moods always changing, too fast to keep up with. “I just wish you hadn’t brought her into the great hall.”
He steps towards her and Lanorie’s legs are shaking as he puts a finger under her chin and gently lifts her face to meet his.
“What’s your name?” His voice is soft and deep, dangerous. “I do recognise you...”
Lanorie looks at him, this handsome prince that she has been half in love with all her life and chokes out another sob. “Please don’t kill me. My prince. My King.”
She bows her head low, tears dripping onto the stone floor and Ginata and Will exchange looks. Will has been in love with Lanorie as long as she has been in love with Millard, as long as they have both been in Everleigh’s life. But he’s watching her now, a look of abject fear on his face. Ginata is just about managing to mask her feelings in case Millard turns to her, but her insides are a mass of liquid snakes.
What is this foolish girl about to say or do and what can she or Will do to salvage things?
Millard touches Lanorie again; this time a palm against her wet cheek. She lifts her eyes up to meet his, keeping her head bowed low. She is trembling.
“What’s your name?” His voice is lower, laced with danger and both Ginata and Will take a step closer to Lanorie. “Stand up properly. Look at me.”
Lanorie does as she’s told, tears, snot and dribble trailing over her face and clothes. Despite having been in the tower, she made a choice to be there and was never in immediate danger. This is different; she knows this, she can feel the tension and the threat. She looks at Ginata who widens her eyes and slowly shakes her head.
“My name is Lanorie.”
“And you look after my sister?”
Lanorie nods.
“And you know where she is?”
Lanorie nods and Ginata and Will both close their eyes. Neither one of them can step in here to stop her talking without implicating themselves. If they implicate themselves Millard will kill them and then they will be even less use to Everleigh than they already are.
“And you’ll tell me?”
Lanorie nods again, her eyes locked on Millard’s refusing to look at either Ginata or Will, knowing what she will see in their faces and wanting no part of it. She has been captured and now she has to do what she has to do.
Ginata
MY HEART HURTS. SHE is going to tell Millard where Everleigh is and then it will all be over. Our Queen will be dead and our King will rule without opposition and then what?
If I had a weapon, I would kill her myself. And that is so unlike me that I understand why my heart hurts. I stay silent and I keep my face impassive but I am crying inside.
Why wasn’t she safely inside with Everleigh? How have they managed to capture her and still not know where Everleigh is?
I close my eyes and concentrate. Since Halfreda’s death my visions and inklings and feelings have been all over the place. I know no more than any other person around me and I don’t like that lack of intuition, that loss of insight. I feel empty except for the inner turmoil I have felt since the coronation, moving into the dead King’s bedroom and living on a knife edge with the new King and I know that is why my natural gift is muted.
Looking at Lanorie I try to see past the slightly too big clothes, the dull blonde hair, the plain but pleasant face. I try to see her heart, what she’s thinking.
I know she loves Everleigh; there’s no doubt about that. And she’s loyal to her, despite her big mouth. She’s simple and yet brave. The way she switched places with Addyson was something none of us would have imagined of her.
So, she has hidden depths...and yet the young boy she fell in love with just last week had her spilling her own secrets and other people’s. She cannot be trusted because she doesn’t see the big picture. She wants to be happy, now. She wants to be safe, now. She wants to be kissed now, or fed now, or whatever now. She’s like a puppy. She doesn’t understand that getting Everleigh to the throne isn’t as simple as wanting it or hoping for it; we all have to work together.
And yet she’s done it once. She freed Addyson.
But now she has the King’s guard’s hands on her, the King looking at her with soft but
insane eyes. She blushes as she looks at him, through her tears.
He is handsome. More than handsome. Tall, dark haired, dark eyed, gorgeous. Powerful. I can see why she thinks what she thinks. Although he is changeable and frightening, he is also powerful, good looking...he’s the King. The most important man in the Realm.
I can see Will looking at Lanorie, his eyes pleading with the girl he loves to keep quiet. But like me, he cannot speak up. If either of us says anything, if she says too much, more than Everleigh’s head will roll. We will all be dead.
“Where have you been, you and my sister?”
His voice is so pleasant, this dangerous King, chatting happily with his sister’s handmaiden, lulling her into a false sense of security with every word. Like Will is, I know, I am silently pleading with her, to please keep our secrets.
“We’ve been hiding.”
She hasn’t mentioned the tower yet and I feel ridiculously grateful but hateful at the same time. She will have to give Everleigh up. Or die.
What a choice.
What would I do? I told Will I wouldn’t die for Everleigh. Does that still stand? I cannot think straight. With Lanorie in front of me, flanked by guards and looking pathetically sad, and Will, Millard, Wolf and I forming a semi-circle around her I feel like we are all too close to the truth coming out. One misstep, one word out of line and we could die.
I don’t want to die, when I feel like the truth may come out I feel sick to my stomach. I do not want Millard to know I am false to him, for him to end my life. I like my life. I like my new home. I like the castle and my suite of rooms. I also like him liking me, and I can’t imagine why. The need to survive is strong and I know that if he likes me I am more likely to live than if he does not.
But then I also like Everleigh. The prophecy says she must live and she must rule. Halfreda thought so, her teacher thought so. I won’t argue with that. I’ll do my best to get her on the throne but not at my own expense.
The Kingmaker Complete Trilogy (The Kingmaker Trilogy #1-3) Page 37