Renna jumped to her feet and clasped her hands behind her back to hide their trembling. “Is something wrong?”
“There’s been a change of plans. We’re getting married in two days.”
“What? We can’t! You agreed—”
“I’m the king. I can do as I please!” He pounded his fist on a nearby end table. Renna leapt backwards, placing her chair between herself and Respen. He looked about ready to hit her next.
Respen drummed his fingers against the end table, a suave look masking the rage she could see still coursing through him. “I have decided I no longer wish to wait that long. Finish your dress. Ready or no, you will marry me in two days.” He spun on his heels and marched from the room.
Renna collapsed onto the floor. Two days. Two short, infinitesimal days. Sucking in deep breaths, she curled on the plush rug. The wedding was only the beginning of her misery. She’d be married to King Respen.
Should she go through with this? Respen received bad news, and bad news for him had to be good news for the Resistance. Was the Resistance fighting back? Was rescue on the way?
No, that wasn’t it. Martyn had two knives, and he’d carried them like he had to show them to Respen. The Blades who had owned those knives must be dead. It would anger Respen if the Resistance managed to kill two of his Blades. Most likely, the Blades had been killed while trying to find the Resistance or while tracking Shadrach and Brandi. It didn’t necessarily mean that help was on the way.
Yet why had Respen changed the date of the wedding? He must be worried about something. Was he worried the Resistance would try to stop the wedding?
Unless he wasn’t worried about the Resistance at all. It could be losing two more Blades made his position as king more tenuous. Without the fear of his Blades, how long would some of his allies continue to stay in line?
That must be it. It didn’t change her situation. She shuddered, remembering Lord Norton’s cold eyes. He wouldn’t be any better than Respen. At least if she married Respen, she’d have a chance of stopping the killing.
No one would stop this wedding. Leith was dead. He wasn’t going to swoop in to rescue her. As much as she hated it, her wedding to Respen must be God’s will. Surely He would give her the courage to endure it.
27
Brandi put her plan into action first thing in the morning. After a quick breakfast, she marched into the big cabin, ignoring the guards, and burst into her cousin’s meeting room. He sat at the head of a long table, General Stewart on his right, Lady Lorraine to his left. Shad sprawled in a chair near the end.
All the better. Brandi could count on Shad to help her, and Lady Lorraine might be an iron lady, but she was a practical sort. She’d listen if Brandi put it right.
Everyone stared as Brandi flounced past the big table, past General Stewart’s sword-straight back, past Lady Lorraine’s raised eyebrows, and planted her feet in front of Keevan.
She crossed her arms and tried to look as intimidating as possible. “What are you going to do about saving my sister?”
Keevan glanced around the room, as if pleading for someone to save him from her glare. When no one spoke, he turned back to her with the look of someone facing a job he didn’t enjoy, like cleaning the privies or something like that. “It’s complicated. I can’t risk our preparations for one girl, even if she is my cousin. You understand, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t. What makes us any different than Respen if we weren’t going to risk everything for one person?” She cocked her head. How stubborn was Keevan going to be? It’d be so much easier if he caved on her first argument.
“I wish it were that simple. But this is war. The entire picture has to be taken into consideration.”
“Such as our supply line.” Shad leaned his elbows on the table. He met Brandi’s gaze and gave her a nod. She nodded back.
Lady Lorraine pursed her lips. “As we discussed, Walden’s siege cuts off our supply line. We can delay, but we will never be more prepared than we are now.”
“Perhaps. But that same siege places an army between us and Nalgar Castle.” Keevan said the words too quickly, like the words of an argument he’d fought once already.
“Won’t it be a bad thing if he marries Renna?” Brandi stuck her bottom lip out farther to make sure her scowl looked as forbidding as possible. She should’ve known he’d be stubborn. “Everyone back in Acktar thinks you’re dead. Respen could claim the throne was rightfully his, and no one would argue anymore.”
“Once I return to Acktar and reveal that I’m alive, his claim will no longer be valid. Yes, it’ll complicate things, but not for long.” Keevan waved her words away like meaningless flies buzzing around his head. “I’m sorry, but it isn’t worth the risk. Too much is at stake at the moment. We can’t make a reckless move.”
Of course too much was at stake. Lord Alistair in Walden. Renna. The country. Why was Keevan dilly-dallying about it?
“A move discussed with a council of wise advisors is never reckless.” Lady Lorraine’s slim eyebrow arched.
Shad muttered something under his breath. If he was thinking the same thing as Brandi, then he grumbled that too much discussion made no move at all.
Brandi tapped her foot. She wasn’t going to budge until Keevan saw her point one way or another.
Climbing to his feet, Keevan reached for her shoulders, but she side-stepped his grip. He had no right to pretend to be her cousin. Not when he was willing to abandon Renna. He dropped his hands. “Look. I’d like to help Renna. But there’s one factor that none of us can change. Even if I rallied the army and we left today, there’s no way to get an army large enough to take Nalgar Castle through the Sheered Rock Hills in time to stop the wedding.”
Brandi glanced around the room. General Stewart gave her a nod, his mouth framed with deep lines. Shad rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. Even Lady Lorraine’s gaze softened.
“One man, riding hard, can reach the edge of the Sheered Rock Hills in six days. An army would take at least twice that long. Then the army has to fight through the line of Respen’s army, march the distance to Nalgar, and take the castle.” Keevan ran his thumb along his scar. “The cold fact is that we simply can’t get to Nalgar Castle in time.”
Was it really impossible? Brandi clenched her fists. She couldn’t allow Renna to marry Respen. She just couldn’t.
Neither would Leith.
“I bet Leith could come up with a plan.” Brandi straightened her spine. Yes, Leith had helped kill her family. And he’d given Keevan that scar. But he’d do anything for Renna. And that was good enough for Brandi. “He’s smart that way. He came up with the plan to save eighteen nobles in Acktar without Respen figuring out that he’d been involved. It takes a lot of skill to obviously betray Respen without him actually finding out.”
Lady Lorraine shifted. Brandi turned on her. “You were part of that meeting when Lord Alistair set it all up. Renna told me some of it. You know how much Leith helped.”
Lady Lorraine’s gaze swung to Prince Keevan. “Leith Torren was the First Blade. He knows Respen’s strategy better than any of us. It’d be foolish not to listen to his advice.”
Brandi tried to add up the times Leith had saved her, but failed. “I think I’d be dead like four or five times already if not for Leith.”
“But he nearly killed me.” Keevan spun on his heel and paced.
“Exactly. He nearly killed you.” Brandi couldn’t stop her grin. In all her anger at Leith, she’d missed the obvious. Turns out, everyone else had too. “This is Leith we’re talking about. When I met him, he had no failures. None. So how does a Blade with no failures manage to mess up so badly on you?”
Silence dropped into the room. Lady Lorraine tilted her head. General Stewart leaned back in his chair, his eyes shadowed as if he had some pondering to do. A grin spread across Shad’s face.
Keevan stiffened and faced her. She had him now, and there was nothing he could do about it. She allowed herself t
o smirk. “Face it. If not for Leith’s mistake that night, you’d be dead. It’s almost like he saved your life. You owe him.”
Keevan’s jaw worked for several moments. He turned to General Stewart. “I’ve heard everyone else’s council. What do you suggest? Should we listen to what the Blade might have to say?”
General Stewart continued his pondering for a few seconds more. Finally, he spoke in his drawly, raw-edged voice. “Yes, I think we should.”
“Very well.” Keevan straightened his back. “I’ll talk to the Blade. But that’s all I’ll agree to.”
“Thank you.” With her best I-will-be-back glare, she thrust her head high as she swept from the room. Renna would be proud of how lady like she managed to be.
As soon as she was clear of the big cabin, she hiked up her skirts, threw lady like to the mountain breeze, and dashed across the clearing. Barreling past the guards and their attempts to halt her, she ducked into the jail-cave and skidded to a stop in front of Leith.
His eyes widened at her entrance, but she didn’t give him time to comment. “Do you have a plan to rescue Renna?”
He gaped, eyebrows raised. “What?”
“I talked to Keevan and convinced him to talk to you about rescuing Renna, so you’d better have a plan, otherwise he’s not going to listen.” He might not listen anyway, but she was trying to stay positive. “If you don’t have a plan, think up one quick.”
Leith’s smile only tipped the corners of his mouth. “I have a plan. Don’t worry. I’ll stop Renna’s wedding.”
Brandi nodded, but she heard the things that Leith wasn’t saying. His plan would stop the wedding, but he couldn’t guarantee he’d rescue Renna.
It was the best Brandi could ask for at the moment. That was all right. If Leith couldn’t rescue Renna, then Brandi would have to do it, one way or another.
28
Leith didn’t resist as four guards tightened the rope on his wrists and yanked him from the cave. After marching him through the camp, the soldiers dragged him into the big cabin. Shad and Lady Lorraine stood in the entry room. Shad gave him a nod.
As before, Prince Keevan stood near the back of the room, flanked by General Stewart. After tying Leith to a chair, the guards left. General Stewart positioned himself by the door.
Prince Keevan paced closer, crossed his arms, and studied Leith. Leith tried not to squirm. He had nothing to hide and no secrets the prince didn’t already know.
When Prince Keevan spoke, his raspy voice remained even. “It seems I have you to thank for saving my life.”
Leith stared. When had he saved the prince’s life? “I tried to kill you.”
“Yes, you tried to kill me. Tried, but failed. Why? I know you succeeded in killing before that night and you succeeded many times afterwards. So why did you fail to finish the job with me?” Prince Keevan traced the scar along his cheek and neck. “How did you—a well-trained Blade—manage to miss by such a wide margin on an unmoving, helpless victim?”
Leith stared at his boots and swallowed at the memories crowding his chest. He’d pressed his hand over the prince’s mouth, looked into his frightened eyes, and saw another pair of terrified eyes, the eyes of his first kill. “You were my sixth mark, but my second kill. I panicked. I certainly never intended to let you live, and I resolved after that night never to hesitate again.”
And he hadn’t, at least, not until that day he’d left Stetterly when he couldn’t bring himself to draw his knife on Brandi.
“Still, your failure spared my life. It seems I’m in your debt, as much as I don’t wish to be.” Prince Keevan grimaced, one finger rubbing the base of his scar.
“I thank God He used my failures for good. It was certainly no doing of mine.” Leith shook his head. “How did you survive? Respen paraded your bodies around the courtyard after we took the castle.”
“If Addie hadn’t found me, stopped some of the bleeding, and kept me calm, I wouldn’t have survived.” Prince Keevan clasped his hands behind his back and paced. “I had a cousin on my mother’s side. No one important to Respen. No one even remembered he was killed that same night defending my father. After General Stewart helped Addie get me out of Nalgar Castle, he and a few of the soldiers loyal to me swapped my cousin’s body for mine. In the dark with all the blood across his face and hair, his body looked enough like mine to pass.”
Leith glanced at General Stewart. The general hadn’t moved from his position near the door, and his expression hadn’t changed.
“Soldiers loyal to King Leon snuck the bodies out of Nalgar Castle later that night and buried them on the hillside. Supposedly to give them a decent burial. But it was more than that, wasn’t it? They had to keep people from examining the bodies too closely.” Leith turned his gaze back to Prince Keevan.
Prince Keevan nodded. His face remained hard. “I didn’t learn all this until later. I was barely conscious and struggling to breathe when Addie, all by herself, managed to get me to Walden. You had missed the vein in my neck and nicked my throat, but it was a full month before I could even make a sound, much less talk.”
Leith hung his head. All because of him. It had been hard enough dealing with the guilt when Prince Keevan was nothing but a memory to plague him on dark nights. But facing him in person and seeing the ravages of that night still scarred across his face…nothing Leith said or did would ever make up for it. “I’m sorry.”
Prince Keevan’s jaw tightened. “Stop the act. You’re a Blade. You should be sitting there giving me a bunch of excuses as to why you aren’t guilty.”
“I don’t have an excuse. I am guilty.” Leith’s chest ached. Would the guilt ever stop haunting him? Perhaps before God his past and guilt were paid, but here on earth, it remained a blood stain across his hands.
Prince Keevan scowled. “I can’t seem to find a crack to discover if your sincerity is false. I’ve tossed you in a cave, kept you prisoner, yelled at you, destroyed Brandi’s trust in you, and still I haven’t rattled you.”
“Have you considered that I might be exactly who I say I am?” Leith met Prince Keevan’s gaze. “A Blade saved by the grace of God?”
“There it is again! I’ve been a Christian all my life, but even I hesitate to talk about my faith in front of others.” Prince Keevan blew out a loud breath, as if he hadn’t meant to say so much. “So tell me, are your words fake? Whatever it is, you’re good at it. You’ve talked everyone to your side.”
Leith understood Prince Keevan’s need to lash out at him. Prince Keevan’s whole family had been killed by the Blades, yet he’d been given little chance to mourn as he’d been thrust into leading the Resistance. He needed to punish someone for that pain, and Leith happened to be the convenient target.
“I told you. I have nothing to hide. Not my past nor my faith. You wanted the truth, and that’s exactly what I’m telling you.” Leith gritted his teeth. All this arguing was wasting time.
Something about Prince Keevan’s past niggled at him. Leith forced a hard edge to his voice. “If you’ve been alive this whole time, why were Renna and Brandi left in Acktar? Why weren’t they brought to safety at Eagle Heights long ago?”
That cracked Prince Keevan’s hard expression for a moment. “Lord Alistair, General Stewart, and Uncle Laurence decided to keep my survival a secret from everyone besides a select few. At the time, they planned a fast strike to drive Respen from Nalgar before he became too entrenched. But the snow came early that year.”
“I remember.” Leith swallowed. If only he didn’t have to say the next words. But while they were being truthful with each other, Leith couldn’t hold back. “Respen planned to kill Laurence and Annita Faythe that fall, but the snow delayed him.”
“As we learned when the snow let up.” The rasp in Prince Keevan’s voice deepened. “Uncle Laurence and Aunt Annita were killed. And we all realized that taking back Acktar would take time and patience.”
“So why weren’t Renna and Brandi brought to safety then?” L
eith straightened his shoulders. Heat flashed through his chest. Why had Prince Keevan abandoned his cousins to the dangers of Acktar for four and a half years?
“To protect me.” Prince Keevan faced him and planted his feet. “I know what you’re thinking. That I’m a coward to let two young girls take the danger meant for me. Perhaps you’re right.”
He wasn’t going to say it out loud, but yes, that’s exactly what Leith was thinking.
“At the time, I was an eighteen-year-old boy trying to learn how to talk again and still mourning the loss of my entire family. I did what I was told.” He shot a glance at Leith.
Leith raised his eyebrows. He was eighteen. Being young wasn’t an excuse. But Prince Keevan would’ve been raised as the protected and responsibility-free second son. He’d caught a glimpse of the darker side of life the night Leith had tried to kill him. Leith had faced that darkness at six years old.
“I was sent here to Eagle Heights, nothing more than a vacant rock in the forest back then, while Lord Alistair and Lord Lorraine started the Resistance in Acktar on the foundation that a true heir of the Eirdon line remained. To that end, someone from the Eirdon line had to remain in Acktar.”
Leith nodded, putting it together. “Since no one knew you were alive, everyone, including Respen, assumed Renna was the Eirdon heir.”
“Not only did Respen never suspect I was alive, he also dismissed the Resistance as a true threat. Who would believe the Resistance could have any strength when they placed their hope on a young girl too scared to leave her own manor?” Prince Keevan rubbed at the scar across his cheek. “We were able to quietly build this place, our numbers, our weapons, our skills. Leaving Renna vulnerable bought us the time we needed.”
“She shouldn’t have to pay for it now.” Leith flexed his hands against the ropes that bound him. He had one shot to convince Prince Keevan. He couldn’t fail. “Regardless of what you think of me, you can’t abandon her. She shouldn’t have to pay the price for your crown.”
Prince Keevan threw his hands into the air. “The fact of the matter is, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t even get my army into position fast enough.”
Defy (The Blades of Acktar Book 3) Page 15