by Randi Darren
“Oh?” Alex asked, curious.
“Yes. She’s been working with Anna, I think. She offered me arguments and a deal I don’t think she could have managed on her own,” Leah said, annoyance tinging her voice. “Your little wife is far too… much, at times.”
“You’re telling me,” Alex said. Then his smile slowly faltered. “So… what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to? Something about to go wrong? Something about to go right? Forgive me, but you’re a bit of a herald of fate at times.”
“I can’t really answer that. But what I can say is you’re about to hit the roughest patch of the road you’ve traveled on so far,” Leah said. “And when the time comes, choose the knight and the medallion. That’s as much as I can say.”
Alex nodded his head to that and then changed the conversation.
***
“Lord!” shouted a guard from the front area of the manse. “Royal guards are coming to the manse!”
Royal guard? This must be what Leah mentioned earlier today.
Alex frowned, thinking.
He’d already pocketed the medallion Patrick had brought with him. Alex assumed that was what Leah had meant by medallion. As for the knight, he’d assumed it was Eleanor. She was the only knight he knew of.
To that end, he’d asked her personally to be his bodyguard around the house since then. Nannie and Carla were off working something else to further his goals, with Sylvia and Valeria in tow.
“Don’t fight them; let them in,” Alex called back, getting up out of his chair. Turning to Eleanor, Alex smiled at her. “That goes double for you. I’m going to surrender peacefully. You’re coming with me, so don’t fight them. Yet. Okay?”
“I understand, Master Alex,” Eleanor said. “And… and for what it’s worth, you may not follow the codes of nobility, ethics, or honor, but you do your best for your own. If I should fall…”
Ah, this would be the time, wouldn’t it?
“I release you from your oaths to me, Eleanor,” Alex said, the sharp retort of the contract shattering in his ears.
“I… I… what?” Eleanor asked, looking confused and scared. “I don’t want to be released though.”
Alex shrugged. “And yet you are. What will you do?”
“I… I don’t know…” Eleanor said. From the front of the house, there was a loud clatter. It sounded like someone was speaking through the door, but Alex couldn’t make it out. “I… tell me to re-bind myself to you, Alex. Tell me!”
Raising his eyebrows at that, Alex said nothing.
“Tell me to pledge myself to you, Alex. Tell me it now!” Eleanor said in a husky voice, moving toward him. “Tell me it. Tell me to do it! Order me!”
Alex still said nothing.
“Please?” Eleanor asked, her voice crackling. “I want to pledge myself to you. But I need you to tell me to do it. I want it. Tell me.”
There was a boom at the front door, followed by a shouted voice.
“Please, Alex. I love you. Please—I want this. Tell me to do it. I can’t do it for myself,” Eleanor said. She was standing in front of him, tears in her eyes as her hands clutched at the bottom of his tunic. “Please.”
Lowering his eyes, Alex let out a breath. “Pledge yourself to me, Eleanor. I want you to be my Six.”
“I do so swear!” Eleanor said quickly, a wide and frightening smile on her face. “I pledge myself to you in mind, body, and soul, Alexander Brit. Just as you told me to do.”
The tromp and clod of boots announced that the Royal Guard had been allowed into the house, just as Alex had ordered.
Turning away from Alex, Eleanor took up her position at his side.
“Alexander Brit,” said a man with short brown hair and green eyes. The markings on his helmet—and because it looked so fancy—made him an officer of some sort. “By order of His Highness, King Glint, you’re under arrest.”
Ah! Then the medallion would be for now.
Pulling out the medallion, Alex held it out in front of him. He didn’t know the significance of it, but he assumed there was some since Leah had mentioned it.
“To be clear, you’re telling me that King Glint is arresting the officially appointed and designated ambassador for King Harold, as per the laws set down by the emperor himself,” Alex said, the medallion slowly spinning back and forth.
The man stared at the medallion, the color in his face slowly draining away.
“I…” started the man, still watching the medallion.
“You…?” Alex asked.
“I… yes, I’m here to arrest Alexander Brit,” said the man.
“The official representative of King Harold, appointed per Imperial law. Which also grants me immunity to arrest,” Alex said. “Do please clarify that you’re violating Imperial law. That King Glint is violating Imperial law.”
“I’m arresting you, on the order of King Glint,” the man said.
“And violating Imperial law,” Alex said, giving the medallion a good swing. “You say that, and I’ll happily go with you. Otherwise… otherwise, we’ll see what happens.”
There was the soft rasp of metal from beyond the man—from what Alex assumed were his own soldiers and guards
The six royal guards seemed to be rethinking their position. They’d marched right into a wolf den and made demands.
“I’m… arresting you on the order of King Glint, which violates Imperial law,” said the man through clenched teeth. “You may have one servant accompany you.”
“I choose Six,” Alex said, indicating the woman next to him. Smiling, he slipped the medallion over his head and made sure it was very visible.
“Consider me illegally arrested,” Alex said. “Am I and my servant to be given the rights and privileges of my rank and station? Or is the most estimable Glint going to further break Imperial law?”
“He’s said nothing of that to me,” said the man.
“I understand,” Alex said, then cleared his throat. “Saoirse?”
“I’m here,” said the princess from around the corner.
“Do be a dear, and send a formal letter to the emperor that one… What’s your name?” Alex said, looking to the man.
“Captain… Dilt,” said the man.
“One Captain Dilt has illegally arrested me on the illegal orders of your father, and that on top of that, I’ve been given no promises or guarantees as per my station demands,” Alex said.
“Now… see here, I’m not going to allow—”
“You’re going to allow it,” Alex said, interrupting the man. “Or we go back to ‘otherwise’ and see where we end up.”
“I’ll go myself,” Saoirse said.
“That’d be grand. You’re a peach, dear,” Alex said. That would make Glint’s life a living hell. Alex trusted Saoirse because she had no alternative. She was sworn to him in such a way that even an intent to betray him would probably have her dead.
Instantly.
On top of that, there was nothing the emperor could do to her that would force her to speak if she didn’t want to.
“Be sure to send letters to all the other kings in the kingdom as well,” Alex said. “Wouldn’t want anyone to not know what’s going on. I’d say arrive a few days after the letter to the emperor arrives explaining everything that’s happened.”
To prevent the emperor from simply having them all killed out of hand.
“Now, shall we have tea while we wait for those messengers to be sent?” Alex asked Captain Dilt.
***
The wagon Alex and Eleanor had been shoved into bumped and roared down the road. Hurtling onward toward King Glint.
It’d stopped three times so far.
Twice for a meal, and once to sleep.
Alex pitied the horses.
“I can’t believe he arrested you,” Eleanor said for perhaps the sixth time.
“I can,” Alex said with a chuckle. “He probably has just enough evidence to make a basic case against me for something. Certainly
not as an ambassador, though.
“Apparently this thing is more important than I thought it was.”
Looking down at the medallion on his chest, Alex had apparently underestimated just how much the thing meant.
It meant Harold had expected him to easily fall into his trap with it.
Though… does that mean the regent was toying with me long enough to send a message to Glint, get one back, and then respond? All to set me up for arrest?
I could see that happening. I’d do it.
Hm.
Alex felt like the wagon was starting to slow down. When he paid special attention to his hearing, it sounded like there was a lot less urgency to the hooves of the horses.
“Either something happened, or we’re there,” Alex muttered.
“We’re there,” Eleanor said. Then she sighed and ran her hands over her pants. She was wearing a set of men’s noble clothes. Her armor and weapons had been left with Saoirse.
Slowly, the speed of the wagon continued to come down until it reached little more than an idle ride through the city.
With a light jolt, the whole thing came to a stop.
A second after that and the door was jerked open. In front of the door was a cage. It was made of flat metal bars, and it was open for all the world to see.
“Put him in the cage. Have his whore handed out and then put to death,” called a bored voice that Alex instantly recognized as Glint’s.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Alex cried out. “She’s the daughter of the baron of Rift, and the rightful heir to those titles. Unless you’re saying you’d like to break a third Imperial edict?”
“What?” demanded Glint.
Getting out of the wagon, Alex looked around. He was in the middle of a military field camp. Glint sat to one side in a gilded throne.
“She’s the daughter of the baron of Rift. An appointed knight, and properly documented,” Alex said. “You’ve already broken two Imperial edicts, both of which are being reported to the emperor himself. By your daughter.
“Would you like to make it three? I can’t imagine setting aside three Imperial laws for a single man. Even a king.”
Glaring at Alex as if he were everything wrong with the world, Glint seemed to be weighing his options.
“She… your wife is going to see the emperor?” Glint asked, his tone frosty.
“Indeed. After sending letters to every single kingdom about what was happening,” Alex said with a smile. Then he held up the medallion. “You did arrest a formally appointed ambassador, after all. Then I was told I would be denied all my rights as a count.”
Glint stared at the medallion as if it were a snake he’d only just now noticed.
Time began to tick by. Alex said and made no move. Though he did make sure to hold the medallion up so everyone watching could see it.
“It would seem… I’ve been lied to,” Glint said, his fingers drumming on the arm of his chair.
Oh? Poor regent.
You’re going to get blamed for this.
“Please escort our guest to private accommodations,” Glint said. “We’ll… speak again soon. At dinner.”
“Eleanor and I will be delighted to attend you for the meal,” Alex said, bowing his head slightly. “I assume you’ll provide us with transport back to your capital tomorrow? Or would you prefer I assume my ambassadorial role here with you?”
Sneering at Alex’s words, Glint shook his head. “We’ll discuss it another time.”
“As you like,” Alex said, letting the medallion finally drop. He was taken away quickly; the open cage apparently wasn’t going to be his home after all.
Chapter 34
Alex had no idea how long he’d been sitting in the dark cell. Everything blended together when one didn’t have a clock, the sun, or the moon.
They’d fed him thrice, though the times between those feedings had left him hungry. Very hungry.
He’d begun to think that perhaps they were only feeding him once a day. Which meant they really were breaking with Imperial law regarding the treatment of the peerage.
They must be doing what they felt best trying to break Alex down. To make him compliant and get him to tell them what they wanted.
It was a question of time before they resorted to beating him, he imagined. Or torturing him.
And that means… very bad things for Eleanor, doesn’t it?
Alex closed his eyes and pressed his hands to his face at the very thought of it.
All he could do now was trust in the fact that Leah had told him to take Eleanor, and that she’d be safe. That she wasn’t being brutalized at the hands of Glint and his subordinates.
Unless Leah hadn’t meant Eleanor at all. She didn’t say ‘take Eleanor’ now did she? She’d said to choose the knight. I interpreted that as I felt best.
Leah didn’t choose Eleanor, I did.
Growling, Alex did his best to rearrange his thoughts and mind again. The lack of food and time was eating away at him, along with his surplus of doubts. Eating away at his ability to think clearly. To prepare. To plan.
To do what he did best.
Invalidating his ability to think.
“And that’s what he wants, isn’t it?” Alex said aloud to himself. Taking action to the thought he’d just had, he lay down on his side. “Fine. Then I’ll fight this with what I have available to me. He wants to starve me and break me down? Fine. We’ll make that happen and much faster than he expects. Then he can deal with the consequences. We’ll just not say anything to anyone.”
Nodding his head, Alex made his choice.
Closing his eyes, he was determined to do… absolutely nothing. He wouldn’t eat, drink, speak, or move.
When they brought his next meal, he resisted and didn’t touch it.
And when they came for the tray and shouted at him, questioning why he hadn’t eaten, he didn’t respond.
He didn’t even move.
When his jailor came in and kicked him, Alex merely rolled over and curled up into the fetal position. Then he lay unmoving again.
This series of events happened once more before a set of guards dragged him out of his cold, dark cell. Alex didn’t fight it. He gave no response to anything anyone did, other than to protect himself.
He didn’t even raise his head or open his eyes.
And when they dropped him into a chair, Alex let himself slide out of it, and he lay down on the floor. He curled up into the fetal position and did nothing more.
Much to the consternation of the guards.
Though they didn’t hurt him, he got the impression they were furious with his actions.
Under all that, though, was a sense of fear.
One shouldn’t bluff with a person who will call you on it.
You want to starve me? I’ll starve myself.
You want to break me? I’ll break myself and shut down.
Let’s see what happens when you’re called to account, because eventually you will be.
“You will sit in the chair!” shouted a guard.
Alex didn’t respond. He didn’t need to do anything. The simple reality was his plan was working.
“Get him up,” said the same guard. “Pick him up by the arms.”
“He looks awful,” said someone else. “We’re going to—”
“Shut up,” said the first guard again. “Shut up and… and get him in the chair.”
A number of hands lifted him up off the ground and got him back into the chair.
No sooner had they let him go, Alex promptly let himself flop out of it. Seeking to lie curled up on the floor.
“Gods damn you!” screamed the first guard. Alex assumed this man was their sergeant or corporal. “Sit in the damn chair, or I’ll make you regret it.”
Oh? Go for it.
Let’s see what you’ve got. I bet I pass out as soon as you start doing anything to me.
Though the next logical threat is what they’ll do to Eleanor.
A
s much as it pains me to think of it… it’s unlikely they haven’t already done the worst to her. Using her as a threat only puts more importance on her.
If I respond, they’ll think it’s a valid lever. No.
The only way to get out of this alive, as intact as possible, is to continue as I’ve done.
For Eleanor, I’ll… I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it up to her afterward.
I’ll trust in Leah that her directions were correct.
Curling up on the ground, Alex waited, saying nothing.
There was the sound of a door opening and then closing.
“Leave,” said Glint.
“But sire—”
“Leave. Now,” said Glint again.
Alex could hear the trod of boots as they left, followed by the door closing.
“I suppose I should have expected something like this,” Glint said. “I take it you have no plan to eat, drink, or talk to me then?”
Alex thought on it. This would be an opportunity to set the precedent and move from there. He only really needed to say it once, after all.
“You were starving me, keeping me in the dark, you separated me from my companion, and you were treating me as a prisoner,” Alex said. “So, I’m jumping to the end point. If your goal is to punish me, I’ll punish you. When my body shows up as a corpse, emaciated, pale, and sickly, I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time explaining it away. Think fondly of me when you’re swinging from a noose and your daughter is carrying my child. So much for the royal line.”
Glint didn’t respond to that.
Alex had said what he wanted to. Unless the king could offer up something new or different, this conversation was over.
“What if I gave you better living accommodations?” Glint asked finally.
“I do believe you already had the chance to give me those,” Alex said. “You did not. Nor have I seen my companion since you ordered her raped and murdered.
“Your honor, integrity, and word leave much to be desired. I’ll have to actually see proof before I do anything. Just remember… think of me as my child grows in your daughter’s womb and your feet dangle on the Imperial gallows.