“Good to see you again,” I said, as Brynjar swept into the room. Even while facing death, I just couldn’t help but taunt the man. There was something about him that bothered me. “You’re looking lovely as always.”
Stoic, unreadable, even Gregor could take lessons from Brynjar. He unlocked the chains that held me to the wall, although my wrists were still bound together. They were leaving nothing to chance.
“I hope you’re prepared for war,” I said, just low enough for Brynjar to hear. “You know my uncle will attack the moment he gets word. He’s been waiting for this. Planning.”
“We are always prepared.”
He would not be baited. Perhaps my uncle would have allowed him to live after all. If the fear of war would not dissuade them, then they were as stupid as the rest of us, thinking it an honor to kill and die.
He gripped my upper arm and led me toward the door. My heart doubled in beat, adrenaline racing through my veins. Moments. I had moments left. Decisions had to be made. “How did you know?”
He didn’t watch me, but his hard, unrelenting gaze scanned the hall, looking for signs of a traitorous attack. He could no longer trust his own soldiers. After all, one had tried to kill the princess. “Know what?”
“How did your people know we would be going that particular route that morning?”
We moved by the many soldiers. All so similar in the way they looked, the way they acted, the way they were brainwashed into believing that killing was honorable. I could hear Gregor behind me, following, his chains rattling like a melody.
“Perhaps my people saw you on patrol and attacked.”
He lied. We moved up the narrow stairs. Each step closer to the main floor brought with the relief of sweet, clean air. “My uncle has a traitor, doesn’t he?”
“Don’t we all,” he muttered as we made it to the ground floor. “This way.”
To die without knowing your traitor, icing on the blasted cake. “Of course, wouldn’t want to be late to my own beheading.”
As we moved down a servant’s hall, the soldiers fell into place. In front of us, behind us, pressed to our sides. We were surrounded. My chest grew tight, and I suddenly found it hard to breathe. I fought the suffocating panic, determined to remain in control. I had a plan. If it didn’t work, I cringed to think about what would happen.
“Any last words, Gregor?” I asked in an overly cheerful voice. “Perhaps a monologue about how much of an honor it has been to work for me?”
“It has been an honor, my lord,” he said from a few steps back.
His words startled me, moved me in a way I didn’t want to admit. Yes, he was angry, but he would not take that anger to the grave. I looked back, met his gaze, and nodded. Brynjar gripped my upper arm and pulled me through a side door, destroying the moment, rude man that he was. Gregor had followed me everywhere. Had always been at my side. And I’d led him here. To this. I had to save him. No matter what.
There was a quiet stillness outside. It seemed as if even the bees had stopped buzzing. The gardens were littered with people waiting, watching, ready to avenge their friends and family with my beheading. Stupid, uneducated fools. Half of them would soon be dead. My uncle would use my beheading as an excuse to go to war again. He’d been waiting for the chance. And as always, the innocent would suffer most.
I looked up at the sky as we walked along the gravel path. The sun was warm, the cool breeze smelling slightly of salt water. If I failed, it was a pretty day to die, I supposed. “Brynjar?”
The soldier glanced at me. “I thought you didn’t know my name.”
I smiled at a small girl with a halo of dark, curly hair, who stood near the path with her mother. She smiled back before her mother noticed and shoved her behind her skirts, as if to protect her. “I might have lied. Of course I know who you are. I know all of the top men in the Acadian army.”
“Well, I suppose I should be honored,” he muttered, his ever-watchful gaze scanning the gardens. I had a feeling he wasn’t looking for my people, as much as he was looking for traitors within his own ranks. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if they had uncovered any plots against the princess, but it wasn’t the right time, nor was it any of my business.
“Brynjar, will you please send word through the traitor to my sister if I die here today, and let her know?”
We followed the curve of the path, between the many sweet-smelling rose bushes where I’d saved Shay. How ironic that I would die here.
“If?”
I shrugged. “Alright, when I die here today will you please tell my sister that I’m sorry.”
He was too bloody noble to mock me. “I will send word.”
Hell, I almost wished he would make fun of me so I could hate him. “And will you tell her to run. Hide. Go to the mountains.”
We turned, and I could see the dais they’d built. The block of wood where I’d rest my neck. The hooded man with his axe. I’d wondered how I would react when I saw that axe glinting in the sunlight; I hadn’t expected the numbness.
“You don’t need to worry, unlike your kingdom, we don’t tend to kill innocent women, Prince Makaiden.”
Yet someone was trying to kill Shay. We moved closer and closer to the dais, gravel crunching underfoot. The heavy crowd around us blurred together. A blob of nameless faces who wanted me dead. “I do not want my sister to flee to the mountains because of you.”
He spared me a glance. I didn’t need to explain more. He knew my uncle. He knew she was in danger. “I will send the note.”
And I knew he would. “Thank you.”
We paused at the dais. A seagull landed a few feet away. It cocked its head to the side, looked quizzically at us, then flew away. I’d assumed I would die by the hands of my uncle. If not him, in battle. I never thought I’d be captured by the enemy. How strange life could be.
“Where there is one, there is another, Brynjar.”
“Your meaning?”
Horns blared, announcing my arrival. “Meaning you must clean your house of all snakes. I highly doubt he was the only one who wanted your princess dead.”
“Do you know something, your highness?”
“Just common sense.”
He looked fully at me. “Why do you care?”
I shrugged, savoring the feel of the breeze rustling my hair. It might be the last time. “Mayhap I’ve grown fond of her stubborn and bold ways.”
I didn’t miss the way his hand tightened on my bicep. “We will protect her.”
Did my comment make him jealous? Protective? Perhaps I’d never know. “And yet you didn’t.”
His jaw clenched but he didn’t bother to look at me. “I don’t believe I’ll miss you.”
I laughed, I couldn’t help myself. “Oh, but I will miss you.”
He ignored me as we moved up the steps and onto the platform. They waited for Gregor to join me. They would kill him first, just so I’d have the fun of watching my soldier die. “Yet another adventure, eh Gregor?”
“The best and the last, my lord.”
“We are charging Makaiden Renair, Prince of Cashel, and Sir Gregor Jones with spying and attempted murder of the Princess,” Brynjar’s voice rang out strong and sure. Bastard couldn’t wait for my death. I was surprised he wasn’t going to swing the axe himself.
As he listed our long line of offenses, I looked up at the balcony, and the stillness of the nobility. I found her immediately, drawn to her like I’d never been drawn to anyone. Not even Amorie. Why, it appeared, would remain a mystery.
She stood there in the shadows, watching, waiting, so quiet it moved me for some reason. A roar of feeling hit me all at once. Regret. Anger. Desire. She wore a dark green dress that molded to her lush figure. I wondered if she knew that green was the color of my kingdom. Doubtful. Brynjar continued to list our deeds…some true, others not. It didn’t matter.
Regret, anger, frustration, sorrow, it rolled over me again and again in a wave that wouldn’t cease. I wished sh
e’d go inside. If my plan failed, I didn’t want her to get hurt.
Gregor closed his eyes and said a prayer to the gods under his breath. A prayer we’d been taught as children. It would make no difference. How many times had I prayed to the gods, yet had received no answer? Every damn time. I needed no comfort from beings too arrogant to care when we mere mortals suffered. So instead, I stared at her. She was the only thing at the moment that brought me any sense of peace.
As if drawn to me, she moved to the railing, and into the light. Her hair had been piled atop her head, decorated with a sliver of silver ribbon, a few loose curls danced around her pretty face. She’d stepped into her role well. Princess of Acadia. She would be a good ruler, if they allowed her. If my uncle allowed it.
If they went to war my uncle would destroy them all. I knew without doubt. He would not rest until every single family member, no matter how far removed, died. She would be killed by his hands and he would enjoy every moment. The flowers that currently bloomed in the gardens surrounding us, the pristine white of the castle, the unicorns that were seen along the edges of the forest…destroyed.
Unless…
Unless I stopped him.
“Allow the prisoners their last words,” General Gunvaldsson called out from his exalted position near the princess. Her aunt was also there, quiet and watchful.
For a brief moment the world held its breath, as it awaited our response. I tore my gaze from Shay and looked at Gregor. He stood stoically beside me, ready to meet his fate. I had the sudden urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. He might be ready to die, however, I wasn’t so keen to go. Not yet. Not this way.
Determined, I stepped closer to the edge of the platform and cleared my throat. Her gaze met mine. My head spun; my stomach tightened. She dared me to say something. I could see it in her eyes. Shay might not care for me, but she didn’t want me to die.
I tore my gaze from the princess and focused on the general. “Before you kill me, you should know one thing…”
My voice rang clear and loud, not a quiver. The area went silent. I swore even the birds stopped chirping, the waves in the distance stopped roaring. It had to work. If it didn’t, I feared what would happen.
“I know where to find a fairy hive.”
A murmured gasp rang through the crowds. I felt Gregor stiffen beside me. Well, I’d gotten their attention, at least. Gregor would hate me forever, think me a traitor. But at least I would save him, save me. Hopefully.
Shay’s aunt leaned toward the general, whispering something in his ear. The older man stood. He rested his hands on the railing and stared hard at me. My heart stopped for a brief moment as I waited to see how he would respond. “Bring them to the great hall at once.”
Relief was immediate. It had worked…maybe. There was a moment’s confusion. A wave of murmured conversation roared from the crowd as people turned toward each other in bewilderment. There would be no beheading at the moment. The sudden thunder of footsteps shook the dais. Firm fingers gripped my arms, dragging me down the steps. I didn’t have time to look back at Shay.
“What have you done?” Gregor growled behind me.
“Bought us some time.”
Gregor elbowed his way up next to me, his face furious. “Only for your uncle to kill us? When he uncovers the truth, he will have you tried for treason! If you had died here, you would have been a hero!”
He would have been a hero. That’s what he had thought about when he stood there facing death. He would be a hero. Did he not understand that I had given us time? I had saved our hides? We reached the side door of the castle. Or did it not matter to him? Was he so obsessed with being a martyr that he’d lost his common sense?
“My uncle will only find out if you admit all to him,” I hissed.
“You told me he wouldn’t tell you where the hive is located.”
And that was what he was truly angry about, that I’d kept a secret from him.
We were shoved down the hall, the thunder of footsteps matching the thunder of my heart beat. Part of me wondered what the hell I’d done. Most of me knew it was my only course. The alternative would have been death, destruction.
“You’ve given them the only power we hold,” Gregor snarled behind me, unable to let it go. “You’ve done more than betray your uncle, you’ve put our entire kingdom in jeopardy.”
Did he think I didn’t know? “Sometimes you have to risk everything to win.”
Brynjar gripped my upper arm and pulled me into the family hall before Gregor could respond. “Take the other prisoner to the dungeon.”
****
Wary, suspicious, they stared at me from down the table. I hadn’t been allowed to sit, but stood near the windows, my wrists still chained. Even though I was one man in a sea of over ten, they watched me as if I was going to attempt an escape at any moment. Lunge myself against the window, then dart across the garden, dragging my chains behind me. They didn’t believe me. They didn’t trust me. I didn’t blame them.
The general crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking under his weight. “If this is a ploy—”
“Then you kill me.”
He went silent. Brynjar was seated beside him, watching me closely. The other soldiers stood at attention around the room. They didn’t dare look at me directly, but I knew they were completely aware of every move I made. The general flipped open a book. A map of the kingdoms. “Where?”
“Mountains.”
I answered his questions quickly, without pause.
He studied the map, his gray brows drawn together over piercing blue eyes. Eyes that almost reminded me of Shay’s eyes. Hell, I was truly going insane if I saw Shay in this old, battle worn brute.
“Near the fjords?”
“Yes.”
The door opened. The soldiers jumped to life, saluting as Shay swept inside. My heart paused its beat. My mouth went dry. Damn her. Why did my body betray me when she was near? Why did I notice everything about her at once? From the way that curl caressed her neck, to the fact that she wore no gloves even though most women did. I swore she brought with the sweet scent of flowers, and I was highly aware of my own unwashed body stinking up the room.
The general and Brynjar stood, waiting for her. A servant rushed to the table to pull out a chair. She looked completely flabbergasted and embarrassed by it all. I couldn’t help but smile. She might look the princess, but she still hadn’t accepted her new role completely.
“My lady,” the general said. “You shouldn’t be in here. It’s dangerous.”
She glanced at me and lifted a brow. The amusement in her eyes matched my own. “He’s chained. There are, like, ten soldiers. I think I’ll be okay.”
I had to bite back my laugh.
The general frowned. “He might say something, my lady, that is not for delicate ears.”
She gave him a pointed look that said he was insane, and that time a laugh did escape my lips. A laugh that gained a glare from the general, but a small, secretive smile from Shay. My sister would adore her. For some reason I wanted my sister to like Shay.
“I lived in New York City.” Shay settled in the chair. “My ears are far from delicate at this point.”
He sighed, sounding tired. “Very well.”
My uncle would never have allowed a female to attend our meetings. Yet another difference between our two kingdoms. Not that the Acadian men wanted her here. It was obvious they were uncomfortable by her presence. Did she realize that if she continued to disrupt their safe little lives, they would resent her? Of course not, she’d never ruled anyone. The man who’d tried to kill her was proof that not everyone was happy to have her home.
I frowned, looking at Brynjar. Did he understand how incredibly tenacious her position was? Would he protect her even from his own men? The soldier’s hands lay curled upon the tabletop. He was doing everything in his power not to look at Shay, although I could tell his focus was entirely upon her. A cold
wash of realization hit me hard. Hell, the bastard liked her. More than liked her. He wanted her.
“So,” Shay started. “Please, someone explain to me what a fairy hive is and why we need it?”
She looked directly at me, and I supposed I should have been flattered that she trusted me enough. However, I didn’t dare respond. I knew my place here and I wasn’t about to stir the cauldron more than I had. Until we left, I’d be meek, obedient. How Gregor would laugh at that. But thinking of Gregor only made me morose and so I shoved thoughts of my family, friends, to the dark recesses of my mind.
“A fairy hive is where they store their magic,” the general explained. “That magic is how everything here has evolved; it’s how we live.”
She frowned. “So, like our electricity and our natural resources on the Earthen plane?”
“I suppose,” the general replied, but it was obvious he understood as little of what she said as the rest of us. “If your electricity is what runs your homes, your lives. Gives you power. Right now, we have a treaty with the fairies. They give us fairy dust.”
“And what do you give them in return?” she asked warily.
Smart. She’d learned not to trust us. How would she react to the truth?
Before the general could answer, her aunt came fluttering into the room, in a flurry of mauve skirts and motherly concern. “There you are.”
I’d met the old woman a time or two, before my father had died. She was always kind, if a bit nervous around us. She’d struck me as the sort of woman who didn’t quite know what to do with her power, who would rather be surrounded by children, and knitting in a parlor than talking strategies with the general.
She leaned over and kissed the top of Shay’s head, making her blush. “Rallora, dear, you really shouldn’t be in here.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell the old woman that the princess preferred Shay, however I knew the bemused looks that little tidbit would receive.
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