Seize the Crown

by Gemma Perfect

  And yet within a few days it will all be over. Everleigh will be Queen. Millard will be locked away. Dead. It won’t be her call to make.

  Will is lying on his bed and when he sees her he shifts over to make room for her. They lay next to each other, looking at the ceiling, crying.

  How many times have they cried this last week?

  “Do you know, she never looked twice at me. I don’t know if she even knew I liked her. Loved her. She was so perfect. So lovely. Funny. Kind. The way her hair fell, so prettily. Her eyes, her smile. She had a lovely smile.”

  Ginata lets him talk.

  “I didn’t think she’d ever love me. Even if she knew I loved her. I’m just a fool.”

  “You’re not though. You are one of the wisest people I know. One day someone will see past the fool thing.”

  “Maybe. Probably not.”

  “What made you love her? How did you know?”

  “I just loved her. She didn’t say or do anything except be herself. I just fell in love. She’s perfect. She was perfect.”

  “She did the bravest thing. She saved Everleigh and Addyson. She did two wonderful things.”

  “She was wonderful. I know she wasn’t perfect really. She told Everleigh’s secret. She could be selfish and silly and ditsy. But that’s love. You can’t help who you fall in love with. And maybe when two people are in love, if she had loved me, we would have made each other better. Like I wouldn’t have been so foolish and she wouldn’t have been so selfish, like we would have smoothed each other’s edges out.”

  Ginata’s mind flashes briefly onto Millard. Could she smooth out his edges? Why was she even thinking about him?

  Will squeezes her hand. “I miss Everleigh.”

  “I know. We’ll go tonight. It’s almost time for supper. Let’s eat, then when it’s night time proper, we’ll sneak off. Are you still being followed?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “There was no one outside when I got here.”

  They are silent then, each thinking their own thoughts, neither knowing what the other is thinking.

  The door slams open making them both jump. Wolf and Brett barge in.

  “Get up fool!” Brett says, grinning nastily.

  Will stands up, heart sinking, stomach twisting. Before Lanorie’s earlier capture, he had been hauled up in front of Millard to use as bait to bring Everleigh out of hiding. He was hoping that had been forgotten.

  “The King wants you.”

  “I can walk,” Will says as Wolf tries to take his arms. “I won’t run away.”

  Ginata goes to Will’s side. “Will does whatever the King wants. You know what that’s like, Wolf.”

  Wolf doesn’t answer, but doesn’t make a move to manhandle Will.

  Ginata holds Will’s hand but stays silent, and they head to the King’s rooms.

  “Will!” Millard’s voice is loud and full of bonhomie; it hits both Will and Ginata that he has forgotten all about killing Lanorie. Or just doesn’t care.

  It also hits Ginata that he has forgotten all about their kiss. Or just doesn’t care.

  Either is as likely.

  “I apologise again, my fool, but without the handmaiden I need to draw Everleigh out. I need you.”

  Will nods and bows low. “My King. I am happy to assist, but I fear...” He cannot finish his sentence; he doesn’t want to give Millard any ideas, though he has plenty of despicable ones of his own.

  “You fear what? Me?” Millard moves closer to Will, just inches between their noses. His voice has that dangerously nonchalant, high pitched, innocent edge to it and Will feels his toes curl under, helping to balance him, making sure he doesn’t sway or fall.

  “My King. I understand your position and you must do what you must do.”

  Millard grins and steps backwards. “Not so foolish after all. Wolf. Brett. Take him to the tower and we’ll put word out tomorrow to all of the villages in the Realm; the fool will be hanged unless my sister comes forward.”

  The two rush forward and take an arm each, carting Will away.

  Millard nods as he watches them go. He smiles at Ginata. “Do you think I’m terrible? A monster?”

  “My King. You’re King. How can I judge?”

  Millard walks towards her, a sweet smile on his face; the way he changes personality so often and so completely are baffling. He is so dangerous.

  “I have to say, Ginata, I had my doubts about you, you helped Halfreda and Halfreda helped my sister, and so I thought...but I can see that you serve only me. You’re good for me and the castle.”

  “Thank you, my King.” Ginata takes a tiny step backwards, more of a shuffle than a step; she doesn’t want him to see her move. But as she squirms away from him, keeping a comely smile on her face, he leans in to her and she knows that while he is King she will never get away, if she even wants to.

  He swoops then, one arm around her waist, hand on her back, pulling her towards him. Her knees buckle, but not from desire or from fear but a strange and potent mixture of the two.

  His kiss is as warm and sweet as before. His body pressed against her is not unpleasant but the feeling in her heart is. Shame.

  Will is in the tower, Lanorie is dead and she is kissing the King.

  Ginata

  SHAME ON ME. BECAUSE as he kisses me, I don’t stop him and while I am afraid of him, I also kind of like it. I tell myself it is just the fear of upsetting someone who will kill me if I make him unhappy and my female brain being taken in by a handsome face, a good kiss and the power he wields.

  But the shame is real all the same; whatever I tell myself.

  And yet I can’t help but feel a little bit smug that I handle him so well. Like earlier, when I told him I couldn’t judge him because he’s King. It was the right thing to say and I always know the right thing to say to him. I know what makes him tick, know what will make him happy.

  If he was going to rule or even live past the weekend, it would be worth me cultivating that knowledge. Make him think I am in love with him, make him think my devotion goes further than King and wise woman, that I feel real affection for him. It would be a handy game to play.

  But there are mere days left. And I am glad. Once Everleigh is Queen I won’t have to acknowledge what Millard and I have done.

  I’ll go to Everleigh tonight, tell her about Lanorie. Her heart will break. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news. She will be hoping that she’s just missing, or lost, but to know that Millard has captured her and killed her will devastate her. So soon after Archer’s death as well. And now with Will being held prisoner, there’s two lots of bad news.

  We need to work out a plan to rescue Will. We’ve rescued Addyson and Lanorie so far, despite Lanorie’s additional capture and murder; we should be able to rescue Will, with Weaver and Ceryn around to help.

  I also must convince her to stay hidden. Millard’s hope is that she will come out of hiding to rescue Will. We cannot let her do that. The risk is too great.

  It’s all too much for me and I close my eyes and turn my vision inwards, focussing on myself. My lips feel warm, like Millard’s kiss has left an actual mark. My stomach though is in a twist of knots; how is murder suddenly so common place, the rescue of prisoners so regular?

  The change in my simple little life is dizzying.

  I wish I was at home, in my little cottage, sipping a brew with my lovely neighbours and waiting for my next customer. Instead I’m holed up in a castle full of intrigue, risks and death, like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

  I like my life when I feel at peace with myself. I don’t feel peaceful anymore.

  My eyes are still shut and yet the tears sneak out from behind my closed eyelids.

  The past cannot be undone; how many customers have I had who wished it could be. I would help and counsel them, give them some potion or other, but ultimately the truth was that: what’s done is done.

  The old King is dead.

  Macsen
is dead.

  Halfreda is dead.

  Archer is dead.

  Lanorie is dead.

  Will can’t be next.

  I will sit through supper with the King and his horrific henchman, Wolf, and when I go to Everleigh, after dark, I will take some potions – some tonics – to lift spirits and calm worried hearts.

  Everleigh will be beside herself; they all will.

  I feel bad again. And yet, they know I am showing fealty to Millard now. It can hardly be my fault if that fealty involves a little kissing. It certainly wasn’t my tactic.

  I busy myself in my work room, finding potions, some herbs to throw on the fire, a lotion to massage into the temples before sleep.

  I cannot believe Lanorie is dead and yet this world I find myself in now holds no time for grieving, no let up. We are in the middle of a war against this mad King and we must stay alert, ready for the next battle.

  And now this new battle. We cannot save Lanorie, but we must save Will.

  And I must save myself.

  27

  GINATA MAKES IT THROUGH supper, smiling at Millard and ignoring Wolf. She excuses herself from the dancing and the singers and goes to her rooms. She paces, sits, paces, sits, paces and sits. She is worrying about Will, alone in the tower and she is worried about herself.

  Eventually she lights a fire, kneels in front of it and stares in to the flames. Can she read anything there? Any help? Will Everleigh rule after Saturday? Will Millard die?

  She is a good person, she helps people. She is only in this mess because she wanted to help Halfreda who wanted to help Everleigh.

  What does she want?

  The flames lick higher and her vision blurs, the heat makes her woozy as she tries to see Everleigh with the crown, tries to see what will happen next. She didn’t see Lanorie’s death; why can’t she see anything?

  She knows why. Her mind is in such turmoil that she cannot harness her powers, her sight. She needs peace and calm and she does not have it. She may never have it again.

  The flames reveal nothing.

  And she knew they wouldn’t.

  Maybe they never will again.

  Maybe she will help to crown Everleigh and then run away where her shame cannot reach her.

  Or maybe she will spend the whole of Everleigh’s reign making it up to her. Helping her, guiding her, steering her right.

  Maybe she will run away with Millard and save everyone the bother of killing him.

  She buries her head in her hands and groans.

  WILL IS SITTING ON the floor and wondering if he is in the same prison cell as Lanorie was. She must have been so frightened. He is frightened. He doesn’t want to admit it, but really it doesn’t matter if he does; there is no one here to tell. He is alone.

  He doesn’t like being alone.

  He thinks back over his life. It hasn’t been very long and he was hoping it would go on for many more years, but now he has to accept the possibility of his death. Not an easy thing for anyone to do.

  So many people have died in the last week. Will he be next?

  There are only three people that he will miss and one of them is already dead. He chokes back a sob as he thinks the word.

  Dead.

  It’s so final, so harsh.

  Lanorie is dead. He will never hear her singing in the kitchen again and howling with indignation when Cook clips her around the ear. He won’t see her in the great hall, carrying platters of food and jugs of ale with an ease that she didn’t have outside of her work. She wasn’t graceful, not really. She was simple and plain and so, so lovely.

  Missing her hurts like a physical pain. Not like. It is a physical pain. A physical manifestation of his emotional turmoil.

  He lays on the bed. Had her head laid on this same bed, her warm body? Her poor dead body.

  He has to take his thoughts elsewhere and thinks about his father.

  Not his real father of course. He has never met his real parents, and he has no idea who they were. He was abandoned and found by the man he now considers to be his real father. The man who loved and raised him, alone, because who would ever love a fool?

  Well, he loves his father and his father loves him. He remembers how they had talked, and laughed and hugged after Millard had threatened his father. “Son, I love you and you must do what is right by that girl, the girl who will be Queen. If you are willing to believe in her and serve her, so am I. Even if it means my life is over.”

  That was a father. Will is crying again. He has lived a small life really, in comparison to some, but he has lived an honest and happy life.

  Now all he can do is wait.

  And hope that Everleigh doesn’t risk her life for his, that Ginata convinces her to stay safe, that she is crowned and then as Queen comes and opens the door to his tower and he is free.

  Or Millard comes with a sword and kills him.

  ONCE THE LAST FLAME in her fireplace fizzles away to nothing Ginata pulls on a cloak, picks up her filled basket and heads out of the castle. She knows Millard and all his hangers on will be too busy enjoying the evening’s entertainment to miss her and she wants to get to the cottage before everyone beds down for the night.

  She is quick getting there and is relieved to see the lamps still on inside both cottages. She goes to her own cottage first and gently knocks while pushing the door open, taking a deep breath to steady herself for the bad news she has to deliver.

  But there is already sadness in the room, it’s palpable. Weaver and Finn aren’t there but the four females are. Della is brushing and plaiting Addyson’s hair. Ceryn is chewing on a twig and Everleigh is blotchy from crying. They must be worried sick just wondering where Lanorie is and now Ginata has to deliver the worst possible news.

  Everleigh rushes to Ginata’s side and they hold each other tightly. “I have some news about Lanorie,” Ginata says.

  Everleigh pulls back. “We know. Ceryn and Weaver were there. They saw it.”

  Ginata puffs out a big sigh of air. What a terrible mess all of their lives are at the moment. “How? I didn’t think you’d know...”

  “She went for a walk, but never came back,” Della volunteers the information because Everleigh is crying again.

  “She was captured by one of the King’s men. He recognised her.”

  “Poor Lanorie...”

  “Me and Weaver went looking for her on our horses and we saw the King kill her. He’s bloody evil.”

  Ginata nods, thinking of his lips on hers. “He is. I’m so sorry Everleigh.”

  “We went back. Everleigh made a fire for her.”

  “Oh, poor poor things.”

  Ginata hugs Everleigh again and reaches over and touches Ceryn’s hair. She sinks on to the arm of the chair. Now she has to tell Everleigh about Will. Or should she just tell Ceryn? No, Everleigh would never forgive her. She has to know the whole story.

  “I have to tell you something, but you have to promise not to fly off the handle. It’s what your brother wants. Please.”

  “Will?” Everleigh knows.

  Ginata nods her head. “He’s only in the tower, but...” She hangs her head, crying. She cannot bear to say it.

  “What?” Everleigh’s voice is harsh, and everyone has moved closer to hear. The door pushes open and everybody jumps.

  Finn and Weaver wince as they slope inside. “Sorry.”

  Weaver takes in Ginata’s presence and the sick look on Everleigh’s face. “What now?”

  “Millard’s taken Will. He’s in the tower.”

  “There’s more, but Ginata won’t say.”

  Ginata sighs and holds up her hands. “Fine, but Everleigh, you have to promise to stay calm.”

  Everleigh nods.

  “Look, he’s only taken him to get you out of hiding, so you have to promise to stay hiding. To stay safe...”

  “Tell me.”

  “He says he’s going to send messengers to all of the villages tomorrow to spread the word that if you don’t
come out of hiding, by noon, he’ll hang him.”

  Everleigh doubles over, hand over her mouth, rushes out of the door and retches into the bushes.

  They all follow her out.

  “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t lose him too.”

  She’s on her knees, sick dripping from her mouth and still every one of them would die for her, is desperate for her to be their Queen.

  “I have to go to him.”

  “No!” More than one voice shouts out but Everleigh shakes her head.

  “I cannot let him die. I cannot see one more person I love die.”

  Ceryn kneels next to her. “We’ll all go. In the morning. Don’t rush off like a fool. Think like a Queen.”

  They both stand up. Ceryn ushers her back inside and they all congregate around her.

  “We could all do with a good night’s sleep...” Della says.

  “We need a plan,” Weaver says.

  “I’ll be happy to help kick Millard’s ass after what I saw earlier.” Ceryn grimaces.

  “I can help, if you need me to.” Finn looks almost embarrassed offering his help; he knows he’s no match for Ceryn and Weaver.

  “We’ll all have to work together. We have to rescue Will.”

  Ceryn

  WE TALKED AND PLOTTED and argued and planned until Ginata realised how late it was and panicked. Weaver offered to ride her back to the castle on his horse and the rest of us went to sleep. I reckon he might fancy her. I’ll ask him later.

  I know Everleigh wants to kill her brother and I want to as well.

  My hand is itching to strangle him. The way he killed that girl yesterday. I know I didn’t like her, but I didn’t want her dead. He just did it; like it was nothing. Like she was nothing.

  I pace the path outside. We are waiting around for someone to come to the village and announce Will’s hanging. It will probably be some of the King’s men and a herald, so we’re keeping Everleigh hidden for now. Everyone’s eating but I feel too sick.

  My stomach is twisting and leaping, ready for a fight.

  “Hey.”