by Jody Hedlund
“Discipline?” Emmeline’s tone rose.
“They have committed high treason,” he continued. “And as a result, they deserve to die a traitor’s death.”
“No!” Emmeline cried out. She obviously understood what a traitor’s death entailed—slow torture over days. With Magnus in charge, the torture could last weeks. “No, you cannot put them to death. Please. They are good people.”
At the anguish in Emmeline’s tone, my gut clenched. And yet I didn’t move or take my gaze from the king’s face. He was still testing me. I could sense it.
“If not for them,” the king said, his voice taking on an edge, “I would have become the keeper of the keys and would have found the treasure years ago.”
From what I’d learned, kings of old had always been tasked with guarding the keys and keeping the three together. When Lance and Felicia had divided the princesses up for safekeeping all those years ago, they’d gone against tradition and separated the keys.
“If not for them,” the king continued, “I would not have a usurper’s army sitting on my doorstep. And if not for them, I would have peace and prosperity in my land.”
“They only did what your faithful servants would have done,” Emmeline replied, “if the situation had been reversed and your sons’ lives were at stake.”
The king pushed away from the table, clearly done with the conversation. “They deserve death, and I shall not be satisfied with anything less.”
I suspected the king’s words were for me as much as they were for Emmeline. It was his way of saying he’d been disappointed I hadn’t brought Lance and Felicia back to him so he might have the opportunity for vengeance.
“Rex, please.” Emmeline’s tone turned soft and plaintive behind me. “Do something.”
Slowly I pivoted, aware again that all eyes were upon me, especially the king’s, gauging my interaction and whether I’d remain strong and loyal to him or whether I’d give in to my wife’s pleading.
On the one hand, I understood the king’s need to punish Lance and Felicia. He must send a message to the people that he wouldn’t tolerate anyone aiding the enemy. And yet, the crime had happened long ago. Surely, the king could show some leniency.
As I met Emmeline’s expectant, even hopeful gaze, I wanted nothing more than to cross to her, sweep her into my embrace, and reassure her everything would be all right and I’d do what I could to save her parents. How could I deny her this?
But if I gave in, where would her demands stop? And what example would I set as a leader, as the future king? That I’d be swayed so easily?
I hardened my resolve and shook my head. “If the king wishes to punish them, then so be it.”
The glow in Emmeline’s eyes flickered and sputtered out. Any warmth in her expression fled, and a chill took its place, making her features rigid, almost haughty. Then she responded, “I thought you were different.” She jutted her chin. “I was wrong.”
With a final glare that dripped with disdain, she strode away. My heart lurched with the need to chase after her, to talk further and explain my decision. But I only watched her go, telling myself I’d come up with a better plan later, one that could aid her parents without undermining the king—if that was even possible.
As the king finally adjourned the meeting and the men filed out of the room, I started to leave with them, unsure whether to pursue Emmeline or let her go for now.
“Stay a moment, Rex.” The king came alongside me and clamped a hand on my shoulder. The move was meant to reassure me I’d done the right thing. Why, then, did I feel worse as I pictured the hope flickering out in Emmeline’s eyes?
I acknowledged the king’s command with a slight bow and again made sure to keep the emotion from my face. The king considered confusion and indecision a weakness. I couldn’t let him see I was experiencing both.
“Princess Emmeline is the one to gain access to the usurper’s camp,” the king said quietly, “and find the third key.”
Protest sprang to the tip of my tongue, but although I bit it back, I couldn’t keep it from my eyes. Upon seeing it, the king’s lips twisted into a slight smile. “As their lost sister, they will welcome her into their midst with open arms.”
“That does not mean they will give her the key.”
“She is clever and needs to find a way to get it.”
The king was right about Emmeline’s cleverness. Even so, I didn’t want her going into the enemy camp. Such a move was too risky and dangerous.
“Send your best men,” the king continued as though reading my mind, “and ensure her safety.”
“Once she is among them, I suspect she will not return to me.” Especially now that she was furious with me.
The king stroked his beard, his eyes narrowing in thought. “Then you must give her reason to come back.”
“What do you suggest, Your Majesty?”
“Tell her if she gets the key and returns, you will spare the life of one of her guardians—the one of her choosing.”
How could I go to Emmeline with such an ultimatum? It wouldn’t endear me to her any further. “She might do it for both lives.”
“She will do it for one.” With that, he moved away from me, signaling for his bodyguard to follow him.
As the king departed, I bowed, outwardly giving him my allegiance and respect as I’d always done. But inside, I couldn’t muster the same. Instead, uncertainty roiled around, tumbling and bumping. I wished nothing more than to shield Emmeline from the king’s plans, but how could I do so when she was right at the center of them?
Chapter
14
Emmeline
From my spot in the middle of my canopied bed, I rubbed Ruby’s stomach absently, unable to gather any enthusiasm for training her as I’d been doing the past few days.
My servants hovered on the fringes of the room, hopping at my every command, clearly sensing the change in my mood. I closed my eyes and fought back a wave of betrayal and hurt. Rex didn’t really care about me the way I thought he did. If he’d cared, he would have made some effort to listen to my pleas, to understand how important my parents were to me.
From his reaction, I’d surmised he hadn’t known about their capture until I’d told him. Even so, he could have attempted to free them instead of callously turning away from my request and supporting his father’s decision.
Tears stung, and I fought them back as I had each time I’d been tempted to cry over Rex’s choice. His loyalty to his father went deeper than his concerns for me. I supposed that was to be expected from a man who’d married me because his father had ordered it.
What if his displays of affection and gifts on our wedding day had simply been a show? What if I’d read more into his gestures than he’d meant?
I shook my head. Of course, it wasn’t all a show. The night he’d slept on my floor, he’d said he wasn’t playacting. I hadn’t misjudged him so entirely, had I?
Though I’d witnessed my parents’ love for each other and read about the emotion in books, what did I really know of love? My feelings for Rex had certainly been changing. I couldn’t deny I found him attractive and that my body responded to him in strange ways. I also couldn’t deny I admired many things about him. But how did I know if what I felt was love?
With a silent groan, I buried my face in my hands. Even if my feelings were growing, he didn’t regard me highly enough to help my parents.
My pulse sped again, just as it had when Magnus had given me the news. I ached to go to my parents, throw my arms around them, hear their voices, and see their precious faces. Through the long days of traveling to Delsworth, I’d missed them. And now that they were here, within reach, my heart felt like it would break with the need to be with them and make sure they were kept safe.
Except they were far from safe. The glint in Magnus’s eyes had told me as much. He planned to make them suffer so that I would suffer, which would, in turn, affect my relationship negatively with Rex—as it already had.
During our travels, I’d quickly learned Magnus had one goal in life: to undermine Rex. He did so subtly, passively, with slight put-downs, misplaced comments, and snide criticism. I guessed Magnus’s attitude stemmed from jealousy. Perhaps Magnus had believed himself to be the favored son for so many years, since he’d been allowed to remain in Delsworth. Maybe once Rex had arrived and taken a role as a powerful leader, Magnus had felt pushed aside.
Whatever the case, I feared what Magnus planned to do to my parents. I wrapped my arms around my middle and bent over, fighting back my tears. Oh God, I silently called out. Keep them safe. And show me what to do and then give me the courage to do it.
I sat up and forced myself to think again, to mentally retrace the various routes for arriving at the passageway that led to the dungeons. I’d explored the castle enough that I was reasonably familiar with the layout.
Even so, getting down into the dungeons without any guards seeing me would be difficult. I had no doubt Magnus would be expecting me to attempt to free my parents and had taken extra precautions.
My chamber door opened and Rex stepped inside, glancing around until his sights landed upon me. Against my will, my heartbeat pattered faster. I didn’t want to see him or speak to him, and so I chastised myself and focused on Ruby, who’d fallen asleep in a half sprawl.
“Everyone, leave us,” Rex commanded.
The servants responded immediately, their footsteps shuffling hastily in the rushes. A moment later, the door closed with a thud. The quiet of the room made me suddenly fidgety so that I began to pet Ruby faster and with both hands.
I chanced a look at Rex to find that he was watching me, no longer stiff and unapproachable as he’d been a short while ago. Instead, his face was masked with regret, maybe even sadness.
Had he come to apologize and make things right? As the future king, he must have some influence and could figure out a way to set my parents free.
“Emmeline.” He stood in the middle of the room. “I am sorry about your parents’ capture. I had no knowledge the king was even searching for them.”
The gentleness in his voice beckoned me, and I crawled off the bed, leaving Ruby behind. I wanted to go to him, fall to my knees, and plead with him to help me.
“I allowed your parents to go free for your sake,” he continued. “I hope you know I had no desire to bring them harm.”
I took several steps toward him, then stopped. “I believe you.”
He nodded, but his eyes were still troubled.
Gaining hope, I crossed to him and reached for his hand. He was attired in his chain mail as he had been the past days. But he’d discarded his gloves, and my fingers made contact with his. The hard contours, the strength, the roughness of his skin, all reminded me of his power and yet his indescribable gentleness.
As though sensing my reaction, his attention shifted to my hand against his. He stared, his brows furrowing.
“I love them, Rex,” I said before he could dash my hope again. “They’re the only parents I ever knew. They sacrificed everything for me. And they loved me with body, soul, and strength.”
“I know,” he said softly.
“Then you understand why I must save them? Why I’ll do anything to free them?”
“Anything?” He finally lifted his gaze.
Something in his eyes and tone warned me that he hadn’t come to apologize or offer to help. He’d come to manipulate me. I let go of his hand and took a step back. He reached for me as though to regain our connection, but I slipped farther away, widening the distance between us.
“What must I do?” I didn’t care that my voice came out hard.
He expelled a sigh, paused, then straightened his shoulders. “You must go meet your sisters and retrieve the last ancient key to the hidden treasure.”
“Then you know for sure that they have both come?” When I’d previously questioned Rex about the impending attack, he’d been uncertain if both my sisters were aboard the ships bringing the rebel army. He’d supposed one might stay behind in Norland for safekeeping.
“Our scouts have spotted them both. And now you must go to them and get the final key.”
I stared at him, trying to make sense of his command. “I’m to sneak into the rebel camp and steal it?”
“You can go under the guise of meeting them and negotiating peace. But then, yes, you must secretly retrieve the key.”
My mind spun in a hundred directions. “Where will I find it?”
“I have already sent out my men to capture one of Adelaide’s close advisors or guards. I shall have that information before long.”
My stomach lurched. I only had to picture the bare back of the man who’d given away my location in Inglewood Forest to know what method Rex planned to use to gain his information.
I stalked back to my bed, frustration pulsing with every step. I’d thought I was beginning to know who Rex really was. Underneath his fierce exterior, I’d seen a man who longed for peace, a man who wanted to avoid bloodshed.
However, apparently, a beast lurked within him. Why had I expected anything less from the son of a monster like King Ethelwulf? Though I’d longed to believe the best about him, ultimately he used people to his benefit and didn’t care whom he hurt in the process of gaining what he wanted.
I stopped at the footboard and wished I could pull the bed curtains around me and hide within. I wanted to get away from Rex, from this battle between our families, from everything. As I closed my eyes, the desire for my forest home rose up so swiftly that for a moment I could almost smell the rich scent of pine and moss and charcoal smoke. I could almost feel the cool air rustling the leaves.
If only things had never changed. If only we could return—Father, Mother, me, and Bede—to our cottage and live in peace. We’d been content, and life had been good.
Now my parents were in the dungeons and would soon face Magnus’s torture—if they hadn’t already. They were suffering on account of me. And where was Bede? What would become of my little friend now?
My shoulders sagged and my head drooped. I had no choice but to do whatever Rex asked. Stealing a key wasn’t the worst thing he could have required. After all, what could Adelaide do with the one remaining ancient key?
Though I didn’t relish the idea of befriending my sisters only to betray them, I prayed they would come to understand I’d had no choice, not if I hoped to save my parents.
Finally, I turned to face Rex, resigning myself to my fate. “Do you vow to release my parents if I get the key?”
The sadness was back in his eyes. “The king will allow you to save one of them.”
“One?” Surely I’d misunderstood him.
Rex didn’t answer except to lift his chin.
Cold fury rushed through my veins. “You’re despicable.”
“I may not like every decision the king makes.” His voice turned low and steely. “But I must obey him the same as everyone else, perhaps more so, if I hope to prove myself worthy of being his heir and have any chance of someday being a better ruler.”
“You will never be a better ruler unless you learn that winning loyalty is best achieved through mercy rather than fear.”
“How can a girl as sheltered and naïve as you presume to give me advice?” His tone sliced as sharply as the glint in his eyes. “You know nothing about being a leader.”
Before I could formulate an answer, he pivoted, strode to the door, exited, and slammed it with a force that rattled the furniture.
I stared at the door, and a wave of anguish pummeled me. A sob expanded in my chest. It burst out, but not before I caught it within the confines of my hand.
I wasn’t sure which hurt more: knowing no matter what I did, my parents were still in grave danger. Or knowing I’d lost Rex and that whatever love we’d developed was now gone.
The following dawn, my servants awoke me at Rex’s command and passed along his message that I was to be ready to ride to Adelaide’s camp at full light.
He’d clearly gotten all the information he’d needed regarding the location of the third key. I could only pray the poor person he’d seized and tortured hadn’t suffered for long.
After a restless night of thinking about Rex, about his sweet gifts, about the tender moments we’d shared, the pain had swelled and at times had been difficult to bear. So had the pain over my parents. I alternated between panic regarding their fate and fury that they’d been captured in the first place. In addition, I couldn’t stop thinking about meeting my sisters for the first time and the fact that I would have to betray them.
When I’d finally fallen asleep, my nightmares of being chased and captured by men in black chain mail came back in vivid detail so that upon waking, I was listless and tired, my anger mingling with sorrow.
My maidservants did their best to transform me into a regal woman worthy of being the next queen. But now that I knew how Rex really viewed me—as a sheltered and naïve girl—all their fussing only made me feel more inadequate.
When Rex’s guards came for me, I offered no resistance. They led me to the inner bailey where the prince had assembled a group of armed soldiers attired in their finest armor and wearing the standard of Bryttania. Thankfully, I had a horse of my own, for I wasn’t sure I could have borne sitting with Rex on his steed, so close and yet so far apart.
As one of his men aided my mount, I glimpsed Rex watching me, but like his men, he’d donned his great helm, shielding his face. Though his eyes were visible behind narrow slits, I turned away from him so I wouldn’t be tempted to look into them and search for any hint of the warmth and affection he’d shown me previously.
I needed to focus on the mission at hand, retrieve the key, and then get my mother out of the dungeons. While I loathed the prospect of leaving Father there, he was stronger and would be able to endure the torture for longer, until I could figure out a way to free him. Once I came up with a plan, hopefully, he wouldn’t be too weak and injured to make the escape with me.