Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Brandle’s pain filled the room and became my own as he continued.
“By the time we arrived, a crowd had already gathered in the courtyard—proof that it had been planned in advance. Even a platform waited, ready for the King and Queen to be marched onto it like common criminals.
“The caster listed off the royal family's supposed crimes, stating they had failed their people…that the deaths of those one hundred children were due to the crown's negligence…that the wealth in the land hadn’t been evenly distributed. She said in order for the kingdom to prosper, the King and Queen needed to die. However, she didn’t believe in harming children.”
Brandle gave a dry laugh.
“She ordered the royal descendants’ amulets removed to cast a spell of protection on them, stating it was so none would hurt the innocent in retaliation for what the parents had caused.
“I can still hear her voice. ‘You and your brothers will remain small men in a large world for the rest of your lives, so you understand what it feels like to be looked down upon. You will have no privilege, and no one will ever love you.’”
My heart thudded painfully as I understood that the tale he was telling wasn’t the fall of the Kingdom of Turre; it was the fall of his parents, of his family, and of their rule.
“She made a show of giving us our amulets back before ordering the King and Queen to pay for their crimes. Though he was only an infant, I held Liam to my chest so he wouldn’t see and bade Edmund to cover Eadric’s eyes. Henry turned Darian and Daemon away while holding Garron then covered my eyes so we wouldn’t see our parents hanging in the courtyard to the cheers of their subjects.
“As they died, the caster swore to be a Fair Queen. She vowed to rule justly. No one contested her. Not the court officials who’d been loyal to our parents for decades, nor the people the King and Queen had devoted their lives to protect.
“The crowds cheered . And in the chaos, Henry slipped away with us. He was wise to do so. Wiser still to not attempt to hide us in town after bidding farewell to Pogwid, even though, as children, we wouldn’t have been recognizable.
“He led us into the Dark Forest and worked tirelessly to create a safe place for us. And there, we waited for the one who would love us and break our curse so we could return and reclaim what is ours.”
Stunned, I sat in silence.
Royal descendants.
I loved the damned Princes of Turre.
My thoughts spun. I remembered the way Andrew fell to his knees and Sarah’s weeping. The secrecy of the gems—enough to ransom a kingdom.
Liam is meeting with potential friends.
The building began to shake, and the air vibrated with colorful energy.
“What part has you upset, Sparrow? That our parents were taken from us? That we still carry hate for the vile woman responsible? Or that we hid who we are from you?”
Brandle grunted in pain, and his arms slowly opened against his will.
Free from his hold, I stood, shaking in my anger.
Eadric watched me, the only one of them who wasn’t feeling fear or desperation.
“You used me,” I whispered. “This is why we had to return? To regain your kingdom? What of my sister, Eadric?”
“Ah, Lamb,” Daemon said. His sorrow and regret swirled around me. It provoked the emotions already boiling out of my well, and the air sparkled brighter.
“We have no desire to rule this kingdom,” Eadric said. “Our only desire is to remove the caster who killed so many, including our parents and Sarah and Andrew’s small children. Once we do, we can free the strong casters who are in hiding, like Pogwid, and return with you to Drisdall to free your sister. However, in order to remove the queen, we need to find those hidden casters. It’s a time-consuming dilemma.”
His sincerity rang true with each word.
“But Brandle just said?—“
“I said what we’ve been taught,” Brandle said, his arms still open wide. “Henry gave his life to keep us safe so we might one day reclaim the throne. But if we must choose between the throne and you, Kellen, we choose you.”
I recalled all the times he’d said something similar. Trembling, I tried to breathe through the chaotic storm roiling inside of me and replace the lid. What I felt refused to be quelled, though.
“Will you allow me to help?” Eadric said.
I nodded and watched him close the distance between us. His kiss was the light in the darkness that I needed. It soothed the rawness inside of me, and his love for me allowed me to cover my unruly well. Slowly, those boiling emotions calmed.
When Eadric pulled away to tenderly kiss the tip of my nose, the air was once again lifeless, as it was meant to be.
“Does this mean you’ve forgiven us?” he asked.
“You didn’t betray my trust. So there’s nothing to forgive,” I said.
Yet I did feel disappointment and unease. My own. They’d resisted telling me who they were because they’d feared I would run once I knew. And they were right. In what world could one woman marry the seven princes of Turre?
“Is that what you’ve been doing these last few days, then?” I asked, trying to distract myself. “Finding casters in hiding? Potential friends?”
“Yes and no,” Brandle said. “Finding them isn’t so simple. First, we needed to meet friends of the old crown that Andrew knew. And their acquaintances. And theirs. Slowly, we are building a network of contacts and gaining more information with each introduction.
“Those meetings are how we located Pogwid. We’d hoped that she would know of others, but the spell she asked you to cast on her was also cast by all the other powerful casters she knew,” Brandle said.
I sighed, feeling decidedly defeated.
“Can one thing in my life just come easily?”
Darian’s humor exploded around me as he discreetly covered his mouth and coughed.
“You are not as funny as you think,” I said, stalking toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Brandle asked. His need to stop me warred with his need to trust me.
“Pogwid’s.”
“What about a biscuit?” Garron asked.
“I’ll grab something in the market.”
“You can’t go alone,” Edmund said. Before I could argue, he added, “None of us should. You were right that it was dangerous for Brandle to leave Liam yesterday. All in agreement?”
The dratted men all voted in favor.
“Who had nothing else already planned for the day?” I asked.
In answer, Garron hurriedly joined me.
We left without speaking, and I tried to convey an outward appearance of a calm maiden as we made our way to Pogwid’s. The ever-present tingle of warning increased with each step, and I took more care to watch for patrols and avoid them.
Like the day before, Pogwid greeted me with, “Something is different.”
“Yes. I’ve learned the truth of just how much of a royal pain in the arse they all are,” I said, sitting heavily in the chair Pogwid favored.
The older woman arched a brow at me then cast a speculative look at Garron.
“She knows who we are but is more unhappy with the delay we are experiencing than our identities.”
I didn’t contradict him.
“Is there no other way to contact casters like you?” I asked.
“None,” she said. “If there had been, we would have all been discovered before now.”
“And even with what I healed yesterday, you are not enough to face the queen?” I asked.
Pogwid laughed, but not unkindly. “That you see me in such a light is humbling, child, but even if there were ten of me, we would not be strong enough. Perhaps when she first ascended, but maybe not even then. Remember the stone I showed you?” She waved at it on the shelf behind her. “The queen has many of them on her person. In the crown she wears, adorning her ears and fingers, on a chain around her neck and even her wrists and ankles. She has more power than you can fathom.
“How many casters will we need to dethrone her?”
“All of them.”
My frustration erupted with enough intensity that the lid flew off my well. The air exploded with color as the cottage rumbled.
Pogwid paled as Garron set his hand on my shoulder. His concern and love were enough for me to regain control and close the well once more.
“What did you do?” she whispered, sounding horrified.
“I apologize. I lost control for a moment.”
“Lost control? Foolish child! When you first came here and stopped me from coshing Garron with a log, that was losing control. This was more than that. You lit a signal fire. You need to leave. Now.”
“Leave? Why? Doesn’t the spell prevent what’s cast inside from being seen from without?”
Pogwid got to her feet and grabbed the large casting stone.
“The spell is a lid that can keep most of what’s cast inside. Not everything. Like the lid to your well. Sometimes, the magic cast is stronger than the spell holding it.”
She forcefully threw the stone to the ground, shattering it.
Garron swore under his breath—something so out of character that I turned to stare at him.
“The same happened earlier at our home,” he said.
Pogwid used air to force me to my feet as she broke something else on her shelves.
“Take her. Find the others, and do not return here or home. When they come for me, I will accept the blame.” Her gaze locked with mine. “My life for yours, Princess. Your sister isn’t the only person who needs to be freed. Help your men free the people of Turre.”
Her words filled me with denial. Not that I refused to help but due to her willingness to sacrifice herself for my mistakes.
Garron grabbed my hand and started pulling me from the workroom before I could voice anything.
He paused at the door and looked back at Pogwid.
“Forgive us.”
“No,” I said, tugging at his hold. “We can’t?—”
“As I swore to Henry, my life for yours. Do not let the queen win,” Pogwid said.
The door opened, and Garron pulled me out onto the street without letting me say more. My hands started to tremble.
“Stay in control, Kellen, or we will die.”
I breathed through my nose and tried to find that calm mask of indifference I’d worn so often in the past. It felt wrong. Ill-fitted. My emotions fought against being contained. I wanted to rage, to lash out…to love.
Garron turned us away from the path home.
“Get us away from here, Snow,” he said. “No patrols or all is lost.”
Understanding the gravity of what I’d done, I tried harder to lock everything away. Outwardly calm, I took his arm, smiled beatifically, and walked away from Pogwid’s as if I didn’t have a care in the world. As I did, I cast one more spell.
Pogwid’s power belongs to her alone, and for any who try to take it, let them atone with boils and blisters to disfigure and cause waste.
I sent my energy through Pogwid’s barrier and touched hers. She fought it, but my will was stronger, and I felt it settle into her. I filled her well as much as it allowed then withdrew.
Opening my senses, I watched the patrols far and wide.
“They already fill the street of our home,” I said. “Others are leaving the castle and coming this way. Casters are with them.”
“We will go to Edmund and Eadric first,” Garron said.
It took more than an hour to reach the market and longer still to locate Eadric. His face was caked with muck and his hair disheveled. He smiled idiotically at the man speaking to him but was filled with fear and desperation.
“Something happened,” I whispered to Garron.
“Brother,” Garron called with a wave. “Our sister found a match.”
Eadric’s grin broadened, and he spoke quickly to the man before hurrying to us.
His embrace was filled with relief and hopelessness.
“What is it?” I asked quietly as he held me.
“No,” Garron said. “Not here.”
Eadric nodded, released me, and playfully took my hand, his empty smile back in place.
“Come, sister,” he said joyfully.
He led the three of us toward the market entrance just as a heavily manned patrol arrived.
“Will you have enough to buy me a new dress if Father does not?” I asked, looking hopeful between Eadric and Garron.
“It would be wiser to save the coin to buy food, you nit,” Garron said, shaking his head.
I tugged on Eadric’s arm. “Please?” I begged.
Eadric’s humor-filled gaze shifted from me to his brother.
“You know Mother will box our ears if we let her only daughter wed without a new gown.” He pretended to notice the guards at the last moment then quickly pulled me back and bowed his head.
Garron and I, along with the majority of the crowd in the market, did the same.
The patrol passed us with only a cursory glance.
Eadric hurried us out of the market, and I once again used my senses to avoid the patrol as he led us away.
“Not home,” Garron said when we should have taken a road to the left.
“Why?” Eadric asked.
“A patrol lingers there,” I said softly.
“We need to find Brandle and Liam.”
Eadric’s already pale complexion paled further, but he nodded and turned to face the white spires towering above the nearby rooftops.
Street by street, they grew more looming until we reached a well-appointed home with a manicured courtyard and pristine carriage house. He led us around the back and knocked on the servant’s door.
“I wish to speak to the little master of the house,” he said.
The servant took in Eadric’s appearance and sniffed disdainfully before glancing at me. The smell emanating from Eadric finally registered, and I understood why the older woman was pulling a long face when she stared at my shoulder. He’d mucked me. Yet, she stepped aside to allow us entry.
“Please wait here,” she said.
Once we were alone, Eadric let out a shaky breath and looked at Garron.
“A patrol took Edmund.”
Garron staggered as if someone had struck him. Guilt threatened to consume me, but aware of the danger, I pushed it down. I would not let another of them be taken because of me.
“When I saw them grab him, I covered myself in shite so they wouldn’t notice me.”
The guilt I couldn’t feel, Eadric did.
“Forgive me. If I hadn’t—” Footfalls silenced me.
I looked toward the door through which the servant had disappeared, and an older, exceptionally attired man appeared. His fear and guilt felt different from Eadric’s. Sadness and regret blanketed him instead of desperation.
“Your majesties,” he said, bowing deeply to Garron and Eadric. “Your brother awaits you in the drawing room.” He motioned toward the door, and Garron led the way. I found it odd that Eadric and I followed with the man trailing behind.
When we entered an extravagantly decorated drawing room, I saw Liam pacing before an unlit hearth. He stopped short at the sight of us and flushed. Like his brothers, he was flooded with worry and fear. His knowing gaze took in Eadric’s state, but he didn’t say anything until the well-dressed man closed the doors behind us.
“What happened?” Liam asked.
“The guard took Edmund for his pretty face,” Eadric said.
Liam swore under his breath and faced his brothers. “Brandle went to meet a new acquaintance and never arrived.”
“Where are Daemon and Darian?” I asked.
“They went to the woodcutters,” Garron said.
“We need to warn them not to return home,” I said.
“Why?” Liam asked.
“What happened this morning?—“
A knock interrupted me, and I paused to look back at the door as it opened.
“Forgive the intrusion,” the well-dressed man said. “I thought you would like to wash.”
He waved servants in with several washbasins and cloths. They retreated just as quickly.
“Thank you, Philip,” Liam said. “We will require your assistance again in a moment.”
“I will wait in the hall for your summons.”
The man withdrew once more, and Eadric went to the washbasins.
“What about this morning?” he asked as he wiped away the sheep dung from his brow.
“Pogwid said that when I lost control, it was like I lit a signal fire for the queen,” I said, struggling to keep what I felt within my well.
“We cannot return home,” Garron said. “Kellen saw that guards have already arrived.”
“Can you see if they’ve taken Daemon and Darian?” Liam asked.
“There are too many people in one place for me to differentiate between…” Yet, as I spoke and looked, I saw that wasn’t true. Patrols now waited in the empty homes along our road. Two people stood just inside the cobbler’s home, and one waited in the backroom. Likely the cobbler himself. In the woodcutter’s home, two people waited just inside the door. No others.
Rather than presume the worst, I hoped for the best.
“Where do woodcutters go to work?” I asked.
“Daemon and Darian convinced him to go to the edge of the Dark Forest yesterday. They may have returned there today.”
I stretched my sense further afield and found three people at the edge of the forest. Two had a vibration that resonated with the energy within my well. My relief was profound.
“They are away from Adele, near the edge of the forest,” I said.
“I will go warn them,” Eadric said.
“No. I will go,” Garron said. “The woodcutter will want to return to his home, and it’s better if he doesn’t remember the men he briefly employed.”
Garron gripped my arms and kissed my forehead.
“This isn’t your fault, Snow. It’s the queen’s. Casting isn’t evil. It’s the intentions of the caster that determine how it’s used. This morning’s magic was pure joy, and you were not wrong for feeling it. Do you understand?”
“I do. However, my guilt remains. Edmund, Brandle, and Pogwid shouldn’t need to face the consequences of my actions.
“They aren’t,” Eadric said. “The queen took Edmund for breeding, and Brandle was likely betrayed by a supporter.”
“What?”
“I will leave it to them to explain,” Garron said. “I know where to look if you are not here when I return with Daemon and Darian.”
“Watch for the goat,” Liam said.
Garron nodded, kissed me swiftly, then left the room.
“Goat?” I echoed.
The man entered in Garron’s wake.
“Have we been compromised?”
“Not yet. I kindly ask your assistance in finding a gown of modest means for the Princess and a clean tunic for my brother, Philip.”
The man left again, and once the doors were closed, Liam resumed his pacing.
“I need help understanding the pieces that have been kept from me,” I said. “Why should Garron watch for a goat, and why do you believe Brandle was betrayed? I thought he was certain of the acquaintances you’ve been meeting.”
“Goats are used to keep the lawns in an estate properly trimmed and are not an uncommon sight. If a black goat is ever grazing here, it means it’s not safe to return. As for our trust in our acquaintances, we’ve been careful, meeting only trusted friends of trusted supporters. We’ve thoroughly questioned the trust of each one before accepting a meeting.”
He tugged at his earlobe in vexation. “We can’t move forward until we know who betrayed us. Yet, neither can we afford to sit idle.”
“Then how do we find who betrayed us?” Eadric asked.
“We ask,” I said.
“Ask?” Liam echoed. “Do you think they will simply tell us?”
“You? No. Me? I believe I can seek the truth the same way Garron taught me to remove memories. Rather than remove them, I will expose them. I believe we should start with the newest acquaintance Brandle was supposed to meet.”
“Love, it’s too dangerous.”
“And apparently, so am I,” I said. “Should I remain idle and wait to lose you one by one? I think not. Either you go with me, or I go alone. But I will go, Liam. You have five minutes to decide.”
“When we find Brandle, he’s going to kill us himself,” Eadric said.