Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Urging Ochre forward, Elowen navigated down the small street and pulled alongside the carriage trundling down the side road. The uniformed guards flanking it gave away the identity of the occupants.
“Halt there,” one of them called, as a pair of them swung to face the new arrivals.
“It’s all right!” Prince Xavier’s face had appeared in the carriage window, and he called to the driver to stop. As soon as the vehicle wasn’t moving, he flung open the door and descended to the road. “Princess! What are you doing here?”
Elowen ignored him, clambering into the carriage and falling to her knees. Theo was halfway to lying down, propped against the far side of the carriage. His pulse thundered under her fingers, and his face was more flushed than ever.
“He’s getting steadily worse,” Prince Xavier said through the open door. His own face was haggard. “I didn’t want to stop for the night before we reached the border, but I didn’t think he could take much more of the road. The driver said there won’t be another town for a long way after this.”
“We can save him,” Elowen said. She turned around. “Simeon, can you do it in here, or do we need to carry him out?”
“The shelter of the carriage is good,” Simeon said, appearing at the entrance to the vehicle, shadowed by a wary-looking guard. “In fact, it would be even better if we were moving, because this is a large object. I may want the extra magical boost from its movement.”
“What’s going on?” Prince Xavier demanded.
“Theo was poisoned, sort of,” Elowen said.
“Sort of?”
“And we have the—sort of—antidote,” Elowen hurried on. “But Simeon has to administer it using magic craft.” She raised her voice. “Drive on.”
“But—” Prince Xavier’s sputtering protest gave way to a sigh. “Yes, all right,” he said, apparently to the driver.
“Your Highness!” one of the guards protested.
“Ride alongside them if it makes you feel better,” Prince Xavier said. “But the princess is betrothed to Theo. He trusts her, and she has as much right as anyone to help him.”
Warmth crept over Elowen as the carriage started moving, and Prince Xavier and Sophia fell out of sight. Waiting only for Simeon’s nod of approval, Elowen unstopped the second vial and tipped its contents into Theo’s slightly open mouth.
At once, she felt something, faint but insistent, tugging on her senses.
She tried hard to focus on it, but it was like a scaly fish, slipping through her fingers.
Simeon was clearly having more success. He was leaning forward, sweat beading on his forehead as he gave his full focus to the task.
Elowen thought she felt him draw on the movement of the carriage at one point, but she couldn’t be sure.
After a tense minute that seemed to last an hour, Simeon sat back, his concentration dissipating before her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Elowen asked, alarmed.
“Nothing,” said Simeon. “It’s done.”
“It is?” Elowen searched Theo’s face eagerly. “Are you sure?”
“Oh yes.” Simeon’s voice was weary, his energy depleted from whatever massive effort he’d just expended. “I felt the other enchantment let go. It’s gone now. He should recover rapidly.”
As if in response to these words, Theo’s eyelids flickered. When he winced as they went over a bump, Elowen rapped on the carriage roof. The vehicle came to a ponderous stop.
“Elowen?” Theo was blinking at her, still seeming confused, but his eyes sharp now. It was such a relief to see that vacant look gone from his gaze, Elowen let out a tiny sob. He sat up properly, looking around him. “Did I leave Toledda, or was that a dream?”
“Theo!” Elowen threw herself forward so her torso was draped over his lap. Amazingly, he no longer felt hot to the touch.
He started in surprise, then, slowly, laid a hand on her hair.
“It’s all right,” he said softly. “Everything will be all right.”
Elowen knew there was so much he still didn’t know, but his words comforted her nevertheless. She realized that Simeon had discreetly withdrawn from the vehicle, and she raised her eyes, which were suddenly feeling wet, to Theo’s.
“Don’t leave, Theo,” she begged, a choke in her voice. “Please, please stay with me. I don’t want you to go. I’ll set the date for our wedding as soon as we get back to the city. I’ll—”
“No.” Theo’s response was startlingly strong after the weakness of his earlier words.
Elowen recoiled at the stern tone, and Theo softened his voice at once.
“What I mean is, no, I don’t want you to be bullied or pressured into setting a date. Not by me, not by anyone. I want to win you first, just like you wanted. I’m determined to.”
Elowen’s eyes were fixed on his face, her heart too full to find words. She’d better try, though, because he needed to know what he meant to her. Her thoughts were still a muddled mess when a shout from outside made them both look up.
“Elowen!” It was Sophia, her voice reaching them from a closer distance than where they’d left her. She must have run after the carriage when they stopped, and she sounded frightened as well as breathless. “He’s coming! He’s here!”
“No,” Elowen whispered, knowing at once who Sophia must mean. Only one person had such a hold on her friend.
“Is that Lady Sophia?” Theo asked, trying valiantly to catch up. “Where are we, Elowen?” He lifted a hand to his head. “Everything is a haze of chaos since…” His eyes found hers, his gaze dark and still more tumultuous than usual. “Since you followed me from the victory feast.”
Elowen’s cheeks warmed, unable to look away from the beam of those dark eyes.
She still knelt on the floor of the carriage, and Theo leaned forward, one hand brushing her chin where it angled up to face him.
The memory of their almost-kiss made the air in the confined space of the carriage deliciously thick, but there was no time to dwell on that.
“A lot has happened since then, Theo,” she said, speaking quickly.
“No one believes me, but I’m certain Bertrand put something in your wine at the betrothal ceremony.
You’ve been deteriorating steadily since then, and he barely waited until your brother whisked you away from Toledda to initiate a motion with the Council of Lords to dissolve our betrothal. ”
Theo’s eyes narrowed, his hand dropping to her shoulder and tightening in a possessive gesture that made her want to throw herself into his arms.
“He tried to trick me into agreeing to marry him in exchange for helping you.” Elowen stumbled over the words, her ears now able to pick up distant hoofbeats.
“But Sophia and I figured it out without him. We broke Simeon out of the dungeons and came after you, and Simeon just used his skill in magic to administer the antidote and save your life.”
Theo blinked under the onslaught of dramatic information, seeming unsure which part to respond to.
“Simeon never did any of it, Theo,” Elowen told him earnestly. “It was all Bertrand, he just used Simeon as a shield, and he did it by threatening Sophia, because Simeon’s in love with her. And now Bertrand is here. He must have chased after us all the way from the capital.”
That sharpened Theo’s expression. He shifted forward, as if to get out of the carriage, taking hold of both her shoulders now.
“Stay here,” he told Elowen. “I won’t let him touch you.”
“No, Theo, I’m not the one in danger from him,” Elowen said impatiently.
“He said to my face that he’s determined to marry me, so he’s not going to kill me.
” She paused. “Although I’d almost rather he did kill me, because now I know what it is to have the loyalty of a good man, I think I’d prefer to die than be married to a man like Bertrand.
” What was she babbling about? The ferocious intensity of Theo’s gaze brought her thoughts back in line.
“The point is, it’s you he’s determined to eliminate. ”
“I’m not afraid of Bertrand,” Theo said. “I told him once before to stay away from my promised wife, and I told him what would happen if he ignored me.”
He felt at his side, frustration crossing his face when he found no sword strapped there. It didn’t slow him down, however. He stepped from the carriage, his movements still less steady than usual.
Her heart in her throat, Elowen followed.
Darkness was falling in earnest now, and she could barely make out the place some distance away where Bertrand had pulled up his horse in front of Sophia, Simeon, and Prince Xavier.
Simeon’s form sagged visibly from his magical efforts, but he stood boldly by Sophia’s side.
The Siqualian guards clustered near their crown prince, with the exception of Theo’s personal guard, Paulson, who’d been waiting by the carriage. As he stepped into position beside his charge, Elowen let out a cry of relief. Bertrand wasn’t alone.
“Elowen!” Patrick was more furious than she’d ever seen him, but Elowen still felt her tension drop away. Bertrand couldn’t attack anyone in front of Patrick and the pair of Torrenese royal guards who flanked him.
“Patrick, I’m so glad you came!” Elowen hurried forward to meet her brother as he and Bertrand dismounted.
“I can imagine,” he said angrily. “How you were going to extricate yourself from this mess without my intervention, I can’t guess.
” His eyes slid to Theo behind her, and he stilled, surprise crossing his face.
“Prince Theodore! I’m delighted to see you so much improved.
” He gave his sister a meaningful look. “It seems fears regarding your illness were overblown.”
“No, Patrick.” Elowen shook her head. “He didn’t just recover by himself. Simeon used magic to save him. That’s why we—”
“We can discuss the matter later,” Patrick rapped out through clenched teeth. He glanced around, clearly not wishing to lay out the situation in front of the various witnesses.