CHAPTER 25
Axel
A
s soon as the door of Katy’s and Axel’s suite closed behind them, Otto straightened and rolled his shoulders with a grimace. “I’ll be glad when this cover is finished. Slouching hurts my back.”
Katy eyed him. “So those bags under your eyes are just cosmetics? And you’re wearing baggy clothes to make it look like you lost weight?” She smacked him lightly on the shoulder when he grinned. “I was worried about you!”
“That means it’s working.” Sobering, he turned to Axel. “I expect you want my report?”
“Yes, but I do have something for you. If you will wait for a moment.” Slipping into the bedroom, Axel grabbed an old canvas bag from the bottom of his wardrobe.
He dug through it as he walked back to the sitting room.
“Helena’s unsanctioned excursion to Daraigh had a silver lining: it allowed me to procure…
” His voice trailed off as he wrapped his fingers around the innocuous-looking pipe.
Something rippled through his mind, and his eyes shot toward the mantelpiece.
“Axel? What is it?”
He barely noticed Katy’s question as he strode to the fireplace and began sifting through the clutter on the mantle.
There it was.
The pipe should protect him, but he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to be safe. Using it, he picked up the small wood carving. “I’ll have to thank my contact; it definitely works,” he murmured, examining the perfect little dragon.
Katy peeked over his shoulder. “I thought you got rid of that!”
“I thought I did, too.” He gingerly set it down on the coffee table.
The desire to hurl it into the fire filled him, but he needed to be rational about it.
“You were correct to warn me against touching it, my love. I wanted to look at it, and I accidentally brushed against it while putting it back in the bag. That’s the last I remembered until I touched this.
” He held up the pipe that Oliver had given him while in Hartford.
“And what is that?” Otto leaned in for a closer look. “You don’t smoke.”
“No, but you’re going to pretend to.” Axel handed it to him. “The magic-user I met at Reineggburg worked with his mother to make this for us. It protects against mind magic, so this should remove that risk if you want to get closer to Lord Ulrich.”
The guard turned it over in his hands. “Amazing. It looks perfectly ordinary.”
“But it works.” Axel glared at the wooden dragon. “The magic-user must have missed that bit of mind magic before, but his enchanted object cleared it.”
Behind him, Katy’s footsteps padded across the rug. She wrapped her hands around his arm, leaning her head against his shoulder. “And what was the purpose behind the dragon?”
He felt a bit of heat creep up his neck. Throwing a glance at Katy’s cousin, he cleared his throat and admitted, “I don’t know the reason for keeping it. But it, um, might have been the reason I finally insisted on a shared suite.”
Otto shook his head as he stowed the pipe in a pocket, but Katy’s fingers dug into his bicep.
Was she upset that he’d needed magical persuasion?
But when she spoke, her voice was worried.
“Fabian’s last note mentioned taking action to receive his payment.
What if—what if this is what he meant?” She turned her large brown eyes up to his, her pretty curls framing her concerned face.
“I didn’t become pregnant until after moving into your suite.
Fabian said that he’s skilled in all four types of magic, which means he can use magic that affects the body.
What if the dragon made you keep it because its magic made it possible for me to bear a child? ”
It was possible. Axel would hate to owe anything to Fabian or Lord Ulrich. But if they had made it so he and Katy could finally have a child...
A child they planned to steal. Axel glared at the dragon; he still wanted to destroy it.
Katy kept talking. “But from what I’ve read, it’s difficult to make a permanent change in the body’s functioning; the magic wears off. To keep working, it must be replenished regularly.”
He hoped she wasn’t saying what he thought she was. “My love, this came from someone who means us ill. We can’t keep it.”
“But Axel...” Her eyes begged him to understand. “What if once it’s gone, I lose the baby?”
What indeed?
They had been waiting a long time for this child. He or she represented so many things: security for the kingdom, freedom from Lord Ulrich. Possibly freedom for Axel himself. But none of those reasons formed the pressure behind his eyes.
He wanted to hold his little son or daughter in his arms and bounce his own toddler on his knees when he should be working.
He wanted to bask in the radiance of his wife’s smile as their little family sprawled on a blanket in the gardens, watching the sun set over the castle.
He wanted giggles and butterfly kisses and begging for tickles.
The thought of all they would miss made his fist clench at his side. He would fight Fabian to his last breath to keep this child. But that meant he couldn’t keep Fabian’s dragon, even if Katy might be right.
“You can’t trust something from them, Kat,” Otto said quietly. “We can’t destroy it, because we might need it as evidence. But it shouldn’t stay here.”
Dropping one hand to her rounded belly, Katy leaned into Axel and sighed. “I know.”
“It will be all right, my love,” Axel whispered, wrapping an arm around her.
They had weathered five years of the court’s disdain and concern.
They were weathering the secret of her deal with a madman.
He didn’t want to think about losing the baby now or when Fabian came for his payment, but if they did…
If they did, they would weather that, too.
“Do you want me to find a new home for it?” Otto asked.
Axel frowned at the dragon. “I have a place in mind, but after what happened the last time I attempted its disposal, perhaps I’ll take you with me.” He gestured to the pocket holding the enchanted pipe. “Do you have a plan for that yet?”
Otto narrowed his eyes. “If mind magic isn’t a concern, I would like to do more than observe. Unfortunately, Lord Ulrich knows my face, and I’ve spent too much time away from Britta the last two months.”
“If you want a break, I can find someone else to—”
The guard cut him off. “I don’t mind. I’m still one of few people who has recent experience with Fabian.
” He turned his eyes to Katy with a lopsided grin.
“I want to steal your maid from you. If I ‘retire to Flussendorf for my health,’ then I can disguise myself and return with a new identity. I’ll be able to live with my family that way… but Britta won’t be able to work here.”
“I’ll survive.” Katy returned his crooked grin.
“It’s more important for you to be with your family, especially with your second child so close to arrival.
I don’t need Britta to fix my hair and straighten my things.
” Her eyes took on a mischievous glint, tempered by the worry crease in her forehead.
“Perhaps I’ll invite Liesl to extend her visit; she might have found a reason to leave her beloved sheep for a little longer. ”
Otto’s “older brother” look appeared. Glaring at the door, he said, “Perhaps I should deliver my report so we can return to that ballroom.”
~
As soon as they entered, Axel casually scanned the room for Lord Ulrich. He was in roughly the same place, the shaggy-haired man still at his side. A surge of heat flooded Axel’s chest. His attacker was terribly brazen to attend the Midwinter Ball after what he’d done.
“I should return to my friend,” Otto muttered. Narrowing his eyes at the other wall, he continued, “And you should keep an eye on yours.”
Axel followed his glare. Tobias had a glass in his hand, his usual half-lidded eyes declaring his boredom. Katy’s sister stood next to him with a radiant smile as she spoke with her hands. “Of course. Do let us know if you need something.”
Otto stumbled away with a tired nod. Axel focused his eyes back on Tobias and Liesl, not wanting to draw attention to Katy’s cousin or catch Lord Ulrich’s wandering gaze.
Tobias and Liesl…where was Helena?
He twisted his head in search. Lord Ulrich couldn’t have abducted her in the middle of the ballroom. She had to be here some—Ah, there she was. In the middle of the crowd of dancers, with her teeth showing through her patently fake smile.
“She looks so pleased to be in his arms,” Katy commented lightly. Looking down, Axel saw that she was also watching Helena. “I wonder how he talked her into it?”
“Probably brought my mother with him.” Axel steered his wife around a group of younger guests who needed to reduce their intake of Tobias’s preferred beverages. “Mother is determined to make the council’s decision bearable by finding a good match for Helena.”
“So she chose Lord Luther?”
He shrugged. “While Mother is the source of my dramatic romanticism, she is also easily pleased by a smooth manner and a handsome face. She has not yet had the opportunity to see through him as we have.”
After dodging a few older courtiers who sought to trap him in a boring half hour of conversation, he and Katy reached their destination.
Tobias swirled his glass, an expression of disinterest on his face.
But there was a slight curve to his lips as Liesl chattered, even though his eyes were on the dancers.
“Katy!” Liesl paused in the middle of her sentence and rushed over to grab her older sister’s hand. “Helena said Otto is unwell. Where is he? Is he all right?”
“He’s—we’ll talk later.” The worry crease returned to Katy’s forehead as she sidestepped her sister’s questions. This wasn’t the place for the discussion, because the truth should be reserved for private, and she wouldn’t make it through a lie. “How are you enjoying the ball?”
The diversion worked; Liesl’s eyes lit up. “Oh, it’s been wonderful! Lord Tobias—”
“Just Tobias, my lady, as I told you,” the young lord interrupted, taking a sip of his drink.