CHAPTER 40
Axel
W
earing a path in the floor won’t bring the baby any sooner.”
Axel paused at Otto’s droll voice. Turning, he reached up to rub the back of his neck. “Easy for you to say. It’s not your wife in there.”
“No, just my little cousin.” Otto strolled up to him. His face was still a bit haggard, but he looked better than the last time Axel had seen him. “You know, you could take the time to change. And correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t you be resting?”
Axel glanced down at his rumpled, dirty costume. “I suppose.” Brushing aside the weakness that still plagued him, he continued, “But I can’t.”
“Are you keeping vigil by yourself?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “We have strict orders to wake Father the moment the baby arrives, but ‘someone has to run the kingdom tomorrow,’ so he’s in bed.
Mother is with Katy, and Liesl is helping, of course.
Helena used a similar line as Father: she says someone will need to take care of the baby. ”
“Pretty sure there’s a servant somewhere that will do that,” Otto grinned.
“I know.” Axel grinned back and shook his head. “But I prefer Helena asleep to looking for something to shoot to ease her tension.”
“Understandable.”
They stood in silence for a minute, Axel’s fingers drumming his thighs through his pockets, before he spoke again. “Are you really going to leave us, Otto?”
Sighing, Otto ran a hand through his hair. “I want to keep watch over Kat, but the last few months have been a little too exciting. A few nice, boring months guarding a small side gate sounds pretty good right now.”
“I’ll have to sneak out every once in a while to keep your life interesting.” Axel reached out and lightly punched Otto in the shoulder to hide his disappointment.
Otto groaned. “Please don’t do that. After the last several months, I would have to insist you bring a guard with you. Your father aside, Kat would have my head if I let you out and something happened to you.”
A high-pitched cry pierced the air, muffled though it was by the stone walls. Axel jumped and stretched his hand toward the door, but Otto grabbed him. “Patience. Someone will fetch you when you’re allowed to go in.”
“I’m a prince, and this is my castle,” he protested weakly. “How can I not be allowed?”
Shaking his head, Otto started tugging him to the far wall. “You know that’s not how this works.”
“But it should be,” Axel grumbled. His friend ignored him.
He was just leaning back against the stone when the door flew open. Liesl bounced out, green eyes glowing, and waved to him. “Good very early morning, Axel. Your son has arrived, and his lungs are as healthy as yours.”
A son. He had a son.
A wide smile stretched across Axel’s face. It was more terrifying than being the future king, but also more exciting. A hundred different ways he could mess up, and a hundred more that he could find joy.
“Can I—”
She shook a finger at him. “But you have to wait a little longer. I’m on my way to wake the king; a nurse will fetch you when it’s time.”
“Congratulations,” Otto said quickly before turning to his cousin. “Sending you to wake the king doesn’t seem wise, Liesl. Shouldn’t—”
“It’s no trouble,” she cheerily assured. “I’m just carrying the message to the guards at the royal wing. They’ll be responsible for passing it along.”
She disappeared down the hall with far too much bounce in her step for the middle of the night. At least, for someone who wasn’t wound up on nervous energy like Axel was.
About an hour later – only fifteen minutes according to Otto, but it felt longer – a nurse with tired eyes opened the door and beckoned to him. “You can come in now.”
They had to pass through the open area of the main infirmary before they reached the private room where Katy was.
Her curls stuck to her forehead with sweat, and her eyelids drooped, but she was still beautiful as she sat there, propped up with a mound of pillows, cradling a tiny bundle of blankets with a squished, light brown face poking out of one end.
She looked up at his approach and smiled. “Here he is. Was he worth the wait?”
Settling onto the bed next to her, Axel leaned his head against hers and studied the tiny little human in his wife’s arms. He’d never seen a newborn before, and he was a little confused as to why women gushed over their cuteness.
“Over six years for you; almost six years for him. I hope we won’t be making this a habit,” he teased, running a light finger over his son’s soft cheek. “I may be willing to wait forever for something that I want, but that doesn’t mean I want to.”
Katy chuckled. “I’ll second that.”
“What are you going to call him?” Mother broke in. Her tone was disapproving, but there was a twinkle in her eye. “Katrin refused to tell me.”
Leaning back so he could look at Katy, Axel asked, “Are you still all right with Amadeus?”
“Don’t you think I would have told you if I wasn’t?” she lightly challenged.
“Amadeus,” Mother repeated slowly. Her nose wrinkled in a sophisticated way. “Please do not tell me you’re naming him after a composer.”
Shrugging, Axel replied, “He wrote The Tanner’s Secret, which is where Katy and I met. Well, reconnected, I suppose.”
He wrapped a finger in Katy’s sweaty curls. Helena’s curse had separated them, but The Tanner’s Secret had brought them back together. A few months of pining later, Fabian had orchestrated the spinning trial. Almost as if he had been waiting to see if the bargain was worth his effort.
Because Axel had to enter the marriage freely. And Katy would have taken the escape he offered if she hadn’t been in love with him. And she’d had almost three years to accept someone else before Fabian acted.
Their reunion at The Tanner’s Secret might be the only reason that they were here right now, smiling down at their son.
Katy gave him a lopsided smile. “Amadeus is a good name,” she said, “regardless of our inspiration for choosing it. But I’m not ashamed of acknowledging that we chose it because of a well-known composer.
” Her smile leveled out and softened. “After all, this little one’s father is Ralnor’s singing prince. ”
~
Over the next few days, they held the official trials for Lord Ulrich and Fabian. For their crimes, the former was stripped of his title, and both were sentenced to the Castellian prison for misbehaving magic-users.
Now that they were locked away in the dungeon, awaiting an escort from King Fidel, it was Lotti’s turn.
As Axel strolled toward the council room for her trial, he still couldn’t decide what she deserved. Should she be punished for the things she had done? Or should her assistance at the end absolve her?
The strange shape of her eyes and nose jumped out at him as he approached. He glanced away so as not to stare, but he made himself look at her when he reached her. She thought that he would have avoided her if he’d seen her face sooner, and he was determined to prove that wasn’t true.
The guard at her side nodded to him. Due to her assistance with her uncle, her status at the castle was as uncertain as Axel’s feelings. Instead of being put in the dungeons with Fabian and Ulrich, she had been given a simple guest room, but with guards posted outside the door.
“Good morning, Lotti,” he greeted quietly. “How are you holding up?”
She eyed him like he was a dangerous animal. “Good morning, Your Highness. I am as well as can be expected, given the circumstances.”
He almost told her to drop the title, but he couldn’t quite do it. One didn’t give one’s enemy permission to be informal.
If that’s what they were. He wished he could decide.
“Good.” He cleared his throat, then reached up to rub the back of his neck. “Just so you know, I won’t be involved in the decision of your guilt or innocence. Or your sentencing, if it comes to that. But I will be testifying.” He held her eyes. “About all of it.”
After a brief nod of acknowledgment, she looked away. “I will accept whatever outcome I receive. I do not expect to be forgiven.”
“I’m sorry we locked away your uncle’s magic before he could break your curse,” Axel said, gesturing to her face. “But he—”
“It is fine.” Her scratchy voice didn’t convey emotion well, but the reply sounded brusque. “He was dangerous, and he needed to be stopped immediately. Also, it is better this way. As you said, this is a more accurate representation of who I really am. The world may as well know it.”
“You could change, you know,” he said quietly. “Helping us was a good first step.”
Lotti lifted her chin and looked away. “It is a pretty thought. But I doubt I’ll have the chance.”
~
“How did it go?” Katy asked when he and Otto returned. She held Amadeus out to Axel, and he snuggled the little boy into his arms.
He sighed as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “The council found her guilty of misusing her magic.”
“She did cause injury to both people and property at the theater,” Otto pointed out.
“Oh.” Katy frowned, dropping her eyes to the floor. “So she’ll be joining Fabian and Ulrich in Castellia, then?”
Axel shook his head. “Since she assisted with Fabian’s capture, they decided the loss of her voice was sufficient punishment.
Along with reparations, of course.” Lowering himself into their new rocking chair, he made a funny face at Amadeus.
The little boy opened his eyes and mouth wide in amusement.
“I think it helped that her choice to save Otto and me cost her the opportunity to look normal again.”
Katy stood next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do you think it’s permanent? It seems unlikely she’ll find another magic-user powerful enough to overcome it.”
“That’s hard to say,” Otto answered. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the wall and added, “It’s a curse that changes her physical characteristics, so it has a condition for breaking it. She wouldn’t tell us what it is, but she didn’t seem hopeful.”