Chapter 20
The Palace was a nightmare of panic. King Sameer pored over a mound of documents; his advisors spoke all at once around him. I stood quietly nearby. His advisors only asked me questions like: What I was doing out that way? With whom was I with? And, What did I mean, I recognized one of the bandits?
No one spoke to me beyond that. No one asked if I was alright. No one asked if Mr. Evergreen was, or Ser Willoughby, or Miss Josie, and Sam had no absolutely idea what he should do. He paced back and forth between his father’s leering eyes, and me.
“I think it’s fair to say we must address this now,” Elías said. He pointed at one of the maps. “If they-”
“And how should I do that, Lord Commander?” the King asked. “Shall we assemble a caravan of our own? Who’s going to lead it? You? An Oreian knight?”
“You, Your Majesty,” he replied. “Why would I lead your army?”
“My army?” he asked. “You expect me to deploy my army?”
“I expect you to send knights, yes,” Elías said. “An attack on your son’s betrothed has just occurred, and on your soil, no less. Why wouldn’t you respond accordingly?”
“Chalke soil, yes, but as I see it, the Princess recognized the man as Oreian. That makes this attack an Oreian problem. That is, if she is not part of it herself. Perhaps her father should send you to investigate?”
“A part of it?” I asked, shocked. “Is that a serious accusation or a seriously bad joke, Your Majesty?” I met his eyes. He looked stunned that I had spoken. “What do you think happened, exactly?”
“Your Highness,” the King began.
“No,” I said, standing taller, cocking my head. “I should like to hear it. This theory. What is it? That I staged my own assault? Burned down a man I respect’s home for what? For attention?”
Their eyes were all on me. I looked to Ser Elías; he subtly nodded his head to go on.
The King straightened his cuff. “Your Highness. I think-”
“You think what? You’ve just publicly accused me of inciting the same terror that I have been assured you were investigating. The burning of horses, the threats, you’ve ignored it all, haven’t you?”
He frowned. “We investigated. We found it to be an isolated event. No further cause for concern.”
“No further cause for concern? Clearly.” I paused; my jaw tensing.
“Yet, here you are, suggesting that I had something to do with such evil deeds. I should tell my father of your theory. I wonder what he would think? My, for your country’s sake, I do hope I’m not the entity you take me for.
God help your son if I am.” I shook my head.
“Look at you,” I went on, jeering rudely at each player in the room.
“A bunch of fat cats, aren’t you? Lounging around a map, wondering how to exterminate the mice.
Is it so hard? It’s no longer your nature then?
You’ve forgotten you have claws?” I moved toward the table, pulling the dagger from my belt and staking into the heart of their scheme.
“Do you need a deeper demonstration on how it works? Or is that plenty?”
His Majesty scoffed. “I’ve been killing men twice your size since I was half your age!” he said. “Since before your governess cut the crusts off your bread. Since–”
“My governess beat me every day of my life until I could no longer feel the nerves in the ends of my fingertips,” I said.
“You don’t know me, Your Majesty, and I pray you never have to.
But I sure would pay good gold to see to the truth of your killing capability because when I look at you I see nothing but a portly, old grouch with no bite behind his teeth! ”
There was an audible gasp.
“I shall take this moment to remind you all that Oreia won the war, not Chalke, and not by luck, or fate, or a particularly good weathered day, but by a naturally inherited skill in leveling the field and a strict resistance to cowardice. I am my father’s child; I am his heir!
Chalke is at the mercy of our reign, and I say, I do not care for the way you speak to me, Your Majesty. ”
His first met the table, but I did not startle. “I will not be addressed as such, by a child,” he said. “Ever since you arrived, you’ve-!”
“Close your mouth, King, I am speaking,” I said coldly.
He did. “Since I have arrived, I’ve done nothing— absolutely nothing but sit upon my hands and wait to be sold to your insufferable child for peace.
Peace that my father won for all of our future, and for a cause greater than you and than himself.
Do you think he was so victorious by sitting around to see if the problems he faced resolved themselves or by declaring threats as ‘no cause for concern?’ Do you think he blamed others for his mistakes?
Or did he own and correct them? You signed his treaty because you feared the consequence of ignoring it.
If violence is what these bastards want, violence is what they’ll have. ”
“Violence doesn’t solve everything, Your Highness,” he said.
“A coward’s prayer,” I told him. “Violence solves plenty.”
“My love,” Sam said.
“Absolutely not,” I croaked, reeling around.
I pointed at each person as I described them.
“An over-compensating prince who doesn’t know how to stand up to his father.
A tyrant who can’t win a war, and a flock of men who might be able to help, but are too bound to silence from their rank or lack thereof to make a fuss.
Do not call me love, Your Highness. You call me ‘Your Highness,’ or nothing at all. ”
“Your Highness,” he said, correcting himself with poise.
I huffed. “If I must root these bandits out myself, I will, but none of you want to be here when I return,” I said.
“No,” Sam said. “No, that’s not what must happen here. Right, Father?” He waited for the King to nod. “We’ll work together to find them.”
“And bring them to their knees,” I said.
Elías grinned. “That a girl,” he said proudly.
“And another thing,” I added. “No one in this room will ever speak to me the way that I have allowed you to until this moment. The fun is over. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
Sameer, his father and all my friends nodded, though the first of them was embarrassed.
He said, “What, uh, what do you suggest then, Your Highness? We murder them all?”
“Yes,” I said plainly. “If we must, we must. An eye for an eye leaves the world blind–I say take both. Arrest those who can be rehabilitated but remove the idealists. Ser Elías, compose a team of our best; His Majesty will do the same with his men. As the Prince has suggested, we’ll combine our efforts.
This has sprouted in response to our union.
Both our empires are facing trouble for as long as it is permitted to exist. Together we shall be a united force.
Otherwise, what does this marriage offer us? ”
“It’s a good plan, Your Highness,” Elías said. He was the first to bow.
I nodded once, then hooked his armor by the collar and brought him close. “When you find them, tell them the mare is here to stay. She cannot be broken, and if they wish to challenge that, we’ll see who burns next.”
Cyrus watched me with an unreadable expression. Elías agreed, giving me a furtive, “Rah!” His Majesty bowed next, then excused himself to see to his task. Sameer touched my arm.
“Your Highness,” he whispered. “I ache to see you so hurt. You are angry and have every right to be. I should have been there with you, not where I was.”
I narrowed my eyes. “If you need me, Prince, I’ll be in my chamber.”
I met Mr. Evergreen’s gaze before he was pulled into the conference with the Blades.
Ser Elías said whatever it is he said to them, then broke away to return as my hound.
He escorted me down the hall but did not utter a word until we were inside my bedchamber and the door was shut. Then he nearly broke.
“Are you alright?” he asked. “Tell me. What happened? Did they hurt you? Where did you get that knife?”
I shook my head, once, then laid the dagger across the desk, fingers absently crossing its design. A moment later, I stripped the stained clothing from my body.
“I bought this dagger in the market,” I explained. “For Mr. Evergreen.”
He retrieved his handkerchief and brought it to my face, undeterred by my sudden exposure. He used it to clean something from it, then said, “You should be very proud of yourself. I am proud of you.”
I laughed, completely daft. “What sort of commentary is that, Ser?” I asked.
His smile went away. “There is no call for humor. You held your ground; you saved yourself. In that room and at the cottage. Your father would be proud, too.”
“I didn’t save anything,” I confessed. “Had it not been for Miss Jocelyn, Willoughby, and Mr. Evergreen, I would have burned alive.” I dabbed my finger to a few spots, already bruising. “And I saw a man’s face melt off.”
His lips came together in thought. “I am proud of him, too.”
“Of the man who lost his face?” I snapped to his attention.
“No. Of your friend,” he corrected me. “Of Mr. Evergreen. Of everyone there, but especially of him.”
“Oh,” I said. “Wait. What? Why?”
“Perhaps…Perhaps I’ve been severe on him,” he considered. He moved to the window, to study something outside. “Twice now he’s done what I could not. He’s protected you.”
“What? You protect me every day. And if Evergreen did it this time, it was only because you were not there. It’s not like you couldn’t or wouldn’t have given those radicals Hell. You’re my best friend, my only companion, and I-”
“I… I am happy you have found someone who…cares for your safety when I cannot. Though,” he turned to face me, “I shall struggle to concede that he loves you more. Maybe differently, I’ll allow, but never more.”
His words caused me to stop. For a moment I just looked at him, then I smiled softly. “No one could love me like you, Eli. Not even handsome swordsmen.”
“So, it is love then?” he asked cautiously. “Is it mutual? Or one-sided?”
I hesitated. My lips parted from one another. Braver, I said, “He’s not said the actual words…”