Chapter 20 Where It All Went Wrong #2
With that, Alex spun on her heel, heading back towards the stairwell leading out of the dungeons, bringing Andrew back into view.
She hadn’t formulated a plan to get them out, but at least she was leaving knowing that there were others who were doing what could be done in her absence.
Alex came to a stop in front of Andrew, his head hanging.
He had to be in immense pain with the weight of his body pulling down on his shoulders, the cuffs cutting into his wrists.
“Andrew,” she whispered, “I need you to listen closely, I don’t have much time. Sophiana showed me what the others are doing for you all. Please take what they offer. Don’t try to be a hero. I need you to become Sophiana’s guard once you are cleared and keep her safe.”
Lifting his head, Andrew’s eyes bore into hers as she rushed to get it all out.
“I am being sent after the supply ship. I’m going to find Rivka and Ellis. I will get the answers that we need and bring them home. Lieutenant Tait can be trusted and Colin has found others. Stay strong. Do not let them break you.”
Raising her water canteen to his lips, she helped him drink until he pulled back.
“I will,” he began in a raspy voice before a coughing fit racked his body, “I will do as you ask. Go bring our queen home.” His eyes burned with determination. “Thank you, Alex.”
Staring at him, she wanted to rip him down, to ease his pain. Overcome with despair, Alex turned to go, tipping her head to show him her respect. Andrew looked on, his eyes following her as she ascended the steps.
Reaching the upper landing, she rapped on the door three times, signaling to Marcus that she was done. The door swung open, its creaky hinges sounding like screams in the quiet of the dungeons.
Looking around to make sure they were still alone, Alex murmured, “Your loyalty hasn’t gone unnoticed. Find Captain McConnell; he shares your beliefs. You must be my eyes and ears while I am away, the last line of protection for our queen. I trust that you won’t disappoint me.”
Marcus snapped to attention, his hand touching his brow in salute. “Yes, Captain.”
Alex’s face softened. “Thank you, Lieutenant Tait. Your kindness to your queen and fellow guards show the depth of your honor.” Not waiting for a response, Alex strode away. She had to update Colin before packing. First light would come too soon.
Alex moved around her chambers like a ghost, folding clothes, wrapping supplies, and categorizing the things that needed to go with her on this trip.
It had been a day. Alex’s emotions were scattered.
Seeing the state that Andrew and Evanar were in, knowing that they would likely be tortured in her wake, was almost her undoing.
The only solace was knowing that Marcus and Colin would do everything they could to help them.
Colin, while not always booksmart, was a sneaky bastard, and Alex couldn’t have been happier about it.
He had snuck fungi powder into Luther’s coffee at breakfast, ensuring that he would be otherwise preoccupied with his ass in the privy, while she had snuck away to the dungeons to speak with Sophiana and Evanar.
One couldn’t torture someone when they were stuck on the crapper.
Colin had had reservations about trusting Marcus but quickly realized he needed the help.
As it turned out, there were several guards whose loyalty to their true queen had overridden their duties to their newly acquired sovereign.
Rivka would be proud. Luther and Vivian were loathed, it seemed, by many.
Their vileness leaked from them in waves, corrupting all those around them.
There was so much that she would have to leave behind. Walking over to the bookshelf, she ran her finger along the spines of her favorite titles. It hurt to have to abandon them. She would return though, and they would be there waiting for her to lose herself once again within their pages.
Turning, she tossed a tunic in the direction of the bed, but it missed, sliding to the floor in front of the bedside table.
Stooping to pick it up, she stopped cold.
A weathered leather-bound book with beautiful gold script sat on the table.
She hadn’t noticed it there before but it must have been.
Her heart stuttered as she picked it up, running her fingertip over the title, The Bound Queen.
Memories crashed into her, almost sending her to her knees.
Alex sat heavily on the edge of the bed, the book pressed to her chest. Riv, where are you?
Were you taken or did you run? Opening the book, Alex noticed that the first page had been torn out.
Frowning, she leafed through the rest, ensuring that there was no more damage.
She didn’t remember it being damaged when Rivka gave it to her, or even setting it on the bedside table. She swore she had left it on the shelf.
Shaking herself to dispel the memories, she rose, wrapping the book in the discarded tunic, slipping it into the pack that she would carry on her back. It was the sweetest torture keeping it close but she couldn’t bear to leave it, the last gift that Rivka had given her.
Originally, the plan had been to take the waterway to the Morrows Province since that was where the pirated ship had been headed, but once she got there, she had nothing else to go on, no one to help her, and no evidence to follow.
What a fool’s mission that would be. Her thoughts sorted themselves and drifted back to her conversation with Evanar.
She had gone to the dungeons to help them, to give them comfort but instead, Evanar had comforted her, had applied a thin balm over her raw and aching heart.
‘You have dedicated your life and your heart to your queen. Your loyalty is unquestioned.’
Her hands shook as his voice filled her head.
‘Listen to me, Alex. You must go back to where it all started. Where this pain was inflicted. You’ll find the answers you seek.
Just go back to where it all began, where it all went wrong.
You must start there and you must go alone.
’ Alone. Well, she was definitely alone, that was true.
She turned the words over in her mind slowly.
Evanar had placed his hand over her heart.
‘Where this pain was inflicted.’ How could he know that it was his daughter that had inflicted that pain, no, not just her, fucking Tristan too.
Bile rose in her throat as she thought of him, of him and her.
Wait. Did Evanar mean for me to go back to the Rune Province, back to the palace? Did he know about them? About what had happened?
Alex didn’t know if she could stand in front of Tristan and not kill him. He had tainted everything she had ever loved but Evanar was right, Tristan likely held the answers. Even if he couldn’t tell her where Rivka was, Alex was betting he knew something.
She had to follow her gut. At first light, she would send her battalion after the supply ship as planned, but she would be paying a visit to Prince Pretty Boy.
She would drag the answers out of him if need be.
He would get to see a side of her that he had never experienced before, and unfortunately for him, she was happy to let her dagger do the talking.