Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Back in the main section of the palace, Sabine felt like she could finally breathe. She never wanted to step foot in the dungeon again. As she traversed through the palace, her hands shook from the encounter with the assassin.
“We can talk in my room,” she murmured to Commander Felix. Not only did she want the privacy her room afforded for this conversation, but she wanted to check on Harta to make sure she was okay.
When they reached the door to her bedchamber, Felix instructed her guards to wait in the hallway. He closed her door then quickly checked the room to ensure they were alone.
Harta was lounging on the sofa on the balcony. Sabine went over, kissing and petting her dog’s head.
“I see your bed isn’t actually on the floor,” Felix said as he joined her on the balcony.
“No, it’s not.” She sat on the sofa next to Harta.
Felix rubbed his jaw. “I have to ask, do you know that man in the dungeon?”
She’d known that question was coming. It was one of the reasons she’d wanted to talk to Felix. “No, I don’t.”
He squatted so they were eye level. “The prisoner didn’t speak a word to my soldiers. Not when he was arrested, not during his transportation, not during his interrogation, and not since being in that cell. But he spoke to you.” He raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question.
Sabine had been trying to figure it out. “I think he was taunting me.”
“Why?”
Shrugging, she replied, “Who knows how the mind of an assassin works.” Thoughts of Evander surfaced.
Even though she’d only spent a short amount of time with the Avoni prince, she felt like she knew him, and he seemed normal—not at all like the man she’d met in the dungeon.
That man had goaded her and had reveled in it.
“I honestly think he wanted to scare me in order to make his assignment more exciting for him.”
“Assignment?”
“He’s clearly a trained assassin.” Felix had to know that.
The commander stood and folded his arms. “How do you know he’s an assassin?” Felix asked. “I mean, I agree with you. He’s killed dozens of my soldiers. But how do you know? Are you guessing or is there more to it that you’re not telling me?”
Even though Felix had been loyal to her, helped her, and kept her alive, it felt wrong to tell him about the Avoni assassin guilds’ tattoos. “It’s just a feeling,” she lied. “I don’t have any proof.”
He nodded. “At least he’s in the dungeon where he can’t kill anyone else.”
“About that,” Sabine said. Based on what the man had said, there was only one possible reason why an assassin of that skill level had been captured in the first place.
“I think he wanted to be arrested and brought here.” They’d been stupid to bring an Avoni assassin into the palace, even if he was locked in the dungeon.
“That may be the case, but he can’t get out of his cell.” He began to pace.
Sabine wasn’t so sure about that. While the dungeon had seemed secure, Avoni assassins were well trained. “I think we should increase security in the dungeon. Just in case.”
The door to Sabine’s room opened, and Rainer strode inside. “Commander Felix,” he said by way of greeting. “I didn’t know you were here. With the queen.” He stopped under the arch to the balcony, his focus on his commander.
“Your Majesty,” Felix said. “I was debriefing the queen. Now that I’m done, shall I debrief her guards as well? Or do you want to have Captain Lithane handle that?”
“Why do you feel the queen needs to be debriefed about something she was at?” Rainer asked.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” Felix replied. “I was explaining to the queen that Princess Lottie has been found innocent and that the trial is over. The paperwork has been completed but requires the queen’s signature since she brought forth the charges.”
Sabine had to force herself to remain calm. Rainer had outsmarted and outplayed her. “I’ll come by to sign everything.”
Felix gave a quick bow before leaving the room without so much as a backward glance. Sabine couldn’t believe how smoothly he’d just lied.
Drew stepped inside her room, standing next to the door. His presence gave her a measure of security, though she knew there wasn’t much he could do to protect her from Rainer. She had to trust the threat of another riot would be enough to taper the king’s temper.
“I often forget that you’re still a child,” Rainer said. “You’re only eighteen and have no knowledge or experience of the world. Especially given your pampered upbringing.”
The comment stung. However, she would play along if it kept her safe and Rainer’s temper in check.
He clasped his hands behind his back as he came out onto the balcony, heading over to the railing and gazing out at the mountains.
“Your actions have caused me a lot of trouble.” When she didn’t respond, he turned to face her, leaning against the railing.
“You have a job,” he went on. “You’re my wife.
While you are the queen of Lynk, that is a title, a name, and not a position which requires you to do anything.
You will remain here, in this palace. You will not leave it.
You will have my child so I can maintain my throne.
Once I have an heir, then we will discuss your situation. ”
So many parts of what he said grated on her nerves.
He couldn’t expect her to remain in the palace, never leaving it, just so she wouldn’t cause him any trouble.
It was preposterous. Knowing she couldn’t question him about any of that right now, she honed in on the last thing he’d said. “My situation?”
“Yes, your situation. That is, if you’ll remain here in Lynk or return to live with your parents.”
She hadn’t even considered the possibility. “And what of our child?” If they had a child together, she wouldn’t be able to abandon him or her.
“Our child—my heir—will remain here with me. You and I will be married in name only. Unless things change between us, which I don’t see happening.”
Now that Rainer wasn’t going to be executed for Lottie’s crimes, Sabine needed another plan to stop the war.
She never should have let herself hope because now that spark was dead.
The obstacles ahead of her seemed insurmountable.
“If you start a war against the other kingdoms, I might not have a home to return to.” She sat there, petting Harta.
“Your family will remain safe. I promised you their safety, and I honor my promises.”
That statement almost made her laugh. However, she kept her face neutral, not wanting her true feelings to show. “Thank you.” It was all she could muster. If she failed to stop the war, she prayed Rainer wouldn’t end her family. They didn’t deserve to die for her failures.
He pushed off the railing, coming to stand before her. “You will join me for supper this evening. You need to apologize to Axel and Lottie for having them arrested last night.”
The mere thought of apologizing to Lottie irritated Sabine. She didn’t know if she could physically do it.
Rainer watched her for another minute before he reached out toward her neck. She jerked backward, not wanting him to touch her. “You bruise easily,” he said, as if that explained the marks on her neck. He turned and let himself out, not bothering to apologize for trying to strangle her.
Sabine stroked Harta. “Well, girl, we have an assassin in the dungeon. I think he’s here to kill Rainer. And probably me along with the entire royal family. At the end of this, Evander might end up sitting on Lynk’s throne.”
And that was the thought she’d been trying to avoid—Evander’s involvement in all of this.
She had no idea how much of his father’s plan he knew and if he was actively involved in it.
Evander had warned her several times that his family had something in the works.
There were things that Evander—even if he didn’t agree with it—might not be able to stop.
Maybe that was why he’d been trying to get her to leave this palace and run away with him.
When Sabine awoke the next day, Harta was gone.
Harper told her that Drew had been instructed to retrieve the dog and return it to the kennels for additional training.
For some reason, Sabine felt like Rainer had ordered her dog to be taken away out of spite.
Or to prove a point that the gift he gave her for companionship and protection could easily be taken away. She suddenly felt very alone.
Growing up with five older siblings, Sabine had learned at a young age that when they bothered her, not to let it show.
If she did, it would only encourage that behavior in the future.
As hard as it was not to demand Rainer return her dog, she forced herself to let it go.
If Harta wasn’t back in a few days, she’d go to the kennels herself.
Under no circumstances would she breathe a word of this to Rainer.
She couldn’t let him know how much the dog meant to her.
Needing to calm herself down, she decided to do a workout.
Once changed into comfortable clothes, her guards led her to the training center.
While Rainer had said she was required to stay in the palace, she considered this an extension of it, especially since she could access it from the tunnel in the palace.
When she entered the cavern, Cutler spotted her. He immediately came over to see how she was doing after the events of the past two days.
“I have a request,” she said, her voice low so it wouldn’t carry to other ears. “I have some basic defense skills, but I want to learn how to handle a situation like I faced the other day.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You mean when someone much larger than you tries to kill you?”
“Yes.” But it was more than just that. “I need to know what to do when it’s unexpected. When I think I’m safe, then someone turns on me.”
“Meaning you don’t have time to prepare or analyze the situation, when your behavior must be automatic?”
“Exactly.”