Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
For Rainer to be there already, he had to have left the palace shortly after Sabine did. Since he didn’t seem surprised to see her, he must have figured out her plan.
Her forehead burned where his lips had touched her. She peeked into his hard, unyielding eyes. His grip on her waist pinched to the point of being painful.
“Now that I’m here,” Rainer quipped, “everything will proceed as planned.”
“No,” Sabine said, shaking her head, refusing to let him ruin everything. She’d given up too much, sacrificed too much. “There will not be a war. I forbid it.”
He chuckled, the sound low and rumbling. “Honey, I know the idea of a war scares you since you’re so fragile. That’s why you’ll let those of us who’ve trained and know how to fight handle this.” He pinched her side harder.
She flinched, trying to move away from him, but he held firm. Two of the women in the tent noticed his hand on her side.
“I’ve been appointed the commander of this army—not you,” Sabine said. “I’m in charge.”
“Even as the commander,” he replied, his voice smooth as silk, “I still outrank you. I’m in charge of the commander. My word goes. I think it’s cute of you wanting to come here and help. But you are out of your league.”
This could not be happening. Every time she had a plan she was sure would outmaneuver Rainer, he did something to turn it on its side.
“We don’t need to go to war,” she insisted. “This is madness.” Maybe the other lieutenants would agree with her. Maybe they could all convince Rainer to stand down.
Rainer leaned toward her, whispering in her ear, “Madness is thinking a little girl from Bakley can come into Lynk and control the army. You have no idea what you’re doing or playing at.
” Rainer straightened and faced those present in the tent.
“Return to your units. Spread the word that we’ll attack tomorrow as planned. Dismissed.”
Everyone filed out of the tent except Drew. Sabine had no idea where Cutler had gone. Maybe once Rainer entered the tent, Cutler left because he couldn’t stand to be around the person responsible for his wife’s death.
“Captain Drew,” Rainer said, “you’re relieved of guarding the queen. I’ll take responsibility for her safety from now on.”
Drew’s eyes locked on Sabine’s. She knew he didn’t want to leave. However, if he disobeyed the king, Rainer would kill him. Even though she didn’t want to, she nodded at Drew, letting him know he should go.
He hesitated a moment before giving a curt nod and exiting the tent.
Now that the two of them were alone, Sabine said, “You’re insane.” She tried shoving away from Rainer but he didn’t release her.
“You have caused me all sorts of problems. I’m done playing games with you.
” He grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back and forcing her out the tent.
“Smile or I’ll kill you right now,” he whispered in her ear.
He kept her body against his so no one would realize what he was doing to her.
The two of them entered the adjacent tent.
This one contained a large bed and several opened trunks filled with clothes and various weapons. A fur rug covered the floor.
Rainer shoved her onto the bed and cold fear sliced into Sabine.
“I’ll scream,” she said, scooting back, trying to put space between them. She needed to get the poison tipped dagger from her boot.
Rainer loomed over her. She tried not to make any sudden movements.
Her hand slowly slid down, only inches from her weapon.
He snatched her wrist, yanking it up. She cried out in pain.
Grabbing a piece of rope, he tied her wrist to the top of the bed.
Then he grabbed her other wrist, doing the same.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” she said, panic setting in now that both her wrists were attached to the bed. “We can work together instead of fighting one another.”
He shook his head. “Since the moment I met you, I knew you’d never work. You’re too independent and opinionated.”
“You can’t kill me,” she reminded him. “You need your heir to maintain the throne.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Kneeling on the bed, he put his hands on either side of her body, hovering over her, his face mere inches from hers.
“If I go to war and end the League, I can change the rules.” A sadistic smile slid across his face.
“I can do whatever I want.” He leaned even closer and whispered in her ear, “I can even kill you.”
“King Rainer!” someone shouted from outside the tent.
“Don’t worry, I won’t make your death easy. You’ve caused me so many problems and so much pain, I will take my time and enjoy it.” He went over to the tent flap, lifting it.
“Your Majesty, we found a man snooping around the camp,” a soldier said. “He’s from Avoni and he has several weapons on him. We think he’s one of the men responsible for the assassinations.”
“Excellent,” Rainer said. “Let’s go.” He left the tent without another word.
Lying there staring up at the ceiling, Sabine knew she had to come up with another plan to get out of this mess.
Only, her plans didn’t seem to work. And this time, she couldn’t think of a single idea to help.
Unless Drew or Cutler came in and untied her, she was going to die.
The realization that she couldn’t save herself was almost too much. Tears filled her eyes.
Sabine must have fallen asleep because when she peeled her eyelids open, darkness blanketed the tent.
Someone had just entered, which must have woken her.
A figure went over to the side and lit a candle, revealing it was Rainer.
Setting the candle down, he turned and sat on the side of the bed next to Sabine.
“Prince Evander has come for you,” Rainer said. “My men spotted him on the outskirts of camp.” He chuckled, the sound dark. “I assumed he had a thing for you.”
Confusion swirled within Sabine. There was no way Evander knew she was here. If he’d come to the camp, it was for something else. A shiver wracked her body.
Rainer ran his finger over Sabine’s forehead, along her cheek, and over her bottom lip. She had to refrain from biting his finger and spitting in his face.
“Don’t worry that pretty little head of yours,” he said. “We’re setting a trap. Tomorrow I will kill you in front of Evander. He will watch you die like I watched Heather die.”
“Evander isn’t responsible for Heather’s death,” she said. “He had nothing to do with it.”
He tilted his head to the side. “You’re defending him?”
“I’m sorry Heather died.”
His eyes narrowed. “No, you’re not. You never liked her.” He stood. “Try to get some sleep. You’ll need your energy for tomorrow.”
Sabine jolted awake to men shouting out orders.
She heard several people yell the word dead.
She wondered if they’d been attacked or if Evander had done something.
Darkness surrounded her, the lone candle no longer lit.
She was still in bed, her wrists bound. Angry voices came from right outside her tent.
It sounded like they were next to her head, on the other side of the tent’s fabric wall.
“She is the acting commander,” a voice said. “That means she must be killed.”
“I gave specific instructions that the queen was not to be touched in any way,” another voice said. This one seemed angry, deadly, lethal.
“And the king gave me instructions. I can’t return home until the commander is dead.”
“I’m changing the orders.”
“You can’t. You know that.”
There was a shuffling sound and a thump.
“If something happens to me, there will be another.”
“You will not touch the queen. That’s an order.”
A low chuckle sounded. “Then say the words.”
“You are bound by oath and blood.”
“Then it is done.” There was a shuffling noise. “I’ll let the others know. If the king is displeased when I report, it’s your life—not mine.”
“Agreed.”
Sabine’s heart pounded with the possibility that Evander was on the other side of the tent. She was about to call out to him when someone slipped inside her tent. The person got closer.
She was about to say Evander, thinking it was him, when a hand slid over her mouth.
“Shh,” Drew said. “Don’t say a word. We’re under attack and several people have been killed.” He released her and cut her bindings.
She sat up, wanting to make a run for it.
Drew motioned for her to stay put, then he turned to face the tent’s opening.
“I need to get out of here,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous to leave the tent.” Withdrawing his sword, he stood there guarding the queen.
Rainer shoved the tent flap back and stormed inside. “He’s going to pay.” The king’s hair was disheveled, there was a cut across his face, and his clothes were rumpled. It looked like he’d been in a fight. “What are you doing here?” he asked Drew.
“With all of the assassinations last night, I came here to protect the queen. It’s a good thing I did, since she was tied up.”
“You’re dismissed. Leave.”
Drew slid his sword in its scabbard then exited the tent.
“Who’s going to pay? What happened?” Sabine asked as she sat up on the bed.
The king glared at her. “The assassin that we captured got away. He killed three dozen of my men.”
“What about Evander?” she asked, wondering if he’d been involved in the killings, especially since she thought she’d heard him last night outside her tent.
“Evander is the one who rescued the assassin.”
Sabine found it hard to breathe as the realization set in.
Evander had rescued the assassin, but not her.
Her first thought was that he didn’t know she was here in this camp.
But he did. The conversation she’d overheard all but confirmed that he knew she was here.
Yet he’d done nothing to save her. It sounded like he’d prevented the assassin from killing her—but saving her?
Rescuing her? She wasn’t part of his plan and that stung.
“Let’s go.” Rainer grabbed Sabine’s arm, dragging her off the bed and out of the tent.
Fog coated the land, concealing the tents more than twenty feet away. Rainer pulled her along. The camp seemed deserted. When they reached the center where a platform stood, she realized why the rest of the camp had felt empty—it was because everyone was here.
Rainer dragged her along a narrow pathway leading to the platform.
When they reached it, he yanked her up the steps.
At the top, he gripped her arms. Another soldier joined them, tying Sabine’s wrists together in front of her body.
Several of the soldiers murmured, probably wondering what the king was doing with the queen.
Then the soldier removed both of Sabine’s daggers and exited the platform.
When Rainer and Sabine were the only two standing on it, Rainer shouted, “If you want to save her, show yourself!”
The soldiers gathered closest to them pulled out their swords and turned so their backs faced the platform as if guarding it from a threat.
Evander was nowhere to be seen. She thought it rather bold of Rainer to stand out in the open, so exposed. However, she didn’t see any archers among the soldiers. She also didn’t see any areas where one could potentially hide and shoot an arrow toward Rainer.
Sabine had an inkling of a plan. “Listen to me,” she said loudly, her voice carrying over the hundreds of soldiers gathered. “Every life here is valuable. We do not need to go to war—”
Rainer backhanded her across the face, causing her to fall on her arm. She cried out in pain.
Someone in the crowd moved, as if to help her.
Rainer ordered Aaren, who stood at the bottom of the steps, to arrest that soldier who’d moved. Aaren rushed forward and grabbed the person, yanking back the man’s hood, to reveal a Lynk soldier.
“It’s not him,” Aaren said, letting him go.
Rainer cursed. “Where is he?” He stepped toward Sabine, placing one of his boots on her back, forcing her to remain on the floor. He withdrew his sword, the slice of steel ringing through the air. “Last chance!” he called out. “Show yourself, or she dies!”
It felt as if time slowed.
Sabine tried to get to her knees, but Rainer only stepped harder on her.
“I guess he doesn’t care for you,” Rainer said. “Pity there is no one here to save you.” And with that, he swung his sword down, right toward Sabine’s neck.