Chapter 30
Thirty
I WOKE SOME HOURS LATER, still cradled in Raleigh’s arms. My whole body ached from the hard floor, and my skin was chilled to the touch.
‘Clara.’ Raleigh’s voice was soft against my ear. ‘We’ve stopped. I think something’s wrong.’
Suddenly I was wide awake. I went to the window, peering out through the curtains. ‘It’s still daytime. You should get in your coffin.’
‘Chest.’
‘Just get in the box.’
‘Right.’ Raleigh hesitated. ‘You might be cold like that.’
I glanced down, flushing as I realised I was still in no more than my shift, but I didn’t want to waste time fiddling with the lacing on my stays.
As Raleigh climbed back into his coffin I snatched up his discarded coat instead for what little modesty it offered me and found a pair of gloves balled down the side of my bag for some semblance of warmth.
Though it was still light outside, I stopped to strap my knife back to my leg, just in case.
It had been there for so long over the past few days the silver had started chafing my skin.
Being rid of it was one more thing to look forward to if this somehow ended favourably.
The sunlight felt unseasonably harsh when I stepped outside the carriage.
We were just downhill from Castle Rostenburg – only a stone’s throw from the jagged spires of the outer gate.
Separating us from the walls of safety was a crowd of fifty or so men and women, all crudely armed. Leading the pack was …
‘Father,’ I whispered.
Of all the times he could have marshalled the people of Orlfen to rescue me, why did he have to choose now? He was pacing back and forth in front of the gate. Yann was with him, saying something to Father, who didn’t seem to want to listen.
‘Should we turn back?’ Moira called down to me. We were still too far away to be in earshot. Even if they turned around, I doubt they would have noticed the carriage immediately.
‘No. It’s my father.’
‘How do you know?’ Moira asked.
‘I can see him.’
She and Enrique looked at me for longer than was comfortable.
‘Can you see their faces, Enrique?’
‘No,’ he replied. ‘I can’t.’
‘Let’s drive,’ I said. I climbed up to nestle beside Enrique, ignoring the knot in my stomach. ‘They won’t hurt us. I imagine he’s here for me.’
‘Oh yes, angry mobs always have the best intentions,’ Moira said, kicking the horses back into action.
We trundled to where the militia waited.
Father stopped his pacing once he saw the carriage and barked an order at the crowd to stand back.
They parted around the carriage as we approached, the familiar faces staring up with equal parts fear and resentment.
Sickness crawled up my throat. Everyone still followed him, oblivious to what he had done to their families.
‘What are you doing here?’ I called down as we stopped.
Yann rushed forward when I climbed down on my own, then stopped abruptly as he remembered where our relationship now stood. A long-forgotten ache flared within me. For so much of my life he was as much a part of me as one of my limbs. Now that chapter of my life was well and truly over.
Yann had lost weight he didn’t have left to lose. His eyes were rimmed red and framed in shadow. His sling was gone, but it was clear from sight alone that his fingers would never heal properly. Guilt twisted within me.
Father brushed past him, putting himself at the front of the crowd once more. There was a crossbow strapped to his back, the same one he’d used to shoot Raleigh so many months ago. ‘Where are your clothes?’ was all he said.
I tugged Raleigh’s coat closed over my shift. ‘It’s a long story.’
‘Not that long,’ Enrique muttered, jumping down behind me. I glared at him.
‘You can’t walk around looking like that.’
Of all the things I cared about in that moment, my state of undress was not one of them. I pinched the bridge of my nose, tilting my head back in my exasperation. As I did, my hair fell away from my shoulders.
Father grasped me by the arm and painfully yanked the rest of my hair out of the way. ‘The prince did this.’
My heart jumped. He’d found the bandage at my throat.
Enrique hissed through his teeth. I hadn’t told him or Moira about what had transpired before the attack. But Enrique at least knew the context. Father did not.
‘I’ll kill him,’ he growled.
‘What are you planning to do, Juri?’ Moira sneered down from her perch on the carriage. ‘Starve him to death?’
‘What’s she talking about?’ Yann asked.
Father remained outwardly calm, but his eyes radiated cold fury. ‘I have no idea.’
‘You know exactly what she’s talking about,’ I said.
Father’s eyes remained cold, as if daring me to speak again. I looked out over the crowd, memorising every gaunt and ashen face. Everyone here had lost someone to the famine in one way or another. They all deserved to know what he’d done.
‘Will you tell them or shall I?’ I asked.
‘There’s nothing to tell.’
So that was how he wanted to play it. Fine.
‘Raleigh delivered regular aid to Orlfen during the worst of the famine,’ I said, loud enough for the furthest to hear.
‘My father took what was meant for Orlfen and sold it in Triz, knowing that people would starve, then told us all that Triz was worse off than we were to stop us from leaving. All because he thought his position in society was worth more than your families’ lives. ’
A murmur rippled through the crowd, but Father didn’t react. ‘See?’ he said, turning to the crowd. ‘It’s exactly as I told you. Listen to her spouting the most outrageous lies just to drive us apart. That monster has twisted her mind, and you can’t believe a word she says.’
‘Haven’t you ever wondered where Father got the money for my dowry?’ I called over him.
A man towards the back whispered something to the woman next to him.
‘Or why he always had just the right thing to barter when he needed it?’
There were more murmurs now.
‘How is it that we always had just enough that we could still keep horses,’ I continued, ‘when we weren’t the ones growing the food?’
‘Enough!’ Father yelled. ‘Don’t forget who’s feeding her these lies. Her betrothed is our true enemy.’
‘Raleigh?’ I forced a laugh. ‘Half of Orlfen is dead because you were deluded enough to think you could buy your way into the nobility. And when Raleigh wanted to expose you, you sold me to him to keep him quiet!’
‘Half of Orlfen is dead because your husband killed them last night,’ Father yelled.
My heart stopped. What did he mean? Who was dead? Father was so far away, the world tunnelling around him. I felt myself sway, but my body felt like it was on the other side of the forest.
‘Who …’ was all I managed to choke out.
‘One person from every household,’ Yann said. He sounded so tired. ‘We found them this morning.’
No. Yann and Father were both here, but that meant Klaus … Johanna … There were hundreds of households in Orlfen. Hundreds of mourning families. Hundreds dead. I looked back at the tired faces in the crowd, and the truth stared back.
The court had beat us here. They’d never meant to stop us at the inn. They were only buying time.
Father’s form blurred before me. I swayed again, then cried out as a searing pain shot through me.
My throat closed up; my veins seemed to shrink in on themselves.
My entire body felt like it was being torn apart and re-formed.
The sun felt so hot, my whole body aflame. I couldn’t see, couldn’t think.
And then it stopped. I must have fallen, because I was on the ground in the shadow of the carriage, my head in Father’s lap while Moira and Enrique fussed. I was fine. My heart slowed to a normal pace. The pain began to dissipate as quickly as it had grown.
‘What happened?’
‘Clara, say something.’
I sat up, brushing Moira’s fingers away from my pulse point. The sun had reached the cusp of the mountain, blinding in its evening glow, but there was no fire, no unbearable heat. It was cold enough for snow, if the drought would allow it.
‘Dizzy spell,’ I murmured dismissively, finding my feet. My head still felt foggy. I leant heavily against Father, too unsteady to find an alternative.
Father glared at Moira. ‘What have you done to her? She never had dizzy spells before coming up here.’
‘She doesn’t have dizzy spells,’ Moira snapped. ‘You accused her betrothed of mass murder, no wonder she passed out.’
Only Enrique remained silent. I met his eye, hoping he would understand my silent plea for him to stay that way. He braced himself, steeling himself against his better judgement, and said, ‘We’re all tired. Can you blame her for fainting? She’s barely slept for a week. It’s too much to take in.’
I couldn’t remember how to breathe normally. ‘It wasn’t Raleigh,’ I said. ‘We’ve been abroad, and he’s been with us the whole time.’
As Father’s eyes wandered to the carriage, then to the sky, Moira moved to place herself between him and the doors. It would be all too easy to open them and drag Raleigh into the sun. She knew that. He knew that.
‘It makes sense, Juri,’ Yann said softly. ‘The prince only ever took one life at a time. This isn’t like him.’
‘There’s no logic in the minds of monsters,’ Father hissed.
‘You’d know,’ Moira said.
Another wave of dizziness washed through me. The sun felt like it was drilling through my eyes. I wished it would hurry up and hide behind the mountain, though I knew the death that darkness held. ‘I need to go inside,’ I said to Moira.
‘You need to come home,’ Father said.