Chapter 46
Theo
Every part of Theo’s body hurt as he sat up on the cot.
He rubbed his hand against the scars on his chest. How many had seen the marks of his suffering?
He had a servant fetch him a shirt and something to assist with his getting around.
He’d rested enough for now. There were more pressing matters to discuss.
When he was finally leaning against a crutch, he spared a glance around the hall and spotted them.
Through the dimly lit chamber he saw Amaris. She was nestled beside Adelaide in the far corner. Esaias was next to them, likely one of the few snoring.
He wanted to go over and pray she finally remembered the Conjugation, but he knew it’d be futile.
Maybe with time, she’d come to remember.
He wouldn’t allow himself to believe it was a fleeting moment lost to the poison and wine.
He wanted it to be more than that. He wanted Amaris to be more than the mystique, more than his friend.
He hobbled through the hall, taking slow strides to put as little pressure against his knee as he could.
The binding Amaris had wrapped around it had worked immensely for the swelling, and possibly the hours of rest did too.
He staggered past the shut door he could only assume housed the dead.
A mass funeral would take place at sunset, either tonight or the next, to burn the victims of the massacre and send their souls to After.
He didn’t wish to see who was among the dead, not yet. He wasn’t prepared for who he’d find. The light of dawn was building within the manor, flooding the halls in bright light. He knocked once on his father’s study before he hollered for Theo to enter.
“It brings me joy to see you aren’t dead,” his father said flatly, nursing a glass of kusu. His feet were propped on the edge of his desk, crusted blood and dirt coating the soles of his boots. Dark circles hung below his eyes, along with several drops of splattered crimson.
“I would say the same for you. I didn’t expect to see you joining the fight.” Theo took a seat across from him.
His father poured him a glass and slid it across the sleek surface. “I couldn’t very well be one of the few who sheltered within the walls. Besides, a true leader leads his people from their sides,” he huffed, taking a long sip. “It would seem we have found the culprits to our Duncaster situation.”
The glass stopped at the edge of Theo’s lips, his eyes skimming the surface. He only wished he’d seen it coming. They ran into sailors weeks ago, and Isabel had warned him, but he’d cast it all aside. He should’ve been preparing for a possible attack.
“Sergeant Salter informed me of what happened on the ship,” his father said. “Bennet plans to further question Corporal Salter before she’s sent to Elric for her treason.”
Theo’s stomach dropped at the thought of Sephardi in the prison and what she would endure. How could she have turned to the Accords?
“I know it may pain you—”
“She betrayed her kingdom,” Theo said, thumbing the edge of the glass.
“I was also informed of Miss Carter’s actions,” he stated flatly.
Theo’s thumb ceased its circling, all his nerves vigilant. “Do you plan to send her to Elric too?” Theo sniped.
His father inclined a brow.
“I’m aware of your plan to have Lord Godfrey cart her off to that wretched prison. I won’t allow it, especially after last night.”
“Never once have I seen one enter a battlefield. She is far from the old mystique who used to walk these halls.”
“She’s a different breed.” Theo’s eyes fell to the vase and the newly added snowdrops.
“And proved to be a valuable asset.”
“She’s more than an asset,” he breathed.
“She saved me and many more.” He placed the glass on the desk, no longer thirsty for the taste of his father’s kusu.
“You wanted her to prove herself, and now she has. Amaris entered that battlefield, not knowing if she would live, all to save as many as she could.”
His father inhaled deeply, biting the inside of his cheek as he folded his arms. “You may be a leader on the battlefield, but there’s a difference when it comes to leading a province,” his father said.
“I couldn’t very well allow a potential murderer to roam about freely, but she most certainly proved her loyalty last night when she tended to each fallen soldier herself. ”
Theo had fallen asleep before she’d begun treating the wounded. She must have been exhausted to have treated every man and woman, especially with the injury to her thigh.
“I will have a letter sent to Freville’s family stating he was likely killed by Deavopan soldiers,” his father began, “and I would like you to offer Miss Carter a permanent position as mystique.”
“I doubt she’d be willing to accept your proposition after how you treated her.”
“Who would turn down an official position as a mystique to a province?”
“Was her healing not enough before?” Theo’s leg muscles tightened with his anger, sending spasms around the cut in his thigh. “She risked her life to save me in a river, healed Esaias from scrying fever, and jumped in front of that whip.”
His father set aside his kusu, releasing a deep sigh.
“Theo,” he began, “I don’t expect you to understand the decisions that must be made to protect one’s people as their leader, but I do implore you to see the rationality of our situation.
We have our family and our people to protect.
We must not trust just anyone. Their loyalty must be proved beyond a doubt. ”
Theo picked at a chipped part of the upholstered chair, digging out a sliver in the wood. “I’m well aware of what can happen when trust is placed in the wrong hands.”
Twice now he’d been betrayed. He still didn’t know who’d betrayed his squad and sent them on a fool’s mission to Oystein Castle.
Maybe he never would. But at least Sephardi hadn’t been successful in her mission to kill Amaris.
As much as he wished otherwise, his father was right about one thing. He could no longer blindly trust.
“I’m sure you are,” his father said. “I know you have not sought me out only for her freedom, but to discuss what we’re to do about future attacks.”
“We need reinforcements,” Theo began. “We need to ask for the king’s aid.”
“I agree, but we also need to see if our friends in Westbury have suffered similarly.”
“The Grants can suffer every bit of what we went through last night,” Theo hissed. “They deserve it.”
“I don’t like or respect Lord Grant any more than you do, but he is still a lord in Luana, and as such, he’s entitled to our security.
When we have enough healed forces, I want you to take a small party and journey there.
We are to determine whether there are any damages and whether we need to send a part of our army to Westbury. ”
“We can’t risk spreading ourselves thin. They have their own people to defend them. They prefer it that way anyways.” The Grants were the last people Theo wanted to help. “We should focus our efforts on making it to Charibert to ask for aid from the king’s armada.”
“Westbury isn’t entirely out of your way. You’ll travel there and send a messenger to report back,” his father demanded.
“Won’t we be sailing down the coast?”
“No, you’ll journey through the Scarlet Mountains. I won’t jeopardize good soldiers for the sake of efficiency. The waters are no longer safe.”
Theo shook his head, grasping his temples. “But it’ll add at least a few days if we stop in Westbury, especially if they insist on arguing with us,” he shot back. They did as they pleased, however they pleased.
“Much like how you insist on arguing with me?” his father asked, his tone still flat.
“I simply think it’s a waste of resources, but if it’s what you wish, we’ll travel to Westbury before making our journey to Charibert,” Theo grumbled.
“Take the time to heal and recover. Deavopan suffered significant losses and likely won’t return anytime soon. I also don’t intend to send my soldiers wounded. Gather a list of names of who you wish to accompany you.”
“Bennet won’t be leading this mission?”
“No,” his father snipped, his annoyance finally leaking through. “I would think you’d be grateful for an opportunity such as this after your stunt.”
Theo ground his teeth together.
“What happened here that morning?”
Theo turned from him, drawing his gaze toward the bay. “I’m bringing Amaris with me.”
“Don’t change the subject, Theo.”
He gripped the armrest, fighting the emotion flooding his system. “Taking a small squadron to Westbury and then all the way to Charibert without a mystique would be reckless. I’ll make a list of who I intend—”
“Theo,” he said, “I’m aware of what happened in Oystein Castle that night and what followed in Rongstad Prison.”
Theo couldn’t hold back the tear that rolled down his cheek. His stitch was gone, and his mental shields were in shambles.
“I wasn’t sure of it until Esaias said you were tortured when Bennet ordered you dragged outside.” He rounded his desk, settling on the edge before Theo, whose hand trembled on the armrest. His father laid his hand over his, wincing as he took a knee.
“Look at me,” he whispered.
Theo’s eyes dropped. He couldn’t pull his line of sight from his father’s hand resting against his.
He couldn’t look into his eyes, but his father cupped his other hand around the back of his neck.
Theo fought it, but he finally lifted his eyes to meet his father’s.
For a moment, he wasn’t the duke, but a father aged by the stress and worry of a long life.
A flood of tears fell from Theo’s eyes. His father pulled him to his chest and wrapped his arms around him as he sobbed.