Chapter 36
To my relief, I received a letter from Tarben the following morning.
Dear Alara,
I’m sorry for not writing sooner—the situation has been more turbulent than expected.
I wanted you to know that I’m safe, and I have good news. With the threat at the border now largely neutralized, I’ll be returning home in a few days.
You have been on my mind. Constantly.
Yours,
T.
My heart fluttered at his words. He was returning to the castle soon. I still had time. Not much, but I could make it work. I had no other choice but to.
Feeling lighter, I waited for Runa to deliver breakfast, but she didn’t arrive. Instead, a maid I recognized from around the castle appeared in my bedchamber.
“Where’s Runa?” I asked.
“She’s resting. She’s not feeling well today, Miss.”
Disappointed as I was that I couldn’t share the news with Runa, I didn’t let it ruin my good mood.
Faced with the prospect of free time, I made my way down to the kennels to visit the dogs. I hadn’t seen them since Tarben went away and I felt guilty for neglecting them.
The kennels were comprised of a rectangular stone building with several compartments to house each dog and an enclosed, outdoor area.
When I entered the enclosure through the wooden gate, they greeted me with a hero’s welcome, rushing towards me with excited yelps.
Sensing they missed me as much as I missed them, I embraced their affectionate licks and wet noses with laughter.
They not-so-subtly brought me a stick, which I tossed for them to fight over and retrieve. I hadn’t been playing with them for long before I retreated back into the castle. As much as I wanted to stay, the day was too cold to linger outdoors.
I’d barely stepped foot inside the entrance hall when I ran into Filip, looking out of breath and wild-eyed.
Although I couldn’t see them, I could make out the bulk of bandages on his arm underneath his uniform.
His injury couldn’t be too bad if he was permitted to resume his duties.
I hadn’t seen him since our nightmare in the woods, but there was something different about his energy that stopped me in my tracks.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked around to make sure we were alone, then said, “Prince Hugo’s awake.”
My body froze. Shit. Now that he was awake, was he going to turn me in to his father? Should I be preparing to flee?
I had a barrage of questions for him but, in the end, I settled on: “How is he?”
“The healers are with him now. The king and Amalie are the only ones who have been allowed to see him but, from what I’ve gathered, he’s barely conscious.”
If he was barely conscious, chances were he hadn’t said anything about me to anyone. Not yet, anyway.
Breathe. Remember to breathe. I couldn’t panic. Not when there was still a chance that he might be so grateful to me for saving his life that he decided not to ruin mine.
Whatever Filip saw on my face prompted him to say, “Don’t worry, the healers expect him to make a full recovery. It may take some time though. I thought you should know.”
Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I glanced over his shoulder. A maid was descending one of the stone staircases. Had she heard us? Not that it really mattered. News about Hugo’s recovery would be circulating around the castle soon enough.
I could only pray to the goddesses that Hugo would want to put our differences behind him. That or, the injury to his head caused him to conveniently forget our altercation. Either way, I’d never hoped the goddesses were listening to me more.
***
That evening, I was finishing my dinner of wild boar and vegetables when a knock came at the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to find Filip on the other side. His forehead was slightly furrowed, and his mouth was set in a straight line.
“Come with me,” he said.
“Good evening, Filip,” I said, leaning against the doorframe and crossing my arms. “It’s nice to see you again, too. Do I have any plans for the evening? Why no, I do not.”
He raised his eyebrows but said nothing, as if he didn’t deem my mockery worthy of a response.
I sighed. “Where to?”
“To see Prince Hugo. He wants to speak to you,” he said, his tone indicating that it was not a request.
I swallowed a lump in my throat. Did this mean Hugo wanted to pick up where he left off and banish me from the castle?
“What about?” I asked. If he was leading me to my downfall, I wasn’t about to step over the edge with a blindfold.
He crossed his arms and looked impatient. “Just come. Now.”
Unease crawled through my insides, but I knew there was no chance of him telling me anything more. His loyalty lay with Hugo above all else.
Sensing my hesitancy, he raised his eyebrows at me again. In the end, curiosity outweighed my apprehension and pulled me out of my bedchamber and into step with him.
He said nothing more as we walked, and I refrained from asking questions, wary of potential eavesdroppers. Instead, I focused on quieting the storm within me. As far as anyone else was concerned, I was as calm as a lake on a windless day.
Once we reached Hugo’s quarters, we were met with two burly guards stationed outside the door. With a simple incline of Filip’s chin, they let us pass without a word.
I shot a sidelong glance at him in an attempt to gage his emotions. His body language revealed nothing as we entered Hugo’s bedchamber—he may as well have been a fortified stone wall.
Sitting up in his enormous bed, looking unshaven and astonishingly pale in contrast to his burgundy sheets, was the second-born prince.
Upon our arrival, he sat up a fraction higher with a determined glint in his sallow eyes. With the distinct impression that he was preparing to launch an attack on me, I turned to Filip, hoping he might be an ally.
No such luck. He stood back with his arms crossed and gestured towards Hugo with a tilt of his chin.
Feeling like I had just walked into a lion’s den, I approached the bed with caution.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake, Your Highness,” I started. “We were all very worried—”
“I remember everything.”
His words knocked the air from my lungs and sank my stomach. He still believed I was a witch—a murderer. He was going to punish me. He was going to ruin me. I was fucked. Absolutely fucked.
“I remember everything, including the fact that you saved my life.”
I gaped at him. That had not been what I was expecting to come out of his mouth.
He cleared his throat. “I’m appreciative of your efforts.
” He looked up at Filip, who nodded from where he stood as if encouraging Hugo to go on.
“In light of this, I have reconsidered the accusations I made of you, and see now that they may have been rash,” he finished, suddenly very interested in a loose thread on his quilt.
Well, that was unexpected. As much as I wanted to revel in the fact that he had admitted he was wrong, I would have to play nice if I wanted to get information out of him.
“Thank you,” I said, without so much as a hint of smugness.
The words lingered in the air, as silence momentarily filled the room.
Filip spoke. “Now tell her what you told me.”
“I was just about to explain,” Hugo grumbled, addressing him.
Turning to me, he said, “The night I was attacked, I was on my way to speak with my father, as you may remember.” He had the decency to appear sheepish.
“On my way, a servant intercepted me with a note. It wasn’t signed, but the writer claimed to have urgent information pertaining to you.
” He shifted uncomfortably. “The note insisted on an immediate meeting in the dungeons.”
My heart rate quickened.
“Just as I got there, someone attacked me from behind. They must have been waiting for me in the shadows. They struck me on the head with something heavy and knocked me out. I came to in the cell, restrained and bleeding to death.”
My blood chilled at the reminder of that awful night. How he had looked on the floor covered in his own blood. How I’d been convinced he was dead when I found his body. It was an effort not to shudder.
“Did you catch a glimpse of anyone?” I asked, fearing I already knew the answer.
He shook his head, frowning. “The only person I saw down there was you.”
Disappointment washed over me. Still, I asked, “What happened to the note?”
“Vanished. Whoever attacked me must have taken it before you found me.”
I collapsed into the upholstered chair next to the bed, completely deflated.
Was it possible that whoever attacked Hugo was not the murderer?
It seemed highly unlikely, especially because they claimed to have information about me.
‘I know what you are.’ The words of my own note came back to me.
That too had been anonymous—anyone could have slid it under my door.
All at once, a thought occurred to me. “Who did you say gave you the note?”
“A servant.” He met my eye and, as if guessing where my mind was going, he said, “I have already dispatched my guards to bring the servant in question for interrogation.”
“Because they’ll be able to tell you who gave them the note,” I finished, a spark of hope igniting within me.
“Precisely,” he said, looking pleased with himself.
“Could I stay? To hear what they have to say?”
“You may,” he said, lips twitching in a way that reminded me of Tarben. “On one condition.”
I sat back and folded my arms. “Which is?”
“An alliance.”
This conversation grew more unexpected by the minute.
“Filip has informed me of your recent endeavors to uncover the murderer, whom you believe to be my attacker.”
My spine stiffened. “Did he now?” I said in a voice that was both sweet and sharp.
So much for keeping it between us. Although, based on how close they were, I should have known Filip would tell Hugo about our outing in the forest. The question was, how much did he divulge?
I shot Filip a look that said, Seriously?, but he only shrugged. “And what exactly did he tell you?”
“Everything,” Filip confirmed, wholly unconcerned.