Chapter 26 #2
Face in her hands, she nodded, unable to speak through her cries. Roland whined and pushed his body into hers.
Amos backed away and motioned to the door. He hated when people cried. “I’ll find towels.”
Stepping into the hall, he took a deep, steadying breath. Emotions were running high for both of them, and a little breather would help calm them both down.
Flagging down a maid, he asked her for a couple of towels and walked back into the room to find Amelia cuddled in Rennick’s lap.
He handed the two towels to his sister, and she cleaned her face, blowing her nose repeatedly until her tears finally subsided. “What if your father still tries to kill me?”
Your father. Amos didn’t know why that stung, but it did.
“I’ll kill him,” Rennick said, rubbing her back.
“I already did,” Amos said, his voice flat.
Amelia sucked in a sharp breath. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”
His expression remained blank. He’d done it to save them all, but she didn’t need the stress of the troubles their kingdom still faced. “Our father was a monster. He received the death he deserved.”
She chewed the corner of her lip. “If I’m fae, why don’t I have magic?”
“You never crossed into fae lands,” Rennick explained, though none of them knew for sure.
Understanding lit up her face. “You said that’s why royal heirs can’t leave their lands; they need the land for their magic to develop to its full strength.”
Rennick nodded. “We hope you’ll gain at least some of your magic when we marry.” Amos’ eyes slid to the lynx, who looked back at him like he’d attack any minute.
Amelia sat up straighter. “Birdie.”
Rennick adjusted her in his lap to see her face better. “The maid?”
“Yes. She called me a royal.” Rennick and Amos both swore.
“What do you mean? Who is this woman?” Amos demanded. Even though their father was dead, they still needed to keep her true identity a secret.
Amelia waved her hands. “I think I made myself disappear.” They stared at her. How do you not know if you made yourself disappear?
“When you were in your study with Ora,” Amelia said to Rennick, giving him a scathing look, “Birdie and I stood in the hall, and I wanted to disappear. I hadn’t meant literally, but Birdie looked scared and asked where I was.
She reached out and bumped my shoulder. I looked at her to see what was wrong, and she appeared startled, then called me a royal.
She never brought it up again, and I didn’t think anything of it. ”
Amos needed to find Birdie immediately.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Rennick demanded. “We need to find this maid.”
At least Amos wasn’t the only one thinking straight.
“Rennick, if you do anything to hurt her, I will not marry you.” Amos tried really hard not to laugh at the stunned expression on Rennick’s face. “She’s my friend,” Amelia added.
“Fine,” Rennick reluctantly agreed, though Amos didn’t. “But I’d still like to speak to her.”
“We will speak to her. I don’t trust you not to scare her.”
Amos crossed his arms. “I’d like to speak to her too.”
Amelia glowered at him, and he glared back. She could fight him about anything else, but he wouldn’t relent on her safety.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said, taking him off guard. “Please, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d like to go to my rooms.”
“I need to find my group anyway.” He grabbed his sword, crossed to the door, and stopped, turning back. “You might hate me right now, but everything our mother and I did was to protect you.”
“I don’t hate you,” she said softly. “Not even a little.”
His mouth tilted into a half-smile. “It was nice to finally meet you, Amelia Stratton.”
Clover, Ruth, and Sariah followed a woman named Fawn through a maze of hallways until they reached the royal quarters. “Your rooms are at the end of the hall.”
She pulled out a key and opened the first one, leading them inside. Clover’s jaw dropped. The sitting room was grander than any she’d seen, even more so than Amos’ at his estate in Dragon Village. She’d never seen his rooms at the palace and wondered if they looked like this.
Fawn showed them into the bedroom, dressing room, and bathroom. “This is a lot of space for one person,” Ruth remarked. “We can share a room.”
“Do you normally put guards in the guest quarters?” Sariah asked, running her hand over the bedcovers. “Don’t they usually stay in the warrior barracks?”
“King Amos insisted,” the maid replied. “Who wants this room?”
“I’ll take it,” Ruth said, dropping her travel sack onto the floor. After neutralizing the rebels, the three had gone to grab their things from their horses. Luckily, a guard who saw them arrive with Rennick had already taken the horses to the royal stables.
They’d originally had a carriage with their trunks, but after the storm, they couldn’t get it through the snow and had to continue on horseback with only what they could carry.
“We need to go into the village and buy supplies to last us until we leave,” Ruth said to Fawn. “After you show us our rooms, can you tell us the best place to go for clothes and necessities?”
“I can send someone for you,” Fawn offered, leading them to the next set of rooms.
“We don’t mind shopping ourselves,” Sariah said, throwing her pack down near the bed. “I’ll take this one.”
Fawn shrugged. “Okay. I’ll make a list of shops.”
Once the maid had shown Clover to her room, she retrieved a piece of paper, ink pot, and quill from the desk in Clover’s bedroom. “These places should have everything you’ll need, and I wrote down my favorite bakery. They make the best sweet rolls.”
Clover took the paper, offering a small smile. “Thanks.”
She bid Fawn goodbye and wandered into the bathroom, thanking the gods when she found it fully stocked. Turning on the water, she quickly stripped and stepped in, trying to ignore the red stream of blood that disappeared down the drain.
She’d killed multiple people today, and while she’d trained for this her entire life, it wasn’t easy. Amos had been doing this for years. As upset with him as she was, she still longed to wrap him in her arms.
Sighing, she closed her eyes and scrubbed the rest of her sins away.