Cassarah
“Not here,” Abbott instructed as he carried me past the king into the sitting room.
Instead of placing me on the couch, he sat and continued to hold me against his chest. All my guardians but Jade joined us, taking up positions around me, subtly making it so if the king tried anything, they could intercept.
“Look here, I’m the king and when I ask what’s happened, I expect to get an answer,” King Thomas demanded as he squared off with us.
None of my men spoke, unwilling to share anything with the king unless I divulged the information first. While I still didn’t trust myself to stand on my own two feet, I shifted so my back was against Abbott’s, using him for support.
“I’m glad to see you’ve pulled yourself together, Your Majesty.
While this wasn’t the plan or our doing, Sir Roulf is no longer with us.
There must have been a trap set on him that he would self-combust if he shared things he shouldn’t have or got caught doing. ”
The king’s face went pale, and he stumbled back a step. Had I misjudged the king’s feelings? Did he truly care about Roulf? I’d just assumed it was a means to getting a physical need met.
“Did he…” the king paused and cleared his throat. “Were you able to get any information out of him?”
I nodded. “It seems that the Lost King has indeed hidden a powerful object here in Creisal, and it’s in the mausoleum of your summer home.
We will need to head there directly and without anyone knowing our true agenda.
It would be best if we also came up with a reason for Sir Roulf to go missing so suddenly. ”
King Thomas wiped a hand down his face as he paced the room.
“Yes, as far as I know, no one knew he was involved with me. Now that the queen has declared our marriage to be closed, it is within my rights to send him away if he continues to persist. He wasn’t born of Creisal.
He hailed from Utros and returned with the queen when she came back.
They didn’t become lovers right away… that happened more naturally, or so it seemed.
It’s been far shorter for us, but he wormed his way into my bed soon enough. ”
“Very well, that takes care of that issue. What about taking a visit to the summer home? It’s becoming winter in most other kingdoms, but here and in Sheca it tends to remain mild,” I mused, trying to get my brain to engage with the matter at hand.
Instead, it just kept replaying Roulf’s screams, begging me to end it.
“That won’t be hard at all. The queen went up there all the time, no matter what season it was. She would say that she’d had enough of court life and leave with her personal attendants,” King Thomas shared.
“So, it’s safe to assume the attendants are also tied to the Lost King,” Cole muttered. “He wouldn’t risk them going out there being so close to something so powerful if he couldn’t trust or control them.”
“Is anyone going to tell me what it is?” the king asked.
I took a deep breath and stood, meeting the king’s gaze head-on.
“Please understand that what we learned could end this war. I have no problem telling you, but I won’t do so with so many eyes and ears around that we can’t trust. In situations like this, it’s safe to assume the walls are listening and that information is just too important to let slip out.
” Clasping my hands together in front of me to keep them from betraying how unsteady I still was, I forced a smile.
“I believe it’s about time for us to have lunch.
We wouldn’t want to draw any more suspicion than I already have bursting into your chambers. ”
“Yes… what exactly are we going to say about that?” he drawled.
“It’s simple really. I’m a woman who simply lost control over my emotions, fearful that I was being attacked in my rooms. Overwhelmed with fear, I came in demanding to speak with you to place more guards outside my rooms while I’m not there for protection,” I explained.
“That is something no one will have a hard time believing. Women are always underestimated and assumed flighty.”
“Did you get attacked in your room last night?” King Thomas asked, suddenly concerned.
Before I could answer, Jade strode out of the bathing chamber, wiping his bloody hands on a towel. “Yes, it was one of your own people posing to be her father. They used dark magic to copy his likeness after having killed him in his home back in Norden.”
The king gaped at Jade, then looked back at me like I was going to correct the story. “It’s true.” I glanced over at Cole. “Where is that man, by the way?”
“He had the same spell on him that Roulf did. We locked him away, and when we went to check on him, he was dead and burned to a crisp,” Cole answered.
“While we didn’t know if your parents were still alive or not, I was worried we’d lose out on information with the man ending up dead, but it seems we got it anyway. ”
“Things have been cleaned up in the bathing chamber, so there shouldn’t be any reason for people to connect things that happened here,” Jade informed me.
King Thomas spluttered and strode to the bathing area, only to return a moment later. “It doesn’t look like anything at all went on in there.”
Jade gave the king a patronizing look. “Yes, Your Highness, that would be the whole point. If you sent the man away, you can’t leave evidence around the place that he was killed here.”
“Is this the type of thing they teach you mercenaries?” King Thomas snapped. “You just kill people and make it so no one ever knows?”
Sensing what might be the real reason for his irritation, I walked up to the king and placed my hand on his arm.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to say goodbye to him.
You will just have to trust me when I tell you, you wouldn’t want to see him that way.
The spell was destroying him from the inside out, and I highly doubt he would have wanted that image to be the last thing you think of about him. ”
The king’s shoulders sagged at my words. “I know I shouldn’t mourn the loss of a man who was using and manipulating me, but I just can’t seem to wrap my head around that yet.”
“When this is all over, there will be time to mourn those we’ve lost along the way. Right now, we need to put on a good show and enjoy a meal together. We can talk to the queen and see about getting out to the summer home,” I said, speaking to myself as much as him.
The loss of my parents I couldn’t lock away last night, but now it was tucked away behind a door in my mind. Eventually, it would be opened, and I would allow myself to feel that pain once more, but now wasn’t the time.
“Yes, you’re right,” King Thomas agreed, clearing his throat and dabbing at his eyes. “Come, I believe my wife will be waiting for us. She’s rather overly punctual to these sorts of things.”
I waited a moment for Abbott to come alongside and tuck my arm into the crook of his elbow, leading me out of the room.
He’d always been so skilled at knowing when I needed someone to lean on emotionally—my stalwart knight, ready to defend my heart along with my body.
It just showed me once more how each of these men provided something for me that another couldn’t, but together, covered it all.
The king led us out of his personal chambers, further into the private section of the castle into a dining room. It was stunning with murals painted on the ceiling and a highly polished marble floor of white with gold veins running through it.
“Oh good, you’re all here,” the queen said as she came to greet us.
She took her husband’s hands and kissed both cheeks before moving to Gavin, then offering me the same greeting.
“It’s so lovely to have family here in the castle.
We never get to use this dining hall. Did you know that when the castle was first built, it was so small that this very room was the main hall?
Now look at us, it’s incredible!” She continued to chat, pointing out this or that in the space.
“Now, you must be famished. I hear you were too tuckered out even to eat breakfast. You need to take better care of yourself, especially if you’re already with child.
When I was pregnant with Charles, I was so tired and slept all the time. ”
I was so shocked by her assumption I didn’t know how to respond. What possessed the queen to believe that I was with child? Could that even happen with how recently I’ve been engaging in sex? My stomach was tied in knots at the thought of it.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but I’m not pregnant. I’ve been making sure to take my tonic since now would not be a good time for that to happen,” I corrected.
Queen Catharine paused to look at me with a frown. “No, that can’t be.” She strode over to me and held out both hands.
“Ah…” I stammered unsure of what was happening.
“Your hands, dear girl. It’s my gift to be able to tell these things,” she informed me, motioning for me to hurry up.
“Are you saying it’s your Birthright to tell if a woman is pregnant, Aunt Catharine?” Gavin inquired.
“Of course, didn’t your mother ever tell you that?” she tutted. “Well, I suppose since I’m the elder sister and she didn’t get the Birthright, she wouldn’t want to share that. Mary hated having me best her in anything in life.”
Licking my lips, terrified of what she was going to say, I placed my hands in hers.
Queen Catharine closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The room was deathly silent as a smile bloomed on her face.
“Yes, there it is, the glow of a little life growing within you. Oh… wait, there are two! That’s odd…
one seems to be slightly further along than the other.
” She opened her eyes and looked at the men around me.
“I suppose with so many to meet your needs, it shouldn’t be strange that you might bear two different men’s offspring at the same time. ”
My hand shot out, grabbing Abbott’s arm, my fingers digging into his muscle as the magnitude of what I’d just been told hit me.
I…