CHAPTER 33
Axel
T
he ensorcelled guard swiftly drew the dagger at his belt, bringing it toward Katy’s neck. Axel caught his breath as she squeaked with fright. It sounded a little forced, but it was enough.
The loose arm at Axel’s chest and the blade at his throat vanished as the magic’s hold on Otto broke. Trusting Otto to protect Katy, Axel lunged forward, ripping the silver c-shaped bracelet from his wrist.
“No!” Lord Ulrich whipped toward Otto as the guard dashed past. Stuffing the dragon awkwardly in a pocket, the nobleman scrambled to form a sign with his hands. Fire began to swirl around his arms.
Bracing himself for the pain, Axel reached through the flames and grabbed Lord Ulrich’s forearm.
“Nuisance!” The nobleman transferred his glare to Axel. “I may need you, but I don’t need you whole.”
Lord Ulrich’s free hand shot toward him. Axel dropped to the floor, letting his weight drag his opponent down. He shoved the balled ends of the bracelet over Lord Ulrich’s wrist, praying that it worked like King Fidel had promised.
“What are you—” Lord Ulrich’s exclamation cut off along with the flames on his left arm. “You had another pair?” He kicked wildly, catching Axel in the ribs.
Axel gasped and curled in on himself. Sounds of a scuffle broke out behind him, but he didn’t dare turn. Cradling his burned hand, he rolled across the stone floor and stumbled to his feet. Lord Ulrich’s magic still flowed through the other hand.
“Are you surprised that a singing prince is capable of thinking that far ahead?” A flame crawled toward him, and he skipped sideways to avoid it.
At least the single cuff appeared to weaken him as well.
“With a wife who is a terrible liar and an ally who risked being in your power, a backup set seemed wise.”
“Not wise enough.” Sneering, Lord Ulrich grabbed the bracelet. “You didn’t secure it; there’s nothing to stop me from taking it off again.”
Ignoring him, Axel tenderly loosened his other sleeve, hissing in pain when the soft fabric irritated his injured fingers.
“What?” the nobleman yelped, tugging at the silver on his wrist. “That’s impossible!”
“They react to magic,” Axel said through gritted teeth. “I can take them off because I don’t have it, but they won’t come off you until one of the Castellian prison wardens does the honors.”
“You—!”
Lord Ulrich called the fire back to his free hand and took a step forward.
It was now or never, but the silver hurt. Axel steeled himself and reached for the bracelet on his other wrist.
A flurry of red silk flew up to him. “Let me.” Setting one hand on his arm for leverage, Katy wrestled it free.
“I’ll do it.” He held out his uninjured hand, but she ignored him. “Katy!” he cried desperately.
But instead of reaching for the flames, she looped an arm around Axel’s waist. “Not yet,” she grunted, throwing him out of the way.
One of the vault guards grabbed Lord Ulrich’s cuffed arm. The sorcerer yelled and started to swing his flaming hand toward him.
Otto jumped forward and wrapped his chainmail-lined cloak around the flames. Lord Ulrich struggled, trying futilely to throw off the two guards, but he was no match for their greater strength.
“No! I will not be taken so easily,” he roared as he fought to bend his elbow and reach the vault guard with the fire.
“Anytime, Kat!” Otto grunted, bracing his feet and straining to hold the flaming arm in place. His cloak was smoking, the chainmail showing through orange-rimmed holes in the black fabric.
“Katy, let me—” Axel began, reaching for the bracelet again. She ignored him, leaping forward and jabbing her hand through the fire. Her face scrunched with effort, but Otto shoved Lord Ulrich’s arm forward, and the bracelet snapped over his wrist.
The rest of the flames vanished. As guards drawn by the yelling flooded the hallway, Axel took a moment to breathe. It was over. It had been closer than he would have preferred, but it was over.
~
Axel carefully set his bandaged arm on the armrest. “For the last time, Otto, it wasn’t your fault. No one blames you for what happened.”
Otto stood in a corner of Father’s study.
His hand flexed where his sword hilt should have been, but he’d left it behind out of fear of the king’s discipline.
“I know you think that. But will your father agree?” His eyes landed on the scab on Axel’s neck.
“I could have killed you. If I hadn’t given my pipe to one of the vault guards—”
The door whispered open. “Then you might have betrayed the fact that you weren’t under Ulrich’s influence, and he might have compelled the vault guards to fight you.
Or it may have turned out fine. We have no way of knowing.
” Father spoke calmly as he met the guard’s worried eyes.
“Protecting one of the guards was a good plan. If I had followed your suggestion and obtained a copy of your pipe, you and the vault guard could each have had one. If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine. ”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Otto replied with a swift bow.
“I thank you for your service in protecting my son, Sir Otto.” The king gave him a regal nod before continuing to the desk.
Axel’s eyebrows lifted. Father’s gratitude was rare.
Leaning forward, Katy asked, “Did you learn anything from Lord Ulrich? Do you know why he wanted the stone dragon? Or how to find Fabian?”
“I already knew why he wanted the dragon,” Father grunted.
“In general, at least. I have moved it to a safer location. And no, Axel, I won’t tell you where.
” The corners of Axel’s lips pulled in a little, but the king held his gaze and barreled on.
“Not until this ordeal is behind us, and maybe not then. Better if it is forgotten when I die.”
Frowning, Axel argued, “But what is it?”
Father’s eyes cut over to Katy, and he continued as if Axel hadn’t spoken.
“Ulrich confessed that he gave you the wooden dragon with the belief that it would prevent you from having a child. I do not understand why he felt the need, given you had the kingdom convinced that you never would. However, since Fabian clearly lied to him, we still don’t know its true purpose. ”
“He was working with Fabian, then?” Otto interjected quietly from his corner.
Father scowled. “It would appear so. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell me how to find that insufferable—”
“Tut, tut, Steffan. You shouldn’t finish that sentence – there is a lady in the room.”
Father’s jaw dropped. Axel didn’t recognize the red-haired man at the door, but he could make an educated guess.
Springing from his seat, he drew his sword and set himself in front of Katy. Across the room, Otto was white as a sheet, his hand fumbling in the air for the sword he hadn’t worn.
“You can call for your guards if you wish, but they won’t hear you.” The man sauntered forward, smirking at Father. “I’ve already placed a wall of hardened air around your study; no sound will escape.”
“But how did you get in?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Fear not, I didn’t harm any of your precious guards. They let me pass because they believed I was someone else. It is only you and your family to whom I wish ill.”
Father and his family. Axel and his family. Katy’s firstborn.
Axel adjusted his grip on his sword, but Otto spoke before he could. “What do you want?”
The sorcerer faced him. “Ah, yes. The faithful guard dog.” Axel could hear the delight in Fabian’s voice. “Reineggburg. The alley. Ulrich’s compulsion. So many failures to protect the royal family, even now that your cousin belongs to it.”
Otto paled further as Axel crept up behind the sorcerer, taking advantage of his distraction.
“It wasn’t easy to make that happen, you know.” Fabian shook his head sadly. “And it’s taken even more effort to receive my reward. That wooden dragon would have cost a pretty penny in the market.”
While he was thankful for the child, the knowledge of Fabian’s interference swirled Axel’s simmering emotions. If he’d known Fabian would show up at the castle, he wouldn’t have locked the other pair of cuffs in a drawer in his study.
Father straightened. “What did you have to do with Katrin marrying my son?”
“You don’t know?” the intruder smirked. “I thought you would have pieced it together by now. Why else would the guard dog have been following Ulrich? I assumed you knew that he planted the idea for the gold-spinning trial in your head.”
But since Fabian was here, Axel would take the chance he had.
Lunging forward, he thrust his sword at the sorcerer. But instead of slicing through the black cloak, his sword stopped as abruptly as if he had stabbed a stone wall.
“Did you think I would enter this room without protection?” Fabian asked, sounding amused. “I know how fond you are of your pointy objects.”
While Axel resisted the urge to nurse his jarred arm, Fabian strolled to the window.
“How else would we have convinced you to let a peasant marry your precious son?” Fabian mused, returning his attention to Father.
“Even after she succeeded, you would have reneged on your promise if Ulrich hadn’t interceded.
” He shook his head mournfully. “It shouldn’t require magic for a king to be trustworthy, Steffan. ”
“The conversation in the garden,” Axel interjected. “That’s what you were talking about, wasn’t it? The compulsion you placed on my father?”
The sorcerer’s eyebrows lifted. “You remember that? I must be losing my touch.”
Let him think that.
“And why would you go to all that trouble, Fabian?” Father growled.
“You don’t believe that I was simply helping a pair of childhood sweethearts?” Reaching into his pocket, Fabian forced them to endure his grin again before he drew his hand out. “Did you like the way I signed my letters, Katrin?”
A leather bracelet with three river stones tied onto it dangled from his fingers. The one Katy had worn when she found Axel at The Tanner’s Secret.
“You wanted my bracelet so that you could use it as a seal?” Katy asked, her voice shaking. She stepped up next to Axel and rested a trembling hand on his arm.