43. The King’s Blessing
~ GRACE ~
Several days after arriving at Breckon’s estate, I returned from my morning ride, surrounded by guards I almost didn’t see anymore, to find a gleaming, near-black carriage with brass fittings waiting at the base of the main stairs, rolling back and forth as a team of four, matched grays danced, preparing to pull it.
Servants busied themselves with luggage as I frowned, and rushed forward.
Who had come? Would their appearance offer an opportunity to escape?
Breckon appeared from behind the carriage, smiling, a tweed cap on his head, and a scarf around his neck. He tapped one of the footmen on the shoulder and pointed to the top of the carriage—which was when I realized the servants were loading luggage onto the carriage. Not bringing it inside.
Hope sang in my chest. If he’d been called away, there would inevitably be chances to befriend the servants. Perhaps I could find Jade again and—
“There you are. You’re late.”
“Late for what?” I didn’t bother to greet him formally. He hadn’t given me the respect.
His lips thinned, but he didn’t comment. “Late for our departure. Get inside and bathe—quickly.”
I stopped walking. “Our departure?”
He smiled. “Yes, my dear. We have been honored. Our marriage will be witnessed by the king himself. So, get your ass inside and wash off the animal stink—assuming it hasn’t yet sunk beneath the skin.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. But two of the maids who were outside, white aprons in stark contrast to their gray dresses, took my elbows and led me up the stairs and into the house, guards hovering on each side.
One of the maids was Jade.
I kept looking over my shoulder, but Breckon didn’t follow, so the moment we were out of sight, I hissed to her.
“Tell me. What is he talking about?”
Jade glanced over her shoulder before leaning into my ear. “The Lord is leaving. He’s ordered us to make certain you’re bathed and dressed for travel.”
No. I swallowed to wet my throat. “Where are we traveling to?”
“The castle,” she answered promptly. “The king and queen wish to host the wedding, and have invited everyone of note to witness for you.”
What? Why? He didn’t even know if I’d bleed yet! But I couldn’t say that to the women.
When we got upstairs, the bath was already cooling on the floor of the bathing chamber. I was stripped unceremoniously, and scrubbed by both women at the same time, then lifted out of the tub and dried and dressed in minutes.
No. No. No. It was all I could think.
I scrambled. Searching for a way out. A way to avoid going with him. But of course, he wouldn’t arrive at the castle for our wedding without me.
They must be seeking proof it was truly me?
Or…
The moment we stepped out of the bathing chamber, the guards surrounded us. They didn’t slow as we approached my room, so I was forced to raise my voice. “Please. If I could just gather a few personal items. It will only take a moment—”
“The Lord said—”
“The Lord will not know, and I refuse to sit in a carriage for two days with nothing to do but sleep.” Banking on the servants training not to resist a powerful noble, I turned as if to step between the guards, straight toward my room—and to my relief, they didn’t stop me.
Only shifted positions to keep me surrounded until we reached the door.
Inside, the room had been emptied of my clothing and the powders and tools for dressing my hair.
It was only then, as I turned toward the bookshelf, praying, that my heart truly sank.
The book was gone.
Jade stood at my shoulder, hands clasped tightly at her waist, watching me.
I swallowed hard. “Are you among the servants coming with us?” I whispered.
“Yes,” she murmured in return.
Thank you, I prayed.
I was about to leave—until I remembered that I’d told them I needed personal items.
With numb hands, I stumbled to the bookshelf, picked two small novels without reading the covers, then a leather journal from the writing desk, along with charcoal.
Jade walked me back to the guards at the door and I raised my chin, not looking any of them in the eye. But inside, I shivered with fear.
I’d been strong. I’d awaited the right time. Believed Voski would come—still believed that. But now…
Breckon knew about the knife.
A high ring began in my head as we descended the stairs, then strode out of the house, toward Breckon, standing next to the open door of the carriage.
I took his proffered hand to help me step up, though my skin crawled. Then settled myself on the backward facing seat inside, and turned my head to look out the small window while he climbed in to sit across from me.
He was smiling.
When he knocked on the ceiling, there was a crack, and the carriage creaked, then lurched forward. I gripped the arm of the seat and kept staring out the window, swallowing nausea.
“Does the carriage meet with your approval, Lady Barnslow?” Breckon asked in a smug tone.
“It is a great deal more comfortable on the seat, than on the floor. I couldn’t possibly be expected to compare—”
His slap wasn’t brutal—the type you’d give a presumptuous child. But it startled me. Cheek hot, I turned to stare at him, aghast.
“If you act like a child, I will treat you as one,” he sniffed. “Keep a sharp tongue in your mouth and you won’t remain on the seat for long.”
I stared every dignified, high-born accusation at him that I was capable of mustering. “Where are we going?” I said through my teeth.
“I told you, the castle in Fyrehold.”
“Why?”
He smiled. “Because the king wants to bless my marriage—and I believe your parents wish to ensure you haven’t been replaced.”
“My parents will be there?” I was breathless. If I explained to Mother, surely she’d intervene? Surely if Father understood how awful Breckon was—
“Eventually. The night before, I believe.”
So little time to plead with them. Determined not to reveal my desperation, I raised my chin. “When will this wedding occur? We are still a week from my—”
“We’ll be married in ten days—so plenty of time for you to bleed,” he said, his tone turning dark.
“Either you will bleed, and then take me. Or you won’t.
And if you tell anyone anything other than that you are my ecstatic bride, we will say our vows at swordpoint, leave for our honeymoon, and I will return a widower, grieving the loss of my new bride in a tragic, horse-riding accident.
Such heartbreak after sharing that passion with you.
” He leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.
“And such irony, when your love for horses was the basis for my choosing you as my wife.”
I stared at him, and he stared back.
My mouth went dry, so the words were thin, rasping when they came. “Why would the king host your wedding? Do you hold a royal position of which I’m unaware?”
He smiled. “There is much about me of which you are unaware, my Lady,” he drawled. “But don’t worry, I’ll ensure you learn everything.” His smile made cold settle in my chest. My heart raced to outrun it.
I turned to look out the window again, to the blue sky, and green trees, and the distant mountains. I opened my mind as wide and far as it could reach.
“Still looking for your beast? Fickle creatures, aren’t they?”
“Koa loves me,” I said tightly, flooding the bond with love for my dragon.
Breckon snorted. “My men have watched and seen no sign or scat. Do not think to intimidate me with the threat of the beast. We both know even a well-trained horse will go feral quickly when given its freedom. Especially at times of stress. It seems your dragon has returned to her mate without you. How sad. That is, if there was ever a bond to begin with.”
I did look at him then, glaring. I was about to tell him very clearly just how loyal and beautiful Koa was, when her voice rang in my head.
‘I prove him wrong.’
‘Not now.’
‘I will kill him, Firebird. If careful, I can save the horses.’ She showed me an image of a very thin thread of fire, used with great precision—burning through the harness so the horses could flee as the men and the carriage burned up behind them.
It was tempting.
I shook off the sudden urge to see this man dead. “Why aren’t we flying the dragons now?” It seemed a valid question since we’d used them for several days on the way to his estate.
Breckon’s mouth turned down, but he shooed the question away. “We’re barely more than a day from the castle. It would be a waste.”
But he didn’t meet my eyes and his tone was gruff. There was something about this he didn’t like.
I stared out the window again, mentally stroking the bond with Koa, considering my options—including his threat.
Killing him was an option, though the fallout could potentially rock the entire continent.
I had to hope and pray for more freedom at the castle. That hours not under Breckon’s nose would be inevitable if he attended the king.
I had to find a way to run. But how? Was Breckon aware of the maze of passages in the castle walls? If I was given a room with a secret exit and he didn’t know…
Without that, things looked dire. The servants managed all my things. I couldn’t even walk to the kitchens without guards. And Koa would have to keep more distances from the castle because there was so much clear land around it, she had no way to hide.
Once more, I yearned for Voski.
‘My mate… where are you? Please… I need you to come now. Right now. While we travel. Flame him. Take me. Please…’
Eventually, Breckon began to doze, and with no response from my mate, I pretended to sleep so he’d leave me alone if he woke. But Koa was able to fly at a distance, and send her thoughts even further. Just in case they were drawing near.
But they were still south. Still in that formless place, too distant to sense in detail.
Please… please… draw near, my love. Please.