by K. T. Webb
“Care for a bite to eat?” Her smile was yellowed with age and missing a few teeth.
“We would love to eat something, but we are also looking for a room for the night,” Rowan told her.
“Ah. Just one room?” The smile widened.
“We are newlyweds. We only require one room,” Honor replied.
“Ah, congratulations. As it happens, we have just the one room left. I’ll get you settled in there before you come down for dinner.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
They followed the older woman to the back end of the room where they ascended a set of narrow stairs to the second floor. A hallway lined with doors greeted them at the landing. They were taken to room four and shown inside. The bed was plush with more pillows than Honor had ever seen on one bed. Soft blankets were neatly folded at the foot of the bed. Her body ached at the sight of such a comfortable place to sleep but the rumbling in her stomach reminded her what she really needed first. The woman bade them farewell, shutting the door behind her.
“Do you want to clean up before or after supper?” Rowan nodded to the tub in the corner.
A blush crept into Honor’s cheeks at the sight of a thin privacy curtain surrounding the tub that did not truly offer any privacy. Honor knew Rowan would surely see straight through the curtain. The idea of him seeing her naked wasn’t what bothered her. It was the idea that he would see her mark. Eventually, he would see the truth about her destiny. For now, she was comfortable with the idea that he was blissfully unaware of the macabre scene etched into her side. If she was on her way to kill the King and install the new Queen, she was unsure he would want to continue down that path with her. Aside from her fear, it was a massive risk to allow someone to see your mark if you were not tied to that person for life. They may be pretending to be married, but that did not make it real.
“I think I will clean up after dinner. It will feel good to soak my muscles just before we sleep,” Honor only shared part of her reasoning. She also considered the darkness would help shield her mark from even an accidental viewing.
Even though the room was theirs, neither felt comfortable leaving their belongings unattended. The people of Meadowbrook seemed nice enough, but that did not mean they were all honest. Rowan closed the door behind them and let Honor lead the way down the stairs. The dining hall had cleared out slightly, opening a few tables for them to choose from. Honor headed straight for the corner nearest the bar wanting a chance to chat with the bartender to find out more about the proprietor.
Once they were seated, they began browsing the handwritten menu. There were not many options, but everything looked good to Honor. In the end, Rowan decided to order a hearty beef stew with fresh vegetables while Honor chose a roasted chicken with potatoes. The bartender brought over a basket with four thick slices of bread and a container of freshly churned butter. Remembering the scent of freshly baked bread as they had walked through the village, Honor could not wait any longer. She spread butter across the soft bread and took a large bite before ordering. It was just as delicious as she had imagined it would be.
It was not long before they were digging into their main course, all thought of conversation lost to their growing hunger.
“You must have had a long day of traveling,” a voice broke the silence as Honor took her final bite.
The bartender stood watching them as he leaned against the bar top nearby. Honor really looked at him for the first time. He was somewhere close to forty with hair that had begun to gray above his ears. A wide smile seemed to come easily and often based upon the shallow creases beside his eyes. The one thing she noticed above everything else was there was no way the man could have been her father. His complexion was far darker than her own. Even with the fairer skin her mother passed on to her, there was no way she was related to that man. Perhaps this was not Soren.
“We have had quite a long couple of days and our travels are far from over,” Rowan replied cryptically.
“Where are you headed?”
“Our next stop is Goldenlark.” Honor decided to follow the lead and keep the answers simple. There was no need to give away more information than necessary.
“You say next stop like you do not intend to stay there. Where do you plan to go after Goldenlark?”
“We have not planned that far ahead yet. Have you ever been to Goldenlark? This is our first time traveling in this direction.” Honor tried to change the subject.
“I was born in Goldenlark. I was raised on the road. My father was a traveling salesman. I met many interesting people on the circuit with my father. Ultimately, I decided it was time to settle down.”
“My name is Honor. This is Rowan.” She approached the bar and offered her hand hoping he would introduce himself.
“Soren.”
Her heart sank. If this man was Soren, he was not the same Soren she had hoped to find. Honor reminded herself how silly it was to have hoped her father had somehow cheated death and opened an inn. The man smiled at her as though he knew there was more to say but was waiting for the right opportunity. What harm could come from asking if he had ever met someone named Laurel on his travels?
“That name is familiar to me, but I do not think you are the reason. Did you or your father ever meet a young woman named Laurel?”
Soren smiled widely. “Indeed. Please, say no more until we are closed. Tonight, I will help you find your way as I promised long ago.”
With that, Soren returned his attention to his other patrons. Honor and Rowan looked at each other in confusion. There were too many questions. If this was not her father, but his name was Soren, how was he related to her father? Could she be his sister? Perhaps his father was also Soren and of paler skin.
“I wonder what that was all about?” Rowan mused.
Honor shrugged. “Seems to me he knew we would be coming.”
“But that is impossible. We did not even know we were heading this way until this morning.”
“He said he would help us find our way as he promised long ago. Maybe he meant me? I am wondering if this could maybe be a brother or cousin, perhaps an uncle? My mother may have told his family about me.”
“How would he know who you are? You simply asked if he knew someone named Laurel. That was not an uncommon name when your mother was born, was it?”
Another shrug indicated that she did not know the answer. How could she? Her mother was the only Laurel she remembered meeting, and she had not even recalled her name until her conversation with Renata. It seemed unlikely that a man named Soren would know her mother unless he was somehow related to the man on her birth certificate.
The bartender kept their basket of bread full and drinks overflowing until the last of the customers meandered out into the night. He continued to clean up the room as the older woman at the counter made her way up the stairs. She must have been a permanent resident at the inn, helping Soren in exchange for room and board.
Soren bolted the front door, sliding a heavy metal bar in place across the center. He shuttered the windows and turned each oil lamp off in the room. “Follow me.”
Honor and Rowan stood as quietly as they could, as though any sound they made would alert unknown ears to their presence. Soren preceded them through a door behind the bar that led to the kitchen. Just off the kitchen, they followed a set of stairs down into a cellar. Honor wondered what he could possibly have to discuss with them that required so much privacy. Rows of shelving units lined the well-kept room. Soren breezed past the shelves, heading directly for a far corner that would have been toward the back of the building above. He carefully slid one of the shelving units aside to reveal an arched door. He slid a key into the lock. Satisfying clicks and whirs reverberated off the walls around them as the mechanisms slid into place. Soren opened the door wide, gesturing for them to go on ahead of him.
Once inside, Honor was taken aback by the contents of the hidden room. Inside, a rough wood table stood surrounded by six chairs. Five of the s
ix chairs had the name of a county etched into them. The chair at the head of the table stood out from the others. It was more throne-like than the simplistic seats for each county. Honor wondered who the seat could have been meant for. Was this a meeting place for the heads of each county and the King himself? She had never heard of the King traveling to the counties. From what everyone said, the King had not left the castle in nearly twenty years.
“Welcome to the resistance,” Soren said with arms spread wide.
“What resistance?” Rowan questioned.
“This is one of the safe places for representatives who are working together to bring about the prophecy once delivered by the Oracle of Kilgore. We meet in secret,” Soren explained.
Honor furrowed her brow. “Why would you tell us about this? You just met us.”
Soren held a finger to his nose. “Ah. You have been a part of the resistance since before you were born. I knew when you asked about Laurel that you were the girl I was waiting for. Years ago, Renata came to me with a dying young woman. She had been poisoned to kill her unborn child.”
“Laurel?” Rowan questioned.
With a shake of his head, Soren dismissed the question. “No. This was a few years before I met Laurel. This young woman had been in the good graces of King Junius. He had been reckless with his lust and impregnated her. The woman kept it a secret somehow until she was close to delivering. When the King found out, he was enraged.”
Honor knew the King did not want an heir. He wanted to rule indefinitely. His father had been a murderer, it would not have been a long jump for King Junius to follow his example.
“Wait, you said Renata brought her to you?” Honor thought the practitioner had lived in Milltown. What would have brought her to Meadowbrook with a dying young woman?
“Oh, yes. Renata has taken part in the resistance from the very beginning. She has eyes and ears throughout Alderwood, so when she got word of the baby, she rushed to help. Unfortunately, she was too late. She used her skills as a practitioner to suspend the woman between life and death. It was her only option to keep the child alive until delivery. I still do not know how she managed to remove her from Pallisaide, let alone the castle.”
“So, she brought you this woman for what purpose?” Rowan tried to circle back.
“To hide her until it was time to deliver the child.”
Honor’s mind slowly put the pieces together. If the King had poisoned this woman, and she was suspended between life and death, Renata would have had to find a way to keep her there long enough for the baby to be delivered. Soren had indicated she was close to delivering, but pregnancy is never an exact science. Even if the woman’s belly was swollen beyond belief, it could have been anywhere from hours to months before the babe was born. That meant this woman was basically a suspended corpse. Stuck between life and death; not a single conscious thought was left. Chills ran through Honor as she imagined what that must have been like to watch.
“How long did you hide her?” Honor asked.
“The princess was born three weeks after the mother arrived. Somehow, Renata used her magic to put part of her own life force into the mother to keep her from rotting away while the child thrived inside her womb. It was a terrifying ordeal. Renata has been an old woman for as long as I have known her. I do not know how she survived such magic.”
“What happened to the baby?” Rowan asked.
Soren shrugged. “That I do not know. The less information I know, the better. If I were somehow found out by the Makt, they would stop at nothing to extract every detail they could from me regarding the resistance. All I know is after the babe was born, Renata and I disposed of the body. The next morning, there was no evidence they had ever been in my cellar.”
They sat in silence for a few moments. Honor absorbed the information. The princess was somewhere safe. Renata had gone to great lengths to protect her and bring her into the world without King Junius knowing until it was too late. She must have hidden the baby somewhere far from where the Makt would search. Or, knowing what she did of Renata, the practitioner may have hidden her in plain sight knowing the King and his army would not think to look right in front of them. This information did nothing to help her determine where the future Queen may have ended up.
“What does Laurel have to do with this story?” Honor questioned.
Soren glanced at Rowan, then leveled Honor with an intense stare. “I am not your father.”
Even though she had already known it to be true, the words did not hurt any less. Honor nodded and bit her lip in an attempt to hold back the tears that had sprung to her eyes. “Why is your name on my birth certificate? Why do I have a death certificate for you?”
“When Renata told me about another young woman who had become pregnant at the castle, I could hardly believe it. Laurel was not as far along in her pregnancy as the first young woman. Renata insisted the child she carried was important, essential even. Your mother was adamant about your parentage. She would not name your father. She had been impregnated by a member of the Makt, a high-ranking member who could not accept that she had no interest in him. He took what was never his and your mother fell pregnant.”
Soren spat the words angrily. Honor felt sick to her stomach. Not only was she back to wondering who her real father was, now she did not even think she wanted to find out. Any man who deemed himself worthy of taking something without permission was not a man she could muster an ounce of respect for. If her mother did not want her to know who he was, she would accept it. Yet, her blood boiled as she imagined the fear and pain her mother must have endured. The idea that every day she looked at her growing belly, newborn baby, and little girl knowing she was the product of such a heinous and degrading act must have been horrible. Yet, Honor never questioned her mother’s love.
“I am sure you have many questions. I wish I could answer them. I agreed to allow Renata to forge documents using my name. You needed a father, or the King would come after your mother and you. He had been on a rampage since the birth of his daughter and any child born out of wedlock became a target for the Makt. It seemed the least I could do to protect Laurel.”
The way he spoke her name made Honor wonder something more. “Did you know her well?”
“Aye. She lived and worked here for many months while she carried you. I loved her very much and for a while, she tried to love me, too. But I think she was broken inside from what happened to her. She cried every night. We told people we were married so no one would question who she was or where the father of her baby was. I had hoped she would stay with me after you were born. She was gone within a few months of your birth.”
Honor smiled sadly. It warmed her heart to know her mother had been loved the way she deserved. The marriage may have been fake, and the love may not have been reciprocated, but at least she had known a safe place with plenty of love while expecting her child. Soren still seemed heartbroken over being abandoned.
“You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman, Honor.” Soren’s eyes shone with tears.
“Thank you. I know you are not my father, but I appreciate the sacrifices you made for my mother and me. What did you tell people when she disappeared with the baby that was supposed to be yours?” Honor queried.
“Renata saw to that, too. I have death certificates for both of you. I’ve saved them so one day you and I could burn them together.” Soren turned and rummaged through a bookshelf until he found a locked box. He pulled out a small key, unlocked it, then revealed the forged documents. “I had hoped your mother would be the one to tell you all these things. When I got word from Renata about her death, I think I died a little myself.” His voice cracked slightly.
Rowan had been fairly quiet as the story unfolded. Now, as Honor reached into her own bag for the death certificate for Soren, he held out a hand to stop her. With a quizzical look, she shrugged off his caution and pulled the papers from her bag. Soren laid his forged papers on the table next to hers. It was surreal to see her
own name scrawled upon a certificate proclaiming she died at just two months of age. With the papers laid out edge to edge, Honor noticed a small detail that told her instantly how wrong the documents were. Her mother’s place of birth was listed as Goldenlark. The falsified marriage license between Soren and Laurel said they were married in Goldenlark. She knew the death certificate for Soren said he was born in Goldenlark, but it also listed the same as the location of his death. As though the repeated references to the county seat were not enough, the bottom of each certificate had the town written with the first two letters slightly larger than the others. Honor gasped as she realized Renata had always intended for her to see the documents. The practitioner had always intended for her to meet Soren, and ultimately to make the journey to Goldenlark.
The more she learned about Renata, the more mysterious the woman became. She had been there to bring both the princess and Honor into the world. She had protected both girls from the wrath of the king, even though Honor was not a direct target. Renata had the ability to prolong death in order to safely deliver a child. Now, Honor knew as she stared at the papers . . . Renata had predicted this exact moment.
“What do you see?” Rowan whispered. He was staring intently at her wide-eyed expression.
“Go. She wants me to go to Goldenlark. This is no longer about the bond papers. In fact, I think I should take another look at those, too.” Honor pulled the last paper from the pile. It did not look like the others. The lettering was a standard size, and it looked much older than the falsified papers in front of her. Satisfied that it must have been real, Honor tucked the bond paper back into the sack.
Following Soren’s lead, Honor took the death certificate for her fake father and put it in the fireplace in the corner. The older man sighed softly as the pages were consumed by the meager flames. It must have been therapeutic for him to see those years of falsehoods burn to nothing. Pieces of her life had been lies, but she had not even known those pieces until recently. Nothing had truly changed for Honor, aside from learning she did not want to know who her real father was. In her mind, she could pretend Soren had been the father she was meant to have. He had truly loved her mother. If things had been different for Laurel, perhaps he would have loved Honor as his own daughter. Part of her wished things had been different. If her mother had fallen in love with Soren, she may still be alive. Honor would be living in Meadowbrook helping them run the inn. The death and loss she had experienced may not have happened.
