Serpent: Book II of the Asterian Trilogy

by Sarah Olson

  He pulled me into an embrace. "I would do anything for you." He let me go and picked something up from the bedside table. It was the small pouch that he always wore around his neck—the one with the strange serpent ring I’d forgotten to ask him about. Roy took my hand and emptied the pouch onto it.

  "This ring is from Surmania," he said, tracing the serpent with the emerald eyes wrapped around it.

  "It’s beautiful," I said.

  "I’ve kept it with me since I left so I would never forget where I came from. I want you to hold onto it." He closed my hand over it.

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Because I realized last night that I never gave you a ring for our wedding."

  I rolled my eyes. "I didn’t give you one either—we can get each other one after we settle."

  "I know, but for now, keep it." He leaned in and kissed me.

  There was a sudden commotion outside our window.

  Roy released it and pulled the curtains aside carefully.

  "Where is he?" I heard a woman’s sharp voice bark from below.

  "What is it?" I asked, sliding the ring back into the pouch.

  He turned, and a flicker of fear ran through his eyes. He picked up my robe from the floor and tossed it to me. "Put it on."

  I frowned. "Why?"

  "Aria, please."

  I rolled my eyes and slid the robe on, securing it in the front.

  He pulled on his shirt and looked at me.

  "What’s going on, Roy?" I asked. I was fearful now. "Who’s out there?"

  He ignored my question and sat me down on the bed. "Aria, there’s something I have to tell you." There was an intensity in his eyes as he held my gaze. "I wanted to tell you before, but I didn’t know if it would change the way you feel about me."

  "What could possibly change the way I feel about you?" I asked with a laugh.

  "Something I should’ve told you a long time ago."

  "About what?"

  Roy took my hands. "Aria, I’m not really who I say I am."

  Everything in the room stilled.

  "Of course, you are," I said, my head suddenly reeling. "You are Roy Halding, a sailor, my husband—"

  "No, I’m not—"

  "You fled to Malan after the Surman king died. You fell in love with the sea—"

  "Aria—"

  I couldn’t listen to him. I just kept listing everything I knew about him hoping that somehow I could forget his words—hoping that Stephen and Ethelyn hadn’t been right.

  "Aria, please." The urgency in his tone snapped me out of the daze.

  "Who’s outside?" I asked again.

  He clenched his jaw for a moment. "The Asterian Guard."

  I shook my head trying to make sense of his words. "Of course the Asterian guard would be out there, they figured out where I am."

  Roy shook his head. "They don’t know you’ve landed in Asteria. If your parents found out where you went, they are searching for the Enigma. Those guards down there are here for me."

  I pulled away from him as if his words had created some reflex. "Why?"

  He reached for me, but I jerked back.

  The sound of stomping boots echoed in the hall.

  "Who are you?" I choked out the words, suddenly feeling the full impact of his betrayal, and he had the audacity to look hurt.

  The door to the room burst open, and the Asterian Guard converged on Roy. I watched in horror as they tied his hands behind him. He didn’t struggle.

  A Malanese woman strode into the room behind them, not even throwing a glance my way. She stared at Roy, amusement lighting her dark eyes. "That’s him."

  One of the guards tying his hands spoke out in a loud voice. "Prince Rostam, by order of the king and queen of Asteria, you are under arrest."

  Prince Rostam.

  It couldn’t be. My Roy was the prince of Surmania—the one that murdered his father.

  I could no longer hear anything. I saw Roy was struggling as the woman gave the guards orders, He was trying to tell me something, but all that reached my ears was a loud buzzing. Davorin’s figure suddenly loomed in front of me, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from Roy—my husband, a liar, a murderer. There were hands on my shoulders as Roy—Rostam was dragged from the room.

  "Aria!" Davorin’s voice sounded distant. "Aria!"

  I snapped back to reality and looked up at him.

  "What are you doing here?" he asked. His face was creased with surprise and worry.

  "I—I," I stammered.

  "Did he hurt you?"

  Did who hurt me?

  Davorin seemed to sense my confusion and disorientation. "Prince Rostam. Did he hurt you?"

  I shook my head. "His name is Roy . . . " I couldn’t think straight.

  "What are you doing here with him?"

  "He—he’s my husband," I whispered, the full weight of the awful truth falling onto my shoulders.

  "Her husband?" the Malanese woman asked from the door as I watched Davorin take in the room for the first time—the unmade bed, my clothes in a heap by the tub, my appearance. Realization flashed across his face.

  "You married Prince Rostam?"

  I blinked, trying to clear my mind of the haze that threatened to take it. "He said his name was Roy," I whispered. "Roy Halding." Tears rushed my eyes, and I began to cry. "He lied to me," I sobbed. "I thought I knew him—I loved him."

  Davorin wrapped his arms around me. "Salma, have a guard send for a carriage immediately."

  The woman pursed her lips in annoyance and exited the room.

  I suddenly wanted nothing more than to be with my family—the people who had never cheated me—the people who loved me. "Take me home," I whispered into his chest, my tears soaking into his tunic.

  Davorin hugged me tighter. "I will."

  Chapter 41

  James

  I RACED DOWN THE HALL, nearly colliding with servants and guards.

  Aria was home. She was alive.

  "Where is she?" I demanded as I reached my family’s private parlor.

  Davorin stood in front of the door, his arms raised for me to stop. "She’s inside," he said, his tone serious when I skidded to a halt.

  I reached for the door, but Davorin stepped in my way.

  "What?" I demanded, the need to see my daughter driving me.

  Davorin cleared his throat and suddenly looked uncomfortable. "There’s been a complication. When Tristan and I went into the village this morning, he went to find Aria, and I went with Salma to find Rostam."

  "Yes, I know," I snapped. "An innkeeper reported a Roy Halding staying at her inn which meant Aria had to be back."

  Davorin nodded. "Except I didn’t just find Prince Rostam at that inn—I found Aria."

  "And?" I demanded.

  Davorin winced slightly letting me know his next words were going to be bad—dreadful. "It would appear she married him."

  I stared at Davorin, my jaw going slack.

  "Come again?" I asked, my voice cold even to my own ears.

  "They got married on the ship about a week or so ago; she didn’t know who he was—at least not until this morning."

  I ran a hand through my hair and began pacing in front of the door. Married . . . and to the prince of Surmania. Not engaged—married. What was she thinking?

  I heard footsteps down the hall and turned to come face to face with Layla.

  "Tristan told me they found her!" she cried, relief washing over her features.

  "They did," I said, my voice harsher than I intended.

  Layla looked at Davorin then back to me.

  "What’s going on?" she asked, her brow furrowing with concern and panic. "Is she hurt? Did something happen?"

  "She was found with the Surman prince," I growled.

  "What do you mean with?" Layla asked.

  "She’s his wife."

  Layla’s eyes widened in shock as she registered what she was hearing.

  "She’s inside the parlor with Juliette," Davorin sai
d quietly. "She’s very distraught, and I truly believe she didn’t know who he was." He took a slow breath. "And Ethelyn didn’t return with her. She died sometime during the voyage."

  Layla covered her mouth, tears gleaming in her eyes—at which part of the news, I didn’t know. I pulled her into my arms and held her tightly. Her warmth and the knowledge that Aria was safe and just beyond those doors the only thing that could give me strength.

  "Thank you, Davorin," I said.

  Davorin gave a slight nod and walked down the hall. I heard him dismiss the guards that were still within hearing range as he left.

  "Married?" Layla asked, her voice strangled as she tried to understand what had transpired. "My Aria married—to a traitor?"

  I released her and placed my hands on her quaking shoulders.

  "But she’s alive," I said quietly while making a promise to myself to keep any anger and disappointment I held from entering the room.

  "I know," Layla, whispered, wiping tears from her eyes. "I know."

  I bit back my own tears as a wave of so many emotions washed over me. Relief that Aria was home, anger that she had chosen to marry while she was gone, fear of what a marriage to Prince Rostam would do to this kingdom—rage that she had been tricked.

  Layla took a deep breath in an attempt to compose herself. "She came back . . . that’s all that matters."

  I nodded, certain that my voice would betray me if I tried to speak.

  "She’s waiting for us," she said, reaching for the door.

  I followed her into the room and found Aria on the canapé sofa, holding onto Juliette as she cried. She was thinner than the last time I’d seen her, her skin darker.

  Aria looked up, and with a cry of relief and sorrow, she sprang up from the sofa and ran into Layla’s arms.

  "I’m so sorry," she sobbed. "I’m so sorry for everything. I didn’t know; I swear it—I didn’t know."

  Layla clung to her as if her life depended on it. "I know, darling. I know."

  I reached out and stroked Aria’s tangled blonde hair, needing to feel something to know that she truly was home at last. At that moment, her marriage didn’t matter.

  Aria let go of Layla and wrapped her arms around me, her sobs growing louder. I pulled her tightly against me, moisture gathering in my eyes as I held my daughter for the first time in months.

  "I will never leave like that again," Aria sobbed into my chest.

  I clenched my jaw to fight the threatening onslaught of tears. Layla met my gaze, a small smile on her tear-stained face filled with a happiness I hadn’t seen in months.

  The door opened, and I turned my head to see Gabriel burst into the room.

  "Aria," he breathed, his tone a mixture of surprise and relief.

  She let me go and embraced him tightly.

  "You’re alive," Gabriel said. "We went to Malan looking for you."

  "I know," Aria whispered. "I’m sorry I ever left."

  "Come," Layla said, placing a hand on Aria’s back and guiding her back to the sofa. She sat beside her, keeping an arm around her shoulders. "Tell us everything, Aria," she said quietly. "Everything."

  I sat in one of the armchairs and braced myself.

  ☐☐☐☐

  My study was dark as I sat at my desk in silence. The fire in the hearth had died down to angry red embers, sending faint shadows across the wall. I had dismissed Haddon for the night, and Layla was in the castle somewhere caring for Aria.

  She had told us everything that happened—from her journey to Malan, the shipwreck on the Coral Isles, the skirmish with the pirates and finally her hasty marriage to a murderous prince. Layla had been most interested in learning that Richard had been the one to save her and the prince after the shipwreck. I’d thought the man was out of our lives forever since we banished him from the kingdom, but I apparently hadn’t made sure he had gone far enough away. I knew Layla was mine, and I’d helped raise Aria as my own, but I was bothered by the positive light Aria now held the man in.

  But none of that mattered right now because we were facing a more pressing issue with Aria’s marriage. There was no question of the legitimacy of it—there had been witnesses, and it had been consummated. I clenched my fists at the thought of that murderer’s hands on my daughter.

  I had the power to end the marriage—there was no question about that either—but that didn’t negate the fact that it happened. The arrest of Rostam and return of Aria caused enough commotion for the situation not to remain discreet. The sailors may not have known Rostam’s identity, but it wouldn’t be long before they put it all together since they were already aware of Aria’s. I would turn Rostam over to Surmania, but things would become tricky when King Azad learned of the elopement. Aria had unwittingly tied our kingdoms together—and in a time where I had been forced to close the borders until the skirmishes in the east were worked out.

  I stared at the embers, feeling my control of Asteria weaken with each pulsing glow. I had yet to visit the prince in the dungeons, but I knew it would have to wait. I was too close to losing control, which is what I had to keep if Layla and I were going to work together to dig Asteria out of this political mess.

  Why, Aria? It was all I could keep thinking. She was not typically this brash and foolish. Running away had been one thing, but eloping?

  I put my head in my hands suddenly feeling exhausted.

  At least she’s alive and safe.

  I took a steadying breath and looked at the dying embers.

  We would work it out, we always did.

  ☐☐☐☐

  The dungeon was damp and smelled of mold and seawater. I followed the guard who held a lit torch as he led me through the maze of cells. Most were empty since we typically moved prisoners to a large prison in the east, but I could hear the scuffling of a few as we walked down the rows. Thieves, murderers, rapists—the castle’s dungeons had all the kingdom’s scum move through here. I could have had Prince Rostam brought up to me but decided against it. I didn’t want the man paraded through the halls of the castle for others to see.

  Minimize the gossip and we minimize the damage.

  The guard stopped in front of one of the cells and lit the torch beside the thick wooden door. Layla had wanted to come as well, but I insisted I speak to the prince alone.

  There was a jingling of keys as the guard removed them from his trousers and unlocked the door with a loud click.

  "I'll be right down the hall, Your Majesty."

  I gave him a slight nod, and he pushed the heavy door open.

  The dimly lit cell had a small barred window that overlooked the crashing sea. I pulled the torch off the wall outside and set it on a sconce just inside the cell. The light flickered in the cell, revealing a man sitting on a low cot. His hands were chained to a stake drilled into the floor.

  Prince Rostam looked up and stood quickly; whether out of fear or respect, I wasn’t sure. The prince was young, older than Aria but not by much. A couple of days of stubble covered his cheeks, and dirty brown hair fell just below his ears. He was strong but not quite as tall as me, though it was by mere inches. His skin was dark but not like the Malanese. I supposed some of it was dirt and grit from being in the dungeon for a few days. It had taken me a while to come and see him. The expression on his face was unreadable, but I expected nothing less.

  I watched him for a long moment, sizing him up. This man wooed Aria into marriage. This man murdered his own father.

  "Do you know who I am?" I asked, my voice loud in the small cell.

  Prince Rostam nodded. "You are King James of Asteria—Aria’s father."

  I clenched my jaw at how casually he spoke her name. I paced the cell and then faced him again. "Why did you do it?"

  "Why did I do what?" the prince asked.

  "I would say you have a couple of different things to pick from when you answer that question," I said.

  Prince Rostam stared back for a moment. "I married her because I love her," he said.
<
br />   "You expect me to believe you didn’t have other motives?" I sneered.

  "No, Your Majesty. Selfishly, I never intended her to find out who I was. I left that life behind years ago, and now I only yearn to be with her."

  "I find that hard to believe," I said, leaning against the wall.

  "It’s the truth; I swear my life on it."

  "Forgive me when I say it’s hard to believe the words of a man who killed his father," I scoffed.

  Prince Rostam shook his head. "I didn’t kill him. I loved my father."

  "Your knife," I pointed out.

  "I was set up; it’s why I fled. My uncle knew I was innocent, so he let me escape."

  I hadn’t heard that one yet. I was almost surprised at how easily the prince shared that information with the Asterian king.

  "He said he would find the real murderer and clear my name, but never found them, and my people wanted my head," he continued.

  "For good reason," I said. "So using my daughter’s title and her family to clear your name was never your intention?"

  The prince nodded. "I love her; that is all that matters."

  "Yet you just admitted planning to keep your true identity from her for the rest of your life. Did you not think that if you had gotten away with it all, no one in the Asterian court would recognize you?"

  Prince Rostam dropped his eyes to the floor. "She wanted a life away from court," he said. "That is what I planned to give her."

  I shoved off from the wall. So, first, the man married my daughter and then planned to steal her away from the castle for good.

  "Well, it should come as no surprise when I tell you that Aria has asked that I declare your marriage void."

  The prince looked up, his bluish eyes full of sorrow that seemed so real I almost believed it.

  "I will oblige her request so that she can move on with her life. You, on the other hand, are to be turned over to King Azad, and he can decide your fate."

  Fear flashed through Prince Rostam’s eyes. "I’m innocent, Your Majesty! If you send me back, they will conduct a farce of a trial and kill me."

  I shrugged. "That’s not my concern, Prince Rostam." I reached for the door and stopped. "And don’t think for a moment that your fate would have been any different here if I let you stay."