At just that moment the gatekeeper reached the other side and tried to tighten the chains. The lurch pulled the rope through his hands, throwing him toward the giant gears. In terror, he released his grip and the bridge fell to the ground with an enormous thud. Stefan’s army charged into the castle with wild cheers. Somewhere in that crushing crowd of men was Jack, fighting to defend her people.
Anna limped through the window. She found herself a few stories above the main level of the castle. She thought of Arissa. She can wait. She had to get down to make it to the throne room. She was sure her father would open the doors and fight now. She crept into a spare bedroom and ripped up a sheet to bandage her leg. The wound wasn’t deep and was already clotting.
She waited in the room as she heard invaders rush by to meet Stefan’s army. When the hall seemed quiet, she ran into a small room used for maid’s quarters. Her leg throbbed with each step. A few scared servant girls were cowering under their beds.
“Shh!” said Anna. “Keep still, and I’m sure you won’t be found. Do not come out.”
She knew this room. She had played hide-and-seek here as a child. She pulled a huge mirror back and found the secret latch. A second door opened inward, and she pulled the mirror behind her as she entered the dark passageway.
She heard mice and who-knows-what scampering around her feet as she rushed along with her right hand following the wall. A ramp led her gradually downward, spiraling so that she lost all sense of direction. She gulped the stale air. Luckily, the passageway was narrow, and her hand could guide her all the way. The other side occasionally opened up to a larger expanse. Anna shuddered to think about what was hiding in the dark. Just when she was beginning to doubt she knew where she was, she rounded a corner and spied a small door with light around the edges. Anna felt around it, cringing as spider webs covered her fingers. Finding it had no latch, she realized it had to be opened from the other side. She listened for a moment before knocking. There were no sounds of fighting, only earnest discussion. She knocked as loud as she could. There was no response. Please, open the door, before someone else finds the passageway!
“It’s me, Anna! Please open the door!”
The door flung open and Anna threw herself through the small opening, landing on her hands and knees. She blinked in the bright light. Two of her father’s guards held their swords above her neck.
“Stop!” yelled the king. “It’s Anna!”
“Father!” Anna ran to him while guards barred the door.
He held her in his arms. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. Stefan’s come through the drawbridge. We can fight them now. How did they get in?”
“We think through the dungeons.”
“What?” she said. The river surrounded the castle on three sides. The rear of the castle was set into a mountain rising up hundreds of feet to a great cliff. It was impossible to come through the mountain.
“I never told you, but our ancestors dug an escape tunnel from the dungeons in case the castle was overcome by invaders. Only a few members of the guard and the royal family know.”
Anna’s mouth fell open. No one had ever told her.
“You never told me because you thought I’d sneak out,” Anna said.
Her father shrugged.
“You were right. I probably would have,” Anna said under her breath. “Seamus knew?”
The king nodded. “Instead of attacking from the south as planned, he led the traitors through the mountains to the tunnel.”
“What is the plan?”
“Our men are dying. It’s time to fight.”
Chapter 19
The king paced in front of the guards with a presence and purpose Anna had never seen. “Take courage,” he was saying. “We will throw back these doors, and fight to the last man. Are you with me?”
“Yeah!” The men shouted.
“Then let us defeat them!”
“Yeah!” They called again.
Anna heard metal clashing metal as men battled outside the room. A man posted high at the window shouted down. “The men are leaving the door, my lord!”
King Vilipp drew his sword. “Let us drive our enemies out!”
He was answered with another battle cry from the small band of about twenty men in the throne room. “Anna, stay here. Don’t fight but to save your life. Open the doors!” he yelled and led the charge out of the room.
Anna wasn’t sure what to do. She climbed the rough stones up to the high window that overlooked the front of the castle grounds. Horses were running wild. Men lay everywhere, and the ones still up were madly fighting. The battle was a mass of bloody confusion. A noise behind her made her turn. She saw a man dragging a woman into the throne room.
Saira!
“Go, tell the king I have his daughter and unless he turns this castle over to me, I’ll cut her throat!” hissed the man to his cohort. Seamus was holding Saira with a knife to her neck. The other man ran out of the room.
Seamus hadn’t seen Anna yet. She still had her quiver on her back, but she couldn’t balance and retrieve an arrow. She hovered above him. Two quick steps and a jump and she’d be down, but all he had to do to spot her was to look up. Her throat went dry.
Saira screamed and fought as he dragged her along the floor toward the throne. The noise of her echoing cries covered the sound of Anna’s quick footsteps for a moment. She scrambled down and dropped to the floor.
Anna put an arrow on the string. Seamus’ head snapped up.
“Coward!” Anna yelled as she drew her arrow. “You let her go, or I swear, I’ll pierce you through.”
Seamus threw his head back and laughed. “You! Anna! Why don’t you try if you don’t mind killing your sister!” He pulled Saira closer so Anna could only see his eyes and forehead over her shoulder. “Go ahead, give it your best shot. You know Saira’s your father’s favorite. What will he say when you’ve killed her? I think a little more than losing your Farley privileges, eh?”
Sweat trickled down Anna’s back as adrenaline pulsed through her. Her eyes ached in concentration. Every muscle was ready to spring. The battle’s roar quieted. All she could hear was her heart pulsing blood through her ears.
“Let her go, and fight me like a man!” she roared. “You always hated me. Kill me instead. Just let her go!”
“Can’t do that, so sorry,” Seamus said. “I know how much worse it will be for your father to lose this one.”
“Anna! Just shoot him! Don’t worry about me!” yelled Saira. Seamus yanked her head back by her hair, exposing her throat.
“That’s enough out of you,” he said to her.
Anna’s arm trembled. Pulling the tight bowstring back so long was sapping her strength. “Seamus, Stefan’s army is through the bridge. Your men are dying. You cannot win. Let her go!” Anna clenched her jaw and hoped Seamus didn’t notice her shaking arm. She tried to settle it down. Her shot had to be true. “Quit hiding behind a woman, coward. Come fight one!”
“You are weak. Soon your shot will be meaningless,” Seamus taunted.
Anna took three steps toward him.
“Uh-uh,” Seamus said thrusting his knife again under her throat. “Not too close. I don’t want to do this before your father arrives.”
Anna’s arm was now visibly trembling. She would either have to shoot or lower her bow. She could not shoot her sister. He heard the priest’s voice in her head telling her the arrows don’t miss. But what if they go through Saira to get to him? If he would only move. At once she heard the quiet sound of an arrow releasing. Her arm felt numb. Oh, no, had she released her arrow accidentally? Anna’s heart skipped as she watched Seamus drop to the ground, carrying Saira with him.
“No!” yelled Anna as she ran toward them. Saira flung herself away from him.
She’s alive!
Anna glanced down at her bow. She hadn’t released her arrow, yet Seamus was lying quietly on the floor with Saira sprawled next to him. Behind him stood her father, b
ow in hand. She flew to Saira’s side.
“Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m fine.”
As King Vilipp embraced them, Anna heard a rasping voice behind him.
“Anna!”
Seamus was calling her.
“He doesn’t deserve a word from you,” her father said.
Seamus’s face contorted.
“Just give me a minute. He won’t hurt me,” Anna said.
Her father nodded. Anna dropped to her knees beside him, keeping aware of his hands that clutched his side. She made sure no sword or knife was near. He was trying to speak. She leaned forward as he gasped. The bloodied arrow protruded out of his side.
“I—shouldn’t have done—so many things,” he paused, panting. “Your father was weak. I only wanted Sunderland to rise.” His breathing grew ragged. “The gems. They would have made Sunderland the most prosperous, powerful kingdom ever. And then…” His eyes glazed. “I would have stopped Anwar. None of this should have happened.”
Anna couldn’t speak as blood pooled behind him. Her stomach turned.
He grimaced. “I should have been a father to you.” His eyes pleaded with her. “It’s what she would have wanted. I—am—sorry.” His face blanched as his eyes closed.
“I forgive you,” she whispered.
His eyes sprung open. He reached for her.
“You are like your mother after all.”
His hand dropped to the floor as his head tipped to the side.
Anna stumbled back. Her chest ached at the sight of the dead man and the memory of all the terrible choices he’d made. It could have been so different.
How many will die because of it?
She stood to find her father and Saira standing behind her. The king pulled her into his arms.
“He was a tortured soul,” said Saira.
Anna nodded in shock.
“I would gladly kill him a thousand times before I’d let him hurt either of you,” King Vilipp said. “If only I hadn’t been so blind. Thank heaven you’re safe!”
“We’re safe for the moment,” said Anna, “but how is the battle going?” Her thoughts jolted to Stefan and Jack.
“Victory will be ours soon.” He ran to get a couple men to help with Seamus’ body. They strung it over the side of the castle and blew a great horn. Most of the fighting stopped as the men watched Seamus’ body flop over the castle wall.
“Followers of Seamus!” yelled the king. “Look, traitors, your leader is dead! Surrender, and I might have mercy on you. Keep fighting, and you will surely die. You are outnumbered!”
A few men jumped into the river and swam downstream. A volley of arrows followed them. The remaining men surrendered. They would be marched to the dungeons.
Just then a horn blew.
“Sentry, coming, sentry coming!” shouted a guard from the outer wall.
The king rushed to the castle stairs to meet the rider. Saira and Anna hurried after him.
“Thank you for not shooting me,” Saira whispered. She smiled and bit her bottom lip.
“At first I thought I had.” Anna held her sister close. “I was so afraid.”
“So was I.” Her blanched face was just beginning to get some color back.
The rider galloped right across the drawbridge, jumping dead bodies as he went. He slid to a stop as King Vilipp burst through the castle doors.
“Sire, Anwar’s next wave of armies has been spotted,” shouted the rider, who jumped off his heaving, lathered horse. “They are not two days behind me.”
Anna’s heart skipped a beat. Seamus had thought he could take the castle before Stefan arrived so Stefan would gallop home to find his father dead and thousands of soldiers waiting for him. But his error had given them time to get ready.
Commotion burst through the castle as King Vilipp ordered battle preparations made. Oil was primed for throwing over the walls on the enemies. Soldiers were fitted in the armories and the wounded tended to.
Anna retrieved Arissa from the tower, though her wounded leg ached with every step. She found the young woman calm, quiet and more than relieved at the news that for the time being, King Vilipp had the castle in hand.
“He should send word to my father,” Arissa said. “He has a large standing army.”
“I’m sure that’s already been done,” Anna said.
Arissa nodded as they walked toward their rooms to get cleaned up. “Thank you, Anna,” she said. Her voice shook. She took a deep breath. “And, I am sorry for how we all treated you in court.” Her eyes flicked to Anna’s, and then her gaze dropped to the floor. She was pale.
“All is forgiven.” Anna gave her hand a squeeze. “Truly.”
Arissa smiled. “Thank you again for saving me.”
“You’re welcome, of course.” They stopped outside Arissa’s door.
“Can I ask you a question since you seem to be so perceptive?” Anna asked.
“Anything.”
“What do you think of Jack?” Anna’s face flushed. “I struggle to read him sometimes.”
Arissa smiled. “He’s a fool for turning you down, but I suppose that’s what makes him mysterious. He’s obviously got eyes for you only, if that’s what you are worried about.”
“How do you know?”
She shrugged. “Trust me. I know.” Her eyes held a twinkle of mischief. She turned the doorknob to her room. “I don’t know about you, but I’m calling for a bath.”
Anna shook her head. She wasn’t sure the servants would have time for scented baths with everything else going on in the castle. She could hear a mild hum of energy rising from the grounds as urgency and anticipation pulsed through every soldier. They were commanded to rest, but Anna wondered how many could sleep. She walked through the troops, greeting Stefan and Bart, but not running across Jack.
Where was he?
As night fell, everyone ate a cold supper and retired to their quarters. Anna slept fitfully and paced the castle until late in the next day. Another horn sounded. Hundreds of soldiers on horseback appeared on the horizon. White turbans littered the landscape like a snowstorm moving toward them. Thousands more were on foot. Anna ran up some stairs to get a better look. Teams of horses were pulling catapults. Anna drew in her breath when she realized there must be hundreds of them. Laboring horses pulled wagons filled with large stones for hurling at the outer wall. It wouldn’t withstand that assault for long.
Anna raced down the stairs to find her father. On the way to the throne room, she caught up with Stefan.
“Stefan, have you seen it?”
“They are at our door,” he answered as he strode along. “Don’t worry. We can hold them off for some time.” He stopped and gently took her by the arm. “Jack told me how Seamus treated you all those years. You know you could have told me. If I thought he had tried to lay one finger on you, I would have…”
“I know,” Anna interrupted, shrugging a little. “I should have told you. I was foolish to be so afraid. It seems ridiculous now, looking back.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” said Stefan, hugging her with one arm. “Go now and rest while you can. There will be many keeping watch.”
“No. I’ll stay with you,” she answered. “And Jack—he made it all right, then? I haven’t seen him since…”
“He’s fine, and Anna—” he glanced at her again. “He’s an honorable man.”
Her stomach leapt. “I know.”
Stefan hesitated at the throne room doors as Anna stuck to his side. “Well, you might as well come along then.” His brow furrowed with worry.
They walked in together and bowed before the king, who was pacing.
His eye met Anna’s. “You have brought the fury of the desert with you, I’m afraid.” He reached forward and touched her shoulder. “I promise if we are granted more days together, life will be better for you here.”
“It is already.”
“So, Anwar comes at last,” King Vilipp said to himself. “He perhaps doe
s not know Seamus has failed. He may be surprised.” He paced back across the room. “War brings grief, and I hate putting our people through it. With every man who falls, someone loses a son, a husband, a father. Many have fallen already.”
Anna nodded.
Several more knights entered including, Einar, Hadrian and Nadir. She bit her lip when she recognized Aric, the knight they had met leaving Hemmington and drew in her breath when she realized Jack had slipped in behind him. He tipped his chin to her but didn’t cross the room. Anna restrained herself from running to Jack, but she couldn’t take her eyes from him. He didn’t appear injured from the battle.
Other knights came in as well, but Anna didn’t pay them any attention. She was reliving those last moments with Jack in the stable. Her heartbeat quickened just thinking about his touch.
“You might want to get your battle-face on, Princess,” a voice said next to her, shaking her out of her daze. Stefan. “You’re looking a little lovesick.” He smirked.
Anna felt the blood rush to her face, and her stomach flipped as she snuck a last look at Jack. He was holding back a laugh.
She focused back on her father, who ordered the women and children to move underground to the back of the castle. The battle would surely be fought inside the outer wall. Men left to carry out his orders.
He then motioned all remaining in the room to a table, including Anna and Saira, who had just run in. Anna saw some narrowed eyes among the men as she found her seat.
The king began. “Men, and princesses,” he said turning to Anna and Saira. “Anwar has us greatly outnumbered. What is our strategy?”
“No one has ever taken this castle down,” said Einar. “No number of men can go against us here, as long as they don’t come through the mountain,” he quickly added.
“Yes, well, the mountain escape is closed,” said the king. “We will have no more visitors from that door. If necessary, our women and children will use it for escape.”
“Anna?” His eyes traveled over the glimmering sword, shield and bow.
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