by M. Lynn
“Is it okay that I’m here? I worried you might be sleeping.”
“I’m glad for the company.” He sat and gestured for her to do the same.
“Oh.” She sat as directed and crossed her legs. “Then I guess that’s good.”
Thunder struck and she jumped to her feet and walked the length of the room before turning to come back again. After a few moments, he set his glass down and stood to still her pacing. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to stop. “Amalie, it’s just a storm. You’re safe inside the palace.”
Tears shone in her eyes and he pulled her into a hug. She buried her face in his chest as he rubbed circles on her back. When he spoke, his words were muffled by her hair. “You remind me of Ty.”
A laugh shook her. “Ty is more terrified than I am of storms. One time, we were in the tunnels when one struck. It lasted into the night and all through to the morning. He tried to put on a brave face, but we ended up clinging together in fear for hours.”
He matched her laugh but stopped abruptly when something slammed against the window and it cracked. He turned his head just in time for the glass to shatter.
He threw Amalie to the ground, covering her body with his as the howling wind roared through the room. It sounded like a vortex, ready to suck them through the now fragmented window. Glass flew through the air and he covered both their faces.
The door banged open as Simon barreled through. “Alex!”
Neither Alex nor Amalie could move.
More guards would have heard the window break, and they’d be there to help soon, but all Alex could focus on was the wind ripping through his belongings. Papers flew past them as rain streamed in through the window, soaking everything. A puddle began to form around them.
Simon rushed forward, but before he could get to them, a sharp pain slammed into Alex’s abdomen. His body jerked away from Amalie as his head felt like it smacked into something invisible. Something hard. Simon pulled Amalie into the hall and came back yelling for Alex to get to his feet.
He couldn’t. It was like a knife slicing through his leg. He searched frantically for the source of his pain, knowing he wouldn’t find it in that room.
Simon reached him and pulled him to his feet as he rammed his shoulder under Alex’s arm. He all but carried the king into the hall. He used all of his weight but still couldn’t shut the door against the wind. Giving up, he turned to the king.
“Are you okay?” he yelled.
Alex jerked back against the wall as another wave of pain hit him. Amalie’s eyes widened as she reached toward his face.
“Did you get hit with something?” Simon asked. “You have a strange mark on your face.”
Alex couldn’t answer him as he doubled over. “Healer,” he croaked.
“I’ll wake the new palace healer.” Simon started to walk, but Amalie ran after him.
“No,” she called. “He needs to go to the healer in the outer castle.”
“Are you mad, my lady? The sky is breaking apart out there.”
She tugged on his arm. “We don’t have a choice.”
Simon rubbed his forehead. “If anyone learns I took the king out into this, it’ll be on me.”
“Simon,” Alex wheezed. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Then just get me there.”
Simon slung one of Alex’s arms over his shoulders and Amalie went ahead of them. Guards appeared behind them at the king’s door and they ducked into another hallway. The palace was deserted as people hunkered down for the storm. The alarm would be raised soon because the king was missing and his room was trashed. They’d have to make it out before then.
Alex breathed through the pain as they pushed into the courtyard. A gust of wind blasted into their faces and battered them at an angle.
Simon’s graying hair clung to his forehead. He shifted Alex and unfastened his cloak, reaching it toward Amalie. “Take this, my lady.”
She wrapped it around her shoulders gratefully and charged ahead of them.
The streets were eerily empty and the guards at the inner gate didn’t step out into the rain to see who passed by. Walking was a chore as each new step brought pain. It was everywhere, straining Alex’s every movement. He thought he must now know what it felt like to be trampled by a horse.
Why was it happening to him?
Desperation clung to him, shielding him from the worst fears of the storm. Amalie jumped with every bolt of thunder. Even Simon was on edge.
Amalie stopped in front of the healer’s door and banged her fist against the solid wood. As Simon and Alex caught up, the door cracked open.
“Please,” Amalie begged. “He needs the healer.”
The door opened wider and Maiya stood there in shock. Her father appeared behind her. “Maiya, move.” He pulled her aside. “Come in. The storm is wicked out there.”
They practically fell into the room.
Maiya snapped out of her daze and pointed to the empty bed. “Put him there. I’ll make the potion.”
“No,” Alex said through clenched teeth as he was helped onto the bed. “Just heal me. No sleeping.”
“I don’t … what?” She looked to her father and then to Simon and Amalie. “I don’t know what you think is going on here, but we brew healing potions.”
A scream escaped Alex’s mouth as a new pain broke free.
“Please,” Amalie said. “Just help him. We don’t care if you have magic. None of us will say anything.”
“You have our word,” Simon said.
Alex groaned. “I knew it before. That’s why I came back to you.”
“Father.” Maiya shook her head. “You know what his pain means for her?”
“Who?” Alex writhed, remembering the conversation he’d overheard last time. “Persinette?”
“Maiya,” her father said. “Go ahead.”
She swallowed heavily and moved to the head of the bed. Closing her eyes, she set her hands on his shoulders and pressed down. Warmth flooded through him and the pain receded. He sighed in relief.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
The skin of his neck began to tug and then tighten. His muscles contracted. “Maiya,” he cried.
“What’s happening?” Amalie jumped toward him frantically.
Alex pulled at his neck as an invisible hand tightened around it. His lungs cried out for breath.
Maiya’s father was the first to act. “It’s Persinette.” He yanked his door open. “We need to get to her.” When no one moved, he yelled, “Now!”
Alex scrambled from the bed and darted out into the rain. It became harder to breathe, but his pace picked up and he ran through the night. Amalie, Simon, Maiya, and her father followed him. He stumbled as he became lightheaded when he reached the inner wall. He tried to gulp air and managed insufficient gasps. His head swam, and it was all he could do to keep from falling as he crossed the courtyard. Simon was ahead of him now, but he kept looking back. When Alex reached the interior of the palace, he braced himself against the wall.
“Simon,” Alex tried to yell, his voice failing him. Somehow, his guard heard him and turned. “Get to her. Please.” He fell to his knees.
“I’m not leaving you.” Simon lifted him like he had before without even straining. Amalie, Maiya, and her father had been stopped by a guard, but Alex didn’t have time to go back for them. He didn’t know what was happening, but he had to get to Persinette.
The stairwell to the dungeons stretched down into the darkness and with the thunder still shaking the world outside, they went down, not knowing what they’d find.
They heard it before rounding the corner. Geoff’s voice.
“I’m going to make you beg, you little magic whore.”
Simon practically dropped Alex and ran ahead to where the door to the cell stood open.
Geoff had Etta pressed against the wall with one hand wrapped around her throat and the other down the front of her shirt.
&nb
sp; He didn’t see Simon before the mammoth guard yanked him away. The pressure on Alex’s throat eased immediately, leaving a slight ache behind.
Persinette slumped to the ground, unmoving.
Simon knocked Geoff unconscious with two swings of his heavy fist.
Alex crawled across the floor, weakness flowing through him. He hovered over Persinette.
“We need to get her out of here.”
Simon nodded. “Think you can walk on your own?”
“Yes.”
Simon lifted Persinette into his arms and Alex used the bars to pull himself to his feet.
She had to be okay. He couldn’t live in a world where Persinette Basile was not okay.
As he passed Geoff, he hung his head. It was his fault, his guard.
At the top of the stairs, Persinette coughed weakly.
“Get her to my mother’s rooms,” Alex ordered. “I need to find Maiya.”
Simon began to run, the girl bouncing in his arms.
Finding Maiya was easy. She sat with her father and Amalie inside the front door of the palace.
“What is going on here?” Alex asked as he strode forward, trying to keep the weakness he still felt from his voice.
The guard did a double take. “Your Majesty, we’ve been searching for you.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.” His voice was cold. “I don’t have time for this. They come with me. You, go to the dungeons. There’s an unconscious guard, and he is to be arrested.”
When they were free of the guards, Alex turned to Maiya. “We have to hurry.” She nodded and the four of them began to run.
They pushed through the door and into the queen mother’s rooms without knocking. His mother sat on the bed next to a still unconscious Persinette.
“How is she?” he asked, rushing to her side.
“Not well.”
Maiya ran forward. “Let me see her.”
No one questioned her as she set her palms on Persinette’s chest. Etta coughed and shifted, but the red line around her neck faded and disappeared.
Alex felt his own lingering pain drift away. Amalie’s eyes widened. “Your neck was red as well and now… it’s gone.” Her eyes flicked between him and Etta. “What is happening?”
“I don’t know.” He scrubbed a hand across his face.
It was a never-ending night, but he wasn’t tired. As he watched Etta, all he felt was relief. She was going to be okay.
Simon stepped up beside him. “If it’s okay, your Majesty, I’m going to go alert the guard you’re safe.”
“Good idea. Also, see what’s being done with Geoff. I want him to pay for this.”
“I’ll see to it, sire.” With a smooth bow, he left.
Maiya backed away from Etta. “She should be okay now. She needs to rest.”
Her father put a hand on her shoulder. “We will return in the morning.”
Maiya’s face scrunched in consternation. “Look, your Majesty, Persinette is important to us. I betrayed her once, but for the one person in this world I love more than her. She is everything, so you better—”
Her father cut her off. “Maiya.”
Alex’s mother moved off the bed and Alex took her spot. He stared down at Etta and cupped her cheek before meeting Maiya’s stare. “I promise. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“Maiya,” her father warned. “He is the king.”
“I don’t care. I know I played my part in all of this. I gave her up.” She stepped forward and pointed one finger at him. “But you put her there. It was your guards that hurt her. Do you even know who she is? This is Persinette Basile, and she is my queen more than you will ever be my king.”
Her father dragged her toward the door. “I apologize for my daughter, sire. She doesn’t know what she says.”
“She won’t forgive you,” Maiya said as she was pulled from the room and the door slammed behind her.
The queen mother guided Amalie to the door. “We will give you some time, son. Amalie and I will sleep in the guest rooms.”
Alex barely heard them leave. He was too focused on the girl next to him. Even in this state, she was exquisite. It wasn’t the delicate beauty Amalie had or even the classic looks of his mother. It was as if the fierceness in her heart shone through.
The people rising up in the villages were calling her name. Even those doing so without violence were demanding her freedom. How did she instill such loyalty in people who’d never laid eyes on her? Did legends hold that much power? Or had stories of her traveled wide?
He could see it now. The honor. The nobility. She was meant to lead her people.
She shifted and curled closer to him in her sleep. “Alex,” she whispered.
His heart pounded as her hand reached for his. He entwined their fingers together.
“Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.
He leaned down to kiss her forehead, wishing her words weren’t a product of sleep. He put his lips to her ear. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She sighed and all he could do was watch her sleep, his heart tearing itself to shreds at what he’d done to her.
Etta jerked awake, her eyes snapping open as she felt the comfort of the bed beneath her. She wasn’t in the dungeons anymore. Her gaze darted around the room, recognizing it immediately. The queen mother’s rooms.
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping when she opened them again she’d be back in her dusky prison cell. No such luck. She couldn’t be there. The palace was no place for her. Not when the dungeons were full of other magic folk.
She sat up, kicking off the covers, and that was when she saw him. Alex. The King of Gaule was asleep in a chair next to her. He had his feet propped up on the corner of the bed and his chin rested against his chest. His dark hair fell forward to cover his eyes. She had the sudden urge to brush it out of his face and that only angered her. She set her feet into the plush carpet and stood before crossing to the door as swiftly as she could. It was unlocked. She heaved a relieved breath and pulled the door open before slipping into the lit hall. The guard at the door didn’t move to stop her as she padded by on bare feet.
Farther along, the door to Alex’s rooms stood open and workmen came and went. She peered in noticing the mess immediately. With a minute shrug, she kept moving. She had to get as far as she could before they came after her.
What happened last night? She couldn’t remember how she got to the queen mother’s rooms. Had they drugged her?
None of the maids scurrying around stopped her. They stared and gave her a wide berth. She didn’t know what they knew or how she appeared to them, but she didn’t care. The only way she was going to get her people out of the dungeons was to get back there, preferably with help. She’d storm the place if need be.
Maiya and Pierre were somewhere in the outer castle. Would they help her after giving her up? She couldn’t trust them, but she didn’t trust anyone. Not anymore.
For a while, she’d trusted Alex. The boy she’d known. The king she’d served. But like father like son. Betrayal came easily to the Durands.
The thought raced through her mind. Not all of them. Tyson. She wished he and Edmund were there to help her. She reached the doors to the courtyard that stood open, the sun bathing her face in warmth. She sucked the fresh air into her lungs and her magic tingled in her fingertips. She wanted more than anything to get outside where she could unleash her power and feel whole again.
As she stepped out, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She spun, ready to fight, and came face to face with Simon. Her body relaxed.
“I thought you were going to drag me back there.”
His grip on her tightened.
“Simon,” she said slowly. “I have to get out of here.”
“How far do you think you could get?” His eyes bounced around wildly.
“Let me go.” She yanked her shoulder from his grip.
“Persinette, you look like you haven�
��t eaten in weeks. Your magic is out of practice. You’re alone. And…”
“What?”
His lip curved up. “You have no shoes.”
She eyed her feet and dropped her shoulders. “I have to help them.” Her sorry eyes locked on the man who was supposed to be her ally. “You didn’t have to sit there night after night listening to their moans… their screams. I thought I’d go mad.”
He put a hand on her back and guided her away from the door where a steady stream of soldiers could hear them. He dropped his voice. “The king is going to help them.”
“Let me tell you something about the Durands. They’re liars. They want nothing more than the destruction of magic. We’re descendants of Bela. They’d murder every one of us if they could.”
“You don’t know what has been happening around here while you were—”
“A prisoner?”
He scowled. “Not everything is simple.”
She sighed. “You’re right. I wouldn’t get far tonight.” Not with the blasted curse holding her back. “But tell me this. When the time comes, will you choose Alex or does your loyalty lay with me?”
He dipped his head to meet her eyes. “You are the last remaining Basile. You are meant to save us. My allegiance is forever with you, my queen.”
She nodded and squeezed his arm as she walked back the way she’d come.
Alex was no longer in his mother’s rooms, but two maids awaited her there. They smiled hesitantly.
“Queen Catrine thought you might enjoy a bath,” the one on the right said.
“The tub is full,” the other chimed in. “The queen mother’s own lye is in there for your use.”
Simon dipped his head before following the two maids out.
Etta removed her crusty clothing and examined every inch of skin. Not a single mark. As she sank into the tub, it all began to come back to her in flashes.
Geoff, the guard who’d been brutalizing her for weeks, with his hands on her. She scrubbed as hard as she could. She could feel his touch and no amount of healing took that away. Her skin turned red as she continued to rub it raw.
He’d closed his hands around her neck with such a look of pleasure on his face. She brought her hands up to her neck, finding it hard to breathe. Her chest heaved. She sucked in a long breath before sinking beneath the water. All sound ceased almost as if Edmund was there using his magic.
