Glass Princess

by M. Lynn

  But he couldn’t take it. Her arms weren’t Len’s. He shrugged out of her hold as Kassander appeared in the doorway. “Where’s Len?”

  Suddenly, Dell hated Helena. She’d left him to tell her brother he too wasn’t needed. That the fight belonging to both Rhodipus children would only be fought by one.

  He put a hand on Kassander’s shoulder, resentment curling in his gut. “She left, buddy. And I don’t think she plans on coming back.” He walked into the house and dropped onto the couch. Putting his head in his hands, he let anger overwhelm him. Around him, people spoke. Etta comforted Kass. Alex welcomed Mari and Corban when they showed up at the door.

  It all blurred together in Dell’s mind until Kassander sat beside him. “Are we going after her?”

  Those words were like a bucket of ice being dumped over his head, waking him from the nightmare he was living in. There was something he could do. He didn’t have to just sit in Bela and wait for news of her fate.

  Helena may not have wanted him there with her, but it was time she realized she didn’t make decisions for him.

  He lifted his eyes, seeing the prince as he truly was for the first time. They’d treated Kass as a child, too innocent and too young to be part of this fight.

  But he’d lost his innocence the day they murdered his family. Youth was a luxury he no longer had. And he looked… ready? Dell shook his head, not knowing if that was the right word. He had a stubborn bravery Dell admired.

  “Yeah, Kass. We’re going after her.”

  All chatter in the room stopped as his words wrapped around them. Mari came to sit beside him, the closest thing to a mother he’d had in years. Along with Corban, she’d tended Dell’s physical wounds for years. Now, she tried to soothe his emotional ones as well. She squeezed his hand as if comforting a child. “Dell… you can’t return to Madra. Helena has made her choice and I wish it were different, but I don’t want that danger for you.”

  “You don’t understand.” He shook his head. “I have to… I…” He leaned in to Mari, letting her wrap an arm around his shoulders. “I would walk through fire for that girl… I’d face La Dame herself. The only risk that matters is losing her.”

  Alex broke the tension with a chuckle, surprising all of them. “Well, being that I did ride to face La Dame because I was in love… I’m probably the only one here who understands.”

  Tyson’s tired voice came from the doorway. “Please, Alex. You didn’t even have to enter Dracon until the fighting was done. Etta was the only one of us who faced La Dame.”

  Alex took a plate of fresh fruit from the kitchen and set it on the table. “But I still gathered an army and rode to Dracon ready to fight. I could say it was some noble reason like wanting to help the people of Bela. But Etta was there, and I’d have done anything to protect her.”

  Etta grunted. “You boys need to realize we don’t need you to protect us, only fight beside us.” She snagged a piece of bacon from the tray Alex had grabbed. After taking a bite, she pinned Dell with a look. “Okay, everyone. Family meeting. Right now.”

  Tyson grumbled something under his breath as he plopped down into a chair near the fire.

  Mari moved to get up, but Etta held out a hand. “Stay. You’re family now. Someone wake Landon.”

  Mari gave Corban a push, and the boy ran out to the barn, returning a few minutes later with a half-awake Madran general.

  Someone was missing. “Where’s Edmund?” Dell met Etta’s gaze. Her eyes gave him the answer he needed.

  She’d taken Edmund and left Dell behind. Perfect.

  “Dell.” His name was a sigh on her lips. She didn’t know what to say to him.

  Tyson drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. “I don’t understand. Where is he? Where’s Edmund?”

  “He’s on a ship headed to Bela with Helena.” Alex was the only one who seemed to be able to voice the words.

  Tyson shot up to his feet. “What the hell? Why was Helena allowed to leave for Madra? Why wasn’t I asked to go? I know I told her I couldn’t… but that was before we lost her brother.”

  Dell had those same questions.

  Alex scratched his jaw in confusion. “Why would she ask you when she didn’t even let Dell go?”

  Tyson crossed his arms. “Not Helena. Edmund. I go where he goes. He already left for Madra once over a year ago and you just let him go again? What if this time he doesn’t return?”

  “Ty…” Etta said it like he was a child.

  But Dell knew Tyson had a point.

  “He’s my best friend, Etta.” He sank back into his chair.

  Dell looked to each of them, realizing he wasn’t the only one with something to lose.

  Etta slammed a fist into the table behind them, the crack echoing around the room. “Everyone sit.”

  Alex and Landon had been the only people still standing, so they pulled chairs over from the table and obeyed.

  Etta crossed the room to stand in front of them, the flames from the fireplace at her back. “This isn’t easy on any of us, and we won’t get anywhere if we’re arguing at every turn.” She faced her brother. “Tyson, your behavior has been unacceptable. I won’t let Amalie Leroy turn you into a simpering fool. So, get it together or you won’t be a part of this at all. I know you love Edmund. I love him too. Alex loves him. Hell, everyone who has ever met that blasted idiot loves him. But he loves Helena.” Matteo interrupted her by walking through the door. He took in her expression and hurried to pull over a chair.

  Breathing out slowly, she spared a glance for her cousin. “And Edmund loved Estevan Rhodipus. He had to go. They both did. I wasn’t going to stop them. We can worry about them, but we can’t let it tear us apart.”

  “How are they getting to Madra?” Dell asked. “I thought they’d closed their port to all foreign ships.”

  “They aren’t on a foreign ship.”

  Dell scrunched his brow. They all knew official Madran vessels had stopped coming to Bela over the past few weeks.

  Etta straightened her posture as if preparing herself. “They’re on a mercenary ship.”

  Protests erupted throughout the room. The mercenaries had fought for La Dame. No one was more hated in Bela. Not even Draconians for they had been forced to do her bidding. The mercenaries did it for gold.

  Etta held up a hand, and to their credit, everyone quieted. “It is done. There’s nothing more we can do but wait for news.”

  Dell couldn’t believe her. Or any of the rest of them for that matter. The anger he’d felt toward Helena simmered over, finding a new direction. She really hadn’t had a choice. If she’d asked the Belaens, they’d have said no. Unlike him.

  His anger was just about to spill from his mouth, but before he had a chance to speak, Kassander jumped to his feet. “We can’t just sit here.” Tears dampened his face, and he didn’t bother to wipe them away. The boy wasn’t ashamed of his emotions. “Lenny is going to Madra where Cole…” A sob shook his chest, but he tightened his jaw and lifted his chin. “We should be with her.”

  “Kassander.” Etta reached to draw him to her, but he twisted out of her grasp.

  “No!” His scream stunned them all into silence. “No.” The look he sent her could have cut glass. “You’re a coward, Persinette Basile.”

  No one spoke as the meaning struck them. Kassander didn’t back down. He stared at the magic queen who’d once fought La Dame—and won—as if she were nothing.

  Dell looped an arm around Kassander’s waist and pulled him back into his lap. The boy’s entire body shook.

  Breaking the silence, Dell spoke. “This isn’t only Helena’s problem. Madra is closing itself off, insulating themselves from the rest of the world. With Cole Rhodipus in power, you can no longer draw on them as an ally.”

  “We survived without them before.” Etta’s words didn’t have the confidence they’d once had.

  He could recognize when it was time to stop fighting. He breathed in slowly, tightening his grip on
Kass. “You’ve made your stance on the issue clear. You may not consider Madra your problem, but as long as Helena is there, it is mine and Kassander’s, and I intend to go after her.”

  “So do I,” Kassander said.

  Dell nodded. “I’m taking the kid. He deserves to be part of this.”

  Tyson lifted his eyes, but the only person he seemed to see was his brother. “Alex…” Pain threaded through his voice. He scrubbed a hand across his face. “We can’t let them have her.”

  Dell had been wrong. Tyson and Alex had just as much to fight for in Madra as he had. Their sister was trapped within the castle walls, betrothed to the man who’d killed his own family to take the crown.

  Alex didn’t respond as he busied himself cleaning up from a meal they didn’t eat.

  “She’s our sister.”

  A clang came from Alex’s direction as a heavy cast-iron pot hit the ground. “Dammit,” Alex growled. He didn’t bother picking it up as he straightened.

  Etta had gone pale as she watched her husband.

  Tyson stood and closed the distance between him and his brother. He put a hand on each arm and met his dark eyes. “It doesn’t matter how we feel about her or what she’s done, Alex. Camille is family, and we don’t abandon family.”

  “Edmund is family too,” Etta whispered. She closed her eyes, one tear squeezing through. A breath shuddered out of her. “I can’t believe I was going to abandon him to his interests in Madra.”

  Alex rushed to pull her into his arms. “You were thinking of your people.”

  She clung to him. “Sometimes I get so caught up in being the queen, I forget to be me.”

  Matteo, who’d been quiet, leaned forward. “Etta.”

  She pulled away from Alex to face her cousin.

  “It’s okay.”

  As if his permission lifted a weight from her shoulders, she straightened and crossed to stand in front of Kassander and Dell. Leaning down to meet the boy’s eyes, she smiled. “Thank you for reminding me who I am, young prince. I’ve been so worried about keeping Bela safe, I’ve forgotten about the rest of the world.”

  She straightened and walked to Tyson, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “I love you, you know that?”

  “Even if I’m a simpering fool?” The sound that left his throat was half laugh and half sob.

  She pulled back. “Even if you’re making me go help Camille.” She scrunched up her face in distaste.

  Alex laughed, the tension leaving the room. “No one said you had to like your family.”

  Landon stood. Dell had almost forgotten his silent presence. “We have preparations to make.”

  “Yes.” Etta clapped her hands together, reverting to queen mode. “There aren’t any more Madran vessels in port, but I have a few Belaen captains I can question about passage. We’ll need horses since they won’t allow a Belaen ship into the city. So much to do.”

  As she issued orders, Dell lifted Kassander off his lap and strode out the front door. Preparing horses would take his mind off the emotions swirling inside him.

  He’d go to Madra. He’d fight his brothers and even the king. But what then? Helena hadn’t trusted him. She’d forced circumstances on him when his place was with her.

  Dell had grown up in a lonely household, but he’d never experienced true loneliness until that moment. Even surrounded by people who cared for him for the first time in his life, something he hadn’t known he needed was missing.

  And he didn’t know if he’d ever get it back.

  But what did it matter to him, anyway? He may not make it through this. But Helena… she would. He knew it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Helena watched Madra draw near with dread clenching her stomach. She was home.

  The noon sun hung above them as sailors took up their oars and the sails lowered. The once busy port of Madra now seemed… abandoned. It wasn’t a sight she’d ever thought to see. With no foreign vessels coming in and no Madran trading ships allowed to leave carrying goods, a sad aura sat over the place.

  They reached the river bordering the city in the early morning and left the expansive sea behind. Any chance of turning back was gone now.

  Who was Helena kidding? It had been gone since she boarded the mercenary ship.

  She’d spent a long couple of days among the gruff men and women aboard, their suspicious looks needling her skin everywhere she went. Mercenaries didn’t trust foreigners like Edmund, but then, who did? As time marched on, each one of the six kingdoms isolated themselves. Bela refused to help others reach the peace they enjoyed. Gaule was too embroiled in their own civil wars. Dracon no longer had high walls protecting them, but the battle scars didn’t go away.

  Cana and Andes were both too dangerous for anyone to venture.

  What did that leave them with? A broken world.

  She didn’t hate Etta for her decision. Even Queen Catrine of Gaule she understood. They had done what was necessary for their people. Now it was her turn.

  But could she do it? Could she kill her own brother if it came to that?

  A hand covered hers on the rail. She didn’t turn, but leaned into Edmund. Every time she’d caught sight of him over the last two days, she was thankful he was there. She’d explained everything Will had told her and shouldn’t have been surprised that he already knew of the rebel hideout. He knew of many within the network of people wanting to take their kingdom back.

  And she’d thought of Dell. Did he hate her for leaving him behind? Probably. Would she do it again? Yes. It didn’t matter how he felt about her as long as he was safe from her brother. Cole wouldn’t take another person Helena loved.

  Edmund rested his chin on Helena’s head. “It looks the same.”

  Helena snorted. Edmund was just trying to make her feel better. This wasn’t the same port she’d left behind.

  A few ships bobbed in the water, knocking against the wooden planks. A handful of people walked the boardwalk going about their various tasks.

  “What happens next, Len?” Edmund’s sigh rustled her hair. “Now that we’re here. I know you want to follow Will’s instructions, but that won’t get you close to Cole.”

  She had a plan, but she still felt lost. She had to get to Quinn as quickly as she could. Whatever happened, she just needed to see he was all right. Will told her to go straight to the safe house, but now, she knew she couldn’t risk it. If word of her presence in Madra reached the palace before she did, she’d lose the upper hand.

  She didn’t have an army to challenge Cole with or even the skill to battle him. But she did have his affections. If anything had been true in her life, it was how each of her brothers had always loved her. Each in their own ways. Stev protected her, shielding her from anything that could hurt her–including their father. Kassander looked up to her as if she were the best part of his life. Quinn respected her, trusted her. He was the one who went along with any crazy idea she’d ever had. But Cole? How had he loved her?

  With everything he’d had.

  His love had never been easy, but it was always powerful.

  And he’d let Edmund and Dell go because of it. Cole already had Estevan in his power. He hadn’t needed to bargain with Stev for their lives. But then she’d been hurt. The pain she’d seen in his eyes had been real.

  Helena steeled herself for the words she had to say. She slid her arm around Edmund’s waist, knowing he wouldn’t like the plan forming in her mind. “I’m going to walk up to the palace gates and demand entrance.”

  Edmund reeled back. “Len…”

  “I can’t be seen before approaching them. If I am arrested and arrive a prisoner, it’s over.”

  “You’ll be a prisoner as soon as you set foot on the property.”

  She shook her head. “Cole won’t hurt me.” She lifted her gaze to Edmund, needing to know the thoughts causing his eyes to darken.

  “You can’t know that. He killed Stev.”

  She shook her head. “No. Stev die
d of sickness in his cell. All indications were that Cole would execute Stev, but he couldn’t go through with it. He never had much love for our oldest brother. But me? This might be our only chance to take him down. Even if he won’t hurt me… it doesn’t mean I won’t hurt him.”

  Edmund’s grip on her tightened. “For Estevan.”

  Helena nodded. “For my parents.” Her mother’s face flashed in her mind. “And Edmund…” She sucked in a breath. “I have to do this alone.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but she clapped her free hand against it. “Don’t argue. Cole might not kill me, but you don’t have a chance with him.”

  Edmund sighed, brushing a hand over her hair. “Okay, but I won’t sit idly by while you save Madra. That’s not why I came. You need a backup plan. I still have my network in the city. I’ll reach out to my people. You have two days. If I don’t receive a message that you’re okay, we’re coming for you.”

  She nodded, some of the tension leaving her. “I was hoping you’d say something like that.” She closed her eyes, leaning against him for support. “I’m scared.” The words were only a whisper, but when she opened her eyes, it was clear Edmund had heard them.

  He lifted his gaze to the nearing city. “Me too.”

  Ezio skidded to a halt as he found them, intruding on their last moments of peace. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair before rubbing his tattooed neck. “Captain wants you two below deck.”

  Helena released Edmund and turned to scan her eyes over the young man. He’d been one of the few mercenaries to talk to them on the journey to Madra. Maybe it was his youth or just some sense of innocence, but Helena had grown to like him… despite everything screaming at her not to trust the fighters for hire.

  When you fight for nothing, you’re bound to no ideals, no kingdom. They may have lived in the mountains of Madra, but they were not Madrans.

  Ezio shifted from foot to foot. When neither Helena nor Edmund responded to him, he flicked his eyes to the galley door behind him. “Ummm… I need you to come. Please? Captain doesn’t want you seen until nightfall.”