Delusions of Loyalty (The Braykith Series Book 2)

by Jennifer R. Kenny

  “You said so yourself, son, that Barrett is hurting from the sudden passing of his wife. We will not send for rescue. It would be cruel to take the last piece of his family right at this moment.” Quintus made the final ruling, and Glais bowed, meaning to take his leave.

  Quintus spoke his son’s name, his voice kinder then moments ago and stopped Glais where he was. “I am putting Baxter in charge of all further discussions with Crimah.” Glais tried to object but was silenced quickly. “You need to rest, and you bend too quickly to a weak woman’s will. You have run off after Evangeline and her foolish heart for far too long and it is time you get in control of your marriage. It has almost been a year since your wedding.”

  Glais was stunned by the confrontation that should have felt like fatherly advice. “Evangeline is very spirited.” Glais tried to defend her, but Quintus had apparently made decisions while Glais was gone.

  “Eva was supposed to save us Glais. She is your property, and yet she is free to roam the castle, visit whomever she likes and do not lie to me.” Quintus intercepted any defence Glais might offer him. “and say she commits to her wifely duties.” Quintus approached his son, and to his credit, Glais did not back away from the imposing man. While there were some people, like Barret, who used their size to emphasise their power, there was a spiritual fear instilled within Glais when faced with his father’s wrath that had nothing to do with his height.

  “Things are progressing,” Glais said although his hung his head because the words sounded weak. No man would be convinced, let alone his father.

  “Not fast enough. Evangeline was chosen for her blood Glais, and at your mothers’ insistence. Our kingdom has survived for many years without upsetting the curse. It may not be perfect, but it has helped us remain in power. Evangeline is replaceable.” Quintus warned Glais, and Glais nodded. Quintus was not sure how serious Glais took the warning, but the King hoped it had an impact.

  Quintus sighed and put a hand on Glais’ shoulder. “I like Evangeline. Do not take my advice as hate. She seems like a sweet, but impulsive, girl. You are her husband, and you must take command of her wild spirit. I will not sacrifice this land and all that our family had built for her. Or any girl.”

  Unable to speak, since all Quintus had said was true, Glais turned and walked back out of his fathers’ study. Running a hand back through his hair he had nowhere to go except to his own chambers. He hoped that Evangeline would accept him, and even that thought was enough to make Glais feel guilty.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Evangeline had stayed in the bath for a long time. Wick had been working on her hair, brushing out the tangles and always staying silent. For once, Evangeline had not been bothered to talk much. Following her talk with Thomas, all she could do was witness her thoughts chasing each other through her mind. So much had happened in such a short span of time and yet there was an only conclusion that consistently showed up. Evangeline did not like it, but she needed to admit it was true.

  Her mother had lived an intense life. For as long as Evangeline could remember, she had admired her mother. Thea had handled Barret with grace and understanding. As much as people assumed that the Lady of Crimah was under Barret’s thumb, she was more outspoken than people realised. She had twisted her way into her Barret’s heart because she wanted it, and when she failed to give him a child, Thea had taken it upon herself to rectify that. Thea was not waiting for answers or privileges. She walked out into the world and found them.

  Evangeline thought back over her youth and realising how much of a sacrifice her mother had made just to have Evangeline. Of course, Darius had come to the pair naturally, as far as Evangeline was able to tell, but the wedge that Evangeline had put between her parents was done and could not be rectified. That separation from Barret had hurt Thea, and yet in her desperation, it had seemed worth it.

  When compared with her own trials it seemed almost childish how Evangeline was handling her own fate. Evangeline felt that Thea would be disappointed in her daughter if she had known that Evangeline was restricting Glais from his right as her husband. Evangeline was still considering this when Wick helped her from the bath and dressed her in a robe. Wick brushed her hair but left it to dry naturally down her back before Wick was dismissed.

  Evangeline pulled her hair forward over her shoulder, playing with the ends without seeing them. She wished her mother was here. Evangeline had been so thrown by Barret’s confrontation during their visit to Braykith for her wedding that Evangeline had barely spoken to Thea. She wondered what advice she would have for her daughter now, and Evangeline would be able to perform to her mother’s instructions. Thea would not approve of how Evangeline was treating her husband, and denying him the thing he wanted most.

  As it often happened when she thought of Glais, Evangeline’s mind was plagued with memories of Thomas. He had unfairly wormed his way into her heart, and he had no right to be there. Yet Evangeline did not dismiss him. It was completely selfish, and she knew it, but she never could summon the strength needed to make their separation permanent. He deserved better. Evangeline bowed her head. Her mother would have been so disappointed in her daughter’s choices.

  Evangeline closed her eyes, but the world felt like it was spinning and she was forced to open them again. Stepping out of her bedroom she gasped to see Thomas waiting for her. “You shouldn’t be here. What if Glais should return and see you?”

  Thomas nodded. “I thought of that, but I could not leave you like this.” Evangeline smiled, and that was all the permission he needed. He went to her quickly, gently cradling her face with his hand. “I had never seen such a look in a woman’s face before.” He whispered, his thumb sliding back and forth over her cheek. “How are you?”

  “Too much has happened.” Evangeline’s hand went to his wrist, but she did not stop him. She knew this was dangerous, but she could not send Thomas away. “You are too sweet for this,” Evangeline said, and gently pulled away from him. He let her, but he did not leave. “My mother passed away, and I will never be able to speak to her about everything.” Somehow the circumstances of her mother’s death were the least painful part of her trip home and the easiest to admit out loud.

  “I am so sorry Eva.”

  Evangeline nodded. “Her death has forced me to think about many things, mostly the sacrifices she was willing to make regarding Barret, or perhaps because of him.” She paused, regaining control over her voice as it threatened to break. “Choices need to be made Thomas, and like my mother, I will do what is required.”

  Thomas watched her, saw the way her hands trembled as she spoke but knew that Evangeline did not need his comfort. Instead, she needed his ear. “Eva, what does this mean?”

  Evangeline took a deep breath. “It means I must come to tolerate my husband and be open to the possibility of what he offers me. I must bear his child, and I must care for this Kingdom with the same devotion my mother showed for Crimah.”

  “That does not mean losing yourself to Braykith.” Thomas struggled between his love for the crown and his love for Evangeline. “A life without love is barely a life at all.”

  Evangeline sighed and shook her head. “My marriage was never one for love.” She reminded him.

  “And what about the love you chose for yourself?” Thomas did not want to make demands, but he could not just stand by and allow Evangeline to leave him like this. “What about this love for you that I have? Am I supposed to ignore it?”

  “Thomas, please.” Evangeline turned away from him to hide the colour that flushed her cheeks. “Please, you knew what this was.”

  “Your mother would never have found fault in your before, but this is madness.” Thomas turned sharply as the door opened. Glais stood in the doorway, and instantly Thomas arranged himself into a bow. It would be rude not to address Glais correctly within his own rooms even when Thomas had just confessed to loving his wife.

  Glais paused at the doorway, taking his time to close the door. Evangeline had
not moved, and Thomas stayed in the position of his station, but it gave him no ease to see them together. “Am I interrupting?” Glais asked even though the question was a dead one. It was evident by the tension that he was intruding on some exchange between them, but he was at a loss to guess what it was about.

  “Thomas was leaving,” Evangeline said. Thomas stood, looking intently to Evangeline. He silently begged her not to end this conversation like this, and yet she would not budge and he was powerless to force her to do anything. Studiously she ignored him, pressing her palms together as the silence drifted between them. Evangeline was a master of controlling silence, and no one was close to handling her determination on that skill. Thomas would not start to challenge her now.

  “My grace.” Thomas excused himself, making a wide edge around Glais and exiting through the doors.

  Glais watched Thomas leave and rose an eyebrow to Evangeline. She did not volunteer information, and Glais did want to force it from her. “Am I allowed to ask you what that was about?” He was hopeful that she would give him an answer, and Glais could not believe his luck when she did.

  “I have had a lot of time to consider some things.” Evangeline sighed softly because it seemed so natural when she said it like that, but still being alone in this room with Glais made her nervous. She was never sure how he would react to anything, even if she deemed it to be good news. “And there are some distractions I cannot afford to have any longer.”

  Glais nodded. “Is Thomas the distraction, or am I?”

  Evangeline looked down at her pressed hands and shrugged. “I believe you both are, and I am not being fair to either of you by being distracted by the other.” She looked up to see him watching her. “Seeing Barret like that, and more importantly, Glais seeing what you are capable of has made me consider things differently.” She shrugged and brushed it away, not sure if she could be more elaborate than that with Glais. “I will never love you Glais, but that shouldn’t stop me from being your wife.”

  Glais froze, and it seemed like the world had shifted off balance as his heart seemed to stop in his chest. “Evangeline, perhaps you should sleep.”

  She shook her head. “No, I am fine, and we need this discussion.”

  “Did my father speak with you?” Glais asked, “or my brother?”

  Evangeline frowned. “No. As soon as we reached the castle, I went to have a bath.” She told him. “I haven’t seen anyone except Wick and Thomas.”

  “But the…” Glais could think of a hundred small moments in the past few days that had made him believe they were past all of this. For every smile, it seemed he was slapped. Every step forward only lead to two steps back. Glais felt dejected, and he could not help it when his body betrayed him. It was only for a moment where his shoulders slumped, and his eyes scanned the room for help although he did not know where it could from. Evangeline seemed moved to approach him, but Glais stopped her with a simple hand gesture. He did not want her pity. “You kissed me. At the church” He told her. “You wanted me to kiss you again when we sat by the fire.”

  “Glais, whatever you imagined in that kiss was not love,” Evangeline told him.

  “You may not want to admit it, but it is true.” Glais countered her quickly but Evangeline gave him a stern look, and Glais felt his argument falter before he could find the words.

  “You said it yourself Glais. You are not the man I chose, but you are the one I am stuck with. I have been selfish to you and your family. It was terrible of me, and I want to make it up to you.” Evangeline reached for the tie around her waist, but Glais flattened her own hand against her stomach to stop her.

  “Evangeline, those things I said were in anger.” Glais looked into her eyes, trying to find something to give him hope but she was resigned to this listless fate. “You must truly think nothing of me if you believe you can lose your clothes and that is all I need to convince me.”

  Evangeline blushed, now gripping her robe closed even though Glais had not removed his hand regardless. “How can I convince you?”

  Glais was surprised by the question and saddened to see how far they had come when it seemed only hours ago they had been sleeping in her childhood bed with no barriers between them. “Stop thinking in ultimatums,” Glais said. “This belief you hold that it is now or never is ruining us, and I know there is something to nurture here.”

  Evangeline did not share the view, but she nodded as if it was something she could do. She felt Glais relax, and she did her best not to feel revolted when she caught the copper scent of someone’s blood on his breath. “I should dress.” She stepped back and Glais let her.

  He nodded and didn’t try to stop her. However, he could not feel confident that he had achieved anything. His father had told him to get in control of Evangeline, but he had no desire to bend her to his will. He wanted to work with her, to have a relationship that mimicked his own parent’s devotion to each other. He doubted for the first time if he would ever be able to do such things. Glais paused and looked down at himself.

  Blood showed on his clothes, and he remembered the victory he felt over Barret in the woods. It was not often he was given the opportunity to rampage with the curse as his guide. It was not a good idea to encourage such a thing, or so his father had told him when he was just a child. Glais agreed with the statement now because hunting with the curse was a pleasure that had shook him to the core. Glais would never be the same. Evangeline had seen what he really was, deep under his layers, and she was rightfully afraid and disgusted. It was how Glais felt about himself.

  It was only after he was forced to recognise the world once more for what it was, that Glais felt the guilt. Evangeline’s voice had shattered any illusion he had of a joint conquest, and now he could barely look at her without remembering first the attack on her father and more importantly the attack on her. His fingers flexed with the memory of tightening on her thighs and drawing Evangeline’s defenceless body back against him with inhuman desires.

  Glais rubbing his hands together, trying to rid them of the memory but it did not work. Instead, his memory rejected one woman for another. Evangeline had been lucky to escape the fate he had forced upon Victoria. While some may argue that it was her job and that she understood the consequences before their meeting, Glais was still troubled with what had come to pass between them.

  He had hurt her. He would not recognise it then, but he could now. He had taken her without permission, and he did not care if she found pleasure in their meeting. Glais could not recall if she had ever responded positively to him at all. Victoria was open to his advances, and Glais wanted to believe that she had somehow enjoyed herself, but the act was lost to him. In his own memory, he felt only the guilt that haunted him now.

  Thinking back, Glais could not name a single partner who seemed to have enjoyed him, and Glais had never experienced sex without the curse injected into every occasion. He had never made love to a woman. The thought was jarring and sat quietly in his heart as he searched for a single name which proved this heartbreak false. There was none. Glais had it all, and he survived the curse with as much grace as he could manage, but inside he was a damaged beyond help.

  He sighed and forced such things from his focus. Glais coughed into his hand, trying to ease the tension in his shoulders as he thought of Evangeline. She had been a mistake. He had been admitting for months now that their entire relationship had been poorly handled, and while accepting that responsibility, Glais felt he had failed once more in her eyes. All he had ever wanted was for Evangeline to be safe and well, and now it seemed that there was no such place existed.

  Glais looked to the window, not seeing the greenery she had brought but remembered the barren landscapes Evangeline had reshaped just by being here. Could he still be a good king if he forced her to leave? She was good for this place, and Glais used the changing nature of the castle as proof of this, but would the castle life be good for her? Even if he could, was there a safe place for Evangeline to go? C
rimah was not an option, and the land was full of rebel spies.

  He smiled, a stiff and condescending gesture as Glais entertained the idea of packing her things and sending her away to live with Thomas. Glais was bitter, but he could do if it meant that Evangeline would be safe. Before he could ever entertain the idea further, he knew it could never come to pass. Evangeline simply knew too much. His father would never give his blessing to such a plan. So much had been done just on the promise of her arrival. Without Evangeline, here in Braykith, there would be no heir, and so Braykith would eventually tumble into an uncontrollable bloodbath.

  He turned away from the view, saddened but also glad that Evangeline would remain. Their relationship would continue, even if she grew to tire of him. Glais would forever be haunted by her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Sable smiled as she saw Evangeline approach. While they had not been planning to meet, Sable was getting better at knowing when it can be expected to see the future Queen out in the markets. Evangeline usually felt the need to leave the confines of the castle every few days however since her return from Crimah, Sable had noticed that she did not keep to her usual schedule. So, Sable had been wandering around with no destination in mind. She would just continue keeping up with the flow of foot traffic until Evangeline would notice her.

  “I had wondered what had happened to you,” Sable said, Evangeline hiding her face behind a hand. She had been careful; not to leave her rooms often until the worse of her bruises and cuts had healed. Even though she had been told many times that her bruises had cleared up quite quickly, Evangeline was still very self-conscious of it. “Are you alright?” Sable asked.

  “I will be all right,” Evangeline promised her friend. She moved her basket to her other arm so she could walk beside Sable. She was dressed as simply as her wardrobe would allow, but Evangeline was still recognised as a woman of wealth. The differences only seemed more obvious to her when she walked so close to Sable. It appeared that Sable had very limited clothing options. Evangeline knew no limits to her wardrobe.