“Not afraid of a little water, are you?” Rushton gave him a teasing smile. “Do not fret, for there are no giants in there, ‘tis but water.”
Jack smirked. “Laugh if you will, pheasant brain, but I do not see you going in there.” He made a flourish with his hand. “I will go after you.”
“So be it.” He dove in headfirst.
Jack cursed. He didn’t let out a breath until he saw Rushton’s head surface.
“Come,” Rushton yelled impatiently.
“Hold on, ye smelly goat, I am coming! Bless me.” Jack looked at the sky while making a crossing motion over his chest. He took a deep breath, pinched his nose, and plunged in. The water felt like ice. He kept his eyes closed while fighting his way to the surface. It seemed to take forever to get to the top, and he felt like his lungs would burst before he could get there. When his head broke through the water, he took in a big gulp of air and then inadvertently swallowed water. He began coughing and beating against the water. To his horror, he began to sink. “Help me,” he squeaked, straining to keep his mouth above water. “Help!” He went down.
Not a moment too soon, Rushton grabbed him. Jack threw his arms around his neck and held on for dear life.
Rushton started to sink. “You’re choking me!” He tried to extricate himself from Jack’s grip. “Let go or you will drown us both!”
“I cannot,” he wailed, holding on tighter. “I cannot swim!”
“I noticed,” Rushton said dryly. “When we get back on dry land, I am going to beat the fool out of you for not telling me that you cannot swim! But right now—” The words got cut off in his attempt to keep from being pushed under. “Calm down, for the love of the king! I am going to turn you around so I can swim and get us to the cave. I will not let go of thee. You have my word.” He made a motion to remove Jack’s hands.
“Nay!” Jack struggled against Rushton with all the strength he had left. Rushton was talking to him, but the words seemed to be coming at him from a long distance away. All he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears. The water tightening around him was a cold mouth, sucking him to the bottom. The death that awaited him was inescapable.
The punch came so swiftly that he didn’t know which came first: the loud pop or the searing pain radiating through his jawbone. He thought he saw stars falling from the sky. “Father,” he said, “is that you? Father,” he sighed, and then went limp.
* * *
“Where am I?” Jack sat up, dazed. “Am I dead?”
“Unfortunately not,” Rushton said.
Jack rubbed a hand across his jaw. “Ouch! That hurts! Was hitting me really necessary?”
“You are lucky that is the worst you got, you scum-sucking swine. You nearly killed us out there!”
“Well, that makes us even because ye nearly killed me earlier today.”
“Why did you not tell me you couldn’t swim?”
Jack shrugged. “Ye never asked.” He stood and looked around the cave. From what he could tell, it was one large room with the only entrance being the opening behind the waterfall. He took a whiff of the stale air and looked at the walls that were wet and slimy. A likely place to die. He wondered how many other creatures had died in this very cave. If he looked close enough, he was sure to see bones heaped in the corner. He cocked his head, listening. For all he knew there could be something alive in the cave—a thought that was more terrifying than dead things. The impulse to flee was overwhelming, but the only way out of this wretched death chamber was through the water. He felt his throat close. He couldn’t endure that again! Do not think about it, he told himself. One single step at a time. He hugged his arms and fought off a shiver. “Where is the gold?”
Rushton blew out a breath. He wanted nothing more than to wring Jack’s skinny neck, but fighting him was useless. It was getting dark, and Erik was on the loose. He could be out there, waiting to ambush them after they got the gold. “There.” He walked toward the large stone in the darkest corner of the cave. “‘Tis under here.”
“Marvelous!” Jack let out an incredulous laugh. “I will step right up and move it with my wee finger.”
“Thy wise cracks are not helping.”
“Oh, and I suppose that ye know of a way to move the stone? Ten of the king’s strongest men couldn’t budge it, and ye think the two of us can? I know ye think ye are invincible, but in case ye have not noticed, we no longer have any of thy mother’s strong-man potion.”
Rushton looked around. “We left it somewhere …” He began walking to the other side of the cave.
“What are ye doing? Have ye gone completely mad?”
He leaned over. “Right where we left it. Shut thy mouth, fool, and come over here and help me.” With some effort, he lifted one end of a log.
Jack hurried over and lifted the other end.
“This is what we used to pry the stone away before.”
They took the log over to the stone and wedged one end underneath it. “You push the stone while I work the log. On the count of three, push with all of thy might.” Jack nodded. “One … two … three!”
The heavy stone didn’t budge.
“Again!” Rushton yelled.
On their second attempt, the stone moved slightly. Both of them were sweating despite the fact that they were wet and cold.
“Again!”
This time, the stone moved enough to reveal the edge of a black bag made of cloth. Rushton strained with all of his might to keep the stone from rolling back. “Get the bag!” he yelled.
Jack let go of the stone, grabbed the bag, and pulled it out just as the heavy stone rolled back into place, cracking the log. Rushton leaned against the stone, gasping for breath. “Give me the bag,” he ordered as soon as he could speak.
Begrudgingly, Jack handed it over. “Remember, ye promised me three pieces of gold.”
“I remember.” He opened the bag, reached in, and pulled something out. “What treachery is this?” He reached for more. “All rocks!”
“We came all this way for rocks?”
Rushton threw the bag to the ground. “This is some foul trick!” He let out a humorless laugh. “We came all this way for rocks!” He kicked the stone and swore.
They heard movement behind them. “Looking for these?”
They turned to see Edward and his guards standing in the entrance of the cave. Edward was holding gold pieces in his hand.
Rushton’s eyes narrowed. “I should have known. Taking Cinderella was not enough. You had to come for the gold too.”
“Quite the contrary,” Edward said, his voice dangerously calm, “I came for you.”
Rushton had left his sword on the bank with his boots, but he had his dagger. Instinctively, he drew it out and crouched into striking position.
Edward laughed and motioned at Jack. “Do you really think that you and that skinny fleabag can take on me and all eight of my guards?”
“Skinny fleabag? A lovely description, your lordship. Glad to see ye find sport in mocking the poor peasant that has been chained in thy dungeon and fed a diet of mice droppings and rotten pork. That ye even noticed my lowly existence has given me hope for a brighter tomorrow. The clouds have parted, sending a ray of sunlight shining down on this poor, humble soul.”
Edward made a face. “Who is this idiot?”
Jack offered a low, exaggerated bow. “Jack Swift of Landerburg Township. Humble Jack Swift.”
“Sorry, never heard of you.” He turned his attention to Rushton. “Let us finish this.”
Rushton scoffed. “You arrogant knave! You stand there with eight guards at thy back. Aye, you are quite the man, prince!”
“How dare you,” Edward seethed. “Men have died for less.”
“At least I will die a man, fighting my own battles.”
Edward threw down the gold and drew his sword. “I trusted you. You were like a brother to me.” A guard stepped forward, but Edward stopped him. “Nay, he is mine.”
The guard
looked confused. “My Lord, are ye certain? Ye have nothing to prove to this scoundrel. Ye are the crown prince. We have sworn to protect thee.”
“I am most certain!”
The guard leaned into Edward and spoke in low tones. “But his skill with the sword is legendary. Ye have nothing to prove.”
Edward’s face grew a shade darker. “Give him a sword,” he said through clenched teeth, his eyes never leaving Rushton’s face.
Rushton raised an eyebrow. “There might be a sliver of honor in thee after all, your highness.” The guard reluctantly handed him the sword. He sheathed his dagger and flashed a grim smile. “Like old times.”
“Nothing like old times,” Edward said flatly.
Rushton expertly cut the sword through the air several times to get a feel for it in his hand. “Just so I understand what is going on here … We fight, and when I win,” he paused long enough to note the fury in Edward’s eyes, “the guards will finish me off. Does that about sum it up?”
A thickset guard stepped forward. “How about I finish ye off right now.”
“Enough!” Edward held up his arm. “No one is to touch Rushton. Is that understood?”
Jack waved a hand. “Your majesty, kingly highness, sir, might I request that I be added under that command ye gave about not touching anyone—”
“Silence, fool!” Rushton yelled over his shoulder.
Still standing his ground, the guard stood, feet shoulder-width apart, glaring at Rushton. He looked like he might attack at any moment.
“I said, back down,” Edward hissed. “Clifton! ‘Tis an order.”
For a moment, the guard looked like he might defy Edward, but then his shoulders slumped, and he stepped back in line with the other guards. “Aye, your majesty.”
Rushton shook his head in disgust. “How quickly he obeys thine orders. Poor Edward, you will never know if it is the crown they respect or you.”
“You speak of that which you do not know,” Edward said indignantly.
“You are most correct. I do not know what it is like to be a prince. I have had to work hard and earn every privilege I have ever received, including the love of a woman who wanted me for me and not because I was some sanctimonious prince.”
A furious expression crossed Edward’s features. “You cast a love spell over her and you know it! She loves me!”
“Have you asked her?”
Hesitation crept into Edward’s eyes. “I do not need to ask her. She is going to marry me!”
“What choice did you give her?” Rushton cocked his head. “Let me see—death or marriage. Some choice, noble prince. You will go throughout your entire, miserable life not knowing for sure who thy true friends are. Oh, they will coddle thee, flatter thee, for you are the prince. They have to obey you … and so does she.”
Edward lunged at Rushton, but a lifetime of training took hold, and Rushton neatly sidestepped the assault. Both seasoned fighters, they knew this dance well. They had trained side by side—had learned everything together.
“You have never been my friend!” Edward said. “I hate you for what you have done to her … to me.”
“That first day you saw her ... at the Parade of Maidens. Did you ever stop and think why she was there? She was there because of me. That day in the marketplace, did you stop to consider why she was wearing a daisy in her hair?” His voice rose. “Did you question what that daisy meant?”
“I will not stand here and listen to these lies!” He raised his sword and struck, but Rushton blocked it and then went for a strike. They kept hitting back and forth, making loud clanking sounds that reverberated around the walls of the cave.
“She was on an errand for my mother that day in the marketplace. The first day I met her, I offered her a daisy as a peace offering. The daisy became a symbol of our love for one other.”
Edward smirked. “Or a symbol that she simply likes daisies.” They moved around the cave with whip-like speed, metal meeting metal, each of them trying to get the upper hand, trying to find the right moment to go in for the kill. “Put down thy sword. We need to talk.”
Rushton looked at him as if he’d grown another head. “You want me to put down my sword so you can run me through, is that it?”
“Nay, I want thee to put down thy sword, so we can talk! See, here. I will put mine down first.” He backed away from Rushton and put down his sword, raising both arms. “See, I am unarmed.”
Rushton eyed him for a moment, trying to determine if this were a trick. The guards seemed just as surprised by the strange turn of events.
“Kill him now,” Jack urged.
Rushton lowered his sword. “I am listening.”
“We will fight a fair fight, befitting of the squire you once were and the prince I am. If you win, I will let thee go.”
“You will let me go, just like that?”
“Aye. If you win, which I highly doubt.”
Rushton smirked. “And if you win?”
“You will tell me once and for all whether or not you cast a love spell over her.”
Rushton mulled this over. “If I tell thee that I did not cast a spell over her then you will have her killed.” His eyes went hard. “Sorry, prince. No deal. I will not be the cause of her death.” He lifted his sword.
“She will live regardless.”
“Live is a loose term. How will she live?”
“If she has broken the law then she will have to be punished. The law is the law.”
“You pompous coward. She has broken no law! ‘Tis not against the law to love! To choose one’s own path.”
“She made her choice when she accepted my hand in marriage,” Edward spat. “No one forced her into that.”
“There were elements at play which you know nothing about. Had Cinderella not thought me dead, she would never have accepted thy hand in marriage.”
Edward’s face paled. “I will hear no more of these lies!”
They eyed one other. “Fair enough, but I will not have her chained in the dungeon like an animal.” A crazed look came into his eyes. “I would rather see her dead!”
“She will not be chained.” Edward shook his head. “I would never put her in the dungeon. Wait, are you admitting that you did not cast a love spell over her?”
“Nay, I am simply weighing all of the options.” His voice became musing. “My mother’s spells are persuasive, persnickety little things. Once they take hold, a person loses all reason.”
“My neck can attest to that,” Jack piped in. “Ye should have seen him when he drank that potion. He had the strength of ten lions—”
“Silence, you babbling bag of puke! I will not tolerate another word from thee,” Edward roared, shocking Jack into silence.
“I will fight thee,” Rushton said, “but I do have one or two conditions.”
Edward chuckled and motioned at the guards. “While I admire thy courage, you are in no position to be handing out conditions.”
“As I said, always getting someone else to fight thy battles.”
“Name thy conditions!” Edward said through gritted teeth.
“If I win, I get my freedom … and the gold.”
Edward’s eyes went wide. “You really expect me to give thee the gold?”
“How badly do you want to know the truth? You have an entire treasury full of gold. All I am asking for is one small sack. You will never miss it. ”
Edward’s mouth started working. “Agreed.”
“Cinderella goes free—regardless of the outcome.”
Edward shook his head. “I cannot do that.”
“Cannot or will not? Do you really want to be shackled to a woman who doesn’t love thee?”
Blood rushed to Edward’s face. “Are you admitting—”
Rushton held up a hand. “I am speaking in generalities. If she doesn’t love thee. If.”
“Agreed,” Edward relented, “regardless of the outcome, she will be free to come and go as she pleases.”
; Rushton nodded. “Fair enough.”
One of the guards went to Edward’s side. “But sire, how do you know that ye can trust him?”
“The same way I know that I can trust him,” Rushton said.
A look passed between Edward and Rushton, each of them sizing the other up.
“Swear it!” Edward said.
“I swear.”
“He will live and die by his word,” Edward said, satisfied.
“One more thing,” Rushton said, jutting his thumb at Jack. “The scalawag goes with me.”
Edward chuckled. “You will not receive any objections from me on that accord. If I had to spend a day with him, I would slit his throat for sure.” He looked straight at Rushton. “Now, my conditions. If I win, you will tell me the truth about the love spell.”
Rushton nodded. “Agreed.”
“And I arrest thee and bring thee back to the castle where you will stand trial for thy treachery.”
Rushton let out a breath. “Agreed.”
“Furthermore, you will never attempt to so much as look at Cinderella ever again. You will stay away from her.”
Rushton rolled his eyes. “If you drag me back to the castle then I will surely be sentenced to death. Methinks thy last condition is null and void.”
“You must agree!” Edward persisted.
“Very well. I agree.”
Edward picked up his sword. “We fight!” He struck with all of his might, but Rushton blocked it. They met each other, blow for blow, until the tip of Edward’s sword cut through the tunic on Rushton’s midsection. Rushton jumped back to avoid an injury that otherwise would have been fatal, but he wasn’t fast enough to keep from getting slashed by the tip of the sword.
He looked down at the wound and then at Edward. “You always were better at the sword than the joust. ‘Tis nice to know there is at least one skill at which you are proficient.”
“This mocking attitude is beneath you,” Edward countered coldly.
They kept clashing swords, their breath coming in heavy gasps.
“You will not win,” Rushton said with certainty.
Edward gave him a smug look. “I already have, for ‘tis me that she will marry. My bed she will share. My children she will bear.”
Love Spell: Book 2 of The Grimm Laws Page 24
