The Wayward Prince (The Redfern Legacy Book 1)

by N. C. Hayes

  I couldn’t think of a reason to say no. “Of course, Stef. I’d like that very much.”

  “I’ll see you then,” he said with a grin before kissing my hand in farewell. I followed him to the door, and when it clicked shut behind him, I put a hand over my face and leaned against it. Catchfly rubbed against my legs.

  “He’s so eager,” I said, looking down at the fat gray cat. I had spent the last year as his friend. He defended me, kept me safe at great risk to himself. He had defied the orders of the king he so dearly loved. For me. Catchfly meowed, staring up at me. Maybe I just needed to let him try. I at least owed him that, didn’t I?

  ~

  The rest of the day went by quickly.

  Our meeting was short, as there wasn’t much to discuss. Aydan informed the others of their upcoming audience with Stefan and then changed the subject, asking Kenna to focus her time on locating any unread documents of Zathryan’s.

  That evening, I met Stefan at the garden gates. He offered his arm and I took it, allowing myself to walk closely in step with him. I listened as he pointed out spots where he’d liked to play as a child, when his father had served as captain, and told me stories of his parents and the house he had lived in in the nearby village. It was fully dark by the time we’d walked the perimeter, so I summoned a ball of light to hover above our heads as he escorted me back inside, all the way to the north wing and to the door of my suite. He kissed my cheek and said good night.

  We continued this routine for the next month. Each morning, Stefan would greet me at my door and eat breakfast in my suite. Once my duties were finished for the day, we would walk the grounds until we tired. After a couple of days, I found myself laughing with him and allowing him to wrap an arm around me while we walked. I remembered how easy things could be with Stefan. It was like before Aydan’s return. We were friends again. He was mortal, yes, which would raise its own set of complications, but with the increasing stresses of life within the Cabinet, it felt good to have something totally separate to look forward to. So, after a month, when he said good night at my door and leaned in to kiss me on the mouth, I didn’t stop him. We parted and he whispered, “Good night,” once more before turning to walk away. I blinked after him, wondering if it had simply been so long since I’d been kissed that I had forgotten what it was supposed to feel like, or if the lack of feeling whatsoever was to be expected. When I looked toward the other end of the corridor, Aydan was there with Alastair, both staring at me. My face and hands grew hot.

  “I am so sorry, Your Majesty, please excuse—”

  Aydan resumed walking, with Alastair following close behind. “My apologies, Lady Advisor. We didn’t intend to interrupt,” the king said curtly. They passed me and, embarrassed, I shut my door.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Over the next week, Stefan would send servants to deliver large bouquets of flowers wherever I might be. They mostly arrived at the door of my suite, but on one humiliating occasion, they were delivered to the king’s chambers during a Cabinet meeting. I quickly reprimanded the poor boy who delivered them for interrupting Cabinet business and asked that any deliveries from the captain be taken to my suite no matter my location, then banished the bouquet back to my suite before Aydan could see it.

  Since our last encounter, I could not bring myself to make eye contact with Aydan if it could be avoided. It seemed that he was avoiding me as well, never quite addressing me directly unless necessary. I wondered if it was mutual embarrassment or if he was angry with me, but he remained polite—cordial, even—so I let the question linger and hoped things would return to normal soon.

  ~

  One morning, I woke to an urgent knock. Elise stood with a note holding Aydan’s seal. I broke the wax and read the message quickly; all meetings with both the Cabinet and extended council would be suspended for the day. He and Kenna had found a new stash of Zathryan’s papers, and Aydan would be spending the day sorting through them to look for the decrees. He wanted some time alone with the documents before dissecting them with the Cabinet. The rest of us were to enjoy a rare day off. “Well,” I said, folding the note and placing it on my vanity, “I’m glad he sent word before I dressed. Perhaps I’ll get a little extra sleep—” I was interrupted by another knock on the door. “I spoke too soon.” Elise laughed and opened my wardrobe to help me choose a gown for the day.

  I wrapped a shawl around myself before opening the door. Stefan stepped inside without invitation, took my face in his hands, and kissed me deeply. I pulled away.

  “Stef, I’m not dressed,” I said, pulling the shawl tighter around me and glancing at Elise, who, bless her, had angled the wardrobe door to provide a bit of privacy from where she stood. “And I’m not alone in here.”

  “I need to talk to you,” he said urgently. “Do you have some time?”

  “I’ll come back later.” Elise laid my dress on the bed and shuffled out of the room, the door clicking shut behind her.

  “Sit down.” I pointed to the bed and took the dress into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, I returned in a blush pink gown and sat at my vanity to run a brush through my hair. I could see Stefan behind me in the mirror; his leg bounced as he grew more impatient. “Okay.” I set the brush back down and turned in my chair. “What’s going on?”

  He loosed a breath. “Shaye, I told you at the coronation how I feel about you. And you’ve been enjoying yourself, I think, spending time with me these past weeks?”

  “I have,” I said carefully. It was true. I was glad to have his friendship, even if Stefan’s fonder feelings for me weren’t mutual.

  “I want to do this correctly,” he said. “I want to be with you for as long as I can.” He held up a folded piece of paper. “This is a resignation letter. For both of us. Come away with me. We can go to Xarynn. Or across the sea, to Auperene, or Keotis—”

  “Stef.” My brow furrowed. “What are you—you’re asking me to abandon my position? To run away and—and do what, exactly?” Stefan stood and cupped my face in his hands, eyes intense.

  “Be together. We can marry, if you want. Or not. I don’t care either way. We can decide as we go, but what’s important is that we’ll be together—” He stopped when I shook my head. I pushed up from my seat to put distance between us.

  “Stefan, I can’t—” I stammered. “I’m the Chief Advisor, I can’t just resign. I have a duty to the Crown, I swore an oath to—”

  “To him.”

  “To honor the throne and serve the king, yes.”

  “You weren’t so sure about that oath after the coronation,” Stefan replied snidely.

  “Because you repeated false claims against his character, which have been explained by trustworthy sources,” I said. He rolled his eyes. “Stefan, this is insane,” I pleaded. “It hasn’t even been two months since the coronation, and you want me to run away with you? We’re still—still getting used to each other, I mean we’ve barely just kissed—” He grabbed me and kissed me roughly. I shoved him away. “Stop it.”

  “What do you want from me?” he asked, throwing his arms up with exasperation. “You say you’re willing to try with me at the coronation. You’re seen leaving his chambers in your nightdress the same night. And then you spend all this time stringing me along—”

  “What—how did you know I was in the king’s chambers on coronation night?”

  “Does it matter?” I stared. In an instant he had gone from pouring his heart out to me to sneering at me as he spoke.

  “Are you having me followed?” I asked.

  “What were you doing?”

  “Are you having me followed, Stefan?”

  “The guards saw you and reported it to me the next morning,” he said. “They were doing their jobs, and you weren’t exactly stealthy.”

  “Yes, and shouldn’t that tell you I have nothing to hide?”

  “Maybe,” Stefan replied. “Or maybe you think so highly of yourself as Chief Advisor that you don’t care what’
s said about you.”

  “What’s said about me?” I repeated. “By the courtiers? No, I don’t particularly care what they think of me. Especially when I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “What were you doing?”

  “We were talking.”

  “About what?” he pressed. I knew I couldn’t win this argument, no matter how I answered.

  “That’s between the king and his advisor.” Stefan laughed humorlessly.

  “I’m sure he needs plenty of advice from you in the dead of night.”

  “I think you should go.” I stepped away and opened the door.

  “What?”

  “I know what you’re implying, and I won’t listen to you degrade me or insult the king any longer.” I pointed into the corridor. “Get out.” Stefan’s jaw clenched as he glared at me before storming from my suite. I waited until he turned the corner at the end of the corridor before I stepped out and slammed the door behind me.

  Fuming, I walked to the king’s chambers to find Hannele. She was the only person I could think of who could make sense of whatever the hell just happened.

  No one was in the foyer, or in the front parlor. I had never seen any of the bedrooms in the royal household, but I knew they were all down a long corridor immediately to the left of the entrance. It didn’t take long for me to find a door cracked open. I knocked and pushed on it to find Gerridan lounging on his bed, surrounded by letters, documents, and gift boxes. He looked up.

  “Shaye,” he said, surprise in his voice. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m looking for Hannele,” I said. “Where is everyone? And what is all this?”

  “These are some of the letters sent from leaders around Medeisia.” He pointed at the stacks of papers on his bed, then to the gift boxes. “And those are gifts from some of our correspondences across the sea, congratulating Aydan on his coronation. I told Aydan I’d write to each sender, extending his thanks, but I’ve been avoiding it. It all piled up and, well . . .” He gestured broadly to the piles surrounding him. “This is my life now. Oh, and Hannele joined Aydan in his study a half hour or so ago. Kenna’s in there too, I think. Alastair had some meeting with the generals or something, I can’t remember—”

  “Thanks.” I turned to leave.

  “Wait,” Gerridan called out. “Is everything okay?”

  “I just need to talk to Hannele.” I sighed.

  “Anything I can assist with?”

  I shook my head. “I think I’ve had enough of men for the day. Thanks, though.” Gerridan feigned offense as I left the doorway.

  I had only been in Aydan’s study once but knew well enough where it was. As I approached, I heard abrupt voices coming from inside.

  “You have to show her.” It was Hannele’s voice. “This isn’t something to wait on.”

  “I know,” said Aydan, “I know, but how—”

  “She deserves to see it.”

  “I know she does.”

  “Then write a note and send it,” Kenna said. “Better to do it now.”

  I pushed the door open, and all of them looked up at once. Aydan sat behind his desk, stacks of paper and an ancient leather-bound book spread before him. Hannele stood in front of the desk while Kenna sat perched on the arm of an overstuffed chair, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Hello, Shaye,” Aydan croaked.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “I heard you from the hall. It sounded urgent.” My eyes darted to the papers in front of Aydan. I stepped into the room, walked past Hannele, and picked them up, along with the book. Aydan made a noise of protest as I flipped through the pages. “Letters from Zathryan?”

  “His journal,” Hannele corrected. “The book is the last ten years or so. The loose pages appear to start when you and Aydan were first captured.”

  “They were mixed in with the other documents I was looking for,” said Aydan while I skimmed the writings. “Those make little sense on their own. But with the madness written in his diary, it’s clear that my father’s mind was slipping in his final months.” I found a crumpled page in the middle of the stack, creased as if it had been read and passed around, folded and unfolded.

  Advanced interrogation methods have proven ineffective, it read. I have recruited Captain Whittaker in my pursuit of truth from the Redfern girl. She will be broken yet.

  I sat on the sofa opposite Kenna as I shuffled through the papers, more slowly. Another entry, from a later date, read: The captain has been unable to make headway with the Redfern girl. She does not trust him. I have ordered him to convince the girl that he is deceiving me, that it is by his suggestion that the girl will be moved to the housekeeping staff.

  Another: The Redfern girl remains frigid. No new information. Considering a return to previous methods.

  After what seemed like an eternity of reading King Zathryan’s account, I realized that fat tears were landing on the pages in my hands, which shook. I looked up at the others. Kenna’s expression was concerned. Hannele watched me closely. Aydan leaned back in his chair, his hand on his mouth. He looked like he might be sick.

  “This is not madness,” I whispered. Aydan straightened in his seat.

  “What?”

  “It isn’t madness. It’s an exact account of the last year of my life.” I felt my face and hands growing cold. I gasped for air, pulling at the bodice of my dress. I couldn’t breathe. “Stefan . . . he—he deceived me. He’s been acting on Zathryan’s orders.”

  “It would seem that way, yes,” Hannele said. I blinked up at her and saw that her eyes welled as she stared at me.

  “He just asked—” I stopped myself, closed my eyes and letting more tears slip onto my cheeks. “I need to go.” I stood, slipped, and caught myself. Ice covered my shoes and the floor around my feet.

  “Shaye, you shouldn’t—” Hannele started. Without a thought, I cast fire down by my feet, melting the ice before rushing out of the room, leaving a small blaze still burning on the rug. Kenna swore.

  “Shaye, wait!” Aydan called. I walked faster, gasping for air. Down the corridor and out the chamber doors, nearly crashing into Alastair, who was entering. I shoved past him and all but ran back to my suite, where I slammed the door and crumpled forward with a sob. I didn’t realize Elise was in the room until she crouched in front of me and tilted my chin up, examining me as I shuddered, sobs ripping from me. Satisfied that I was in no immediate harm, she said, “I’ll go fetch some tea.” I heard myself thank her as she left the room.

  A lie. All of it was a lie. The past year, everything I knew of Stefan, had been a lie. Allowing him to court me these last weeks, a lie.

  I entered the bathroom and undressed. I was about to start filling the tub when I heard the bedroom door fly open. I grabbed a bath robe and tied the sash hastily as I stepped out to see Stefan. He shut the door behind him and locked it.

  “Before you say anything, I’m sorry,” he said. “I was completely out of line, and my behavior was unacceptable.” I gaped at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “You need to leave,” I said shakily.

  “Shaye—”

  “No. Get out.” I pointed at the door. “Gather your belongings and leave this castle. You’ve been relieved of your position.” Stefan’s face twisted in confusion.

  “What are you talking about? You can’t—”

  “I am perfectly within my rights,” I snapped, cutting him off. The cold tears turned hot. I felt them sizzle and disappear from my cheeks. “As Chief Advisor to King Aydan, I have the final say on residency—and I say get the hell out.”

  “I apologized.”

  I glared at him. “Did you know that Zathryan kept a diary?” Stefan’s face went blank. “The king found it hidden in his study this morning. In it was an exact account of every interaction you and I have ever had.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Zathryan used you to get to me. When his advanced methods didn’t work, he told you to befriend
me. To pursue me, seduce me. Your game is over, Stefan. You lost.” The color drained from his face. He reached for my hand but I snatched it away.

  “Shaye, I need you to listen to me—”

  “You’ve done nothing but lie to me for months. You tried to convince me to break my oath to the king!”

  “Look, you—you don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. I scoffed, shaking my head.

  “Stop lying. I saw it in Zathryan’s own hand. It was all planned, down to the steel cuff on my fucking ankle.” Rage and embarrassment flowed through me. My fingertips sparked. I watched Stefan’s eyes dart to my hands. I didn’t care anymore if he saw. I didn’t care anymore if anyone knew.

  “It’s more complicated than that,” he blurted. “Yes, it started out as Zathryan’s scheme, but then—Shaye, I do love you. But I had to keep reporting to Zathryan, I had to keep up the act or he would’ve taken you back to the dungeons, or sent me away, and I wouldn’t have been able to protect you.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell me once he was dead?” I cried. “Why didn’t you tell me about your feelings? We both have been granted every privilege by Aydan, and yet you didn’t tell me about your feelings until a few weeks ago. You waited until I was happy, you waited until I was settled—for what? To toy with me? Was it fun for you to watch me suffer?” Stefan’s mouth was a hard line. He was silent, no longer scrambling for an explanation. “Well?”

  “You’re right, I should just go.”

  “This was my life, Stefan, and you’ve been fucking with me for months. What did you get out of it?” More sparks flew from my hands.

  “I’m not going to stand here and be interrogated.” He turned his back and I lunged for his arm, enraged. When I touched him, he whipped back around with a slap that sent me staggering. It felt as if a hot knife sliced my cheek.

  I screamed, clutching at my face. I lost my footing and fell backward. My head collided with the wardrobe, and I pawed desperately to remove what was burning me. When I pulled my hand away, it was coated in blood. A stream of water gushed from my palm then, while a wall of flame burst from the other. I looked down to where thick gray smoke had started billowing from my chest and stomach, filling the room and blocking my vision. I was still screaming when I heard what sounded like an explosion and the door to my suite was blown off the hinges; men’s voices cried out, followed by a clang of metal on metal that rang in my ears before everything stopped, and the world went black.