“I agree,” I said. “War is ugly. It’s hell. But isn’t freedom and peace of mind worth the price?”
“We’ve suffered countless years of conflict,” Victor said. “If we do not fight to end it, it will only continue.”
I smiled and clanked my glass with his. “I propose a toast.”
They all grinned in response.
“To victory…and to getting our world back!” I said.
“What?” asked another king, who was sitting across from me.
“To Ethano’s defeat…and to us getting our kingdoms back. Cheers.”
Everyone at the table looked at me, dumbfounded. It was so quiet I could have heard the proverbial pin drop.
“We will defeat Ethano,” Victor said, staring at them intensely. “Together, we can tear him down.”
The king stood. “This dinner and our celebration are to be on neutral terms. I do not need any fights breaking out on this blessed event. There will be no more talk of war here.”
Victor met his gaze. “You are about to lose your vast kingdom, just like all these other kings and queens sitting around this table. Most of you have already sworn allegiance to the enemy, but we must unite and stop this tyrant who kills children and women.”
“Children? Why, Ethano would never—”
I turned to face her. “Ethano drowned his entire harem of 200 women without blinking an eye. Is that the kind of king you want to run your world, to run the Cardashian Court?”
“The political talk must stop now!” the king demanded again. “If you continue with this vile talk, I will have to ask you to leave.”
“Why would you give up your land so easily to a tyrant?” I asked. “Why not join us and fight?”
“Out with you!”
And just like that, we were evicted from the dining hall and warned that if we spoke of such things again, we would escorted out of the territory altogether. I wasn’t disappointed because we’d already planted a seed of doubt; I just hoped it would sprout and grow.
Victor held my hand as we walked down the corridor.
“I’m proud of you,” I said. “You are a king I can definitely stand behind. You speak with conviction and passion, and I’m proud to be your queen.”
“I am proud of you too,” he said.
I smiled. “We make a great team, don’t we?”
“The best.”
Back in our room, things were a bit chilly, until the servants came in and started a blazing fire. I lay on a bearskin rug, basking in the warmth. Victor cuddled next to me and wrapped his arms around me.
“I love being here,” I said. “You know what I desperately miss?” I asked.
“What is that?”
I shot him a seductive look. “Some romantic lovemaking by the fire.”
“On a giant bearskin?”
“Yes. Right here, right now.”
Then, the next thing I knew, Victor was pouring his heart and soul into a kiss that made me hotter than the roaring fire next to me.
Chapter 22
Victor and I kept our mouths shut and attended the events of the day, accompanied by royals from all over the world. We enjoyed a play, an archery contest, and a joust, followed by a lavish feast. Dinner consisted of oxen, peacocks, vegetables, geese, fish, mutton, ale, wine, and cider. For dessert, we tasted baked tarts, custard, and wafers. It was wonderful to have such a huge selection.
When night came, we went down to the humongous ballroom. At the door stood a pair of wolves, and I knew immediately that they were Lana and Titano, in their animal forms, guarding the royal party. Other members of their pack paced the perimeter of the room like a security detail. Knights were also on guard, and that made me feel a bit safer.
The room was illuminated by candles, and musicians played festive tunes. Everyone danced, drank, and laughed. I downed a few cups of wine and began to feel a bit tipsy and giddy, and Victor just smiled at me. The entertainment consisted of masked and costumed dancers, acrobats, fire-eaters, singers, jugglers, and conjurers. Apples and pears were roasted and handed out as well, though I struggled to find room for any in my very full stomach.
Victor flashed his big, gorgeous smile at me.
“What?”
He pulled me closer. “It’s so good to see you smile again.”
“Shall we dance, Highness?” I asked.
He grinned, nodded, and swiftly pulled me out onto the dance floor and twirled me around.
When I glanced up, though, I found myself staring into other eyes. ”E-Ethano?” I stuttered.
“Victor and Sarah! How nice of you to join the celebration,” he practically hissed.
Victor tried to strike his brother, but I pulled his arm back.
“This isn’t the time or the place, honey,” I said. “We’ll lose all the trust we’ve built here.”
“He killed Della, William, and all the others!” Victor said, seething. “He needs to pay!”
“Not here!” I was just as upset as Victor was, and I also wanted to rip Ethano’s face off, but I also knew we had to think logically and calmly.
Ethano smiled. “Listen to your queen. She is very wise. This is supposed to be a celebration on neutral territory.”
“Neutral territory that you want for yourself, you beast,” Victor spat. “It’s why you’re here.”
“And I shall have it before I leave tomorrow.”
“King Halldor will never sign your peace treaty,” I said. “It would be like signing a contract with the devil.”
“I assure you that he will sign it, and it will render me ruler over this entire world.” He then stared at Victor with hate in his eyes. “Once I hold that title, which I will, there will be nowhere you can run and hide. I will find you, and I will kill you.”
“If you are so keen on killing me, why don’t you try it now?” Victor dared, trying to stir up a fight.
I could feel the anger and pain rushing through him like a tidal wave, but I just held him and said nothing more.
“Because I respect the rules of this celebration, and I pledged a peaceful stay here,” Ethano said.
Unable to hold my tongue any longer, I retorted, “As if you’ve ever kept a pledge.”
He laughed at me, then continued, “There is no need to make our host angry. There will be another time, another place to take pleasure in your demise, Victor. Besides, I desire to torture you first, to make you tell me where that spawn of yours is hidden.”
“Never!” Victor roared.
Ethano clapped his shoulder. “Your time is running out, dear brother. Enjoy it while you can, for you will pay dearly for our father’s death, as well as my mother’s.”
Victor shoved him back, glaring at him with homicidal rage.
I pulled my understandably furious husband away and tried to calm him down, again explaining that fighting Ethano would only hurt us in the long run. After Ethano walked away, I said, “It really doesn’t seem like he is here to murder King Halldor, but the vision showed me otherwise.”
Victor looked at me. “Maybe the king heeded our warning and refused to sign. Perhaps Ethano is trying to bide his time, because he needs the king a while longer.”
Since we were not sure what he was up to, we kept a close eye on Ethano as he danced and drank wine. He made me sick. How could he be so happy when he’s committed such atrocities? Does he not have a guilty conscience? He has to be some kind of medieval psychopath. As long as I’d known Ethano, he had always exhibited antisocial behavior, with absolutely not a shred of empathy, remorse, or guilt. He was violent and completely disregarded others. Truly, he should have been locked up in a rubber room, where he could hurt no one else.
While Victor sipped wine with a king from Prulla, I sneaked away and followed Ethano as he nonchalantly left the room. I kept my distance, so that he wouldn’t spot me. He made his way to a study, where he met with a group of men. I stood outside and listened intently, and the conversation only confirmed what I already knew was going on.
“That is your responsibility,” Ethano said. “Get him there after the last fire-eater performs. He refuses to sign my treaty, so that makes him a very dead king.”
“Will his son resist?”
“No. I have absolutely no doubt that he’ll happily sign in his dead father’s stead.”
Shocked, I backed away, all too familiar with how powerful Ethano’s ears were. I didn’t want him to catch me, so with all the prowess of a cat, I hurried back to Victor and pulled him aside.
“So your vision was true?” he said, shaking his head. “Are you sure he didn’t know you were following him?”
“He didn’t see me, and I left while they were still talking.”
“Good.”
“We must keep the king from going to that Golden Room,” I said.
“If we do that, he will never see the reality of Ethano’s betrayal. It will be far better to tell the king what he is up to, then let him see for himself, with adequate protection.”
“Maybe you’re right, but when he hears about all this, he’ll surely sway our way.”
We found Halldor among a crowd of giggling maidens, and we quickly pulled him aside and filled him in on what we knew.
“Do you have any proof of these allegations?” he asked, arching a questioning eyebrow at us.
“Not really, Highness, but my visions have always proven true in the past.”
“’Tis better to be safe than sorry, is it not, Majesty?” Victor chimed in.
“Hmm,” the king said, scratching his chin. “Perhaps you are right. I will willingly go to the Golden Room when they ask me, and we shall see what Ethano is up to.”
Personally, I thought it was an insane idea, but the king insisted, and Victor wanted him to see Ethano for who he really was. The king ordered his bodyguards to hide in the room to ensure that no harm would come to him. I think they wanted to prove Victor and me wrong.
“I will not meet Ethano alone,” the king assured me when I voiced my concerns. “Fifty guards are stationed in the room, and he will not know they are there unless he tries something.”
“Do not underestimate him,” Victor said. “Ethano can take out that many.”
“Nonsense.”
“It isn’t safe, King Halldor,” I said.
“Then you and Victor come with me.”
“We most certainly will,” Victor said.
* * *
Just as we suspected, one of Ethano’s men approached the king after the last fire-eater performance. “Highness,” he said, “Ethano requests an audience with you in the Golden Room for a moment.”
“Very well,” the king said, then glanced over at us. “Please accompany me, Majesties.”
“It will be our pleasure, King,” I said, winking coyly at him.
Ethano was clearly shocked to see that the king had brought company. “My brother! Why are you at this meeting?”
“Because King Halldor deserves another option beyond what you have to offer,” Victor answered.
Ethano cocked a brow. “To join a losing battle?”
I stepped closer. “If he aligns with us, he will be joining the winning side, rather than signing on with a murderous bastard who kills children in front of their mothers.”
King Halldor shifted his stance. “This festival is supposed to be about peace. All leaders swore an oath that there would be no violence here. I will discuss this treaty with you in a few days, but now is not the time.”
“But I am leaving tomorrow,” Ethano said.
“This is a time of joyous celebration,” Halldor snapped, obviously losing his patience. “I have warned you not to bring politics into my party. You are a guest here, and we will be hospitable. I only expect my guests to do the same in return.”
“I am aware of the celebratory nature of this gathering, Highness,” Ethano said, “but time is of the essence in some matters. Have you given my treaty any thought? I must know. If you give me your country, I will keep you and your people safe. I will not attack, and there will be no bloodshed.”
“I have no intention of giving my kingdom to you or anyone else, Ethano,” the king said. “Perhaps you easily bullied the others into it, but you will not do so to me.”
“It is a shame you don’t see things my way.”
“I will be loyal to you, but I will not give up my title.”
“You will still be king,” Ethano assured him, “but your country will belong to me.”
“Never!”
Suddenly, and without another word, Ethano held up his arms, and a white light flooded the room. Men began to fall around me, crashing to the ground from their hiding places.
My gaze shot to Ethano. “What did you do?”
“I killed them, of course. Surely you are no stranger to death, Queen.”
“But you left us alive. Why? I thought you wanted Victor dead.”
“Yes, but the people must have someone to blame for this horrible, horrible loss of life on their day of celebration.”
“I witnessed what you did, you fool,” the king barked. “My people will take my word over yours!”
“Oh, you silly, silly man. Do you not know that dead men tell no tales?”
The king’s eyes grew wide, then red with anger. “Why, you… How dare you threaten me in my own castle!?”
When a rasping yowl echoed across the room, I tried to turn, only to discover that Victor and I were both frozen, unable to move, as if we were glued to the floor. I gasped when a leopard pounced in our direction. Much to my surprise, Ethano sliced the cat’s head off as it lunged. When the decapitated animal turned back into a man with long black hair, I knew he’d killed one of Lana’s shape-shifters.
Ethano shook his head. “Tsk-tsk-tsk. Halldor, you must learn to use your few resources more wisely, old man. You spread your shape-shifters too thin. You should have summoned more to protect you, not that it would have saved your life.”
The king gasped. “You did come here to slay me.”
“Of course. Why else would I be wasting my time on such a dull little rendezvous?”
“Fine. I will sign your treaty,” he said. “You’ve won.”
“You were correct earlier, Majesty. Your people are fierce warriors, and they will not obey me. They will never really come to accept me as their leader. They’ll turn to my brother, unless I give them good reason to hate him.”
“What are you talking about, you madman?”
“This!” Then, in one swift moment, Ethano gripped his sword and swung, decapitating the king instantly. When his head left his shoulders, his blood-spattered crown toppled to the marble floor along with it.
“No!” I shouted.
Ethano walked over to Victor and put a bracelet on him, then placed one on me. “This will keep you from using your powers to escape,” he said, “and now this country will never join you in battle. They will despise you for all eternity, for in their eyes, you will be the murderers of their beloved king.”
“They’ll have us executed!” I said. “How will you ever find out about our baby if we’re killed here?” Of course I would never, ever tell him where Alexander was, but I hoped to stall.
Ethano let out a huff and glared at me. “I am no fool, Sarah. I know you will never tell me where your brat is. You will die first. No matter though. I will find the child soon enough, and I do not need you to do so. They’ll kill you before sunset, and once you’re dead, I will step in and make that pathetic weakling of a prince sign my treaty. Then, I will be sure to tell these good people just how evil and maniacal you and Victor were. I will grieve with them over their lost king, and I will promise them a better future.”
“Please don’t do this,” I begged.
“They were going to join you,” he said. “I had to put a stop to it. Blood speaks far louder than propaganda, my dear, and they will only see you as assassins.”
He then put
the sword in Victor’s hand. “Killing kings is not nice, brother.”
As soon as the door opened, Ethano disappeared in a flash, like something off of a David Copperfield special. A group of knights gasped as they took in the bloody scene before them and it was only in that instant that we were able to move again.
Chapter 23
“You murdered our king!” one said.
Victor dropped the sword. “I did no such thing. It is not how it appears.”
Sobs rang out, and grief struck them as they all cried for their fallen, beloved king.
“Arrest them!” an angry knight ordered.
In a blur, Victor knocked out about a dozen guards. He grabbed hold of my hand, and we ran, tracing like immortals, with incredible speed, down the wide halls. Torches and chandeliers lit our way as we hurried down the twists and turns, our hearts racing. We hid in an alcove as a group of knights ran in our direction. Once we were sure they had passed us, we ran again down the empty corridor, Victor’s boots clicking loudly on the stone floor. We rushed through two sets of doors, into a long, empty dining hall. Moonlight streamed in through a tiny window. Tapestries hung on the walls, and a fireplace was situated in the back. We took a few seconds to catch our breath.
I looked up at Victor. “What about our men?”
“They’ll get out,” he said. “That’s what they’re trained to do.”
I tried to calm my racing heart. “We should have known he’d do something like that. We both know what kind of evil Ethano is capable of.”
“My brother doesn’t play fair, but this is low, even for him.”
I shot him a troubled look. “We desperately need our powers.”
“I know.” He pulled at the chain Ethano had placed on him, but it singed his flesh. When it started to electrocute him, I pulled his hand away.
“Stop!” I whispered. “These can’t be taken off with our hands.”
When knights gathered outside the door, my stomach lurched.
“The north tower,” Victor said, pointing.
“Shouldn’t we go down and not up? We’ll never get out that way.”
“We have no choice!” Victor said.
Eternal Conflict - Book 7 (The Ruby Ring Saga) Page 16
