I made a half-hearted effort to signal my willingness to use my own two feet, but Frederic’s arms merely tightened around me. I happily gave up and let him carry me away from the fear and tension of the last hour.
Even when we reached a more populated part of the city, he made no effort to put me down. There were stories to tell on both sides, but neither of us spoke, content for the moment simply to enjoy each other’s presence.
I noticed several familiar faces coming in and out of view and smiled to myself. Apparently my urchin friends meant to see me all the way back to the mansion. The sight of them brought back some of my questions.
“How did you find me?”
Frederic’s arms tightened around me. “Your young friends saw you were in trouble and were on their way to the mansion. Thankfully they ran into me, out looking for you, first.”
They had been waiting closer than they should have been then. But once again I couldn’t find it in me to regret their actions. I would have to talk to Frederic about rewarding them somehow. Without their assistance we might have been rounding up the northerners right now.
Celine must have been watching for us because she appeared before the gate had even closed behind us. A satisfied expression flitted across her face as she saw my position, and I blushed, but it was gone a moment later.
“You found her! Is she hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” This time I wriggled forcefully out of Frederic’s arms. “And I have something I need to tell you all, immediately.”
I looked up at Frederic and read rebellion in his face.
“It’s important,” I said, putting my hand on his arm. “Very important.” Once he heard what I had to say, he would understand. A conversation about us would just have to wait until we’d dealt with the rebel attack.
Within minutes we were back in the princes’ sitting room once again, the same five of us gathered to talk about the rebels. I described everything I had seen and heard, my words sending a spark through both princes. Within moments of the end of my tale, the door was open, and they were calling orders out into the corridor.
The Tour’s guard captain soon arrived, along with two of his lieutenants and several nobles. The first of the nobles to arrive was the Earl of Serida, and Frederic ignored the chaos that had erupted around us, bringing him straight over to me.
“It seems you have some sort of connection to the rebel leader, Earl,” said Frederic, his tone giving nothing away.
The earl jerked in his grip, his face showing what looked like genuine shock and confusion. “Me, Your Highness?”
Frederic let go of him and nodded to me. “Tell him what you heard the man say about him, Evie.”
I repeated the line as faithfully as I could remember it. When he still looked confused, I added a physical description of the Shadow Man. As I spoke, a look of understanding and dawning horror filled the older man’s face, and he sank into a nearby chair.
Slowly he ran a hand over his face. “I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it.”
“Believe what?” asked Frederic, watching him closely.
“I think I mentioned before that I came into my title unexpectedly,” said the earl, slowly. “But there is more of a story to it than that. My father was the previous earl’s cousin and passed away a mere month before the old earl. But I had never expected to inherit because the earl had a son. A healthy, intelligent, capable young man my own age. I had met him only once when we were both young because we rarely left the islands in those days.”
He shook his head. “And then the old earl died, and the truth came out. His countess, dead some years before him, had never actually been the countess at all. She had never actually been his wife. Everyone had believed them to be so, and they had lived for decades as if they were, but it turned out it was all a lie. The various houses of Lanover have some odd succession laws—you would know that, Your Highness.”
A strange flicker crossed Frederic’s face, but he merely nodded, and the earl went on. “It turns out that my title comes with restrictions. One of which is that if I wished to keep the title, I was required to marry into the nobility. The earl had always claimed his wife as the daughter of a baron from a small southern barony. But she was no such thing, and a legal marriage ceremony would have required proof. So they had simply never bothered.” He shook his head again. “The whole thing was simply incredible. The extended family wanted to hush it up as much as possible, so the illegitimate son was hurried away, and I was brought in to take his place. The family let people assume he had died, and I suppose I had come to believe it myself.”
“Well, it seems he has not died,” said Frederic. “Though how a penniless outcast managed to raise a rebellion I cannot imagine.”
The earl, who had been shaking his head at the ground, looked up at that. “He may have been an outcast, but he wasn’t penniless, Your Highness. Far from it. His father had left him everything in his will. And while the main estates were tied up with the title, several smaller properties and a large number of business interests were not. His legitimacy was not a consideration when it came to the inheritance of that wealth.”
I found I wasn’t surprised to learn that Marcus and the Shadow Man were distant cousins of some sort. Now that I understood that piece of the puzzle, the inevitability of their crossing paths seemed obvious. The rebel had merely gone looking for people who felt as cheated by life as he did. I might have even felt sorry for him if he had not been responsible for the death of so many.
Talk turned after that to strategy—to defense and attack and the possible rebel numbers. After some time, my eyes began to droop. It had been a long and intense evening.
“Come on,” said Celine gently, her hand under my elbow. “They’ll probably be at it all night, but there’s no reason for us not to sleep. From what you’ve told us, we have time to prepare.”
I paused at the door and looked back at Frederic. His eyes were fastened on me. I gave him a small wave before slipping out the door. Any conversation about the two of us would clearly have to wait.
I slept late the next morning, but not as late as the princes who had apparently been up most of the night. A new bustle filled the mansion, but otherwise things appeared to be continuing on as normal which confused us until Cassian finally appeared and filled us in on the plan from late the night before.
“We have decided we will be best served by defense. An attack would be foolhardy when we don’t know their true numbers or whether they have other similar bases of operation. But if we are to draw them out in an attack and leverage the advantage of surprise, we need to keep up the appearance of normalcy.”
But behind this appearance, there seemed to be an endless number of preparations to be made. The wall of the governor’s mansion was thick and sturdy—it would create an effective line of defense. Which had led them to the conclusion that the rebels must have a way through it.
In the mid-afternoon, they got their answer, but only after questioning every guard belonging to the mansion. All guards and servants had been put under a temporary house arrest with only trusted members of the Tour permitted to leave the mansion grounds. And one of the guards had seen which way the wind was blowing and turned informant.
He and two others had the night watch that night and were to let the rebels in at dawn.
“But not before a big show of them breaking down the gates,” he said. “He wants the city to see him storming the mansion.”
The three guards were swiftly locked up next to Marcus, and the plans continued apace. Several nobles known for their loyalty, along with the harbormaster, were brought into the mansion only to leave after committing to return and bring their own personal guards back with them. Except they would return through the back way and under cover of night. With the guards who remained loyal to the governor, the Tour guards, the harbor guards, and the new guards pledged by the nobles, Frederic was confident they would be able to hold the wall against almost any number of attackin
g rebels.
Or so he assured Celine and me in the only five minutes I saw him all day. “And naturally we have sent word to Father already. He will send more troops in haste, I do not doubt.”
When Celine turned away for a moment, his hand reached up to cup my cheek. But when he opened his mouth, no words came out. I understood. This was not a conversation we could have by halves.
Someone called him away after that, and I didn’t see him again but for the evening meal.
Cassian sternly commanded us to get as much sleep as we could, telling us he would send someone to wake us well before dawn.
“Which is all well and good,” said Celine after tossing and turning for what felt like forever but turned out to be only thirty minutes. “But how in the kingdoms are we supposed to fall asleep with this looming over us?
Chapter 30
Somehow, to my amazement, we managed it eventually, and the next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by a frightened looking maid. Anyone without training as a fighter was to take up a position in a large room in the center of the mansion. A number of guards had been posted to protect the room, and despite Celine’s protests we had both been ordered to wait out the attack there.
The remaining time until dawn passed more slowly than seemed at all possible. Once we had taken our places, Celine silently handed me her second dagger as she had done at the attack on the trader caravan. I weighed the hilt in my hand, glad to have it but hopeful that I wouldn’t need it.
More minutes slowly passed as some around us murmured quietly and others wept. Tillie left us to comfort those traders who had accompanied her to Largo. They all either remembered the raider battle or had loved ones who had fought in it, and the recent memories made the coming attack harder for them to bear. I found my mind circling back to that day in the desert myself and kept firmly pushing it aside.
After the seemingly endless wait, the first sounds of a clash outside fell heavily into the quiet of the room. A startled child screamed and was immediately hushed by those around him.
And then began an entirely new type of waiting, one that turned out to be far more awful than the one that preceded it. The shouts and screams permeated into our inner retreat, and I tried—impossibly—to track the progress of the conflict from the sound alone.
I ran over the plan in my mind, trying to guess how long it all might take. But time moved deceptively, and I couldn’t track the seconds or minutes with any accuracy. The extra guards were to have remained in hiding within the mansion and its outbuildings until the attack began. But by the time the Shadow Man realized his plan had gone awry, and the gates were not opening before him, they would all be at the wall, armed with bows and arrows, ready to cut down the attackers.
As time flowed on, I began to worry. Surely they could have shot half the city by now, if need be. What was taking so long? A moment later a new sound cut through the din of battle. The clash of steel against steel. Celine and I exchanged tense looks. Someone at least had made it past the wall.
“I can’t just wait here,” whispered Celine. “What if they are at our door? If any of them make it in here, these people will be slaughtered.”
I looked around the room, unable to deny her point. If the plan had already gone awry, who knew what might happen now? We had guards outside the room, but would they be enough?
“Perhaps if we just take a look?”
Celine nodded, and we attempted to move through the room as casually as possible. I wasn’t sure how many others had realized something had gone wrong, and the last thing I wanted was to spread panic.
When we reached the door, I fixed stern eyes on my companion. “Just a look, remember.”
She gave me a tight smile. “Don’t worry, I have no desire to die today.”
I eased open the door and stuck my head out into the corridor. For all my fear, I expected to see a handful of alert guards, standing dutifully in place. Instead, at first glance, the hallway appeared empty.
My heart rate sped up as I searched the space with my eyes, Celine crowding behind me.
“What is it? What do you see?”
I moved slightly, making room for her to inch in beside me.
She sucked in a breath. “Where are they? Where are the guards?”
I gave her a worried look. “They should be here. I can’t think of any good reason why they would leave.”
Celine gripped her dagger more tightly, thrusting it out ahead of her. “Then I guess it’s up to us to go see.”
I hesitated. I could only imagine what Frederic and Cassian would think of my leading their sister into danger. “I don’t know…I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”
“Wait! There!” Celine pointed down the corridor. Two legs lay on the floor, the only visible part of whoever was stretched out on the ground around the corner. “Is that one of the guards?”
I swallowed. “I think so.”
While we both watched, horrified and transfixed, someone strode around the corner toward us. It took only the briefest glimpse for my blood to run cold.
“Well, well, well,” said an all-too-familiar voice. “Isn’t this very neat. Here I was looking for you, and here you are.”
I moved to slam the door closed and paused, glancing over my shoulder. If I retreated into the room, he would follow, and then everyone would be in danger.
“You know, they really should have left more guards on the prisoners’ rooms,” he said conversationally as he strolled toward us.
“What do we do?” asked Celine. “Should we run for it?”
“Yes! Go—now!”
We tumbled over each other, rushing to get clear of the door and out into the empty space where we could run. I slammed the door behind us as we led Marcus away from the rest of the untrained mansion inhabitants. They weren’t supposed to have been in any real danger, but apparently no one had counted on one of the prisoners escaping.
Marcus picked up his speed in response to our flight, racing after us. I glanced back and realized he was closing much too fast for us to escape. Or for us both to escape anyway.
As we ran past an open door, I shoved Celine hard. She staggered sideways into the room beyond, and I slammed the door in her face. I took off running again, but I knew I’d lost valuable time.
Marcus didn’t even hesitate, letting his hate rule his head as I had hoped and going after the less valuable target. I pushed my legs harder than I ever had before, wishing I had longer legs or were in better shape. I didn’t have to outrun him, I just had to make it to some of our guards. Assuming we had any left…
I almost fell as I whipped around a corner and into the front foyer of the building, catching myself just in time. I had hoped to find the large room full of guards, but it was deserted.
Something hard, like the flat of a blade, whacked against one of my legs, and I lost balance and went sprawling. I tried to recover, pushing up onto all fours and attempting to crawl, but a sword point against the back of my neck made me freeze.
“As delightful as this all is,” said Marcus, “I’m not inclined to leave undone business this time.” The blade pressed deeper, nicking my skin. A warm trickle ran over my neck and dripped to the ground.
I closed my eyes, but death did not come. Instead the ring of blades sounded, and the pressure eased and disappeared. I crawled forward, slipping and sliding in my haste, before pushing up to my feet and spinning around.
Marcus and Frederic stood across from each other, blades held out, a martial light in both their eyes.
“It seems I am to have my opportunity to defeat you in combat after all,” said Frederic. His concerned gaze flicked to me for the tiniest instant, and Marcus seized the opportunity to lunge forward.
Frederic danced back, blocking his attack, and then pressing forward in response. Marcus easily evaded his blade.
“Don’t think I’ll be as easy a defeat as Julian,” he said with a taunting smile. “My cousin never did like to play dirty.”
“I’ll bear that in mind,” said Frederic, his voice ice. I hung back as he went on the defensive, wishing there were some way to help him but aware in the lightning clash of blades that any attempt to intervene by me would only be in the way.
As the thrust and parry went back and forth, they ranged up and then back down the length of the large entryway. Marcus’s taunts dropped away as his breath came shorter and harder, his face intense with concentration. Frederic feinted and then lunged, coming up under the islander’s guard and cutting a shallow gash up his sword arm before Marcus could stumble back and thrust his blade away.
Marcus’s rhythm changed, his moves becoming sloppier and more desperate. He feinted, but Frederic saw it coming and twisted his sword up and out, sending Marcus’s blade flying.
He pressed forward, placing his sword tip at the other man’s neck. “I should run you through, as you meant to do to her.”
Marcus, his face livid, glared at the prince. The taut moment stretched between them, neither moving. After several long seconds had passed, Marcus gave an ugly smile. “But you won’t, Prince, will you?”
Frederic sighed. “No, I won’t. Because I don’t operate the way you do. You will receive due process under the law.” His sword lowered slightly.
Marcus’s eyes flickered off to the side, looking to my right. As I turned to follow his gaze, he lunged away from Frederic and leaped across the room, moving so quickly that his victim had no time to do anything but scream before he had her firmly in his grip.
Only Marcus had seen Celine enter through a side door.
He gripped her with both hands around her slim throat, a manic light in his eye. “You will not sit in judgment over me. I will release her when I’m safely away from this place.”
His eyes were glued on Frederic, but Celine’s were frantically signaling to me. With a start, I realized I was closer to the pair than Frederic, and I still held Celine’s dagger in my hand.
I didn’t stop to think it through, I just threw myself forward, sliding across the marble floor to plunge my short blade into his closest leg. He howled and stumbled, shaking Celine, as Frederic raced the last couple of steps forward and ran him through.
The Princess Search: A Retelling of The Ugly Duckling (The Four Kingdoms Book 5) Page 23
