by Jody Hedlund
If only Queen Dierdal’s family had sent aid more quickly when they’d learned King Ethelwulf had started attacking Mercia’s eastern coast. But apparently, the queen’s missives for help had been intercepted, and the Franks hadn’t realized what was happening until too late. Didn’t that prove marriage alliances weren’t trustworthy and shouldn’t be the basis for a union?
“I wish there was another way,” Christopher said. “But there is not.”
I couldn’t speak past the emotion in my throat.
“We will both have to make many sacrifices in the days and years to come for the greater good of Mercia and her people. Can you do that, Adelaide?”
Could I sacrifice my fledgling desire to be with Christopher? I didn’t want to. But if God had ordained me to be the queen of this land, then I must obey His purposes above my own personal desires. “I shall pray for strength to do whatever God requires of me.”
Only then, did Christopher smile, but it was sad and tired and didn’t reach his eyes. “You already have proven yourself to be the best queen Mercia could ask for.”
Although I was glad my answer had satisfied him, I was too disheartened to manage a smile. When he stepped away from the door and back into the chamber, I hugged my arms across my tunic and fought off a wave of chills.
“You should try to sleep a little longer,” he said quietly.
I returned to my spot on my pallet, wrapping myself into my cloak and coverlet. Although I closed my eyes, I was no longer tired. My mind swirled with how I would explain to Mitchell that what he’d witnessed meant nothing now.
But how could it mean nothing? Hadn’t Christopher also experienced the intensity and beauty and power and connection of our kiss? My emotions had been so strong, so heady, that I’d thought I loved him. Had the feelings come only from the heat of the moment? Was I still allowing my childish attraction to influence me? Or was my love for him real?
I gave myself a mental shake. It didn’t matter if my love was real or not. It was forbidden for both of us. And Christopher was a man of such integrity he would never do anything that went against principle. He was willing to go to great lengths for what he believed. After all, he’d left his family and country to stand up for what was just and true. He’d been ready to sacrifice his title, lands, and rights for principle.
I wished he wasn’t willing to sacrifice me too. He’d done it once when he’d ridden away from me as his cousin and friend. And I knew he was sacrificing me again, this time as a woman he could possibly care about if he allowed himself.
Although I shouldn’t compare this situation to the past, I couldn’t keep from feeling the same hollow ache I’d experienced the day he’d ridden out of my life the first time. In some ways, he was rejecting me now the same way he had then.
My eyes stung, and my throat ached.
I swallowed hard. I wouldn’t cry. Not here. Not in his presence. Besides, he was still with me. I could console myself that even if I could never love him the way I longed to, he would be a part of my life.
At least I hoped so. He hadn’t ridden off again. Not yet. But would he someday?
“Christopher?” I pushed up on my elbows.
“Go to sleep, Adelaide,” he whispered as he poked at the embers.
“Promise you will not make plans to leave? Promise you will stay with me and always be my closest advisor?”
He faced the flames, back stiff and shoulders erect. When he didn’t answer right away, anxiety pushed me up further. Was he already contemplating leaving? Was that why he wasn’t answering?
“Christopher? Please?” I asked, not caring that I was begging.
He audibly exhaled. “I promise to stay with you for as long as I am able.”
I knew what he was saying. He would stay with me now, but he refused to vow he would forever. It wasn’t the answer I’d wanted. But it would have to do.
Chapter
14
Christopher
I ascended from the dankness of the dungeons and silently berated Mitchell. I’d searched all over the castle ruins for him to no avail. I knew not whether he was off somewhere seeking the so-called hidden treasure or if he was still angry at me for kissing Adelaide.
I had a feeling it was both.
“This is not the time to act like a child, Mitchell,” I whispered with mounting frustration. As I’d searched, I couldn’t shake the foreboding that our enemy was drawing nearer. The heathland was too quiet, containing the calm which came before an attack.
After ascending the steep stairway, I located Adelaide and Tall John waiting in the shelter of an arched doorway near the crumbling front of the keep. “Have you had any luck locating him?”
Tall John shook his head, his narrow face taut with anxiety. “No, my lord.”
Donned in armor, Adelaide wore her surcoat over the metal plates and chain mail. Her hood was up against the cool drizzle and shadowed her. Even so, by the flickering light of Tall John’s torch, her face was pale and drawn.
Over the past two hours she hadn’t fallen asleep again, at least not while I’d remained with her. Though I’d felt her gaze upon me from time to time, she’d kept silent. Part of me had wanted her to fight me and demand she have her own way—like the Adelaide of my childhood would have done. But she’d clearly taken my rebuff to heart and had too much pride to try to persuade me otherwise.
More than once, I’d wanted to spin around and apologize. I couldn’t tell her I was sorry for kissing her, because that would have been a lie. The moment she’d initiated pressure against me, I’d been lost. The desires I’d barely been able to keep in check had come crashing out at full speed. And after releasing them, I hadn’t wanted to stop, which scared me.
Nevertheless, I could have apologized for hurting her, for making our relationship more complicated, and for not being able to give her what she’d yearned for. No matter how much either of us might want to pursue these feelings that had somehow developed between us, we weren’t free to do so.
Moreover, at this moment, other things demanded our attention. Like finding Mitchell and riding on our way before the break of dawn.
“Do you have any idea where he might be looking for the treasure?” I directed my question to Adelaide. While riding the last of the journey to Wellmont, the two had speculated on the clue, the key, what might be hidden, and how to find it.
Adelaide rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. “I suspect he is searching for a keyhole in a place that relates to the pomegranate engraving on the key, anything that signifies wisdom or learning.”
Wellmont no longer contained doors and thus no keyholes, except for in the dungeons. A few of the thick iron doors still remained in some of the cells, and a set of keys covered in spider webs hung at the base of the dungeons, rusted and aged with time and disuse. Other tunnels and caverns had been carved out underneath the old ruins over the decades. But I’d seen no sign of additional keyholes or portals wherein treasure might lie.
I glanced at the dark eastern horizon, attempting to gauge how much time we had before dawn’s appearance. “We may have to start without him.”
“No,” Adelaide said almost defiantly. “I shall not leave him behind, not under these circumstances.”
I knew she was referring to his anger over witnessing our kiss. Mitchell had every right to be angry with me. I’d sworn to him that Adelaide was nothing more than a friend, and then in the next hour he’d found me locked in a heated kiss with her.
Now after pushing him further away, I would need to fall on my knees before him and apologize. It was the least I could do, along with vowing to him I would never touch Adelaide again. I’d already vowed it to myself when she’d asked me to stay. Part of me had wanted to ride away as fast and hard as I could. She was a temptation I wasn’t sure I could resist. But the other part of me demanded I remain and see her to the throne. I’d only be able to do so if I kept her at arm’s length.
“We must wait for Mitchell,” Adelaide said. “
I shall only hurt him all the more if I abandon him now.”
I wanted to release a frustrated growl. Even if Mitchell had every right to be upset and to run off to lick his wounds, he was putting Adelaide in danger with his escapade. As fast as we were, I had no doubt our lead had diminished substantially, especially since the encounter with the wolves had slowed us down. If a company of Ethelwulf’s elite guard was anywhere nearby, they’d surely pick up our trail now.
“A few more minutes,” I said. “That is all the longer we can afford to wait.”
Adelaide didn’t object, and I took that as her assent.
I pulled up the hood on my cloak. “In the meantime, I shall search for him again.” Perhaps his treasure hunting had led him to the ruins of outbuildings on the edge of the old fortress wall.
“Would you like me to search as well, my lord?” Tall John asked, shifting the torch and scanning the crumbled pillars and the stone walls.
“I would prefer you stay with Adelaide.”
“I can take care of myself,” she retorted in the same aloof and angry tone she’d used with me when I’d first arrived at Langley.
“Stay with John,” I replied, stepping over rocks and passing through the broken arched doorway. “I do not wish to begin a hunt for you too.”
I didn’t wait for another of her belligerent answers but descended a short stairway and crossed through damp overgrown grass into what was likely once the gardens until I reached the far edges of the keep.
“Where are you, Mitchell?” I asked into the breeze that had picked up over the past hour. Instead of the steady rain from the night, the wind brought a mist. I could only pray the heavy mantle of cloud cover would prevent Ethelwulf’s forces from progressing too quickly, although I feared nothing would slow them.
Holding out my torch, I ducked into the remains of what I assumed had once been a brewery. “Mitchell?” I called softly, to no avail. The urgency prodded me to a jog as I checked the last few buildings before I circled the keep and ended where I started at the inner bailey. I drew back in surprise at Mitchell’s appearance seemingly out of nowhere.
In his haste, he stumbled and nearly fell into my path.
“Where have you been?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.
He didn’t immediately respond. With his hood pulled low over his forehead, he flashed me a brief look, one reflecting bitterness.
“We need to leave straightaway,” I said. “I had hoped to be far from here before the break of dawn.”
I strode ahead of him to where Adelaide and Tall John stood with our horses.
“Mitchell.” Adelaide reached toward him, but he passed by without sparing her a glance.
The hopefulness in her expression fell away, and she tucked her hand back into her surcoat.
Instead of nearing his horse, Mitchell veered toward the steps and the arched door of the keep. “Christopher, I need to speak with you in private.”
“We must be on our way,” I insisted as I stopped in front of my mount.
“I will not go until I say my piece.” He took the steps two at a time and disappeared into the keep, giving me no choice but to follow him.
Mayhap letting him speak his mind was for the best. He’d had the past couple of hours to ruminate on what had happened with Adelaide. And now, he apparently needed to give voice to his frustrations.
I raced to catch up and found him waiting at the top of the dungeon stairwell. At my appearance, he started down the steep flight of stone steps.
“We can talk up here,” I called after him.
He kept going, descending into the blackness of the underground cavern.
I held my torch high and illuminated the narrow passageway lined with moss and debris. Mitchell had already reached the bottom and was veering into one of the tunnels.
“Mitchell, stop!” I rushed down after him, my frustration building. We didn’t have time for this. If he needed to berate me, why lead me into the dungeons?
A sickening sense of dread halted me on the bottom step, and I unsheathed my dagger. In his anger, Mitchell wouldn’t consider hurting me, would he? As soon as the thought came, I shoved my dagger back into its case and let shame blanket me. Just because we’d fought over Adelaide didn’t mean we were mortal enemies. We’d had a disagreement, and we would work through it like two grown men.
The mustiness of damp stone and earth along with the chill of the darkness seemed to warn me to retreat. But my torchlight revealed Mitchell’s cloak-covered form ahead in the passageway containing rows of identical dungeon cells. He was turning an old rusty key in each of the doors without success, until finally, one clicked open with a squeal.
He flung the iron gate wide and then stood back to wait for me. Hidden by the folds of his hood, I couldn’t gauge his expression, but from the stiff set of his shoulders, I sensed his anger as if it was a living dragon about to rip me from limb to limb.
I stopped in front of him, clenching my fists to keep myself from reaching for my sword and dagger. Even if he pulled his weapon on me first, I didn’t want to battle him. “I hope we can work out our problems without our weapons.”
“I hope we can too.” He waved toward the cell. “You first.”
“Can you not say what you must here?”
“In there.”
I exhaled an exasperated breath and walked inside. “This is absurd, Mitchell.” I crossed to the far end and held up the torch to examine our surroundings, noting the slimy, mold-covered walls. “We have already wasted time waiting for your return, and now this?”
He didn’t respond. Instead, the door squealed closed, and the key clicked in the lock.
I spun to see that Mitchell was still standing outside in the passageway. He hadn’t followed me inside. In fact, he took a step back as though he had every intention of leaving.
I bolted across the cell and grabbed the bars on the door. “What are you doing, Mitchell?”
He threw back his hood. Only then did I see that his nose was bleeding and his lip cut. Bruises were forming under one of his eyes. “What happened to you?”
“Captain Theobald bade me welcome.”
“Captain Theobald.” My gut churned.
“The head of King Ethelwulf’s elite guard.”
“I know who he is.” Although I’d heard plenty about the captain, even in Norland, I’d only seen Theobald once, that fateful day when I’d visited Delsworth with Father. Theobald had led the procession of the noble family to their hanging. I remembered the calm, almost emotionless expression he’d worn, as though he were taking a leisurely stroll rather than marching an innocent family to their deaths.
Mitchell took another step back. “He is waiting past the gatehouse for me to return with Adelaide.”
“No!” Fear slammed into my stomach at the same moment I slammed my palm into the bars. “You cannot hand Adelaide over to that man. You must not.”
“It is for the best—”
“Take me to Theobald in her stead.” I stretched through the bars, grabbing Mitchell’s arm.
He jerked free and put enough distance between us so I couldn’t reach him.
“Kill me, behead me, do whatever you must to appease him. But do not give him Adelaide.”
Mitchell pulled himself to his full height, which was still a head shorter than me. “It is too late.”
“No—”
“I already struck a bargain.” Mitchell lifted his chin even as he wiped away the blood trickling off his busted lip.
“Let me go and we shall fight against him together.”
Mitchell hesitated, which birthed hope in me.
“Please, Mitchell. At the very least, we can hide down here in the tunnels.”
He shook his head. “I have seen Theobald’s forces, and we are far too outnumbered and wouldn’t make it out of the tunnels alive. We are safer if we surrender.”
Suddenly, I understood. Ethelwulf’s men had likely just arrived when Mitchell had stumbled upon them.
Why hadn’t Theobald killed Mitchell on sight? The only explanation was that the cruel captain was under orders from Ethelwulf to bring us to him alive. For what purpose? So he could execute all of us publicly, including Adelaide, and in so doing demoralize and deter any other rebels?
“Better to fight together than to capitulate.” I lunged as far as I could in a last effort to wrest the key ring from him. But he was too far away now. “Release me and we shall vanquish Theobald.”
“He has vowed that if I give him the key to King Solomon’s treasure, I may take Adelaide back to Langley. Once there the king may yet allow me to marry her.”
“Surely, you did not tell Theobald Adelaide has the key.”
Mitchell paused which was answer enough. “The key is all King Ethelwulf and his kin have ever wanted. Theobald assures me if we hand it over peacefully, the king will allow us to go free.”
“Even with the key, Ethelwulf will never allow a true heir to remain alive. He would not risk any threat to his kingship.”
“Unlike you, I have worked hard to cultivate a steadfast and worthy reputation with the king. He trusts me as he did our father. On my last visit to Delsworth, the king agreed to my taking the earldom as well as marrying Adelaide—”
“That was before he knew who Adelaide was. He will never agree to it now.” I wasn’t surprised Mitchell had already gained permission to marry Adelaide. But I did wonder how he’d planned to inform and convince Adelaide—not that it mattered anymore.
Mitchell started toward the stairwell.
I had to make him see reason. “Theobald is known for being a liar and a brute. You cannot trust anything that comes out of his mouth.”
Without glancing back at me, Mitchell paused to hang the rusty keys back on the nail at the base of the steps, too far away to be of any use to me.
“Once Theobald has the key,” I called, “he will kill you and Adelaide both.”
Mitchell started up the stairs.
“For the love of the saints! You cannot do this! If not your own life, then think of Adelaide. You will lead her to her death.”
