Beguiled (The Fairest Maidens Book 2)

by Jody Hedlund

  “She will never hand Ruby over to you. Not if she wants me.”

  I recognized the truth in Pearl’s words, which stirred my fear. “Then the question we must answer is, why does she want you back?”

  “To attempt to kill me again?”

  “But why did she try to kill you the first time? And why would she want to do so again?”

  “She believes I am plotting treason, perhaps even amassing followers who will rise up and lead a revolt against her.”

  During one of our many conversations, we’d discussed Warwick’s increasing poverty as a result of the gemstone mine not producing as many precious jewels in recent years. And we’d also talked about the queen’s yearly custom of sacrificing a maiden to a berserker—a madman—by the name of Grendel and how the people resented the choosing process. It was easy to see why the people might want to revolt.

  Nevertheless, in all my analyzing, I still hadn’t been able to understand why Queen Margery had tried to eliminate Pearl. Even if the queen despised Pearl’s blemish or felt threatened by revolt, why not simply lock her up?

  Plotting murder didn’t make sense, and this charge of treason was even more far-fetched. The queen didn’t truly believe her daughters, especially Ruby, who was just a child, could conspire against her. I could only puzzle over the queen’s real motives for wanting Pearl to return.

  A rat scurried past our feet, and Pearl hugged her arms over mine. “I shall not allow you to give up your Testing to accompany me. You must remain here—”

  “And I shall not allow you to fight this battle against the queen alone.”

  “Mikkel, please. You must finish your Testing and become the great king you were destined to be.”

  I was grateful for her desire to see me succeed. But I could never count myself a great king if I consented to her wish to fend for herself while I pursued selfish gain. “Perhaps after we have Ruby, you can take her to Scania and wait for me there while I go back to the island and finish my Testing.”

  She hesitated. “This is too risky. I cannot ask this of you—”

  “You’re not asking.” I tried to infuse my voice with princely authority so she would accept my decision. “I’m your husband now, and we shall face the queen together.”

  Two forms slinked into view a short distance away, Gregor and Irontooth. I grabbed the edict with the information about Pearl and crumpled it. I couldn’t trust anyone else with keeping Pearl safe.

  “Speak of this to no one,” I whispered. “We shall finish our mission here in Fife. And once the women are safely returned to the island, we shall sneak away.”

  “Very well.”

  I released my hold of her, though I was loathe to do so. “Promise you will wait for me?”

  She nodded almost imperceptibly.

  Even with her reluctant vow, I feared I wouldn’t be able to keep her safe, no matter how hard I tried.

  Chapter

  14

  Pearl

  I waited on the rooftop, where Mikkel had instructed me to stay. The setting sun on the horizon cast a blood-red glow over the town center, as if it had pronounced judgment and death upon the waiting women.

  I shifted to get more comfortable, but the ache in my chest remained. It hadn’t gone away since the moment I’d seen Ruby’s name on the sheet of parchment hours ago. Every time I thought about what the queen was doing to my sister, the bitterness swelled until it nearly choked me.

  My consolation was that my mother wouldn’t try to murder Ruby, not as long as she needed my sister to draw me back to Warwick. At least I prayed so.

  At the sight of a hooded man slipping through the gathering crowd, I rose to my knees, straightened my bow, and took out an arrow. On the rooftop adjacent to mine, Humphrey readied his bow and arrow too, his hood pulled up to cover his large head and ears.

  The Inquisitor’s soldiers had been laboring for the past couple of hours at erecting stakes and piling wood around them. The women were still in the stocks where they’d languished all day in the unrelenting sun without food or water. The longer they suffered, the more anxious I was to relieve them.

  But like everyone else, I respected Mikkel’s plan and was following every detail. Once again, he’d shown himself to be a cunning and strategic leader. He’d solicited advice from the others and combined those suggestions into an ultimate rescue effort. Now, after the agonizing wait, we would soon set the plan into motion.

  Since the Inquisitor still had lookouts posted along the harbor, we guessed he didn’t yet realize we’d crossed over from the island. I prayed that meant our landing and positions hadn’t yet been discovered.

  Once we freed the women, we had a narrow window of time for making the escape, and we needed everything to go right. The trouble was that the slightest wrong move could jeopardize the undertaking, putting Mikkel in grave peril. And the thought of something happening to him added to the ache in my chest.

  All day, as I’d stayed hidden on the roof, my mind had wandered to Mikkel. Even if he was still somewhat leery about what lay beneath my veil, he’d chosen—no, insisted—on going with me to rescue Ruby.

  “I’m your husband now, and we shall face the queen together.”

  His passionate words reverberated through me again, as did the remembrance of the way he’d held my hand on the walk to the ash pit. Of course he’d been right to stop me from acting rashly after learning of Ruby. And his comforting hold and his wise words had calmed me.

  Through it all, I couldn’t help liking him more and not less.

  I watched him weave through the crowd, my chest squeezing with anxiety again. He’d insisted on being the one to make the public appearance, since no one would recognize him as an outcast. Hopefully, by the time the guards realized he was on our side, it would be too late. Irontooth stood on the outskirts along with Toad. With gloves covering his webbed fingers, Toad would blend in as well.

  As Mikkel edged closer to the women, the Inquisitor stepped out of a nearby tavern. We’d guessed he would start the fires as soon as the sun set. He was giving us as much time as possible to make the crossing before nightfall. With the fear of being on the sea and encountering Loch Ness, he probably surmised that if we hadn’t arrived by sunset, we weren’t coming.

  Little did he know that, since we’d crossed safely last night, we’d decided to chance the return trip in the dark as well. Our hope was that the Inquisitor and his men wouldn’t try to follow us, would leave us to the fate of Loch Ness.

  Attired in the long brown robes that priests wore, the Inquisitor was taller and thinner than most people, and his hair was shorn almost to his scalp, giving him a skeletal appearance.

  From a distance, I’d once mistaken him for an outcast. He had an odd appearance, and most certainly could have fit into one of the island’s groups. Because of that, his zeal for persecuting the misfits made little sense. I’d concluded that perhaps tyrannizing others made him feel better about himself.

  He’d been hunting down and terrorizing the outcasts since before I’d arrived in the area. The last time two of our men had been captured, he hadn’t waited to kill them. He’d taken them directly to the town square and riddled them with arrows.

  Apparently today he was hoping to capture more outcasts. Maybe he was tired of the chase. Or maybe his superiors were pressuring him to increase his efforts. Regardless, we desperately needed to succeed this time and send him a message that he couldn’t so easily intimidate us.

  As the Inquisitor strode toward the town green, the villagers quieted and parted, making a path for him. Two armored guards followed on his heels, bringing the total soldiers up to ten—at least that I’d counted.

  The odds weren’t in our favor. But if we stayed focused and each did our part, Mikkel had assured us we would be fine.

  I shifted my attention to his broad shoulders outlined beneath the cloak as he neared the stocks. He hadn’t wanted me to participate in the rescue efforts, only reluctantly agreed to give me the roofto
p spot. I’d been frustrated at his stubbornness. But now in watching him inch closer to danger, my stomach clenched. What if he’d simply been worried about what might happen to me the same way I was now with him?

  When the Inquisitor reached the center, he proceeded toward the grouping of stakes and wood, walking around each one, picking up a piece of wood and pushing against the stakes. Then he took a spot nearby where he could see everything. He gave a nod to the soldiers guarding the women. They unlocked and lifted the top boards of the stocks so the prisoners could free their legs from confinement.

  The women hurried to obey the command to stand. But because they’d been sitting for so long, they struggled to push themselves up, gaining kicks and rough prodding from the soldiers. The oldest of the three, Joan, fell to her knees every time she tried to rise, until Felicity stooped and slipped an arm around the woman’s waist.

  Now that the women were temporarily unbound, we needed to act. My attention shifted to Mikkel, and my muscles tensed. He’d already jumped up onto an overturned crate and tossed back his hood, revealing his handsome and yet commanding features. He stuck his fingers into his mouth and produced a piercing whistle that silenced the crowd and drew the gazes of everyone present.

  Immediately, from opposite sides, Irontooth and Toad began to weave through the gathering toward the women.

  “Citizens of Fife.” Mikkel’s voice rang out, the authority of his tone garnering even more attention so that no one paid Irontooth and Toad any heed. “What kind of city and nation have you become to sentence three women to death without the benefit of a fair trial?”

  Murmurings arose from the crowd, and the Inquisitor’s eyes widened as he took in Mikkel.

  “If you judge by appearances alone and refuse to see deeper into the heart, you will only condemn yourselves to more judgment. Eventually, you will soon find yourselves standing in this very place, waiting to be burned at the stake. For who amongst us is without a flaw?”

  The women had stopped the moment they heard Mikkel’s voice, but thankfully Felicity was smart enough not to show her surprise. Instead, she kept her expression neutral and casually glanced over the crowd. I could tell the moment she glimpsed Irontooth by the way her back straightened.

  I prayed strength would return to their limbs, allowing them to make their getaway quickly. Their lives would depend upon it.

  “Who are we to say what is unnatural?” Mikkel continued, drawing the Inquisitor’s scowl. “If you can revile one woman for a mark upon her face, then how could you not denounce another for a mark, only smaller? And if you condemn someone for pale skin and hair, then what’s to stop you from casting judgment on a person with dark skin and hair?”

  The Inquisitor motioned toward his guards, indicating they should silence Mikkel. But they were distracted by his speech. And they were also too distracted to see Irontooth and Toad drawing ever nearer to the women.

  “How can we discount the value of this older woman who cannot speak, and yet nurture a wee babe who is guilty of the same?” Mikkel’s impassioned pleas stirred the crowd, drawing choruses of agreement. “If we judge a person based solely on the way they stand apart from others, then why not judge the Inquisitor? He is taller and thinner than most.”

  At Mikkel’s declaration, the Inquisitor’s visage darkened, and he barked out more urgent orders to his guards, finally drawing their attention.

  “Will you arrest me then also?” Mikkel was regal and every inch a prince. “Perhaps because I have blue eyes instead of brown?”

  The agitation amongst the gathering was growing, just the way Mikkel had predicted it would. They began to jostle and push forward, which aided the momentum of Irontooth and Toad as they attempted to get next to the women.

  “Rather than condemning some to be outcasts,” Mikkel continued above the commotion, “let us recognize we are all unique and imperfect in some way. Let us find no shame in that and instead value each other for our differences.”

  With the Inquisitor’s displeasure ringing in the air, the guards hastened toward Mikkel, though their steps were impeded by the surging crowd.

  “Let the women go free!” Mikkel’s cry rose strong and clear. “Do not make them suffer any longer for the superstitions of the Inquisitor.”

  I drew the bowstring taut. Mikkel had warned Humphrey and me not to shoot unless absolutely necessary. He hadn’t wanted to draw attention to my position on the roof, which would make my getaway all the more difficult.

  Even so, my muscles contracted with the need to protect Mikkel. If any of the soldiers threatened him, I doubted I’d be able to hold back, especially if he was in any danger of being captured.

  Mikkel scanned the crowd. Seeing the guards fighting their way through the crowd in his direction, he hopped down from his perch, accepting the backslaps and arm squeezes of the people around him.

  Already, Irontooth had reached Felicity and scooped Joan up into his arms. Toad had a hold of Rose, and the group was making their escape.

  Mikkel had instructed me to leave once we had possession of the women. Humphrey and I were to take back alleys and meet everyone at the boat. But I couldn’t take my attention from Mikkel. Not yet. Not until I knew he was safe.

  As the soldiers veered nearer to him, my pulse raced harder. I closed one of my eyes and sighted down the length of my arm and the arrow.

  Just then, Mikkel spun and headed toward the Inquisitor.

  “No,” I whispered, silently urging him to flee the opposite way. But Mikkel managed to slip expertly through the crowd until he stood in front of the Inquisitor. He spoke something that caused the Inquisitor’s face to deepen in color before he bellowed at his guards.

  Mikkel picked up his pace, heading in the opposite direction from the rescue party. And suddenly I understood what he was doing. He was drawing the attention of the guards and the Inquisitor away from the others and placing it squarely upon himself.

  As he disappeared between two buildings, my heart plummeted.

  “Veil.” A loud whisper came from the alley below me. “Come on. We have to go.”

  Humphrey was following Mikkel’s instruction to get out of the area of the town square just as soon as we could before the Inquisitor realized the women were gone and called for reinforcements.

  I strained to see Mikkel, but he’d disappeared, and now the soldiers were chasing after him. My heart thudded with fresh dread.

  Even though I was tempted to rush to his aid, I resisted the impulse and did as Mikkel had wanted. I forced myself to climb down and slink away through the darkening shadows with Humphrey. Surely Mikkel would find a way to hide and outsmart the guards. If only I could convince my heart to believe my head.

  By the time Humphrey and I reached the boat, the last rays of sunlight had faded, leaving darkness in its wake. I prayed the night would give the others an advantage, especially Mikkel as he ran for his life.

  “We need to get out of sight.” Humphrey settled low in the hull and motioned at me to do the same.

  I hesitated, watching the shore. Lights flickered in the windows of some of the nearby buildings. Laughter and music seeped out the open doorway of what appeared to be a tavern. At least the people in this area of town were ignorant about the events at the town square. Or if they happened to know, they didn’t seem to care.

  With each passing minute, fear ticked louder within me. How could I hide away if Mikkel remained in peril? “Perhaps I shall make my way back to the north end and see if Mikkel needs my assistance.”

  “No.” Humphrey’s big eyes peered at me from the shadows of his hood. “You can’t go. I promised Mikkel I’d make you stay.”

  I wanted to argue with Humphrey, but I liked knowing Mikkel had cared enough about me to plan for my safety. Only reluctantly did I flatten myself, and only because a group of revelers passed by. When a couple stumbled toward the wharf shortly after, I blew out a frustrated breath. Then I sat up as I recognized Toad and Joan.

  Hurriedly, we ass
isted them into the boat and then remained motionless, praying no one had noticed us. After several minutes of silence, broken only by the sloshing of the waves against the boat and the voices from the nearby tavern, I poked my head up again to have Toad force it back down.

  He was in the process of giving Joan a sip of water from his leather drinking pouch. And his efforts to bring the dear woman comfort put me to shame. I was more concerned about myself and Mikkel than about Joan and her suffering.

  Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long for Irontooth and Felicity to appear with Rose. The women practically fell into the hull, breathing hard and shaking. I hugged them both, rejoicing in their safety, and then offered them the water and a slight bit of bread and dried fish that remained from the supplies we’d brought with us.

  “Let’s go,” Irontooth said after he’d taken a long drink.

  I glanced to the city, praying I’d see Mikkel creeping toward us, but none of the loiterers bore his strength or build. “We need to wait for Mikkel and Gregor.”

  Irontooth tugged at the stern line, his paddle in hand. “He told us if he wasn’t here when we arrived, we needed to leave without him.”

  “No!” I dove forward. But I wasn’t fast enough. He’d unhooked our connection to shore, and the boat began drifting away.

  The other men had grabbled paddles and were digging into the water.

  “We’re not leaving without them.” I lunged for Irontooth’s oar, intending to wrest it from him.

  He shifted it out of reach. “He told us to go because he knows we need to get away from here as soon as possible. If we don’t go now, we might not make it across.”

  I held back my protest so that it burned in my throat. The longer we delayed our departure, the greater the chances of facing Loch Ness again. Or the Inquisitor. We’d made it this far with the women. We couldn’t take any chances of the Inquisitor catching up to us now.

  “He and Gregor can hide for the night,” Irontooth said, “and then find a way back to the island tomorrow.”