We’ll call through the door, she suggested. Demand he hands you over.
No! If he realizes you know where we are, I really think he’ll kill me. You saw Dominic. I’m sure Cole thinks that the minute he loses hold of me as a hostage, he’s dead. I can easily imagine he’d want to take me down with him in that scenario.
What can we do then?
I don’t know. What’s happening out there? Oh wait! It sounds like some of the hubbub has died down, and I can actually hear you all. This cupboard must share a wall with the throne room, and you must be standing very close to us…
“Dominic.” I recognized Jon’s voice. “That was a well-timed arrival.”
Dominic growled, but only I could hear the question behind the sound.
“I heard…I heard that you can’t speak.” That was Lily. “But I’m guessing you want to go after Sophie, and you’re wondering where he might have taken her.”
Don’t forget, if I can hear you, Cole can too! I reminded her.
She ignored me, responding instead to Dominic who must have nodded, or something. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go racing after them. I think Cole meant his threat.” A pause, and then she added, “Don’t look at me like that! I’m as worried for her as anyone.”
Can you hear me, Sophie? Dominic’s voice had never sounded so welcome in my mind. Don’t give up. I won’t rest until I find you and make him pay.
“We should go and consult those guards of yours,” said Lily. “I assume they can speak, at least.”
Cole’s armed tightened around us, the tip of his dagger nicking my skin as the sounds of the others moved away. His message was clear—for my sake, I had better hope they didn’t try searching this cupboard.
Can you hear us still, or are we far enough away? Lily asked me.
I can’t hear anything but general muffled noise.
Then I’m going to tell them where you are and what’s happening. It’s a good thing that Dominic of yours can’t speak, or I imagine he would be asking me some difficult questions about how I know so much.
I felt my face flush, a surprising reaction given my current circumstances. He’s not my Dominic. He dissolved our betrothal, remember?
She just laughed at me and then fell silent, presumably because she had started talking to Jon and Dominic. I pictured them all out there. Where was this going to end?
I bit my lip, trying not to swallow against the blade which had already broken my skin. Dominic didn’t seem sick, but then he hadn’t succumbed immediately the last time he had left the castle grounds either. It had taken more than a day despite his significant wounds. How long would it take the sickness to overwhelm him this time, when he had started off healthy and strong?
I tore my mind away from the thought, needing to focus on my immediate situation if I was going to escape alive. I breathed slowly, in and out, while I thought. After everything I had been through, both Dominic and Lily were a mere wall away. I refused to lose them both now.
“We can’t stay here forever,” I whispered as quietly as I could. “You know that.”
Cole tightened his grip, but kept the knife still. I breathed a little easier. He must recognize the truth of my words.
“If you let me go, you might have a chance of escaping on your own.”
I could feel his head shaking behind me. “Do you take me for a fool?” he breathed into my ear. “I saw how many guards that cursed prince brought with him. I just don’t understand where they came from!”
I stayed silent, equally mystified.
“I will not walk away with nothing now, after all this work, all this planning.”
“You would be walking away with your life.”
“Silence!”
He shook me slightly, and I felt a small biting pain and then a drop of blood running down my neck. I shut my mouth. I had pushed hard enough. Now that I had planted the seed, I needed to provide a spur.
Cole knows we can’t stay here forever, I projected to Lily. If you all come back over here and have a conversation that suggests there might be a free path for him to get us both out of here, I think he might take it. Only you’ll have to be extremely careful to keep everyone out of sight when we emerge. He’s going to be jumpy, and I’d rather not die just because he was startled.
Lily moaned. I do NOT like this situation.
Just get all the guards out and hide yourselves somewhere. I’ll have a better chance of getting away if we’re on the move than if we stay stuck in this cupboard.
Reluctantly she agreed, and I soon heard the group return.
“Look, we’re wasting time,” said Jon, sounding frustrated. “He could be anywhere by now. I’m dividing the guards into search parties and sending one to each floor. We’ll flush them out.”
“Don’t send all of them!” said Lily. “We can’t leave the throne room undefended.”
“Why not?” Jon sounded impatient and dismissive. “What’s he going to do, sneak back in and steal the throne? They’re clearly long gone from here, it’s about the one place in the palace we know they’re not.”
Dominic growled, a dark, threatening sound.
“See,” said Jon. “Dominic agrees with me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, he could be saying anything!”
I could feel Cole’s tenseness behind me and knew he was listening to every word. I wanted to applaud their little charade.
“Dominic, leave off all that growling for half a minute and nod your head if you agree with me,” said Jon. There was a brief pause, and then, “See! I told you.”
“Men! Ugh! Fine, send out your search parties. I just want to find my sister.”
Their voices faded away again, and then we heard barked orders and the sound of many moving feet. A number of boots tramped through the antechamber, and both Cole and I held our breaths until the door closed and silence fell.
It stretched on and on, and I began to wonder if he would need another prompt. But finally, he stirred, prodding me forward. “We’re leaving,” he whispered. “Just don’t forget. One sound, and I slit your throat.”
I groped in the darkness for the door handle and managed to open it silently. We walked out slowly, Cole holding my back pressed hard against his chest, his knife unwavering. As expected, the antechamber was empty, both doors shut. He paused, which I hadn’t expected, and spun me around.
“Don’t try to run,” he warned. “You won’t get far.”
The gold cord was still tangled around one of my wrists, everything having happened too fast for me to bother removing it. He pulled it loose and commanded me to hold both hands in front of me. Placing his knife in his teeth, he quickly bound my wrists, before spinning me away from him again.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, and I felt the tip of the knife press into my back, between two ribs. “Don’t worry, Princess,” he whispered. “I know what I’m doing with this thing. Your death will be no less inevitable, it will just be considerably slower.”
I swallowed, but relayed the news to Lily in my mind. Hopefully this would make my rescue easier.
We’re in here, out of sight, she told me. We’re ready.
Except when Cole pushed me roughly forward, he didn’t turn toward the door into the apparently empty throne room. Instead he propelled me to the door out into the corridor, and checked it quickly before thrusting me through into the passageway.
Lily! We’re not going into the throne room. He’s gone the other way.
My breathing hitched as I started to panic. This hadn’t been the plan. What would happen if we stumbled on some of the guards? I kept imagining I felt the pressure of the knife increasing.
Cole pushed me down the corridor and into another. I didn’t recognize the route and had no idea where we were heading. We saw one group of guards, far in the distance, and Cole pulled me back, pressing me against the wall until they disappeared in the opposite direction. He became a little more confident after that, pushing me forward at a faster pace.
I had been keeping Lily informed of our progress, but she seemed almost as panicked as me, scrambling now to get into place for another plan. Finally, we reached a small door that looked like it might lead outside. Cole directed me to open it, and I did so awkwardly, due to my bound hands.
I pushed the door, and it flung open faster than I had expected. A flash of brown and red filled my vision and then something jerked me forward and flung me to the ground.
I fell, only just managing to twist my bound hands into a position to take the brunt of my landing. A familiar roar sounded as I rolled onto my back in time to see Dominic lift Cole completely off his feet. He shook him, roaring again.
But Cole still held the knife, and rays from the dying sun reflected off the blade as he lifted it over his head.
“Dominic!” I screamed, struggling to push myself up.
His eyes flashed up and saw the danger, and he flung Cole away from him with all his strength. He landed against a wall, hard, and fell to the ground. He lay there, still, his body bent at an unnatural angle.
I slumped back against the ground and closed my eyes. I expected to feel hands helping me to my feet, but instead I heard a loud thump. My eyes flew open, and I saw Dominic crumpled in the dirt a short distance away from me.
Chapter 31
“Dominic!” I screamed again, twisting over and crawling slowly toward him. I added a mental scream immediately afterwards. Lily! Where are you?
What? What’s happened? We’re still trying to follow you, but I think I must have gotten one of the turns wrong. Dominic took off a while ago.
He’s here. I think Cole’s dead. But something’s wrong with Dominic.
I thought he was starting to look weak. She sounded grim. Where are you?
I looked around. I don’t know. In the palace grounds somewhere. Just outside a door in the…east wing, maybe?
All right. We’re coming.
I had reached Dominic and now knelt beside him. I had been sure he had acted before Cole’s knife struck, and I could see no sign of an injury. His collapse must be the result of his curse. Leaning over him, tears streamed down my cheeks as I searched for a heartbeat, or breathing, or something. He stirred.
“Oh!” I gasped. “Dominic!”
He gave me the smallest of smiles. Are you hurt? he asked, his voice weak.
I shook my head. “How did you know where to find me?”
I grew up in this palace, I know it well. Once I realized the direction you were going, his destination was obvious.
“You saved me.”
He smiled again. I told you I would.
I gave a shaky laugh that cut off abruptly as his eyes fluttered closed. “No. Dominic, no!” I gripped his jacket as best I could and shook him. He didn’t respond although I could still hear his labored breaths.
I dropped my forehead down onto his chest. “I will not lose you now. Your kingdom needs you. I need you.”
He seemed too weak to speak, but I refused to let him go. If he could not speak, allowing me to hear him as I did the servants, then I needed to connect directly with his mind. I needed to communicate with him as I did with Lily. I had no idea if such a thing were even possible, but I was determined to succeed.
I closed my eyes, and concentrated my mind. I could feel how much my powers of mental communication had grown in the last months, honed and strengthened by my time at the castle. I shaped my thoughts as I would do to send them to Lily, but instead of sending them out to her, I focused all my attention on Dominic. I breathed in the smell of him and felt his warmth beneath my hands and head. I thought of how he made me feel—infuriated and exhilarated, cherished and so alive. I reached into my dress and pulled out the rose he had given me. Somehow it had survived being stored in two different dresses now. It hadn’t even wilted—the last piece of our enchanted life at the castle, the deep color and the pure white of the spirals in the rose garden combined into a single blossom. I pressed it against his chest and sent my thoughts flying in his direction.
I felt my mind connect with the essence of him, so like to what I had always done with Lily, and yet so unlike at the same time. Her mind felt safe and familiar, at times like an extension of my own. His felt wild and barely tamed, full of pain and grief.
Dominic, I projected. I will not let you die.
Dimly I heard the arrival of Lily and Jon, and part of my mind knew they had pulled up my hands and were cutting the cord from my wrists. But I ignored them, too focused on my new connection with Dominic.
One of his hands twitched, and for a moment I thought his eyes would open, but he did not seem to have the strength.
How…how are you here, in my mind? he asked.
This is the connection I have with Lily, have always had with her. This is how I learned to hear you and the servants at the castle. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was cut off from her at the castle, and it made me angry and afraid.
No, Sophie. You have no need to apologize to me. We have both of us had our secrets. He paused. I know that you could never forgive me for mine. Could never…love me. But I want you to know that you have taught me so much. You have shown me what it is to love. And even if there was never hope for me to be freed from my curse, you have freed my kingdom, and that is enough.
The tears continued to pour down my cheeks as I stared at his still face. Saved your kingdom? What do you mean?
Somehow our connection seemed to give him a small burst of strength. He opened his eyes, the bright blue that had always captivated me, capturing me once again. He smiled. Didn’t you notice the snow melting? Or the wolves disappearing? Or all those guards I had with me?
I gasped. The people have returned?
They have returned–thanks to you.
But…I don’t understand. I was never able to figure out how to save them.
I already told you. You taught me to love. The people of Palinar were moved to a place of protection until their ruler could learn the true meaning of love. He paused as he drew a particularly labored breath. I did not understand self-sacrifice, or how to value myself last. And then you came. I should never have forced you to come as I did, and yet how could I regret it?
I felt his emotions wash over me, a wave of love so strong I could barely breathe. For a moment, I choked on my tears.
So, I was right. It was a protection not a curse on the people.
He grimaced. It was only the royal family who were cursed. Twice cursed in my case. But now you have freed my people from my curse. No one could have freed me, however. I see that now.
No! I projected, my hands clasping at his jacket. I cannot accept that. There must be a way to free you.
You must find my sister. She has been missing for more than three years now, but I cannot believe she is dead. Find her, and help her claim the throne. She has a good heart, like yours. She will make an excellent queen.
I shook him. And what of your heart?
It is yours. And you shall have to keep it safe for me when I am gone.
I don’t want you to leave, I sobbed.
He went so still that I feared he had died, but then he breathed again, and me along with him. You would not feel that way if you could see what I have done. And you should see it, it is only right.
I felt his mind wrap itself around mine in a way I had never experienced before. And then in my mind’s eye I could see a series of memories, as vividly as if they were my own. I saw King Nicolas, exactly as his portrait had shown him, strike down villager after villager.
I whimpered at the sight. So, Dominic had been there. I wanted to cover my eyes, but the images were in my mind, and I could not turn them off. Thankfully Dominic had looked away after a few moments, but his feelings from the time continued to assail me.
Shock at his father’s actions, anger that he would attack unarmed people in such a way, and underneath it, fear at where his father’s rage might be directed next. And over all of it, confusion. It didn’t seem just, what his
father was doing. But wasn’t it a ruler’s right to do with his people what he willed? They all of them lived to serve him, did they not?
I could feel his revulsion, his urge to intervene, and his shame that he did not. And then Dominic spoke over the top of the memory. I was there, Sophie. I stood by and let him kill all those people, even the babies. I said nothing. I did nothing.
I remained silent, too overwhelmed to speak.
It gets worse, he projected. I wish I did not have to show you, but it is the only way for you to understand.
The memories shifted, and I saw the palace as it had been more than three years ago, shining and full of people. The servants scattered before the king as he strode through the corridors, and I knew—as seventeen-year-old Dominic had known—that news of the king’s massacre had preceded them to the palace. By the time they approached the royal wing, not a single servant was anywhere to be seen or heard.
King Nicolas made no comment, his face cold and detached. Until Queen Ruby appeared at the top of the stairs. Dominic’s shame returned at the sight of his mother’s ashen face, and the way she met his eyes only to quickly look away. His mother would have at least tried to intervene. He knew it. She did not believe the people lived to serve them.
A spasm passed over the king’s expression. I could not have guessed at its meaning, but the young Dominic interpreted it as a sign of the king’s emotions for his wife. Of his love. Except that over the top of that sensation, I could feel Dominic’s current opinion. It had not been love. His father had not known how to love. He had valued his wife because she was beautiful, and because at times the people’s love for her had been useful. But he did not love her.
What have you done? asked the queen in Dominic’s memory. Tell me it isn’t true. It cannot be true!
They defied me. All of them. They got only what they deserved. The king attempted to brush past his wife, but she clutched at his sleeve.
Even the babies? she whispered, horror in her eyes.
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