He reached out and touched my face. “I’ll go first. There was this man, Raj.”
My eyes widened. As I’d suspected, the rumor was true. After four years, he was taking this leap? I found myself drawn in—finally uncovering the mystery of my angelic partner. If he’d hidden it, I knew this story wouldn’t have a happy end. Could it be that, without words, we’d bore something in common all this time? Something we’ve been helping each other overcome?
He continued. “He was beautiful. Radiant like the sun itself.” He smiled, his eyes glazed over with memory. “He taught me how to be a great merchant, but really he taught me how to connect with people. It was only a matter of time before the rumors started to circulate. When two souls are that connected, it’s obvious to the world.”
“What happened?” I asked, entranced.
He looked down at his hands. “One night, he didn’t return home. I waited for a few hours, and when he didn’t show, I set out to search for him. Not an hour later, I found him half-alive.” Gabriel’s eyes teared up, a single tear breaking onto his lap near our hands. “He died a couple of days later from his injuries.” He laughed, startling me. “Do you want to know what he said to me in his last moments?” I nodded, unsure if I really did want to know. “Worth it.”
Gabriel beamed at me, love still alive in his eyes. Water droplets clung to his thick eyelashes. His energy flickered out, and he continued, “After that, I went looking for a fight, and I found one. I was ready to follow him, to die like he died. If he was executed for our love, then I too would die by his side. That is, until a teenage girl intervened.”
I reached out, wiping the tears from his face. I buried my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, the warmth reaching all the way to my bones.
I was glad I’d stepped in that day. Glad to have Gabe in my life. He always felt like the only person in the world who understood me, and now I knew why. He wept for several minutes and I bit back my urge to cry. Finally, he pulled back and spoke to the top of my head. “So, please— just tell me one thing. His name,” he said. “We can sort this out together.”
His story rattled me. The look in his eyes… it was how my eyes had once looked. Gabriel and I had something important in common all these years, something that silently held us together. Something I’d only guessed at, until now.
“His name, Char,” he pushed.
I swallowed and let his name slip from my lips like my soul from my body in death. “Young,” I whispered.
His arms slowly loosened around me, but I didn’t move. “That’s a Viran name...” I felt my breath leave my lungs, “which means he was King Young of Vires.” My breathing toiled in my chest, heaving as the words lashed me. “Which means you are not Charlotte of Camelot.” He lowered his voice. “You’re Queen Charlotte of Besmium.”
After several minutes, he laughed and tightened his grip on me. “Actually, if I think about it, it makes perfect sense.”
“Why?” I asked, his laugh easing me.
“Because you can’t cook at all.”
We laughed together, the final wall between us falling away like one of Lynn’s crumbled scones. We were husband and wife, or as close as we’d ever be. It was all I wanted. Like I’d told him, love was over. I was happy to have a home, happy to belong somewhere. I was certain I’d live the rest of my life in this safe, comfortable world we’d built together.
Until a week later, when, like Raj, he didn’t return home from work.
12
Lancelot
I awoke with the scratch of dry air like knives on my bare throat. “Water,” I croaked. I blinked my eyes open, the sun piercing into my head like the lances the knights used at Arthur’s tournaments. “Merlin, water!” My voice rattled my brain in my skull, and I closed my eyes to rest. The door swung open and I heard the shuffle of small footsteps near. Definitely not Merlin.
“Your lady said she’s going out to train. Told me you’d be in this kind of mood.”
I heard the clang of tin. I squinted to find a small, gray-haired inn keep with a cup of water. I reached for it and embraced the cool liquid as it eased my throat. “More, please,” I said, but the inn keep had already begun to pour another cupful.
“She’s not my lady,” I said. The inn keep’s wrinkled eyes blinked with disinterest. “That girl, Merlin. She’s not my lady. I have someone at home—”
“You should get some rest,” she said. “I’ll come back in an hour to check on you.”
I slunk back into bed, feeling the spin of the earth heavily to my left. Even so, that water had done me some good.
When I awoke again, I felt more alert. I sat up and there, reading in the corner, was Merlin. She didn’t seem to notice I’d woken, or maybe she didn’t care.
“What happened to the Viran prince?”
She looked up from her book, her glittering eyes setting me at ease. Everything was back to normal.
“They’re gone. They must’ve known we were going to follow them. They snuck off while you were passed out.”
I lurched forward. “Do you know where they’re going?”
She looked at her nails. “Not a clue.”
“That was our only chance to find Charlotte. How could you let him go?”
“Here we go…”
I pulled myself out of bed and walked over to intimidate her. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you didn’t want us to find her. That way you could keep me away from Gwen.”
She picked at her nails and, without looking up, the brightest smile crossed her face. Cold, I looked down at my naked body. She tried to stifle a laugh, but it came shooting out of her nose. I ran over to the bed and ripped a blanket from it, wrapping it around me. Merlin was nearly in tears from laughing.
“Why am I naked?” I barked.
She sighed, attempting to bite back her joy. “You threw up on your clothes.” She fell into another bout of laughter. “I had them washed.” She pointed to the closet door where my clothes hung neatly.
I shook with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. “Why didn’t you put me in something else?”
She snorted. “You wouldn’t let me.”
I sat down on the bed and sighed; my embarrassment lifted my rage. “So the prince is gone?”
“Look,” she said, “don’t lose hope.”
“Charlotte is an extremely popular name, that’s why our leads always come up as dead ends, but how often are there Virans in Camelot, let alone a group of ten Viran guards and a prince?
“It’ll be no time at all before we get word of their whereabouts.”
She was right. Still, it was my fault they got away in the first place. Had Prince Minseo planned this? At least I’d cracked him across the cheek. Royalty or not, this was Camelot and I’d soon be a knight.
“Hey, Merlin,” I said, still unable to look at her. “Did anything happen last night?” I tightened the blanket nervously. What would I tell Gwen?
She stood and headed for the door. “Of course not.” She tossed her braids over her shoulder. “Except…” My stomach tightened. “You said something cruel.”
My brow furrowed. It was an unusual thing for her to say. I said cruel things to her all the time. What could I have possibly said that hurt her worse than usual? My curiosity overtook my fear of her answer. “Wh-what did I say?”
She sighed. “You called me beautiful,” she said as she left the room and closed the door behind her. I was an ass. Merlin always got the brunt of my frustration. Yet every day she stayed beside me. Cruel. That’s the word she used. She was beautiful. I was sure everyone who passed her thought so, but was it so cruel for me to say it? Her beauty was as factual as a name. Not a word of flattery. Was it because I’d only said it when drunk?
“Wait!” I leapt up and pulled the door open. “Merlin.” She stopped and looked over her shoulder at me. “You are beautiful.”
She smiled, but her eyes were heavy with sadness. Then her gaze drifted down. Crap. I grasped at the fallen blanket,
wrapping it better around my waist.
She waved her hand and started down the stairs. What was I doing?
13
Minseo
“Ugh,” I moaned. “Wellwood isn’t nearly as nice as the other city, in both size and quality. I mean, did you see our inn? Don’t they know I’m royalty?” Habit rolled his eyes, his lips already pursed to start whistling again. “I mean, is there even a tavern here?” I said as we walked along a row of worn-down businesses. We came to a square with slightly better upkeep, and a soft gust of wind filled my nose with a sweet scent that made my mouth water. A bakery. I followed the scent until I stood outside a business called Blue De Loon, but when I entered, it looked more like a tavern than a bakery.
A woman with two piles of curls on top of her head and a well-curved nose wiped the bar with a cloth.
“Is this a bakery?” I asked, wandering in.
She looked startled to see me, but I’d been getting that reaction since I arrived in Camelot. “It’s a tavern,” she said, “but I also sell baked goods.”
I turned to Junho. “Let’s get some sweets and go.”
“But weren’t you looking for a tavern?” Junho asked, looking around the empty room.
“I’m not feeling the wholesome environment,” I said as the barkeep set out several trays of baked goods. I picked up a bread puff and popped it into my mouth. Surprised by the sweet cream inside, I savored it, prompting Junho and Hanbit to do the same. “We’ll take the tray,” I said. The barkeep’s eyes lit as she scrambled to find a bag for the puffs. Junho fished in his purse for the coins.
“Excuse me,” the barkeep said. “Are you Viran?”
I nodded, eying the last of the puffs as she shoved them into a bag.
She handed them to me. “And what brings you here? Surely, there are bigger cities for touring. Bullhorn perhaps?”
“I’m looking for someone. A woman named Charlotte.” The barkeep lowered her eyes and began counting Junho’s coins. Suspicious, I pushed. “Do you know someone by that name?”
“Ah, yes sir,” she said. “There are many women in this kingdom with that name.”
When she was certain she had the amount she needed, she handed a few smaller coins to Junho then handed the bag of puffs to me.
Hanbit leaned in. “Perhaps I can carry that for you, sire.”
“Not a chance,” I said, and we left the tavern.
The spirits of my men and I improved as we passed around the puffs and walked. Had it looked this nice before or were the delicious cream puffs coating my perception?
We strolled along the suddenly charming streets of Wellwood until a voice cried out in pain, pulling me from the puff-induced trance. I hurried around the corner, my soldiers close by. There was a crowd of men huddled in a circle. Another cry burst from the middle. “You damn fairy!” a man yelled and kicked a bloodied figure on the ground. Before I could react, Junho drew his sword and barreled into the crowd. Shit.
I pushed through, my guards on my heels. Junho stood at the front of the crowd, between the man on the ground and the angry mob.
“What is this?” an angry, red-bearded man called.
I reached the front. “What is this man’s crime?” I called.
Junho shook and shouted, “Disperse, this man is under our protection.” I heard the word Viran bouncing through the crowd, but they didn’t appear to be backing down. What was Junho doing? It was out of character for him to intervene, so why now?
“Junho,” I whispered, “what are you doing?” His gaze met mine, an intense fire in them I’d never witnessed. I didn’t understand, but I knew he had his reasons. Friendship often didn’t need a reason to act.
“You’re surrounded,” I called, motioning to my guards at the back of the crowd. “If you leave now, nobody has to die.” Slowly, the crowd tallied the number of guards and eventually dispersed, grumbling under their breath as they went. When they cleared out, Junho knelt and assessed the beaten man’s injuries.
“What’s going on, Junho?”
“Let’s take him back to the inn and keep guards outside, just in case someone in that mob follows us.”
“Junho,” I repeated, “what’s going on?”
His gaze met mine. “This man needs our help.”
I’d never seen him with so much conviction, yet he hid his reasons. Was there something I’d missed? Sure, someone was in trouble, but it wasn’t our fight. For a moment, as he frantically worked to save this stranger, he reminded me a bit of Young. Yeah, he probably would have charged in the same way.
We struggled to get the man to the inn. He was muscular and tall, each of his limbs like a tree trunk. After some time, we were able to get him into our carriage, and with the help of Jay Hyun and two other men, we carried him into the inn. I called a doctor to treat his injuries, but it wasn’t promising. The man was bleeding and bruised; the doctor predicted he wouldn’t make it through the night.
Hour after hour, Junho stayed by his side, a brutal sleepless evening where Junho acted as if his presence beside the man was the only thing holding him to this world. I began to worry about his health when he wouldn’t eat. His face paled, his eyes tense—I lay awake waiting for bad news that never came.
In the morning, the injured man regained consciousness long enough to tell us his name and for him to whisper the words, “My wife”, before falling back to sleep. I’d expected such a promising sign to ease Junho a little, but he still refused to rest. I couldn’t get him alone to talk, but I noticed his gaze had changed from concern to anger.
A few hours later, a commotion outside set me on edge. Jay Hyun ran in, blood dripping from his bottom lip. Out of breath, he said, “It’s the wife— she’s crazed.”
I stood to the side, biting back laughter. Who was this crazed woman that struck Jay Hyun?
As she barreled in the room, my heart stopped. Charlotte. Her golden-brown skin shone, her curly hair pinned up on her head, but still, her curls swirled around her like black smoke, moving of their own volition. Her cheeks were red, but I couldn’t tell if it was from running or crying. Her dress, a tattered, stitched-together heap of cloth that may as well have been a silk-spun ball gown by the way it hung on curves that had never been present when I knew her. My legs jellied.
Charlotte’s gaze was locked on the injured man, her eyes fierce. A glint of wetness shimmered on her lashes, her unreasonably tawny eyes ablaze with strength. My pulse restarted when I caught a glimpse of her pink and floridly curved lips.
She heaved her face and arms onto the injured man’s chest, waking him. He wrapped his arms around her and she wept, her curls bouncing with each gasp of breath.
14
Charlotte
As Gabriel’s arms wrapped around me, I felt relief fill my lungs. He was alive. But that calm feeling quickly succumbed to rage. Who did this? It had been so long since I’d let my emotions get the better of me, but nothing had compared to the fear I felt when Gabriel hadn’t returned home. He’d just told me the story of Raj, and I knew when he didn’t return from work that something must’ve happened. I whispered a silent thank you to Young for keeping him alive.
“Charlotte,” someone said from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and froze. My body surged with numbness. Minseo. I wiped my tears and stood to face him. “Your Highness,” I said, curtsying. Some habits were difficult to break. “Are you responsible for his injuries?”
“Charlotte,” he said, stepping towards me. My hand moved to the hilt of my dagger. Arms wide, he walked up to me, reaching for me. In an instant, my dagger was at his throat. He froze.
I had gone weak in the knees from his smoldering looks once upon a time. His prominent eyes were dark and mischievous. They had long, sharp angles and a heavy lid that accentuated the darkness of them. They whispered secrets, ones not asked to know. But I’d been thrown by them before, I even thought he eclipsed his brother when we’d first met. Something inside me wavered, perhaps just from seeing a familiar face, bu
t I quickly crushed it. I could still see the dashing prince in there, buried beneath his tousled hair and stubbled chin. His once muscular frame was worn and lanky from inaction, his posture slacked with defeat and heavy with grief. I gazed at him, noticing the dark circles around his eyes. I bet, like me, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since Young died. But none of that warranted sympathy. In fact, I could probably slit his throat right now and not lose a bit of sleep over it.
A Viran guard I hadn’t noticed put his sword to my back, but I didn’t care. I glared at Minseo. “Did you have something to do with my husband’s injuries?”
A drop of blood slipped from Minseo’s neck, but he didn’t flinch. Still, pain echoed in his dark eyes. I felt myself weaken as I noticed traces of Young in his features—the same nose, the same cheekbones, similar eyebrows.
“Minseo saved him,” a voice said from behind me. “Your husband, I mean.” I turned to see a man standing beside Gabriel’s bed.
When I turned back to Minseo, there was so much hurt and sadness in his eyes that a touch of satisfaction filled me long enough to lower my dagger and sheath it.
Without another word, Minseo turned and left. Guilt seared my skin, but in a few short seconds, it transformed into boiling wrath. How dare he! I stormed out of the room and followed Minseo into the street.
“What did you think?” I yelled at his back as he paced through the street. “That I’d just welcome you back with open arms?” Several bystanders stopped to listen.
He turned. “I thought you were dead.”
I caught up, stopping in front of him. “Yeah, I get why you’d think that. I was alone, pregnant, never lived outside the castle, approaching winter, and you left me there to die.”
Minseo sucked in his words.
I gritted my teeth. “You thought you’d just, what? Walk back in my life and be welcomed like a hero?”
Kingdom Soul Page 5
