They had made it. As the horses and carriage went straight through a set of low bushes, the army surrounding them fanned out to protect the prince. Someone opened the carriage door and soldiers ushered him and Rozaria out, forming a wall of protection around them as they rushed up the garden path to the steps and up to the door.
Paxton stood at the top, schooling his face to hide his shock. Rozaria handed Nicola a cloak and chuckled. “The clothing of Lochlan maids does not suit you, dear.”
The girl took the cloak and put it on, pulling the hood up over her head. The three of them hurried inside with about twenty more guards, and they shut the doors behind them. Prince Vito was all smiles as he surveyed the bodies and stepped over them. The Kalorian guards stared down the empty hall, holding spears. Paxton noticed, appalled, that Vito wore the king of Lochlanach’s crown.
“They’re all gone,” Paxton told them. “Everyone fled or joined the fight outside the castle.”
“Everyone?” Rozaria asked.
Paxton nodded. “I’m fairly certain. I’m sorry I don’t have more information. Things turned to chaos.”
“Don’t worry,” Rozaria told him. “Everything is under control.”
Paxton’s hopes sank as his anxiety rose. He wanted to ask questions, to find out if they had Aerity, but he knew those kinds of questions would raise suspicion.
Prince Vito waved a hand and half the guards ran down the wide hallway, most likely to survey and open the other castle entrances for more of their people to come in. The prince held out his arms at the expansive hallway.
“Home! And where is my welcoming committee? The place could use some redecorating. All in due time, I suppose.” The prince began walking, studying the paintings on the walls, and the remaining guards circled him.
Paxton felt a hand on his arm and jumped. Rozaria laughed up at him.
“No need to fear. You have done well.”
“You were earlier than I expected. I nearly didn’t make it to the doors.” He was having a hard time reining in his anger, but she didn’t seem to mind.
Rozaria shrugged. “The prince was eager. And we had another man on the inside, just in case.”
“Just in case?” Paxton asked. They hadn’t trusted him.
“The prince trusts no one but me. You were the backup. In case the other man couldn’t do what was necessary.”
“My grandson,” mumbled Duke Gulfton from the bench. He was looking straight at Rozaria. Paxton was about to tell the man to quiet down, for his own protection, but to his shock Rozaria replied to him.
“All in good time.” She stared at him.
“Wait.” Paxton looked back and forth. “That bag of bones is the other inside man?”
Rozaria smiled. “He has been most helpful these months.”
Paxton tried to process it. There was no way this old man could have overpowered Aerity. It had to be someone else.
“Listen,” he said to Rozaria. “Aerity Lochson isn’t here. I took my eyes off her for twenty minutes and she disappeared. I lost sight of the younger princess and lady in all the madness as well, but I assume they were ushered away.”
Again, she gave him a knowing, wicked smile. “Duke,” she crooned to the old man, “be so kind as to lead us to the king’s office.”
The man pushed to his feet and shuffled down the hall. Paxton’s heart had not slowed one bit. He peered at Nicola, who trailed behind them. He did not like having her at his back.
“I can show you the way.” He moved impatiently past Duke Gulfton and the prince and his men. Why were they going to the office? He just wanted to find out where Aerity was. If they hurt her, or worse, he would kill every last one of them with his bare hands.
Paxton gritted his teeth as he reached the office door. It felt wrong, so wrong, leading them into the Lochlanach royal room. He pushed open the door with reluctance. They all looked around, touching things, making unimpressed remarks. Paxton moved against the wall near the door and stood with his feet apart, hands clasped in front of himself, and watched. Waiting. His quick-moving blood made his skin feel like it might ignite at any moment.
The prince looked to a tall Kalorian dressed in impeccable silks and gave him an order in Kalorian. Paxton held his breath as the man looked at Duke Gulfton and asked, “Where is she?”
“My grandson, first,” said the duke.
“Of course. He awaits you, as promised. Give us the young queen.”
To Paxton’s utter horror, the old man walked behind the desk and pulled down several books, pushing the bookshelf inward with much effort. Paxton nearly flew across the room when he saw Aerity on the floor within. She brought a hand up to shield her eyes, squinting.
She was alive! He crushed his teeth together to keep from yelling her name. So help him, if anyone tried to hurt her . . .
“My grandson! I’ve done everything you asked.” The old man’s voice shook. “I’ve given you my whole kingdom. Now give me my grandson!”
“Of course, papa,” said the Kalorian royal. “He awaits you this very day. It is time for you to join him.”
“Aye,” the duke said in a joyful whisper. He stared up at the man, who patted his sunken cheek once, twice, and then settled his hand on the duke’s face until his blissful look fell away, and he collapsed on the floor in a pile of robes.
Chapter
39
Aerity screamed as Duke Gulfton crumpled, and then clapped a hand over her mouth when all eyes turned to her. Her vision was still adjusting. She scrambled to push to her feet and stand, staring back at all of them, so many Kalorians. Her eyes landed on the man with the most ornate robes and bands of gold around his neck, and then her eyes went up to the crown on his head—her father’s crown—and she fought for composure.
In a quick, calculated moment, she recalled what Paxton had told her about the Kalorian ruler, and she made a decision. The only way to beat them would be to join them. Or to pretend. She begged the seas to make her act believable.
She cocked her head at the prince and wet her lips.
“Is that you, Prince Vito?”
At the sound of his name a smile played on his face. “You remember me?”
“Of course. You were the most handsome lad at that dreadful ball.” She’d been nine at the time, and he thirteen. She had never met such a sour, spoiled, unpleasant lad in her life.
His eyes narrowed as if suspecting deception, and then he chuckled. “I always did hate forced entertainment.” He steadied his crown, making a show of it.
Aerity stepped slowly forward until she was in the bookshelf doorway.
“Don’t come any closer,” warned Rozaria. Then she narrowed her eyes and studied her. “You look . . . different.”
Oh, no. Would Rozaria recognize her as the woman who’d escaped from the camp? That would put Paxton in jeopardy. Aerity raised her palms and looked into the woman’s eyes. “Perhaps it’s because I’m unarmed this time.”
Rozaria sneered. “Exactly why you should hold your tongue.”
Again the prince laughed. “You injured my cousin and killed her finest creation. Her wrath was quite a spectacle.”
Rozaria crossed her arms and glared at Prince Vito.
“Cousin?” Aerity said with interest. “She left that part out when she spoke so fondly of you that day.”
Rozaria uncrossed her arms and moved forward. The prince grabbed her arm in a graceful reach, but that didn’t stop the woman from unleashing a tirade at Aerity.
“Do not stand here and pretend to be a friend of Kalor! I recall everything you said that day.”
“I was angry,” Aerity said with just as much passion. “You were the cause of upheaval in my life. Because of your creation my father was giving me away like some disposable item.”
“You poor darling,” Rozaria spat. “You were to be forced to marry a coldlands brute, and meanwhile Lashed were being slaughtered by your ignorant townsmen.”
“I did not want that to happen! I tried to
get my father to see reason, but he refused. Did your precious insider tell you that?” She pointed at Duke Gulfton’s body and swallowed hard. Then she looked straight at Prince Vito, preparing to tell a lie that sent pain throbbing through her. “You did me a favor by removing my parents from the throne. I have done more good for Lashed in mere days than has been done in a century. I have lifted the magical restriction laws—”
“Not everywhere!” Rozaria rebutted. “We saw your proclamation.”
Aerity shook her head emphatically. “It was a start, and it was just as much for the protection of the Lashed as anything else. Look, Rozaria, I don’t agree with your methods. I made that clear when we met. But I do have the same vision as you: for Lashed and Unlashed to live in peaceful equality. Surely there is a compromise.”
The prince placed a hand on Rozaria’s shoulder and pulled her back, stepping forward. Aerity’s heart rate picked up as he came nearer. He stared, taking in her hair and clothing, the shape of her. And before his eyes even made it back up to hers he said, “I’m not certain you have the same vision as we, dearest.”
Aerity tried to control her breathing and not move. He finally met her eyes again, and she wanted to rock back on her heels from the feeling of revulsion.
“You see, Your Majesty, I want to rule Eurona. All of it.”
Oceans deep . . . She braced herself, remembering what Paxton had told her of the prince’s plans. “I assumed as much.”
Again that creepy smile came to his smooth face. He raised a hand to move his hair behind his shoulder and Aerity saw his fingernails, as dark as if they’d been painted with blackberries.
“I will require someone by my side,” he said. “Someone the people trust who can ease my transition into power.”
There it was. Her heart had slowed to an eerily calm beat as she let herself slide into the role that it would take to overcome this foe.
“Am I to be that someone?” she asked.
Prince Vito studied her as he would a butterfly under a pin.
“Leave us,” he said quietly to the room as he stared at Aerity.
Nervously she began to second-guess her acting skills. What would he want from her? Would he call her bluff and kill her? Or expect her to prove her affections right then in a more substantial way? She wanted to vomit at the thought.
“She’s not to be trusted, Vito,” Rozaria said. “She told me her father was a good man.”
The prince and Aerity kept their eyes locked.
“It matters not,” he murmured. “I said leave us.”
As people began streaming out, Aerity glanced over the prince’s shoulder and saw something that made her muscles seize. Paxton stood beside the door, staring with a wrathful intensity that frightened Aerity. He’d seen and heard it all.
Seas! He would ruin everything! As Rozaria got to Paxton she took his hand and glanced over her shoulder, sending a glare back at her. Aerity wanted to rip their hands apart, but mostly she needed Paxton to get hold of himself and trust her.
“You heard him,” Aerity said in a voice weaker than she’d hoped for. “Leave us.”
She was speaking more to Paxton than Rozaria. Thankfully Rozaria was so busy glaring at Aerity that she didn’t notice the sheer look of fury on Paxton’s face. Rozaria spun in a huff and pulled Paxton by the hand. He stood like a rooted tree until Rozaria looked up at him and tugged again. Then, to Aerity’s relief, he stiffly allowed her to lead him out the door.
Within half a second, as her eyes met Prince Vito’s, her relief morphed into unease. He stepped closer, far too close. Pretending to be interested in him was the very worst idea she had ever had. As he leered down at her, Aerity was willing to bet it was the worst idea anyone had ever had in the history of Eurona. He stepped closer, and she accidentally stepped back. She fought for composure.
“You were pretty as a girl, but now . . .” He touched her hair, let it run through his fingers. Aerity made an involuntary sound that brought a grin to the prince’s face. “I make you nervous.”
Aerity felt her face heating, but not with the good kind of blush. She was scared senseless. Any wrong move from her and this man could reach out and kill her before she blinked. “I’m not accustomed to being alone with men,” she said carefully. “Especially not powerful . . . handsome ones.” Do not gag.
He moved forward until she was backed against the wall.
“You find me handsome?”
“More than handsome,” she whispered. “Like no one in Lochlanach.” She dropped her eyes to her hands. There was no possible way he’d buy this. But when she hesitantly raised her gaze to his, that heavy leer was still there, taking her in like a delicacy.
“You would be my queen? Willingly?” he asked in a voice like hot oil.
“If you would have me.” Her voice quavered and she swallowed.
“You are an innocent. Only an innocent would be so nervous with a man she found handsome.”
Oh, the abhorrence she felt. Aerity’s eyes fluttered closed and she nodded. “It is the ultimate union, and I will hold to it until the day vows are made and blessed by the sea.”
Prince Vito chuckled. “Superstitions.”
Aerity forced a small smile. “Perhaps. But I hope you will allow me to hold to my beliefs.”
“What of your betrothed from the coldlands? Will you miss him?”
Aerity’s face tightened in an honest scowl. “I never wanted to marry that scoundrel.”
Where was Lief? Had they all gotten to safety? Please, let them be safe. She didn’t know if any of this would be worth it if so many of the people she loved were killed.
Based on the prince’s pleased expression, it had been the right thing to say, but then he inclined his head toward her, almost as if smelling her. She was so afraid he would kiss her. So afraid she would freeze up or convulse at his touch.
She saw his hands come out from under his robes, watched them reach for her hands, and she was powerless to do anything except let him take them. Her entire body trembled out of control. As he took her hands, she let out a quiet laugh.
“I’m sorry that I’m nervous. I was going to reach out to you myself, to invite you here, to tell you of my plans for my rule as queen and the changes I’ll be instating . . . but here you are.”
“Here I am.” He brought her hands to his chest and looked at her fingers. He ran his purple-nailed thumbs over the top of her pinkish ones. And finally he looked at her. And when he did, a line of pain ratcheted from her fingers, up her arms, shoulders, neck, and into her mind like the most severe headache she’d ever experienced. A scream caught in her throat like a thistle.
“I hope you understand that I’ve got to keep a close eye on you,” he said, her head splitting. “And that your lies are not necessary. In truth, I prefer your fright. Such emotion is . . . real. . . . It fascinates me. So, tell me, does my new crown suit me?”
Aerity shook uncontrollably as she looked into the monster’s eyes and spat, “No.”
He laughed heartily and lowered her hands. The pain in her head immediately waned, and she sucked in air, no longer attempting to hide her feelings.
“Oh, my beauty. In honesty or lies, I will never trust you.” He spoke in a soft tone that gave her chills. “You will remain in your chambers until we have secured the kingdom. I will send messages to you, when necessary. And if at any time you choose not to be loyal . . .”
Aerity stared hard.
He gave a slow smile. “You should also know that when I decide to make you my queen, it will happen immediately. I am not a man to be kept waiting.” He trailed the back of a finger up her throat to her chin, then laughed low when Aerity shivered. “When I was ready for the Kalorian throne, I took it.”
Curiosity fueled her. “B-because your father was too ill to rule?”
“Because the man called King Kalieno was never fit to rule. Nor was he my father.”
Aerity’s mouth popped open, and the prince seemed amused by her dismay.
r /> “My mother, Kalieno’s queen, was the sister of Rozaria’s father—Rocato’s blood heirs who no one in Eurona knew of. . . .” His voice was smug. “She was planted into a royal family with the purpose of marrying Kalieno. My father was another powerful Lashed One from a family who had been banished, but he was smuggled back into the kingdom. It was an elaborate plan, and it worked until a year after I was born, when my mother was caught with my father. Kalieno had them both executed.”
Prince Vito was an imposter. Not of royal blood at all.
“He never knew you weren’t his son?” Aerity whispered.
“Not until I visited him on his deathbed and explained what had been ailing him all along. Small touches from the man he thought was his son. Touches that closed the vessels to his heart over time. Touches with fingers whose nails were carefully painted each and every day.”
“So, he’s dead now too?”
“Very much so, though the people do not yet know. And this is what our countries need. Young rulers. Fresh ideas. Change. When I return I will be King and conqueror. Those who clung to their loyalty to Kalieno will have no choice but to bow to my power.”
Aerity could not bring herself to respond to his self-satisfied admissions. He obviously thought this was all okay. And that she should be impressed by his cleverness.
“Now if you would be so kind,” he murmured, “I wish for a tour of my new home and the king’s chambers. I require rest.”
She was glad to give him a tour, anything to get out of that office with him, but this castle was not, and never would be, his home. It was the place he would die.
Aerity would make sure of it.
Chapter
40
Paxton felt sickened as he stood in High Hall and watched Rozaria’s army of Lashed tear the royal Lochlan tapestries from the wall and push them from open windows to be burned outside in the dark of night. His head throbbed and his stomach was on the verge of heaving. How long had it been since he had eaten or slept?