Read The Sword and The Seven Stones: Diamond Page 16

  Chapter 14

  Madeline walked into the great hall and looked around. Alyssa and Megan were already there talking to a couple of young men. William was still not down. She went to the side board and grabbed a glass of red wine and a slice of cheese. She hadn’t eaten since that afternoon and she was starving. Walking over to the doors on the side of the hall, she walked out onto the balcony. Looking down into the village that she had just left, she could see the destruction that had happened so far. The clouds still hung over the whole city and the lightening still flashed furiously. She took a drink from the beautiful bounty that filled her glass. She had worked in the grape fields as a kid. Her father gave whatever time he could to the king. She never tasted anything like this before. Her long hair blew away from her face. Isabelle wanted to pin it up but the weight of it always gave her a headache if she pinned it on top of her head. “Isn’t it a terrible thing to have happen? Those poor souls in the village. I heard many are dying now from sickness. Better there than here where we are, wouldn’t you say, beautiful?” He grabbed her arm and turned her around, only to see her look back at him with death in her eyes. Madeline couldn’t believe what she was hearing and when he turned her around, the first thing she wanted to do was punch him. Then she thought about throwing her wine at him but didn’t want to waste it on this fool who smiled at her as he blocked her way to the great hall. “Sir, I don’t know who you are but I will give you two seconds to get out of my way.” He stood aside and as she walked by him, she looked him in the eyes. “There are good people down there dying, sir. Remember those who work hard to bring you comfort.” She strode past him and walked over to where her sisters where. The gall of that man. Once she reached them, she looked back and noticed the King talking to the man who just insulted her and her family.

  Nicholis had seen Madeline walk over to the balcony and when Davin followed her out, Nicholis went to stop anything from happening. What he heard made him smile. At that very moment he knew that he made the right choice. She would be very good for Alman. As she walked past him, Davin walked out after her. “Davin, I have already picked her for Alman. You will have to look elsewhere. If she is touched by any other than my son, I can promise you that the man will die a very painful death.” He knew by telling this young buck, the word would get out very quickly. Being King, he knew who to use and for what measures.

  Madeline looked back at her sisters and joined in on the conversation they were having with the two men who seemed to be interested in both the girls.

  William was sitting at the table and he really couldn’t believe how people talked around him. Even though they knew he was the king’s page, they just continued saying things while he stood or sat by them. He almost choked on the piece of meat he had been chewing on when one of the men started to talk about his sister and the King. One of the men, a guy William had seen in the village chasing some of the girls, was there. His name was Haunis and he was not a nice guy. As William sat there in the corner eating, the two men kept talking. “What do you think our old king is going to do with a village girl?” His friend took a drink, then put his glass down. “If she was mine, I would keep her in bed for a long time. I heard our Sire say to Davin though that she has been promised to the prince.” William took one more bite then wiped his hands and went in search of his sister.

  Madeline couldn’t stand the people that were gathered in the hall. They were selfish people. One of the girls that joined them could only talk about the men that were in the room. Which one had a title and which one didn’t. Who to watch out for and who was the catch. Madeline just wanted to go home to John but she knew that would never be now. She decided to leave these people and walked back to her room. She just wanted to get out of the confines of these clothes and go to sleep. She passed people in the halls and then turned down a corridor. Looking around, she wasn’t sure if this was the right way. She tried to remember some of the things that she had passed on her way to the great hall. When she left her room, she had been furious that the King could just pass her off to someone she didn’t even know. Of course she, like any other girl in the village, had seen the prince come to the village pub. She couldn’t say he was horrible looking but he wasn’t her John either. She turned another corner and an arm reached around her waist and pulled her against a strong, firm chest. She looked down and the hair on the arm was wet and dark. She knew she would not get out of the hold. “Sir, I think the best thing you could do is unhand me.” He turned her around and kissed her. Madeline put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. John held her in his arms. As soon as he found out that she had been taken to the palace, he found a way to get in. Just as he was going to look for her, she came around the corner. Looking down into those beautiful violet eyes, he held her close. Madeline closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of the man she loved. “Follow me. We can leave and not come back. I have a way out of the wall. We can start somewhere else.” Madeline knew that she loved him and before someone came, she wanted him to leave. She backed out of his arms and looked up into the face she has loved since she was a girl. “John, I can’t go. If they catch us, you will be killed and I couldn’t ever live with that. I love you but you must go.” He took her hands in his and brought them up to his lips. Looking down, he looked at the girl that was his, not the King’s. “I will die for you. I don’t care because without you, life is not worth living.” Madeline knew he would too but she could never live with the fact that he died because of her. Holding his hands, the tears poured down her cheeks. “Because I love you and only you will hold my heart, I could not bear to look out these windows and know that you are no longer there in the village. Please, if you love me, you will go.” He didn’t want to leave her here with these people. He was about to tell her that he wasn’t going to leave her here when two guards grabbed him. Madeline looked in horror as they turned and took him away. She wiped her tears away and went to find the King. She knocked on his door and the door opened by her brother. William looked as his sister walked past him and directly up to the King. One of the guards came in just as she was about to speak. “Sire,” he said as he stood by the door. “This woman was found in the hall with a man from the village. We have taken him down to the cages. Madeline looked back at Nicholis and tears were still running down her cheeks. “Leave us. I will be down soon to deal with him.” He sat down in his chair in front of the fireplace. He had left the great hall because he was feeling weaker today. “Madeline, come and take the seat beside me.” She did as she was asked. “Sire, please let him go. I told him that it could never be and he was going to leave.” She got up and walked over to the fireplace. Looking down into the embers, she thought back to the look on John’s face as they took him away. Turning back to her King, she lifted her chin and looked at him. “I will do whatever it takes to trade for his life.” Nicholis looked at this young woman and was very happy to see the strength she had. “Madeline, take a seat. I will not kill the man you loved but you are right. It will never be for you and him. More and more I now know that I made right choice for my son.” He looked at the woman beside him. “I will spare his life for you but if you ever cross me, he will be the first to die.” Madeline looked into the green eyes of the man that held her life in his hands. “I promise never to cross you.” She got up and curtsied to her King and left the room. Before she left, she hugged her brother and then walked back to her room. She knew that was the last time that she would see John. When she got back to her room, she grabbed the first thing that she could grab and threw it against the wall.

  Nicholis walked down the stairs to the cages. It was damp and the smell of feces and urine was always very strong. The guards opened the door as he approached it. John got up and knelt down in front of Nicholis. “Sire, I have loved her since we were children. Can you not choose from the others in the village for your son?” Nicholis told him to get up. “The only reason why you live is because of her. I am having my men bring you back to the village and remember if you
try to come near her again, I will take my own blade and slit her throat. The blood that will drain from her will be because of your foolishness.” Johns face went white and he believed every word that the king was telling him. He hung his head in defeat and nodded. He could never be the cause of Madeline dying. As Nicholis left, he told the guards to take him back to the village.

  As Nicholis walked back to his room, the coughing started and he quickened his pace. He didn’t want the people at his court find out that he was weakening. He grabbed the cloth and coughed into it. As he pulled the cloth away from his mouth, the stain of red blood was left on it. It was much more this time. He couldn’t let anyone know and he needed his son to come back soon. He really didn’t know how much time he had left.