He nodded. “The others who came before me preferred to live in the village. I wanted my privacy, which is why I chose the ruins as my home. I have everything I need here. The forest provides me with meat, the sea with fish, and the earth gives me the fruit of my labor.” He sent a look toward Karl. “Now, what has brought you here?”
“I understand the islanders are leaving because of the famines. Tell me how the king should intervene and help them.”
The priest seemed to relax at this and began revealing information about the island, and its difficulties.
Over the next hour, they ate a feast of roasted venison, fish, and spring greens. Serena was so hungry, it took all the years of royal training to keep from devouring the food down to the last crumb. The longer the men spoke, the more her mind drifted away from their conversation about drainage and farming.
When Karl asked about the former governor, the priest confirmed that the man had fled. “There were riots from the lack of food. The governor locked up the house and fled in the night with his family.” Father Durin added, “Although the people are doing the best they can to survive, we’re losing islanders every day.”
“Your father the king should know of this,” Serena insisted. “Send word to him, and he can reestablish the leaders. It’s a province of Lohenberg, after all.”
Karl’s gaze grew distant, and he met the priest’s discerning stare. A silent message seemed to pass between them.
“But it’s not your concern any more,” the priest said. “Is it?”
Karl sent the man a dark look. “Lohenberg will always be my concern, regardless of what’s happened.” He tossed a few coins on the table. “Thank you for the meal. We’ll go now.”
Regardless of what’s happened? Now what did he mean by that?
As he took her hand and led her from the ruined castle, Serena wondered exactly what had caused such a rift between the prince and his father, the king.
Chapter Six
He never should have brought her to Durin’s home. The old man had voiced too many suspicious comments, and Karl knew Serena had formed her own doubts.
When they reached the forest, he dismissed Samuel and Bernard, who had walked up to the abbey ruins. He commanded them to take the supplies Father Durin had offered, back to the manor house.
“What are you going to do about the island?” Serena asked, when Karl walked alongside her through the forest.
“I’ll visit the different towns and find out what’s been causing the famine. Then I’ll send recommendations to my father.” In his mind, he’d already begun a list, but he needed further information.
“Why didn’t the governor alert the king?”
“Likely he was afraid he’d be blamed for the problems.” When they reached the steep slope, Karl offered his arm. He walked through the woods by memory, knowing the path well. He heardthe sounds of a raven cawing and the light crunching of leaves as an animal scurried through the brush.
“I can see why you were afraid of these woods, as a boy. I can almost imagine something coming out of the shadows.” Serena moved closer to his side, and he put his arm around her waist.
Karl stopped walking a moment, fixing his gaze upon her. “Nothing will happen to you when I’m here.”
“You can’t protect me from everything.” In the shadows, he couldn’t see the expression on her face, but he heard the regret.
“Because you won’t allow it.” He slowed their pace when the path grew steeper. Using the trees for balance, he kept his arm around her.
“I’m afraid that they’ll find me again,” she confessed.
Within her tone, he heard the unsettled worry, as if she expected soldiers to drag her away to a dungeon. “Would it be so terrible to go home?”
“I’ve been imprisoned in a place where I cannot make my own decisions. I’m ordered around and beaten when I disobey.”
His temper darkened at her confession. The more he looked at her, the more he saw the broken pieces of her spirit. Someone had bruised not only her body, but her confidence. Deep inside, his anger brewed—not at her, but at the one responsible. Someone had undermined the princess’s confidence, making her believe that she had no choice but to flee.
With great effort, he calmed his temper and kept his voice soft. “It wouldn’t have to be that way,” he said. “Do you think I’d let anyone lay a hand upon my wife?”
She closed her eyes, as if to hold back tears. “No. But you should choose another princess. I would never be the right wife for you.”
He said nothing, for she was the only wife he could have. Without a title of his own, without a kingdom, he would bereduced to nothing. His only hope of becoming a prince was to wed her.
And she no longer wished to be a princess.
