Helga didn’t answer right away. “First, I wasn’t sure I could trust her. And the truth is”—she paused again as her eyes teared up—“I loved being able to spend more time with my own baby.”
Alana’s heart melted when she heard that.
“Of course, I didn’t want the other nursemaid to try the same thing,” Helga continued. “The princess’s safety was my paramount concern. Even after the new nursemaid arrived, I kept hounding that official to give us more guards. Even just two! He could have prevented my loss by doing so. That—that assassin would never have gotten past guards at the door to take my baby. I don’t even recall being attacked, but after he knocked me out, he must have tied my hands behind my back.” She shook her head sadly. “But the king knew who to blame when he was summoned back, and he was furious.”
“I would have felt it was his fault, for being gone so long,” Alana said quietly.
Christoph gave Alana a hard look for saying that, but Helga defended Frederick. “It wasn’t. He assumed he’d left his heir in good hands. And his grief was so deep, he didn’t even know he’d been gone so long. Still, the nursery should have been better protected and had a larger staff. That’s why he was so furious. And people were dismissed because of that neglect, but it was too late—for me.”
“You came here after that?” Alana asked.
Helga nodded. “I was released from my charge because of my loss. A new nursemaid was hired to travel with the princess to where they hid her. But I stayed with my parents in the city for a while. They helped me through my grief. I came up here after my father died and was able to talk my mother into living here with me.”
After a moment of silence, Helga hesitantly touched the top of Alana’s hand with her fingers and asked, “Are you really my daughter?”
Alana smiled but didn’t get to say anything. Someone was pounding on the door and, so sharply, Helga started and jumped to her feet in alarm.
“That would be for me,” Christoph said, and immediately stepped outside the room.
Alana tried to reassure her mother. “He sent his men here ahead of us yesterday. They probably just want to make sure he arrived safely through the storm. And his men, they are rather ba—” She started to say barbaric, but realized Helga might not appreciate that, being Lubinian herself, so she amended, “Bossy.”
That didn’t exactly relax Helga enough to get the color back into her pale cheeks. Alana understood why her mother might fear Poppie, but she hoped Helga wasn’t going to feel it every time there was a knock at her door. Alana thought about arranging a meeting between them. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but Poppie could assure Helga that he’d meant her no harm.
Then Christoph reentered the room, his expression so grim that Alana rose to her feet. He took Alana’s arm and started leading her to the door.
She resisted, pulling back from him. “Don’t be so rude. Where are you taking me?”
“We must return to the city. The palace was attacked this morning just before dawn.”
Chapter Forty-One
ALANA WAS SURE CHRISTOPH wouldn’t have paused at the door to her mother’s room if she hadn’t chided him for being rude. But he turned to Helga and said, “The king was unharmed, the attack quickly beaten back. I am needed in the city, but I will bring your daughter back to visit another time.”
Downstairs, Alana saw that the sleigh had already been summoned, and Christoph’s five men were already mounted, ready to follow in their wake. Christoph carried her out to the sleigh, climbed in himself, and after pulling her close to him wrapped the two of them in blankets. As soon as the sleigh shot forward, she said, “So the rebels are bolder than you thought?”
“This had nothing to do with that. King Ernest’s grandson Karsten—you remember him, the man at the festival you found so charming—he was severely beaten.”
“He started the attack?”
“No, some of his men who were furious that he’d been attacked and suspected me or the king of ordering it were able to get into the ward late last night. They were just a handful, but enough to quickly clear the back wall with the immediate help of those ready to climb over it to join them. Because it wasn’t quite dawn yet, they actually thought they could slip through the ward, all twenty of them, and enter the palace before they were spotted. Fools. They never got off the wall.”
“You’re angry because you weren’t there, aren’t you?”
“No. Every time I leave the palace, it’s with the knowledge that an attack could occur. But when I leave, security is doubled, so I was sure if anyone was stupid enough to attack, they would fail. And they did. I am angry that this seems a desperate attempt because of what your guardian has stirred up. He nearly beat the Bruslan heir to death!”
“You don’t know he did that,” she said uncomfortably.
“Of course he did. No one else would dare.”
“If he did, it proves that Karsten isn’t responsible. Poppie would have killed him if he thought he was.”
“I told you I never thought Karsten knew anything about the abduction. He was a child back when you were taken and he might be a man now, but he’s very self-confident and straightforward. It’s not his style to deal with assassins and spies. He’s the kind who would hire mercenaries for a rebellion.” Christoph smiled mirthlessly. “Or launch an outright attack like he just did. No, there are so many elder Bruslans still living who are more likely to have ordered the princess’s death.”
She tried to point out a bright side. “Well, it was a failed attempt. Maybe they’ll stop harassing you with rebels after this.”
“Or build a real army, now that they think Frederick has played his hand—to their detriment.”
She didn’t say she thought that might be a good thing, that it could finally force the king to take action against that branch of his family which he despised anyway. Her life had been affected by his reluctance to do so.
