“Good. Very good,” a woman behind him said.
Once again, he tried to turn. But the hand on his neck squeezed, fingers digging in.
Adelina strode past him. “He’s hurt! You said he wouldn’t be hurt!”
Gerard almost scoffed. She’d betrayed him, and she was worried about him being roughed up a little?
“Unfortunately if he fights back, he must be controlled,” the woman said, voice smooth as silk.
Gerard recognised the woman’s voice. He just couldn’t place it.
“But do not fret, Adelina. I promise this will all be over soon. You only need to be strong a little longer. Then all this unpleasantness will be behind us. Then your children will get what they deserve.”
Gerard chewed at the fabric in his mouth, trying to get it loose. What did Queen Consort Adelina think her children deserved?
He couldn’t fathom why she’d be against the treaty. Or why she’d turned against Gerard. She’d never been like a mother to him or his full siblings. She’d never tried to take on that role with her stepchildren, and they’d never expected that from her. But there had never been any animosity. At least none that he was aware of.
So why had she betrayed them?
“Now take him to the carriage,” the woman said. “I will go deal with Elias.”
Gerard tensed. So Elias was definitely not a part of this plot. But how was this woman going todealwith him? Gerard and Elias’s relationship had shattered apart. Still, Gerard did not want anything bad to befall him.
Dragon gods, let him be okay.
The woman’s footsteps departed.
Those holding Gerard gripped his arms and tugged him onwards. Gerard took a slow breath through his nostrils. Then he reared back, trying to break free so he could make a run for it, but the hands on his body tightened. The two on standby moved in, grabbing him and stopping his struggle. Gerard could not get away.
“You done?” the lanky man said.
Gerard glared at him.
After a moment, the lanky man opened the doors to the king’s bedroom. They dragged him in.
Where were they going? There was nothing in this room. Unless they were going out from the balcony. But then the robed figure walked to the panelled wall. They ran their hands along the floral wallpaper. At two points, they pressed down.
With a click, a panel popped open, swinging inwards, revealing a hidden passage beyond.
Chapter
Fifty-Five
Gerard gaped. Since the beginning of the peace assembly, he’d been in charge of protecting his family, most importantly his father, the king. And that entire time, there had been a secret passage leading straight into the king’s bedroom. His father had been vulnerable this whole time.
But where is my father now?
The lanky figure lit a torch. He led the way, lighting the tunnel. The queen consort followed. Gerard and his escorts tugged him towards it.
The robed figure watched them enter the tunnel. Gerard looked them over, trying to pick out some identifiable feature. The robed figure did not follow them and shut the wall behind them.
The tunnel was wide enough that the two behind him could walk side by side. They gripped his upper arms. Two more walked behind them. His stepmother walked directly in front of him. And the lanky man with the torch led the way.
The light flickered along the dark stone of thetunnel. The air grew stagnant and stale. It smelled of dust and cold. Cobwebs congregated amongst corners and crevices. The ground angled steeply downwards. No one spoke.
Gerard tried to keep track of the way they went, trying to work out where they would be in the monastery. But the tunnel twisted and turned, and he soon lost his bearings.
Finally, the queen consort glanced back at him. “I am truly sorry, Gerard.”
