Keely sighed. “Now you’re just the icing on the cake. Captain Lanval won’t change his confession, but they can still hurt him by hurting you. Hell, they’d enjoy hurting you even if Val was already gone.”
Alanna kept her eyes on the floor, waiting. Her mind supplied all the condemnation to come. What would Nim think of her, knowing that her brother was dying because of her? That she had been attacked, forced from her home, would soon be brutalized by two vicious sadists, and in the morning, she would be hanged. All because of Alanna.
But nothing happened. Silence filled the room.
Alanna glanced up, confused, and immediately wished she hadn’t. Nim was looking up at the ceiling, her face set with pain. A silent tear wound its way down her cheek. The intensity of Nim’s grief, resonating with her own, was almost too much for Alanna to bear.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
“No.” Nim shook her head roughly. “None of this is your fault. Val would never stand by and let a woman be hurt. Especially not his queen, the person he’d sworn an oath to protect. His honor is everything to him.”
She turned to look at Keely. “And you also confessed to save Alanna?”
Keely gave a curt nod, breaking Alanna’s heart. “Oh, Bard, I wish you hadn’t. Keely, my friend, I don’t know what to do!”
Keely took hold of her hands, the chain tugging Nim closer too, and held them tightly. “Listen to me. They were going to kill me anyway. At least this way, one of us has a chance.”
Alanna shook her head helplessly. She wasn’t worth this. And she didn’t have a chance. Not really. Not even now that her conviction was overturned.
Keely gave her a gentle shake. “Don’t do that.”
Alanna took a breath and tried to think of something, anything, to say.
Nim was visibly pulling herself together, and Alanna did her best to do the same. She didn’t deserve any of Nim’s kindness or Keely’s sacrifice, but she wasn’t going to degrade either of them by complaining.
She met their eyes, hoping they could see how much their compassion meant to her. “Thank you.”
Nim gave her a tremulous smile. “Okay. Talk me through what you’ve tried so far.”
Alanna shook herself. Every single person, other than Keely, would have simply assumed she had walked away and left him to die. But not the woman suffering the most.
She felt utterly humbled.
She also had no desire whatsoever to admit to such a strong woman what had really happened. How useless she’d been.
Before she could think of a good reply, Keely was speaking. “The first time we tried to free him, we were seen sneaking out of Alanna’s rooms by one of the Blues. The king and Grendel took turns beating the queen with a belt until she passed out. That’s how she got that bruise. Her back is still bleeding.”
Nim looked horrified, but Alanna shook it off. What were a few bruises compared to what Val had gone through?
Striving to look calm, she picked up the story. “The second time, I distracted the guard and Keely tried to take Val some water. That was when they captured her and accused her of being Val’s accomplice. After that, Ballanor told me that the next time I tried anything he would walk into the market square and pick ten people at random to hang with Val. I… ah….” She was ashamed to admit the next part, but she lifted her chin and told the truth anyway. “Honestly, I probably would have risked it, but they’ve doubled the guard and kept me locked in my room by myself ever since. I’ve tried so hard, but I can’t think of a single way out of this.”
Nim’s face was filled with horrified anguish, and Alanna wished desperately there was some kind of comfort she could offer.
But she had none. There was no way out.
Val, Keely, and Nim would die in the morning.
Chapter Twenty
Nim watchedAlanna with a mixture of powerful emotions warring inside her. She was still reeling from seeing Val. And then what had happened with Tristan. Never mind being frog-marched into the king’s chamber and stripped.
She knew she was probably in shock. The tiny tremors wracking her body supported that diagnosis. And, for the first time after so many days crying over her losses, her eyes were dry. Was it a bad sign? Maybe. Or maybe she was finally discovering exactly how strong she really was.
Alanna waited. Waited for Nim to hold her responsible for everything that had happened. To blame her. Hate her.
But Nim honestly couldn’t do it. Alanna winced every time she moved. She had the look about her of someone pushed so far past what they could endure that every breath was a battle. And yet she was still battling. For now, anyway. Nim had seen the look of hopelessness on her face when she considered the executions planned for the next day.
Nim found herself respecting her. And more than that, liking her quiet strength. Her self-deprecating humility. Her obvious loyalty to Val. And the close bond she had with Keely. Whatever else Alanna may be, she was most definitely not an ice queen with a tendency for tantrums.
