Shouts of alarm filled the corridors, then alarm bells began to ring.May God, fate, and the stars have mercy on you, Ahnna,Keris thought. He stood, needing to leave before anyone discovered that he was with Virginia. She had the power to turn the tide, and only time would tell what she did with it.
Taking her hand, Keris kissed her knuckles. “God rewards the pure. Fortune favors the brave. But the stars smile upon those who are true to their hearts. I hope that yours finds the love you seek.” He lowered her hand to her lap. “Good night, my lady.”
89
James
James drew in a shallowbreath, then coughed, bits of flour from the sack George had put over his head choking him with each inhalation. His wrists and ankles were bound tightly, and while he couldn’t be precisely certain, James suspected hisbest friendwas keeping him in the wardrobe in one of the house’s many bedrooms.
He had no way to be sure how long he’d been locked up. George came at irregular intervals to give him water and some food, and his attempts to shout for help yielded no results beyond fists to the stomach and a gag shoved back in his mouth. Either the servants had been dismissed or George had paid them off, and the grounds were large enough that his shouts wouldn’t reach beyond the walls.
George wanted him dead, that much he knew. James was a liability, and years as a soldier had made George practical about prisoners. Yet he abided by Alexandra’s orders, and it was terrifying to see how deeply she had George under her control. Not by threatening to reveal that he was a knifeman, but by manipulating his sentiment for Virginia. George believed he was protecting Ginny, believed his actions were righteous, and nothing James could say dissuaded him of that belief.
He drifted into a sleep fraught with nightmares, only to be torn into consciousness by the ringing of cathedral bells. They rang joyously as they had when Delia Kertell had been born, though James feltnone of the sentiment. Lestara must have given birth to an heir, and James felt a pang of grief for the child who had been born into this nightmare.
Lestara.
As her name echoed through his thoughts, so, too, did Alexandra’s voice.She had every reason to ally with you, but she is fortunately not stupid enough to bite the hand that feeds.
Clear enough that Lestara had betrayed some or all of what James had told her to Alexandra, and yet something about Alexandra’s phrasing suggested that she did not trust his cousin. Now that Lestara had given birth, Alexandra would be looking for ways to get rid of her, and he hoped Lestara did not go down easily. Hoped that Alexandra had underestimated his cousin and would pay the price.
Small, petty hopes, because it was unlikely that he’d live long enough to see the two women collide.
A door slammed shut, and James listened to the steady thump of boots coming up the stairs, drawing closer. Doors creaked, and a draft of air brushed against the bare skin of his neck just before the sack was pulled off him.
James blinked in the light, his eyes focusing on George. He crouched before James with a knife in one hand.
“Sorry for leaving you alone for so long, Jamie,” he said. “But it was an eventful night. You’ve a nephew, healthy as an ox and screaming like a banshee. Good news to distract the masses from thinking too much about Katarina’s death.”
The Crimson Widow was dead.
He’d fought for that, but given George’s demeanor, it was obvious that it wasn’t the blow that he’d hoped.
“You made a right mess of well-laid plans, as did Lestara, and if you’d asked me yesterday evening, I’d have told you that things were fucked. That everything we’d done, every plunge of that knife into Edward’s chest, was for nothing. But then God delivered upon us salvation in the form of your wife.”
Ahnna.He couldn’t breathe.
“You should have stayed gone, Jamie. Should have run away with your girl and never looked back, but if it’s any comfort, you’ll soon be together in the next life. Or in the stars, since apparently you’re more Cardiffian than I knew.”
No no no!
Panic clawed at his insides, and it must have shown on his face because George gave a slow nod of affirmation. “That wild creature you called a wife scaled the spiral and climbed into the palace using a grappling hook. Wouldn’t have thought it possible if I hadn’t seen the broken window and ropes, but she did it. Word we’re spreading is that she was conspiring with Keris and Zarrah, but I’ll give you the truth. She managed to get to William and Alex alone, and she cut a deal with them. She’ll confess to Eddie’s murder and take the blame for everything in exchange for our withdrawal from Ithicana. Say what you want about Ahnna, but she’s got bigger balls than most men. Shame she needs to die.”
James snapped.
He threw his weight at George, but trussed up as he was, it amounted to little more than rolling out of the wardrobe onto the floor. He didn’t care. He screamed around the gag, trying to break the ropes without care for how they cut into his skin, his muscles straining to the point of agony. He had to get loose. Had to stop this. Had to save her, because he’d promised he’d get back to her.
George only stood up, watching him twist and struggle with grim eyes. “It will be quick, Jamie. I promise you that. She’ll confess from the gallows, and I’ve already ensured they are set up for a long drop and a snapped neck. She won’t suffer, and you’ll be waiting for her.”
He looked at the knife in his hand, then sheathed it. “William’s gone sentimental, and Alex no longer sees your life as having any value. You’re a liability in every possible way, so make your peace, my friend.”
James screamed in wordless fury as George retrieved a pillow fromthe bed. He shoved James down, then knelt on his chest with the pillow in hand.
“I’m sorry for this. Truly, I wish none of this had come to pass, but I had to protect Ginny. One way or another, you were going to destroy her, which I know you never wanted. Hold on to the knowledge that I’m saving your little sister. That I love her and will marry her and keep her safe until the end of her days, just as she deserves. Take comfort in that.”
James thrashed and screamed, fighting for all he was worth to break free. But it was all for nothing as the pillow descended.
90
