Gasping, Ryder stepped closer to his mother. “The king gave this to you?”
She nodded. “He told me he had carried this around for years, and because your father was always fascinated with it, the king decided to give it to me, to help protect me from anythingunnatural.”
“You cannot be serious,” Ryder muttered, taking the rabbit’s foot and cradling it in the palm of his hand. “Why would the king think you needed this after Father’s death?”
“Because the king thought your father’s illness was unnatural.”
With a sigh, he frowned. “As did I.” He kept his gaze on the furry object. “But do you think it will work?”
“I know not, my son.” She clutched his forearm. When he met her stare, her eyes were filled with tears. “But I don’t want anything to happen to you, and if believing in a little rabbit’s footmightsave your life, I’m willing to take that chance.”
A lump of emotion caught in Ryder’s throat, and he swallowed hard. He wrapped his mother in his arms and held her tight. “I don’t plan on having anything unnatural happen to me.”
“I don’t think oneplansthese things. They just happen.” His mother sniffed back a sob.
He smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “As always, you are correct.”
She stepped back and wiped the moisture out of her eyes. “Take care, and may good fortune be with you from now on.”
He took one last glance toward the bedroom. With the door still open, he could see Clarissa sitting beside her mother. However, her head was turned toward him. She offered a shaky smile and a small wave. He returned the wave before leaving the house.
The rain wasn’t as heavy as it had been earlier, thank goodness. Wearing his leather hooded cloak would help in keeping the water off his head and clothes. He quickly mounted and took off toward the palace. Not many people were on the main road in the middle of town, which gave him more confidence in pushing his horse faster.
His head had been spinning with thoughts since they had found Clarissa’s mother. His investigative mind had been trying to piece everything together to make some sense of what had been happening. Unfortunately, nothing was clear to him at the moment.
One conclusion he had come to was that the old witch wanted to take over the kingdom. Clearly this was the case, yet what was her motivation? Taking over the kingdom could be the only reason she’d want to make everyone think she was the queen. That could also be the reason she poisoned the king’s guards—to get them out of the way. However, it didn’t fit with what happened with Prince Ormond and Clarissa. Why would the witch put a spell on the flowers? What did the witch gain by having the princess marry Prince Ormond from Edan? Unless it was to get Clarissa out of the kingdom so the witch could rule it without anyone knowing.
Out of the corner of his eyes, a familiar figure hurrying out of one of the shops caught his attention. The round glasses on her face and red scarf around her hair signaled this could be no other person besides the witch he sought.
He hardened his jaw and pulled back on the horse’s reins, bringing the animal to a stop. Quickly, he dismounted and hastened toward her. When she didn’t raise her head to look at him, he called out, “Pardon me. You there with the red scarf.”
The boardwalk was empty, so his voice carried. She jerked to a stop and looked at him. Pointing to her chest, she mouthed the word,me?
Anger fueled his steps until he stood in front of her, staring down at the petite woman, who tried to look innocent. He was at loss for words due to the frustration building inside of him. Perhaps he shouldn’t say anything about the queen yet. He should start with what he knew about her and Prince Ormond, which of course, would lead to the queen’s kidnapping.
“I need to discuss something of importance.”
Her eyebrows rose above the rims of her glasses. “Out here in the rain, Sir?”
He grumbled under his breath. Angry as he was, he couldn’t make her stand in the rain for what may be quite a long discussion. “No.” Glancing up and down the road, there was only one place they could talk. He pointed to the barn that stood in back of one of the stores down an alleyway. “In there.”
She shrugged and walked with him to the shelter. Once inside, he tied his horse to the post before turning to look at her. He folded his arms and scowled. “I want you to tell me why you placed a spell on Prince Ormond’s Rapunzel flowers.”
The many wrinkles in her face smoothed out slightly as she smiled. “Because he is such a nice boy, and he sorely needs help trying to find a woman to marry. I knew I could help him along.”
Irritation sparked inside of him, again. This was no laughing matter, so why was she smiling? “Listen, madam—”
“My name is Cordelia Brewster.”
It upset him even more to see how calm she acted. “I’m Ryder Grey, one of the king’s guards.”
“Nice to meet you.” She smiled, showing crooked and missing teeth.
He took a deep breath to calm his temper and started over. “Cordelia, I understand how the spell you put on those flowers worked, but do you realize that you nearly ruined lives by casting that spell for Prince Ormond?”
Her pleasant expression disappeared and her eyes widened. “I...ruined lives?”
He studied her for a few silent seconds. She really did appear shocked over this bit of information. “Yes. Princess Clarissa is in love with me, and I’m in love with her. Once Prince Ormond presented the flowers to Clarissa and she smelled them, she then tried to shut me out of her life—even keeping me prisoner in a tower. She didn’t know why she acted in such a way, and she was confused the whole time. Finally, she could fight her heart no longer, and she chose me instead of the prince. But, I’m very upset that you would do that for the prince. What was his purpose? What wasyourpurpose?”
