Duchess Wilhelmina dragged Ash out by his collar.
“How did you get in here?” The question was nearly spat in his face as she held him up with surprising strength.
Ash wrenched away, stumbling back. The duchess’s face twisted in confusion when she saw me. “Who are you? Where is the witch girl?”
Ferdinand’s magic had protected me. I didn’t want to think what the duchess would’ve done if I weren’t disguised.
“She’s in the dungeon,” Ash said with convincing bitterness. “But not for long.”
Duchess Wilhelmina sneered. “That one is a poor replacement,” she said, jutting her chin toward me. “Not as pretty, don’t you think?”
Ash ignored her. “You are charged with treason.”
The duchess took a threatening step forward. “Am I?”
Something flashed in Ash’s eyes. His hand went to the scar on his knuckles, but he hardened his gaze. “I’m not eight years old anymore, Your Grace.”
“So you’re not,” the duchess said. “Still, Cordelia was clueless enough to leave you under my care. It is your word against mine. She will never believe you.”
Ash set his jaw. “Surrender now and I will be merciful.”
“Narcissa. Lock the doors,” Duchess Wilhelmina said.
Narcissa, who stood frozen, fled from the room. The sound of locks clicking came afterward. She did not return, but the duchess did not seem to miss her presence.
“I made sure nothing will be pointed back to me.” The duchess sneered. “The royals unknowingly assisted me in my plan for two generations. Witches’ words will never be trusted and that silly boy Peter will not reveal me as long as I have my men watching his parents.”
Ash fumed. “You will be exposed if it is the last thing I do.”
She guffawed. “Do you think you will prevail when I have spent ages perfecting my revenge? I am a great storyteller. Stories got me into the palace. Stories made me a duchess. I’m quite fond of one in particular. It’s about a prince born from the wrong father. His mother was a promiscuous woman. All the kingdom knew it was so, but she insisted the boy was legitimate. Yet everyone whispered behind closed doors. I am sure you’re familiar with it.” She looked straight at Ash. His fists trembled.
I barely constrained my outrage. The duchess was the one who started the rumor of Queen Cordelia’s affair? Had she planned to frame Captain Greenwood before I came along?
“You won’t get away with this,” I said. I hardly believed my own words. We were trapped with no witnesses other than ourselves. There was no evidence against the duchess and from the current situation, no way to make her confess again.
“On the contrary, I already have,” she said, a smile curving her blood red lips. “I think we’re due for another story. How about a tale of a wicked witch seducing a prince for her own gain? Driven mad by his desire for her, he was willing to poison his own mother. In the end, both of them met a tragic demise.”
“You are deranged,” Ash said in disbelief.
The duchess laughed again. “By all means, call me whatever you like. In the end, I’ll still be the one in power.” She flicked her gaze away from us. “Take care of them.”
I barely registered the shadowy figures behind me before something bashed into my head and I lost consciousness.
––––––––
IAWOKE TO A THROBBINGheadache and someone tugging on the ropes around my arms. I turned, but no one was there. I was tied to a bed post. Ash was similarly bound to the other side of the bed. My hair hung over my face, brown again. Ferdinand’s magic had worn off.
The door to the duchess’s rooms were ajar. Two large, rough-looking men stood on either side with heavy swords in their hands, no doubt the cause of my headache.
There was another tug. The knot at my wrists unfurled.
“Elowyn?” I said under my breath. A tap on my arm confirmed her presence.
On the other side of the bed, Ash groaned, just coming to. The ropes around his wrists loosened as well. He gave the air beside him a grateful look and turned to me. He jerked his head to the burly guards at the door. I shrugged hopelessly. Was it even possible to get past them?
Before I could ask Elowyn her opinion, the door of the suite opened. I recognized the light steps as Narcissa’s and tucked my hands behind me, throwing the ropes over my wrists so it appeared I was still at her mercy.
“I would like a word with the prisoners,” Narcissa said to the guards. They grunted and let her enter, but watched with beady eyes. She glared and said in a clipped tone, “In private.”
