Page 13 of The Final Battle

“Come, the feast should be starting soon, and I hear they have some wonderful entertainment set up for the night,“ Phillip suggested, rising from his seat and offering me his arm. “Come dear sister, let us celebrate your coronation, now that matters have been settled for now.“

He was right, I’d done all I could to prepare for our battle ahead. This feast was going to be the last bit of normalcy we’d have, because in the morning we would be gearing up for war.

“Your Majesty, might I have the honor of this dance?“ Aldred, the captain of the military, asked with a bow.

Surprised by the request, I turned from where I’d been speaking to Dayson to face Aldred. “A dance?“

Dayson’s hand landed on my hip where he gripped it tightly, showing his claim to me.

“Yes, I haven’t seen you get the chance to dance once this evening,“ he explained, meeting my gaze. “I’m not looking for anything more than a friendly dance with my new queen. There is no need for the death glare from your Guardian, I don’t think you have any need to add another man to your company.“

I offered Aldred a small smile and accepted his hand. “I haven’t danced in a while, so you’ll have to forgive me if I stumble a bit at first.“

“Formal dancing isn’t something that happens here often so you’re in good company,“ he whispered conspiratorially as he led me to the dance floor. “Are you sure he won’t come and kill me in my sleep later?“

“Dayson, like the others, is over protective, but as long as you behave yourself, I don’t see there being any issues,“ I assured him.

Once we reached the middle of the dance floor, we took up positions and joined the others in the waltz. While dancing had never been my favorite thing to do while under my mother’s tutelage, it was actually enjoyable in a much more comfortable setting. A true smile grew as he twirled me effortlessly, showing me he wasn’t as unskilled as he made me believe.

“You are a wonderful dancer,“ I commented as we moved across the dance floor.

Aldred bobbed his head, “Thank you, Your Majesty, I could also say the same about you. I would never have guessed you were rusty on your skills.“

We danced another song before King Thomas approached and asked to cut in. “Might I have this dance?“

I agreed, feeling it was a smart move to show how our alliance was already progressing well. “Of course, I’d be glad to share this dance with you.“

Aldred bowed and stepped back, allowing the king to take his place, and headed off into the crowd.

“You are a hard woman to get a moment with,“ King Thomas shared as we began our dance.

His words put me on edge but I tried not to show it. “I apologize, I didn’t realize you needed to speak to me.“

“Oh, it wasn’t anything vital, I just wanted the chance to get to know you better now that we share an alliance. I feel as though when we first came to Sheca, my wife and I didn’t represent ourselves to you very well. My wife is headstrong, and in many ways, I think she believes she is more king than I am. I won’t lie to you and say she agrees with this alliance, but I can see the bigger picture,“ King Thomas explained. “This war isn’t something we can run from or hide behind our army like we normally would. I’ve been hearing rumblings from our spies about this matter and she kept brushing them off. What I want most, is to grow old and see my son take over the throne, to see our kingdom prosper, and that is why I’m fighting for this alliance.“

“Your Highness, are you saying that your wife plans to hinder that from happening?“ I asked in a hushed voice.

“All I will tell you is to watch your back where she is concerned. I will do all that I can to honor and uphold this alliance, but I can’t say the same for her. She is trying to poison our children to the idea as well, so they might one day dissolve the agreement,“ King Thomas answered with a heavy sigh. “I might have also heard mention of her breaking her sister out of house arrest and bringing her back with us.“

Stumbling at his words, I tried to keep my expression even, knowing how many eyes were watching us. “Was this spoken about before or after the agreement was signed?“

“Before, she was talking about it last night after the attack,“ King Thomas paused, licking his lips as he looked around a moment before speaking, his voice barely above a whisper. “I have no proof of this, other than knowing that woman for the past thirty years, but I think something happened to her. Three years ago, she went on a trip to visit a friend in Utros, when she came back things started to change. She’s always been opinionated and bossy, telling me how I should rule. Slowly, I almost didn’t notice, she started to do things behind my back, like sending supplies to Utros and Errit. It was small amounts that I wouldn’t have taken notice of but one of my stewards came to me asking what it was for. I never agreed to send support to those countries. That’s when I sent my spies out to investigate.“

“What did they find?“ I questioned as my mind started to race, connecting dots of information together.

“It was the first time I heard about the Lost King, how he married the crown princess of Errit and months later she ended up dead. This made him the crown prince, since they didn’t have any other children to take the role.“

I had to admit that I was impressed with the plan that Henry had to get to this point. He’d systematically taken over two kingdoms in preparation and then conquered Norden, adding to his power base. Now, the only thing standing in his way was Creisal and Sheca. If what King Thomas was telling me was true, then Queen Catharine might have been swayed by the Lost King already. His power of manipulation was unlike anything we’ve ever seen. What if he’d managed to implant a thought into the queen’s brain that had the kingdom crumbling from the inside out?

“Your Majesty, are you willing to put your trust in me to see if your wife is under the Lost King’s control? It might explain so many things about how she is acting and why she is resisting this alliance, when it makes perfect sense,“ I asked, searching his face as he took his time to answer me.

The song came to an end, but King Thomas had managed to place us in the far back corner out of the way and out of sight. “Is there any hope if he has done something to her?“

“I don’t know, but I’m willing to try,“ I answered honestly. “Here, in this castle, I have access to power that I’ve never experienced before. If there was ever a time that I felt hopeful of being able to help, it would be now. If I can’t, then at least we know that she needs to be under someone’s watch at all times, or detained somewhere safe. The Lost King doesn’t care about loss of life or ruining someone’s mind. I’ve seen it first hand.“

King Thomas nodded, his shoulders slumping as he answered. “Tomorrow, we will settle things tomorrow. Let tonight be about a happy one and we will discover just how strong a hold the Lost King has in our world in the light of a new day.“

I reached out and placed my hand on his arm, seeing the truth of this man with his royal facade dropped. He loved his wife and his children, and truly wanting the best for his people. He came here unsure of what to expect and I’m not sure what he saw in me to convince him that I was worthy of his trust, but I was glad. If the Lost King truly had a foothold in Creisal, then we needed to remove it quickly or this battle would be worse odds than it already was.