Bastian looked me up and down, then laughed hoarsely as we made our way towards the castle again.
“What?” I asked, eyeing him like he might’ve cracked.
“When you put that dress on this morning, I had the passing thought that maybe you were wearing it to make bloodstains less obvious today. For all the good it did you.”
I breathed a laugh, looking down at the dark marks of blood all over me, mine and others. The head I’d just removed had spattered more on my face.
He stopped me just as we approached the castle entrance, and his teasing expression turned serious. “You look like a warrior queen.”
I managed a dark smile. “Don’t start that again. We’ve got a war to stop.”
“Remember my father is still a threat. Tread lightly if you can.”
I looked at him sideways. “Are we gonna talk about the fact that Elric saved your life? I’m having a harder time hating the guy after that battle…”
His mouth dropped into a line. “Can I respect him and hate him at the same time?”
I was about to laugh, comparing it to how I felt about Eleanor, but the joke died on my tongue. “Where’s Eleanor? Did she make it out okay?”
He nodded with a grimace. “She’s the one who warned us. She’s safe, but it’s going to take her a while to get past what she saw. She’s probably wrapped in blankets being served warm tea somewhere.”
We hadn’t made it three steps into the castle before half a dozen guards surrounded us and seized me roughly by the arms. There had been enough bloodshed because of me, so I allowed them to shackle my wrists as Bastian went ballistic.
“Release her this fucking instant,” he said, getting in their commander’s face.
“I can’t do that, Highness. King’s orders: arrest the Viking princess and bring her in chains.”
It seemed we’d have an escort to the throne room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
BASTIAN
Eleanor, as it turned out, was not wrapped in blankets sipping tea. She was elbow-deep in blood, holding the wound of a soldier who was sure to perish in spite of her efforts. The blood from his side was coming too rapidly, leaking around her hands, like a river breaking its dam.
She screamed for help, but the throne room was absolute chaos. The injured here had been able to walk, but many of them shouldn’t have. Some had been brought in on litters so healers could render aid. In clusters around the edges of the huge room, commanders were giving orders, bolstering defenses that didn’t need to be strengthened and planning attacks that would only incite a war.
“Bastian.” Sigrid’s voice next to me was fraught with worry. She nodded her head in Eleanor’s direction, and I caught what I’d missed at first glance.
“Arnulf!” I ran to him, wondering how I could’ve missed his injury out on the field. It must have happened in the finalmoments of the battle. He was still so young, far too young to die.
I replaced Eleanor’s hands with mine, as though it was any less futile. Blood pooled around us on the floor.
Eleanor scooped up her bloodstained skirts and ran the six steps it took her to reach Sigrid. She threw her arms around my wife, weeping as she said, “Thank you…for saving me.”
Sigrid yanked her chains out of the guard’s grasp to drape her manacled wrists over Eleanor’s head and hug her back. “You fought like hell, little Saxon. Held your blade right and everything.”
Eleanor took a deep breath, composing herself, but it only lasted a second before she clutched Sigrid again. “I thought they were going to kill you.”
Sigrid huffed a laugh and released her hold on Eleanor. “So did I. And they would have if it wasn’t for these Saxons.”
Sigrid looked around the room, like she was only now fully taking it in. Her eyes filled with emotion.
“Majesty!” Sigrid called to where my father sat. “I can heal this man. I’ll heal as many as I can if you unchain me and release my berserker long enough to help.”
Hope surged in my chest. Arnulf might yet live!
My father’s cold laugh cut it down instantly. “Release a murderous traitor? You’re the one who summoned Vikings here and brought this upon us. You’ve caused nothing but death and destruction since you arrived!”
