‘You don’t understand at all. The facts remain the same. I have been giving information to the Scots. No matter the reasons, my actions make me guilty.’
Every word hit her as truth. It was how the King would see it. He’d told her that himself. That he didn’t care for individuals, only for kingdoms. He’d given her a hunting horn to solidify his position.
Her heart hammering, she knew she had to think this through. Had to...fixthis somehow. There had been wrongs committed here, but there was no justice if Hugh hung for it.
‘I’m a dead man, Alice, and have been since I made that promise. I only solidified it when I began releasing information.’
Then she saw a way. She went to the box next to her bed, placed the Seal inside and locked it. ‘Only if the King knows about it. He doesn’t need to find out. You can go on protecting Robert and his family. You’re only giving him information to protect the clan, right? Then it’s fine. It’ll be fine.’
He shook his head slowly, his eyes wide with her actions, with all the storms in all the land. ‘It’s not fine. The King will know becauseyou’lltell him.’
‘Never!’
‘Youmust.’
She gasped. ‘How could you think I would? Even if I didn’t know you, you have told me of Robert’s family, and of how he saved those children. You know how important family is to me. I’d never betray them to—’
Two strides and he was gripping her arms. ‘Yes, you will! Otherwise Edward will only send more spies here—or, worse, simply lock you in the Tower and torture you until you confess. Your wealth won’t protect you because you are not nobility. You wouldn’t have the same comforts as a nobleman waiting for the guillotine, and the King would gladly take your family’s coin.’
‘Then I’ll lie—like you do.’
‘You’re terrible at it. It took me no time at all to realise what you were doing, and I would have realised sooner if I hadn’t been blinded by my past when it came to you. You could never pull it off.’
She lifted her chin, her eyes watering.
‘It’s not your fault you can’t do it well. That’s only because you’re good. You’regood!’
‘And someone...good...would kill you and an innocent family?’
‘Damn him!’ Hugh wanted to roar, but the silence of the room and the situation demanded silence.
So he swallowed his raging emotions, tried to calm his tumultuous heart.
‘You say I love Edward, and that I respect him. But you need to know how close I am to hating him now, simply for asking you to spy for him. The moment Edward asked you, he made you and your family a target. He put you in jeopardy.’
But the King didn’t care for individuals. He didn’t care for her life. The King had asked her to serve, and she’d meant to. She’d truly meant to, but now...
‘So I’m in jeopardy like you.’
‘More than that—you’ve marred your kindness and your decency. All are blackened because of lies and deceit. I never wanted that for you.’
‘And yet still you’re loyal to him?’
He laughed. ‘See how twisted it is? I’m trying to be loyal and protect all of you. There’s no resolution to it.’
She could see his loyalty. She had seen that when he was a mere child, doing all he could to protect his father.
Again, she wanted to ease his pain. ‘Edward didn’t mean to put me in jeopardy. It was an accident. I’m the one who happened to win a seal in that game.’
‘You think it was anaccident? With you and me both from Swaffham? What he had to do to manipulate the game, I don’t know. But it’s too much of a coincidence.’
She gasped. ‘You think he suspects you?’
‘I can’t rule it out. Not when he gave you and I the same task to fulfil.’
A cunning ruler. Intelligent and ruthless; arranging things to ensure she found a seal first. How he must have worried when it had taken her so long. But the King didn’t know of her fear of the dark.
He did, however, know how to make her co-operate. ‘He threatened my family, Hugh. I would do anything for them because I love them. I would do anything for you because—’
