AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tomorrow, then? I think they deserve to know as soon as possible. To lose someone you love, there are no words.” Another thing I don’t have to fake, because I have lost Zaina as surely as if she had died that day.
And with this man’s betrayal, with the knowledge that someone so despicable has lived in my kingdom and worked at my side, that he was one of my father’s most trusted allies...it makes me feel as though I’m losing a part of my family all over again.
“Of course, my boy.”
I manage not to strangle him when he uses the false endearment again, then proceeds to lay it on even thicker.
“Anything for you. I will pack this evening and leave at first light.”
How did I ever let him fool me?
“Please let me know when you’re back.” I keep my tone calm. “I’ll need your help moving forward with a cure now that the rose is gone.”I need to be on guard for whatever you’re plotting next.
“Most assuredly. I know we will find a way through this. Together.”
I nod and thank him, nearly choking on the words as Gunnar and I turn to leave. My hands itch toward my axe, and it’s an effort to keep from decapitating him here in his manor.
But of course, I need time to plan the death of such a vile man. I wouldn’t want it to go too quickly, after all.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Zaina
The hours after Einar leaves slip by with a frustrating slowness. I am mindlessly flipping through the pages of a book on the king’s side table when Leif comes to bring me a meal and take Khijhana out.
“How is Sigrid?” I ask him once they return. “And...everyone?” I have avoided asking Einar, knowing he would only throw my concern back in my face.
“As well as can be expected, My Lady.” He still addresses me with respect, even after everything, even when I am quite literally in chains.
My throat clogs unexpectedly, and I don’t push him for a more specific answer. Though Einar had been aiming to wound me when he told me it was better that Sigrid think me dead, he wasn’t wrong. I would rather her remember me with whatever affection she had dredged up for me than as the woman who hurt her Úlfur.
“Thank you,” I manage to respond to Leif before he leaves.
The latch on the door clicks into place behind him, and it’s another several hours with only myself and Khijhana. I have never been particularly social, but my thoughts are exceptionally cruel company these days.
There is nothing I can do to actively help my sisters or anyone in this sands-blasted castle. I try not to imagine what Einar could be discussing with the ambassador, or how Sigrid’s life is slowly slipping away.
Sitting idly by in the face of tragedy should be nothing new for me after a lifetime in Madame’s world, but this is worse, somehow, this anxious, interminable waiting with nothing productive to do.
My feet slap against the cold stone floor of Einar’s room while I pace. A chill seeps into my bones, and the shackle grates at my ankle as I take one step after another, and then another, counting the seconds as they tick by. I could remove the chain but don’t mind the pain. If anything, it is familiar. Grounding, even.
The backdrop to my childhood.
Besides, if he surprises me while it’s off, he’ll realize this chain can’t hold me. Who knows what he would do next?
Order a cage for “Khijhana,” probably, since I assume that was his official reason behind having the chain and anchor brought up here. He could hardly tell everyone he needed to secure his not-so-dead wife.
I shudder at the imagery of being forced to sleep in a cage.
Better to leave it on.
When I feel like pulling out my hair from the incessant pacing, I finally make my way to the shower.
The soapy water burns when it runs down my body to the raw skin on my ankle, but I remind myself how minor this is compared to my life with Madame. Well, most of it anyway.
Remembering the rare good days is almost worse than remembering the bad ones, though. I shut those thoughts out, finishing up my time in the shower and stealing another of Einar’s clean shirts to wear after.
I spend the rest of the day and night building a solid stone wall around whatever feelings I have left, preparing for his inquiry when he returns. He will doubtlessly see the truth in the man he had only barely trusted to begin with, and then he will want to know more.
