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At least he wouldn’t outright murder Kiera. Tristan’s muscles tightened. He wouldn’t let William get away with any of it. They all still held their pistols, but with Henry and Jennifer in William and Philippe’s grasp and their silent, muscle-bound flunkies holding automatic guns, it was difficult to think how to fight their way free without risking Jennifer or Aliya’s safety.
“I apologize, Aliya, that you have to die. I usually don’t murder beautiful women, but with the big reveal Henry is about to give us, and the fact you tried to elevate yourself from white trash to Augustine princess, of course you understand why you must be silenced.”
“Oh, you’re quite the quintessential gentleman, aren’t you, you lily-livered rattlesnake.”
William only smiled at Aliya’s insults. “Time to get it all off your chest, eh, Henry? I want the former king to die knowing his closest friend started his downfall and betrayed him.”
Henry glowered at him. Tristan couldn’t imagine his friend and Jennifer’s dad would say anything because of William’s goading, but maybe he did need to get it all off his chest. He immediately started talking in a low, mournful rumble, studying the king. “Nolan, I can’t express how deeply sorry I am. Leslie never meant for Anne to get hurt. You know how she loved her, but Leslie became irrationally jealous and emotionally unstable. Naomi manipulated her expertly, pretending to be her only loyal friend …” He hung his head.
“Henry.” The king’s voice was soft. Resigned. “What happened?”
“Yes, Henry,” William mocked. “Tell him what happened. How Leslie killed Queen Anne in a fit of jealous rage because you and the queen were sleeping together.”
There was a sharp intake of breath from everyone. Tristan knew the snake was lying, but even saying such filth out loud stained his mum’s memory.
“Dad?” Jennifer asked. “No …”
“That is a lie,” King Nolan said. “Henry would never betray Leslie, and Anne would never betray me.”
“Are you certain?” William asked. “They were young lovers, after all. Young love is so romantic and full of sparkle and shine. It’s hard to forget those feelings. Ask Prince Tristan. He’d move heaven and earth for the love of his youth.” He touched Jennifer’s shoulder. She flinched away from him. He looked her over with a lustful sneer. “So beautiful. Hard to blame him.”
Tristan was ready to shut William’s disgusting mouth and get the loser far away from Jennifer.
“Henry?” The king ignored William and tilted his head to the prime minister with all the grace of a king. Tristan was always proud of his father and today more than ever.
“I also would never betray you,” Henry said, standing as straight as his injuries would allow. “Naomi poisoned Leslie’s mind to Anne and me. She convinced Leslie we were having an affair. At a lunch outing the day of Anne’s murder, Leslie persuaded Anne to meet in the middle of the lake on the ice at two a.m. Some sort of silly dare they’d done in college reenacted. I believe Anne was hoping to salvage their friendship.” He took a breath.
Tristan was sick to his stomach and didn’t want to hear the rest, but it made sense now. Naomi and William had been behind his mum’s murder. Of course they had.
“I woke to Leslie sneaking out of the cottage. I followed her across the frozen lake. When I approached, she and Anne were arguing. Anne kept claiming she would never cheat on Nolan and I wouldn’t cheat on Leslie. Sadly, Leslie was not thinking rationally, fed on Naomi’s steady diet of lies and manipulation. She shoved Anne.” He stared at the king. “Now I am certain that William and Naomi must’ve planned it all out and broken up the ice. I don’t think they cared if Anne or Leslie fell and died, but there was no way the queen could have slipped through the frozen lake without a hole being made.”
Tristan’s heart thumped heavily in his chest.
Henry passed a hand over his face. “It was all such a blur that night. Before Leslie or I could reach for Anne, she was gone, and Naomi and William were suddenly there. William had a pistol and Naomi had a camera. They explained that we would now do whatever they needed us to do, unless we wanted the truth of the queen’s death revealed. Leslie would rot in a prison cell the rest of her life, and Jennifer would be murdered.”
Silence filled the cavern. Even William seemed to realize they all needed time to process this awful truth.
All the pain of his mum’s death resurfaced. Tristan’s breath came in quick pants and his free fist clenched. His beautiful, kind mother, slipped through the ice, gone … Had she come up in a different spot and been trapped under the ice? He couldn’t think about it or he’d be sick.
“I sent Jennifer away to keep her safe,” Henry continued, “thinking it was easy to come up with an excuse for her leaving as she left on humanitarian missions all the time. Looking back, I should’ve sent Leslie with her and taken the wrath for the death myself. Prison would’ve been so much better than being William’s tool.” He shot a wrathful look at William.
“Sadly, you can’t change the past,” William said cheerfully. “You can only change the future. Let’s focus on my future now. We’re going to tie you all up. My men and I will leave with Jennifer and Henry, and you’ll have almost fifteen minutes to contemplate your pathetic lives and your miserable deaths before you explode.” He grinned. “I would rather watch my men shoot each of you, but Naomi and I feel that the people of Augustine will respond better to you dying in an explosion. Very tragic and something for them to rally around as I sweep in and benevolently take over my rightful kingdom.”
Tristan wanted to roll his eyes. William was so demented it would be comical ... if he didn’t have the advantage over them with weapons and no one he loved having a gun pointed at their head.
“I’m through being manipulated by you,” Henry yelled, the words echoing off the cave walls.
It startled Tristan. His finger twitched on the trigger. Would Henry do something crazy? The wild look in his eyes said he would.
Tristan prepared to defend Jennifer first, then his dad. Curt would protect Aliya.
“You do have another option, Henry,” William said placidly. “I’ll kill you with the king. High-level officials will clamor to be your replacement and I’m sure the people will adapt.”
“I’ll take it,” Henry said.
“No, Dad,” Jennifer begged.
It was too late.
