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The wood-bolted drawbridge was down like a splintered tongue sticking out from a beast’s yawning mouth. A command rang through the air, and Huntley’s mount stomped her hooves as the portcullis noisily moaned and dragged open.
This beast shall swallow us whole, he thought, as his mare shied away. Huntley scratched her mane. Then they moved through the gate and into that beast’s belly.
* * *
King Adam Delacroix II of Demrov received them in the throne room. It was a grand space—much more ornate than any castle he’d seen before. A dozen hearths lined the long room, each alive and flashing with fire. Ornate marble columns. Tapestries chronicling the Delacroix royal line for decades. The blazing salamander coat of arms. But most impressive was the man on the raised dais in front of it all. The imposing, barbed chair fit him like a glove. His eyes were blue ice, his hair black as the sky outside, his jaw hard and set, smooth-shaved and boasting that cleft all the ladies were so fond of.
Beside him sat a blond woman who reminded Huntley of his betrothed.
The key to our alliance.
Huntley bent into a bow. King Adam signaled him forward, a smile on his regal face. “Lord Peter Huntley. You may approach, mon ami. How were your travels?”
“Unadventurous,” he said with a grin. “Uneventful. Usually, I’d complain, but my travels brought me safely to you and what I hope shall be a fruitful alliance.”
“My sister, is she in danger?” the little queen exclaimed, her dark eyes sparkling with equal parts anger and what Huntley assumed was compassion.
“That I cannot speak to, Your Grace.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” she cut in. “I was talking to the man beside you. The man who aided this mad dog to kill my family and break my home!”
“Norland is your home?” Huntley said, leaving no room for Edrick to answer. “The crown wrapping your brow tells a different story.”
The Queen of Demrov shot up from the chair. King Adam remained silent, a satisfied grin curling his full lips.
“Norland is in my blood. It shall always be my home after I’ve passed from this world and on to the next. Now, I command you, sir, how fares my sister? I’d received a letter from our governess,” she pressed on, withdrawing said letter from her bodice.
Edrick stepped forward and held out his hand. She tentatively passed the letter over, her dark eyes hard. Huntley felt hatred there.
Edrick unrolled the parchment and flattened it across his palm. The seal was already broken.
“Aloud,” King Adam commanded, his resonant voice filling the hall.
Edrick read from the parchment:
“My dear Isadora,
Your sister is in grave danger. She’s had everything taken from her—her family, home, integrity, and legacy. I fear if this goes on much longer, her life will be stolen as well, if not worse.
I helped raise you and Blanchette. It pains me to see your childhood home torn apart by a wolf—a monster—stone by stone. Send whatever help you can as soon as you can.
Pay no attention to any letters Blanchette sent you or shall send you in the coming days. She does so with a knife at her throat and a wolf in her bed.
Send help.
All my love, your Governess Agnes Belfort”
The room fell silent. Only the crinkle of the parchment broke the quiet as Edrick rolled it shut.
“I’m afraid I bring more ill tidings, Your Grace,” Edrick said. “Rowan Dietrich discovered your governess had sent this letter and murdered her for it.”
They all saw the broken look on the queen’s face. She would have sobbed if she’d been alone. Yet her facade remained icy and resolute. She raised her chin in willful defiance. “Then let’s not allow Agnes’s death to be in vain.” And without another word, she sat beside King Adam and nodded. Something about their silent interaction sent chills down Huntley’s spine.
Huntley stepped forward. He saw the guards move toward him and ignored them. King Adam did nothing to stop him.
“I’ve accepted your meeting to hear from Huntley,” the king said in an unmistakably kingly voice. “Not from the traitor Sir Edrick. Not from the Black Wolf’s pup.”
Huntley flashed his smile. It was a smile that’d landed him in more beds than he could count. “I’m glad to hear that, Your Grace. I believe our interests are closely aligned. This pup will prove invaluable to us, however. He knows Dietrich’s mind inside and out and, more importantly, his heart.”
