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My head jerked back, even more baffled than before. I had longed for this man for weeks. Why was he turning me down? “But we have gone all the way already,” I said. “What would it matter now?”
“That was when we thought we’d get married.”
A cold panic rose within me. “Don’t you...think so any longer?”
Alrick took my hand into his and played with my fingers.
“I’m doing everything I can, day and night. I plot and make plans. But nothing is certain at this point. If we can’t convince your people that the rebels are innocent...” His voice broke off. “How could I do this to you? Marry you and place you at war with your own kingdom and people.” He shook his head. “Thank your god and mine that no child has come of it yet,” Alrick added as his eyes found mine again. “If one was to come of this union before marriage—what it would put you through!”
I felt like my heart was being wrung like soaked cloth. I grabbed my nightgown and slipped it back over my shoulders. Alrick was watching my every move.
“I have no doubt we’ll get married,” I said. “And my own mother was rumored to have carried me before the official ceremony took place. It was of no big concern to anybody.”
Alrick frowned. “Our situation is much different. Your reign isn’t stable, and until you find proof that the rebels didn’t kill your father, a marriage with one could mean your end. I can’t do this to you, Mina.” Alrick gently turned my chin to force me to look into his eyes. “I love you.” He smiled faintly. “I could never ask you to choose between your kingdom and an impoverished Northern nobleman.”
“That decision would be an easy one,” I countered. I meant it. I’d choose him every time.
“And what could I offer you after that? To come to the North with me and wait until Algar kills every single one of the rebel noblemen and their families? I would sign your death sentence. Without you as queen, we would be lost, and thousands of others with us.”
I swallowed back a wave of tears. I was a wreck on the inside. How could life be so cruel? To show me that warm light that melted my frozen heart, then tear it back out of my hands, never to be warmed again?
“So you know that King Algar has accused you of killing my father,” I concluded. “I think he is working with Gunther Brunswick to strengthen this lie.”
Alrick nodded. “He is trying to break your house’s ties to the rebels so the South won’t interfere in our war.”
We sat in silence for a bit, both carried away by depressing thoughts.
“Have you heard any news from the physician?” Alrick asked. Hopeful.
I shook my head, defeated. “Nothing new. My father was indeed poisoned, and Malick is accompanying my father’s body back to the castle. They are arriving tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Alrick raised a brow.
I sank my head into my hands. “I know...the timing is horrible. But I didn’t plan it this way. I had to get my father here without delay. Gunther was using the situation of my father’s delayed funeral for his benefit.”
“I see.”
My face filled with an expression of urgency, as if I’d found a solution. “But I will have my cousin and all his servants brought to the castle for questioning. Remember the night of your arrival at my cousin Ulf’s? Frida came knocking at my door and the guards were gone. She said she had heard a noise. Somebody must have seen or heard something.”
Alrick scratched his chin. “It could be connected indeed.”
Hope. Was there hope again?
“Are the rebelling noble families attending my crowning ceremony?”
“They are. They will arrive tomorrow and want to meet with you the day after. We were riding as a group, but I rode ahead.” Alrick played with my short hair, a smile reappearing on his lips. “I needed to see you now, not after another night of longing.”
I smiled back. “I will make this right. King Algar will pay, along with everybody who helped him kill my father. Even Algar’s bastard will get what he deserves if he gets in my way.”
“Rune?” Alrick’s eyes widened at me. “By the gods! He’s here?”
“He is here, at the castle. I met him in the garden. He didn’t know who I was and left me unharmed, but Wimfred and Dieter suspect he might be here on Algar’s behalf. Maybe even to kill me.”
“He isn’t here for Algar.”
“What?”
Alrick shook his head. “He is here to listen to what you have to say about the war. If you can convince him that Algar tried to kill you and most likely killed your father as well, he might turn his back on him.”
