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“You know who I am, don’t you?” I concluded. The boy nodded frantically. I cussed under my breath.
“Please don’t kill me, Lord Blackwood.”
Lord Blackwood.I hated that name. It was named for the lands bordering the forsaken Blackwood forests, which my father had given to me for my loyalty during the war.
I frowned at the boy. The monster I had become to my own people... all in the name of a worthless piece of shit.
“Where is your mother?” I asked again, this time annoyed.
“I-I don’t know, Lord Black—”
“And your father?”
The boy’s gaze dropped to the ground. He was shivering now. “A-at the church. He sent me here and stayed behind with the other lords. I was looking for my mother when this woman grabbed me and said she would h-help me.”
I ran a hand across my forehead. “Go up to the castle and ask for the ballroom. She will be there.”
The boy launched to his feet, but I blocked his way before he could leave the stall.
“And don’t stop for anyone, you hear me? You look like you have a target circle painted on your back.”
“What?” The boy craned his neck to inspect his back.
“By the gods,” I cursed. “Get out of here!”
I watched the youngling flee as if I were about to give chase. He almost tripped on his way out of the stall. I shook my head in disbelief. Was this the future of the North?
The boy was almost out of the stables when he ran into a man with a dark cape.
“Watch out!” the man yelled at the boy. With a brief glance at the man’s face, I recognized him as the queen’s general—Dieter.
“Four horses!” he demanded. Several stable hands came rushing out of the stalls.
“Shall we get the queen’s mare as well, Sir Dieter?” one asked.
Dieter hesitated, then shook his head. “No. And tell no one about this or pay a heavy price.”
“Yes, Sir Dieter.”
The men rushed off. I stepped back into the stall right at the same time Dieter’s head turned toward me. Quietly, I listened to see if he was coming my way. But nothing happened.
My thoughts ran wild. The brief hesitation when Dieter was asked about the queen’s horse made me believe that the Rhine Queen was riding with them on a different horse, which only made sense if she didn’t want to be noticed. The way Dieter had asked for secrecy was also more than suspicious.
But why would the Rhine Queen leave her own crowning, and to go where? The most powerful kings and queens from all the kingdoms were here to honor her. To leave would be a scandal of the highest proportions.
My eyes wandered to the hay pile the boy had just left. He said his father was still at the church with the other noblemen. Rebels would be my first guess, considering how terrified the child was of me.
Was she in danger again? None of her accusations about my father had shocked me. He had always been a ruthless bastard, but the years of war caused by his hunger for more power and land had turned him into something less than human.
So what?a voice in my head nagged at me.Go home. Back to your men and war. That’s all you know. The one thing you are good at. King Algar’s killer hound.
Of course I wanted the war to end. I was exhausted, tired of the endless battles in the mud and rain, smelling of blood and guts for months without end. But I had sworn loyalty to my father, and my word was all I ever had. And fighting a war for as long as I had, it almost didn’t matter whose side I was on any longer. In the end, thousands of souls would perish for the lands and power of a few.
And yet. There was something about this queen. The way she had looked at me down in the cellar. Instead of begging and pleading, she had simply presented her facts and asked for nothing more than for me to consider a different path. Her eyes had been determined. When she looked at me, I didn’t see any of the fear or disgust I was used to from women like her.
Whatever you decide to do, I’m certain you will have your reasons,she had said, as if she’d looked into my soul and seen a better side of me that I hadn’t known was there.
I ran a hand through my hair.No,she must think me a monster like everyone else.
And yet...
May the gods forsake me.I strode into Inga’s stall, grabbed the saddle and saddle blanket from the wall, and placed it on her.
“Sorry, my love, but we have a quick stop to make before heading home.”
Inga's ears perked up, then twitched a little.
“If we’re lucky, the boy’s mouth stays shut and we’ll get home before King Arsehole does, and he won’t even know we were gone.”
