Eleanora’s white stallion, a strong beast with a silver mane she’d named Majesta, was eager to reach the front of the long line of Nadorian soldiers that stretched in front of them as far as Eleanora could see. Crisp blue and white uniforms shined in the morning sun, rays reflected off the flash of armor and swords as they marched in perfect step toward the Gradenian border. While she was presently far back of the main forces, where Kenneth thought she would be safe, she intended to take a position where she could oversee whatever unfolded on the battlefield once the armies collided. She may be a woman, but she knew as much about tactical strategy as most men, and she would not be content to sit idly by and watch others defeat the beast who had attempted to take her sister hostage.
A courier came flying in from the east. Eleanora spotted him in the distance, thanks to the red stripe on the arm of his uniform. She assumed the correspondence was from James, who had written her several times since Katherine had been located, her messages not even having had time to reach him before she’d receive another notice.
The man approached, out of breath, his horse frothing. But it wasn’t from James. This was one of her own couriers from the frontlines. He handed over the letter. “From Gradenia, Your Majesty.”
Eleanora took the parchment and checked the seal, noting it was indeed from Leopold. Her stomach twisted as she stuck her finger beneath the wax and pried it open.
My Dearest Queen Eleanora,
I have word that your armies are assembling on my eastern border. I am not sure what it is that I have done to offend you. I hope that, by now, you have learned that I do not have possession of your dear sister, Princess Katherine, and that, in fact, His Majesty King Caleb of Arteria has, indeed, attempted an act of trickery in keeping your sister for himself, despite her wish to return to Philip. Certainly, you know that she is being held against her will? To our good fortune, you should be aware that I have King Matthew of Zurconia in my possession. I am willing to negotiate a trade for your beloved sister. My only request is that you will allow her to stay safely in my kingdom, once she has arrived, until which time her marriage has been fully sanctified by the church. I hope that we will remain, as always, allies and friends.
Most sincerely,
King Leopold II
Torn between laughter and a scream of rage, Eleanora fought to keep her mouth closed as she handed the letter over for Kenneth to read. While it may be entirely possible that Caleb would try to deceive her, her own brother had sent word of what had transpired, and James would never conceal the truth. Knowing Leopold had Matthew sent a shiver down her spine as she considered whether or not Caleb would attempt to trade Katherine for his brother. According to James’s last correspondence, Katherine and Caleb were in love, and from what James cold tell, wished to be married. While Caleb hadn’t made such a request as of yet, she’d already officially sent consent to James. Allowing Katherine’s hand to be given to Caleb in marriage would solidify the alliance between Nadoria and Arteria, who now shared a common enemy in Gradenia. If it also made Katherine happy, then so be it. However, if Caleb were to betray Katherine and attempt to trade her for Matthew, all bets were off.
“What do we intend to do?” Kenneth asked, handing the correspondence to one of the officers riding alongside them.
“So long as Caleb doesn’t act a fool, we proceed as planned. I don’t believe a word Leopold says. If Caleb moves to retrieve his brother and puts Katherine in harm’s way, then we shall modify our attack as necessary. I do not think the King of Arteria would be so foolish, though. Do you?”
“I pray not, my love,” Kenneth replied, his eyes downcast. “I pray not.”
Eleanora made no move to reply to the correspondence, nor did she alter her orders. It was unfortunate that King Matthew of Zurconia may end up paying the ultimate price in this situation, but if she had to choose between the shattered king and her beloved sister, the choice was easy. The Nadorians continued their march.
Katherine hastily threw on one of the day dresses she’d noticed hanging in Caleb’s armoire, not wasting time pondering when he may have sent for them, and hurried into the adjoining room. He’d stepped in a few moments earlier to get dressed himself and ask her to meet him there when she was ready. She felt a bit disheveled with her hair down, having dressed herself, but as far as she knew, only David, Caleb’s most trusted advisor and friend, would be in the room with them, so she tried not to be too self-conscious.
Until she saw his face.
The smile Katherine had conjured up when she entered the room melted away. His eyes widened, and she knew immediately he recognized her, too. A lump formed in her throat as she thought about how she could explain herself without words. But then she remembered—she had them now. With a deep breath, she moved forward, confident in her ability to tell Caleb the truth without any misunderstanding.
Caleb stepped over from the window to reach for her arm. “Katherine, this is my David Smyth. He has been away from Caine, leading the search for Matthew.”
David stood and bowed, taking the hand that Katherine offered and kissing it with a, “How do you do m’Lady?” He said nothing of their previous encounter, and Katherine chose to pretend she didn’t recognize him for now as Caleb clearly had more important matters to attend to.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said with a cordial nod. “I overheard the message from Leopold. The situation does not sound promising.” Her voice was still raspy, but emotion had it breaking as well as she considered the situation. Thoughts of Matthew, lying broken and bleeding in a small cell, made her stomach churn.
“You heard what Leopold is proposing?” Caleb asked, turning to face her.
Katherine nodded. “Trading me for Matthew.” She hadn’t even let herself consider the possibility yet because she knew Caleb would never agree, and if her sister found out he had even contemplated it, the wrath of Nadoria would be brought down upon Arteria before Caleb even knew what had struck them. But in the back of her mind, that image of Matthew bleeding to death, alone in a dark prison, made her wonder how she could possibly say no.
“That is absolutely not an option.” Caleb’s eyes conveyed conviction as he stared into hers. “We will have to come up with a different course of action.”
David continued. “We plan to meet with the other commanding officers to create an alternative, one that allows Matthew to return and keeps you safely here, in Arteria.” David’s tone wasn’t quite as firm as the king’s, as if he were considering the possibility of making the trade.
Katherine turned back to face Caleb. He was fighting to keep his emotions in check, but underneath the calm surface, she knew a war was raging as he weighed the options. Whether he let her go to save his brother, or let Leopold claim Matthew’s life and kept her here, either way, Caleb lost.
She knew the guilt he felt over Matthew’s first abduction and could only imagine how it was compounded now that he’d been taken again. Upstairs, Margaret awaited his safe return, likely unaware that he’d been taken again. Katherine pictured her face when she spoke of her husband, and how he’d lit up whenever he mentioned her name. They belonged together. Who was Katherine to stand in their way?
“They’ll kill him,” she reminded Caleb, her voice gentle. “I can’t have that on my conscience.”
“We will have to find an alternative solution. Because you’re simply not going.”
“He won’t kill me.” She was reasoning with herself as much as she was reasoning with the man she loved. She knew Leopold’s reputation well enough to understand he wasn’t bluffing when he said he’d send Matthew’s head in a box. That gave them just enough time to arrange an exchange, not to move an army.
“It’s not happening.” Caleb’s resolve was strong, and it pulled at the strings of her heart to see how irrevocably unwavering he was when he said he would not give her up.
But David must have seen something in her eyes and known she was thinking of going. “We only have two days.”
Caleb turned away from them both, tugging at his hair as he moved aimlessly around the room. Katherine had seen him like this before, in the sitting room, the day she’d arrived. “There must be something we can do. What does he want? Money? Land? More power?”
Katherine continued to listen, but her mind played back all that had transpired; Margaret’s poisoning and near-death experience; Matthew’s capture, how he had longed to be dead, too. His bravery in escaping. How she had come here, gotten her voice back, all in time for this crucial moment. Without the ability to speak, she’d never be able to plead her case with Caleb. That, and the realization that a way to defeat Leopold might just lie in the events of the past, strengthened her resolve. As much as she didn’t want to leave. She had no choice. “I’ll do it.”
Caleb stopped pacing and turned to look at her, his expression frozen. “What was that?”
Katherine faced him, keeping her voice strong. “I said, ‘I’ll do it.’ I’ll go.”
Caleb’s blue eyes widened as he shifted his gaze from her to David and then back again. “What are you talking about, Katherine? Are you mad? There’s no way that I could ever let you do that.”
Katherine took a deep breath, hoping to keep calm so that her state may transfer to him. She stepped toward him, reaching for his hands, which he gave to her. “Caleb, darling, listen, you read the letter yourself. You know, if I don’t go, Matthew will die. I, for one, am not willing to have his blood on my hands, and I don’t think that you are either.”
“Of course, I’m not,” Caleb said, intertwining his fingers with hers. “But I’m not willing to sacrifice you to get him back either. There has to be another way.”
“No, there’s no other way. If I don’t go he dies.” Katherine thought about the permanence of the statement, of her parents and how she’d never dreamt of losing them when she was so young. “That particular condition is irreversible, while getting out of Castle Graden may be difficult, but it could potentially be done.” She swallowed hard, thinking there had to be a way she could trade herself for Matthew and still get away from Leopold. “I’d rather see Matthew live and find a way to escape than leave him beneath Castle Graden in the catacombs for all of eternity.”
Caleb turned away from her, running his hand through his hair again as his eyes darted around the room. She knew him well enough already to see him weighing through the potential outcome of each situation. And she knew her own calculations well enough to know she was correct. He turned back to face her. “Katherine, if I hand you over to Philip, you know what his intentions are. Even if it’s only a short time, you know what he wants with you. He isn’t about to let you escape. Leopold won’t either. I can’t let you be put in that sort of compromising position.”
“I know what he wants from me, Caleb. He almost took it from me once before.” She turned her head slightly to look at David who had been listening intently but caught her gaze, his eyes narrowing slightly. Turning back to Caleb, she said, “I will find a way to keep my vow to you, to still be yours and only yours. I just need a bit of time to think it over.”
“Think what over?” Caleb asked, shaking his head. “Do you think a solution will come to you that will allow you to return to Philip and have him keep his hands off of you long enough for me to rescue you? Over my dead body....”
Caleb’s words sparked an idea in her head, the hints from her earlier thoughts concerning Margaret’s past joining together with what she already knew about how she must proceed. “No,” she said, grabbing him by the arms. “Not over your dead body. Over mine.”
James had just managed to find his seat again on the settee next to Katherine after ten minutes or more of standing, shouting at her and then at Caleb, upending a table or two, as well as a chair, and shattering Caleb’s mother’s antique vase she’d acquired on her last trip to the Kingdom of Misk. Katherine had kept her cool, despite never having seen such rage from her brother before, and she insisted he would not change her mind, no matter what he broke.
The rant had included several threats against Caleb’s life. He’d taken it in stride, assuring James he agreed with him and also did not want her to go. Eventually, short of breath, her brother turned back to face her. “How will I explain this to Eleanora? She will, to put it bluntly, lose her shite.”
Katherine almost giggled. If the aftermath of James’s fit hadn’t still littered the floor, perhaps she would have. “I will write her a note, but if she is under the impression I have arranged the transport myself, that I have snuck off in the middle of the night, she can blame no one but me.”
“Do you think I can convince her that you managed to break out of Castle Caine unassisted?” James asked, his head cocked to the side slightly in doubt.
“Of course not. But there are plenty of people who would be willing to help me retrieve King Matthew. Not having your help, or Caleb’s, doesn’t mean I am unassisted.”
Falling back onto the couch as if his lungs had burst, James said, “I cannot stop you from doing this, can I? Short of locking you in the dungeon?”
Katherine’s hand automatically went to her wrist. She’d managed to keep her injuries a secret from James knowing she couldn’t explain what Caleb had done in a way that would sound at all forgivable to her brother, but thoughts of spending more time chained up made her wrist ache. “No, you can’t.” She didn’t look at Caleb, knowing already he had to be thinking similar thoughts as her own.
Shaking his head, James said, “Let me speak to this physician so that I may understand how this concoction works. You realize you will need help from inside Graden, don’t you? As well as all the fortune the Good Lord could provide?”
“I do. With any luck, Joan will be there. She will help me.”
“You can take one of your ladies with you,” Caleb reminded her as he signaled for the servant at the door to show the physician inside who had been waiting in the hall. When Russell entered, he appeared nervous, particularly when he saw the state of the room. Katherine noted the look he gave Caleb and the shake of the king’s head as if her beloved were saying, “It wasn’t me.” Russell sat in the one remaining upright chair and waited.
“I would rather not endanger anyone else if I can help it,” Katherine replied in response to Caleb’s question regarding taking a lady in waiting. “Russell, this is my brother, Prince James of Nadoria. Russell is one of the finest physicians one will ever find,” she said to her brother who only eyed the man suspiciously. “He has loyally served the royal house of Zurconia for many decades before coming to Castle Caine along with Queen Margaret.”
“Queen Margaret—who lay dying these past six months?” James asked, folding his arms in skepticism.
“Queen Margaret who did not die a horrible death six months ago because Russell was able to save her. She lay healing, not dying,” Katherine corrected. “Will you kindly explain to my brother how the twilight medicinal you’ve created works, kind sir?”
Russell cleared his throat, still appearing unsure of James. “Yes, Your Majesty, and I must say, your voice sounds remarkably strong, under the circumstances.” Katherine nodded her thanks, and he continued to describe to James and the rest of them exactly how the formula he had created that had allowed it to appear as if Margaret were dead when she was merely in a state of deep slumber could be utilized to convince Philip that Katherine had expired. “The dosage she will take is minute compared to the amount I gave Margaret. I’d estimate she will only sleep for a day or two at best,” he concluded, surveying the faces in the room.
Katherine thanked him, while James continued to glare, and Caleb wore the look of a tired soul no longer willing to fight the inevitable.
Reaching for her brother’s hand, which she had to fish out from beneath his folded arms, Katherine said, “James, brother dearest, I know you do not wish to put me in harm’s way. I understand that. But you simply must understand, this is a risk I must take. I cannot let Leopold murder Matthew. Not only is he a friend to me in a way I cannot explain, his wife needs him. His brother needs him. His kingdom needs him. I am going to do this with or without your blessing, but with it will make it easier.”
He blew a hot breath out of his mouth. “I cannot give you my blessing, Katherine. But I will not stand in your way. If you feel as if you must do this, so be it. Go with God. I will be there to retrieve you when you awake.” He looked her in the eyes. “If anything happens to you....”
“Nothing will.”
“I already thought I lost you twice—once when you went to Philip and then again when I thought you were in that carriage. I cannot bear losing you again.”
Slowly, Katherine repeated herself. “Nothing will happen to me.”
James nodded and then flew up off of the settee headed for the door as if he saw smoke in the distance and was headed to put out a fire. Katherine watched him out into the hall, wanting to feel settled that he had accepted her decision, but the weight of his disdain lingered.
Caleb dismissed Russell, leaving the couple alone, sitting across from each other, the span of the ocean between them, only a few feet away from one another.
“You’re doing this?” His voice was nearly as quiet as Katherine’s had been the night before.
“I must.”
“We can find another way.”
A tear caught in her eye, so she looked away. “There is no other way.” With a deep breath, she looked at him again. “We both know it.”
Caleb was on his knees now, flying across the rug to come to her side and taking both of her hands in his. “Katherine, I’ve just found you, the only woman I’ve ever even considered giving my heart to. I can’t imagine.... If you don’t return to me, you may as well take all the air with you when you go because just as I cannot live without breathing, I cannot live without you by my side.”
Katherine leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, willing the tears away so that he wouldn’t see her wavering. His lips were sweet like honey, and she wanted to taste them for hours, but she had much to do to prepare for her trip. “I will return to you,” she said, staring him in the eyes.
Caleb’s lips formed a thin line as he nodded at her, wanting to believe it. “Despite Philip’s lies, I do know that you have only been with me, haven’t you?”
An eyebrow raised, and she nodded. He hadn’t asked her anything at all about Philip, though he had mentioned he was glad to hear Rose’s lies were untrue. “He was about to... force me... when you arrived. You saved me from him.”
Caleb nodded. “David mentioned it earlier, before our meeting with James. Katherine, I may not be able to go alongside you to keep you safe, but perhaps there is one thing I may be able to give you that will provide some means of protection.”
Her forehead wrinkled, Katherine asked, “What’s that?”
“This.” Caleb reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. The stone was a fiery red, the same shade he wore on his signet ring, symbolizing Arteria. “Katherine, though I have not known you long, I know you well. I know that more than anything on this earth, I must be with you. Perhaps, if Philip understands that you are mine, that you are my wife in every way, he will leave you be. So... Katherine, before you go, will you accept this ring, and me, as your husband? Will you be my queen?”
Momentarily, Katherine lost her ability to speak. She stared at him, eyes wide, fighting to find her voice. When she did, the tears came along with it. “Yes, of course I shall be your wife,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck before he even had a chance to slip the ring on her finger. Caleb found her lips, and Katherine let all of the struggles melt away for one true moment of happiness as she lost herself in the man she loved.