| |
GINATA FINDS A FRESHLY caught rabbit in one of Finn’s traps and skins it and cooks it for Millard. She makes sure he is warm and comfortable and then leaves him. She will go back to the castle, free Wolf and return to him tomorrow with clean clothes and a weapon. Then she will stay with him, until he is ready to take back his crown.
That’s the plan as she leaves him, and she wants to believe she is as loyal to him as she is disloyal to Everleigh and yet she knows it’s not true. Her allegiances seem to change hourly.
What she should do is confess all to Everleigh, bring her to Millard and let that be the end of it all. When she untied him, and let him go she wanted him to have a chance, a fair fight, but now he’s sitting in her cottage, well fed, warmed by the fire she made. But if she tells Everleigh, she will never be able to trust her again. Everleigh will capture Millard and she will throw Ginata in the tower with him. She will have to. A confession doesn’t change the deed that is done.
Ginata has betrayed Everleigh and if Everleigh finds out she will have to punish her.
Ginata shakes her head as she walks, talking out loud, discussing her problem with herself. Dismissing each solution until she comes to one she likes.
The truth is she cannot be on Millard’s side or Everleigh’s. She has to look after herself.
She will free Wolf, as promised. She will take clothes and weapons to Millard, as promised. And then she will leave him to it. She will go back to the castle, straight after, gather the things she cannot bear to leave behind and then she will flee.
The teacher will be able to crown Everleigh if Everleigh wins the war with her brother, and if she fails Millard is King already. They will not need her. She will not have to admit what she has done. She will be far away.
They may wonder, the truth may come out, but she will be far away and won’t hear of it.
One more day, she says to herself as she walks through the front door of the castle: one more day.
She goes to Everleigh’s room and knocks the door. She tries the handle but the door is locked. “It’s Ginata,” she calls.
Ceryn opens the door, fury on her face and spits out the words to Ginata. “Where have you been? Everleigh’s worried sick.”
“What? Sorry. I just...I...”
Ginata crosses the room to Everleigh and bows to her. “Forgive me? I was in my rooms-”
“No you weren’t! I went to fetch you.”
“And then I went to the kitchen, and then the gardens. Sorry, Everleigh, I didn’t mean to scare you. Being cooped up was driving me crazy.”
Ceryn scowls at Ginata and then storms over to Archer’s side. “Liar,” she says.
“Ceryn! It’s not a problem. I was just worried that’s all. There was an incident in the great hall.”
“What happened?”
“Someone in a hood stormed in and threw a severed head at Everleigh. But that’s fine, we looked after her,” Ceryn says.
Ginata puts her hands over her mouth. “That’s awful. Who was it?”
Everleigh sits down and Ginata sits next to her. “We don’t know. They had a hood on.”
“But they did shout, in the name of the King, when they did it. If I knew where he was, I’d kill him.”
“Alright, Ceryn. Stay calm.”
“I’m sorry, Everleigh.” Ginata touches her arm. “I’ll stay here now.”
Everleigh holds her hand up, stopping Ceryn from butting in with a sarcastic comment. Ceryn shakes her head but remains quiet.
“We just want to make sure we’re all together. That we’re all safe. Until we know where my brother is and what his plans are.”
Ginata nods, repeating silently in her head, one more day. She cannot see any other choice.
There’s another knock at the door. “It’s Finn.”
Ceryn lets him in. “Right, we’re all here, we’re all safe. What next?”
“Two more days until my coronation. Once Weaver gets here with my army, I think we’ll have to find my brother. Wolf’s locked up but I cannot rest while Millard’s out there somewhere.”
“Agreed,” Archer says, standing behind Everleigh, placing his hands on her shoulders. “It doesn’t make sense to have him on the loose. We cannot do anything until Weaver gets back, and really, aside from that nonsense earlier, is there a real threat?”
“That nonsense was horrible,” Della says. “It certainly upset me and Addyson.”
“I know that. But Everleigh didn’t come to any harm. They didn’t make a move to hurt her, just scare her.”
“We can handle that. I think you’re right though. Get through the next two days, stick together and get Everleigh crowned. Then we’ll have reinforcements. We’ll be able to keep you and the castle safe and send people out to find Millard.”
With nothing more to say or do, Della and Addyson break off to continue sewing bunting for the coronation. Will stays by Everleigh’s side and Ginata and the teacher join them. “Ginata, I’m glad you’re alright.”
She nods at him, a smile plastered over her face. “Just fine.”
Ginata tunes out as the others chat. She can feel the teacher’s eyes on her as well as Ceryn’s but she keeps her eyes trained on Everleigh and Will.
Everleigh calls Archer over. “What do we do about Wolf?”
“Kill him?”
“We probably should. I’d rather leave him locked up for ever, though.”
Ceryn joins them. “But then you have to feed him. Just kill him. Get it over with. He’s your brother’s closest ally. Without him, Millard will struggle. He can fight but he needs a henchman.”
“I know you don’t like it, Everleigh, but I think she’s right.”
“What do you all think?” She looks to Will, Ginata and the teacher. “Do I want to kill him?”
“Ceryn and Archer killed Millard’s men, who attacked us in the great hall. And they’d have probably killed whoever was in the hood if they’d caught him.” Will shrugs. “Kill or be killed.”
“Is that what we’ve come to?”
“Sadly. I think so.”
“You?” Everleigh looks at the teacher, her eyes pleading with him to see things her way.
“You feel as though if you kill him then you are no better than your brother.”
“Exactly!”
“But you are. You don’t kill indiscriminately, or on a whim. But if there is real danger, a real threat to you, or your sister, or your people, you cannot sit idly by. People will look to you for protection.”
“So, I just order his death?” Everleigh pushes back her chair, walks over to the window, looks out at the courtyard.
Archer follows her over, slips his arm around her waist, pulls her close to him. “Everleigh. I know this isn’t easy for you.”
“It’s not. I don’t want to kill people. I know, more than anyone, how precious life is. I was ready to die but I was given a second chance. Life is sacred.”
“Lock him up, then. If it makes you happy. It’s up to you.”
“People will think I’m weak.”
“They’ll think you’re merciful.”
She turns to face him, resting her head on his shoulder. “This is so much harder than I thought. When Halfreda told me I might live, might rule, I heard the word live. I would live. Ruling is good too, being in charge, being an all-powerful Queen but it never occurred to me what that meant. I’m not hard enough, I can’t be cruel.”
“Not cruel. Just thinking of yourself and the Realm. Keeping everybody safe. You can do that.”
“But at whose expense? I kill Wolf, then who’s next? Who stops me losing control?”
“Me, Will, your sister, the teacher. Any one of us. We’ll help you, advise you, support you. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.”
“And my brother? He still wants to kill me.”
“So, we’ll find him and lock him up too. Everleigh you will have an army of people to look after you, a bunch of people happy to advise you, the whole Realm behind you.”
“But it will be me who has to live with the choices I make, Archer. I will have to decide whether people live or die, and I will have to sleep at night after doing so.”