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Jonathan looked at the list in front of him. He knew that he had to persuade some of the men to join his cause, he even knew what most of them wanted in return. He just didn’t know how he was going to make ends meet. Not all could have the land, money, or influence that they craved. He would have to choose some – but who.
He remembered the list that Maria had showed him. A list of all of Lord Helmholdt’s supporters and what they wanted most. As he recalled the names had even been organized in order of who she thought were most willing to join him. In many cases she had been right. He started organizing the names on his own list the same way, only factoring in that he didn’t have that much to offer them right now.
Peter Goodwin entered the tent. He greeted him with a bow, before Jonathan with a hand gesture had him sit down.
“Your Majesty, any progress?”
“You know that you don’t have to be that formal, when it is only the two of us?”
“I know, I just prefer it.”
Jonathan handed him the list without saying anything. Peter looked at it briefly.
“I’ll arrange a meeting with Lord Lewinus and Lord Gyldenstjerne at once,” he said.
Jonathan smiled briefly at him. Peter handed him the list and was about to get up.
“Do you really think that I have a chance?” Jonathan asked him, and Peter sat down again.
“Of course, Your Majesty. You are the chosen king... and might I say the better one, the more that I get to know you.”
Jonathan could feel the pride swell in his chest at those words.
“You should know—you were one of Lord Helmholdt’s closest friends for many years,” he said without looking at Peter.
“Yes, and I know that Lord Helmholdt doesn’t really have any idea what it takes to be king. I don’t think that our country would prosper under him the way that I have seen it prosper under you.”
“Shouldn’t it be reflected in the size of my army then?”
Peter shrugged.
“It doesn’t always, as far as I understand it. Don’t give up hope...” Peter got up from the chair but then paused. “And as for the other issue...”
Jonathan looked up from his papers.
“Maria?” he asked.
Peter nodded.
“Is there any news?” Jonathan asked. He didn’t know why he felt so uneasy having to ask the question.
Peter shook his head.
“Are you sure that you still don’t want to do anything, Your Majesty? It might be easier to persuade one of the lords to join our cause if the queen isn’t a hostage.”
Jonathan sighed.
“If she is really a hostage. No, I’ll deal with Maria after I’ve dealt with her brother. That is the most important right now,” he said. Although he didn’t feel it.
***
“I haven’t experienced a greater turncoat than Lord Lewinus for many years,” Peter said for the tenth time since they had arrived back at their camp.
Jonathan smiled at him. The men that Lord Lewinus was bringing would be vital for their army. He jumped with fear when a scream cut through the camp. He got up.
“What’s that?” he asked Peter. “Are we under attack?”
Peter got hold of Jonathan’s sleeve and dragged him inside the tent again.
“Our men have caught another of Lord Helmholdt’s spies. I guess they’re a little rough with him. I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I thought that I had told you,” he said.
Jonathan nodded and tried to shake the shock from the scream away. They sat back down and started strategizing on how they were to persuade lord Gyldenstjerne to join their cause.
“Your Majesty,” Lord Rosenkranz burst into the tent and bowed. “You have got to come hear this.”
Both Jonathan and Peter followed the young lord down to the back of the camp where the guards had been “talking” to the spy. A black eye and several bloody wounds on his hand told Jonathan why he had been screaming.
“Now, speak,” Lord Rosenkranz said to the spy, and poked him rather hard with the tip of his boot.
The spy didn’t say anything at first. Lord Rosenkranz nodded to one of his men, who got up with raised fists.
“Lady Maria tried to escape,” the spy spat out so fast that it sounded like he was saying one word.
“The queen,” Lord Rosenkranz corrected him in a cold voice.
“The queen,” the spy repeated.
Jonathan paid little attention to their quarrel. If she had tried to escape, it had to be because she wasn’t there voluntarily... he felt like a small flame was lit inside his chest. Something to get warm by in the middle of the cold woods.
Except he had to remind himself that he couldn’t trust that she actually wanted to escape. Maybe it was simply a plan that Maria and Lord Helmholdt had concocted to make it look like she was loyal to Jonathan...
Jonathan raked his hands through his hair. This had to stop. Right now. He focused on the beat-up soldier again.
“Tell the story,” Lord Rosenkranz said in a cold voice.
“The queen and Anna Harold tried to escape, maybe a week ago. They hit a guard over the head, managed to get out of the castle, and hid in the stables before they were caught.”
“And?” Lord Rosenkranz said.
The role of interrogator suited him rather well, Jonathan could tell. A role where he definitely didn’t have to say anything more than he had to.
“And now they are being kept in the dungeon of the castle. Before they were being held in Lady Maria’s... I mean, the queen’s former room.”
Jonathan nodded.
“Thank you,” he said to Lord Rosenkranz and walked away. He could hear Peter ask Lord Rosenkranz if the prisoner had given him any more details as to what happened with the queen and in Lord Helmholdt’s camp, but Jonathan didn’t stop to hear it.
He walked back to the tent and sat back down. So, she was definitely a hostage and not there voluntarily, if the spy was to be believed. He could feel his stomach turning just by the thought of Maria sitting in a cold, damp dungeon. But then he remembered Valdemar’s cold, dead face, and he couldn’t help but smile a bit. She deserved to be there – at least until he had figured out his feelings.
Jonathan jumped with surprise when someone cleared their throat outside of his tent, and then he heard Lord Rosenkranz’s voice:
“Your Majesty?”
“Yes,” Jonathan croaked, trying to compose himself.
Lord Rosenkranz entered. Jonathan immediately had him sit. The tall lord could barely stand upright in the tent.
“Your Majesty,” Lord Rosenkranz said again when he was seated on a stool.
“Good work, Rosenkranz,” Jonathan said, even though he didn’t think that Rosenkranz was there for praise. It wasn’t in his nature to want praise for his work.
“Well, thank you, Your Majesty,” Lord Rosenkranz said without pride in his voice. He was simply saying the words. “But that’s not why I came...” he began and then looked down.
“Please go on,” Jonathan said after a moment.
Lord Rosenkranz looked up and met his eyes.
“I wanted to ask your permission to seek out a woman who lives close to Lord Helmholdt’s estate,” he said as he looked Jonathan in the eye.
“To get information, I gather?” Jonathan asked. “Not simply for entertainment?” he had to tease the lord.
“To get information, of course,” the lord said in his even voice, then he looked away again. “Even though... the way I have come to know her previously is... I don’t like your use of the word “entertainment”, Your Majesty.”
Lord Rosenkranz looked sincere and a little concerned as to what Jonathan’s reaction might be.
“I was only jesting, Rosenkranz,” Jonathan said with a smile he hoped was disarming. Even though he and Lord Rosenkranz were the same age, he didn’t know him that well. The man was far too aloof for that.
“Oh, you were, of course,” Lord Rosenkranz smiled a little. “Anyway,” he continued a moment later. Jonathan thought it a great victory that he didn’t have to prod the man into speaking every time. “I’m hoping that this woman that I know will have information regarding the queen... and Lady Anna, I mean the dowager duchess of course.”
“Of course,” Jonathan said, “And this woman, does she have access to Lord Helmholdt’s estate?”
“Well, at least to the city within the castle walls. I know that she helps the family from time to time as well... She is a wise woman, but I can’t be sure that she has been inside the castle while the queen has been there.”
Jonathan contemplated this for a moment. Even though he had just learned that Maria apparently was being held in the castle dungeon, he still didn’t feel certain whether she was there voluntarily or not.
Then there was the matter of Lord Rosenkranz leaving. Along with Peter, he had become one of his most trusted men during the past couple of weeks. Even though they hadn’t become friends, Jonathan had come to trust him and depend on him. If he were taken captive by Lord Helmholdt, maybe betrayed by this woman that he thought he could trust... It would be a massive blow for Jonathan and his army.
And what if he couldn’t trust him, he would be sending a man who had vital information about the most intimate dealings of the army right into the arms of his enemy. With Lord Rosenkranz being so close to Lord Helmholdt, it would be easy for the two of them to meet and pass information to each other.
“Are you sure that you have to go yourself?” he queried and scrutinized Lord Rosenkranz.
Lord Rosenkranz held his gaze, even though Jonathan got the impression that he’d rather look away.
“It has to be me. This woman, Elena, I can’t imagine that she would trust anyone else, or help anyone else,” he explained, holding Jonathan’s gaze as he said it. There was a severity in his brown eyes that made Jonathan believe him.
Nevertheless, he heard himself say:
“I’d prefer that you remain here. You are doing tremendous work and I simply don’t think that we could do without you...”
“But the queen...” Lord Rosenkranz interrupted.
“We’ll find another way to get information,” Jonathan said as steadfastly as he was able to.