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“No, give it back to me! It’s mine!” the youngest boy shouted while the eldest boy ran away with his wooden sword. He never ran too fast or too far, the younger one was constantly able to catch up to him, but then the older brother used his size to shrug the younger one off and run away again. Both boys were laughing and seemed to be enjoying it, however.
Jonathan couldn’t help but smile. He and Valdemar used to play exactly the same way. There were two years between them as well, just like the two boys playing in front of him, but he couldn’t recall having bullied Valdemar the same way as the older boy did now.
He felt Peter’s hand on his shoulder, pushing him down behind the bushes. Jonathan tried to adjust his position without making a sound. They had been sitting watching the boys playing in the clearing for a while now and his legs were about to sleep.
It was Lord Rosenkranz’ call, however, as to when they were going to take the two boys. Jonathan looked briefly at Lord Rosenkranz or the place in the shrubs opposite them where he knew that Lord Rosenkranz and two other men were sitting. There was nothing to be seen.
The older boy had given the wooden sword back to his younger brother and they had started to practice with them. It was clear that the older boy had an advantage given his size, but the younger one had a temper and a resolution that made him a worthy opponent. Perhaps younger brothers needed that. Valdemar had had a temper too, at least.
Jonathan looked at the path in the clearing that he knew led to the two boys’ home. No one had shown themselves. That had to mean that the others had been able to grab the boys’ fencing teacher. Jonathan looked towards the spot where Lord Rosenkranz was seated again. Why did he not do anything? They had to grab the boys now, while no one had missed them or their fencing teacher. Perhaps Lord Rosenkranz hadn’t been the right person for the job.
As if Lord Rosenkranz was able to read his mind, Jonathan saw him emerging from the bushes.
“Hey, guys,” he called in a casual voice that made Jonathan realize that Lord Rosenkranz was good at talking to children. Some people were, but he wouldn’t have considered Lord Rosenkranz one of them.
The two boys looked surprised at Lord Rosenkranz’s sudden appearance. The older automatically shielded his younger brother with his body and the gesture made Jonathan’s heart swell. Why had he not been able to protect Valdemar better?
“What are you doing here?” the older boy demanded with the natural authority of someone born with privilege. “This is our father’s estate.”
Lord Rosenkranz moved closer to them.
“But you remember me, don´t you? I’ve been to visit your father a number of times,” Lord Rosenkranz said. He was standing in front of the two boys now. They looked at each other as if silently trying to communicate whether one of them remembered seeing Lord Rosenkranz before.
“Do you want me to show you a trick?” Lord Rosenkranz went on before the boys had a chance to say anything.
Jonathan could see the younger boy peeping out behind his brother’s back, but the older boy resolutely stepped in front of him.
“No,” he said firmly. “Go away. As I said, this is our father’s estate and you are not allowed to be here.”
“I’m not harming anyone,” Lord Rosenkranz replied, moving closer. The boys naturally took a couple of steps back so that they were pushed even closer to the shrubs where Jonathan, Peter and another man waited.
“Our fencing teacher is coming soon,” the boy said as they walked even further away from Lord Rosenkranz.
“I don’t think so,” Lord Rosenkranz said, and at the same time he nodded only slightly to Jonathan and Peter. The two of them leaped out the bushes with the other men and grabbed the two boys from behind.
They had been discussing the plan a lot. Neither wanted the boys to be hurt or suffer too much, but on the other hand, how do you kidnap someone without them suffering even slightly? And they hadn’t been able to think of a better plan than to capture Lord Helmholdt’s sons and exchange them for Maria and Anna.
The two boys screamed and fought in the arms of Jonathan and Peter. The third man that had been hiding with them was helping Jonathan with the older boy while Lord Rosenkranz had stepped up to help Peter with the younger. The two men that Lord Rosenkranz had been hiding with came running as well.
“Argh, Jesus, he bit me!” he could hear Peter yell.
“Bite them, Lawrence, bite them,” the younger brother shouted.
The older brother tried to bite them, but Jonathan had already tied his hands and he and the other man simply kept him away from them by holding an arm each and standing as far away from the boy as possible.
“Calm down, we are not going to hurt you,” he said to the boys.
He could hear Lord Rosenkranz cry out as well. Apparently, he had been bitten too. The two men who had been hiding with Lord Rosenkranz were also struggling with the younger brother now. He was squirming and fighting like a wild animal, which made it almost impossible for the men to hold on to him.
“Get him under control,” Jonathan couldn’t help but shout.
“Easier said than done,” Peter grunted through clenched teeth, and at the very same time the boy managed to get loose. Someone was over him at once grabbing his jacket, but it was open and the boy simply held his arms backwards and moved out of it, and once free, he ran.
He sped off into the dense shrubs and Lord Rosenkranz’ two men followed but quickly came back.
“He has disappeared,” one of them reported.
Jonathan sighed. He looked at the boy whose arm he was holding. He was looking at the ground, crying. He almost wanted to release him as well. This wasn’t fair to him. But then he had to remember, it was Lord Helmholdt that wasn’t fair.
“One will have to do,” Jonathan said, and they hurried away from the clearing.
***
“He has to release both of them, otherwise what’s the point?” Jonathan was walking back and forth in front of the tent where they held council. Lord Helmholdt had replied that he would only release Anna since they only had one hostage to trade with.
“That man is unbelievable,” Peter agreed.
Their demands had been clear. Not only was Lord Helmholdt to release both Maria and Anna, but his army were also to stand down.
“It is regrettable that the younger boy got away,” Lord Rosenkranz said.
Both Peter and Jonathan agreed. They all knew that if they had both of Lord Helmholdt’s sons he probably wouldn’t have been as cocky. But even now he had to feel something. It was his eldest son. Jonathan couldn’t believe him. Lord Helmholdt could have no way of knowing that they would never harm the boy.
“We’ll just have to wait,” Jonathan said.
Even though it pained him to think of Maria in the dungeon, he knew that a couple of days, or perhaps even weeks in the dungeon wouldn’t hurt her.
The other two agreed.
“I’ll send him our demands again,” Peter said, and Jonathan nodded.
Jonathan left them. He cast a sidelong glance at the tent where they kept Lord Helmholdt’s son, Maria’s nephew. Jonathan knew that she cared deeply for the boy. He couldn’t help feeling sorry for him, but he also saw no other way.
And maybe this wasn’t even the right way, he surmised. Lord Helmholdt didn’t even seem to mind. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such a preposterous suggestion as the release of Anna alone clearly was. Did that man care for no one but himself?
Jonathan almost stopped mid-stride when he realized that his own father probably would have behaved in exactly the same way. He had also always been able to put the crown before anything else. Did that mean that Lord Helmholdt would actually be a better king? Jonathan shook his head. There was no way that he was going to let Lord Helmholdt win.
Peter caught up with him and they went back to the tent. Jonathan read through the response and nodded.
“Do you think that Lord Helmholdt is so soulless that he would sacrifice his son?” he asked Peter.
Peter had been friends with Lord Helmholdt since they were children. Peter’s father and Maria’s father, Lord Helmholdt’s stepfather, had been close friends and the families had often spent months visiting each other.
Peter looked serious.
“I don’t know about Lord Helmholdt anymore,” he admitted, and Jonathan could hear the pain in his voice. “He doesn’t seem like himself anymore...”
“If you ever see that happening to me, please let me know,” Jonathan said.
Peter nodded solemnly.
They were interrupted by Lord Rosenkranz approaching them.
“Your Majesty,” he said, a little out of breath, and bowed. “This is the woman I told you about earlier. Elena. She has some information that you need to hear for yourself.”
He stepped aside and a woman about Anna’s height stepped forward. She was wearing a plain grey dress under her brown cloak and her hair was covered with a headscarf of plain linen. Her features looked... fresh though. Jonathan didn’t know how to describe her face, but her high cheek bones and pink mouth with the corners slightly curving up, made her look fresh and vibrant. He could certainly understand Rosenkranz’ partiality towards her.
“Your Majesty,” the woman said and curtsied briefly, then she looked at Lord Rosenkranz as if she was asking for help.
“Tell him what you told me,” Lord Rosenkranz urged her with a slight smile. It was evident that he cared for the woman.
“I have been to the castle a couple of times to see the queen,” the woman began.
Jonathan felt as if his heart might leap out of his chest. He wanted to grab the woman and shake her, have her reveal every little detail about Maria, however insignificant it was.
“You have been to the castle?” he simply repeated, far too emotional to think of anything better to say.
She nodded.
“I help when they are ill...” she said.
“Is Maria ill?” Jonathan interrupted breathlessly.
“Very much the opposite,” she said with a smile. “That’s why Wulfric wanted me to see you right away.”
She looked at Lord Rosenkranz. He was smiling too. They knew something. Both of them. About his wife, and they were not telling him.
“What do you mean?” was all that Jonathan could ground out. He couldn’t lose his temper if he wanted to get the information she possessed.
“The queen is pregnant,” the woman answered, now smiling broadly.
Jonathan imagined that he was smiling just as broadly now.
“But she can’t...” he argued, because really, she couldn’t. Everyone knew that. It was the whole reason why Lord Helmholdt had wanted him to marry her in the first place. Well, that and the spying, but if Lord Helmholdt for one minute had believed that Maria had been able to give Jonathan an heir, he would have said to hell with spying on him and have locked her away in a monastery.
“She can,” the woman insisted. She was still smiling.
A child. He was actually going to have a child. With Maria. He had never dreamed it possible. He slowly sat down, covering his mouth with his hand. But perhaps it could be true. She had been sick a couple of times, and she hadn’t bled at any point after they had started being intimate.
A child, really, a child. Jonathan almost laughed. It wasn’t her who was barren, then. The problem was more likely with her ex-husbands before.
“I think we better give him some time to adjust,” Jonathan heard Peter say.
“I’m sorry, my Lord, but we don’t have much time, I’m afraid,” the woman put in. Elena, Lord Rosenkranz had called her.
He turned towards her.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Lady Helmholdt suspects that she is in such a way, but until now I have managed to convince her that it is impossible to know,” Elena paused and looked at Lord Rosenkranz again. “She is starting to show, though,” she added, turning towards Jonathan again.
The image of Maria heavy with pregnancy flashed before his eyes, before the severity of Elena’s words entered his mind.
“They can’t know,” he declared as he rose from the chair. There was no way to know what Lord Helmholdt would do, if he found out that Maria had actually conceived after all. He would definitely try to end the pregnancy. Maybe even kill Maria, just to make sure that the baby wouldn’t be born.
“He can’t know,” Jonathan repeated, and could feel that he was almost choking on the words.
He looked from Peter to Lord Rosenkranz. Both of them looked at him with grave expressions on their faces.