“They’ll rise up throughout the lands!”
“. . . commoner revolts . . . war . . .”
Aerity felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Harrison, his light brown eyes showing the never-faltering respecthe seemed to hold for her. She gave his hand a quick squeeze of gratitude before he released her. Aerity caught Lord Alvi watching the exchange with curiosity, so she turned her gaze forward again—she would let him think what he wanted.
“Enough!” King Charles’s voice silenced the room. “I will think on it. I must put safety first. I’m not ready to overturn our laws—” Aerity opened her mouth to argue that she wasn’t suggesting a complete overturn, but a one-time, enclosed, secure circumstance. Her father held up a hand to stop her. “This blasted parchment from Rozaria Rocato is bound to have our people in terror. If I take the stability of our rules away, it will cause chaos. Tonight on the lawn we will burn whatever pages my scribes have managed to copy, to keep Rozaria satisfied, but the original lists remain with us. I pray to the sea this works.”
He looked at the hunters. “Lord Alvi. Lieutenant Gillfin. Gather as many hunters as you can and begin hunting this new beast immediately.” They nodded and took their leave. Aerity watched them go, swallowing a dry lump in her throat. The king looked to his military advisers. “I want every soldier on duty, and round-the-clock patrolling of royal lands. I want Rozaria Rocato, dead or alive.” He turned to his top castle guard. “Send messengers to the other four lands to let them know of our new foe and to find out their circumstances.”
Without another word, the king swept from the room with Queen Leighlane and a line of advisers close behind.
Aerity felt the brush of velvet on her arm and peereddown at the old man beside her. It was Duke Gulfton, his eyes glistening. “I mean no disrespect, Princess, only a piece of advice. In times of fear and upheaval, absolute routine and stability in the law are called for. Any slight change can set the people off.”
“As I recall,” Aerity said steadily, “Mrs. Rathbrook healed your ailing heart last year.” Mrs. Rathbrook was the royal healer—the only Lashed allowed to work magic.
He grasped the top of his cane with both hands. “Aye.”
“Should we not allow the people of this land to benefit from magic as you have?”
He looked down at his hands, nodding solemnly. “Not all Lashed are as trustworthy as Mrs. Rathbrook. You saw the Rocato woman face-to-face. You know the evil of which she is capable.”
“I suppose everyone is capable of evil, Duke Gulfton. None of us is immune, Lashed or not. But I choose to believe the best in people until they show me otherwise.”
Duke Streamson, waiting in the doorway, cleared his throat. Duke Gulfton peered up at Aerity and patted her hand. “Once they show you otherwise, it is often too late. As a rule it is not safe to take such chances. Seas help Lochlanach in our time of need.”
As Duke Gulfton shuffled away, Aerity whispered in return. “Seas help us, indeed.”
Chapter
2
Lady Wyneth waited outside the king’s office with a bow across her back. Something inside her had changed, had grown and hardened like a grain of sand into a stony pearl. Perhaps it was being face-to-face with Rozaria Rocato and her beast on the Isle of Loch, certain she would not survive. Or perhaps it was her wreck of a life. In the past season she had lost her beloved betrothed, and soon after gained the affections of another. And now that man was to marry her cousin. Wyneth looked down at her gray gown, the mourning color she still wore for Breckon, and she experienced yet another stab of guilt.
She’d watched in High Hall as Aerity and Lord Alvi held hands, a striking couple, and addressed the frightened people.The very strength of their partnership had seemed to calm the masses. A strong, handsome warrior from the coldlands and Lochlanach’s own cherished princess. Though it twisted Wyneth’s insides with unwarranted jealousy and sadness, she knew that what was done was done. It was good for the kingdom in many ways, and she would not stand in the way. Her hope was that the two would come to love each other and that her own feelings would fade into a distant memory, so far away that they couldn’t hurt her anymore.
The heavy door swung open, startling Wyneth, and two men rushed out, on a mission. Wyneth’s heart dropped into her stomach at the sight of Lord Alvi’s and Lieutenant Gillfin’s serious faces. They both stopped in their tracks when they saw her, their fierce eyes softening a fraction. Wyneth dragged her gaze from Lief’s to Harrison’s, and a familiar ease filled her. Harrison—so like his cousin Breckon and yet so different.
“Another hunt is to begin,” Harrison told her.
A wild urge overcame Wyneth. She bent and grasped her skirts. “I am coming.”
Harrison’s brow furrowed, and Lief stepped closer. Wyneth kept her eyes on Harrison. It was easier that way.
“Don’t be absurd, Wyn,” Harrison said gently. “Stay in the castle where you’re safe.”
Wyneth knew she was being stupid. She was soft and frail in every way, and could barely hit a target with an arrow. Yet she also knew her cousin Aerity had played a hand in killing the first beast, while she herself had swum for help. “Theylisten to a woman’s command. Don’t you recall?”
“That was the first beast,” Lord Alvi said. Wyneth still could not look at him. “We don’t know if this new creature will be the same.”
True. But she had nothing to lose. If there was even a slight chance she could be of help, she would. Harrison tilted his head and studied her. She tipped up her chin, not backing down, and he gave a small grin and shake of his head.
“She’s got her mind set,” he told Lief.
“I will ready my horse,” Wyneth told them. She walked swiftly past the men and heard Lief make sounds of exasperation as they rushed to catch up. She couldn’t explain the fire of recklessness awakened in her heart. She’d felt so helpless and terrified when Breckon was killed, and again when trapped on the island between the first beast and Rozaria Rocato. She was tired of feeling weak. “Do your jobs and pay me no mind.”
When Lord Alvi appeared ready to argue, Harrison said, “Perhaps we should see if she’s right about being able to command the beast.” Harrison turned a warm gaze her way, making Wyneth’s chest bloom with pride at his confidence in her. “But you cannot make any sudden moves, my lady. Remain with us at all times.”
“Lady Wyneth.” Lord Alvi grasped Wyneth’s hand and she yanked it away.
