Stubborn Girl Read online

  12

  Duke Henri’s Children

  “Get him off my cage!” Uncle Henri ordered. “Get us out quickly, before anyone else comes down here.”

  Bastien called to me over his shoulder. “Babe, could you grab the key?”

  I ran forward as Lane moaned, “You didn’t bring my daughter into this mess! Tell me you’re not this reckless!” She looked around, unable to see either of us.

  “Of course he didn’t,” I said quietly, swallowing the bile in my throat that rose at the sight of my mommy in a cage. “I’m back at your place right now, kicking my feet up and inventing new raps about ice cream with Judah.”

  I unlocked the door and gently pulled her out, careful with her stiff limbs. “Rosie,” she cooed. “I never want to see my baby in a dungeon. Not that I can see you now, but still. How are you invisible?”

  I draped the lip of my cape around her shoulders, letting her see my face. I tried to look confident, to assure her with my serenity that everything would be fine. “‘I get by with a little help from my friends.’”

  Bastien grumbled to Lane, “If you think I’m reckless, you should aim that lecture at your daughter. I don’t have it in me to explain how we came across these cloaks. We’ll save that story for when you can yell nice and loud. For now, let’s get you out of here.” Bastien sighed his frustration that Astin was taking more than five seconds to die. “Come on, already.” Then, remembering himself, he started murmuring the soldier’s prayer I’d heard him utter many times before. Despite the gore of the moment, it was sweet, and I respected him for the solid gesture.

  I kissed Lane’s cheek and moved to Draper’s cage, unlocking him and guiding him out. He was so grateful to be out, he tackled me backwards, wrapping his arms around me as I giggled through the tame wrestle. He kissed my cheeks as tears fell from his eyes and dotted my face. “You have no idea, Rosie. I was sure we’d be lost down here forever! How’d you get here so quickly? Does the kingdom know we’re being held captive?”

  I tried to find the best way to hold him, but his back was so sliced up, it was hard to assure him of my affections. I settled for sitting next to him on the floor and combing my fingers through his matted and greasy hair. I brushed it away from his face so he looked more like a person again. His angular features had an edge of anger to them I’d not seen much of before. “Hey, it’s alright. You’re out now. No one’s going to hurt you if I’m around.”

  Draper buried his nose in my cheek and chuckled, shifting on the floor with a grunt. I covered him with my cape, hugging his neck as he pulled me onto his lap. I felt small in Draper’s arms, and like it was okay that I didn’t have all the answers. We had each other, and somehow, that would be enough. “You shouldn’t have come.”

  “They shouldn’t have locked my brother in a cage. Don’t you know I’ll always rescue you?”

  “Maybe I should know that by now, but you still constantly surprise me. Is our army outside? Are they ready to take us home? Where’s Morgan’s head being posted?”

  I kissed his cheek and crawled off his lap over to Reyn’s cage. “She’s still alive. There’s no cavalry, only Bastien and me.” When the key unlocked his door, I was hoping that might rouse him. He didn’t move, though. “Um, Lane? What happened to Reyn?”

  Lane’s voice was quiet and respectful. “He’s been to the whipping post twice. He’s alive, but he passed out from all the blood loss. Here, I’ll help you with him.” I shook my head at her and motioned for Bastien to leave his conquest and help me with the living. “You sit tight. Bastien and I will get him out.”

  Bastien let out quiet noises of distress when we finally worked Reyn out of the cage. His dark skin had been torn open in too many places, and he was cold to the touch. “He’s breathing,” I ruled with relief. “We’ve got to get you guys out of here, but I don’t know how. We offed the soldiers surveying the grounds behind the castle, but it’s only a matter of time until they’re found. I’m sure there are others making rounds, too.”

  “What happened to Kerdik?” Lane asked. “He ported us here, but as soon as we stepped into the castle, a gong sounded through the house and a whole mess of guards were on us in a second. He punched Morgan, and for no reason that I could see, he passed clean out. Is something wrong with him? Is that why he hasn’t come for us?”

  “Kerdik’s in trouble, and we don’t have much time.” I looked up at Bastien. “Reyn’s in no position to make a dash through the night. None of them are. What should we do?”

  “Let me out!” Henri shouted, rattling the bars on his cage as droplets of blood sloped over his long nose. Astin was still bleeding all over him, painting his arms and shoulder-length greasy hair in a macabre crimson.

  Bastien moved to the cage and kicked it just to spook Henri before he slid a short sword, a knife, a set of handcuffs and a whole ring of keys from Astin’s dead body, pocketing them for his own use. “You’ll stay put, for the good of all of Avalon.” Then Bastien squatted down so he could look Duke Henri in the eye. “We were on the council together. I trusted you to look out for what was best for Avalon. You sold Province 2 to Morgan? What’s more, you tried to marry your own niece when you knew I loved her.”

  Uncle Henri seethed like an animal, spittle and blood dripping from his chin. “You will let me out of here so I can call my people home!”

  Bastien paused to study Duke Henri’s face. “No. You’ll stay here, where you can’t cause any further damage to Avalon.”

  Draper stiffened, but he didn’t say anything to contradict Bastien’s ruling.

  “Let me out!”

  Bastien was calm as he laid out Duke Henri’s gravest sin. “You sided with the woman who captured Damond. You didn’t care to track down your own son’s ashes after he was burned by Morgan’s soldiers!”

  “I have no sons!” Henri rasped with fury over a life he no doubt wished he’d lived better.

  Bastien looked around at the empty cages. “Where’s your daughter? Gwen, I’ll set free. It’s the one kindness I’ll grant you after all you put your people and us through.

  “You’ll leave me down here to die?”

  Bastien was firm. “I’ll not slit your throat in front of your son. Prison’s the best place for a man who deserts the people who counted on him to protect them. I won’t make Draper watch his father die.”

  Henri snarled in Draper’s direction. “He’s not my son.”

  Draper merely shrugged, his jaw tightening through the pain he was well-versed in compartmentalizing. I knelt next to my brother, claiming him when Province 2 in all of its foolishness would not.

  Lane was livid, her temper mirroring my own. “That’s right, he’s not yours anymore; Draper’s my son!”

  Fury rose up in me, so I gripped Draper’s hand to hold myself in place. He jerked, since he couldn’t see me, but he calmed at the sound of my voice. “You’re my brother. You belong to Lane and me now. No one will ever disown you like that again.” Though I didn’t want to leave my uncle in the cage, I knew he’d be a danger to us if he was released. “Let’s go.”

  Lane wrapped her arms around Reyn on the floor, and motioned to the wall behind her. “Draper, show Bastien where Astin was keeping the extra weapons.”

  Draper tried to stand, but his back was bowed still. He was on all fours, as if he was still inside the cage. “Oh, honey!” I cooed, moving to his side and rubbing his shoulders.

  “I’m alright. It’s just been awhile since I’ve been upright. Oh, that feels good. Watch out for the cuts on my back, though. When you massage my shoulders, it’s stretching some of the whip marks. I don’t want to start bleeding again.” He sat back on his heels, ignoring his father while Henri and Bastien argued and cussed at each other. “My arms. Start there, if you can.”

  “Of course.” I massaged his forearms, working my way up to his biceps, and finally the meat of his shoulder. My hands moved gentler this time so I didn’t rip open his cuts.

  “Here. This won’t fe
el great on your back, but it’ll warm you up.” Bastien took off his flannel under his cape, sparing one of his two tops for my brother.

  “Thanks, Bastien. To the left is a latch on the wall. If you tug on it, a few of the stones swing out. That’s where the rest of the weapons are.”

  “On it.” I worked on Draper, moving to his lower back when he laid down on the stone floor; it was a safer way of stretching out his unyielding muscles without toppling over. I straddled his butt and massaged the backs of his legs, working my way down until finally his legs laid flat on the stone.

  I felt Henri’s eyes on me, but didn’t look up. “You’re a disgrace, you know. Morgan le Fae’s daughter, stroking her cousin’s legs in a dungeon.”

  “Shut up,” Draper groaned into the floor.

  “Actually, it’s way grosser than that, because Draper’s not my cousin anymore; he’s my brother. So we’re super way disgusting.” I rubbed Draper’s ankles with gentle, steady pressure, rotating them first to the left and then to the right, so they could at least bend correctly when Draper tried to put weight on them. “The thing about me, though, is I’m on the other side of this cage. Insult me all you want, Bastien’s not going to end it quick for you just because you try to piss us all off.”

  “You’re an insolent brat! You got your mother’s looks, but none of her grace.”

  “Aw, shucks. You know, I was thinking of moving into your old castle, now that you’re not using it. I might just bring Draper back to live there, too. One big, happy family. Might even sit on your throne if I run out of extra chairs around the old dinner table. Where’d Gwen end up? Maybe I should invite her to throw darts at your portrait. Something tells me she might have a few daddy issues in need of venting.”

  Henri’s chin quivered. “My daughter was going to make something of herself. Draper and Damond had too much of their mother in them. Weak.”

  I looked over my shoulder at Draper, whose eyes looked haunted. “‘Was?’ Is Gwen dead?”

  “She was to visit Duchess Avril in Province 8. Gwen was going to offer an olive branch of peace to see if our provinces could join forces.” Henri’s voice shook with genuine sorrow. “I didn’t expect her to receive such a harsh welcoming from Avril. The Duchess thought Gwen was there to steal her jewel, so she sent me back my daughter’s head in a box. An old, dirty box.” He paused for the memory that visibly haunted him, drawing out the hollows under his eyes. “That’s when I knew I had to ally my land more securely with Morgan’s.”

  Lane was fuming as she held Reyn on the grimy stone floor. “You sent your daughter to the woman who you know stole my jewel, Roland’s and a third. You knew what evil was in Avril, but you sent Gwen there anyway. You didn’t protect your daughter.” She sneered at Henri in disgust. “Throw away the key,” Lane directed to Bastien.

  Bastien held the key in the material of the cape, so he didn’t burn himself as he lit the tip of the metal with the flame from the lantern. He heated it until the jagged shape started to melt. “Not a problem, Mom.”

  Lane managed a soft smile for Bastien. “Thank you, Son.”

  Henri howled his fury, but Bastien didn’t stop until the job was done, and Duke Henri’s freedom sufficiently destroyed.

  13

  The Best Friend a Spice Girl Could Ask For

  It took some time, but eventually Lane and Draper were on their feet, and Reyn was conscious. Granted, he wasn’t much more than barely awake, but I wasn’t about to complain. Reyn leaned heavily on me and Draper, while Lane and Bastien debated what to do next. “This is taking too long, guys! Kerdik and Brìghde are being tortured. We have to get them out now!”

  “We will, babe, but we can’t get ourselves locked back up in the process. We have to get Reyn out of here first.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Reyn protested, though no one bothered to argue with his faulty assumption. Reyn was bad off, the whip marks still wet to the touch. He was shaky on his feet, but insisted Bastien would not carry him and damage what was left of his pride. “I vote we stay here.”

  “What?” Lane frowned at her fiancé. “Hun, we need to get out of here.” Of the three of them, Lane had been quickest to be back on her feet, ready for action. Turns out she’d been let out of her cage most often, because Astin wanted to eat his meals with a legit duchess.

  “How? None of us can make the trek with no provisions, beaten up as we are. Bastien should go and see if he can free Kerdik. Then Kerdik can get us out. All we have to do is defend the dungeon, which won’t see a new guard for at least a few hours.”

  It was a terrible plan, but the only one we had to go on. Bastien and Lane were whispering conspiratorially while I tried to steady Reyn. Draper and I lowered him to the floor just to be sure he didn’t collapse. Draper was doing a bit better now, but I wanted to get him out of here. “We’ll be quick,” I offered, though we all knew I had no control over how long it might take to overthrow a kingdom.

  Lane pulled Draper to the side and spoke quietly to him, while Bastien wrapped Reyn’s trembling fingers around a knife. “Stay strong, brother. I’ll be back for you soon.”

  Reyn leaned forward and gripped Bastien’s shoulder, bringing him down to rest his forehead against his friend’s. They’d seen each other through so much; I hoped one day soon they’d be able to watch each other get married, and be the blissful family who lived happily ever after. “Don’t be reckless, brother,” Reyn begged. “It matters if you live.”

  Bastien smirked at Reyn, no doubt sharing several unspoken memories that only the best of friends could communicate with simple eye contact. When Bastien stood, he shook Draper’s hand. “Keep her safe.” His voice had the note of begging to it, a scared sadness that didn’t usually happen when he spoke about Lane. I mean, I knew he cared about her, but he sounded downright woebegone at the thought of leaving Lane behind.

  Uncle Henri spat through his cage. “Safe? Do you think Morgan will ever let Rosalie go? She wants to use the girl to find Avalon’s lost magic. There’s no limit to how far she’ll push you to get what she wants. You’re as good as caged, once she learns you’re here.”

  Bastien moved over to the prison Henri was mouthing off in, reached his arm inside and jerked Henri hard against the bars, cracking his head four times with force enough to knock out a bull. “That’s a good boy,” he said as he released Duke Henri, who slumped on the floor, unconscious.

  Lane pulled me in for a tight hug, her cold arms doing their best to rally me before I went off to fight my mother. “Do you know who you are?” she whispered.

  I nodded. “Most days I think I do.”

  “You’re my daughter, Rosie. I want you to be kind – always kind. I don’t want you to have to rely on your strength, but to know that it’s there. Never stop being you. You’re the best you I know.”

  I smirked at her cuteness, noting how similar we sounded. “I think I’m the best mini-you you know,” I added. “If I grow up to be just like you, then I win at life.”

  Lane gripped me tighter, her motherly wisdom spilling out in a rush. “I want you to marry the man of your dreams and get out of Avalon for a while. Promise me you’ll smile and be brave, even when it’s hard.”

  I rubbed her back gently. “Of course I will. I love you, Mom. You’re the best friend a Spice Girl could have.”

  Lane snorted, her ribs shaking with silent laughter. “Only you could make me laugh in a dungeon. Only you. You’re my best friend, Ro.” She squeezed me tighter. “Any idea where Kerdik and Morgan are?”

  I checked in with my gut, which was ready to get down to business. “They’re on the balcony overlooking the drawbridge at the front of the castle. Fourth floor, I think.” I grimaced, my brain flicking through all the things that horrified me. “No. She’s torturing them in public now? Making a scene of how powerful she is to be able to control the immortals?”

  “Thanks. That’s all I needed to know.” Then Lane stepped away and nodded to Draper, who wrapped his arms around me from be
hind in a sweet hug. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Draper, look after your sister. See she gets home safe.”

  “No problem, Mom.”

  Panic seized me around the throat when I realized what Lane was planning. “Wait, what? No! You can’t kill Morgan, Lane. You’re barely upright! Stop!” Draper’s arms around me tightened, restraining me from running forward. “Bastien, stop her!”

  Bastien didn’t turn to Lane, but moved in so I was sandwiched in between him and Draper. His hand moved to my mouth as I thrashed against the two. “Lane’s coming with me to end Morgan, and you’re staying here. The more noise you make, the higher chance you have of one of the soldiers coming down and blowing our one window to do this.” He squeezed his hand over my mouth until I stopped my muffled shouting. “I’ll make sure Lane comes back to you. You dying up there is something neither Lane nor I could handle, so this is how it’s going down. Say, ‘I understand, Bastien.’”

  “Bite me, you jag! Don’t you dare lock me down here! This is my fight. Morgan is my mother. You can’t take Lane up there! You know the risks!”

  “I do, and so does she. This is my call, and you’ll accept it. You’re going to be my wife, and I won’t let you go walking into the lion’s den when there’s another option. And I won’t let you kill your own mother. No matter how much we all know Morgan has to die, it would break your heart to be the one to deliver that final blow. I won’t put you through that.”