Chapter 27
Amelia was reading her book for the third time in a row when she saw the boat sailing towards the island, the royal flag displayed boldly. She raced down to the sitting room to where Alice sat with her equally read book. “They’re returning! I can see them! Be presentable, and ready to receive them!”
Amelia ran to the guards’ quarters as well and informed them, as they poured another glass of juice. “Pull yourselves together, the royal ship approaches!” she ordered.
“What? They’re early! They’re not due until next month!” slurred Sir Wilson.
“That changes nothing. Get dressed and chew some mint leaves.”
Alice had told Remington about the approaching group, and he was in the foyer as when Amelia returned. No one had seen much of him in the past few months; he was either on the mainland with a woman (or two), or he was shut in his room and had all of his meals delivered to him.
“I hope that the maid servants have been keeping this place as spotless as when they left, we can’t have the king and duchess returning to less than perfection.” he said dryly.
“I believe you mean the ‘king and queen’, not ‘king and duchess’.” Amelia corrected with an annoyed grin on her face.
“...Yes.” he said, looking back to the windows. The ship had just docked at the pier, and soon the procession would start. The small group filed out the front door and formed two very small lines as the guards rushed to straighten their breastplates as they ran out the door to their places. Remington rolled his eyes.
The group, which Amelia tried to not look at as it approached since it was decorum for the staff to look straight forward when receiving the king or any guest of importance, seemed smaller than it had been when it had been when they had left. Her heartbeat sped, not able to see exactly who hadn’t returned, until they walked past.
As the king passed, the staff bowed, and still Amelia couldn’t see the group clearly and she was dying to look, but didn’t want to be disciplined for her behavior. She clung to the knowledge that she would be able to know in no time at all, but after so long of being alone and not having any news for months, she dreamed of turning her head and getting a clear view of the group.
There were five sets of feet, one of which was stumbling. Were they hurt? The king’s group had entered the palace and the staff was able to follow in behind them, and that’s when Amelia saw it- the king had Liam by the arm, and Liam seemed far from healthy. What in the blazes was going on?! Where were Anwyn and Romeo?
The king dragged Liam along towards the stairs to go down to the underbelly of the palace, a place that Amelia avoided with every ounce she could muster. Food was stored down, but the tyrannical king didn’t get his title by having a lovely watercolor painting collection; he was a violent man. Amelia teared up at the thought of gentle Liam being at the mercy of the king.
~*~
He was led down into the basement, where he had taken a few people before, most of them had been trespassers and would-be-assassins, and while he had know that his rebellion against the king could go very poorly, he hadn’t thought that he would join the choir of screams that filled this cursed place.
He had hoped that on his capture he the king would have been so angry that he killed him out right, not capture him to torture until he deemed Liam too bruised and torn to have any enjoyment out of.
The king untied his hands for a moment while he got the cuffs that hang from the ceiling. After all the prisoners held down here, they had never been washed, thought that didn’t bother Liam that much now. His shoulders smarted like crazy, and going from having his hands continuously behind his back to having his arms extended felt like it was tearing at his muscles.
“They say that Anwyn is dead, they say that the child is dead, but I have you, don’t I? I have a filthy nobody that fell in love with my wife, kidnapping her and with the help of a promising guard took her to a far-away island where she died. That sounds like the highest offence I can think of, and you’re going to tell me how to access the islands to burn it to the ground.”
Liam looked up at the king. “You’re shorter up close than I thought you were.”
The king socked him in the stomach, forcing the air out of Liam’s lungs, making him cough. “Careful, that was fun. I’ll ask you again, how do I access the islands?”
~*~
A pit grew in Amelia’s stomach and would not stop consuming her while she knew that Liam was in the dungeon. She couldn’t hear his screams, but she knew the agony he would be in as long as he was there.
The previous day, the day they had all returned, dinner had been a broken affair. Everyone ate separately, the king in his quarters, the duchess in her sitting room, the guards in their wing, and no one said anything about what happened. The lack of information was making her feel like she was going to bounce off the walls, but she contained herself.
Today, dinner was called, and the king, queen, Briella, the two queen’s ladies, and Sir Montoya were all seated. The food was passed out, and the king acted as if everything were normal, except with a scowl on his face.
After several minutes of silence, Amelia spoke up. “My king, where is the queen? Where is Sir Romeo?”
The simple question was enough to tip the king from brooding silently to going into a rant. “We were overrun by a band of barbarians from the north, killing several Templar knights and nearly taking my life as well. We were able to kill one of the brutes, but they were well trained and agile, most of them got away.
“Sir Romeo aided the barbarians in the fight, showing himself to be the traitor he always was. Together Sir Liam and Sir Romeo kidnapped the queen, taking her through ruined terrain and carrying her onto a boat, where she and her family were sailing away. One of the Templar knights shot her by mistake, but away they sailed, not caring for her welfare. They sailed to the Western Islands, where she died. If they had left her here, she would have lived, but they signed her death when they took her. You needn’t worry, the knight who shot the queen no longer breathes.” he stopped to take a few breaths.
“As for Sir Reed, he killed several Templar knights before he was captured. He was in love with the queen, and for his crimes he will face a fate worse than death.” he sneered.
Amelia felt the blood drain from her face and her hands go cold. Her heart felt like it had no rhythm, and it was just fluttering in her chest. This wasn’t right, this wasn't right at all.
“The fool thought that the queen loved him, that she would love anyone but me. Who shared her bed, hmm? Who sired a child with her? ME! I did! Liam Reed, the filth, will wish he had never laid eyes on my wife.”
~*~
Liam hung from the ceiling, sleep wanting to take him, but he didn’t know how he could sleep if the blood kept getting cut off from his hands by the cuffs. He was so tired, his legs could barely support him. Battered and bloody, he was starting to doubt. The king wasn’t letting up on his interrogation, perhaps Liam should tell him lies to get him off his back for a while. But what would the king do when he returned and the lies had been just that- falsehoods and dead-ends? The torture would be double.
Was Anwyn really dead? He didn’t feel like she was. He felt her alive, and the times when he drifted between this world and the next he didn’t see her there. She didn’t greet him to welcome him home from this world of pain and beatings, so she couldn’t be dead. She would have had the child by now, was it healthy? A boy or a girl? Dear Creator, he hoped not twins for her sanity sake.
“My child…” he said quietly to himself. He wouldn’t tell the king how to access the Western Islands, to protect Anwyn, her family, and their child. He would bear this, as hard as it was, for them. He would manage it.
A voice came from the entrance. “Still awake? Too bad, I was going to let you sleep, but now that I know I’m not interrupting you, would you like to have some fun?”
~*~
“My cycle is late.” Anwyn said as she walked into Romeo’s one room shack.
“Your- your what?” he asked, surprised that she had barged in.
“My bleeding.” she said plainly. When he still looked confused, she went on. “Roughly every month a woman of child bearing age bleeds if she isn’t pregnant. You’ve shared the island with me for three years, how have you not noticed this?”
Romeo shrugged.
“Well, I’m late. And I’m rarely late. Romeo, what if I’m pregnant. What we did happened once, but it only takes once. I can’t be pregnant, I feel sick. No- Not in a pregnant sick kind of way, like I betrayed Liam. I can’t betray Liam like this. If he comes back, and I have another man’s child-”
“Liam’s dead. There’s no one to disappoint. Look, Annie, if you are- pregnant-” the word sounded foreign coming out of his mouth, “We will be ok. If you want, I’ll marry you, nothing has to change, it’s ok.”
“No! No it’s not ok! That’s exactly what you want, isn’t it! You want the little wife, the children, the wedding! Romeo, I can’t do that with you. I can’t-” she was shaking.
“You wouldn’t want the child?” he asked, a bit offended.
“Rom, what we did wasn't out of love. It was out of missing what we used to have with different people. I don’t love you that way, and a child running around will just show the mistake that we made. I’m not ready for another child, and I don’t want one with you, not now anyway. I haven’t planned for any of this, and I can’t have a baby that isn’t Liam's!” she sat on the bed and started crying.
Romeo took a second to process the information. He was shocked and insulted. Anwyn didn’t want his baby. They had known nearly immediately that what they had done had been a mistake, and they hadn’t done anything romantic since then. They’d even been awkward just touching one another until Anwyn said that what they were doing was silly and had pulled him in for a hug. But did she really not like him so much that she wouldn’t carry their child?
“Anwyn, I- I don’t want to force you into anything. Whatever you want to do, I support you. Anything.” he tried to pull himself together to be supportive. Heck, they had been together only two weeks ago, there was no way to know for sure that she was pregnant this early.
“Then again, it could all be nothing. It could be stress from teaching, or it could be a fluke and I’ll get it in a few days. I don’t know what to do, Romeo. I’m so worried. I wasn’t worried this way with Liam. I knew I loved him, and he loved me, and while having a child wasn’t the best thing to do at that time, we weren’t worried about it, we were worried for our own lives.” she looked at him. “Rom, we can never do that again. Ever.”
~*~
“You will never see her again, why not let them all burn to the ground?” asked the king. “They let her die, let the heir to the throne die, and yet you will not tell me how to get past their defenses! Speak!”
He struck Liam, and once he had recovered, he said “I bet it’s small, isn’t it?”
He struck again. “Let me assure you, there is never anything small about me, the king of the strongest military this world has ever known! I will rule the known world and the world will know of my power!”
Liam waited for him to stop gloating. “So I’m right.” he cracked a smile. He was rewarded with a swift thrust to the gut.
“Perhaps if I were not wounded so in the battle, I wouldn’t be so worried about the wellbeing of the heir. A battle that you orchestrated.”
“Why don’t you take a new queen and leave me here to rot. I’m sure there are plenty of fertile women willing to take your side.” Liam gasped out.
“I’ve thought of that, swine, but the Church refuses to allow it. Apparently two wives is enough for any one king, and they won’t grant me the privilege of a new wife. Without a legal wife, any child I may sire wouldn’t be a legitimate heir. So tell me again, how do you get past the swirling winds?!”
~*~
Amelia sat in the ladies’ room, staring at the wall. Was this what Liam felt like when he knew he had to save that one girl, and when he knew he had to save Anwyn. No, probably not with Anwyn, he loved her, but he didn’t love the other woman, he just knew that he had to get her away from this place.
Liam couldn't stay here, but the king kept the keys to the dungeon, the cell, and the cuffs all with him at all times. There would be no way for Amelia to get them. Not even the cook could help them with being drugged. He had been thrown out since Briella had told the duchess that they were all drugged once a month so that the staff could have their fun.
Was there another way to distract the king? Perhaps when he was asleep she could sneak in, but if he woke up she would be dead for sure. One thing was certain, the guards had all admired Anwyn and Liam, and Romeo was one of the most popular guards among the group. They wouldn’t stand in the way of Amelia or Liam if she sprung him loose.
It had been a month though, and Liam hadn’t rested properly the whole time, nor had he eaten properly. He was probably malnourished and weak by now, making it even harder for him to escape.
But when Liam knew what the right thing to do was, he did it. No question. He formed a plan, then went for it, knowing full well that if it went wrong, he would be punished. Amelia needed some of that bravery.
How could she convince the king to let down his guard? As the queen’s lady, he had never been attracted to her, so she couldn't offer herself to him, as terrible as the thought was. Perhaps she could get in contact with the old cook and drug him one last time and make their escape. But the cook had been fired, and Amelia didn’t know where he was.
Could the recipe for the drink be in the kitchen still? Would they have been that careless? The cook had hundreds of recipes though it would take forever to find it, if it was there at all.
Still, the new cook was nicer than the last one, perhaps he would allow Amelia to be an assistant. She had nothing better to do with her time, now that her job had been made redundant. If she became the cook’s assistant, she could look through everything and try and find the drugged recipe.
Curses, but even if she found the recipe, and managed to slip it to the king, got the keys, and unlocked Liam, she didn’t have any of the resources that Liam had when trying to mount an escape. She didn’t know anyone with a boat, didn’t know anyone to take him off the island and get him all the way to the Western Islands.
There was the man who came to talk to the king about the laws that were being passed, but he only came every week. Perhaps she could convince him of the nobility of the quest and he would take him away.
It was one of her only shots, and she hoped that it would be enough. No one else, besides perhaps Sir Montoya, knew anyone of any potential. If the lawyer fell through, would Sir Montoya help Liam?
~*~
Another month had gone by, and Amelia was in good graces with the cook. She was learning quite a bit too, which she was surprised by. Now that she was the cook’s assistant, she was below the other court members, and no longer allowed to eat with the king. She ate with the guards, and while it was better company, she missed the news that she would hear. She had to get it all second hand from Alice afterwards, and she wasn’t a very good story teller.
Every time the lawyer came, he left too quickly for Amelia to talk to him, being half way down to the shore by the time she realized he had come. It was beginning to feel like she would never be able to talk to him, and she knew that Liam didn’t have that much time left. She would have to be pretty convincing when she finally got the chance to talk to him.
Fate smiled on her after three chances missed, she was able to catch him on his way out.
“Sir, may I have a moment of your time?” she asked.
He looked around, seemingly in a hurry. “Yes, maiden, how may I be of service?”
“I must speak to you on a matter of great importance. Would you follow me to a place we won’t be overheard?” she asked.
He looked around again, anxious. “Maiden, I wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea if we were to be alone together. Can we not speak openly?”
“I’m afraid not. Please, if it bothers you so much, we may stand five feet apart from each other, though I highly doubt that anyone will see us or care. What these people think of me doesn’t matter to me.”
She turned up the stairs to the old queen’s wing. Amelia and Alice still slept at the far end of the hall, but it hadn’t been redecorated even though the queen had been gone for over a year now. The queen’s room was a private area, not used since the queen was removed, though it was still dusted and kept clean.
Amelia led him into the room, making his eyes widen even more. “Relax,” she said, “This is the most private area in the palace, and we won’t be heard here.”
“If you say so…” he said quietly, taking in the rich furnishings of the room. Amelia often forgot that the past queen had quite exotic tastes and the detailed tiling was not commonplace.
“I have something that I need your help with. It’s a matter of great importance, and from what I’ve heard you’re a just man.”
“I try to be, what aid do you have in mind?” he asked, skeptical.
Amelia then told him about the king taking Anwyn as queen, how she was in love with Liam, how they tried to escape, and how Liam had been captured and now was imprisoned under the palace.
“You see, they’re soulmates, the loves of each other’s lives, we can’t let him rot down there in agony. I need your help to get him off the island.” Amelia pleaded.
The man considered. “The king has every right to hold him until he sees fit to release him. If what I hear is true, Sir Reed is guilty of treason and should be executed.”
Amelia started to tear up, sending the man into a panic. “Then again, I never liked the king. And what he did with the past queen was illegal, only overseen by the Church so that they had more funding.”
He considered for a while, and he walked over to the window. He took a deep breath. “I don’t know that there will be a law I can use against him. How else can I be of service?”
“You don’t need to use the law!” Amelia jumped up. “I just need you to be waiting to take him away from the island. No one here will stop you, all of the staff wants him free but can’t do it on our own. Everyone is too afraid to do anything, but I know that Liam would do the same for us if he could. Please, I need you to help me! I’ll take care of everything else.”
He eyed her, wondering how a single woman would be able to free a man double her weight from a locked cell, but she seemed determined. The king was a bad ruler, everyone agreed, but no one stood up to him since he had the power of the military on his side. It was a no win situation.
“I- when do you recommend we do this?” he asked.
“The next time you come. I’ll take care of everything else, just wait at the dock after you’re done for the day, I’ll get him down to you once the sun sets. I’m so grateful for this, I don’t know who I could ever repay you. I’m in your debt for this.” she bubbled with relief.
“You don’t have to thank me, thwarting the king is payment enough. He’s been a thorn in my side for years. I’ll see you in two weeks.” he said, exiting the room.
It was a good thing that Amelia had found the well-worn recipe a few days before, she would be ready. Everything balanced on this one act. They would all be killed, or they would all live. Either way, things were going to change.
I am crossing my fingers in every direction I can to get the next chapter to be the season finale, but I It would be a long one like this. Still, I'm not sure where to cut the idea in two if it were going to be two chapters? Ugh, the hardships of writing!
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