Chapter 61

 

This chapter has been copied from the original and may contain typos and grammatical errors.

~*~

Gloria ached all over as if she hadn’t moved in a week and had lain on a strange mattress. Her finger joints hurt as she grasped the sheets- black as ash and as soft as petals. It smelled floral as well, like an odd flower she hadn’t encountered before.

She let out a groan as she tried to move her legs to roll herself over. They felt like rusted hinges, squeaking and grinding as she forced them.

Her foot caught air, then with a thud she landed on the floor, a jumbled mess. The bed magically pulled it’s sheets and blankets back into place, as if she had never been in it. Gloria shrunk away. Who could place a charm like that? Had she found assistance from a spellcaster? Were they a good witch or a bad witch? Where was she?

“Gloria!” Blake exclaimed, jolting up from the opposite side of the room. His clothes were ragged, and he looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept the whole time she had been. “Oh, you’re awake! Creator be praised!”

He bent to help her up from the floor, and she took his hand, trying to pull herself up. She stared at him incredulously. “Blake, you’re alive! But they were so sure you’d be executed for aligning with the king. How are you alive?”

He sat her down on the bed, and sat beside her. “I got away from the templars and made my way to find you. You weren’t easy to find.” A smile shone across his face as he looked lovingly into her eyes. “I’m happy I found you when I did, any later and you would have lost you.”

Gloria squinted her eyes at him, confusion muddying her features. “I- I can’t remember what happened. Where are we? What happened?”

“You were on an island off the coast. I hired a seer to help me find you, and when we reached you the building was on fire. You inhaled so much smoke, we weren’t sure you were going to make it. We’re in the seer’s cabin; she’s been helping us reach the capitol.”

Gloria licked her sandpaper lips. “But, there was another person there with me. A young man, did you see him? Did you save him too?” The ache in her eyes filled Blake with jealousy. What connection did she have to this boy and why didn’t she save all of her affection for him?

“I’m sorry, love, there were no survivors. The seer didn’t detect any others. He probably perished in the fire.” He watched as her face wrinkled and the tip of her nose turned red with grief. “I’m so sorry.”

Gloria felt like there were rocks piling up on her heart, squishing it. How hadn’t she known? She had spent over a month with the boy she had shared her dreams with, the boy she had mirrored in so many ways. She had grown up with him, and he was gone? And she hadn’t felt anything? She hadn’t known he was gone?

Blake stood up from the bed, not sure how to handle a grieving woman. “We’ll be at the capitol in a few days. Things will be better then,” he said,

“Better so I can be the heir? And be the daughter that the king believes me to be?” her voice quaked through her tears, but it was clear and determined. “Blake, we both know that I’m not the heir to the throne. You’ve met my father, I have the same hair he does. You’ve met my siblings. They look just like me and I like them. I’m not who you’re looking for,”

Blake tried to take a measured breath. He didn’t want to talk about this, not now. Not ever, really. Apparently the people she had been with knew who he was, and who she was and had filled her in. That colored things a bit; how did the young man know so much? No peasant could casually know that much about him and the missing heir, especially when Gloria didn’t know that much about her own fate.

“You are the king’s daughter. You have a strong resemblance to your mother, but you also look like the king in some ways. When you see him, it’ll be made clear. Your siblings look like you because you have the same mother.” His hands balled into fists at his sides, nails digging into his palms. It had taken so long to find her, so long to get them to this point. She couldn't back out now. Why didn’t she see that she was the heir, and that she had a father waiting to meet her? There was a time when he would have given anything to know his own father, but that was impossible. Gloria was being selfish.

The cabin door opened, and the seer walked through, a smile fresh on her face. “Gloria! It’s so good to see you out of bed!”

“I'm sorry, you are?” Gloria asked.

“I’m Illia, the seer that Blake hired to find you. I’ll be coming with you back to the palace, to make sure you get there safely and to receive my payment,” she said in a bubbly tone. “Did you sleep well? You were out for such a long time.”

“I slept well enough.” Gloria said, wiping tears from her face. “Where are my clothes?” She looked at Blake. “What am I wearing?”

“You were in your bed clothes when we found you, and they were so riddled with smoke and partially burned that we threw them away. But not to worry, I had some spare night clothes and Blake bought some fresh clothes for you at a market we passed two days ago.” The seer went over to her book case and scanned the shelves, turning her back. She was being unusually nice.

“Here, they’re on the dresser.” Blake motioned. ”Do you need help or can you manage them on your own?”

“Well, I haven’t even seen them yet or how to get into them, so we’ll have to see if I need help or not.” She glanced down at her hand, noticing it glitter. Her eyes went wide. “Blake, what is this? Why have you done this?” she asked, bewildered. “Why am I restrained? I’m no danger to anyone.” A bracelet very similar to the one she had worn when she had woken up the first time after Seneca had saved her life resided on her hand, and she felt a necklace tied around her neck.

Blake shuffled his feet. Somehow, Gloria had found every sour topic to talk about. “The seer recommended it. She knows you’re a young spellcaster, and that your power may be hard to control. Besides that, we don’t need any accidents letting anyone know that the heir to the throne is a witch,” he unconsciously emphasized the last word, making Gloria recoil.

“But anyone who knows what the necklace and bracelet do will know that I have the ability! I can control it, I don’t need this!” She tried to unclasp the bracelet with her free hand, getting nowhere.

“Gloria,” Blake stepped towards her, pulling her into an embrace. “Gloria, I know this is all sudden. I know that it’s a big change, but you’re safe. No one will hurt you. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise. We’re together again, and nothing will separate us,”

Gloria sagged against him, her body betraying her to the familiarity of him. She knew that he was a pawn of the king, and Seneca and Henry had told her that he was ruthless, but she hadn’t seen any of that. He was kind to her, and he had been the one her heart had called for for so long and it longed to be happy again beside him.

But to be the heir? She knew she was her father’s daughter; her father was Liam Reed, her mother was Anwyn Cupshire. The king had taken her mother against her will and they had run away. Why hadn’t they told her any of this? Were Seneca, Henry, and the former queen even telling her the truth? They had everything to gain if Gloria didn’t believe she was the heir and Seneca was.

But… she had trusted Seneca. He cared for her when others didn’t. He patched her up. He held her at night. He told her his insecurities. He worked on making a violin that probably would have never sounded any good. She never felt like he lied to her.

She hadn’t felt that towards Blake either. He had been passionate towards her, dedicated for years. She’d known him for three years now, and they had spent so much time together, so much more than she had been with Seneca.

She may not have felt Blake lie to her, but he had. He hadn’t told her his true intentions, to get her back to the mainland to be the heir, that he had tracked her down to fulfil a dream that someone else had for her. Could she trust him? Was he lying to her now?

If Seneca couldn’t ascend the throne, then why not her? She wouldn’t bend beneath the king, no matter how firm his grasp. If she had no choice but to take the throne, she would do it with dignity and be a fair ruler, with fair laws and less religious discrimination towards the people.

She could bear it.

“There’s only one thing I need to know…” Blake asked softly. “Were you- did you- did they violate you in any way?”

Gloria squeezed him a bit harder, feeling his frame and clinging to it as if it were the only thing that was real. “No, they didn’t do anything like that. I’m whole.”

“Good.” Blake exhaled. He didn’t want to have to renounce their partnering because she had lain with someone other than him. That would have thrown a wrench into things. The future queen was supposed to be a virgin until her wedding day, but as they were the only ones who had to know it didn’t matter if they were a few years too early.

~*~

Seneca wrestled with the ropes binding his hands behind his back. He was so tired of this tent. It smelled like sweat and bad breath, both things that he’d added to. He was used to being a bit grimy, but a week of being pushed around and left in a dark tent when he wasn’t in a dark prison carriage was a definite dampener on his mood. Food had been scarce, but at least he didn’t have to walk to the Capitol like he had feared.

His mind was more on Gloria than himself. He knew that Blake wouldn’t hurt Gloria, but what lies was he poisoning her mind with? He could only hope that Gloria remembered all of the things that he had told her about the political climate. How the king was a tyrant, and how Blake had lied to her. Lied to her for years.

The flap of the tent opened and the woman in red stepped in. Seneca squinted at the light, then tried to kick out at her. It didn’t do much good. He just squirmed on the floor.

“My prince, how undignified,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’m here to give you good news and you lash out. Don’t shoot the messenger.” She clicked her tongue.

“What good news?” he asked with a snarl, maneuvering onto his knees.

“Gloria has awakened. She’s unharmed.”

Seneca felt a tightness release in his chest and he exhaled. She would be alright. Goodness knows that if Gloria could walk she would be alright, She could fight her way out of any situation. Or charm her way out.

The woman smiled. “You love her,” she said bluntly, speaking the secret that no one had said. “I can read you just as easily as I can read Blake. Like an open book. But tell me, I can’t read Gloria. It’s like looking through a fogged window. I can’t tell what she’s thinking, but such a young spellcaster shouldn’t be so good at deflecting my sight. Who trained her?”

“If you think I’ll te-”

“Midshore? Midshore… I haven’t heard of that spellcaster before. But then, Gloria is from the Islands. I know that those cowards fled there. She could have taken a new name, as is their tradition,” she sneered.

“See, you already know more than I do.” Seneca would have crossed his arms if they weren’t bound behind him.

“You’ll be very important to Blake, I can tell. I’ll be watching how things play out with great interest.” She smiled and exited the tent. Seneca pushed and wiggled towards the entrance, but by the time he got there it was a solid piece of canvas again.

She had smelled much better than this tent did.

Bloopers!

Taco was a little diva this chapter around, lots of fun pictures!