Page 102 of Kingdom of Feathers

Basil’s eyes snapped open, finding hers at once. To her astonishment, his face split in an enormous smile.

“That’s the first time you’ve said my name,” he informed her delightedly. He pushed himself up, clearly unharmed, until he was sitting next to where she knelt. His voice dropped as he reached out a hand to rest on her cheek. “I like how it sounds on your lips,” he said, his gaze dropping to the feature in question. “I like it a lot.”

“All right,” interjected a disgusted voice, as Ari helped Wren to her feet with unnecessary force. “Settle down. That’s our little sister you’re ogling.”

“Ari!” scolded Wren, scandalized. “No one’s ogling anybody!”

“Debatable,” Averett said dispassionately. “He’s certainly not looking at you like one of us would.”

“I should hope not,” said Basil, laughing as he got to his feet himself. Wren noticed none of her brothers had offered to help him up. “She’s your sister! I already have twelve of those—the last thing I want is another one.”

A sudden shout near the doorway made them all turn. Sir Gelding, it seemed, was still fighting. And he had more magic up his sleeve. As they watched he made a throwing motion, and the guards seizing him let go at once, grasping their own hands as if burned.

“Stop him!” shouted King Lloyd, as Sir Gelding made a break for the door.

But it wasn’t a Mistran who intercepted Sir Gelding’s flight. It was Lord Baldwin who stepped forward, extending a foot and neatly tripping the baronet up.

Once again guards swarmed over him, this time wasting no time in binding his arms and legs. One of the guards knelt beside him, grunting as he tugged the rings from Sir Gelding’s fingers. They also gagged him, but not before he gave one last shout, his eyes fixed on Lord Baldwin.

“Traitor! You think you can get away with it? I’m going to give them every single name, and yours is top of the list!”

His yells were suddenly muffled by the gag, but the damage had been done. Wren’s wide eyes passed from Lord Baldwin, who had gone very pale, to Basil, who now stood stiff as a board beside her.

“Lord Baldwin,” he said, his voice calm but intense. “You’ve been working with Sir Gelding. You’re part of this collaboration of Mistrans and Entolians.” Neither sentence was a question.

“What a fool I’ve been,” he added, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. “So many clues. The ease with which you acquired the local information when we arrived. Your reluctance to spend any time at the front lines. The very fact that you were the only one willing to volunteer to accompany me to Myst. You had to try to contain the risk of my visit, didn’t you?” Wren could detect real hurt behind the bald accusations, and her heart ached for Basil’s disillusionment.

“Your Majesty,” said Lord Baldwin, his lips going white. “Please…let me explain…”

“That’s what you came to my rooms to do last night, isn’t it?” Basil said slowly. “To confess, and to explain.”

Lord Baldwin nodded eagerly.

“But you didn’t.” Basil’s voice was hard.

The nobleman winced. “I was going to, I swear. But then you spotted the princess climbing down from her window, and I saw the way you looked at her. I could no longer deny to myself how deep your affection for her had gone. I knew there was no hope you’d forgive me, not when I’d been involved in a plot to have her killed when she was only a child.”

Basil’s face was suddenly like flint, and he reached out to touch Wren’s arm in an apparently unconscious gesture, as if reassuring himself she was present and whole.

“That’s why you were always so uncomfortable around her,” he said evenly. “It wasn’t her silence that you couldn’t handle. It was your own guilt.”

Lord Baldwin hung his head. “The guilt has been eating at me for years, but never so painfully as when I saw how worthy you are of my respect. Your father…well, his expectations of his nobles were never reasonable. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that his treatment of my own father drove him to his grave. When my father died, and I inherited his position, I was young, and foolish, and angry. Young enough to be unfit for the wealth and influence of my new role. Angry enough to be swayed by treasonous talk, and foolish enough to be dazzled by the promise of riches. Sir Gelding recruited me himself.”

He raised his face, and his eyes searched Wren’s pleadingly. “I never supported the plan for provoking conflict. I never truly wished you harm, Your Highness.”

“Don’t speak to her,” said Basil, his voice steady, but his shoulders shaking. “Don’t even look at her. I trusted you, and you stood by while your allies tried to kill the person most precious to me in the world.”

“I knew nothing of Sir Gelding’s attacks on the princess these past two months!” Lord Baldwin protested. “I was as horrified as you.”

“Guards,” King Lloyd ordered, “place Lord Baldwin in a cell.” He exchanged a look with Basil. “We will consider what is to be done with him later.”

Wren remained silent as the nobleman was led from the room, pale but unresisting. She felt torn. She believed that he hadn’t meant her harm in any direct way. But he certainly hadn’t done anything to protect her. He might not have done much to aid in Sir Gelding’s schemes, but neither had he helped Basil with his efforts for peace. From what she’d observed, he’d been obstructive at every opportunity. And although it may be true that he objected to the plan to murder an eleven-year-old princess, he’d apparently been willing for soldier after soldier to die in battle in his pursuit of riches and revenge.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Caleb moving slowly across the room toward Lady Anneliese, who still seemed too overwhelmed to speak, but her father’s words to Basil drew her attention back to the two kings.

“We have a more pressing matter to discuss,” he said solemnly. His eyes flicked to Wren, and she smiled encouragingly at him. “King Basil, it is now abundantly clear that you spoke the truth when you said the Entolian crown was not behind the attack on my children.” He drew a breath. “And I must therefore acknowledge that Mistra was at fault in mounting the attack that ultimately led to your father’s death. I must also acknowledge that I have kept you waiting here too long. We can open negotiations tomorrow regarding reparations, and—”

“Your Majesty,” Basil cut in quickly. “I am honored by your acknowledgment of fault, and I know my family will also receive it with gratitude. But I’m not interested in reparations. Entolia doesn’t need it, and I don’t want it. I wish only to move forward into a time of peace between our kingdoms.”

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