Page 13 of The Great Pursuit
“Wyn?”
“I’m all right,” she whispered. “From afar you appeared to be . . . Never mind.” She shook her head, then looked at him. His eyes gleamed. “Did you follow me?”
Now he appeared sheepish, moving his gaze to the water. “I hope you don’t mind. You seemed upset when you came out of the castle. I waved, but you didn’t notice.”
“This is my first time coming back to this dock.” She forced herself to stand, and Harrison stood too.
“I came every day after . . .” He looked all around, as if searching for signs of Breckon. Finally, his eyes landed on hers. “And every day I thanked the seas that you were spared.”
Heat spread through Wyneth at the intensity behind those words. She searched his gaze until he dropped it, amending. “That’s what he would have wanted. For you to be spared, even at his expense. His love for you was like no other.”
Wyneth nodded, cooling. “Aye. That it was.”
A long breeze whipped small waves in the creek, gusting straight up Wyneth’s gray skirts. She held them down and shivered.
“Let me escort you back to the castle, if you’re ready,” Harrison said.
Wyneth nodded. Harrison held out his elbow, and she took it. He kept her hand warm in his strong embrace. Together, they walked the forsaken dock, and Wyneth felta small piece of herself being left behind, allowing her to begin the healing process. Her gaze remained forward until the dock was out of sight.
Aerity was exhausted as she stood in her father’s office. The lists had been burned, and, thank the seas, all had gone well, though her father was troubled about having destroyed the compilations of their magical families. She knew he was worried about having no records of the kingdom’s Lashed Ones and their bloodlines. But in Aerity’s mind, having lists made no difference. A compilation of names simply gave the people a false sense of control over the people on that list.
“We’ll do a new census after this madness is over,” he had whispered on the balcony, and Aerity’s heart had contracted with sadness. As much as she hated Rozaria Rocato and her fanatic ways, she had felt like burning the lists was a way to move forward. The kingdom needed change.
Rebellious excitement writhed inside her at the thought of what she would do that night. She could barely take in the grave faces of her parents, aunts, and uncles. All she could think about was that she would soon escape these walls, seas willing, and have one final adventure—one final moment for herself—before she sacrificed it all to her arranged marriage with Lord Alvi.
Would her parents be furious? Aye, without a doubt. But she was confident that she would return and finally have the strength to move forward with her obligations to the kingdom. No harm would be done. They would eventually see.
“Have you any clue who the traitor might be?” Lord Wavecrest asked her father.
King Charles shook his head. “Nobody in my council has behaved out of character.”
“But it has to be one of them,” Lord Wavecrest said.
“Funny . . .” The king sat back in his chair. “They pled their innocence and said it had to be one of you, the family.”
Her aunts and uncles gasped, posturing with outrage.
“That’s preposterous!” Lady Baycreek said. “What reason would we have to betray our people?”
The king held up a hand. “I know. I know it’s none of you, and I told them as much. I’ve got several military officials questioning them. They’ve been trained to retrieve information.”
“Do you mean torture?” Lady Wavecrest pressed a hand to her chest. “Several of the council are elderly.”
The king raised an eye to his sister. “Just intimidation tactics.”
“They won’t go overboard,” Queen Leighlane assured her. “These are councilmen we’ve always trusted. But if there’s a chance any of them are consorting with the Rocato woman or being used by her, we must take measures to weed them out.”
Lady Wavecrest’s hand slowly dropped as she nodded.
“We should have the royal Lashed questioned,” Lord Wavecrest said.
Aerity’s spine went rigid. “Mrs. Rathbrook? She would never!”
“She is Lashed,” her uncle said. “I know she’s always seemedloyal, but in these times you never know.”
“She is not part of the council,” the king stated. “She is not privy to information, so she has been ruled out.”
“Any news from other kingdoms?” Lord Baycreek asked as Aerity stewed in anger.
