Page 79 of The Queen's Crown
“I agree,” Markis mumbled. “I need to think all this through and come up with a plan. He really didn’t tell you who he suspects?”
“Not yet. I plan to ask him though.”
“I doubt he’ll tell you.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Because if he planned to tell you, he would have done it by now.”
They entered the sitting room where Rainer stood with Anton and Harta on either side of him. He’d changed into black pants and a dark blue tunic.
“Move your wedding ring to your right hand,” Rainer commanded.
She did as he instructed, noticing her hands were shaking.
“Make sure you keep that ring on at all times. It’s the queen’s ring and will give you the protection you need.”
Sabine nodded, wanting to demand to know who it would give her protection from. However, she knew she couldn’t ask with others around. If she had any hope of getting him to talk to her, to confide in and trust her, she needed to have that conversation with him in private.
The marriage binder joined them.
“Now that we’re all here, let’s go.” Rainer led the way to the small room that lowered down to the boat. They split into two groups to make it easier on Mika since he had to manually control the pulleys.
Rainer went first with Anton and Herold.
Sabine went second with Markis and Harta.
As they were being lowered, Markis leaned closer to her. “Something feels off.”
“I agree.” Ever since Rainer had brought her here, she’d had a feeling of wrongness that she couldn’t explain or pinpoint.
“Do you have a weapon on you?”
“Yes.” She’d left the knife strapped to her thigh.
“Good. Be extra vigilant.”
When Sabine exited the room, she noticed this boat was much larger than the one they’d rowed over on.
Rainer sat at the front with Anton, Sabine and Harta took the middle bench, while Markis and Herold sat at the other end. The men all took up an oar. Rainer gave instructions and the four of them started rowing the boat out of the cave.
“You’re sure it’s safe for me to return?” Sabine asked no one in particular. Somehow the ring on her finger didn’t feel like enough to protect her from a skilled killer.
“We have no choice,” Rainer answered. “If we’re not there to greet the delegation, it’ll be seen as an affront. I can’t afford to make such a blunder so early on after taking up the crown.”
The boat made its way across the open ocean and toward the shore. The sun was high above them, indicating early afternoon. The wind rushed around them, making Sabine cold, so she cuddled into Harta, trying to steal the dog’s warmth.
The boat headed directly toward the rocky shore.
“I don’t see the cave,” Sabine commented. And she had no desire to smash against the rocks, especially since she wasn’t the best at swimming.
“That’s because we’re not going there,” Rainer replied. “This boat is too big for the cave so we’re landing at a beach just past those rocks.”
The men steered the boat to the right, parallel to the shore for a few minutes, and then they turned, heading around a peak and into a small alcove that hadn’t been visible before. Sabine wouldn’t call where they were headed a beach since there was barely any sand, but at least it didn’t have nearly as many rocks to smash against.
When the boat hit bottom, Rainer and Anton jumped out, pulling the boat up onto land where everyone else disembarked.
Rainer led them to a dirt path that cut up the side of the cliff.
