Page 62 of Lost with a Scot
When he and William rode to the palace, hundreds of villagers and townsfolk from miles around flooded the road leading to the palace and the courtyard. They had come to see Anna’s execution, but not one face held any joy over the fact. They looked beaten down, their gaunt faces lined with misery. Perhaps they’d come hoping for a miracle, just like he did.
Alexei kept the hood of his cloak shadowing his face as he dismounted, and William followed suit. The two of them pushed through the crowds and entered the gates of the fortress.
When they reached the inner courtyard, they saw Anna being led out from the castle, hands bound behind her. An execution block sat on the wooden platform that had been erected in the middle of the courtyard. A hush fell upon the subdued villagers at the sight of the princess, wearing a simple gown, her hands bound behind her back, her long hair tumbling free down her shoulders.
Seeing his beloved twin facing death sent a punch to Alexei’s gut. It was a trap for him, but what could he do? Either she’d die or he’d surrender and pray his uncle would spare her. She was no use to Yuri, after all—Yuri saw no value in her, and as long as she bore no child, she would have no way of taking the throne from a usurper.
Alexei shot William a look. His friend gave a subtle shake of his head, trying to discourage him, but Alexei’s mind was made up. Anna would not pay with her life for his.
A hand grabbed his arm, halting him when Alexei tried to move forward. William’s eyes were dark with sorrow. “Without you, Ruritania is lost.”
Alexei smiled sadly. “Without my sister,Iam lost.” He could never fully explain to anyone how deeply bonded to Anna he was. It was a connection forged in their mother’s womb. It could never be broken. “Goodbye, Will.”
William’s eyes were overbright. He blinked, and his hand fell away from Alexei’s arm.
A man in a black executioner’s hood walked toward Anna where she knelt on the platform and forced her neck down against the chopping block. The brute wearing the black hood adjusted the grip on his ax and then raised it up.
“Halt!” Alexei bellowed. His voice carried across the courtyard. Everyone turned to stare at him. The executioner, his blade aloft, looked between Alexei and Yuri, who watched from a nearby balcony. “I surrender!”
“My dear nephew.” Yuri’s voice carried over the gasps that filled the courtyard. “Come inside and we will discuss the terms of your surrender.” Yuri then gave a signal to the executioner, who lowered his weapon and yanked Anna to her feet.
Alexei felt the eyes of his people on him as they parted to let him pass. Hands touched his shoulders and arms, quiet whispers of “Long live the king...”gave him the strength to keep moving forward. His people still believed in him, and here he was giving himself over to the man who had hurt them and would continue to hurt them. He had failed his people. He could only pray that William and the other guards would fight on after he died.
He reached the platform just as Anna was led down the stairs, and they fell in step beside each other. She looked at him and he looked at her. That silent way of communicating by gaze alone passed between them. She’d known he would come for her, and he knew she’d hoped he wouldn’t. But none of that mattered now. What was done was done. At least they were together for a little while longer before... it ended.
Yuri waited for them inside the castle, his smile as cold as winter.
“At last, I have the pair of you. Take the prince down to the dungeons,” Yuri told the guards who came up behind him. Alexei did not struggle when he was restrained by them.
“You will spare my sister?” he asked his uncle.
Yuri glanced at Anna. “She is spared from execution. Now she has other obligations to satisfy.”
“What obligations?” Alexei growled.
Yuri laughed, clearly delighted by this turn of events. “She will wed the captain of my guards, the very man who slit the throats of your beloved parents. And he will do the same to her if she doesn’t prove to be a pleasing bride to him.” His uncle fisted a hand in Anna’s hair, wrenching her head back to expose her throat. “Such a pretty neck... I imagine she’ll do whatever she must to keep it.” Yuri released Anna and walked off, laughing. There was a note of madness in the sound.
“Anna!” Alexei shouted, but the guard holding Anna dragged her away to the staircase that led to the rooms above, while he was taken to the dungeons.
Once there, he was shoved into a cell. The three guards who’d taken him down to the dungeons were smiling darkly as they advanced on him. Knowing what was coming, he raised his fists. The first man who lunged toward Alexei caught Alexei’s fist on his chin and he stumbled back, but the other two rushed at Alexei. He jammed his knee into one man’s stomach, but the other grabbed him from behind in a choke hold. Alexei kicked out, but the lack of air made his vision narrow as the other two men advanced on him. When they were done long minutes later, Alexei was still able to stand by sheer will alone, but he braced himself against the wall of his cell and spit blood into the hay at his feet. His ribs ached and he guessed a few were bruised, but hopefully not broken. It hurt to breathe, but it wasn’t impossible.
The guards slammed the door shut and locked it. Alexei waited until they were gone before he sank to the straw-covered floor. Every part of him hurt like the devil, and yet he tried to ignore it and focus on his sister and finding a way to help her before... before his uncle got what he wanted.
Part of him had imagined some grand opportunity to escape would present itself for him and his sister, but it had been a fool’s dream. The last of his hopes died in the darkness of that cell. William was right. Ruritania was lost.
CHAPTER16
Aiden placed a hand on the hilt of the knife tucked in his belt as he settled onto the back of his horse. The Dark Forest was eerily quiet. Behind him was a train of his companions, Ashton, Brock, Brodie, Charles, and Cedric, along with a handful of men recruited the night of Lady Eugenia’s ball who were able to leave England immediately.
It had been two weeks since his wife had been abducted, but it felt as though he had aged a thousand years. TheLady Fair, Ashton’s fastest ship, had chased the horizon, searching for a glimpse of the vessel that had taken Anna, Aiden and his companions hoping that they could board the ship before she reached port.
Once, before a storm, they thought they had spotted the other ship, but then the wind rose and the skies darkened and they had to take in the sails to ride out the storm. Once the skies cleared, any sign of the other vessel had vanished.
They reached Ruritania’s coast and sailed along the shore at night when only a sliver of moon graced the skies. It had been too dangerous to dock in any port, for they were all under Yuri’s control. But once they landed, they met a village of farmers, and thanks to Ashton’s fluent Danish, they managed to procure horses with the provisions they’d brought with them off the ship. Once prepared, they had saddled up and ridden directly into the woods.
Aiden studied the surrounding trees. Many were gnarled, with nearly black bark and treacherous roots that seemed to crawl across the paths, tripping anyone who moved without care. These were the woods he and Anna had dreamed of since they were children. They were vast and full of danger and death. Aiden took the lead, but a horse soon moved up to walk alongside him. Aiden saw Ashton’s face in the dim light.
“We have perhaps two hours of riding before we reach the Winter Palace,” Ashton said. He spoke quietly, as though the trees themselves were listening.
