Page 3 of To Steal the Sun

The count gave her a stern look—the kind he must have used many times on his own children and grandchildren. The look of someone whose extra years of experience had been used instead of wasted.

“Of course we need Her Highness,” he said. “This is a delicate enough matter as it is. If people think I’m trying to seize power for myself, our side will break into factions and start in-fighting. It will destroy everything we’re working toward.” He softened slightly, looking between each of the three newcomers. “But I will acknowledge that Natalie is the one who found me. Many among the court have become disillusioned over the years, and I was already their leader, but she’s the one responsible for connecting the rebellion at court with the rebels in the city.”

Natalie shrugged like it was no big deal, and the count chuckled softly.

“Oh, for the confidence of youth,” he murmured.

“You did all that?” Easton gave Natalie an impressed look. She was only a little older than he had been when he had confronted the queen and been banished for his effrontery. Was he wishing he had handled himself more like her back then?

If he had responded differently, he might never have been forced to leave. But at the same time, a small part of Gwen had always warmed whenever she thought of him storming in to confront her moth—no, the queen—on her behalf. She appreciated his passion and loyalty even if she hated the separation it had caused.

“It wasn’t as hard as you might think.” Natalie shrugged at Easton before turning to Gwen. “Do you remember how those guards were coming our way, and you distracted them so I could sneak out? I was shocked to see guards manhandling the princess like that. And you’d seemed so timid and terrified as we were sneaking out, too. After I got home, I kept worrying about what they’d done to you after I left. So I snuck back into the palace grounds the next day to find out what punishment you’d received. That’s the sort of thing people are guaranteed to gossip about. But no one was talking about the incident at all. It was suspicious.” She shrugged again. “I found the same guards, and once I’d managed that, I didn’t have to follow them for long before they led me to Count Oswin.”

“You’re the one the guards reported to?” Gwen cried, staring at the count. “That’s why my mother never heard I’d been out in the grounds so close to nightfall! Some of the guards are loyal to you over her.”

“Thankfully they were the ones to find you that night,” the count said. “Of course actually confronting me was a far riskier move than Natalie seems to realize. But happily it turns out we’re all on the same side.”

“That’s not surprising, is it?” Natalie said cheerfully. “The people of the city are on the side of anyone who opposes that woman and her taxes and her bears.” She shuddered at the final word.

“I will refrain from pointing out that I’m one of those bears,” the count muttered. Gwen shifted uncomfortably. As little as she liked to think of it in those terms, she was one of Queen Celandine’s bears too.

“You were one of them,” Charlotte said, looking unaccountably sad. “The enchantment is broken now.”

Instant silence and stillness seized the room as all four of them stared at Charlotte. She blinked back at them.

“Isn’t it?” she asked hesitantly. “Henry’s enchantment broke, and I thought that was the point of including him in the first place. When it broke for him, wasn’t it supposed to break for all of you?”

The count half rose before sinking back into his chair. “The lowlander prince no longer turns into a bear during the day?”

Charlotte gaped at him. “You didn’t know?”

He shook his head. “Like I said, he appeared at night, and the queen has had him locked away in solitary confinement since.”

“Her specialty,” Gwen muttered.

“But wait, are you saying you all still turn into bears at night?” Charlotte gazed wide-eyed between Gwen and the count. “Were you a bear last night, Gwen?”

Gwen shifted uncomfortably. She still wasn’t used to the reality of her nightly transformations herself. Her eyes flashed to the count, remembering the deception her mother had perpetrated on the court. He didn’t look surprised to hear Gwen also became a bear, though.

“Why do you think I was out in the forest so early when you found me this morning?” Gwen asked Charlotte with a sigh. “It’s true I was on my way to your castle, but I had a head start since I spend all my nights outside.” She glanced at the dirty half-window in the basement wall. “And talking of nighttime, it must be close to sunset now.” She glanced uncertainly at the count.

“You don’t need to be concerned,” he said calmly. “I sometimes spend the night at my manor in the city, so my absence won’t cause any alarm at the palace. And my own people are utterly loyal to me. None of them would dream of mentioning that I didn’t spend the night at home.”

“But…” Gwen looked uncertainly at the other three. That hadn’t been her concern. She had never transformed in front of anyone before, and the idea of doing it in front of Easton made her stomach churn. How could he look at her the same after that?

Charlotte frowned. “I don’t understand. Henry definitely turned back into a man. He said he’d never be a bear again. He broke the enchantment. Why are you all still bears at night?”

Gwen forgot her fear for a moment, staring at the count for an answer. He stared back at her, his expression equally blank and confused.

“I was definitely a bear last night,” she said slowly. “And you?”

The count nodded, his eyes narrowing in thought. “The idea of including the prince in the enchantment came from the queen, and it obviously didn’t work as she intended since it was reversed for the prince—his days as a bear, his nights as a man. I suppose that wasn’t the only thing that didn’t work to plan.”

“No wonder she’s been hiding him.” Gwen shook her head. “She’s already made so many mistakes with these enchantments—each new mistake must make it harder for her to hide her errors.”

The count nodded slowly. “Plus, if he’s a human all the time now, there’s nothing stopping him marrying the princess during the daytime—except for the fact the queen doesn’t actually have Princess Gwendolyn stashed in a room at the palace like she claims.” Charlotte made a wordless sound of dissent, and he winced. “Well, there’s nothing preventing his marriage in the minds of the courtiers. Of course they don’t know he already has a wife.”

“But how did he break the enchantment?” Gwen asked eagerly, looking toward Charlotte. “If we know that, we might be able to find a way to break ours as well.” She carefully didn’t look at Easton. Perhaps it would be possible to release herself before he ever had to see her as a bear.

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