Page 9 of To Steal the Sun

When she looked up again, she found him looking at her. Their eyes caught and held, and Gwen was doubly glad a bear couldn’t blush.

“Well?” the count asked brusquely. “If you marry Easton, will it release us from this enchantment?”

Gwen swallowed, tearing her eyes from Easton to face the other bear. “Yes,” she managed to say, the word rough and awkward. As much as she hated the way they were being swept along, the stakes were too high for her to play coy.

She took several steadying breaths before she glanced back at Easton. His expression had changed to one of acceptance and determination, and nausea rose through her. Easton understood the stakes as well as she did. Whatever his personal feelings, he wouldn’t refuse the role forced on him by her emotions. And he would never do anything to make her feel bad about it. So how was she ever going to find out his true wishes now?

“If Gwen and Easton getting married will release the enchantment, why don’t you have them get married immediately?” Charlotte asked, startling Gwen out of her dark thoughts.

Gwen stared at her, somehow even more shocked than she’d already been. Marry Easton immediately? The idea was at once thrilling and terrifying.

“Why go to the risk of involving the queen and a bunch of subterfuge?” Charlotte continued. “If you do it as soon as it’s light out, nothing can prevent the marriage taking place.”

The count was already shaking his head before she finished. “If our only aim was to break the enchantment, that would make the most sense. But Queen Celandine is a powerful opponent with a trove of enchantments at her fingertips. If we quietly break the enchantment now, she’ll easily take credit for it. That will weaken Princess Gwendolyn’s position. As it is, the queen has set our chance up for us. She’s the one who built up the princess’s position as the kingdom’s future savior, and we need to play into that narrative. As soon as the wedding takes place, we intend to put Gwendolyn on the throne—as we were promised—and we need to do everything we can to minimize any opposition.”

Gwen swallowed. She had come back to save her kingdom because she was the heir, so she had understood what that meant, but it had felt like a distant and amorphous thing when she stood on the cliff in Ranost. Back in the mountain kingdom, talking specific plans with a senior member of court, it felt entirely too real. If they succeeded, she would become queen.

“So you want the spectacle for more than just the deception,” Charlotte said slowly, sounding almost embarrassed at not having seen that for herself.

Gwen wished she could take her friend’s hand and give it an encouraging squeeze as Charlotte had done for her. Given her own current feelings, it was easy to read Charlotte’s emotions on her face. The girl from the valley had no experience with politics or intrigue and hadn’t even known about her new title until two days ago. At least Gwen had always known she was intended to take the throne one day—even if that reality had seemed impossibly distant. How much more lost and out of her depth must Charlotte be feeling?

“But all of this still assumes the queen will go ahead with the wedding,” Easton said. “How can we be sure she’ll do it, knowing what she does about the enchantment?”

Gwen reminded herself that Easton had always been against the plan. He was worried about Gwen’s safety, not looking for any excuse to get out of the proposed marriage.

“Actually,” Charlotte said in a small voice, “I’ve been thinking about that.” She turned to face Gwen. “What does Queen Celandine think of love?”

“Love?” Gwen frowned. “I…” She faltered, unsure how to answer the question.

A lifetime of interactions with her mother unfurled in her mind. Celandine had never shown Gwen a mother’s love—she had only experienced warmth like that from Nanny. But it wasn’t just Gwen. Celandine had always been there overseeing Gwen’s life, but that meant Gwen had observed her mother’s life for the last twenty years as well. And Gwen had never seen Celandine show love to anyone. On the rare occasions she had spoken of love, or the relationships of her own past, she had always used a scathing tone as if…

“I’m not sure she believes in love at all,” Gwen said.

Charlotte swallowed, clearly uncomfortable. “I wondered if that might be the case. From everything you’ve said of her, and…” She paused again. “You said she knew about my existence and Henry’s marriage, and she knew his godmother had told him a way to free himself from both enchantments, including the one tying him to her. And yet she claimed to know he would be returning soon. It sounded like…like she knew I would fail at the test of trust.” Charlotte’s eyes shone with unshed tears, but she pushed herself to continue. “But not even I knew that until the last moment. It was a rash decision, not a longstanding one. And the queen doesn’t know me at all. That’s why I’ve been sitting here wondering—maybe it has nothing to do with me specifically. Maybe she doesn’t think anyone would have that kind of trust—she doesn’t think anyone could love like that. And if she doesn’t actually believe in love…”

“You think she’s discounting that part of the godmother’s words as…as meaningless fluff,” Easton said thoughtfully.

Charlotte nodded. “If she thinks all that’s needed is the actual marriage—followed by the two looking at each other, human eyes to human eyes—she may well believe that marrying Gwen to Henry will break the enchantment. It wouldn’t have worked when he was a bear in the day and she was a bear at night, but now that he’s free of the enchantment…”

“That lines up with everything I’ve seen of Celandine over the last two decades,” the count said heavily. “She likes concrete realities and doesn’t put much stock in emotions.” His voice dropped to a mutter. “Sometimes it seems like she doesn’t even have them.”

“Then that’s her mistake,” Gwen said fiercely. “She’ll never truly understand other people if she discounts emotions, and if she doesn’t understand us, maybe she’ll underestimate us.”

“We’re still making a lot of assumptions,” Easton said. “We can’t send Gwen to face her alone on the back of nothing but guesswork.”

“Then what do you suggest instead?” the count asked sternly. “Did you perhaps bring an army across the mountains with you? One that you’ve previously failed to mention and that won’t be intimidated to face a force of giant bears?”

Easton shifted his weight, staying silent.

“I don’t want to put anyone at risk, let alone the princess,” the count said. “But we can’t avoid all risks. The queen has pinned too much on her heir to eliminate her now. I’m confident she won’t kill Gwendolyn, no matter how angry she is.”

“I agree.” Gwen tried not to think of what her mother might do instead. If she started thinking of small, dark spaces while they were stuck inside the basement, she might lose it.

But even if her mother did lock her up, she would have to endure it. An entire kingdom was depending on her.

Easton fell silent. From the look in his eyes, he still wasn’t happy about the plan, but he knew when he was past hope of convincing the rest of them.

“What about me, then?” Charlotte still sounded subdued. “I came here to rescue Henry, but I’m just supposed to sit in this basement instead?”

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