Page 48 of Beholden
The irritation fled from the queen’s pale face, replaced instead by curiosity. “Prince Vilmar? You are the second son of King Christian?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The queen regarded Vilmar for a long silent moment. “And how does my father’s sister, Queen Joanna fare?”
“She fares well.”
Not only was Vilmar a prince, but he was a cousin to Queen Margery? I scrambled to recall the history of the Great Isle. If I remembered correctly, King Alfred the Peacemaker had secured an alliance with Scania through the marriage of his youngest sister, Joanna. In doing so, he’d put an end to the warring raids of the Scanian people and brought about peace.
The queen continued to scrutinize Vilmar. “You are rumored to be next in line for the kingship.”
Vilmar bowed his head in acknowledgment of the queen’s statement.
My heartbeat pounded harder. I couldn’t begin to make sense of anything the queen and Vilmar were saying. Certainly Vilmar wasn’t in line to become king of one of the Great Isle’s strongest allies. How could he be? He wasn’t royalty. No prince would ever be subjected to the degradation and danger of the mine.
“I’m here in Warwick for my Testing.” His voice rang with a disconcerting authority I hadn’t heard there before.
What was this Testing? I wanted to push my way to the forefront of the crowd and demand that Vilmar explain himself, tell me the truth about who he was and his purpose in Warwick. If he truly was a prince as he claimed, then he’d been lying to me all these weeks.
“Ah yes, the Testing,” the queen replied. “So Scania still insists on its barbaric and antiquated way of determining its king?”
“It cannot be as barbaric as your yearly custom of sacrificing a maiden to Grendel.” Vilmar’s accusation was met with stony silence.
His words from moments ago came back to me, his response to my desire to fight Grendel so none of the other women would have to:“It shall be none of you, ever again.”
Suddenly I began to tremble. What was he planning?
“As you know,” he continued, “Grendel is one of the berserkers who used to inhabit the land of Scania. When my father waged war to capture the madmen, Grendel escaped from his knights and came to dwell here.”
“Yes,” the queen replied. “’Tis the story I am told.”
“Then you will conclude, as I have, that my family is partly to blame for Grendel’s reign of terror in your land.”
“Your family is mostly to blame.”
Of course the queen would agree. Then she needn’t accept responsibility for perpetuating the sacrifices over the years.
Vilmar bowed his head once more, clearly accepting the blame, although he knew from all I’d told him of the queen’s true reason for allowing the sacrifices to continue.
“Since we are in agreement,” Vilmar continued, “then you would do my family and country a great honor by allowing me the chance to slay the beast.”
A cry of protest rose swiftly within me, and I started forward again, fraught with the need to end Vilmar’s conversation with the queen. And yet, even as I stumbled closer, my chest ached with an undeniable truth.
I must allow Vilmar to face Grendel.
He had a better chance of slaying the monster and bringing an end to the queen’s alchemy ritual than I did. How could I oppose his offer when it could save many lives in the years to come?
I pressed my fist against my mouth to stifle the objection. Anything I might say would only stem from selfish motives—primarily because I cared for Vilmar and didn’t want to see him confront so great a danger. But also because all along, I’d wanted to get even with the queen and seek revenge for my father’s death.
The queen was silent for a moment, then shook her head. “You are noble to request to atone for King Christian’s mistakes. But over the years, many strong warriors and great knights have attempted to slay Grendel, and no one has prevailed.”
“Their failures are of no consequence to me.”
“Yes, but your failure and subsequent death will have consequences for me, quite possibly angering Scania at the loss of so valuable a prince.”
I suspected the queen didn’t truly care if she angered Scania. She was merely attempting to sway Vilmar away from his quest so she need not fear losing Grendel.
“Your Majesty, let these noble people here in your grand hall be our witnesses. If I must sacrifice my life in an attempt to end Grendel’s, then all will know I did so freely. Thus, you and your kingdom will not be held responsible for my death.”
