Page 37 of Beguiled
The tension eased from her body.
I tucked her head under my chin and closed my eyes. We lay side by side, neither of us speaking. “Thank you for saying what I needed to hear,” I whispered. “And I am heartily sorry for my insensitivity regarding your veil after our kiss. I hurt you, and I regret it.”
She nodded, making no move to pull away.
We rested that way for a few more moments before she leaned back enough that I could see her eyes. “In watching you these past weeks, I have seen that you will make a good and wise king. Your father and his advisors would be foolish not to choose you.”
“Thank you, Pearl.” I marveled at how she had a way of encouraging me like no one else had ever been able to do. A part of me wished we could go on lying on the roof whispering to each other. I liked spending time with her, especially moments like this when we understood each other.
But the night was slipping away, and we had a mission to accomplish. We needed to find a way to rescue the women from their stocks without anyone else getting captured or killed.
Wordlessly, I released her and began the climb back down. She followed, and though she didn’t need my aid, I waited and assisted her as much as she would let me. When she finally stood next to me in the alley, I reached for her hand, wrapped my fingers around hers, then started to the ash pit on the outskirts of town where we’d arranged to meet the others.
She didn’t release my hand, and somehow, even the small connection was all I could think about as we traveled. Next time we went somewhere, I needed to keep Gregor close by, since I was too distracted. And distraction could oft be dangerous.
As we neared the ash pit, the scent of garbage and waste grew so putrid I had to breathe through my mouth to keep from gagging. I understood now why Irontooth had arranged for our meeting in this location. It was deserted and the perfect place to avoid detection.
I tugged Pearl down behind a barrel overflowing with trash and searched for signs of the others. But everything was eerily silent and still.
Next to me, Pearl gasped and tugged her hand free of my grip. She groped after a sheet of parchment on the ground. When she picked it up, her fingers trembled.
“What is it?” I asked.
She handed it to me. There, in calligraphy, were the words:“A large reward shall be given to the person who finds Princess Pearl of Warwick. Wanted for the high crime of treason.”
Even through the darkness of the early morning hour, the words were dark and bold. I lifted the parchment higher into the moonlight to read the smaller paragraph underneath.
“Her Royal Highness, Queen Margery of Warwick, has issued a reward to anyone who can deliver the princess to her alive. Once believed dead, the princess is known to have run away and is hereby charged with conspiracy along with her sister, Princess Ruby, in attempting to overthrow the throne.”
Pearl’s hand shook as she took the sheet away from me and scanned it again. “My mother knows I am alive.”
“You guessed that might be a possibility, did you not?”
“Yes, but why is she charging me with treason?”
The queen was clearly searching hard if she had notices posted all the way in Norland.
“Why now? After all this time?” Pearl’s whisper was threaded with both fear and frustration. “And why is she involving Ruby?”
“Perhaps this notice is old.”
Pearl pointed to a small set of numerals at the end. “’Twas penned right after Midsummer’s Eve and likely sent out by couriers to the far corners of the Great Isle.”
Midsummer’s Eve was over a month ago. “Maybe she recently discovered you didn’t die in the hunting accident.”
“’Tis possible. But why threaten Ruby? She is too young and too innocent to be of use to the queen.”
I could come up with only one reason why. “The logical explanation is that the queen intends to use your sister to lure you back to Warwick.”
Pearl dropped the sheet and then bent over and buried her face in her hands. She released a soft groan that ended on a sob.
I placed a hand on her back, wanting to comfort her but unsure how. Ruby meant everything to her, was important enough that Pearl had agreed to marry me in order to save her sister and give her a new home.
Before I could figure out what to say, Pearl rose to her feet, her eyes flashing with determination. “I need to leave now and go after her.”
She started to stalk away, but I lunged for her. Pearl couldn’t just leave for Warwick. Such notices were likely posted in every town and hamlet from here to Warwick. People would be eager to find the princess and turn her over to the queen so they could claim the reward.
Anyone could piece together the truth and betray her. Pearl wouldn’t be safe anywhere. Not even on the Isle of Outcasts.
