Page 49 of Besotted
“She is cunning.” Vilmar’s smile was wry, as though he knew just how cunning. “She has developed a protective bridge connected to the lodge that can be raised and lowered.”
“So her lodge is impenetrable.”
“Yes,” Mikkel spoke tersely. “That is why we must draw the queen out. And the best way to do so is to stage an exchange of prisoners. Only then will we have access to Ruby and the queen in one occasion.”
Somehow I guessed he wanted to involve me in this mission, but what exactly did he want?
As if sensing my unasked question, Mikkel leaned in further. “Vilmar and the other freed slaves have agreed to join in the effort to rescue Princess Ruby and capture Queen Margery. I would like to know I can count on you and any of your companions to do the same.”
“I am always at your service. Though with my leg wound, I doubt I will be of much aid.”
“Then perhaps you would be of service in another way.”
“How so?” I stiffened, having the feeling this was the true reason he’d sought me out and that I wouldn’t like his request.
“Since you and Jorg know the forest better than any of us, will you help us track Aurora?”
“Track Aurora and put her into grave danger not of her own making and possibly risk her life and throne?”
Mikkel didn’t look away. “We willallput our lives at risk to destroy Queen Margery. However, doing so will put an end to her threat to Mercia, which will bring peace and security during Aurora’s reign.”
The conversation had grown increasingly tense. But that was always the way it was with Mikkel. I grabbed my mug and took a sip of ale, needing to bide my time and figure out how to refuse him without offense. All I wanted to do was finish my Testing, get Rory, and return to Scania. Mikkel and Vilmar’s trouble with Warwick’s queen wasn’t my problem, and they needed to figure out how to solve their issues without involving me.
I took another swig, set down my mug, and started to push away. Vilmar reached across the table and snagged my arm. “Wait. You need to hear the full story about just how wicked Queen Margery is before you make up your mind.”
I stared at his fingers grasping my sleeve and wanted to shrug him off. My brothers had never paid me much heed while in Scania. Why should I give them heed now?
“Please?” Vilmar’s forehead furrowed. “Though our father and the Lagting couldn’t have known Queen Margery’s deep, evil secrets, ’tis entirely possible God ordained our Testing here on the Great Isle to rid the land of her darkness.”
I extricated my arm from his grasp. “Queen Margery’s darkness has nothing to do with me in Mercia.”
“The effects of her greed and evil have spread everywhere, and her threat will only grow,” Vilmar insisted. “Even the presence of the basilisks here in the forest is because of her.”
I’d heard variations of such a rumor from the people who lived in the forest, but I didn’t stop Vilmar as he relayed what he knew.
“Many years ago, she had the deadly reptiles brought to Warwick for use in her alchemy. She experimented with many recipes, including one that called for powdered basilisk blood. When the recipe didn’t produce the jewels, silver, or gold she desired, she released the remaining basilisks into Inglewood Forest.”
“Such a story may be true, but again, it has nothing to do with me. Jorg and I have done well to keep away from the basilisks.”
“Unfortunately,” Mikkel interjected, “the basilisks are the least harmful of her alchemy experiments.”
Though I was tempted to stand up and walk away, I remained on the bench and let my brothers tell me everything they’d pieced together about Queen Margery’s experimentation in alchemy. When her father, King Alfred, had died, he’d bequeathed a coveted ancient white stone to her, one mentioned in Holy Scripture saying:“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone.”
Rumored to have special transforming powers, the white stone had been placed into the safekeeping of the royals to prevent abuse. But instead of guarding and protecting the stone as other kings and queens had done before her, Margery enlisted the assistance of priests from all over the world to aid her in unlocking the secrets of the stone’s power.
While everyone knew about her obsession with alchemy and her many experiments over the years, no one had guessed just how evil her practices had become. Until Vilmar’s wife, Gabriella, discovered that the queen had created a successful elixir for growing jewels within the Gemstone Mountains long after the original gems were gone.
“She figured out how to make gems,” I said. “Certainly that doesn’t warrant her death.”
Mikkel exchanged a look with Vilmar, one that told me their tale had only just begun. I sighed and settled onto the bench more comfortably.
Mikkel glanced to the door to make sure we were still alone. “Apparently, Margery’s priests spent years deciphering a cryptic language in order to understand the ingredients necessary to mix with the white stone. They discovered blood from a heart was necessary and tried many different hearts, including that of the basilisk.”
I sensed where the story was going and sat forward. “They learned they needed a human heart.”
Mikkel nodded. “Not just any human heart. For jewels, they needed the heart of the fairest maiden in all the land—”
“And Gabriella was to be her next victim,” Vilmar said gravely, “but we outwitted her, which is why she seeks our demise.”
