Page 108 of The Promised Prince
Trev
Every hour it seemed like another distinguished guest arrived. The prince of Cristole, the queen mother of Enderlin, and now King Adler of Tolsten walked toward the palace’s front steps where Trev stood with his father.
Adler was tall and big, with straight black hair slicked back. His olive skin added to his already striking looks. The resemblance between him and his older sister, the late Queen Avina, was evident. Adler was twenty when Avina had moved to Albion to marry King Carver. Trev had sometimes wondered if Adler knew how much Avina’s stepson loved her. If Adler knew how Trev locked himself on the roof of the palace and cried for hours after her funeral.
If Adler knew all that, would he still hate Albion so much?
“Are you surprised to see me, Carver?” King Adler spoke with an edge of anger as he greeted him.
“Not particularly.” King Carver’s brows furrowed. “We invited you to the wedding, and you accepted our invitation. We’ve been expecting you.”
Adler laughed his answer off. “Was that before or after you tried to have me killed?”
King Carver froze. “Excuse me?”
“Enough with the games, Carver. You sent someone to my room at the Dawsey Inn the other night to have me killed. What did you do? Pay off the hotel staff?” Adler asked.
Trev looked at his father, who seemed just as confused as he was. Trev was there when his father had written the note to call off the assassination. He had personally chosen the soldier sent to deliver the letter. The man had reported back that the message had been delivered. What had gone wrong?
“I applaud your efforts. It was a seemingly good plan. Invite me to the wedding then use the element of surprise to get me when I would least expect it. The only problem with your plan was that you underestimated my men. And me.” Adler smiled smugly.
“King Adler,” Carver shifted his weight nervously, “if there was an attempt on your life within our kingdom, I will do everything in my power to identify and punish the guilty. And we are, of course, deeply relieved that you escaped unharmed. But we had nothing to do with any attempt on your life.”
Adler laughed. “Of course you would deny it.”
“There are many people who could have done this. Why wouldwetry to”—King Carver leaned in close so nobody could hear their conversation—“kill you? We are in the middle of a wedding.”
“I wondered that same thing myself.” Adler lowered his icy gaze on King Carver. “But then again, you never planned on me surviving and showing up here to confront you. It’s like youwantto start a war between our two kingdoms. First, you accuse me of kidnapping those girls by the border and nowthis.” He leaned in closer between Trev and his father, whispering so only they could hear. “If I were you, I’d play nice. There are rumors that I have sophisticated weapons back in Tolsten. I’m dying to try them out.”
King Adler’s laugh was cruel and wicked, making the hairs on the back of Trev’s neck rise.
* * *
“What did you do?”Trev asked an hour later as he paced the king’s office.
“I didn’t do anything.” His father looked to Commander Pryer for help. “I called off the assassination. You both saw me.”
Trev wanted to believe him. “Then explain to me why Adler is accusing us of attempted murder.”
“I...I...honestly don’t know.” For the first time, his father seemed speechless.
“He’s not just accusing us. He knew the details, how we were targeting him at the Dawsey Inn. How could he know that unless it was true? Unless one of our men tried to carry out the plan.” Commander Pryer swore under his breath. “This is a disaster! And now he’s here.” His arms flew into the air. “How can I protect Albion from Adler when he’s here?”
Trev pointed at his father. “If I find out that you two are lying to me, that you two went behind my back on this plan, I swear I will—”
“We didn’t,” his father said, interrupting him. “Something is wrong. Pryer, bring the man to me who was sent to deliver the letter. I want to question him personally. And find the men that were stationed at the hotel, the ones that were going to carry out the mission. I want to question them all.” His father was beginning to yell. “I want to know who attempted to kill Adler against my express orders!”
Commander Pryer scrambled out of the room.
Trev looked at his father in a severe way. “You promised, if I married Seran, you would call off the assassination. You gave me your word.”
His father rubbed his hand on his face before raking it through his graying hair. He looked older today than he ever had before.
“I didn’t do this.”
Trev shook his head. “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”
“Don’t do anything foolish with the wedding. Let me figure out how this happened.” The king’s voice sounded desperate.
