Page 128 of The Forgotten Queen
“It’s okay,” he said to his men. “Lower your guns.”
Commander Tindale shook his head. “But Your Majesty?”
“Lower your guns,” Marx repeated.
Tindale nodded at his men, and their arms dropped.
The New Hope guard gestured to his own men. Three guards rushed forward, restraining Marx.
“King Marx McKane, you are under arrest for assisting in a kidnapping, harboring a fugitive of the Council of Essentials, and treason against the Council of Essentials. You will be transported to New Hope, where you will be held until your trial before the Council.”
The New Hope guards pushed him toward the waiting transporter. Marx turned over his shoulder, talking to Commander Tindale. “Tell my mother and sister that everything will be all right. Inform the High Rulers what has happened. They’ll know what to do. When Officer Kendrick arrives home, send him to New Hope.” He got his last words out before they lowered him into the transporter and shut the door.
Marx placed his head in his hands.
All that mattered now was that Sydria—no,Seran—was free.
39
Seran
The Border of Cristole and New Hope
Two Days Later
The sun slipped behind the alfalfa fields outside of Seran’s window. Without the glowing light, everything dimmed around her.
“We crossed the Cristole border. Isn’t it nice to be home?” her father asked.
Seran turned to him, lifting her lips into a half-smile. That’s how things had been the last few days since they’d left Cristole Castle and driven toward New Hope. Her father had timidly tried to make conversation while she stared blankly out the transporter window. Occasionally she’d commented or asked a simple question, but mostly she’d just nodded.
“We’re almost to the inn where we’ll rest for the night,” her father said. “In fact,” he leaned his head closer to his window. “I think we’re coming up on Wellenbreck Farm, where Mariele used to live.”
Seran gazed absently out her window. “Mariele doesn’t like Wellenbreck Farm.”
“Did you remember that?” Her father’s spirits lifted. “Of course you did. No one could have told you something like that. See, your memory is already being triggered by the familiarity of your surroundings.”
She kept her eyes trained on the farmland.
“When we get to the inn, I’ll have the guards do a sweep, and then we’ll see about getting a room with two beds again so that—”
“No,” she said plainly. “I’m not staying in your room again.” The last two nights, Seran had let her father force her into sleeping in the same room as him. He’d said he wanted to protect her, not let her out of his sight, but enough was enough.
“Darling, I don’t feel comfortable with you sleeping alone. It’s not safe.”
She looked at him. “Not everyone is out to kill me.”
“In my experience, that isn’t true.”
Seran felt sorry for her father. She really did. Watching his only daughter get shot and then living through her death and loss was probably very difficult for him, but she couldn’t take his hovering anymore. He suffocated her with his love and concern.
She sucked in a deep breath. “I want my own room.”
“But how will I protect you?”
“You have guards,” she said. “Use them.”
She turned her head back to the window, letting her thoughts drift back to Marx, the way they had done since the moment she’d left his side.
