Page 73 of If The Crown Fits
The Evernean Forest
Cai
The cabin was stuffy from heat that slipped inside from the summer day and I pulled my shirt away from my skin in some useless effort to cool myself down.
“You said you wanted to talk?” Arthur asked, while comfortably seated in one of the chairs. He was tall and built like someone who used to be a soldier but in recent years had given himself over to ale and age.
“I want to know what your plan is. If I’m to participate in any way, I don’t want to be left in the dark.”
Arthur put his hands together. “I thought you said you couldn’t help.” He carried the expression of a man who’d distrusted everyone all his life, and I started to understand where Lara got it from.
“Not from here. Not alone. If you want Norrandale’s aid in your rebellion, we’re going to have to rescue my men.”
“I cannot guarantee we’ll get them out alive,” Arthur replied with little sympathy.
“I know it would be a very big risk. But there is no way I’m leaving my men behind.”
“All right then.”
I wasn’t fond of the thought of siding with someone I didn’t believe I could trust, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
I crossed my arms. “Everything that happens from here can have an effect on Norrandale. Especially considering the plans you have in mind. When exactly do you intend to tell Lara the truth?”
He stood up then, though his expression remained emotionless.
“Which is?”
“This isn’t about the end of the monarchy or poverty. This is about placing yourself on the throne of Everness.”
“You’re wrong. I have no intention of placing myself on the throne of Everness. I simply want a just ruler.”
I stared at him from across the table. “So, what? You kill the royal family and end the monarchy? You and I both know the people cannot rule themselves or there will be chaos.”
He smirked. “And you think I plan to place myself in that position of leadership?”
“I think it’s a very convenient opportunity.”
“It’s a convenient opportunity for many people.”
“Still, you already lead these people. It would be easier for them to trust you, than someone else.”
He folded his hands together, observing me for a moment. “You’re not entirely as dense as they make you out to be.” I wasn’t sure it was a compliment or whotheywere. “But you’re still wrong.”
“Free my men and I’ll help you on the day of the rebellion. What you choose to do after that is not my concern, so long as there are peaceful relations between Norrandale and Everness.”
His grin was back. “You have yourself a deal, Prince of Norrandale.”
* * *
Lara paced back and forth outside her uncle’s cabin, cutting into an apple as if she were angry at it. I didn’t tell her about my earlier conversation with Arthur. Didn’t plan to. “You’re going to walk a path through the grass,” I commented, leaning back against the cabin wall and crossing my arms.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said, looking up at me, worry in her eyes. She tossed the apple core. “We barely stand a chance, even with Rhen as our inside man.”
“You’re afraid of dying?”
“I’m afraid of innocent people dying.” That was two answers within itself. “I’m afraid of being forced to take a life.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve grown a conscience?”
