Page 7 of The King's Sword
“Why is that?” Otto asked, running a hand through his shaggy dark hair. The skin under his eyes appeared slightly gray, as if he hadn’t slept in days.
“Because I wouldn’t have believed him.” If her parents had been concerned, they could have sent a letter to Markis. While she understood they’d be worried about her after Alina was assassinated, there wasn’t much her parents could do to protect her, especially from so far away. So asking her to leave with a man she didn’t know wasn’t something she would have even considered doing.
“We became concerned after you didn’t respond to Father’s last letter.”
She groaned, thinking about how her dog had destroyed that letter. “That’s because I never read it.” She quickly explained how Harta had eaten the paper.
“So the letter arrived, but you never read it?” Otto asked, leaning forward on the couch.
A chill slid through Sabine as she thought over the incident. At first, she’d assumed Harta had been misbehaving and trying to get her attention by destroying the letter. However, knowing how well-trained the dog was, Sabine was now inclined to believe someone had told the animal to eat it. “No,” she whispered. “I did not. What did it say?” Fear and apprehension filled her. She couldn’t even trust her own dog.
“Father wrote in code stating that he believed King Rainer was manipulating the situation in order to marry you so he could get soldiers on the ground in Bakley to surround Carlon and Nisk.” His words hung heavy in the air, the information buzzing around like bees ready to attack.
Sabine rubbed her forehead. “I don’t understand.” When and how had her father come upon this information? The fire crackled in the hearth, startling her. She shivered even though the room was warm.
“It all started when the League reviewed the new contract with your name. I noticed an increase in the number of soldiers father requested, which I thought was strange since he never mentioned it to me.”
Sabine had heard Rainer talk about the increase in soldiers.
“Father said he didn’t make any changes other than putting your name in place of Alina’s.” Otto scooted over on the sofa so he was in front of Sabine. “I informed the other League members, and we decided not to approve the marriage until we could investigate further.”
“And did you?” she asked.
Otto nodded. “We managed to arrange for the Avoni delegation to travel to Lynk under the guise of wanting to witness the wedding ceremony knowing the marriage hadn’t been approved yet. We hoped they’d discover nothing was amiss, and your marriage could proceed as planned.”
“I’m guessing that since I’m sitting here, things didn’t go as planned.” She rubbed her eyes, suddenly exhausted.
“No, they did not. Avoni discovered soldiers preparing for battle. Weapons are being amassed in caves near the border, armor is being made, and there are tent cities with soldiers ready to enter Carlon and Nisk at a moment’s notice.”
Sabine stared into the fire, thinking over everything her brother had revealed. “How did Avoni come across this information?” It wasn’t like the delegation was running around Lynk. They were at the palace. And she’d traveled through the kingdom and hadn’t seen anything to support this.
“The delegation took spies with them.”
“And we trust their spies?”
“I don’t know.”
She leaned forward, taking her brother’s hands. “An Avoni assassin killed Alina. An Avoni assassin is after me. We can’t blindly trust them.”
“I understand.” Otto squeezed her hands. “And I do need to discuss the matter with Evander.”
“Are the two of you friends?” she asked, skeptical that Otto had friends she didn’t know about. Granted, he’d been a League member and she hadn’t known that.
“We are. I’ve known him for some time.” He leaned back in his chair. “Now tell me, did Rainer confide in you? What have you learned? Did you discover who hired the assassin to kill Alina?”
So many questions that she didn’t even know where to begin, so she started with the first. She explained how Rainer never confided in her. Then she went on to tell him how she’d discovered Lottie was trying to take her brother’s throne and had hired the assassin to kill Alina.
Otto nodded. “And did you overhear anything about the kidnapped Bakley children?”
“No.”
“Rolf sent out spies to watch the border and report back on who was conducting the raids and stealing our children.” He looked at her, the lines around his eyes deepening, as if not wanting to continue.
A sick feeling wormed its way into Sabine’s stomach. “What did he discover?” she asked, knowing she wouldn’t like the answer. Before going to Lynk, she’d been so sure Carlon was responsible for everything.
“There is conflicting evidence, but there is viable proof that Lynk soldiers are raiding the borders and doing the kidnappings.”
Sabine rubbed her temples. The man she’d married couldn’t be responsible for these awful things. “What’s the conflicting evidence?”
