What would Claire say when he reached her?
She’d refuse; he knew she would. But what choice did they really have? If the king mustered all Ceredigion’s might against them, before the mercenaries were released for winter, then Legault and her dominion over it would be destroyed. They would lose literally everything.
So distraught was he that he didn’t hear the approaching boots. He felt a hand on his arm and turned to find Hal Kiskaddon there, a look of outrage on his face.
“That should never have happened,” Kiskaddon muttered angrily. “By the Lady, I can’t believe my own ears! It makes me sick.”
Ransom felt it was only fair to share the warning he’d gotten from James. He said, “Be on your alert with the king from now on. What he did to me, he will do to each and every one of you.”
“I pray you’re wrong,” Kiskaddon said darkly.
“We shall see.”
My heart is cold with fear. When we returned to Connaught, a message from Ransom awaited us. It was brief—too brief. He said he is out of favor with the king and has been dismissed from the council. He had to send a rider to Glosstyr and from thence a ship to Connaught to give me news of his coming arrival because he cannot use the king’s messengers anymore.
There is more bad news coming. But what it is, he would not say.
What will become of us? I clutch my children close, fearing the day when Ransom’s loyalty will be tested to the breaking point. That sniveling, jealous, feckless brat of a king. Ransom is worth ten of him. Maybe it is time to defy him. In a clash of wills, I would think we would prevail.
I am fearful. But I am also full of wrath.
—Claire de Murrow, Queen of the Fair Isle
Connaught Castle
CHAPTER EIGHT
No Good Choices
The ship rocked on the choppy waters, sending a spray into their faces. Ransom leaned against the railing, watching as the cliffs drew nearer. Dearley stood on one side of him, wiping a hand across his mouth, the ends of his hair dripping, and on his other side stood Dawson, gazing at the distant fortress. The land they approached was hauntingly beautiful, with verdant pastures and ageless trees. The stone fortress stood as a formidable defense against the enemies of the Fair Isle. But as he stared up at the walls, he knew they were not strong enough to withstand the full might of Ceredigion.
The Elder King had helped Claire’s father tame the island. Even though the Gaultic nobles were more united now than they had been in the past, the memory of the invasion still lingered. They’d balk at defying the man who wore the hollow crown and wielded his power with impunity.
“Claire will be furious,” Dearley said, speaking the unspeakable at last.
“She has every right to be,” Dawson snarled. His fury at the king had not abated since they’d left Beestone castle.
“The king does this deliberately,” Dearley said, wiping his mouth on his forearm. “He’s trying to drive us into rebellion.”
He’d tried before, over the years, just as he had with all his followers, but never had his efforts been so blatant, so pointed. His victory against Estian was behind this.
“And he’s an utter pondfoot for daring it,” Dawson said. He shook his head. “If you joined forces with Lord James and Lord Kiskaddon, the three of you could stand up to him together.”
“Get such thoughts out of your head, Dawson,” Ransom said. “The last any of us needs is more war, especially from within. And I won’t make any decisions before I get Claire’s insights. She has a stake in this as well. And should we lose, we’d lose everything. Including our lives.”
Indeed, her counsel meant everything to him, and if they were to rebel, her own lands would likely be forfeit. There was so much at stake, not the least of which was the Fountain’s forewarning of who the next king needed to be in order for Ceredigion to survive. If Ransom could not be loyal to the king in his own right, he would always be loyal to the Fountain.
The three of them stared glumly as the ship approached the docks. Ransom wanted to be home, but he knew the news he brought would break Claire’s heart.
Because the waves were so choppy, a boat from the docks was rowed out to them so they would not have to wait until the winds calmed down. Climbing overboard and into the smaller boat was tricky, but they all managed it, and the two sailors who’d come for them rowed them back with the wind pushing them the whole way.
He looked up and saw Claire and the twins waiting for him at the pier. The boys were whacking at each other with wooden longswords. His heart panged to see them at play. They’d grown so much since he’d last seen them. A sigh escaped him, and Dearley put a comforting hand on Ransom’s shoulder.
When they reached the pier, Ransom climbed up the ladder first, and the boys ran to him with exuberant grins and hugged him around the waist.
“Papa! You’re back!”
“I saw him first!”
“No, I did!”
He hooked his hand around Willem’s neck and dropped down on one knee, clutching both of his boys in his arms. Only then did he look into Claire’s eyes, deep wells of worry and fear. Her beautiful hair was streaming in the wind. She approached more calmly, then tousled young Devon’s hair.
“Is it so bad as that?” she asked him earnestly.
He nodded, his throat too thick to speak.
It was worse.
Claire paced in their bedchamber, the door bolted, the two of them alone. He’d told her about the trickery by Estian, arriving too late to the battle for Auxaunce, and then the deliberate humiliation back at Beestone. The shock on her face had struck him like a blow. She looked angry enough to take a ship to Kingfountain and challenge the king to a duel, and he had not yet told her about the boys.
“I’m the one who sent him word about the Vexin!” she said with fury. “If not for my warning, he never would have won that battle. And he accuses you of intrigue?”
“There is no logic or justice in his words,” Ransom said. “I’ve talked it over with Simon, Dearley, and Dawson, and we all agree. He’s using his only victory as a chance to break our power. He does not want to be beholden to us any longer.”
“You’re the one who gave him the hollow crown!” Claire raged. “Is this how he repays you? No, Ransom, it’s not just a desire to be independent of us. He wants to punish us both. Me for rejecting him. As if I would ever want such a disgusting eel in my bed. And he hates you because you have character, and he has none.”
“I haven’t told you the worst yet,” Ransom said, dreading the moment.
“How can it be worse than this?”
Ransom looked into her eyes worriedly. “He demanded hostages. The twins. He gave me a fortnight to bring them to Kingfountain.”
Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Her hands closed into fists, and her knuckles went bone white. “Our sons?”
Ransom nodded. “He is provoking us into rebellion.”
“And what did you tell him? You refused, certainly.”
“I did not. I wouldn’t have made a decision like that without you.”
“But you did make a decision. You told him you’d bring them!”
“What else could I have said that wouldn’t have been treated as treason?”