Father Johannes turned and stepped behind the chancel, Elyce close upon his heels.
“Stop! Halt!” she heard behind her from the guards, but she kept going, following Father Johannes down a dark hallway that was so low she and the priest had to walk with their heads down.
Father Johannes suddenly dropped to his knees and opened up a hole in the floor.
“In here.” Father Johannes held his lantern over the opening, illuminating some wooden stairs that were little more than a ladder going straight down.
“Take the lantern,” he said. “Hurry.”
Elyce grabbed the lantern in one hand and used her other hand to hold on to the sides of the steep steps. She sat on the steps and scooted down them one at a time. As soon as she was far enough down, Father Johannes came in after her, closing the little door above his head.
“Keep going,” he whispered.
Soon Elyce reached the bottom and found herself in another small corridor like the one above.
“This castle was built with this secret passageway that was supposed to keep the royal family safe in the event of an invasion. Your father probably knows about it, so we must hurry.”
He took the lantern from her and led the way through the narrow passageway.
“Where are we going?”
“This leads to a cave that opens on the mountainside. From there we can disguise you, and you can go and join with the revolutionaries.”
“Revolutionaries?” Had she actually caused a revolution? Revolutions usually resulted in war and people being killed. There had never been a war, not in more than a thousand years, on Montciel soil.
God, please don’t let anyone die. How could she live with herself if she caused the death of even one of her people? At the moment her people loved her, which was what she always wanted. She could not let them down, could not cause them harm. But she also could not let them be mistreated by Claude.
Had Sir Gerard and Sir Oswalt managed to escape Claude’s men? And were they the ones helping Jacob sway the people to her side?
As desperate as she was for her people to love her, she wanted Sir Gerard’s love even more. God, let it be so.
* * *
Gerard and the others, including Astrid and Sir Oswalt, stood outside the castle demanding the release of Princess Elyce and Ysa’s brothers. They were still deciding what to do next when Gerard felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to see Princess Elyce in the rough woolen cloak of a shepherdess.
He drew her to him and held her tight, feeling her breath on his neck.
“How did you escape?” he asked.
At the same moment, she said, “I am so happy to see you!” Then she answered, “Father Johannes, my priest, helped me.”
He held on to her arms and stared, unable to take his eyes off her beautiful face. She was smiling, her eyes wide.
“I’m so happy you’re alive and well. How did you escape?”
“We sneaked away during the night. We found Bertold and King Wenceslaus’s men in Valkenfeld and brought them with us.” How good it was to see her.
“Thank you for not abandoning me.” Her voice was breathless as her gaze started out on his eyes and ended on his lips.
He groaned, wanting to kiss her but unsure if she would welcome such public affection. He squeezed her arms instead.
“Come. Can you make a speech to your people?”
“I think so.”
Gerard and Jacob lifted Princess Elyce up to the short retaining wall beside the steps that led up to the castle so that everyone would be able to see her. She held on to Gerard with one hand to keep her balance and threw off her hood with the other.
“Princess Elyce is speaking!” Jacob shouted.
The crowd immediately hushed.
“People of Montciel, King Claude of Valkenfeld is attacking you, and you have already heard how he is taking our men from their homes and forcing them to dig his mines! He intends to put even more of you to work in his mines, whether you wish it or not, for very little pay, keeping you from your home and your families. But we can stop him. We will defy him, and in doing so, we will have to defy our king, my father.”
A murmur went through the crowd. A few people looked shocked and dismayed; others glared at Princess Elyce as if she were the enemy. But most of them, the ones who had already heard from Jacob and Matthias and Bertold, looked supportive.
Princess Elyce did not seem to notice any opposition. In fact, he had never seen her looking so confident, determined, and in command of herself and her surroundings.
“I know it is difficult to think of being disloyal to your king, but if we do as he wishes, your very lives will be forfeit to a foreign king, Claude of Valkenfeld.
“Our country has enjoyed a peaceful existence for as long as any of us can remember, for hundreds of years. But now is the time to ensure that you and your children will continue to enjoy peace. We must stand up to Claude’s tyranny. And I promise you, as your princess, I shall not allow any harm to come to my father, the king, but I shall ensure that all our people are treated fairly and justly, to the best of my ability.”
Her words again seemed to change the atmosphere of the crowd, this time to sway them from distrust to determination.
Someone shouted, “Long live Princess Elyce!”
Another voice cried out, “Long live Queen Elyce!”
A loud cheer went up.
Bertold let out a low sound like a growl right beside Gerard. He suddenly jumped up onto the wall not far from Princess Elyce with his sword drawn.
Gerard saw King Claude coming across the small grassy patch of land between the castle and the retaining wall. He was moving toward the princess with a group of guards right behind him.
“Do not listen to this girl!” Claude shouted.
Gerard gripped his sword handle with one hand and put his other hand on the retaining wall to boost himself up. But Bertold was already intercepting the Valkenfeld king.
“This is the tyrant,” Bertold shouted, pointing his sword at Claude, “who wishes to turn you all into slaves for his own profit! He tried to take the woman I loved, Astrid, and make her his wife, but when she refused him, he ran her off a cliff to kill her. Some of you know her as ‘The Woman Who Fell.’ Then he made everyone in my country believe that I, his younger brother, was dead.”
People in the crowd gasped. The Valkenfeld guards who were now supporting Bertold moved forward.
Claude held his own sword high and ordered his guards, “Stay back! I shall fight him myself.”
Bertold struck first as his blade connected with Claude’s with a loud clang. They fought, evenly striking and parrying and striking again. Claude seemed to be focused on forcing Bertold toward the back edge of the retaining wall. But as soon as Claude had beaten him back, Bertold would in turn force Claude back several steps.
Claude was striking furiously without much heed to where his blows were landing. Suddenly, he made a wild stab forward. His blade sliced the outside of Bertold’s arm. Bright red blood showed on Bertold’s white sleeve.
Astrid let out a muffled scream beside Gerard. Her face white as snow, she covered her mouth with her hand and stared with wide eyes.
Bertold did not even pause. He kept striking, now pushing Claude back and back, closer to the edge of the wall. The crowd shouted encouragement.
Claude lunged forward again, but this time Bertold evaded his blade and took advantage of Claude’s exposed side and plunged his sword point into Claude’s body.