Loving War : The Eighth Son, page 9
She turned the knob, uncertain of what she would find, but her claws were ready.
She peered in and saw the Queen standing in the middle of her room, her arms wrapped around her body. She was staring off into the distance as if in a trance.
Ursula shut the door, jarring Charlotte back to life.
“What are you doing here?” Charlotte spat.
Ursula smiled as she fluttered across the room, her long curls bouncing with each step. Her head held high, a peacock showing off her feathers.
“I wanted to wish you a safe journey. After all, you are traveling a great distance.”
“I do not care for your concern.”
Ursula grinned as she ran her fingers over Charlotte’s vanity, noting that all her items were packed, as they had been since she was supposed to already be in Malan.
“I am practicing. I mean, what kind of Queen would I be if I did not wish you a safe journey?”
“You are delusional.” Charlotte huffed, “You are not nor never will be queen.”
Ursula stepped toward Charlotte, closing the air between them, her dark eyes narrowing as she spoke, “My dear, Charlotte. How can you be so dumb?”
“Excuse me?”
“You have lost, and the saddest part about it all is you did it to yourself. You made it so easy. The damage you did, the way you cracked Tavian’s heart open.”
Ursula flashed a wicked grin, “Well, you essentially gave me the window to crawl in.” She lowered her face closer to Charlotte’s, her words sliding off her tongue in a hiss, “And stay there, I shall.”
Charlotte inhaled and then said, “He will never be yours. Maybe he is fucking you, but that is all it is, Ursula. You are an object, a release. His heart will never be yours.”
Ursula frowned but held her tongue, letting Charlotte think she and Tavian had slept together. Seeing how much the thought was eating away at the Queen.
Ursula shrugged, “Maybe.”
She walked across the room and then turned, smirking, “Do be careful while you are away; you never know who might come for you.”
“What?” Charlotte snapped, “Are you threatening me?”
Ursula feigned innocence, “Me?” She shook her head and chuckled, “Do not be silly.”
“You may leave now,” Charlotte ordered, tired of the word battle she was playing with the Duchess.
Ursula gazed at the Queen for a moment. She twisted her lips, smiling.
“Such a stupid woman. You had the best man, the greatest man you will ever know, and you tossed him aside. For what? A brother you haven’t seen in thirteen years? For a family who has never picked you first.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes, the truth of Ursula’s words tearing her apart.
Ursula sneered, “It makes me hate you even more. How could you be so stupid and cruel? How could you hurt him like this?”
“It is none of your business what goes on between the King and I,” Charlotte stated.
“Perhaps not, but hear this. I promise you I will make you pay for hurting Octavian. I will make you pay for making him feel unworthy. You are a coward and have never deserved him, ever.”
“Get out!” Charlotte shouted, her temper flaring, hot tears threatening to fall in response to the increase in adrenaline.
“I will go, but know this, Queen Charlotte of Ivoca, while you are gone healing from whatever ridiculous ailment you convinced Tavian you have, I will be here, keeping his mind spinning with ideas and plans, helping him win the war you brought upon us. I will be here keeping his cock occupied, and the most important thing. I will be the one making him feel loved. Love, it is what Octavian craves and needs more than anything.”
Ursula opened the door as Charlotte charged at her. She turned, glaring at the Queen, slamming the door shut in Charlotte’s face.
The Letter
“It is enticing as hell,” Daniel replied after reading the letter from King Ignatius. “But can we trust him?”
Tavian sighed, “How am I to judge? I have never met the man.”
Daniel sat in an armchair across from Tavian, his mind a spinning top of what-ifs.
“Daniel,” Tavian said.
His uncle’s silence made him uneasy.
Daniel sat forward and looked at the King.
“There is no guarantee he won’t find someone else to back him.”
“Who?’ Baron scoffed. “We also have Ambrose and the Count of Laramire in our pocket. The boy has no options.”
Tavian sighed and paced, his hands over his face as he thought about the decision he needed to make.
He stopped walking and thought of Lemma’s words.
“I see two roads, one leading to war and one leading to peace between all the kingdoms.”
“You must continue to protect your children. You know that it comes to you without even thinking. You have to protect their mother, too. She is fragile right now. It is not her fault. Her mind is not like yours.”
“I am going to agree,” Octavian announced.
He turned, looking first at Daniel, then Baron.
“I think it is wise.” Baron agreed.
Daniel nodded as he stood, walking to Tavian. He wrapped his arms around him in a hug.
“You will be the first king in history to unite the lands.”
When Daniel pulled away, his eyes were clouded as he gazed at his ‘boy.’
“Uncle?” Tavian said, noticing the man’s raw emotions.
Daniel cleared his throat and said, “Don’t mind me. I am an old man.”
Tavian laughed, slapping the man on the back.“Hardly.”
“Baron,” Tavian turned to his closest confidant beyond his uncle. “Send a message right away. We will meet at Byers Point. It is the halfway mark between here and Ignatius. Tell them we will have our flag waving in peace.”
“Very good,” Baron said and turned to leave.
“Baron,” Tavian called after the man, “Tell them to bring Meredith.”
Daniel and Baron looked at the King, his request catching both men off guard.
“I want to make sure this stays civil. That man will not wage war with Meredith present.”
Baron smiled, “Excellent idea, Your Grace.”
Once the study door was closed, Daniel looked at Tavian, who was pouring them both a drink.
“Son, I have to tell you something.”
“Go on then,” Tavian replied, placing the top back on the liquid decanter.
Daniel cleared his throat, “It is not easy for me to admit this, but there were moments when I questioned whether or not all we went through was worth it.”
Tavian raised his brows as he gave Daniel a glass of whiskey.
“As did I.”
Daniel nodded, “I am aware. Tavian, I am sorry. I never should have doubted you. You are so much more than I had hoped and dreamed. You are ten times the man I will ever be, you are ten times the man your father was, and I loved that damn fool.”
Tavian chuckled at the mention of his father in that light.
“There is no need to apologize.”
“Octavian, if you pull this off, you will have accomplished something that Alistair the first wanted from the start, something that no one thought would ever happen after the great divide in the family.”
Tavian looked down at his drink and nodded.
“It will be something if it happens,” he paused and then looked up, “you don’t think it foolish?”
“King.” Ambrose entered the room, “I beg the intrusion; however, Lemma has pressing information that I need to share.”
“What is it?” Tavian asked, his heart in his throat.
“I am afraid we need to depart this evening. She has seen, well, I will not repeat her words, but if we leave tonight, it can be avoided.”
“Avoided?” Daniel asked.
“Then, by all means, make ready,” Tavian replied.
“The trial?” Ambrose said.
Tavian shook his head, “No need to worry about that. I can handle it.”
“I agree,” Ambrose said.
Tavian embraced him and replied, “You have done so much for me. I will never forget the debt I owe you.”
“Debt. Hell, McClen, I like you, kid. There is no debt; besides, I have told you time and again the debt is all mine. You giving my Millie to me is enough payback for a lifetime.”
Tavian grinned, “That pleases me so.”
Ambrose heard the young King’s pain, “Hell, King, we will get your beautiful Queen right again. Don’t worry; when she returns, she will be the Queen she was born to be.”
Tavian nodded, “Thank you.”
“I will get the Queen,” Daniel volunteered.
“No,” Tavian said, “I will do it.”
He walked from the room, throwing back his entire glass of whiskey.
Dr. Envoy came down the stairs as Tavian made his way across the entryway
“Dr. Envoy,” Tavian called out.
“Ah, Your Grace,” he bowed.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Tending to the Queen’s back.”
Tavian stopped walking and sighed, “Right.”
In all the commotion, he had forgotten about the punishment he bestowed upon his wife hours ago.
“I assume she is healing?”
“In time,” the doctor replied.
Tavian glanced up the stairs and then nodded, “Thank you.”
He walked to Charlotte’s room, his gut in a knot. He felt nervous; he did not know how to act with her anymore. He was exhausted from the constant arguing, yet she infuriated him within seconds of speaking, a realization that tore at his heart.
He unlocked the door and found her standing again on the balcony. Her hair was piled up on her head to keep it from the wounds this time.
He shut the door, the noise causing her to look at him.
“The ship is ready.”
“We are leaving now?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Charlotte walked off the balcony, “What of the trial?”
“You will not be here.”
“Tavian.”
“Charlotte, please, for once, do not argue.”
“How can you ask that of me in this situation?” she sighed.
He closed his eyes, knowing she was right.
“Please trust me,” he answered, looking up at her.
Charlotte stared back at him; he seemed softer in this moment; the look in his eyes as he gazed at her was familiar, as if the man she knew was clawing his way back.
“Trust you? About what?” she asked.
Tavian walked across the room to her; he placed his hands on her shoulders, “About all of it.”
Charlotte gazed up at him. She swallowed back the ache in her heart and the yearning the touch of his hands caused.
“Will you allow me to say goodbye to him? Can you find it in whatever heart you have left to give that to me?”
Tavian swallowed back the guilt, which lived in the pit of his stomach now - a constant state he had been in since he took Danvil’s head. Somehow, in this moment with his wife, that emotion found its way up and threatened to break him down.
He inhaled before saying, “Yes, I will take you to him.”
He extended his hand to her, waiting as Charlotte looked down at his outstretched palm. She glanced back up at him and walked on, refusing to accept his small gesture.
Tavian closed his eyes in knowing pain and followed after her.
“Let Ambrose know we will be down at the dock soon,” Tavian told the guard who stood outside the Queen’s door.
“Yes, Your Grace,” the man bowed and turned on his heel in search of the King of Malan.
Silence fell over the King and Queen as they went outside to the tower.
Tavian reached for the door and looked back at his wife.
“Please make it quick; it’s imperative the ship set sail on time.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes; she knew he was keeping something from her. She read it all over his face and eyes as they gazed down at her. Eyes that once upon a time looked upon her with the sincerest of devotion.
Charlotte walked down the long, dark corridor.
“Charlotte?” Anne gasped, climbing to her feet.
“Mother,” Charlotte whispered, running to the cell as Anne reached for her.
“No!” Octavian shouted, “Not her. You may say goodbye to your brother.”
Charlotte turned and looked at the King, “My mother is leaving.”
“Yes, but her head will stay intact,” Tavian paused and glared at Anne and his wife, “for now, anyway.”
Charlotte reluctantly walked to stand outside of her brother’s cell.
“Henry,” Charlotte called out into the darkness.
There was no movement from within the dark, damp cell that had been Henry’s home for the last week.
“Henry,” Charlotte repeated, her voice cracking.
Charlotte glanced at her husband.
“Henry, please,” Charlotte pleaded, returning to the dark, damp cell.
She wrapped her slender fingers around the cold steel bars and placed her forehand against the cool metal.
“I am so sorry, Henry. I know you loved Andrea. I am so sorry all this has happened. Believe me, if I could change things, I would.”
Charlotte paused, collecting her emotions; she lifted her head and continued talking, uncertain if Henry was even listening.
“I wish I could go back; I would give anything to go back, to run away with you. I should have. I should have never let you go off alone. I should have left with you and Andrea that day.”
Tavian, staring down at the stone floor, snapped his head up when he heard her words.
A New Chapter
King Octavian stared at Charlotte as she continued to speak, her words creating a deep-rooted knot that twisted in his gut. Her confession to her little brother would erase their life together, their children, their marriage - all of it.
As he continued to listen to her, he wondered if he could blame her. After all, the last year had been more than any marriage could endure, not to mention the last week of events tacked on.
“If we had left together, we would be happy in Loche. We would have a modest farm that we would run together. I would be married to a simple man, and you would be in love with a local farm girl. Our life would be simple. It would be calm.”
Tavian watched Charlotte, whose tears drizzled down her cheeks as she spoke of another life. A life that she yearned for when he met her so many years ago, a life without the crown.
“And we would be happy,” Henry’s voice crackled through the musty air of the tower prison.
All eyes went toward the man who slowly sulked out from the darkness of the back corner and came to the center of his cell. A sliver of light from the above window crept through, illuminating Henry. His face was swollen from his salty tears, the brim of his eyes pink.
“Henry,” Charlotte whimpered.
Henry moved forward, his clothes tattered and filthy, his face smeared with dirt from wiping his tears away. He wrapped his fingers around the metal, gliding over his sister’s.
“Charlie, I wish I had stayed a duke.” He paused and finished, “Like you told me to. You said stay a duke, Henry.”
“Yes, I did.”
Anne watched as her children held hands, talking of a life she denied them, a life she would have never fathomed for a child of hers.
“But you aren’t a duke, Henry; you are the rightful king,” Anne announced into the room.
Tavian shook his head in disgust. He opened his mouth to snap at her, but Charlotte’s tongue beat him to the draw.
“Stop it, Mother! Will you never learn?”
Anne glared back at her daughter, “I will never stop.”
“You’ve lost, Mother!” Charlotte shouted. “And now, because of you and your greed for the throne, two innocents are dead, and now…” Charlotte stopped speaking, unable to bring herself even to say the words.
“And now I am next,” Henry finished for her.
Charlotte bit her bottom lip and inhaled a slow and deep breath.
“I love you, my sweet Henry. I always have,” Charlotte said, turning back toward her brother.
Henry nodded, “I know, Charlie. I love you, too.”
Charlotte placed her forehead between the bars, meeting her brother’s.
“I am sorry, Henry.” she cried, closing her eyes as hot tears sprinkled her cheeks.
“Me too, Charlie. Me too.”
“Your Grace, the ship awaits,” a guard called into the tower from the doorway.
Tavian glanced back at the guard and nodded.
“Come, Charlotte,” he said, reaching for her arm.
Charlotte hesitated, staring at her brother, who gazed back at her with matching eyes.
“I will find you,” he said with certainty.
Charlotte stifled a cry, “We will be together again.”
Henry smiled as Tavian led her away; her head turned as she looked back at her sweet Henry, tears clouding her vision.
She glanced at her mother, who stared back at her. “Goodbye, my Charlotte. You are the best queen I have ever known.”
Charlotte stared at her, unable to conjure a goodbye for the woman, and then Henry’s cry ripped through the tower.
“I love you, Charlie!” Henry called out one last time.
“Henry!” Charlotte cried out, her heart splitting in two.
Once the door closed behind them and Charlotte could no longer hear Henry calling out to her, she lurched forward, spilling the contents of her stomach onto the ground in front of the King’s feet.
Tavian closed his eyes, inhaling, as he listened to his wife vomit. After a moment, when he knew he could speak to her without caving into her pain, he knelt beside her and smoothed the hair back off her forehead.
Charlotte inhaled and cried as she wiped her mouth with the back of her arm.
“Come on, Charlotte,” Tavian coaxed, helping her stand.
She rose but collapsed against him, sobbing against his body.
Tavian carefully slid his hand down her back, scooping her into his arms. He carried her down to the dock, her head resting on his shoulder as she continued to weep - weep for her brother whom she would never see again, weep for her marriage, which she was sure was over, weep for herself for becoming so lost in all of it. Here she was, having lost everything.
