Rone stood up to leave his group of buddies and moved to the empty end of the table, wearing an armor-like leather outfit that seemed to stiffly shift around his frame. His eyes danced over her, seeing the dark velvety dress the Briers usually wore. She nodded to him and sat across.
“How are you?” he asked.
“We have some matters that need to be discussed,” she said quietly. His face froze for a moment before he looked around. Everyone was fully engrossed in their own conversations. Rone took a deep breath.
“What did Archen tell you?”
“What I think everyone suspects now,” she replied. “That you brought me here to marry you so you could become a primary council member… Is that true?”
He touched at his nose nervously. It was strange seeing someone so intimidating be so fidgety. He shrugged.
“If that’s how it turned out. I wasn’t banking on that fact, however it was worth a try.” He made a weak smile. “Ghrathar will fall soon. I wanted to get you out for your sake before my own. The rest was, and still is, up to you.”
Minerva wasn’t expecting him to be so forthcoming about it. She didn’t really know what to say. Her food was brought to her, but she hardly touched it. Was he proposing? Then her mind thought about what else he said.
‘Grathar will fall soon.’
“I hope you’re not upset, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you are. Right when I saw you, I wanted to speak to you, just us. You will be the safest marrying me, not having to watch your back at every turn here in the castle. I know quite a few of the servants don’t care for my political standing, and they certainly won’t like you staying here…” he trailed off. “Just think about it. I would also closely examine your food before you eat. No one but the king gets someone to test for poison, but sometimes you can catch it by looking at it first.”
“Have you been poisoned?” she asked with a half joking smile.
“A few times… But enjoy your food. Take a bit to think about my proposition. It can simply be an arrangement if you wish. I just need an answer in the next week or so.” He stood up to leave. “Your mother should be here tomorrow or the next day. We’re sending our best men to fetch her.”
There was so much for her to think about.
“Wait!” She held her arm out. Her urgency stopped him in his tracks. “How can I reach you? Are you staying here in the castle?”
“For the next week or so,” he nodded. His expression was a cryptic veil to what he was thinking. Minerva hesitated but smiled and returned the nod.
“Okay. You will have an answer at least by the end of the week.”
“Many thanks.” He strode away and out the door.
Minerva quickly ate her breakfast and went back up to her room. It was good that her mother was on her way. No need to risk her living in Ghrathar with all of the trouble that was apparently brewing. Back in her room, Minerva lounged on the sofa and looked out at the city. It was a partly cloudy day today, with some rooftops occasionally blinding her with the passing clouds.
Her mind was wandering as she was trying to push back the pressureful question flooding up from the back of her mind.
Would she stay at the castle or marry Rone? She was leaning towards marriage. There were many things about him that she liked already. She was sure that nothing could go too wrong. But Minerva was usually a lone wolf. She rarely enjoyed working with anyone, especially when working out problems. Being married, there wouldn’t be a whole lot for her to do, however if she stayed single it may be a much more dangerous, shorter road for her.
Rone had said that it could simply be an arrangement. That’s what it would be for the first while. She didn’t want to marry, but she wanted to sleep peacefully knowing that she didn’t have to watch her back at every turn.
Brier was also not her home. There was a very quiet voice that begged her to go back, even to live in hiding. It was so much warmer and familiar. Maybe she could even convince Beau to take her back? No, that would never be an option. He would be scouring every corner looking for her.
Three days passed quickly. Minerva kept busy writing letters that she hoped would make it to Lena and Trident. Her fellow council members were good friends, and she wanted them to know that she’d made it out safely. She wrote under a fake name that they would recognize as her.
She was now waiting around for news of her mother. It was taking much too long. The journey was a quick one by sea. Minerva still held hope that maybe she was coming around the long way on land. It was a much more dangerous journey, traveling through Wild Rogue territory that was beginning to spring up in the northern regions of Ghrathar.
Minerva jumped when she heard a knock at her door. She’d been left alone for the past few days. Emily had been up to check on her occasionally to see if she needed anything. It was the young girl now.
“The king wishes to speak with you.” She bowed her head as she made a little curtsy.
The blood started to pound in her ears. Maybe her mother had arrived? Minerva sprung from her seat at her writing desk to follow Emily.
It was a much warmer day today than it’d been for a while. Without a cloud in the sky, the bright sun cast deep shadows around the castle. The normal bustle was in full swing. People were all over, humming with conversation but paying little attention to her.
She followed Emily around to the west wing, where they descended a few steps and came into a large room that extended outside. It was a lovely sun room that held lush green plants and vibrant flowers. It was quite a contrast to all the brown grass outside, where the only greenery were the pine trees that dotted the countryside.
As they walked under the domed glass roof, she could feel herself beginning to get warm. It was very humid without any kind of breeze to sweep the air around.
King Archen was standing under a large tree that was pruned to fit inside perfectly. Next to him, seated on a stone bench was Rone. Her heart beat faster seeing him. She should’ve gone to find him right when she’d made up her mind about his proposal instead of waiting. She’d just wanted to be sure. And now she was.
Her heart sank when she didn’t see any trace of her mother. Her hope was that she was the reason for this meeting. King Archen glanced over first and smiled warmly.
“Thank you for joining me, Minerva. I was hoping you’d be exploring the grounds, but I haven’t seen you anywhere the past few days.”
Rone turned to her as well, keeping a guarded expression on his face as he acknowledged her. She was put off by his coolness, but she could understand. It was a bold proposition he offered her. Minerva put on her public smile.
“Oh yes. I kept to my room. I just needed a few days to gather myself.”
“Of course, dear,” Archen nodded heartily. “I wanted to speak to you about your mother.”
“Oh?” Minerva felt her body become heavy with dread.
“My men found her house empty and ransacked. It looked like Ghrathar soldiers had gotten there a long time before us, however they asked around in the neighborhood. The people say they saw her leaving a few hours before the raid, riding a horse. No one knows where she was going, only that she had one bag packed. There’s also been a report of someone with her description heading north. I don’t know if she knows the truth about where you are, or if she heard misinformation and is going to start anew somewhere else… I’ve sent a messenger to search the road she was on in case it was her. If he finds her, he’ll bring her up here.”
“Thank you so much for looking. That means the world to me.” She couldn’t show too much emotion or she would burst. Her mother meant everything to her. She had no other family.
Now Beau was trying to destroy what was left of her life back home, which wasn’t a surprise. Her mother lived quietly and rather secretively as it was. Minerva was sure it wasn’t too difficult for her to pack up and leave at the scent of danger in the air.
“Are you alright?” Archen put a hand on her shoulder.
“Ye- yes, I’ll be alright.” Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away. All she could see was a blur of brown slopes outside of the glass.
“I really am sorry I couldn’t have brought better news.” His deep voice was sad for her. She thought about how good of a king he probably was to his people. The empathy was not necessary, but he felt it all anyway. He cleared his throat to change the subject.
“Well, now I believe I am interrupting as Mr. Athlet would like a word with you.” He bowed deeply to her and kissed her hand before he left. His footsteps as soundless as a cat.
Minerva blinked back the tears as she turned around. They were going to be for another time. She seated herself down on the bench next to Rone. They were both silent for a minute. His presence felt like a comfort she wasn’t expecting. When she looked up at him, his rough exterior was put away, shoulders slumping forward uncharacteristically.
“I’m sorry to hear your mother is on the run.”
“Oh, she’ll make her way here soon. She’s very clever. I imagine her only worry is for me. I should’ve sent some kind of word to her before I left. I hadn’t even thought along those lines as we were leaving.” She took a deep breath to reset. “Anyway, I have an answer for
you.”
His eyebrows jumped up at the abrupt, almost cheerful tone in her voice.
“I will marry you.”
“Really?” he grinned, straightening his shoulders. Happiness was a good look on him. “And may I ask what brought you to that conclusion? You looked like you wanted nothing to do with me last time we spoke.”
“I didn’t mean to give off that impression. It’s all been a lot to process, but I believe marrying you would be the better thing for me. For both of us. I trust you, although I really don’t know you at all.”
“What you see is what you get, I’m afraid,” he shrugged. “Well, that makes me happy. I don’t know you either, but I’ve heard of your reputation and I’ve seen you at work… Which reminds me- there is an event coming up. I don’t know if you’ll be interested in attending with me. There’s a peace conference that Queen Kurta is putting on. It might be her family, I’m not sure, but everyone is going to be there.”
“When is it?”
“Two days from now. It’s a trip Archen, Bryant, and I will be going on…” he paused and looked at her from the corner of his eye. “And maybe you as well? You don’t have to go as my fiance. King Beau will be there, no doubt. I can’t imagine he’d be too thrilled to see you.”
“I’m sure he’d be even less thrilled to see you,” she laughed. “I believe you were the one with a crossbow in his face.”
“Ahh, yes. I’m curious to see how he goes about the conference. I’m sure he will be putting on the charms for Queen Kurta, since that is his last option.”
“Oh I’m sure. There’s never been one of these. Why are they putting it on?” she asked.
“I think Kurta is bringing everyone together to see what kind of deal she will be getting. It will be us against Yallifa, and it won’t be particularly good if Ghrathar peacefully makes an alliance with them. I have ambitions to foil as much as possible while we’re there.” He lowered his head toward her and spoke quietly.
“I’ll go with you. I know the rest of Beau’s council will be there, and I’m sure that word has spread of me escaping, although I bet it’s been wretchedly twisted.”
“And I believe Alkari will be there as well to spice it up even more.”
“Alkari?” Minerva frowned. The leader of the Wild Rogues was known to be elusive and a loose cannon. Even more so than Beau. “Not many have seen him. Only his own men, I’ve heard. He kills anyone else who’s seen him.”
“Mmhmm.” Rone nodded with a crazed look in his eye. “It will be quite a gathering.”