Damask & Deception (Spellbound #2)

Chapter 30: The Pretender

Rhiannon shuddered slightly as she walked the familiar steps leading her back towards the private quarters of the castle. Having spent most of yet another day with Baudwin in the war room, she needed a nap. They had been under siege for five days now, but had received word that the reinforcement was only two days away. Every attempt the western lords had made at breaching the outer wall had met with failure, but they appeared content to wait them out, hoping they would run out of food and water.

With the arrival of Baudwin's vassals imminent, that didn't seem likely. Her stepfather must know that the king would call in reinforcements, so why did he not seem more concerned? They had rebuffed any attempt from Baudwin's side to open negotiations. What were they waiting for?

Opening the door to the shared sitting room, she stopped short when she found Ailla standing by a window, looking out over the city. A sense of foreboding niggled at the back of her head. The lady's maid turned around when she heard her enter, and the burning look in the woman's eyes made Rhiannon stop in her tracks.

"I've had word," Ailla said, her voice an octave higher than normal and her movements frenzied. "It's time."

"For what?" Rhiannon hoped against hope that the answer wouldn't be what she suspected as she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Ailla huffed. "You ask such stupid questions sometimes. It's time for you to pay your dues to the Son of Deva."

A trickle of fear made its way down her spine. No! Not yet! It was too soon. She wasn't ready. She would never be ready.

"Already?" she asked, trying to keep her voice unaffected. "Recently you said it would be best if I gave birth to an heir before we... divested ourselves of the king."

"True. It was a hope of ours," the young woman admitted as she flitted across the room in anxious energy. "But the western lords were not content to wait as long as Son of Deva wanted. It seems the king angered them enough to expedite the plans. It's not how we would have preferred it, but it's too late now."

When the realisation of what the lady's maid had said hit her, it was as if the air had left her lungs and Rhiannon took an involuntary step backwards. "The western lords..." She shook her head, not wanting it to be true. "Lord Delen is working with Son of Deva?"

"Naturally. His reach is much greater than you can imagine." Ailla flashed a chilling smile that didn't reach her eyes. "You will pave the road to the throne for the lord. With their king dead and no heir, the city will falter, and ultimately fall."

"No."

The simple word made the lady's maid frown. "What do you mean?"

Steeling herself, Rhiannon took a deep, fortifying breath. "I mean no. I am not doing it."

The other woman's frenzied movements stilled as she stopped to stare. "You don't have a choice!"

"I do. And that choice is no."

The idea of her stepfather as the new king of Breoch was almost more distasteful than Baudwin losing his life. Fortunately, the first would never happen if she refused the latter.

"Have you forgotten our threat?" Ailla's voice was ominously quiet,  and she stared at her in a way that made her skin crawl.

"Not at all. Spill my secrets. Tell everyone everything. I would rather die than kill Baudwin. Or return the Godstone."

"You fool!" Ailla spat. "We will not allow you to escape with that stone again. If it's over your dead body, so be it."

Rhiannon laughed, but it was a hollow sound without joy. "If you kill me, you will never find it. Its location dies with me. And if that's the way it must be, then yes... So be it."