Path Of The Broken

29. Confessions-2

Amelia looked up, irritated as the door to her inner chambers opened. Her maid, Carla, entered and curtseyed.

“I’m sorry to bother you, my lady, but you asked if I heard anything about His Highness to let you know.” Carla kept her eyes down as she babbled.

Amelia’s interest was aroused. “What have you heard, Carla?”

“He’s here in the palace right now with Crown Prince William.” Carla’s eyes looked up from her study of the floor to meet Amelia’s before sinking once more.

“Thank you, Carla.” Amelia went to turn, but frowned as she noticed Carla was staying put. “Is there more?”

“Prince William has asked not to be disturbed for the night, but those orders don’t apply to family.” Carla blushed and curtseyed before retreating from the room.

Amelia considered the information her maid had given her, and then, with a decisive nod, she stood. It was time for her to take action rather than sitting in her rooms in the Complex of the Fourth for someone to bother to advise her what was going on. She swept out of her rooms, leaving the Complex of the Fourth, taking the passageway that led to the Royal Wing.

Amelia smoothed down the front of her dress before raising her head just as the doors to William’s chamber opened when the staff on duty saw her approach.

Be careful.

Amelia nearly faltered as she heard the voice, whispering caution in her mind. Other than Healer Bates, he was the one who whispered to her the most. She couldn’t afford for William to see, to discover how unhinged she was becoming. The only person worse would be the king. Yet William was dangerous. He spoke with the king’s authority and voice.

You must not let him see.

Amelia felt a light sweat prickle her forehead as she wondered what she’d been thinking coming here to confront Alex. As if that wouldn’t be difficult enough; now that the whispering voice in her head had returned, she wished it would retreat. This meeting was going to be difficult enough as it was, yet that presence in her mind did not withdraw, as it sometimes did. That made her even more nervous, but the next moment, unaccountably, she felt reassurance wash over her.

Do not fear. I am with you, I have always been with you.

Amelia walked into the room with a pleasant smile on her face, hoping that it reflected in her eyes. It should, after all her years of practice since childhood. Yet she knew William was schooled in the same mastery, one that Alex, while he could do the same, most of the time discarded entirely. The thought of Alex made her smile in truth, although it was tempered with sadness.

Amelia made her way across the room, heading unerringly towards William. She paused, placing her hand on her heart and bowing her head. She was taken aback as she saw the momentary flicker of panic on William’s face before he hid it smoothly behind his official mask.

She steeled herself when she looked up and saw Alex, but the thing that made her heart freeze was the presence of a woman she didn’t recognise. An incredibly beautiful woman, standing with her body pressed close to Alex.

Amelia almost gasped as she felt the presence surge within her, narrowing into the other woman’s blue eyes, blond hair and delicate features. She felt a burst of desire mixed with ownership, possession that was not her own, flood her.

Mine!

The desire that followed that one hissed word caused her to stumble, then the presence fled and she was saved from falling by William grasping her arm, and then with one hand around her waist supporting her, walked her to the couch.

“Sit, Amelia. I’m sorry. Elizabeth told me you’d been sick.” William sounded more concerned than usual.

“I’m all right, William. It’s been a little stressful lately, and the sight of your visitors shocked me.” Amelia steeled herself to deal with the woman, anxiously trying to think of a way to keep Alex and his mistress from coming too close. As much as she wanted to confront him earlier, she now desperately wanted to escape his presence.

“I’m sorry, Amelia, I know this is a shock.” William went to the sideboard and poured water from the pitcher into a glass, placing it in her hand, not withdrawing his own until he was sure that she had a firm grasp on it.

Amelia took a sip of water, grateful for the small delay it gave her in responding. She glanced across at Alex, then to the rather stunning woman standing at his side. The rumours that had been reported to her surfaced in her mind. She smiled, although this time she didn’t care that it didn’t reach her eyes. As if it wasn’t bad enough Alex had chosen her over him, that voice that had always been with her, since she was a small girl, desired and wanted to possess this woman as well. She felt jealousy spike in her.

“So, is this the woman I’ve been told about? The one you’ve been sleeping with, Alex?” A part of her died inside to see the pain in Alex’s face, yet it didn’t stop her from wanting to cause him pain.

“Amelia, please—”

“Oh please, Alex, we both know you grow bored quickly and dispose of your women as easily as you drink and kill.” Amelia heard the bitterness in her own voice and realised she half believed her personal accusation. She hardened her own heart, seeing it was the last barb that had hurt him more than anything, as she had known it would.

As Alex took a lurching step towards her, Amelia stood abruptly and headed towards the door, genuine tears streaming from her eyes, only to have her hand caught by another just as she was reaching the door. Amelia nearly fainted as she felt the thrum of power emanating from the woman at her touch.

“Please, Lady Amelia.” The woman’s blue eyes bore into her own.

Amelia quailed inside, understanding the warning she had received from the voice; the power in the woman was unbelievable.

She tore her glance away and looked back at Alex, biting back a sob before returning to the woman’s intense gaze.

“Keep him safe.” The last was said quietly as she wrenched her hand free and stormed out of William’s rooms. She hauled up the folds of her dress and ran down the hallway, retreating to the dubious safety of the Fourth’s Complex.

* * * *

Isabella frowned as Alex’s consort ran out of the room.

“Alex I thought you said Amelia didn’t have power?”

“She has a little. The healers say it isn’t enough for her to go through transition, though.” Alex looked at her, still distressed by the run-in with Amelia.

“Ah, perhaps that is what I sensed.”

Isabella stood for a moment longer, staring at the door that Amelia had fled out of. Her signature had been odd, with a strange ebb and flow to it.