Golden Chains

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

“Persinette,” a tiny voice whispered from the cell next to hers. “Are you awake?”

Etta crawled toward the far wall. She couldn’t see those on the other side, but it helped to feel close to the other magic folk being held in the cells.

Henry and Analise shared a cell next to hers and at times, they were the ones who kept her going.

They were her people.

They knew who she was and the hope they’d spoken of in those first days still burned in her mind.

“Henry.” She placed a palm against the stone. “Are you okay?”

“Yea, I just wanted to hear your voice.” A beat of silence stretched between them. “I’m scared.”

Her breath shook as she blew it out. “You listen to me,” she said. “We’re going to be okay.”

In the weeks since her arrest, Etta had learned a lot about the people held in the dungeons.

Footsteps echoed through the cavernous halls and Etta scurried back into the corner of her cell.

“No,” Henry yelled before they could see the visitor. “Leave her alone.”

“Henry, don’t,” Etta called. She couldn’t have Geoff or Lance’s wrath fall on the boy.

Henry tried to yell again, but his words were cut off as Analise quieted him. Geoff hadn’t been there in over a day and he was due. But these steps were off; they weren’t made by heavy boots. Etta listened closer and when the queen mother rounded the corner, she leaped to her feet, regretting it instantly.

Nausea overwhelmed her, and she doubled over as a wave of dizziness threatened to drag her under its current.

“Persinette.” Her name was a whisper on Queen Catrine’s lips.

Etta collapsed onto her knees and raised her eyes to take in the familiar woman, relief surging through her. She’d been prepared for another beating.

“Your Majesty,” Etta croaked. “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t bow.”

The breath hissed from the queen mother’s lips as she stepped closer. The orange glow from the lantern in her hand struck Etta, illuminating the discolored skin where old bruises faded and new ones stood dark.

“Alex promised me he’d ordered you to be made comfortable.”

Hearing his name sent a chill over Etta. “Don’t I look comfortable?” She waved a hand around her bare cell. “Your son would like nothing more than to see me sent to the hangman.”

“That isn’t true.”

“I’m surprised to see you. It’s been weeks since I was put here.”

“Oh, Etta.” Catrine sighed. “You must feel so abandoned. I hadn’t forgotten about you. Alex has had me confined to my rooms for concealing your identity and your magic from him. He released me tonight.”

Etta collapsed back onto her heels. “I should have known. The curse exists for a reason. The Durands and Basiles have always been enemies. How could I let myself trust a Durand?”

“My son is not like his ancestors.”

“Your son has kept me locked in here. He’s had me beaten again and again.” She scooted toward the cell bars to look into the queen mother’s face. “If he ever lets me out of here, I’ll kill him.”

A smile tilted one corner of Catrine’s mouth. “I’m glad to see this place hasn’t broken you, Etta.”

“No matter what you people do to me, you won’t break me.” She raised an arm to point one finger to her head as she struggled to stand. “Bela exists in here. It goes beyond physical pain. It’s who we are.” Anger rushed through her and she sucked in a breath. “Bela is everywhere. In your villages. In your armies. We’re hidden and we’re ready. We’re tired of persecution. Bela is coming for you and you don’t stand a chance.”

Catrine seemed unaffected by the words. “You should take the king’s deal.”

“I know nothing of any deal.” Confusion tempered her anger.

“He’s been offering it to you for weeks—since the day after you were brought here. He wants you moved to your rooms in the palace and you have been refusing. He only asks for your cooperation in the war that’s coming.”

Etta stared at the queen mother in blank accusation. She stepped toward the bars. “You Durands might have shifting loyalties, but I’m a Basile and I won’t leave my people in these cells. I will suffer what they suffer. You can’t take that from me.”

Catrine lifted her chin and scanned Etta’s cage with a shake of her head. “We could be great allies, Persinette. I know the stories. A fully powered Basile can defeat La Dame.”

Etta’s stomach clenched. She’d thought of little else since her imprisonment, but she was not who they wanted her to be. She gestured to her surroundings. “Do I look fully powered?”

“No.” Catrine’s dark eyes bore into Etta’s. “But your words are that of a queen.” She turned and left, her steps echoing through the stone prison long after she was gone.

Etta laid back against the cool floor and looked up to the pitch-black ceiling. Catrine’s plea had been desperate but Etta wasn’t ready to give in.

“Etta?” Henry asked after a while.

“Yeah?”

“Are you our queen?”

If it hadn’t been for the curse, she’d have been born in the palace of Bela and raised to rule. Instead, all she could do for her people was stay in that cell in solidarity with them. Her one act of loyalty was to be a symbol. But she wanted to do more, give them something to fight for. Something to believe in. Whether the Belaen people ever had true freedom or not, it could never be taken from them.

She rolled over. “Yes, Henry. I am your queen.”

Maybe she wasn’t born to serve the curse. If she made it out of the dungeons, she’d lead her people against those who would oppress them.

But she’d practically declared war on Gaule, so who was she kidding?

She’d never make it out.

* * *

Alex enjoyed spending time with Amalie. She reminded him of his brother. Amalie began accompanying him to many of his meetings and helping with kingly duties. She was especially good with the people, a skill he sometimes lacked. She was going to make a good queen, and that thought sent his head spinning.

Her arrow flew wide of the target, yet again, as he attempted to instruct her.

“Brother,” Camille said, joining them. She gave Amalie a harsh look that was then turned on Alex.

“What is it, Camille?” he asked.

“Why did you send Anders to the border?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

She huffed. “He’s the captain of your guard.”

“And he’ll serve me well at the border.”

She stepped closer and leaned in, dropping her voice. “You’re going to regret this.”

“Watch yourself, sister.” He stepped back. “Dine with me this evening. I think it’s time we discuss an advantageous marriage.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re eighteen years old. It is time.”

“What about your marriage?” She eyed Amalie.

Alex sighed. “Amalie has a few more years before she is of age.”

“I’m not leaving the palace. I’m next in line to your throne.”

“And you can be next in line from your husband’s estate. The matter is decided, Camille.”

She narrowed her eyes and used her cane to push Amalie aside so she could hobble across the training yard in a rush of fury.

A piercing pain shot through Alex’s skull and he cried out. His guards came running as he doubled over and the pain traveled down through his abdomen.

“Your Majesty,” one of his guards said, gripping his arm. “Is everything okay?”

Alex shook his head. “I need the healer.”

“The royal healer went with the troops.”

“Then take me to the outer castle.” He gritted his teeth as his head throbbed like he’d smacked it against a wall.

His legs were suddenly too weak to support him, so his guards lifted him and rushed out of the inner palace and through the streets. Amalie followed close behind.

By the time they arrived at the healer’s shop, Alex could barely lift his head. They barged through the door and a dark-skinned man jumped to his feet.

“What is this?” he asked, eying the guard’s uniforms. He stepped closer. “Your Majesty? Put him there.” He pointed to a bed along one wall.

The guards set Alex down and pain shot through him. His breath came out in short pants as he grit his teeth to keep a scream at bay.

The healer shooed the others out. “You can remain, my dear,” he said to Amalie. “Tell me what happened.”

She wrung her hands together. “We were practicing archery and then suddenly he was overtaken with pain.”

Cool fingers pressed against his forehead and the healer spoke. “No fever. Good. We can begin to rule out illness as the cause of your pain.” He leaned in toward Alex’s face and seemed to be examining one spot.

“Why is it red?” Amalie asked.

The healer straightened and stepped back to run a hand through his hair. Alex watched him with glazed eyes. What did he know? There was fear in his voice.

Another presence entered the room.

“Father,” the girl snapped. “What is he doing here?”

Alex recognized that voice, but he couldn’t place it. All his mind could focus on was the pain.

“I couldn’t turn the king away,” the healer whispered to his daughter.

“You should have.”

“No,” he said. “Don’t you see what this is?”

The next time the healer spoke, it was to Alex. “Sire, can you describe what has happened.”

Alex groaned. “I get these sudden bouts of pain and weakness. I’ve never experienced anything so horrid as these last few weeks.”

“This is not the first time this has happened?” the healer asked.

“No. Sometimes I wake up in pain, other times it hits randomly.”

“No,” the familiar girl sobbed. “What are they doing to her?”

Her words made no sense.

The healer shook his head. “This is why you should have left me there, Maiya. That girl is too important.”

“Father, I couldn’t.”

“You betrayed your people. I won’t say you didn’t.”

Maiya hiccupped back another sob.

“What’s wrong with him?” Amalie asked.

Both father and daughter flinched as if forgetting they weren’t alone. The healer thought for a moment. “I have a tonic that will help for the time being but it won’t prevent it from happening again.”

He went to a table laden with bottles and began to mix them. “It will also put you to sleep so you’ll be spending the night here.”

He turned to Amalie. “Dear, you can return to your residence. We have him from here.”

Amalie hesitated before nodding. She brushed a hand over the top of Alex’s head. “Feel better.”

When she was gone, the healer helped Alex sit up, and he was face to face with the healer’s daughter. It was her. The girl from the village. The one who’d turned Etta in. If he’d had any energy, he’d despise her for taking his Etta away, even if that girl never existed.

But she’d also helped him during the village attack. “It seems you save me once again.”

Maiya smiled sadly, tears still hanging in her lashes.

The healer held a cup to Alex’s lips and the most delicious liquid slid down his throat. It tasted of honey. Drowsiness overtook him immediately, and he laid back. Hands pressed into the bare skin underneath the collar of his shirt and the pain began to ebb away as warmth filled him. He’d never felt so at peace as he drifted off.

* * *

Two people spoke in hushed tones as Alex woke and everything came rushing back to him.

“Do you think she’s okay?” the girl asked.

“I think the extent of his injuries last night gives us the answer to that,” her father answered.

“We have to get her out of there.”

“We must be patient. Our queen will not forgive us if we act in haste.”

Queen? Were they speaking of his mother? In his half-awake state, none of their words registered. He shifted on the bed and the voices stopped immediately.

The healer rushed toward him. “You’re awake, your Majesty. Good.”

“What time is it?” Alex asked.

“Nearly noon.”

“What?” Alex shot up, marveling at being pain free for the first morning in weeks. He’d missed dinner the previous night with his mother and sister, not to mention a full morning of meetings.

“The girl who came with you last night returned earlier, but you needed your sleep. That tonic is strong.”

“I have to go.” Alex jumped from the bed and pulled on his boots.

“When it happens again,” the healer began, “return to us.”

Alex stopped at the door and turned, finally taking in the healer and his daughter with a lucid mind. They had magic. They were breaking the law with every breath.

The healer met his eye, not in challenge but in question. Pierre. Alex remembered him now. Maiya revealed Etta’s identity to him to save her father Pierre.

What was Alex going to do? They’d risked everything in helping him.

Alex shifted his eyes away and shook his head as he ducked out of the doorway and hoped he was doing the right thing.

His father would be ashamed of him. First, he’d let Edmund go. Then he didn’t chase down his brother. Now these two. It seemed everyone he was protecting went against the laws of Gaule and the will of his father.

But his father was no longer there. Alex was king and he wouldn’t condemn the innocent to die.

It was for those reasons he’d instructed his guards to remove Etta from the cells. She had magic. She was the daughter of his father’s killer. But he wouldn’t leave her to rot.

If only she hadn’t refused his mercy.

He waved to the guards manning the inner gate as he strode by and crossed the courtyard to the front steps. Once inside the great entryway, his duties beckoned for his attention. Geoff was speaking to two of the servants when Alex spotted him. He took his leave of the girls and ran toward his king.

“Sire, we had no idea where you were.” He bowed.

“Amalie didn’t tell you I was with the healer in the outer castle?”

“We questioned her, your Majesty, and she swore she didn’t know. She was quite adamant.”

Alex suppressed a smile. He’d have to thank her later.

“A few of the nobles have been looking for you. Lord Leroy has been yelling at all the servants to find you.”

Alex adjusted his sleep-wrinkled clothing and began walking. “They can wait. I must see my mother.”

Geoff motioned to two other guards and the three of them escorted him to his mother’s door. Her personal guard stood outside of it. He was a young man, no older than Alex, and the queen mother trusted him. But Alex had learned not to trust anyone. Including his mother.

The guard opened the door to her rooms and Alex shut it behind him, keeping Geoff from following him.

His mother sat on her velvet couch with her needlework in her lap. She looked up as the door shut and her needle fell from her grasp. She pushed the material off her lap and stood.

“Alexandre,” she breathed. “You missed dinner last night and I wasn’t sure I’d see you.”

Alex walked toward her and some of the cracks that’d formed over the last few weeks began to fill. He hadn’t visited her in her confinement. He’d been too angry. All remnants of that anger faded away as he watched her.

“I released you days ago and I’m told you still haven’t left your rooms.”

She lowered her gaze. “That isn’t exactly true. I went to the dungeons last night.”

Alex froze, his heart pounding in his ears. She’d seen Etta. He sank down into a chair across from her. She sat back down slowly.

“You went to see her.”

“I did.”

He rubbed a hand across his eyes. “What did she say?”

A flash of fear crossed her face, but she shook it away. “I’m not going to tell you what you’ve done is right, Alexandre. You want me to say she revealed some evil plan, that she truly is our enemy. She was angry, I won’t deny that. She said some things I won’t repeat to the king. I’m afraid, son.”

“You’re scared? Of Etta?”

“Aren’t you? That’s why you had her brought back here and locked up. We all know the stories of the Basiles.”

His eyes snapped to hers, remembering what he’d been told after Viktor’s death. “You’re saying it’s true? You’re telling me they’re those Basiles? It’s a common enough Belaen name.”

She reached out to place her hand on his. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Persinette and Viktor Basile are the last descendants of the legendary line.”

“The line that has been true to Gaule for generations… before the magic purge.”

“Not by choice. The legends are true. The Basiles have been cursed to protect the Durands for generations. Etta is tied to you.”

He jumped to his feet and stumbled away from the chair to pace the length of the room. “How is any of this possible?”

His mother’s somber eyes bore into him. “Our world is one where impossibilities rule the land. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is f*******n. There is no true good or wholly evil. Everything we think we know is about to be challenged, my dear boy. Gaule is no longer protected. Now all we can do is survive.”

She got to her feet and walked toward him. “Persinette Basile could have been our greatest ally. Now I’m not so sure.”

“I have to see her.”

“Be warned, she has not been treated well. That was the main reason I wanted to see you. Please, Alexandre, tell me you did not order such rough treatment.”

“What are you talking about?” he snapped.

His mother sighed. “You will see. Go. Make it right.”