The Second Life of Magnolia Mae (17 page)

“My mother.”

She cut her eyes to Jaceson then back to Alistair. Not certain she’d heard correctly, she wanted to question him, but Jaceson quickly spoke up.

“Why don’t we head up to the library? We can get some refreshment and have a nice talk.”

Magnolia glanced at him and nodded. “I’ll get some tea.” She went to the kitchen to prepare a pot and, while there, she filled a platter with some pastries that had been made that morning.

Obviously, the brothers needed a few minutes alone so Alistair could collect himself.

In the library she set the tray down on a table. After pouring some tea for the three of them, she took up her cup and walked over to the window seat. It was a bit chillier over there, but she wanted desperately to look out on the world. Dragoste had followed her into the room. He had spent much of the day outside running through the snow, but he liked to stay close to her at night. She pulled her knees up to her chest. Sipping the hot tea, she looked up at the crescent moon. It matched her birthmark. Longing to be outside, to be free of this life where she had to fight to live, she gazed out to the mountains in the distance. They were nothing more than black shadows in a slightly lighter dark landscape.

For a fleeting moment, Alistair looked defeated. The expression quickly disappeared, leaving in its wake a pensive, controlled look. “I do not know her reasons. I cannot simply accuse her of this out in the open. Once we’re married, there will be nothing that she can do.”

“Do you really believe she will stop simply because you marry me?”

“She left Jaceson alone after Father threatened her. If she stepped out of line again…” His voice trailed off.

It had to be hard to think about it. Magnolia refused to look at him though. It was easier to look into the blackness.

“…if she tries anything once we are wed, then it can be considered an act of treason. Already she is out of favor with my father.”

Keeping her face turned, she heard him pacing back and forth across the floor.

“Since I’m her only child, she’s afraid that something will happen to me. Afraid, I think, more for her than for me. Not long ago she hired a man to tell my father that Jaceson planned to take the throne. She nearly had him convinced that his own son was a traitor. We found proof that it was all her doing, to secure the crown for me. Upon showing the proof to my father, he grew enraged. His own wife, his queen, had betrayed him. He informed her then that if she ever pulled something like that again, he would have her tried for treason.”

Magnolia finally glanced over in his direction. Jaceson was sitting on the settee with his feet extended toward the fire, crossed at the ankles, eating a pastry as if the conversation was boring him. The thought was slightly amusing. Alistair paced back and forth in the middle of the room. Brows furrowed together the corners of his mouth turned down to a frown.

“You have no control over her actions.” Her voice was low and soft.

He stopped pacing to bring his eyes to meet with hers.

“Do you think you could have stopped her if you had known?”

“What then…”

“We think — I think — there is something in all of this, something somewhere that is just waiting to be discovered that will help to ensure that she will never attempt such a thing again.” She had to find the Queen of Marcello’s weakness quickly. “There’s nothing else that can be done at this moment.”

His gaze dropped, breaking their eye contact.

A chill went through her, causing her to finally remove herself from the window. Crossing the room to the settee, she walked into warmth that radiated out from the fire. As she sat down, she took up a pastry and bit into it. Junk food had always been her go-to comfort; she needed the tense mood in the room to ease. “This is really delicious, you should try one.”

Jaceson stifled a laugh as Magnolia waved her pastry in the direction of Alistair. It certainly did lighten the mood, for he stopped pacing to take a seat next to them and enjoy the tea and pastries.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

T
HE DOORS TO THE
library were thrown open not long after the three of them had finally relaxed. In the doorway was a tall figure covered with cloaks. His face had a few days’ growth of beard on it, making him appear even more menacing. His dark hair hung down, shielding his eyes. “I came as fast as I could.” The deep voice echoed through the room. “They are coming.” The man swayed on unsteady feet.

Jaceson and Alistair rushed to his side and led him to the fire.

“Duncan, who is coming?” Alistair asked.

“Get warm, man, then talk to us.” Jaceson spoke at the same time as his brother.

Alistair nodded when he heard his brother speak, the sort of thing that Daciana would expect of him in the future. He went to the chest that he had filled with blankets and shawls as part of his gift and pulled out a heavy quilt. Magnolia removed his wet cloak then moved swiftly to pour him some tea.

“I’ll be back with some hot cider and food for you. Just sit there, and don’t let them make you talk until you are warm and fed.” She smiled kindly at him then hurried out of the room.

“I had to get here before they arrived to tell you.” Duncan spoke through now chattering teeth.

“Warm up first, man, or Daciana will blame me for you biting the tip of your tongue off while trying to talk.” Alistair looked over at Jaceson with a worried look. He was sure they both knew that Duncan would not have barged in like he had unless the news that he’d brought was important.

By the time food and drink arrived, Duncan had some natural color back to his cheeks. In silence, they allowed him to fill his belly with nourishment.

Duncan set the plate aside then looked at all of them, his eyes going to each one before settling on Alistair. “I took your letter to the king as you had asked. A storm hit shortly after I arrived, so I had to stay a bit. By the time I was ready to travel again, the queen had decided that if her only son was to marry, then she would be here for that marriage. King Pelonis was going to send his blessing and a priest with me to perform the ceremony, but once Queen Kamille made up her mind to come, Pelonis would not tell her no. They wanted me to stay and travel back with them. I got away as soon as I could. They will be here in two days’ time if the weather holds.”

Worry etched Alistair’s brow as he looked toward the mountains. Knowing that his mother was making her way through them now made him sick. There was no telling what she would do once she was here. “Is that all?”

“No. One more thing. The man — Gordon — never recovered from the festering wounds. You have no witness to testify that it was Queen Kamille.”

Listening to the men debate about the best way to handle the situation made her head ache. There was nothing that they were saying that could possibly be useful. They had good intentions and merely wanted to keep her safe. But they kept coming back to the same thing: they had no witness.

A soft smile spread across her face. “We don’t need a witness.” Her voice was so low that they almost missed her words. She turned away from the fire to see the baffled looks on their faces.

“How can we prove it without a witness?”

“Do you really believe that someone would testify against their queen?” Her left eyebrow arched up. “No, the only reason Pelonis discovered her treachery before is because the news of it came from the two of you, with evidence in your hands.”

“Yes, but we do not have evidence to back this up.” Jaceson spoke from the settee.

“We don’t, but she does.” Magnolia walked slowly toward the window, looking out to the mountains. “She is the only witness we need.”

“There is no way that she will ever let it slip out,” Alistair exclaimed. “She cares too much for her power.”

“Perhaps she does.” Magnolia thought for a minute before facing them again. “There is one thing that she cares about more. We can use that to get her to admit what she’s done.”

“How?”

“What?”

“It is late. Duncan needs a bath and some rest. Then we need to make sure that things here will be to the standards that your father is expecting.” She left the three men in the library, Dragoste at her side. Her hand reached down to stroke his soft black fur. “We will figure this out, won’t we, love?”

Once inside her own room, she stoked the fire. After changing into a nightgown, she was finally able to sit down and process everything that she’d learned. Queen Kamille was on her way. Not only was she about to invade her home, but she’d killed her once before. There was no doubt in Magnolia’s mind that she would attempt to do so again. But with her coming here, the queen would not be on her own home field. Magnolia had the advantage. History books had taught her that Queen Kamille had forced this place to be forgotten because she did not care to be near the sea in such a desolate place. Magnolia had come to know the area that Kamille despised; she would not give up her newfound home. She would survive this time.

On top of all that, Magnolia had been doing as she’d been instructed. What everyone and everything around her had been whispering at her since before her eighteenth birthday.
Remember.
With the memories and information coming to her, now that she had been tearing down the walls, she would be able to put up a fight.

The next day the castle was bustling with activity. Magnolia found a large spare bedroom that she thought would be suitable for the king and queen. The day was spent boiling water to scrub the floor, walls, and windows. She took the furniture from the room to beat it free of dust. Clean linens and blankets were placed on the large bed. Firewood had been brought up and stacked neatly out of the way. Dried lavender was put into a large basin with some boiling water. Soon the room was shining and had the enticing scent of lavender.

She emerged from the room with dust and sweat streaked across her face. Dragoste had escaped the madness of cleaning by going outside to run free in the snow. It seemed that Jaceson and Alistair had had that same idea. They’d left early that morning to go on a hunt. If all turned out well, they would have wild boar for a feast when Pelonis and Kamille arrived.

Walking through the castle, she saw many women cleaning the halls and scrubbing at windows until they sparkled. They were not going to allow the King and Queen of Marcello to look down their noses at them. This place had become their home, a home that they were proud of. Magnolia found herself in the great hall on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor with several other women. They would move on to the dining room after they were done in here.

The two-day warning wasn’t much, but it would be enough. The castle was kept in good order on a daily basis. Magnolia liked to keep it clean. It felt more like home that way. All this extra cleaning would surely impress a woman, who would certainly attempt to kill her, and the man who would welcome her as a daughter so he could call her people his own. It certainly didn’t seem like the right thing to do, but she’d decided the night before that she would welcome them with open arms, appearing to be naively innocent of their intentions.