The Underground Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) (6 page)

“Erick, what d
oes the letter say?”

Erick
gathered her into his arms and held her tighter than he’d ever held her before. After a long moment, he stepped back and took her hand. “Here, I’ll take you to your room.”

“
Why won’t you tell me?”

“It’s nothing
,” Erick said. His voice had lost most of the urgency from before, but Emmeline knew that meant little. Erick was skilled at hiding his unease.

“Nothing?
Why did you call for the guards?”

Erick
pulled her into the drawing room and closed the door. “It surprised me, that’s all.” He swallowed. “I expected other news from Volarcus. But this is nothing, just boring matters of state.”

“
And these boring matters have you yelling for the guards? What aren’t you telling me?”

“It won’t help matters for you to know.”

Emmeline bristled. “If we are to rule Dolmerti together, you have to let me help you. You can’t keep shouldering everything on your own.”

“I can take care of this.”

“And I can help.” She held out her hand. “Can I read the letter?”

Eri
ck ran a hand through his hair.

“
I have no qualms against digging into your coat pockets to get it,” she said.

Erick
gave her an uneasy smile and paced to the other side of the room, his hands gripping the lapel of his coat. His eyes cleared and his jaw hardened. “It’ll be fine. Nothing is going happen. It’ll be fine.”

“Who are you reassuring?
I’m the only one in this room and I don’t even know what is in the letter.”

“Please, Emmeline.
It will only frighten you and there is nothing to worry about. Trust me.”

“
You have to trust me as well. It sounds as if I have a right to know the contents of that letter.”

Erick hesitated
before slipping his hand into his coat pocket. He paused and then his face twisted into a grimace as he held out the crumpled letter.

“Don’t be
afraid,” he said.

Emmeline nodded
and took hold of the letter. She met his gaze and a spasm of fear shot through her. What was he so afraid of? Breaking his gaze, she lowered her eyes.

Crown Prince
Richard Frederick of Dolmerti,

In one month’s time an
army coming by way of Volarcus will beat at your doors. You have something I wish to acquire. Do not try to hide her. I know who she is and how to find her. If she does not go willingly, there will be bloodshed. I’m well aware of your army’s reputation and strength; however, I am prepared to bring it to its knees. I will stop at nothing until I control her. The sooner you realize she will be mine, the better off your people will fare. If you want to spare the lives of your people and of your soldiers, I suggest you prepare her for departure. You have one month.

The letter was unsigned.

Emmeline’s breath whooshed out of her and then
stopped altogether. The handwriting blurred as the paper shook in her hands. It was time. The worst had come. Just like her mother, an army was on its way to take her away. Her mother’s response had been extreme, but necessary. Emmeline had hoped she would never have to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but the letter told her what she had feared since that afternoon. She might have no other choice.

A knock on the door jolted Emmeline to the present
and she took in a deep breath.

“Enter,” Erick said,
his voice hoarse.

The guards entered the room with the messenger
between them. “Is this the man you requested, Your Highness?”

“Yes, leave him here.”

The guards bowed and left the room, leaving the messenger cowering by the door. His eyes darted between Emmeline and Erick before focusing on the ground.

“Where did you say
you found this letter?” Erick said with such ferocity that his cheeks turned red.

“In the office of the Volarc
us scribe, Joph,” the messenger said as he crumbled his hat between his hands. His eyes remained on the ground.

“Why did it take h
im a month to find a letter not addressed to him? Is he a disorganized scribe?” Emmeline asked.

“
Not at all, Your Highness. He is a very thorough person. It caused him a great deal of grief to find the letter amidst his things. He insisted he had never seen it before.”

“
It is possible he lied to you?” Erick asked as he rubbed his chin.

The messenger looked up.
“Your Highness?”

“Is he an honest man?”

The messenger’s shoulders fell slightly and Emmeline thought she saw a flash of guilt pass over his face before he responded.

“
He is a principled man,” the messenger said. “I would be surprised if he were deceitful, Your Highness.”

Erick nodded, his lips p
ressed together. He glanced at Emmeline and she knew why he had appeared so alarmed before. The letter was a month old. There was no time to make any preparations. According to the writer, an army would arrive any day, any moment. There wasn’t even enough time to gather their troops. She fell into the nearest chair and buried her face into her hands.

Erick knelt next to her and
took her hands into his. “Emmeline, why don’t you go back to your quarters and let me straighten this all out. I don’t want you to worry about this. I promise, I will keep you safe. No one will harm you or take you away from me.”

“I’m not leaving,” Emmeline said.
“This is my fault.”

“Your fault?
How could this be your fault?”

Emmeline
’s eyes flitted to the messenger.

Erick pulled himself to his feet like a man with a thousand
bricks on his back.

“
Have you seen or heard of an army assembling near Volarcus?” Erick asked the messenger.

“No.
It has been relatively quiet since Advisor Mahlon brought the King of Pamizak to the prison. There was some commotion with that.”

Emmeline slumped further into her chair. Her father had been Mahlon’s prisoner and his health hadn’
t been the same since. He’d come back thin and weak, barely able to stand without support. She wished with new fervor that Mahlon hadn’t gotten away.

“Have you heard any rumors of an army? Or seen any strange activity near our borders? Any foreigners along your routes?” Erick asked.

The messenger shifted his feet. “Nothing worth mentioning.”

“Are you sure? Because the smallest detail could prove to be the most important piece of information.”

The messenger swallowed. “I was only in Volarcus for a few days before coming here. I didn’t hear much.”

Erick nodded.
“You are dismissed; however, I insist you remain in the palace until this matter is resolved.”

“
Your Highness, if I may,” the messenger started, his forehead beading with sweat.

“Yes?” Erick pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

“Would you like me to request an investigation into the matter?”

Erick shook his head.
“There is no time.”

“It couldn’t hurt,” Emmeline said.

Erick shrugged. “I suppose. Very well, return to Volarcus and request an investigation. Bring me news as soon as possible.”

The messenger bowed and
, with two quick strides, pushed through the door and left the room. The moment the door clicked shut, Emmeline began shaking.

“This is my fault because of what I am.
Dolmerti is in danger because of me. You read the letter. If you want to keep your people safe, you have to let me go. This will never stop.”

“Emmeline, I don’t care what you are.
I love you and I will do whatever it takes to protect you.”

“
But Dolmerti shouldn’t have to pay for your choice of bride. There will always be someone seeking to use me as their personal witch. As long as I am here, Dolmerti will be in danger. You know I don’t have control over my power once a master claims me. I will be at the mercy of whatever they command me to do.”

“It won’t come to that.
I won’t let it. We’ll get to the bottom of this threat and then we’ll figure out a way for you to harness your power. If no one can control you then threats like these will cease to exist.”

“
But we haven’t been able to find anything on how I can keep anyone from controlling me. Perhaps a solution doesn’t exist.”

“It does. We just haven’t found it yet.”

“I can’t live my life wondering if I’ll ever be free from this. I can’t live in fear for when I’ll kill next. Or who I’ll kill. You saw what I did to your brother, and I’m sure you’ve heard about the Pamizakian soldiers.”

Erick nodded.

“The fire consumed me. I had no choice.”

“Emmeline,
it wasn’t you, it was Mahlon. He controlled your power. In the case of Weldon, I am to blame. I wanted him dead. He had hurt you and would continue hurting you if I hadn’t stopped him. I made that choice for him to die, not you.”

“I won’
t have a choice when this army comes for me. If I take on any heat, I won’t be able to stop. The fire’s call will consume me.”

“Don’t take on any heat. It’s as simple as that.
”

Emmeline threw up her hands. “And watch Dolmerti suffer while I stand back and do nothing?”

Erick took hold of her shoulders. “My guess is that whoever wrote this letter will know that your eyes need to shine for someone to claim you. Can you take on enough heat to help, but not so much that it makes your eyes shine?”

“
Obviously not, or Mahlon would never have won control over me.”

Erick hung his head.
“I will do all in my power to protect you. We’ll get through this and then we’ll find a way to keep you safe for once and for all.”

Emmeline
nodded, but she wondered if it would be better for everyone involved if she just buried herself underground, somewhere deep enough that no one could find her.

“We need to speak with your father,” Erick said. “He has dealt with this type of situation before.” He looked away. “When Harskell came for your mother,” he added.

Emmeline swallowed. Did Erick know she
was thinking about her mother? Did he know that she too was planning to eliminate herself from the situation? Albeit she hoped it would be a different way than what her mother had chosen, but she couldn’t be certain anymore. Not after the dream she’d had that afternoon. A shiver ran up her spine.

Erick took
hold of her hand and led her into the corridor. A cold draft circled around her skirts and chilled her skin before it escaped down the hall. She hugged her arms around herself, glad when Erick put his arm around her shoulder.

“It’s fine. Everything will be fine,” he said as he rubbed her arm.
“Your father will know what to do.”

Orrin Durandi had arrived at the Dolmerti palace only days before.
He had come for the wedding, which would take place in less than a week. If they were all still alive, that is.

He
r father had an intimate appreciation for the dangers of falling in love with an Incenaga and had mentioned more than once how thrilled he was that Emmeline had accepted the hand of a man who could protect her. The hand of the man leading the strongest army and the greatest resistance. Until now, it seemed.

Eri
ck knocked on Orrin’s door and the sound jolted through Emmeline like a sharp slap. She had forgotten the late hour. Without the usual hum of activity to dampen the sounds, every movement echoed down the corridors and back into their faces.

The door opened and Orrin’s voice
rumbled from within the dark room. He opened the door further and the light from the corridor flooded his face. He grinned.

“Erick? Emmeline?
What brings you to my door at such a late hour? Don’t tell me you’ve called off the wedding! This old man needs to see a grandbaby before his time is through.”

Emmeline
glanced at Erick. She didn’t want to be the one to tell her father there wouldn’t be time for a wedding, let alone grandchildren. Orrin looked from Emmeline, to Erick, and then back to Emmeline. His face turned ashen.

“
Forgive us for the intrusion so late in the evening,” Erick said. “We have important matters to discuss, sir. May we come in?”

“Of course, of course,” Orrin said
as he opened the door wider. “Come in.” He looked at Emmeline, as if waiting for her to explain her expression.

Emmeline
’s tongue turned to sandpaper. She couldn’t speak. How could she tell her father that the very thing that had destroyed his life seventeen years before was about to happen again. She looked to Erick for help.