Alice

"Of course Hav. Where is Mal? And Greg?"

"They are well. Questioning those taken captive. I am no good at that, I lose my temper and kill them too quickly. Take your lady friend to her rooms and have her bar her doors, then report in to Captain Avery. She may stay with her friends if she wishes, but she must lock the doors."

"Of course Hav, we will..."

"May I stay with Ally?" Daljir asked quickly.

Havilan glanced at the girl, then looked back to Alice. "Not this evening, I need words with... her."

"Of course your highness, apologies."

Havilan dismissed her with a wave, but then stopped Ellinger short. "Ell... be warned. My father... took two throwing knives. The medics are with him now, but they do not like how he is breathing. One knife hit a lung they said. We will know by morning. Tell no one how bad it is, but reassure everyone. Duke Auster took the other three meant for him, he gave his life. His wife will be granted a great deal and his son will be well taken care of as well. Make it known that he died a hero. Avery will give you more details, but tell no one what I said about my father's condition. You either girl. I only told you Ell, because... you know why."

"I do old friend," Ellinger said sadly. "I wish your father good health and a great many years ahead of him with a dozen grandchildren to spoil." He left then, closing the door softly and Havilan went to the door and barred it. He turned and went to the basin and thereby her as well when she did not move more than a step away.

"Whose blood?" she asked fearfully.

"Not mine," he answered tersely. "Only traitors and cowards. Not your friends. The boy with the blue eyes or the girl with the red hair."

"John and Hannah."

"They asked after you. The boy seemed especially interested."

"We are friends. I was worried for them as well. The little one, Maisy? Did you see her?"

"The littles were not in the throne room. The boy. John. He demanded to see you."

"I will see them soon and reassure them that I am well."

"You won't," he snapped. "The girl may come and speak to you, see that you are well and tell the others. The pretty boy will not be coming around."

"I see," she answered softly. "Then I will see Hannah and tell her I am fine. She can relay the news to... Maisy and anyone else who might wonder."

"I know that you understand why I must speak to you."

"I assume it is because your father may not live and that means you will take the throne."

"I was never meant for the throne," he snapped. "Ben was. He is the only one of us fit for it, had the right temperament for it. Now I am well and truly fucked. Mal refuses to even consider it and I am the one who is expected to wear that fucking crown. If he dies... if he dies I may well hand it off to Lord Gaebril. Take off and find a war to fight in. It is all I am good for. Fighting."

"My father needs a man at arms, a trainer for the new soldiers he is conscripting."

"That's it? Not going to argue to convince me to stay? Become a queen?"

"No, I want no part of that. I was happy at home... I can never be happy here. After losing Ben... my heart cannot heal here. If you want to leave this place behind, my home is as good a place as any and you will be useful there and always busy. There is no great war like there was here, but there are always skirmishes with the tribesmen and the nomads. You would be a valuable asset."

"You would truly rather go home where you will never be anything but sister to a king, someone with little to no power in Lonai, than stay here and rule a kingdom?"

"You cannot really think I have an interest in ruling anything. I prefer my life of carefree ease. I want to love and laugh and do the things I enjoy. What is joyful about listening to bickering nobles and settling disputes, or saying who can have coin and who cannot. Someone always loses. I do not want any part of that."

"You would rather marry a groom and spend your days with horses and smelling like manure, feeding chickens and milking cows and goats?"

"That sounds heavenly! I would want a dog or two as well. And a few cats. Plenty of books... friends to talk to. An orchard full of delicious fruits to bake with! Flowers to fill my house with beauty and fragrance...

I would trade my title for that any day."

"Of course you would," he said sourly, tossing the cloth in the basin and yanking his bloody clothes off. "But no. Prepare yourself. This time tomorrow you may be queen and you will have to deal with it just as I will. I know you are listening, servant!" he snapped more loudly and Leona hurried out of her small room with a quick bow. "See that her very best dress is clean and ready and find her some jewelry to wear. Just in case. Pray that she does not need it."

"Yes your highness," she answered breathlessly, then curtsied again before fleeing to the bathing chamber and dressing room.

"You will accompany me to my father's bedside," he snapped. "I am sure he will have words for you if he is able," he said, shrugging on a new shirt. He yanked a jacket on and angrily offered his arm.

She took it, full of horror as he led her out of the room. He drew his sword immediately and she froze up, looking up at him fearfully.

"A precaution. One or two may have escaped our notice and be looking for an opportunity. I will not let them... You will not be harmed. Walk."

She hurried next to him, her eyes trying to look every way at once until a group of guards fell in and surrounded them to escort them to his father's rooms. When they arrived, Captain Avery gave her a comforting, tight smile, but still managed to look sorrowful at the same time.

Havilan knelt next to his father's bed and pulled Alice close. When she went to kneel as well, he held her up, taking her left hand in his left hand and putting his right hand on her right hip.

"Your highness," he said gruffly. "I am here. We are here, Alice and I."

"The girl..." the king rasped, coughing a very wet cough that put blood on his lips. The medic wiped it away quickly. "Did she have part in this? Her plan?"

"No highness. I am certain she did not. She has been within my sight since the attack yesterday or locked in my rooms with Ellinger. She never wanted anything but Ben, she has less want for power than I do. She named two wards who turned out to be traitors, I doubt she would name her own. No. I am positive she had no part in this, it is unlucky coincidence that puts her in this position."

"Hav... Hav... my trouble child. Promise me that you will do as you must? You will..." He cut off, coughing again, and this time he didn't stop until the medic rolled him to his side.

Havilan stood and the medic looked up at him grimly and shook his head slightly. "Say what you need to quickly," he said softly.

"Mal isn't here!" Havilan said in alarm. "Avery, send for Mal, now! Father, I vow to you I will do all you have told me I must do someday. You know I am a man of my word, no matter how distasteful I find it sometimes."

"You like the girl," the king rasped. "I saw how you looked at her in the throne room today when she was not looking. You are not unhappy that she landed in your hands. Avery said she..." he broke off coughing again, but waved the medic away. "Tell Mal... keep you safe. Tell Ben... love you all. Tell Ben... step up to duties. Tell... Hav. Hav. My trouble boy."

Havilan stood there, grasping his father's hand long after the man had passed. Malcolm came in too late, but he went around and held his father's other hand anyway, Greggory standing with his hands on Malcolms shoulders in support. Alice slid her hand into the bend in Havlian's arm and he let go of his father's hand with one hand to pull her tight against him. The room was cleared except for the four of them and the man who had taken her blooding gown that morning. The man she did not know. Alice watched the cold little man make motions over the king while the others bowed their heads. Was he one of the Oshonna priests she had heard about? His lips pressed together in distaste as he thumbed the king's eyes closed, then spread some sort of oil over the king's head in a circle motion with an x inside of it. He muttered more words and the others kept their heads bowed, but Alice watched every move the man made.

She slipped out of Havilan's grip silently and the priest looked at her but did not stop what he was doing as she quietly left the room. She moved to Captain Avery and pulled him away from the other soldiers waiting outside.

"The priest? What do you know of him?"

"He is the blessed of Oshonna, a high priest."

"He... is off."

"They are all off some, fanatics if you ask me, but he is newer to the high priest position. The new ones are always more showy and grandiose at first."

"No... I mean... he does not like the king... not at all. I would say he hates him. Are you positive he can be trusted? I think he needs to be detained when he..."

"...is fine, she is from Lonai," Greggory was saying as he escorted the priest out. "She does not believe in Oshonna, they have their own ways. See? She is right there, she stayed close."

The priest approached her, Greggory following close behind. "Even if you do not believe in Oshonna, you can at least respect the dead enough to bow your head and observe the rights of your king. Not leave during his unencumberence." His scowl was furious and she knew he would do more than dress her down if he could. She had watched him and she knew he knew it now too.

She looked at Captain Avery and nodded her head slightly.

Avery bowed and motioned to his men. "Take him to cell nine, I have questions for him," he snapped.

The priest puffed up, ready to unleash, but the guards took him in hand quickly.

"You are sure?" Captain Avery asked again, once the priest was gone.

"I watched him. He was loath to even touch the king, he hated him that much. Of that I am sure. I cannot know if he was involved in more, but I do know that he had it in him to take the king out of power."

Greggory, who had stood there in shock until now, finally closed his mouth and moved closer to her. "He would have reason," he said quickly. "High Priest Seffan was trying to convince his highness to raise tithes on the foreign dignitaries, and send every third child born to a nobleman of any rank to the citadel to be trained as a priest. They want to spread Oshonna's light over the whole world, he said. The king refused, told him he could only tithe those who volunteered in his temple and he would force no one to be trained who did not wish to be. They could go on as they had been and that was all. Seffan would not let it go until his highness finally told him if he mentioned it again he would have him replaced."

"We will find out soon enough," Avery said darkly. "You four, stay here until the prince's... the king and Prince Malcolm leave. Greggory, take her back inside and stay with your husbands. Keep them safe."

Greggory led her back inside and shut and barred the door before going around to Malcolm. Alice quietly went to Haviland who was kneeling with his head on his father's hand. She put her hands on his arm and back and laid her head on his shoulder.

Greggory spoke, making her jump. He told them what Alice had seen and both men sat up and looked at her, then Greggory as he told them everything. Havilan put a hand on the small of her back as he listened, then stood angrily by the end.

"I will take his head off myself!" he raged.

"Avery has him in hand, questioning him," Greggory said gently. "And it is not certain, but I doubt she would have spoke out if she was not sure of what she did see."

"Maybe..." Malcolm began, looking confused and upset. "Maybe he just doesn't like touching dead men?"

"Perhaps," Alice admitted. "But it looked very personal. The loathing in his eyes as he thought no one was watching. He only saw me when I moved to leave."

"Then... then Avery has him in hand. We will not dwell on this tonight we..." He cut off as a loud bell tolled, then continued to toll in a slow 'gong - gong - gong' with several seconds between each toll. It would go on throughout the night now, announcing to the kingdom that someone was dead.

"They will assume it is for Ben," Havilan said quietly. "No one will know it is for him, not yet. The bells were set to toll for Ben tonight and we were meant to stand vigil at his side. Now we must stand with both."

Alice stood next to Havilan quietly as preparations were made and the king was wrapped and moved to the huge 'rejoicing' chamber where followers of Oshanna gathered. There was a bier already there with a body wrapped on it, and another bier hastily being set up. It was customary to wait until the following evening for Lucanans to stand vigil, but the brothers wanted to stand with their father and brother.

Alice stopped halfway there when she saw the bier with Ben's body on it, freezing in place. She tore away from Havilan then and ran to Ben, going to her knees next to him, her hands on the side of the bier, holding her up. She sobbed brokenly and whispered to him for over an hour and no one bothered her or stopped her. Finally, when she released the edge and let herself fall to the floor, still pleading with anyone listening to let it be a mistake, to let him sit up and say he was alright, a hand settled on her shoulder.

"Come," Havilan said gruffly, emotion thick in his voice. He lifted her and carried her, holding her like a child as she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his jaw. He stood next to his brother and brother in law, holding her as she sobbed. They stood until dawn and he held her as she slept in his arms, having cried herself into exhaustion.

He had little time for sleep himself, though he wanted nothing more than to collapse in a bed and stay there for a week.

With Alice. The broken hearted little angel in his arms.

He was escorted to his rooms and it was a flurry of activity as servants were packing and preparing to move him to the royal suites.

"No!" he boomed, causing Alice to jerk awake in his arms and cry out in fear and shock. "I will not be moving. Not yet. Return my things at once, and hers! Put it all back and get out. Mayson, Gentry, see that it is put back to rights and then watch the doors. Let no one in unless it is Henry, Avery or Malcolm."

He did not wait for an answer, he went to his bedroom and kicked the door shut before taking her to the bed and falling into it. He rolled over her, holding her against him like a child with a doll. They both fell asleep within seconds.

They woke with a knock at the door, Havilan growling angrily as she scrambled up, disoriented.

"What?" he demanded at the door, yanking Alice close again, hooking his arm around her waist.

It was Captain Avery who stepped in with a contingent of four guards. "Your highness," he said with a bow and a fist to his heart. "Alice was right. Seffan was the key that joined the two disparate groups together. We could not figure out how they were working together, but apparently there is a network of priests where information can be relayed. We never thought to question their communication with each other, no matter where the other priests were. He wanted you in power, he thought you would be easier to manipulate, leaving the kingdom in his hands with your temperament leaning more towards your... more carnal desires as he put it. Killing, bloodshed, other pursuits you are known for. He thought you would welcome his guidance and him taking a hand in the more mundane workings of the kingdom."

"He told you all of that?" Alice asked incredulously.

"With some convincing," Avery said with a grim smile.

Alice flushed, looking at the soldiers with him. "Did you... hurt him?"

"No," Havilan spat derisively, sitting up and letting her go irritably. "He fucking asked nicely."

"But! He couldn't just..."

"He did what he needed to, you sent the man into his hands yourself. He has been caught out, why do you care? He is a treasonous bastard."

"But it is barbaric! Why not..."

"Enough!" Havilan yelled angrily. "We don't have time for soft female words!"

"It is NOT soft words, just listen to me! Torture does not bring true answers! It brings you whatever words they think you want to hear that will make you stop. We use Nokosha root extract back home, it makes them incapable of lying. It makes them senseless and they freely answer any question put to them!"

"And spies train to withstand it, grow an immunity to it," Avery said. "It does work for most people in most situations, but that does not grow in abundance here. Your father has been... reticent to share his supply with any other country."

"It is not his to share or not, it is in the control of the Haylocks."

"Hedge wizards," Avery spat.

"Call them what you will, but they are masters at herbalism, poisons, assassinations, among other things. They would come here as well if your Oshonna priests would allow it! Then you would have access to a great many of..."

"Enough!" Havilan spat again, standing up and running his fingers through his long, wild looking hair. "Avery, how long do I have?"

"Under an hour now, sire. Her servants are waiting to dress her, and there is a manservant here for you as well."

"Send him in. Alice, go dress and no more talk of what does not concern you."

"We will see," she said darkly, hopping down from the bed awkwardly.

Havilan stepped to her and grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head back to look up at him.

"Avery, leave us," he demanded without looking at the man. Alice looked up at him fearfully, trying to pull out of his grip. He stared down at her, watching her struggle and his face went from furious to hungry and angry at the same time. He spun her suddenly and lifted her over the edge of the bed, shoving her skirts up roughly before yanking her underclothes off with a harsh rip.

"Stop!" she cried fearfully, trying to turn over. He held her down with a hand in her back, spit on his other hand and rubbed it over her mound roughly. She was repulsed and terrified at the same time and he didn't wait a moment before undoing his pants and pressing his hard cock against her. "Please stop!" she begged, too afraid to be angry anymore.

He pushed into her roughly and she let out a wail of fear and anguish as he slammed into her. He took hold of her hip once he was in and leaned over her, planting his hand on her head and shoving his thumb into her mouth like a bit again. He stood there a moment, still and his chest heaving as he looked down at her. Finally, he spoke: "Scream for me," he demanded. He pulled back and rammed into her again and again and she screamed. She fought and struggled to free herself from his grip and the large cock invading her, pounding into her rapidly and painfully. She could not escape him or the cock that was impaling her and she finally collapsed beneath him and broke down sobbing, biting down on his thumb and pulling on his wrist. He leaned closer, moving his hand from her hip to her wrist and pinning it above her head as his thrusts became faster and more shallow. He growled and she knew he was close, it would be over, she could endure this! She closed her eyes and tried to imagine Ben, but could not. He would never be this rough or angry with her. Her heart ached and hurt for the sweet man she had lost and the monster who had taken his place. Even worse, she would never be able to leave this place again, never see her home again. The mountains, the snow, the people she loved so dearly. She wept for her loss.

He growled again and began shoving harder and harder, making her eyes snap open as she cried out in pain. "Stop crying!" he demanded.

She knew what he wanted. She could cry for the pain, for what he was doing, but not for the pain in her heart from her losses. He wanted her in the moment with him, not gone to another place in her mind. He did not enjoy rutting on a limp, sobbing, vacant woman. She went completely still, not struggling or fighting at all. She stared unseeing at the blankets and unclenched her jaw around his thumb.