Knight's End (The Knight Trilogy) (19 page)

At the same time, he wanted to hold on to Jade and kill any man who looked at her with lust in his eyes. He wanted to make Jacob of Northsbury run home and never return.

What am I going to do
?
he asked himself, looking over his shoulder at Jade. She was sitting on the couch, her favorite book in her lap. She
glanced up and smiled at him, but Aston quickly turned away.

It was going to be a long winter.

**

Tal
bot paced his room, glancing out his window every time he passed it.
  He
half
expected to see The Rogue Royal riding up
at
any moment; he knew
his thought
was ridiculous. He didn’t know what the Rogue looked like, and the murderer
certainly
didn’t go to the murder site in the middle of the day.

Still, he couldn’t be immobile.

The prince left his chambers and went to the throne room, hoping his father would be there. Luckily, he was. Talbot walked hesitantly up the red carpet, stopping in front of King Donn.

“Any news, Fat
her?”

Donn looked up from the scroll he was reading, looking back down when he saw that it was Talbot bothering him. “What are you talking about, Talbot?” he asked, his voice a low drawl.

Talbot flinched; his father was still
angry
.
“Have you received word of The Rogue Royal?” the prince elaborated.

Donn dropped the scroll into his lap and folded his hands over it. “The Rogue Royal is not killing anyone until after the winter season,” he announced.

Talbot
relaxed at his father’s words. He felt every bit of tension
leave him
. He bowed to his father and turned to leave.

“Oh, Talbot,” King Donn added. He
turned to his
father. “King
Roland
’s ball has not been cancelled. I expect you to be well mannered once we arrive. Pity, poor
Queen Eve
has to see you there when you allowed her husband to die,” Donn said. He then waved Talbot off, dismissing him with a slight flick of his wrist.

“Imagine how disappointed he would be if he knew you let Duke Aeron die, too,” he whispered to himself as he went back to his room. He had the entire winter to think of a plan to save his life. He swore to himself, and to the Powers above, that, if he lived, he would right every wrong he’d ever created in his life.

“People don’t notice whether its winter
or summer when they’re happy.”
- Anton Chekhov -

Jade went to town alone the next morning. Aston didn’t want to risk someone recognizing him and Jade didn’t blame him
. She wrapped herself in a cloak
she found in Alys’s closet and took Edward into town.

She had never been to Fridel. The princess
found herself taking everything in, loving the smells of bread baking and the sounds of children laughing. Even though it was early, the town was full of life. Every shop was open, though their doors were closed to keep out the winter chill. The last leaves were falling from surrounding trees; Edward’s hooves made crunching noises against the street.

Jade stopped at the first dress shop she came to, tying Edward to the post outside before going into the small building. As s
he entered, she pulled the cloak
’s hood fr
om her head, shaking her hair. The room
was filled with material. It was a seamstress’s dream. Red, blue, green and brown; the colors smiled down at her from the shelves, begging to be bought.

A plump, little woman came from a back room, smiling at Jade as she neared. “Good morning, dear. Can I help you with something?”

“I need mater
ial for a dress and a suit,” Jade answered
, browsing the shelves. She stopped at a green silk so smooth, it
glistened in the dim light from the windows. “This one,” she told the woman, who quickly came and took it off the shelf, bringing it to a small table at the front of the room.

Jade continued browsing
. She needed something Aston would like. She found red silk and considered, a smile on her face, before moving on. She motioned for the woman to help her, hoping she would have a suggestion.

“I need outfits for a ball,” Jade told the woman. “What should my prince wear?”

The woman looked at her selection for a moment before looking at Jade. “Why not match?” she asked.

Jade smiled. “That’s a grand idea!” she exclaimed. She moved to the buttons next, grabbing silver for herself and gold for Aston. She also chose some white silk for accents on their costumes, as well as thread and several needles. “I’m also going to need two masks,” she told the woman.

Smiling, the little woman went to her back room, disappearing from Jade’s view. When she came back, she had two ornate masks in her hands. “Those are perfect!” Jade gushed, ta
king them from the woman
.

“Anything else, child?”

“No, thank you. This is all,” Jade answered, watching as the woman cut her material according to the measurements Jade gave her. When her material was cut and folded, Jade tucked the masks away inside the wrapped silk to protect them on the ride home. She gave the woman the money she asked for, as well as a little extra, before leaving with her purchases. She tucked the material and masks into the satchel she’d brought with her before climbing back on Edward and going further into town.

Several people eyed her as she rode past. Undoubtedly, they knew her to be a stranger.
Shrugging, Jade continued.
She recognized Richard following along after a tall
,
plump woman and she waved to him as well. He smiled his gap toothed smile and waved back before hurrying to catch up with the w
oman
. Jade laughed as he left. Something about this town made her feel so at peace.

A bag full of seasonal fruits and vegetables later, Jade
entered
the forest, heading
toward
the cabin. She made sure no one was following her before she reached the clearing, not wanting to bring anyone home to Aston.

“How was your trip?” Aston asked her as she entered the clearing. His shirt was slung over his shoulder, his bare chest gleaming with sweat. He’d been chopping firewood, Jade guessed. Delgrab’s axe was imbedded in a tree trunk, a pile of wood on the ground beside it. Jade tried to keep her gaze from Aston’s exposed muscles, but she feared she failed when she saw his knowing smile.

“It was fine,” she answered as her cheeks flared. She handed
Edward’s reins over to
Aston and took
her satchel inside. She heard Aston’s laugh following her until she closed the door. Shaking her head, Jade went to the room she’d chosen for their winter stay. Aston was staying in Delgrab and Alys’s room, but Jade didn’t want to stay with him just yet. They’d slept on the same pallet in the woods, but sharing a bed wa
s different, more intimate. She
wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

She carefully took the silk from her satchel, laying it out flat on her bed. She tucked the masks under the bed, not wanting Aston to see them before their costumes were ready.  Having nothing else to do, she set to work cutting material, setting pieces aside as she finished them. When she had all of the pieces for her dress cut out,
she started on the sewing. She didn’t stop until she had both sleeves and most of the top done. That was when Aston called her, telling her lunch was ready.

Jade left the room slowly, wiping her brow with her forearm.

“Working hard?” Aston asked, laughing. She stuck her tongue out at him before grabbing a plate and filling it with the salad her knight had made. She went back to her room and grabbed her satchel, coming back to the kitchen to empty its contents onto the counter. Aston looked at her, one eyebrow raised. Jade shrugged.

“We needed more vegetables,” she said. Aston shrugged as well and went to the table, Jade following him. They ate in silence, Jade thinking about her halfway done dress in the other room and Aston fearing what he was going to have to wear to the winter ball.

**

Jacob reached
Northsbury
late in the afternoon. He checked into Knight’s Inn and walked the streets, looking for his bride-to-be. With her fiery red hair and pine
green
eyes, she should have been easy to spot. As it was, he was having no luck in finding her.

With a curse, Jacob realized he might be too
late. If what the kid had said about Aston being innocent
was true, then Aston would undoubtedly be trying to catch the one man who could prove it
:
The Rogue Royal.

The Rogue had already made his
stop here
and left again. Jacob was too late. He turned on his heel and went back to the inn, shutting himself in his room to think. He needed a
clue,
some way to keep up with Aston and Jade.

Looking out the window, Jacob tried to think of a plan. He didn’t want to ride all the way back to Fridel. It would be a wasted trip if he couldn’t find the servant boy from before. As his gaze wandered, his eyes landed on the castle.

“Of course… the winter ball. If I know Jade, she never misses it. Maybe she’ll come,” he
thought
aloud, sitting straighter in his chair.

One month; it was one month to the winter ball. He would stay in
Northsbury
until then, waiting for his princess to arrive.
When she did, Jacob intended to take her back from Aston Smith.

**

“Are you really planning on going, Mother?” Talbot asked. He had been sitting in his room, alone, when the queen had come knocking on his door. Now, she sat on his bed with him.

“Your father thinks it best we make an appearance,” she answered, looking away from her son.

“Can I stay here?” Talbot asked.

His mother shook her head.
“We
will all attend
. Besides, you are safe. The Rogue isn’t hunting until after the holidays. You may as well enjoy the winter. You don’t even know if the Rogue is interested in you. You aren’t a bad person, Talbot.”

“I am, though, Mother. I’m a horrible person. I’ve ruined so many lives for my own gain,” Talbot told her, standing and going to his window. He pushed aside the deep blue curtains, gazing out over what would one day be his kingdom.

“That’s the way of royalty, Talbot. No one ever made it to a position of power without stepping on some toes,” his mother said, standing
smoothing the wrinkles from her dress.

“That’s not the point, Mother,” Talbot sighed. His mother and father would never understand. They saw nothing wrong with the way they lived. To them, power was taken by pushing over others. Talbot didn’t want that kind of power. He used to, but he had changed.

“You’re going to be fine, darling. Now, go downstairs and be fitted for your costume. Your father and I have chosen to wear red this year,” his mother said. When Talbot didn’t answer, she sighed, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

The prince didn’t move from his position at the window. Red?
Red like blood. Why would his father choose to wear the color of blood? He knew how terrified Talbot was of the Rogue coming after him. Maybe that was
why
he’d chosen the color, to make fun of his son and his fear.

With a sigh, Talbot moved, leaving his room and walking slowly down the long corridor. It would do him no good, resisting his father. If anything, it would make the man angrier. Instead, he decided to go along with the king for now, but, if the Rogue
did
target him, his father would be sorry.

*
*

Aston had tried several times throughout the day to see what Jade was working on, but as soon as he opened the door, she would throw everything off the bed and out of sight. Now he was spending his time reading more of the book Jade toted around with her. He was almost halfway through it, finally reaching the romance.

Jade made fun of him for reading it, but what else was he supposed to do when she stayed holed up in her room all day and night? It had been almost a fortnight since she began working on their costumes and she barely spent any time with him. He’d been taking care of the horses, cook
ing, cleaning, and cutting fire
wood. The snow had finally made itself known, sticking to the ground and slowly deepening. The trees were completely bare, the temperature below freezing. Aston was worried they wouldn’t be able to make it to
Northsbury
for the ball without freezing to death.

Jade didn’t seem to be worried. She kept saying they would bundle up, pack their costumes in their satchels, and change when they reached
their inn in Northsbury
.

Aston
startled as the door to Jade’s
room opened and she stepped out, closing the door behind her. He looked at her quizzically when she came over to him, perching on the couch beside him.