Promising Hope (49 page)

He moved so fast she hardly had time to dodge his
hand. It grabbed her arm in a painful grip and pulled her close.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said through clenched teeth. “We’re
going to stay here and eat dinner.”

She glared up at him. “I told you I’m not
hungry.”

“Then we’ll do something else.” He touched her face
with his other hand, the touch surprisingly tender compared with
the vice on her arm. He leaned down and brought his lips to her.
She stood stock sill, barely daring to breathe, as he gently kissed
her. She closed her eyes, her mind racing. She had to get out of
here. He wasn’t going to relent tonight. He wasn’t going to let her
leave. His kiss went from soft to possessive in seconds, his hand
going from her arm to her back to trap her torso against him, his
other hand gripping her neck, pulling at the small hairs at the
base of her head.

She tried to pull away, but his grip tightened around
her. He bit her lip, and she let out a small cry. He smiled against
her mouth and backed up, dragging her with him.

Her dagger was on her leg. If she could just reach
it… it was strapped to her calf, the solid weight the only thing in
the room she could rely on. If she stabbed him… if she killed him…
no, she had to hit him somewhere that wouldn’t kill him, or she’d
be hunted for the rest of her life, arrested for killing the crown
prince. Or maybe she’d be arrested for stabbing the crown prince.
Maybe she was just doomed to be raped or live life as a
fugitive.

When they neared the door to his bedroom, she started
fighting in earnest. “No, William, please,” she muttered, pushing
against his chest.

“Come on, Grace,” he said gruffly. “I know you want
this, too. You haven’t pushed me away since that night you threw up
on me.”

“That’s not because I want to sleep with you!” She
tried to plant her feet, but he pulled on her and she lost her
balance. He gained a few inches before she planted her feet again
and tried to disentangle herself from his arms. “Just let me go
back to my room. We can talk about this later, tomorrow.”

“No, I’m tired of talking.” He had her past the
doorway. He pushed her up against the wall. She had a flashback to
the time when he nearly strangled her after he found out about the
love potion, but instead he kissed her roughly.

She
had
to get down to her calf. She matched
his fervor with her own and returned his kiss. She bit his lip and
tugged on his hair. He responded in kind, smashing her body between
his and the wall. She felt something hard against her belly and
barely kept herself from gagging. She broke away, breathing his
name, and kissed his cheek, his chin, leading her shaking lips to
his neck. “Oh, I don’t know what I want,” she said. She moved her
hands down his chest.

He grabbed her wrists with a groan. He pinned her
arms to the wall, backing her up again. “I think we both do.”

She squirmed her arms a little bit. “Let me touch
you,” she whispered.

His eyes narrowed on hers, darkening with lust, and
he took both of her wrists in one of his hands, above her head, his
grip painful as her bones were nearly crushed. “I’ll go first.”

“William,” she said, hoping he heard desire instead
of fear.

He kissed her again while his other hand traveled
down her shoulders to her chest. He squeezed her breasts. She bit
his tongue, and he broke away with a cry. “God, Grace,” he said
breathlessly. It didn’t stop him, though. He kissed her once again,
and his hands went to the edge of her neckline. She tried to move
away from him, tried to fight back the tears stinging her eyes, but
his fingers slipped between the fabric and her skin, brushing
against Dar’s letter.

He froze. “What’s this?” he whispered. He pulled out
the piece of parchment, folded up as small as she could make it
today. He moved away just the tiniest bit, giving her room to
breathe.

She swallowed back tears. “Nothing.”

He tried to unfold it with one hand, but it was
wrapped so tightly he couldn’t.

She squirmed her arms again, hoping his grip would
loosen enough to let her reach for her dagger. “It doesn’t
matter.”

He tore at it with his teeth, and when it was finally
open, Grace held her breath. He stared at it. “What the hell is
this?” He turned it towards her. She saw ink, Dar’s handwriting,
but then she saw the line that read, “This letter will be enchanted
for your eyes only.”

“It’s just parchment,” she said, shaking her
head.

“What’s on here?” he demanded. “What can’t I
see?”

“It’s blank. Just in case I need it for
something.”

His grasp tightened on her wrists painfully, and she
clenched her teeth, biting back a cry. “Don’t lie to me,” he said
in a low tone.

“It’s nothing!” she said, trying to pull her arms
from his grip. “Just let it go!”

He flung the parchment to the ground. “As soon as I’m
done with you, I’ll take it to Emile.”

She jutted her chin out. “Fine. Now, I think you were
about to let me go so I could have a turn.”

He looked up at her wrists and smirked. “Really?” He
touched her breasts again. She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t
think I was done yet.” He kissed her neck, her collarbone, the
curve of her breasts.

Tears hit her again, threatening to fall. “Let me
go,” she whispered. “Please.” She swallowed hard as his hand
slipped into her dress again. At least he couldn’t see her crying.
“I promise… I’ll make it worth it.”

His hand was against her bare breast now, and she was
seconds away from screaming and flailing and thrashing. Then he let
her wrists go. She pushed at his shoulders, pushing him away from
her, and she dropped down in front of him. She tugged at his
waistband, acted like she was going to slide her hand inside… but
she crouched and reached for her dagger instead. Her hand closed on
the hilt just as he said, “Grace? What are you—”

She unsheathed the dagger and plunged it into the
side of his knee. He screamed as the leg collapsed underneath him,
as she dashed for the door without a glance back. The sound of her
blood pounding in her head mixed with William’s unintelligible
yells. She flung open the door to the corridor and ran straight
into two of William’s servants.

“He stabbed the prince! Go help!” she yelled.

They rushed past her, and she ran as fast as her legs
could take her. She darted for Sashe’s room. When she reached the
door, she tried to open it, only to find it locked. She pounded on
it, choking back tears. “Sashe! Sashe, it’s me, let me in!” she
yelled.

When it opened, she grabbed the arm of Sashe’s
maidservant and pulled her out into the corridor, then rushed into
the room and slammed the door in Latika’s startled face. She spun
around to face Ronu’s outstretched sword and gasped. “It’s just
me!” she said, putting her hand over her chest.

“Grace, what—” Sashe stood by her desk, staring at
her in shock.

“I just stabbed William in the leg,” Grace said
breathlessly. “We have to go.”

“You
what
?” Sashe asked, her eyes
widening.

“We have to go!” Grace screamed.

Sashe nodded, her mouth hanging open. “Fine. Fine.
We’ll leave now. Ronu.” She went to the wardrobe and pulled on a
cloak.

He strode to a trunk in the corner of the room and
pulled out two packs.

“Do you have anything you need to—” Sashe began.

“No, no, they’re going to arrest me once he tells
them who stabbed him!” Grace exclaimed, her voice going up an
octave. “Let’s go!”

Sashe flung a cloak at Grace and motioned for her to
follow her into the bedroom.

“Where are you—” Grace began. Sashe grabbed her arm
and pulled her to the bedroom. Next to the bed, she pulled aside a
tapestry, which revealed a door. Sashe pushed it open and walked
into a dark tunnel. Grace and Ronu followed.

“Where does this go?” Grace asked as Ronu pulled the
door shut, leaving them in darkness.

“The king’s chambers,” Sashe said.

“But—”

“There are servant’s tunnels from there,” Sashe said.
“But the guards will go straight to my room and to yours. We have
at least a few minutes until they realize we’re not there.”

“Do they know about these tunnels?” Grace held onto
Sashe’s cloak as they jogged through the blackness.

“Only my servants and the king’s servants,” Sashe
said.

“What about Latika, she’ll know we went in here—”

“I don’t know if she’ll tell them or not.”

Grace huffed in frustration. “Sashe, they’re going to
arrest
me—”

“Well, excuse me for not having a plan for when you
attacked the prince!” Sashe snapped. She stopped abruptly and
opened another door. They walked into a dark room that Grace didn’t
recognize. A grand bedroom, twice the size of Sashe’s. She could
only see shapes and figures of the furniture.

“Is this the king’s bedroom?” Grace asked.

“Yes, and this is the way to the servant’s tunnels,”
Sashe said, grabbing Grace’s arm again. On the opposite wall, they
entered another door. They ran through more dark tunnels. Sashe
hesitated here and there, muttering to herself. They rushed down
stairs, turned blindly down corridors. Their panting, their
thundering footsteps, and Sashe’s quiet voice were the only sounds
over Grace’s pounding heart.

They finally broke out of a door into a corridor on
the first floor. They were only a few turns from the front doors,
from the stables, but when Grace charged forward, Sashe grabbed her
arm. “There are horses this way,” she hissed, pulling her back
towards the garden doors.

Yells erupted from behind them—from the
staircase.

“There they are!” someone yelled.

“Stop!” another voice called.

Shouts filled the corridor as Grace forced her legs
to go faster, to push harder. Ronu reached the doors first, and he
flung them open for Sashe and Grace. The cold night air hit them.
Grace ran after Sashe and Ronu, praying they were leading her to an
escape, leading her away from the guards who yelled and shouted
behind them.

If only she had figured another way out… if only she
hadn’t provoked him… if she could have gotten away, she could have
planned this escape, could have taken Marisa and Kaiden with her,
could have disappeared into the night without William ever
knowing.

On the outskirts of the garden, a pair of dilapidated
horse stalls stood between two pine trees. Sashe broke ahead of the
others and disappeared inside of them. Her sudden scream echoed in
the night.

“Sashe!” Ronu yelled, running in after her with his
sword drawn.

Grace reached them last and froze, gasping. Kilar had
Sashe pulled up against him, one dagger at her throat, the other at
her belly. Sashe stood against him, her chest heaving as she
panted, her eyes squeezed shut.

“Let her go,” Ronu said in a low tone.

Kilar smirked and shook his head. “No. I told Evan he
had two weeks before I killed Dar, but Dar escaped.”

“It hasn’t been two weeks!” Grace yelled.

“No, you’re right, but I’ve never been a man of my
word,” Kilar said.

“Please let me go,” Sashe whispered. “Please. Please,
Evan doesn’t even care about me. He hates that I’ve lived here for
so long, he swore he’d kill me himself if—” She whimpered when he
brought the dagger closer to her neck.

Ronu took a step closer, a growl coming from his
throat. “Let her go!” he shouted.

“All right, if you say so.” Kilar raised his right
hand and plunged his dagger into Sashe’s stomach.

* * *

Chapter Thirty-One

Grace screamed as Kilar stepped back, as Ronu
charged, as Sashe fell to her knees. She ran to Sashe and caught
her before her back hit the ground. “Sashe! Oh, goodness,
Sashe.”

Sashe’s hands were on her stomach, fumbling to stop
the bleeding. She cried out, “No, no, no!”

“It’s okay, Sashe. It’s okay, Kaiden is here. She’ll
heal you. She healed me and Dar and she’ll heal you. Your baby’s
going to be fine.” She broke off sobbing as she touched Sashe’s
stomach. The warm, sticky blood was everywhere.

Ronu and Kilar were fighting violently around the
stalls. The horses neighed and whinnied, nervous by the movement
and sound.

Shouts echoed outside in the garden. Guards, looking
for Grace.

“We have to get you to Kaiden.” She pulled at Sashe’s
arm, looped it around her neck, and tried to stand. “Sashe, please,
help me. Kaiden can heal you.”

“Help,” Sashe whispered. “Help us, Evan. We’re in the
gardens.”

“What?” Grace asked. “What are you—”

With a burst of strength, Sashe stood, though she
leaned much of her weight on Grace. “Kaiden,” Sashe said.

“Yes, Kaiden!” Grace let out a sob. “We’ll find
her—”

Guards burst into the stables. “There she is!” one of
them yelled, pointing at Grace with his sword.

“Please, take her to Kaiden,” Grace said, her voice
breaking. “Do what you want with me, but I need you to take her to
Kaiden the Thieran.”

One of the men took Sashe away from her. Out of
nowhere, Ronu let out a yell and charged at him. The man stumbled
back, letting go of Sashe. She swayed, and Grace reached out for
her. But Ronu caught her, swooped her up in his arms, and broke
away from the guards, leaving Grace alone with them.

“You’re under arrest for attacking Prince William,”
one of the guards announced. He grabbed her arms, pulled them
behind her back, and locked manacles on her wrists.

They pulled her back to the castle. Grace didn’t see
Kilar anywhere. Had Ronu killed him? Had he escaped? Did Ronu know
where Kaiden was? She choked back more sobs as Sashe’s blood dried
on her hands. They pulled her through corridors, jostling her,
yelling at other guards that she’d been captured.