The Third Son (28 page)

Lionus rose and circled the desk swiftly, grasping a fistful of the girl’s hair. He yanked roughly, pulling the girl to her feet. She screamed out in pain. “I will punish you here and now if you do not confess!”

“Lionus-“Serge interjected. Lionus silenced him with a wave of his hand.

“Do not think to intercede on this witch’s behalf, brother. She does not deserve your sympathy.” He turned back to Lillian, pulling her head back to stare her fully in the face. “If I were you I would think carefully about this. Your choices are limited. You can die quickly or you can die a slow and agonizing death.”

She
cried
uncontrollably now, babbling incoherent words as she clutched the front of Lionus’ jacket.
             
He
drew back his arm and delivered a stinging blow to the girl’s face, sending her sprawling to the carpet. 

“That’s enough!” Damien bellowed, leaping between Lionus and Lillian. “What can you be thinking man! You’ll knock her senseless before she gets a chance to tell us anything!” He turned his back to Lionus and helped the pregnant maid to her feet, wincing at the ugly red handprint that had appeared across her face.

“Listen carefully,” he said gently, yet firmly. “I am going to ask you a question and I want an honest answer. If you do not answer me
,
I will hand you back over to my brother. Do you understand?”

She nodded but was otherwise silent.

“Did you kill my father?”

“Yes!” she cried hysterically, collapsing against Damien. “He came to me and told me he would take my child once it was born if I didn’t do what he wished! He told me that if I tried to run away he would kill me!” 

“Who told you this? The masked man?” asked Serge, standing to join his brothers.

She nodded, struggling to catch her breath between sobs. “I told him I would never do such a thing. The king had always been gracious and kind to me. He gave me a job when no one else would. And he didn’t throw me out when I became pregnant
b
ut everyone knows that the masked man will find you no matter where you go. I had to protect my baby, I had no choice!”

“You could have come to us!” exclaimed Nicolai, looking very much like he wanted to strike her as Lionus had done. “You have been serving me in my chambers since I arrived; you had numerous opportunities to come forward with the truth.”

“I wanted to, believe me I did,” she argued. “But I was afraid that he was watching me. I was afraid that he would know if I told you. So I took the poison he gave me and poured it in His Majesty’s wine goblet. He told me it would be a quick death that he would not suffer.”

Lionus pushed Damien aside and stood almost nose to nose with the cowering maid. “So you chose instead to make my family suffer by killing my father.”

“I’m sorry!” she said, exploding into another bout of forceful sobs. She fell to her knees again, bowing low at Lionus’ feet. “I beg of you to allow my child to live! I don’t care about my own life anymore, but please don’t allow my child to die.”

“Damn the child!” Lionus roared, his mask of controlled calm rapidly slipping away. He looked like an avenging angel, his lustrous hair loose about his shoulders, his angular features touched by firelight. “You will hang by morning, so help me God!”

“No!” interjected Damien. “I won’t let you do that.”

Lionus quirked a brow at Damien and laughed. The sound was harsh and ugly. “You think to stop me, brother?” 

“I do,” he said firmly. “Father would not allow this. He would not allow you to murder an innocent child, no matter what the mother had done. Do not forget who the real enemy is, Lionus. Save your fury and your savagery for him!”

“He is right,” said Serge, helping Lillian to her feet and pressing a glass of water into her hand. She accepted the glass and gulped noisily. “Allow her to live long enough to give birth to the child and give the child to her parents. She can spend the next few months reflecting on what she has done. That’s as good a punishment as any, I’d say.”

Lionus looked from one brother to the other in disbelief. He turned to Nicolai.

”Do you agree with my brothers?”

Nicolai shrugged. “It does seem awfully cruel to allow the child to die with the mother,” he said slowly. “I would not advise it. You may frighten and anger some of your citizens. That is not the way for you to begin your reign.”

Lionus sighed, deflated. “Fine,” he said curtly. “She will remain locked away until the child is born.” He turned to Lillian. “Should you start to die during childbirth, I will command the midwives to do everything within their power to save your miserable life. I will see you hanged publicly for what you’ve done.”

“Oh God bless you, Your Highness!” she cried, allowing the guards to lead her away. “God bless you all!”

Lionus turned toward the roaring fireplace once they were alone. “I am ordering a complete evacuation of Largess Hall,” he said softly. “Until the masked man is found, the court will be dismissed. We will retire to one of my estates in the country. We will begin preparations immediately; once father is buried we will leave under armed escort.”

Serge nodded. “I’ll inform mother.” He left quickly with Nicolai on his heels.

“Lionus, I will bring Esmeralda with me,” Damien said to his brother’s back. “We will be married.” 

Lionus turned swiftly, piercing Damien with his glacial stare. “I have told you I will not allow it.”

“We were going to get married yesterday,” Damien pleaded, not caring how truly desperate he sounded. “We never got the chance.”

“I am relieved,” Lionus said sharply, stepping away from the mantle and towards Damien. “That only means that I am now in a position to stop it from happening.”

Damien could hardly believe his ears. Lionus was still determined as ever. “Then I won’t be leaving Largess Hall with you.” 

“Are you mad? You will not disobey my orders in this! We are all leaving together and that is the end of it
.
When this has all blown over we will return and I will arrange a suitable marriage for you.”

“I did not say I wouldn’t be leaving Largess Hall,” Damien replied. “I merely said I wouldn’t be leaving with you.” 

“What are you saying?”

“I am saying that I’ll take Esmeralda as far away as I must to escape your reach. I will marry her, Lionus, with or without your approval.” 

“You would abandon your family, your country?”

“I will abandon the things that do not matter for the one thing that does.”

If at all possible, Lionus’ countenance hardened even more. He turned his back to Damien
once more
, dismissing him. “Very well,” he said calmly, in control of his emotions once again. “Do what you wish, I care not.”

“That has always been plainly obvious,” Damien said to the back of Lionus’ head. “Tell me, brother, have you shed even one tear for our father?”

He did not wait for a response.
Damien
was out of the room moments later, leaning against the doors of the library. He had just pledged to leave his family, leave the only home he had ever known, and he knew in his heart that he had done the right thing. His father had told him to not abandon his love and he would not. He would build a new home and a new life with Esmeralda away from the pressures of court life and the tyrannical rule of his brother.

As he turned to walk away, he heard a strange sound. He looked up and down the darkened hallway, trying to discover its source. When he re-opened the door to the library, he discovered what it was. Lionus stood as he had been before the fireplace, one hand resting on the mantle. The other hand was pressed against his face. Gut-wrenching
cries
racked his body, shaking his shoulders with the force of it. As Damien turned to leave, his brother dropped to his knees before the fire. His soul-wrenching sobs followed Damien down the dark corridor.

****

Esmeralda had been unable to sleep. She had not seen Damien since the day of Adare’s death. She longed to see him, to offer him whatever comfort she could, to tell him that she understood what it was to lose a father.
Esmeralda
left her bed and paced the length of her room.
After awhile s
he opened the window to allow the crisp breeze into the room and continued pacing. 

Esmeralda
fiddled nervously with the large ring Damien had slipped on her finger only a few days ago. It might as well have been a year ago, so uncertain was her future with him. Adare’s death placed Lionus square upon the throne, ruining their chances at even an elopement.

She prayed fervently for a way, knowing that she would not let go of Damien
.
Esmeralda
knew that Damien would make a way, in that she could trust him. She only hoped he would find a way soon.

“Esmeralda!”

She
looked around the room carefully, certain she was alone, but also
sure
she had heard someone whisper her name. “Esmeralda!” It was unmistakable this time; someone was definitely whispering her name. She rushed to the window listening intently. “Down here!”

She looked down to find Damien standing beneath her window, poised to climb the uneven brick. “Damien? Be careful!” she cautioned as he began his slow ascent to the second-story window. When he was close enough, she offered him her hand and helped ease him up over the windowsill. 

He fell into her arms immediately, trembling with uncontained grief. She nearly buckled under his weight, but held fast, wrapping her arms tightly around him, determined to lend him her strength in his time of weakness.

“I know I should not have come so late, but I needed to see you,” he said, his face pressed against her neck, soaking the neckline of her nightgown with his tears. “I had to hold you.”

Esmeralda pulled back slightly to study his face. “You look exhausted!”

“I haven’t slept,” he said. “I haven’t slept in almost two days.”

She stroked his hair lightly, allowing him to rest his head against her breast. “You will lie in bed with me then,” she said soothingly, feeling him relax against her. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

He motioned for her to sit on the bed then lowered himself to one knee before her. “I would ask something of you first,” he said, taking her hands in his.

“Anything,” she responded, her heart in her throat. She knew that Damien would tell her he could not marry her.

“If I asked you to come away with me, to leave Cardenas and start a new life someplace else, would you do it?”

Esmeralda was too stunned to respond immediately. She stared blankly at him for several seconds, unsure of what she had just heard. It certainly was not what she had been expecting.

“You would leave your home?” she asked in disbelief, understanding immediately what he was asking her to do would entail. “You want me to leave my family?”

“My brother will not allow this marriage to happen,” he said, tightening his hold on her hands. “And I will not allow him to marry me off to some insipid young courtier! If you’ll agree I can arrange passage to anywhere else in the world. We can start over, Esmeralda, start our own family. Your family can come too! It would be perfect.”

“Would we ever come back?”

Damien shook his head solemnly. “I doubt it very much, love. Once we leave, we would have no reason to come back.”

“Of course we would!” she exclaimed, “What about your family? What about Serge and Isabelle and Nicolai? What about Lionus and your mother?”

“To hell with
both of them
! They would only seek to come between us and I won’t have it! I only want you.”

Esmeralda considered this carefully. She knew that Raina, Akira and Desmond would gladly come with her, but what about The Golden Dancer? She would probably never see Tatianna, Morgana, or Tristan ever again.
Esmeralda
would be leaving behind her closest friends and part of her family. She would abandon the only home she’d ever known and the Golden Dancer, which her father had left in her hands.

“I know I am asking a lot of you,” he said. “But my father told me I should do whatever it took to ensure our future together. He told me that if I didn’t I’d regret it and he was right. I will travel to the ends of the earth if it means we could be together.”

Esmeralda smiled, stroking his face affectionately. He was right, of course. She would leave Cardenas behind and hopefully her family would follow.
E
ven if they did not, she would have Damien.

“All right,” she said. “I’ll go with you.”

Damien lifted her in his arms and twirled her about the room, kissing her with a loud smack. Esmeralda laughed with him, delighted at the thought of a new life, one that had endless possibilities.

“I won’t be a prince where we’re going,” he warned.

“You’ll always be a prince to me,” she said earnestly. 

“We will have money, though,” he said. “It will be enough for a comfortable life for us and for your family. Perhaps I’ll even open that university.”