Thorns of Decision (Dusk Gate Chronicles) (36 page)

When Mia’s eyes fell to the floor almost instantly, Quinn’s intuition flashed. “What do you know, Mia?”

Trembling, Mia moved the basket of clothes and sank down onto the ottoman. “I’ve known some things for a while, Lady Quinn – had suspicions about others. But today …” She looked up for a brief second, apprehension in her eyes before she looked down again, pulling her thick, black braid over her shoulder and fidgeting nervously with the end. “I was trying to get some chores finished earlier, and visiting with Thomas and Linnea at the same time. I’d just gone back into your bathroom to put away towels and tidy up when you came upstairs.”

She frowned, trying to understand, and then dread froze her muscles as she realized what Mia meant. “Earlier? You were in there earlier? The whole time?”

Mia’s nod was almost imperceptible. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I just … I didn’t want to barge in on you …”

Nausea twisted her gut.
Mia had heard everything.
Not just about William and the birds. There hadn’t been time for her to escape once Stephen was in the room.

“Before …” Mia’s voice shook. “Before you get overly worried, may I show you something?”

Quinn was too deeply in shock to do anything but nod.

Mia straightened, and then reached for the collar of her navy-blue work dress. Quinn stared, stunned, knowing what she was about to see before Mia had managed to pull her dress far enough to the side to reveal her tattoo.

“What?” she breathed. “Why? How long have you …”

“As soon as I turned sixteen, I joined. My family has worked in the castle for three generations.”

“Really?” she realized that she’d never asked about Mia’s past or her family.

“Oh, yes. My mother attends personally to Charlotte and Stephen. Before that, she attended the children, as I do now. My father is a guard, but his mother had this job before my mother or I did. Both my grandmother and my mother attended your father when he lived here, in the castle.”

Quinn’s eyes were wide. “It’s supposed to be a secret, Mia! I haven’t even told William yet. Or Thomas or Linnea. Are there more people who know?”

“I know it’s a secret, my Lady. Until today – I knew about Samuel, that he hadn’t died in Philotheum as most believe. I didn’t know that his heir really existed, and of course I had no idea it was you. Although I’ll tell you now that Thomas has at least some idea that there’s more going on than you’ve shared. He’s not certain if you even know what, but he has begun to believe that Samuel and Nathaniel were from Philotheum. He knows that I’m a Friend of Philip, and that I know a lot about the resistance, or else he wouldn’t have shared with me as much as he knows … but he has no idea about many of the things
I
know.  I’ve known about Samuel – and Nathaniel, too, of course – for a long time, but until today I never really believed …”

“Do you know anything about Eldon Hardridge?”

Mia closed her eyes, her features taking on a grayish hue. “Yes. Most of us in the Friends of Philip here in the castle believe he was persecuted and followed because he knows about Samuel and Nathaniel. It is what he believed, as well. He had no idea anyone had followed him into Eirentheos this far, though. He would never have put Jacob and Essie in danger like that.”

It was hard to breathe. Quinn sank down onto the couch and put her head in her hands.

Mia came over and sat beside her. “I won’t say a word, Lady Quinn. Not to anyone, I promise.”

Quinn looked up into Mia’s eyes, which seemed to be filled with sympathy even more than knowledge, and she knew, somehow that she could trust the girl. “So you heard what Stephen did? The position he put both William and me in?”

Mia nodded. “I did. And I don’t agree with it, but it seems to have worked out all right in the end.”

“Really?” Her anger flashed again. “You think this is all right?”

Mia shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with the sarcasm in Quinn’s voice. “Do you regret meeting William?”

That stopped her cold. The answer came without thinking; even the idea of not knowing William now was like a knife in her chest. “No. But that doesn’t make what Stephen did okay.”

“It doesn’t. But he can’t change it now, Lady Quinn. And it’s your own reaction to the situation that will determine the outcome now. In the end, he didn’t force either of you to do anything. I’ll be honest. I love seeing you and Prince William together. The two of you … what’s there is not there because of what Stephen did. You can’t let someone else’s bad decision change what’s growing between you.”

Quinn nodded, although she still had no idea what to think or how to respond. Now she
really
needed some time to herself.

“It has been a challenging day so far, Lady Quinn. Can I draw you a bath?”

Even in the hot water, with the comforting scents filling the air around her, it took a long time for her muscles to loosen, and her thoughts to begin to unsnarl. She thought about the things that Stephen had told her. It still angered her that he had so deliberately put William in the position he had, but slowly she realized that Mia was right. That didn’t have to get in the way of how things were now between her and William.

And, in a way, so what if Stephen and Charlotte had always hoped that she and William would end up together? It wasn’t as if they’d forced it to happen. The relationship had bloomed all on its own. It wasn’t really any different than her mom and Maggie hoping she’d choose Zander.

Even as she calmed, and some of her anger dissipated, she ached inside for William. The sacrifices he had made to spend all those years in Bristlecone had been enormous and difficult. It had hurt him to spend so much time away from his family and to feel so isolated.

And he’d made the sacrifices without even knowing all of the reasons. And it might have never paid off in the end for him at all. It still might not.

This morning she had hurt him again, and she resolved now that she wasn’t going to do that anymore. So there were a lot of questions that she didn’t have the answers to right now. How she felt about him wasn’t one of them. And neither was the way he felt about her. As soon as he got back from Mistle Village, she was going to tell him that she was ready to make their courtship official.

And now that she was truly aware of just how fragile the secret about her father was, she knew it was time – she had to tell William.

Relief flowed through William as the castle gate appeared before their small caravan. He and Nathaniel huddled around little Clara Halpern in the back of the wagon, and she wasn’t doing well. They needed to get her into the clinic and get the surgery started
now.

As they drove on to the main bridge leading to the castle, Nathaniel stood and climbed up onto the wagon seat next to Clara’s father, Josiah, who had been driving. Taking the reins from the man, Nathaniel slowed only slightly when they reached the guard stand. “We’re going to the clinic,” he called to the guards inside. “Please help everyone else with the horses, and then bring them down to meet us.”

William looked up in time to see Ben, a guard whom he’d recently gotten to know rather well when they’d traveled together, nod and step outside to assist the rest of the family and some friends of theirs from Mistle Village who’d agreed to ride the horses back and accompany them on the journey.

“Let my mother know there are additional guests for dinner,” he yelled, hoping Ben could still hear him.

“I’m sure someone will take care of that,” Nathaniel said, driving the wagon down to the clinic at the far corner of the castle.

As soon as they’d reached the small building, Nathaniel and Josiah hopped down, and rushed to lower the gate at the back of the wagon.

“William, please go on inside and start getting things set up. We’ll get her inside, and I will talk to her parents.” Nathaniel said.

He nodded and hopped over the side of the wagon, running up the stairs into the clinic, and making his way to the small operatory in the back. They didn’t need to use it very often, but kept it ready just in case. William flipped on the lights and began scrubbing the small table in the middle of the room.

“Is there anything I can help with?” He jumped, startled. He hadn’t heard anyone come into the clinic yet.

“Quinn!” he said, turning around. “What are you doing out here already? We just got back.”

She nodded. “I was waiting for you to come back. I saw you rushing around and I came to help if you needed it. So what can I do?”

“Grab one of those sheets over there and help me get this table covered.”

“What’s going on?” she asked, as she helped him shake out the sheet.

“We’ve got a little girl with appendicitis. We should have operated in Mistle Village, but without the clinic it’s so dangerous...”

At that moment, they heard Nathaniel’s voice in the clinic. William glanced through the door and saw him carrying Clara as gently as he could. Her parents followed him, both looking white and shaken. Tears streamed down Mara’s face. A second later, Jacob appeared in the doorway.

“Will,” Nathaniel’s expression was pleading as he carried the little girl into the operatory. “Let Jacob and I take care of Clara, and you handle Mr. and Mrs. Halpern and the children, please?”

He felt Quinn’s eyes on him.

“They don’t trust me, Nathaniel.”

“They do now – after you took care of Darren. And the boys know you and trust you. They’ll let you get them into the castle and cleaned up and fed.”

William sighed, but he nodded. The idea of performing surgery on a child still made him anxious anyway. He had only assisted in a few similar procedures so far.

Quinn followed him out into the main room of the clinic while Jacob walked around them and into the operating room.

Mara and Josiah Halpern were standing in the middle of the room, looking lost and helpless. Through the window, he could see their other children wandering around near the wagon. Although Wesley still hovered over him protectively, Darren looked almost completely recovered from his earlier trauma, although his dirt-caked face was streaked from the tears he’d shed earlier, and sticky, too, from the copious amounts of candy William had rewarded him with once the stitches were in.

“Is Clara going to be okay?” Mara asked anxiously.

“It’s scary, I know, Mara. But I’m sure she’s going to be fine. Nathaniel and Jacob will take good care of her. We have the right medicines here. She’ll be asleep the whole time, and she won’t feel anything. You’ll need to stay here with her for a few days while she recovers, though.”

He was surprised by how wide both of their eyes grew at this news. Mara and Josiah looked at each other, terror plain in their expressions. He frowned. “You’re safe here, you know. No harm will come to your family here at the castle.”

The look on Josiah’s face was not trusting at all. “What are you worried about?” William asked.

He saw the man’s hand reach protectively over the left side of his chest, where he assumed a tattoo hid under his shirt.

“He’s worried we’ll be arrested,” Mara answered, though her husband was shooting her a look that clearly indicated he wished she wouldn’t speak. “We’ve heard stories, about others.”

A weight settled in William’s chest. “Those stories aren’t true Josiah. The only arrests that have been made in Eirentheos are to those who have done our people harm. We have arrested some for poisoning our children, for burning homes and clinics. But not for escaping to safety with their children.”

“In Philotheum, the Friends of Philip are being blamed for everything. When we first decided to leave, we believed it was different in Eirentheos. But we kept hearing rumors ...” Josiah slumped into one of the chairs along the front wall of the room.