Captive's Return Read online

  “I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you. I truly am. I never wanted to injure the family. I wanted so much to tell you the truth. And I hope you can forgive me. But even if you can’t, even if you stay angry with me forever, it’s no reason to punish Jonan. Put me in the dungeons if you want retribution. But there’s no reason for him to be there.”

  “I didn’t put him in there to punish you,” said Giles quietly. “And it’s not quite true that there’s no reason for him to be there. He came to Balenol the first time expressly to aid the resistance, did he not?”

  “No, you’re wrong,” said Scarlett quickly. “He didn’t know anything about it when he came. His connection to the resistance was through me.” She saw that Giles looked skeptical, and she held his gaze earnestly. “It’s true. I saw him come to the defense of a slave in the courtyard, and I sent people to bring him into the resistance.”

  “Well, even so,” said Giles, his expression grave, “he took part in it. He also killed your father, who was a prominent member of court, as well as the Overseer of Slaves.”

  “To stop him from killing me!” Scarlett protested.

  “So you say,” said Giles, hurrying on as she opened her mouth to interrupt, “and I don’t doubt you. But most people would never believe that explanation. I told you, the people want blood.”

  “Well they can’t have his,” said Scarlett, her teeth clenched. “You promised we’d be safe, Giles. It’s the only reason King Calinnae allowed us to come. If you won’t do it for my sake, you should protect Jonan for the sake of the country. He’s here as an official emissary of his king this time, and Cal will not take it lightly if anything happens to him.”

  “Cal?” repeated Giles, his eyebrows raised.

  “I told you in my letter, Jonan and King Calinnae are childhood friends. They see each other as brothers just as much as you and I see each other as brother and sister. Unless you want war after all, you shouldn’t let harm befall Jonan.”

  Giles frowned thoughtfully as he answered. “Of course I don’t want war. But there are others who would think it was worth it. Whatever you might think, I don’t want to see Jonan killed. But the people are riled up now, and if it’s between him and you, of course I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe.”

  “Giles,” said Scarlett, her voice calm and quiet. “If you allow Jonan to be executed in my place, I will never forgive you. I will not hesitate to do whatever it takes to prevent that. And I’m capable of more than you think I am.”

  “I told you, I’m not the one who wants to see him killed.” Giles sounded frustrated. “But while you’re tethered to him, you each endanger the other even more. Besides, there are…your marriage in itself has made some people angry. You seem to forget how prominent a figure you’ve always been. I’ll be honest—your decision to ally yourself with a Kyonan, and one known to have been part of the slave resistance—has made things difficult for the crown.”

  “If you’re waiting for an apology,” said Scarlett flatly, “it’s not coming.”

  “My point is,” Giles continued, as if she hadn’t spoken, “some powerful people would like very much to see you free of this…entanglement.”

  “This what?” Scarlett’s voice was dangerously quiet.

  “If you and Jonan were not tied together,” Giles pushed on stubbornly, “people might be more willing to turn a blind eye toward your actions.”

  “At the cost of Jonan’s life,” Scarlett snapped.

  “Not necessarily,” countered Giles. “When exactly were you married, Scar?”

  “Last autumn, a year ago,” said Scarlett, surprised by the unexpected question. “Why?”

  “Yes, I know it was last autumn, but when exactly?” pressed Giles. “When will it be a year?”

  “Why?” asked Scarlett again, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

  “Well, like I said,” Giles began, sounding almost eager, “I’ve been looking for a way to help you out of this mess, and I think I’ve found something. It’s an old law, but as far as I can tell, it’s still valid. It says that if a member of the court marries a foreign citizen without consent of the sovereign, the sovereign can annul the marriage within twelve months.”

  Chapter Five

  Scarlett felt her mouth drop open in a very unladylike expression as Giles spoke, and for a moment after he was done she could only stare blankly at him.

  “Annul my marriage?” she said at last, her voice sounding strange. “Have you lost your mind? How could you possibly think I would ever agree to that?”

  “Well, strictly speaking, you don’t have to agree,” said Giles, clearly nettled by her reaction. “I just have to convince Uncle Siloam that—”

  “Giles,” cut in Aunt Mariska, her tone admonishing. “We agreed that we wouldn’t force her to do anything.”

  Scarlett turned astonished eyes on her aunt, making no effort to hide the sense of betrayal she felt. “You knew about this, Aunt Mariska?” she demanded. “You thought it was a good idea to annul my marriage?”

  “I just thought it was a good idea for you to know you had the option, that’s all,” her aunt responded quickly. “I can imagine that after all that happened in Kyona, and after your…your secret became known, you might be afraid to return to Nohl. But we’re your family, Scarlett. You’ll always be welcome with us, and I wanted you to know that you do have a home to come back to, whatever you might have thought.” She hesitated. “Whatever you might have been encouraged to think.”

  Scarlett had been searching the older woman’s eyes as she listened, and at her aunt’s last addition, she thought she understood. Before she could respond, however, Giles cut in.

  “What Mother is trying to say is that you belong here with us, Scarlett.”

  She scowled at her cousin. “If you can keep my neck out from under the blade, you mean.”

  He opened his mouth to reply, but she forestalled him. “Never mind that.” She turned back to Aunt Mariska. “Unless I’m mistaken, what you’re really trying to say is that you think I married Jonan because I was afraid I had no other prospects—even that he persuaded me to think so—and that even now, deep down, I might want a way out.”

  She looked between them, her expression stern. “Let me make a few things very clear. Firstly and most importantly, I love Jonan. I married him for no other reason, and I’m happy as his wife. I don’t wish to discuss that any further. Secondly, he never put any kind of pressure on me to do anything, certainly not to marry him. Believe me, I would know. I passed from childhood to adulthood in the company of a master manipulator, and though I’m not proud of it, the truth is I’m extremely skilled at manipulating people myself. So you can take my word for it when I say that Jonan doesn’t have a manipulative bone in his body. And finally, I didn’t have to marry Jonan to remain in Kyona. King Calinnae is a good man, and he would certainly have offered me sanctuary without any such stipulation. I had nothing to gain by marrying Jonan except the pleasure of his company.”

  “Well, that’s certainly true,” muttered Giles. She glared at him, but he met her look squarely. “What? You have to admit I have a point. If not for your treasonous activities, you could have married literally any unmarried nobleman in Balenol. And while we were all less than impressed when we realized that your father had spirited you away to Kyona in such a fashion, at least he was attempting to negotiate your marriage with their king. Instead you come back married to a commoner who, as far as I understand it, has no title, no land, and no fortune to speak of. And, if memory serves, quite a smart mouth on him.”

  Scarlett bristled instantly in Jonan’s defense. “How dare you talk about him like that? What is it to you anyway? If you really cared about my well-being, you wouldn’t be complaining that I didn’t make an advantageous marriage. I’m a hundred times happier with him than I was living with one of the most powerful noblemen in Balenol. Yes, happier even than I was living here at the castle, surrounded by royalty.”

  “Does he re
ally make you so happy, darling?” Aunt Mariska asked, a hint of longing in her voice. “Does he look after you? Is he kind to you?”

  Scarlett turned to her aunt at once, softening. “Yes, Auntie, he really does. He is the best husband I could ask for. Our lives are simple because we choose it that way. We could live in the castle at Kynton if we wanted to, but we prefer to live in the forest. King Calinnae wanted to give Jonan an official title, but Jonan has no interest in such things. But it’s not true that he has no position. We’re the leaders of a substantial community of returned Kyonans and others who do not wish for city life. They all love Jonan. He leads them well, and he does so without expecting the acclaim or recognition of a title.”

  She could see that her words had put Aunt Mariska more at ease, but Giles wasn’t so easily impressed.

  “You are full of his praises,” he said, his tone flat, “and you say that he would never put pressure on you. Does that mean that he didn’t try to persuade you not to come back here?”

  Scarlett matched him glare for glare. “He was only worried that I might be in danger. And it turns out he had good reason!”

  Giles raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Is that all he was worried about? He wasn’t also worried about giving your family the chance to remind you that you have options other than him?”

  Remembering her conversation with Jonan on deck that morning, Scarlett had to admit to herself that Giles’s words were uncomfortably close to the truth. She flushed and looked away, but not quickly enough to miss the sardonic curl of Giles’s lip. He clearly knew that he had hit the mark.

  “Evidently he had reason to be worried about that too,” she said.

  “And yet you defend him,” growled Giles. “What kind of a man corners a woman into marrying him? He obviously knew you were much too good for him, and he didn’t have a hope of succeeding if he pursued you honorably, so he—”

  “It wasn’t like that at all!” cried Scarlett, stung.

  How was Giles managing to make the story of her marriage—which she had thought almost like something out of a fairytale—seem sordid and dishonorable? She took a deep breath.

  “It doesn’t matter what you think, Giles. I was of age before we married. The marriage was legal and binding, and there is no way I would consider trying to have it set aside.”

  “Not even to save his life?” Giles asked.

  “What do you mean?” asked Scarlett uneasily.

  “I’ve told you,” said Giles, “there are powerful people who want your blood, as much for marrying Jonan as for your involvement in the resistance. People who are willing to do whatever it takes to remove the disgrace of your…alliance. I can’t see any way to be sure of your safety except to separate you from him. If that…problem was taken care of, then I think we could convince my uncle the king to pass a lesser sentence than execution on Jonan. Not everyone would be satisfied, but that can’t be helped. Some kind of justice could be seen to be done, and he could be allowed to return home to Kyona in one piece.”

  “With a few lashes, but without his wife,” said Scarlett flatly. “Quite apart from everything else, do you think I’m going to stand by while he gets publicly flogged, or worse?”

  Giles shrugged dismissively. “Jonan’s tough, he can withstand whatever punishment might be applied. And,” he reminded her, “you wouldn’t be his wife if the king annuls the marriage.”

  Scarlett balled her fists at her side, but her voice was steady. “No thanks. I don’t like that solution to my ‘problem’.”

  “You don’t have to like it,” Giles snapped. “But I’m guessing you like the alternative even less.” She raised her eyebrows inquiringly, and he pushed on. “Having the marriage set aside is not the only way to separate you and your husband. Or don’t Kyonan marriage ceremonies include the phrase, ‘until death do us part’?”

  She sucked in a breath as she understood his meaning. “So you’re telling me that Jonan will be executed unless I agree to this plan? That’s outrageous. You’re the one who assured me it was safe for us to come here. So you need to find a way out of this mess that doesn’t involve anyone dying.”

  “I’m trying, Scarlett, I really am,” he said, frustrated. “I don’t want to force you to leave your husband any more than I want to see him executed. But I can’t guarantee your safety any other way. You being executed yourself is still a very real possibility. And I’m not going to let that happen. But you just don’t understand how bad things have been this last year. The crown is hanging onto its credibility by a thread. I thought I could contain things, but then he showed up, and started riling everyone up. Now they’re all cursing the Kyonans with every second breath, and meanwhile in walks Jonan, the perfect target for all the pent-up rage…I don’t see how the king can get out of this without doing something to Jonan at the very least.”

  Scarlett frowned, trying to keep up. “Who started riling everyone up? We both know that King Siloam isn’t the one pulling any strings. Who’s in his ear now?”

  Giles exchanged a glance with his mother, and she was the one who answered, her voice soft.

  “Your brother.”

  “Scanlon?” asked Scarlett, surprised, and Aunt Mariska nodded.

  “He showed up in Nohl two weeks ago. Giles had written to inform him of your impending visit, as was only fair. We thought he might want to see you and meet your husband. He has barely shown his face since your father died. But now he’s demanding justice for his murder. He and the men he brought with him—”

  “He brought men?” Scarlett interrupted, beginning to feel uneasy, and her aunt nodded, her grave expression telling Scarlett that she was not the only one who sensed the threat behind Scanlon’s actions.

  “They’ve been spreading all kinds of discontent,” Aunt Mariska continued. “Telling people that the Kyonans have effectively crippled us and that we should strike back. And he’s had plenty to say about you, as well. The way he talks, you’d think Jonan had corrupted you, used you to destroy the slave system, then carried you forcibly back to Kyona as the spoils of war.”

  “What?” Scarlett demanded, startled. “That doesn’t even make sense! The resistance was happening years before Jonan came, and the slaves didn’t leave until well after he’d returned to Kyona.”

  “People don’t care about the details,” said Giles dryly. “Thanks to Scanlon, most of them now believe that Jonan was the one who started the resistance and that your involvement in it was entirely his doing, presumably as a result of him seducing you. They also believe that he took you with him by force when he returned to Kyona, and that your father followed you there only to be killed by Jonan while attempting to retrieve you.”

  Scarlett’s mouth was hanging open in horror by the end of Giles’s speech. For a moment she was at a loss for what to say in response to this disgustingly twisted version of the truth.

  Giles took advantage of her stupefaction to add, “There wasn’t time to write and stop you from coming. But the situation being what it now is, Jonan was in danger of falling afoul of an angry mob the moment he set foot in Nohl. The dungeons are honestly the safest place for him.”

  Scarlett shot him a look, but didn’t think that this absurdity warranted further response. “What does Scanlon hope to gain by all this? I can’t imagine he actually wants me back in Balenol. Does he just want to see Jonan and me both killed for revenge?”

  Giles shrugged. “I was hoping you could tell me. You know him better than I do.”

  “Do I?” asked Scarlett doubtfully. “Honestly, I don’t really know him at all. I was just a baby when I left father’s estates to come and live at the castle. By the time I went to live with father at his manor house in Nohl, Scanlon was an adult, and whenever father was here, Scanlon stayed on the estates to take charge. We saw each other rarely, and our only interactions were superficial.”

  “Well, I suggest you have a less superficial conversation with him in the very near future if you want Jonan’s head to stay on his shou
lders,” said Giles dryly. “Because unless I’m much mistaken, he’s the one we’ll need to convince that annulling your marriage and inflicting some non-fatal punishment on Jonan is enough. He’s claiming to be the one who has been wronged, both by your father’s death and by your marriage, and you have to admit that there’s some truth to what he says.”

  “Why in the kingdom would I have to admit any such thing?” demanded Scarlett indignantly. “I fail to see what my marriage has to do with Scanlon. And as we’ve already established, there will be no annulment.”

  “Don’t be difficult, Scar,” said Giles wearily. “As your brother, and the head of your house now your father is dead, he would expect to have some say in your marriage. Or did Jonan undertake negotiations with him that I haven’t heard about? Offered a generous settlement, perhaps?”

  “No need to be sarcastic,” snapped Scarlett. “It’s not becoming for a prince.”

  “Children,” said Aunt Mariska reprovingly, for all the world as if they were still ten years old, arriving for dinner late and covered in mud from sneaking off to play in the jungle.

  “Mother is right,” said Giles, his expression unyielding. “We need to take this situation seriously. How urgently do we need to act, Scarlett? When exactly will the first year of your marriage be over?”

  Scarlett took a deep breath, for show, trying to seem as if she was considering whether to cooperate. “In two weeks,” she lied smoothly. “Two weeks and two days, to be precise.”

  It wasn’t difficult to lie convincingly. As sad as it was to admit to herself, deceit was second nature to Scarlett. It required much more effort to be honest. And as much as she had tried to improve in that area, she felt no qualms about her dishonesty in this situation. She needed to buy them some time.

  Giles nodded thoughtfully, unsuspecting. “That’s good. We have a little while to work out the details, figure out how to sell this solution.”

  Scarlett was silent, her expression giving nothing away. But inside her mind was whirring, already trying to formulate her own plan. She hoped that Jonan hadn’t said anything to anyone about tomorrow being their anniversary. She couldn’t imagine why he would have, but it still made her nervous to think of what Giles would do if he knew that this was his last day to put his “solution” into action. Especially since he apparently didn’t need her to actually agree in order to make it happen. She had no doubt he could convince King Siloam to declare her marriage invalid. It was a well-known fact that the Balenan king was maddeningly—and dangerously—persuadable.