Chapter 32

Trinity

What just happened?

I almost can't believe it. Everyone is talking at once as I am taken back to my cell. The king is talking with Octane. Why? What purpose would it serve?

Is Octane still going to be put to death? I can't see the outcome being any different after a discussion.

I go and sit on my thin mattress. I clasp my hands together, feeling my baby kick and move inside me. For once, feeling my child brings no comfort.

I put a hand over my face.

He implicated himself. He made me look like a shining example. He told me he loved me. I make a choking noise, covering my mouth with my hand.

Hearing him say it brought me untold joy and untold pain, just like I knew it would. I didn't want him to say it, but I don't want him to take it back even more. They're words I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I lie down on the bed, pulling myself into a ball. I wish I could rewind the clock. I would go with him in an instant. I would take my chances. I lie there for a time, staring at the wall, wondering where Octane is and when I will be called back to attend the beheading. I can't believe that they are forcing me to watch Octane being put to death. On the one hand, I want to be there for him. To give him some measure of comfort. I would more than likely be the only friendly face. Having said that, it's a vision I would never be able to erase. It isn't the last memory I want to have of the man I love.

"Female," a guard calls to me.

My back stiffens, and my heart picks up the pace.

I'm not ready. No!

Is this it?

Is this the end for Octane?

"Her name is Trinity," a familiar, deep voice says.

I gasp, sitting up, and there he is. Standing right there at the entrance to my cell.

"Octane?" I sound like I am in shock because I am. I stand, my mouth gaping. "It's you," I say as I walk toward the bars. "It's you," I repeat as I grab the bars in both my hands. "Am I dreaming?" I know it's a stupid question, but I can't believe my eyes. "What are you doing here? I thought…I…I thought." I burst into tears. "Crap!" I wipe my face. "It's the hormones. Are they letting us say goodbye?" I choke out.

"Can you open up?" Octane asks the guard, who does as he asks. I note that he isn't wearing any shackles.

Why not?

What is going on?

The door to the cell clicks open, and Octane walks in.

Then he's there, larger than life. He still has some bruises. The gash on his forehead has closed over, but is on the mend. He looks good. No, he looks amazing.

I fall into his arms. They feel heavenly around me. Partly because it's him and partly because I never expected to ever have this again. To feel this.

I hold him tight, closing my eyes and breathing him in.

"Are you okay?" he asks, his hand moving up and down my back.

It's always his first concern. Me over him. I've never had that before. Not ever. It feels good. It also makes me feel sad. This can't be over. Someone somewhere is going to pull the rug out from under us and any minute.

I sniff.

I can't let my guard fully down.

"No tears, Little Red. You can stop crying now," he reassures me.

"I'm trying. Believe you me, I'm trying," I tell him. "To answer your question, I'm doing okay." I cry harder, my face crumpling.

"Could have fooled me." I can hear that he is smiling. He uses his thumbs to dry my tears and pulls me in for another hard but quick embrace. It helps relax me a little.

"Let's sit," Octane says.

We do…on that thin mattress.

"What happened with the king?" I ask. "What did he have to say? I can't believe that happened. A talk. What does that even mean?" I shake my head, my lip wobbling.

"Yes, a chat. And…" Octane widens his eyes, "he had a lot to say. He's a good male."

"He is?" I ask. "I mean, yes," I nod, "he is a good male. Arctic wants peace."

"He asked me to tell him everything that happened. He knew that I had been lying to save you. He wanted to know what really took place."

"And you lied." My heart sinks.

"No." He shakes his head. "I told him everything. All of it."

I swallow hard. "When is your beheading?" My eyes fill with tears. "Let me guess: this is goodbye."

I knew it.

"No, not even close." His eyes glint as he takes my hand. "This is the beginning…if you'll have me."

I frown. "What do you mean? You'd better tell me everything and right now," I growl.

He laughs, and I hit the side of his arm. "Now, Octane. I mean it. How is this not goodbye? What's going on?"

"Okay, okay." He laughs some more, turning serious. "That Prince Ice is some piece of work. He is the opposite of his brother. I can't even believe they have the same mother."

"Actually, they don't. Arctic's mother died in childbirth. She was a wonderful woman. Frost and Ice are twins. They—" I make a face. "Shit! Sorry! Go on." I flap my hand, urging him on.

"Different mothers." He nods a few times. "That makes sense."

"What happened with Ice? Tell me. You did a one-eighty on me. You had Ice hostage, and then you just let him go. It made no sense to me. We were going to escape."

"He came to propose that I work for the Reds as a go-between. A liaison between Mistveil and Draig. He wanted to know more about the Draig Dragons…with peace in mind…of course." Octane rolls his eyes. "He was full of shit. I could see right through it. He gave me a bad feeling, so I turned him down. I suspected an angle."

"And there was one," I say, my eyes narrowing on him.

He snorts. "Oh, most definitely. It was only after I turned him down flat that he got desperate. I think that he was partly worried about being killed as a hostage, but his biggest motivation was wanting to see his brother…the king…fall from grace with the people. He needed me to make that happen."

"How?" I ask.

"By doing just as he said, by making me a liaison. He guessed that the Mistveil citizens would not be happy with a Draiger working in the castle to broker peace talks. He was banking on the king losing ground. On the people accepting a new king more readily when the time came."

"A new king?" I'm trying hard to keep up. "I don't know what you mean." I frown.

"Ice said that he planned a coup. He planned to kill both his brothers in order to take the crown." I gasp, but Octane goes on, "He said when that happened, I need not worry because my place in the palace was secured. All would be revealed."

"He told you this?" My eyes go big. "Surely not."

"Yep, he did. I think he knew that I would see through him otherwise. He needed to tell me as much of the truth as he could get away with so that I would buy it. He didn't like that I could see through his sweet-talking, sugar-coated bullshit."

"Why? Wait just a minute! Igor said that he would be promoted to general once the new king took over. That there was a new king waiting in the wings, one the people would accept. He was talking about Ice, wasn't he? Holy smokes!"

"He was, indeed." Octane nods.

"And Arctic just believed all of this? That doesn't sound right. I mean, you're a Draiger. I can't fathom that he'd take your word over his brother's."

"Thankfully, the king didn't have to believe me." Octane shrugs. "There was camera footage of our whole conversation. The coverage through the regular CCTV camera had been switched off. It was Ice's doing. What he didn't know was that Arctic had put cameras behind the mirror on the far side of the cell. He put a whole lot of cameras all over the castle without telling his entourage. He suspected that there was something afoot. He's been gathering evidence against Ice for some weeks now."

"That's lucky, Octane."

"I'd call it astute. Arctic is no fool."

"Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you stand up against him?" I ask. "Against that bastard, Ice."

He sighs. "I decided to let Ice go and not to pursue the hostage situation because I believed that it would be seen as a show of good faith. I wrongly and stupidly believed that I would be granted a meeting with the king. I didn't want to just leave knowing what I knew about what Ice planned. If that asshole had taken over, it would have been a disaster for both islands." He shakes his head. "I know now that it was short-sighted of me to expect to be given a chance to talk with Arctic. Once they threw me into solitary confinement, I knew that no one would believe me, anyway. And so, I decided to use my last two minutes far more wisely." He takes both my hands. "They would not have believed me if I had spouted all of this against Ice. I didn't know at the time that there was evidence to support me. That the king was busy looking into all of it. The tunnels, Igor and Titan's place. All of it. Arctic waited until the last moment to see how it would all play out, and he made his decision accordingly."

"What did he decide?" I'm almost too afraid to ask. I'm on the edge of my seat.

"This is where it gets tricky." He looks down, pulling in a deep breath.

"Why? What did he say?" I almost can't contain myself.

"He said that his brother is to be jailed. Ice will go on trial for treason. He will be sentenced to death if he is found guilty." His eyes are solemn.

"It sounds like there is a ton of evidence against him." I lick my lips. "I'm pretty sure it's a given that he will be executed."

"Oh, there is plenty of evidence." He shrugs. "And I say what goes around comes around." Then he gets a look in his eye. A glint.

"What?" I ask.

"Arctic told me that he thought that Ice had one good idea through all of this. Just the one, mind you."

"Are you going to make me beat it out of you?" I ask, giving him the side-eye.

Octane smiles, and my insides flutter. "He asked if I would stay on as a liaison between the Reds and the Draigers."

"Are you serious?" My heart swells so much that my chest starts to hurt a little.

Octane turns serious and nods.

"Tell me," I insist. I'm smiling.

"He invited me to stay on. He wants nothing more than peace. I mean, if Ice had taken over, we know what would have happened. We know that peace was the furthest thing from that bastard's mind. I knew that. You know that. Even when he told me otherwise, I knew he planned on slaughtering my people. Arctic is the opposite."

"What are you saying? Are you going to accept?" There is excitement laced in my voice.

"I want to, but I had to talk to you about it first. It's a bit tricky."

"We could be together. What is there to talk about?" I squeeze his hand. "This is everything we could have hoped for. Unless you don't want to live on Mistveil. I guess I can understand that."

Octane nods. "It's not that. I would have an opportunity to make a difference like I always wanted. It would be a positive difference. It would be bringing people together instead of keeping them apart. It would be fostering peace and love instead of hate. But…"

I groan. "I knew there was a but…"

"But it would mean that we would have to live here at the castle. He has offered to pay me very well. You wouldn't have to work."

"This stuff isn't important. Please get to the important part. I don't care where we live, just as long as we're together. We can iron out everything else. What is your main concern?"

"It would be dangerous. I wouldn't be readily accepted, which means that you would be caught up in it as a Draiger lover. We would be given guards to watch over us, but…"

"Yes," I tell him. "I said no before, and I was wrong. I should have jumped then, but I'm jumping now. It will always be yes. We belong together."

Octane laughs. "Really? You mean it?"

"Of course I mean it." A tear leaks out, much to my disgust. "I love you. I will follow you everywhere and support you in anything."

"Are you sure?" He frowns, looking into my eyes.

"Shut up and kiss me already."

Our lips meet somewhere in the middle. His mouth closes over mine as he tugs me in close, his fingers threading through my hair. For a few moments, time seems to stand still.