Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

A great feast was prepared in honor of the king's return to Drachenval, as well as the queen's pregnancy, which had not been properly celebrated during Wulfgang's absence. It was, Malissa thought, a somewhat premature celebration. The king might have returned, but he had not returned victorious. As for his supposed heir, the child had not arrived yet—and by the time he did arrive, Malissa would be long gone.

Of course, she did not say any of those things out loud.

She just smiled as best she could and pretended to enjoy the festivities.

She was seated next to the king at a table on a raised platform at one end of Drachenval's great hall. Several other longer tables were set out on the floor below, their tops laden with platters of steaming food, their seats filled with men eager to eat and drink themselves into a stupor. Their raucous voices rang throughout the great hall and mingled with the smells of roasted meat and freshly baked bread filling the air. Sputtering torches lined the stone walls, and their smoke gathered amid the high rafters like a cloud.

Malissa, however, barely even noticed anything that was going on around her. Her body was still at Drachenval, but her mind was already far, far away. She was thinking of the darkstone ring, of Beliath, and of the freedom they soon would share. The time was already approaching midnight, and she was eager to leave, but it was still too early to slip away unnoticed. The feast couldn't go on forever, though. Sooner or later, the king would need to sleep, and when he did—

Suddenly, a voice roared out beside her.

"A demon!"

It was the king. He had been drinking heavily for several hours, and now he was drunker than Malissa had ever seen him before. He looked terrible. His face was gaunter than she remembered, the shape of his skull clearly visible beneath the skin, and his hair, which had been iron gray when he had departed a few months before, was now nearly white. He slammed his fist onto the table, rattling the nearby goblets and trays and snapping the queen out of her reverie.

"I'm telling you, that woman is in league with a demon! I've seen it with my own two eyes!"

For a moment, Malissa thought he was talking about herself and Beliath, and her heart jumped into her throat. But after another moment, her tension eased as she realized who the king was really talking about—the Galadonian queen.

"She's been calling upon dark forces to thwart us," the king went on. "First, she swelled the Ibad River to block us from advancing. Then she sent hordes of rats to deplete our food supply. Lightning to set fire to half our siege engines. A pox to sap the strength of our warriors."

"Those are all most unfortunate events," said Dr. Jaeger, who was seated on the other side of the king. "But it does not mean dark forces are at play. I'm sure the tide of battle will soon turn in our favor."

The king slammed the table again.

"Don't contradict me, Jaeger! I'm telling you, that Galadonian bitch is in league with a demon, and I've seen the creature with my own two eyes! Great, black wings like the wings of a dragon, and horns like the horns of a ram. The beast flew above us one night when the moon was full and scared the men out of their wits. A third of them fled, a third abandoned us to join the Galadonians, and the other third, well…"

He looked out over the banquet hall.

They had returned by sea, which explained why they had arrived home so much earlier than expected. They had used ships stolen from one of Wulfgang's supposed allies, and that was the real reason Malissa had not received word of the king's imminent arrival. No messages had been sent, for fear that the information might end up in the hands of the king's former allies, whom he had betrayed.

Needless to say, the war against the Galadonians was not going well.

"Will the Galadonians besiege Drachenval?" Malissa asked.

Wulfgang gave her a lopsided smile and placed his hand on top of hers. The gesture was meant to be reassuring, but it only made Malissa's skin crawl.

"Let them try! Even a demon cannot bring down the walls of Drachenval. This castle has belonged to my family for more than two centuries, and in that time, it has never once been breached by an enemy force."

Malissa wanted to remind him that the reason the castle belonged to his family was that his ancestors had taken it by force to begin with—but she decided to keep that to herself.

Wulfgang gave her hand a sickening squeeze.

"Fear not, my faithful wife. You are safe with me. I will protect you from the forces of evil." He lowered his eyes to her belly. "And I will protect my heir, Wulfgang the Fifth. He will grow to be a great and powerful king, just like me."

He let go of Malissa's hand and grabbed his goblet off the table, sloshing out some wine in the process.

"A toast!" he roared. "To my obedient wife, and the heir she has given me!"

All throughout the hall, the men raised their cups in response.

The king brought his goblet to his lips and drained it in one gulp. Trickles of wine ran from the corners of his mouth like blood. Malissa had never seen him behave like this before. Something had changed within him. Whether it was the war or the fact that she was pregnant, she didn't know, nor did she particularly care. After tonight, she would never have to see him again.

She lifted her own goblet and pretended to sip from it, though she let no wine actually pass her lips. Since the incident with the poison, this was the first meal she had not eaten in the kitchen, and she was trying to partake of the food and drink as little as possible.

The king noticed and frowned.

"Come now, Theresia," he slurred. "You must drink more deeply than that!"

Theresia? Great hell, was the man so drunk he couldn't even remember her name? Theresia had been his sixth wife. Or maybe his seventh. Malissa couldn't remember. Apparently, neither could the king. She felt her blood boil at the thought of the twelve women who had perished in the king's pursuit of an heir, but she kept the emotion off her face, and began to lift her goblet again.

"Your Highness," Dr. Jaeger interrupted. "Perhaps it would be best if Malissa did not imbibe too much in her condition."

The king's face darkened, and for a moment Malissa thought he was going to berate his advisor again. But then his color evened out, and he gave a thoughtful nod.

"Of course," he said. "We must think of the child. My heir ."

Malissa set her goblet down again. She didn't know whether she should be grateful to Jaeger for the interruption or suspicious of his motives. Perhaps he was remembering that day several weeks before when he had offered his "services," and he was hoping she wouldn't mention anything about that to the king.

"Indeed," Jaeger said. "We must think of your heir, Your Highness, and the hour is getting late. Perhaps it would be wise to let the queen retire for the evening."

"Oh!" the king said, and he looked at Malissa again. "Are you tired, my dear Cathryn?".

Malissa bowed her head slightly and faked a yawn.

"I am. Forgive me, husband, but the day has been so… overwhelming ."

"Of course," the king said with a smile. "Joy can be exhausting."

Indeed , Malissa thought, especially when it's false joy

"Do you wish me to accompany you?" the king asked.

Malissa gave him the sweetest smile she could muster.

"Please, stay here with your men. They deserve your presence, and you deserve this celebration."

***

An hour later, Malissa was finally alone.

It was an hour that had felt like an eternity. First, she'd had to endure being escorted to her bedchamber by two members of the royal guard, who had seemed to move at a snail's pace. Then, she'd had to wait patiently while Droanna and the other handmaidens helped her prepare for bed, loosening her braids, brushing out her hair, helping her undress and put on her sleeping gown. She knew they meant well, and they were only doing their jobs, but it felt like a form of torture when all she really wanted was to be alone so she could prepare for her escape.

Malissa had to admit, she would miss Droanna. During the past several months, that woman's cheerful kindness had been a bright point of an otherwise dreary time spent at Drachenval.

She would miss her.

When the last of her maidservants were gone, Malissa stood by the window and listened. She could hear the festivities still going on in the great hall below, and from the sound of things, the celebration would not be ending anytime soon.

That was good. It meant she would have an easier time slipping away.

She lingered at the window a moment longer, thinking about what Wulfgang had said at dinner. Was it really true that the queen of Galadon was in league with a demon? Only a few short months ago, Malissa would have dismissed such rumors as mere fantasy, but now she knew better. Demons were very real, and she was about to unleash another one upon the world.

She turned away from the window, walked to her wardrobe, and opened it.

From the upper shelf, she took down the satchel with her candles and book and set it on the floor by her feet. Then she took out her black gown and laid it out upon the bed. She had come to think of it as her good-luck gown. Along with the satchel, it was the only thing she would be taking with her tonight.

She was unhappy to be leaving her mother's books behind in the royal library. Beliath could conjure her new clothing, but he would not be able to replicate those books, which were one-of-a-kind heirlooms. Malissa had considered taking some of them with her, but the extra weight would only slow her down, and she didn't want to take any chances. She would have to leave the books. Perhaps, once Beliath was free, they could return to the castle and steal them back, but that was a something to worry about later. Right now, all that mattered was getting away from Drachenval with the baby safe inside her. That was a treasure worth more than any books or gowns or gold.

Malissa stripped off her sleeping robe and placed it on the bed in front of her. Then she started to reach for the black gown. Before she had a chance to start putting it on, however, the door to her bed chamber crashed open behind her.