7

Ian

I was beside myself hearing how bad Mabel's condition truly was, but having to tell Andre made it ten times more real. We were both destroyed, and having to be the one to tell that horrible news weighed on me.

But the beautiful, beautiful man gave me hope when I could not see any or figure out how.

He knew someone in the temple in the capital. A priest who'd had a bit of a bender and a stay in a brothel and would have gotten in big trouble if he'd been found out. Andre had felt bad for the guy for slipping up in a totally normal way and the temple hypocrites on their rules would come down hard on him.

So he'd helped the man by saying the police had mistaken him for a suspect and he'd been locked up for those couple of days. The temple had been pissed, but what could they really do when they were citizens of Areca and had to follow the laws as well.

But that was a favor that could be called in, and Andre had wanted to, but the temple was so locked down with everything going on and the orders from the Holy Empire that he hadn't been able to get in. Even with the priests protesting and starting trouble, he'd gone off trying to find his contact, this Petee, but could not find him.

I could. I would.

I would do anything for Mabel including burn that fucking temple to the ground and abduct all of the priests to heal her.

Andre gave me a detailed description but seemed nervous that he was still at the same temple. I was as well, but if I had to break into the office and find the records of the priest, I would.

Actually, that was probably the best place to start.

So I did. No, I did not feel bad about it or for breaking the law.

Andre could use his handcuffs on me later. I snorted, thinking I'd probably enjoy it.

There were two Peters at the temple, but one fit the age that Andre had told me… And the file had his room assignment. Perfect.

I put everything back and found the room, sneaking in as a hawk and shifting again. He was not there so I waited. It was another hour before he came through the door. He was alone so I moved his hand over his mouth.

"I am not here to hurt you. Be quiet and we have no problem," I said quietly. "I simply need to confirm who you are. Do you understand?" I waited until he nodded before releasing him.

His eyes went wide when he turned and could see who I was. So he recognized me. That was good.

"Are you Petee?" I wanted to cry in relief when he did not answer but his heart skipped a beat. It was him. "Commander Andre Lessa did you a favor some years ago, yes?" Still, he said nothing, but his heart did, and it was him. But I needed him to speak to me. I took a step towards him. "You know who I am and what—"

"Yeah, fine, it's me and yeah, I know the commander," he hissed, glancing around. "The walls have ears. You are going to get me killed."

"Then start talking quietly or I will start talking loudly," I threatened.

He sighed. "Yeah, he did me a solid back in the day. What of it?"

I blinked at him, shocked that a priest spoke like that and this man did not care one lick of my rank. "He's calling in that debt. We need you to come and—"

He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "You think I can just leave here when I want?" He snorted again at whatever was on my face. "You nobles are all so fucking clueless, always have been."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Then enlighten me."

"I do and I am dead. You will start shit and I will be in the middle of it. I like living."

I studied him. "You are unlike priests that—"

"That signed up for this crazy?" He smirked at me. "Yeah, those of us they know are not on board for the bullshit are not the ones who ask for donations and are seen at services. The brainwashed dolts do that. The rest of us wash their robes and are slaves."

And that was all I needed to know on how to make this work. "I can get you out."

He snorted. "You might be the grand duke, but the protection on this place with holy power is—"

"The royal family is immune to holy power," I told him, nodding when he could not hide his shock. "If we do not want it used on us, we have the power to block it, so I can walk right through the protective wards of this place, and the senior priest in charge of this place knows it. The pope knows that, and that's why he backed down."

He studied me. "Because your threat of war would be real. He cannot really protect the Holy Empire like he tells everyone." He snorted when I nodded. "All the bullshit is—yeah, get me out of here, man. I will repay the debt and—just get me out of here and keep me alive." He searched my eyes. "Can you get a few more out?"

Well, this was a turn of events that I did not see happening. "Yes, but my understanding was you went on a bender and got caught in a brothel. You understand your life will not be that either after leaving the temple, and I do not have time for that type of trouble."

He nodded, scrubbing his hand over his neck. "I had a chance to escape and went crazy. Can I fucking have a beer like a normal guy now and again? Meat? Fuck, I forgot the taste of chicken and beef—bacon. I miss bacon. I have not had it since I was eight. That's when the temple took me. This life is miserable.

"Yeah, I want a woman, but whatever. Maybe I can just meet one like real life, not this hell." He gave me a destroyed look. "The only perk of this place was we were supposed to use our holy power to help people. That was supposed to be the reason we sacrificed so much, and that would have been worth it. Helping people where I grew up, but they never let me. It eats me."

I nodded, knowing pain like that. I moved closer and rubbed his shoulder. "Who else do you want me to save? Give me names and be with them tomorrow morning. I will handle it. Just agree to what I say. Warn them to agree and I will get you out. I will have to hide you at my estate, and you will be locked down but yes, bacon, beer—much better than this."

"Thank you. Thank you," he rasped. "I cannot—I just want quiet. I cannot be around nobles and priests and yelled at all of the time. I want to heal."

He sounded like Mabel… And even more than I realized when I saw a healed whip scar when he lowered his head. It was on the back of his neck.

The temple whipped their own priests. I found that surprising but not shocking.

How sad was that?

I got the names he wanted to save, but when it reached ten, I gave him a look that it was too many. He needed to vouch that they would not betray him and truly wanted out, did not buy into the temple at all.

The list turned to five. Fine, I could get six of them out to start.

I flew to Gerald and filled him in. He was worried but agreed that it was a shot worth taking to help Mabel and also against the temple. Most did not know we had power against the temple, and it would be good to challenge them like the temple's power was failing.

I did not want to get Mabel's hopes up until we knew more, but I had hope when I crawled into bed with her that night. She curled against me, and I prayed to the goddess to help me save Mabel. Yes, to be selfish, but this world needed her too.

The next morning, I woke to my gorgeous woman sucking my cock and Andre watching with a smirk. Seriously, I was a spoiled, spoiled prince.

And I fucking loved it.

"Hopefully, I will bring you good news today," I told her when she was done. I shook my head when she tried to ask what I was talking about. "Only if I am successful. Know Andre and I immediately did all we could, and we will never stop trying. If we pull this off, we will have you together tonight, lovely. We will have you fully."

She searched my eyes and nodded. "It's the least I should do."

"Excellent." I smiled when Andre gave me a high five for rigging something fun for us in the deal. I was renewed in my determination.

Not because I wanted to be dirty with Mabel. No, that was not remotely why. I wanted more nights of fun with both of them. I wanted this life for the three of us.

We deserved it after all we had been through!

I showed up at the temple with two squads of knights. The senior priest was informed of my arrival and showed up at the door before I could enter.

I smirked at him. "Am I unwelcome in the temple?"

"I would prefer to state your business first, Your Grace," he said instead.

I was glad there were a lot of people who were there witnessing this since morning services were about to start… Like I had planned. "You act as if I have never been here before as if I am not allowed as a citizen of Areca, and this temple is in the kingdom of Areca, not an embassy or land of the Holy Empire."

Anger filled his eyes. "I know the law, but my loyalty will always be to the Holy Pope."

"The pope is your spiritual leader, sir, but the king is your sovereign and who you are loyal to as a citizen," I said firmly. "It's best you remember that and start acting like it."

He bristled at the lecture. "I think it best you remember your position as well, especially that you are supposed to be neutral."

"I am supposed to enforce the law as the Minister of Justice. If you have loyalty other than to your king, that classifies you as a spy. I would not want you in trouble as some of your other priests already are. I am warning you." I nodded past him. "Just as I am about my rights to enter."

"As the head priest, I am within my rights to reject entry to anyone at any time," he threw right back.

"I was invited," I countered, nodding when he frowned. "The saint received a letter from six priests asking if they could meet her. I said I needed to meet them first, and they invited me to the temple." I smiled when steam about came out of his ears. "Is there a problem with that? Are your priests not allowed to send letters or contact people freely?"

The priest glanced around as people started to whisper and more people gathered. "I was unaware of the invitation. I will inquire about it and extend an invitation another day. Today is out of the question though given the issues right now."

I put on my most innocent face. "What issues? You are citizens of Areca. The issues of the Holy Empire have nothing to do with you. Your holy leader is separate from the law. We just established that."

"Be that as it may, I have to ask you to leave for today, Your Grace. And I can as the head of this temple."

"You can," I conceded, but then smirked. "Fine, send out the men who invited me. I do not feel comfortable leaving without speaking to them given how you are behaving." I raised an eyebrow when he opened his mouth. "And I am well within my right to ask that, and as a citizen of Areca, you have to comply."

"No, I do not," the high priest seethed. "The word of our pope who answers to the goddess supersedes the corrupt royal family and fake saint you wish to try and puppet."

I threw back my head and laughed. "Now she's a fake? After your pope was going to force her to marry him and the high priest tried to kill her after announcing she was the saint? She never said such a thing, but—"

"Lies," he shouted. "You are an enemy of this temple and—"

"I am the Minister of Justice and a noble of this kingdom," I said firmly. "You are a citizen of this great nation, and you are—" I bit back a smile when he activated the wards of the temple, people screaming as they were trapped inside or pushed out of the way of them.

"This temple is protected by holy power and—"

I stepped forward and walked right through the barrier, shocking everyone there, especially the high priest. So the fool truly did not think the royal family had the magic to block holy power.

"Apparently, the goddess is not on your side anymore. I understand why when you call her saint fake and trap your priests in the temple against their will," I said loudly. I grabbed his arm and forced him outside of the area to activate the barrier, the magic set up long ago by priests more powerful than him.

The moment he crossed the line, it was useless and he had nothing he could do. I passed him over to an amused James and said to place him under arrest.

"Gladly, Your Grace," James said as he restrained the yelling priest.

I glanced over and saw Petee in the doorway with several others. "Are you Peter who wrote to the Countess Phoenix asking to meet her and confirm her holy power? Answer any question she might have about the considerations to be a saint?"

"Yes, Your Grace," he answered as he stepped forward. "I have gathered several priests who have strong holy power, training that could help her, or knowledge that could answer the questions of the saint best. With your permission, I think they are the ones who can at least give her the best start in her journey to become closer with our beloved goddess."

It was hard not to laugh or react. This was quite the change from the foulmouthed rough man I'd met last night. He'd learned the act well probably for survival, but clearly he was still a kid who had been found in a rough area at heart.

"Excellent. You are welcome to join us at my home. I know it's a lot to ask, but I ask you spend a few days there so my people can get to know you better before I allow you to meet with the countess." I gestured to the priest who was just taken away. "As you can see, there are many threats against her."

He dipped his head to me. "We accept and understand. Clearly, the goddess picked the right protector for her saint, Your Grace. If your knights would not mind coming with us, we can quickly pack a few things."

"Of course. Take your time." I swallowed a snort when the looks they gave me clearly said they wanted to get the hell out of this place and fast.

And apparently, part of it was they did not have much to pack. I frowned when they each had one small bag, wondering why they only had that for show, but one of my knights gave a slight head shake. That was truly all they had?

Well then.

Other priests tried to kick up a fuss, but without the head priest to activate the barrier and with knights already inside, they really could not do anything. Plus, there were tons of witnesses there to see the priests came of their own free will. One offered to heal an old injury one of my knights had very publicly and without a donation, upsetting other priests.

Clearly, we weren't abducting him.

Petee let out a long breath once we were all loaded and on our way from the temple. "Forgive me, but rumor got around that the saint could die if not healed by the pope. The pope sent a magical letter this morning before you arrived to warn the head priest that he was going to leverage it."

"Without holy power since she cannot heal herself, but that explains why he went so crazy," I grumbled. "And someone has a rat in their house." I shook my head when he asked what that meant. These priests did not need the secrets of world leaders, but I needed to tell Gerald. One of the envoys clearly ran and told the Holy Empire or another leak did.

I was glad when we arrived home, and I was thrilled when I could tell Mabel the good news—Andre as well since it was his plan. Nothing shocked me more than seeing Louisa in my foyer.

"Holy shit," someone hissed behind me.

She blinked at them and met my gaze, shaking off her surprise. "I am not here as the queen. I am here in secret as your worried sister-in-law who loves Mabel."

I nodded, moving closer and kissing her cheek. "Forgive their crassness. Apparently, the temple swipes kids off the street who have holy power, and if they hold out against the brainwashing, they are slaves in the basement basically. Those are the ones I pulled out. But we had a win against the head priest and more."

"They can help her?" she worried.

Petee gestured to one of the priests. "He has more holy power than the head priest. He got beat to crap constantly because he could be a high priest and people were jealous. I am sure whatever is wrong he can help. Or teach her how to heal herself."

"Thank the goddess," Louisa rasped, walking right over to that priest and kissing his cheek. "Bless you. Truly. I am glad that Ian rescued you, but Mabel is a kind soul."

He blinked at her with wide eyes. "I will help her, Your Majesty, but your husband and nobles terrify me. Please do not make me be around them."

She sighed and let me take back over.

I brought them right to the dining room. "Gentleman, I promised Petee you could have meat and beer and a calm, free life. However…" I looked at the chef who was standing there.

"From what the grand duke has told me, you lads have been abused. You have not had meat in years and more. You cannot stuff yourself with bacon and drink your fill of ale today. You will make yourselves sicker than the worst dog if you do. But the grand duke always keeps his word. For now, we have some roast chicken and a beer for each of you. Go slowly."

"I will take the fucking miracle," one of them said and raced for a chair. "Shit, feed me full and I will be happy. I am tired of always being still hungry and only given the bread with fucking mold." He winced when I cleared my throat before looking at Louisa. "I apologize, Your Majesty. I am just…"

"Overwhelmed and free from prison it seems," she whispered, blinking back tears. "Yes, well, please, enjoy yourselves, but go slow as the chef said. I am not here as the queen."

"There is butter," someone groaned. "When have we ever had butter?"

"Never," Petee chuckled. "Only the higher-ups or those who get donations get butter or real food. I never knew owing a favor could lead to getting something so amazing."

I shared a look with Louisa and saw she was just as befuddled as I was. I nodded to the cook and butler to handle the situation. "Gentlemen, please, eat slowly and do not be gluttons. You will not be denied food. The kitchen will be at your disposal as long as you are honest about how you are feeling and speak with our healers."

Petee glanced over at me and nodded. "We get it. You cannot risk getting us out and having one of us die. You will be blamed. We are a bit all over the place, but I am not going to eat myself to death."

"I did think about drinking booze to death a few times, but I will be good. I get it, this is not a con or lie like the temple," someone else said.

"No, certainly not, and the grand duke keeps his promises," the head butler promised. "Rooms have been prepared for you. You will be sharing two larger ones for now. We have the large bathroom ready for you to enjoy a soak and rest as you need. I believe the plan is you will meet the countess at dinner after you have a chance to rest."

"Whatever she's comfortable with or even just one of us," a different priest said. "I hated being surrounded by priests and I am one. From what I heard, the damn woman's been through enough. Do not scare her. We are broken and rough. This chicken makes me want to weep. Do not make her deal with all of us."

They were honestly good lads, and I nodded to my people to help them before I left with Louisa to find Mabel. She was in her workroom not even pretending to get anything done… But glaring at a nervous Andre.

She sighed when I came through the door. "Good, can you give him whatever answer he's dying to hear? There's so much tension that—my goodness, Your Majesty! I apologize. I did not see you."

Louisa went over to her and practically tackled her with a hug. "I am here as Ian's sister-in-law, not the queen. Oh, you poor dear." Then she went and hugged Andre who looked just as shocked. "You smart, smart man. You did it."

Andre gave me a relieved look. "It worked? You got Petee out of the temple?" Mabel gasped, but I kept his gaze.

"Yes, it worked perfectly. He and five of his friends who were desperate to get out are in the dining room. You did it, Andre. You figured out how to save Mabel. One of them is more powerful than the head priest."

"Oh, thank the goddess," Mabel gasped. She darted over to Andre and took his hand before pulling him out of the room. He was shocked but went with her, probably thinking she was excited to heal.

I shared a look with Louisa, and just as quickly, we hurried after them. My eyes went wide when I heard what Mabel said to the priests before we arrived at the dining room.

"I will greet you all and introduce myself to you later, but will one of you please teach me how to heal so we can heal Andre?" she begged. "Please? Violetta sent me another dream saying I have to heal his knee and I have to do it with someone else who has holy power. It has to be two of us and I do not know how. She does not tell me how and is disappointed in me for not—"

Shock rocked me when she broke down crying.

"Darling, it's fine," Andre comforted.

"I want to heal you," she choked out. "Of course, I want to. All I have wanted was to heal you. You have to know that. I cannot learn to heal on my own. And I have to learn how to distill the flower. It's not my fault the temple is corrupt, but she does not understand and thinks I can simply fix that or—I do not know, but how? How can I fix that? They would break me!"

I pushed past my shock and hurried over there. "Why did you not tell us?"

She shook her head. "Tell you what? You would have abducted them or something so I did not have dreams. I wanted to heal Andre too, but it was too dangerous. I had to grow my power. But she's so pushy. She makes your cousin seem like a kitten sometimes and—I am tired, Ian. I want to help, but I need rest, and the flowers—"

Louisa gasped, and I glanced at her as I hugged Mabel to me. She met my gaze and gestured to the priests. "She has to do it because she has holy power, right? So do they. They can help her, Ian. In theory, yes? They can help her make the ink and medicines. Handle this flower so she can save people from this plague the goddess is warning her of."

"I will," Petee said easily. "I was promised I would get to help people with my holy power, not hold it ransom for donations. I hate that. I really hate that."

Relief filled me when others nodded as well.

And yes, I thanked the goddess for the help.

Profusely.