16. Rainer

16

RAINER

C ecilia Reznik was the most maddening person Rainer had ever met. He'd arrived to retrieve her for the training session she insisted on every morning, only to find a note tacked to the door—the first in a series of riddles that sent him all over the castle.

That had been hours ago. She'd somehow managed to write enough riddles and clues for a scavenger hunt that he spent the better part of the day looking for her. He was a warrior, not a fucking child, and yet he'd played her silly game. In fact, he'd been more into it than he wanted to admit, not that he'd let her or anyone else know that. Rainer liked puzzles, liked learning how her brain worked—but he did not like how long the game went on.

It was clear that she wanted him distracted. Dread pooled in his stomach when he considered what she might be up to. He'd noticed the way she acted like a blank canvas in public, allowing the people of the Argarian court to paint her however they liked. She wore her black and gold dresses, neatly tucked her unruly hair into elaborate updos, and listened attentively—perhaps suspiciously attentively—at social events. He'd chalked it up to vigilance after the attack on the castle, but now he wondered if there was more to it. Perhaps the attack out past the wards had been orchestrated to lull him into a false sense of trust in her. Perhaps she was helping the rebels.

Rainer paused inside the stable doors. The answer to the most recent clue had been Tempest—the horse Cecilia had calmed days before. As he watched the horse trot properly around the field, something tugged at his memory.

The day after Cecilia had stolen a bow and then been attacked out beyond the castle walls, Vincent had complained about servants fleeing the castle. Originally Rainer had assumed that the staff no longer felt safe and wanted to be somewhere else until the transition of power was resolved. Now he wondered if there was more to it. If they wanted to leave, couldn't they have asked Vincent? Why smuggle themselves and their families out while the guards were distracted?

He frowned as an ache pressed behind his eyes. The headaches were getting worse, but he refused to tell anyone for fear they'd send him to the healer and have him bedridden for days.

The stable hand pulled back on Tempest's reins and grinned. "I suppose you're here for your clue."

Rainer sighed and shook his head. "She gave it to you?"

The man tugged on his vest, reached into his coat pocket, and handed Rainer a slip of paper. "Good luck. Your lady is a clever one."

"She's not my lady," Rainer said, too quickly judging by the hike in the stable hand's shoulders.

"My mistake."

Though Vincent seemed above her influence, the future queen had an impressive ability to charm everyone else. Rainer's stomach turned when he remembered the sound of the king hitting her—the way she'd been so calm about it when Rainer wanted to rage.

Rainer shook off the memory, unwilling to look too closely. The rules had always served him well, but his mother had drilled into him from the time he was old enough to understand that he was to always respect a lady's boundaries and never, ever was he allowed to raise his hand to a woman.

He unfolded the note.

"In my halls, secrets and mysteries roam;

find the answer among volume and tome."

He sighed and walked back to the castle. He turned down the hallways, getting lost once before he finally remembered where the library was.

The room smelled like ink and parchment and a warm fire lit swirling dust motes as he made his way through the ceiling-high shelves of books. Why hadn't he come here sooner? He loved stories. He'd been so wrapped up in his duty, he had forgotten how much stories soothed him.

He rounded a corner and his eyes fell on a long mahogany table. A knife-sharp vision sliced through his brain. He winced. As soon as his eyes closed, he saw a pale back bent over the table, dark, curly hair pooled around her and her dress shoved up to her waist as he moved behind her.

He blinked his eyes open and met Cecilia's concerned gaze. She lounged with one leg tucked under her, the other dangling over the arm of the plush chair.

"Rainer, you found me!" Cecilia grinned, placing her book in her lap.

A flicker of a vision returned. He closed his eyes, trying to chase it.

Cecilia sprawled in that same chair, her eyes bright with lust and locked on his. He knelt between her legs, shoving her dress up. He placed a book in her hand.

"Keep reading, Cece," he whispered before lowering his mouth to her.

As fast as the vision arose, it evaporated, leaving him breathless, aching, and much too warm. All the blood in his body rushed south. He tried to call it up again, to examine its edges, looking for proof that it was his imagination when it felt so real. His fantasies were deeply specific and unrelenting, interrupting him in the least opportune moments. Now the vision refused to return.

Anxiety swirled in his chest. His mind might have been getting worse instead of better. It was becoming difficult to distinguish memory from fantasy, and it felt like there was something supernatural drawing him to Cecilia.

A soothing calm spread through his body, as if in answer to his nervousness.

"I don't appreciate being given the slip," Rainer said.

"You don't enjoy scavenger hunts that end with a beautiful woman?" Cecilia challenged. "What a fun-sucker." She flipped a page in her book. "I don't know what you're so grumpy about. I told you exactly where to find me."

He tried to maintain his scowl, but a half-smile broke through. Her face lit with victory. Truthfully, his anger had fizzled the moment he saw her curled up in a chair in the back of the library.

She looked adorable and more relaxed than he'd ever seen her. Her hair was piled in a bun on top of her head, curls as wild and untamable as the woman herself.

"Are you expecting me to believe you've been in here all day and not causing trouble?" Rainer asked.

Cecilia's eyes ignited with mischief. "Of course not. Obviously I was up at dawn to set up your scavenger hunt."

It was a deflection, but he'd get nothing out of her by asking questions outright.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

She held up the book. Myths and Fairy Tales of Olney .

Rainer fought a smile. "What's your favorite?"

A strange expression passed over her face. She tried to say something and was surprised when she couldn't. She shook her head and cleared her throat. "It's hard to pick a favorite, but most of these I've read hundreds of times. Why?"

"I like fairy tales too," Rainer said, sitting down in the chair beside hers.

He was grateful that she seemed so calm today. Even if he found her sudden docile nature unnerving, he was glad to not be chasing her.

"What's your favorite?" she asked.

Rainer sighed. "I can't remember."

She looked sad for a moment.

"I do know this one. I can never tell if it's a memory or if it happened while I was unconscious. Lady Spellman read to me often while I was ill, so perhaps it was her reading it, but I keep remembering parts of this story about raining stars."

Cecilia's eyes brightened. "Would you tell it to me?"

He shouldn't have. He should have taken her back to her room for dinner and sleep, but she had an uncomfortable pull on him.

Cecilia leaned her head against the chair. As he spoke, her eyes fluttered closed. He paused, surprised by her fatigue. She rarely stopped moving. She'd taken to napping most days, but it was strange to see her tired so early. It wasn't even dinnertime yet.

"Keep going," she said softly without opening her eyes.

Rainer continued. He was surprised by how much of the tale he remembered. It must have been from his childhood.

When he finished, she smiled, her eyes still closed.

"I love that one," she said. "I wish I could go there and collect wishes." She sighed dreamily, her head lolling against the chair. "What do you think Jack was saving his wish for?"

Rainer swallowed hard. The question made him so sad, though he didn't completely understand why. "I don't know."

She looked too pale in the firelight, her skin porcelain against the red velvet chair.

"Are you feeling well?" Rainer asked. Without thinking, he leaned over and touched the back of his hand to her forehead.

She jumped. Her eyes shot open and she gasped .

Rainer jerked his hand away. "I'm sorry. I forgot you don't like to be touched," he whispered, silently scolding himself for making her uncomfortable.

Her eyes went glassy and she swallowed hard. "It's not the touching as much as it is the surprise." She blushed and looked away and he was glad for it because her humiliation made him feel ill. "I'm fine. Just tired. Will you tell me more stories?"

Rainer sighed, leaning back in the chair next to hers. "I don't know any."

"Then make one up or read me one. I like listening to you."

He looked at her skeptically. "We both know that's not true."

She giggled. "I like listening to you when you're not bossing me around. You're a good storyteller."

The compliment and her sincerity made Rainer flush with pride. He hadn't felt like he'd been good at much of anything since waking. "All right—give me a moment and I'll make one up."

Rainer started a story about a young woman who ventured into the wild to save her father and twin brother and ran into powerful elemental beings who changed her fate. As he spoke, the story unfolded in his mind in rich colors. Occasionally Cecilia spoke up and made suggestions, most of which added romance to the story—a questionable topic in the company of an unmarried lady, but he figured all fairy tales needed their happy ending. He went on longer than he expected to and when he stopped he realized Cecilia was asleep in her chair.

"Lady Reznik?"

She didn't stir. Rainer repeated her name louder, but she still didn't wake. He could leave her, but he needed to get dinner soon and he didn't like the idea of leaving her vulnerable in public. His stomach was growling loudly after running all over the castle grounds hunting down her clues. He needed to get her to bed, but it didn't seem like she would wake.

"I'm going to carry you to bed," he whispered. He carefully slid one arm under her knees and the other under her shoulders, lifting her into his arms .

She tensed.

"It's just me," he whispered into her hair, and she relaxed.

"Rainy," she muttered sleepily.

A bolt of pain ricocheted through his head and he froze in place. Was it a memory? He tried to call up something familiar, but nothing came.

He sighed as he started to walk. Cecilia snuggled against him, tucking her face into the crook of his neck. She let out a contented sigh that filled his chest with warmth.

She smelled so good. He couldn't explain why he found it so comforting. When she was so close, things didn't feel quite so heavy. All the icy darkness that he'd found himself floating through since waking after his accident was warmed by her nearness.

He must have known her before. That was the only explanation.

He took the servant stairways, hoping that no one would notice the king's guard carrying the sleeping future queen. Rainer wasn't sure how Vincent would react if he found out.

When he finally reached Cecilia's rooms, he carried her to the bed, removed her boots, and tucked her under the covers. When he tried to draw away, she grabbed for his hand.

"Don't leave yet," she whispered. Her eyes cracked open and pleaded with him. "Please don't leave me alone yet."

Rainer felt like a chord reverberated through his chest at the sad look on her face. She was lonely. Of course she was. She didn't have any friends that he had seen, other than Xander, and from what little he could remember, she'd been taken away from her life in Olney. There were pieces missing, too many of them to fully understand.

All he knew was that at that moment, she was achingly lonely, and it was so clear on her face that he felt it in his own heart.

He didn't understand it. For days she'd been driving him out of his mind, stoking his fury as if it was simply a game. Why did he feel utterly compelled to take away anything that hurt her?

"Just until you fall asleep again," he relented.

She sighed and pulled his hand close, snuggling it against her chest. He pulled it back, compromising by holding her hand and rubbing his thumb back and forth over her inner wrist.

After a few minutes, her breathing turned light and even. She looked so innocent in sleep—a far cry from the chaotic wild woman she was during the day. He forced himself to look away.

She was Vincent's. Rainer shouldn't have been in the bedroom of an unmarried woman, especially this one. He was about to leave when he realized there were tears sliding down her cheeks.

He checked her breathing, but she was still asleep. Witnessing her loneliness was one thing, but seeing her so distraught sent such heavy grief into his chest he almost doubled over.

"Rain."

Rainer startled. She was still asleep.

"I miss you so much," she rasped.

He froze, studying her, trying to figure out if she was messing with him, but she was heavily asleep.

It was as good as confirmation that they'd known each other before. Well enough that she missed him. Well enough that she felt comfortable falling asleep on him.

Rainer could hardly breathe around the cold ache in his sternum. He gently extracted his hand. Standing abruptly, he left the room, tearing through the halls, his hunger forgotten. He was confused and disoriented.

The farther he got from her, the more furious he became. Furious at whoever had attacked him. Furious at himself for being a victim. Furious at his mind for not remembering. Even furious at Cecilia for making him feel twisted in knots when his life was working out the way he had hoped.

Rainer still couldn't shake the previous night's fury as he made his way to the tower to meet Vincent.

The large door creaked open and he found Grant inside sneering at him. He wondered if the guard knew that Vincent was planning for Rainer to replace him. That might explain his disdain. Then again, Grant didn't actually seem to like anyone.

Behind Grant, Vincent stood, tapping his knuckles on the bars of a cell as he smiled at Rainer's approach. For some reason, the grin made Rainer more nervous than at ease.

"Your Grace," Rainer said, bowing.

"Rainer, I have excellent news this morning. We conducted a raid last night of a known rebel location."

Rainer frowned. Why hadn't he been made aware they were even doing a raid? Did Vincent not trust him?

Grant glared at him from over Vincent's shoulder like he was thinking the same thing.

"And we found this man inside. We believe he is one of the rebel spies in our court. I need you to work your magic and get whatever you can out of him," Vincent said.

Rainer looked into the cell and, despite the smear of blood on the man's face, he recognized him.

"I don't mean to question you, Your Majesty, but he isn't just a guard or commoner. Shouldn't we get permission?—"

"You need more permission than mine?" Vincent asked, narrowing his eyes.

Rainer swallowed hard and the king's face softened.

Vincent clapped a hand on Rainer's shoulder. "I'm sorry. That was harsh. I'm under tremendous pressure to root out these traitors as fast as possible. Please forgive me—" He swallowed hard. "Last night there was a report of violence similar to that which befell my sweet Cecilia at the location we raided." He shook his head and blew out a breath. "I could not live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to stop it."

That was all Rainer needed to hear for his fury to return in full force.

Vincent put his hands on Rainer's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "I'm counting on you to resolve this for me. I believe that you are the man for the job, but I do have a backup plan in case you're unsuccessful. "

It wasn't a threat. His ego was less important than a traitor being found out, but the idea that someone else might be the one to do it lit a fire under Rainer's ass.

"I won't let you down," he said, turning back to the cell.

"I'll give you a half hour before we try a different strategy," Vincent said.

Rainer kept his gaze on the man in the cell as Vincent and Grant filed out.

Pulling the key from his pocket, he unlocked the door, stepped into the cell, and locked it behind him.

Finally, he turned to look at the man tied to the chair.

"Good to see you, Rainer. Wish it was under better circumstances?—"

Rainer's fist hit the man's face before he could finish his sentence. That one blow opened a release valve on his rage. It all poured out in a torrent, replacing everything Rainer was with fire.