Chapter 73
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
The entire palace was in an uproar that morning. Everyone was trying and failing to find out where Frederick was and how he managed to pull off an elaborate scheme. The guards were combing the towns to see if anyone had sighted him but we soon realized that eye witness testimony was almost always unreliable because everyone claimed to have seen him and no two statements were the same. It was frustrating but I had to applaud him, it was not easy to avoid palace soldiers.
“Didn’t he leave a message?” I asked for the umpteenth time. I could not imagine that Frederick who had dropped pages from my father’s journal for days would suddenly do something like this without leaving a message.
“The guards said they didn’t see anything by the stream or in the houses. If he left a message then we haven’t seen it yet.”
Ryker had been speaking to me as he would a child and I was beginning to wonder if somehow, I had upset him. I knew he disagreed with my trust in Frederick but I didn’t know how to explain it to him. I thought that having a sister would make him understand. I didn’t have any family and I wasn’t willing to condemn the only sibling I had to death over a simple hurt. I knew he would listen if the situation was right and I was determined to get him to listen which was why I was partly grateful that the guards hadn’t found him. If they did find him, it would have been game over.
There was a knock on the door and one of the generals walked in. He bowed to Ryker and I before making his way closer. “We found something at the Eastern border than we believe is from Frederick. There is no way to confirm it but it was addressed to you and it was nailed to a tree.”
I reached out for the letter but Ryker grabbed it first. I could feel and see the confusion in the room because Ryker usually stayed out of things like this and he reached over me to grab the letter. His eyes scanned it and once he was done, he nodded to the guard and dismissed him. There was so much I wanted to say in that moment but I didn’t because I still wanted to maintain the image of a united front.
Instead of letting the frustration win, I schooled my expression into one of indifference and turned to the elders. “You can leave. Inform me as
soon as we have anything on Frederick.” They nodded and I watched as they left the room in a single file. I waited until the door shut before I turned to Ryker. “Am I going to get that back?”
He hesitated for a second before handing it to me. At that point, I wasn’t interested in reading it anymore but opened it. I took the time to admire Frederick’s writing because it was a perfect cursive. There were just seven words written boldly in ink: Step down or it will get worse.
I folded up the paper and placed it on the table. Ryker finally turned to me. “Do you still think he is capable of redemption?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes when I realized that this was what he was annoyed about. I exhaled deeply as I tried to find the words because I knew that the last thing we needed was to have a fight especially not in the council room where anyone could walk in.
“Do you want to do this here?” I asked and he ran his hands down his face.
“I just want you to think this through. He is not above killing innocent people to get what he wants. What part of that screams redemption to you?”
“Everyone is capable of change if they are given the chance.”
Ryker was taken aback by my words. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly as if he could not believe I had said those words but I had and I didn’t regret it. I just wanted peace and I wasn’t above trying to get into a truce with Frederick so that I could get that. One thing I knew for a fact was that war was not the answer.
“Okay,” he said finally and I scrunched my brows. I had not expected him to give in that easily and I couldn’t help but doubt his true intentions. He rose to his feet and when he spoke again, I realized that I was right for doubting. “You do what you think is right and I will do what I think is right.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I am going to protect you from everything- including yourself,” he grabbed the files on the desk. “I have never once made you feel like this wasn’t your kingdom and I have never made you second guess your decisions before today but I will make you a promise, Camilla, even if I have to run through everything you have built to ensure that you are safe, I will do it I just hope you can forgive me for it.”
He didn’t wait for me to respond before walking out of the room. I sat
there in silence thinking about what the hell had just happened. Ryker never spoke to me in that manner, not even when I was wrong. I knew he hated Frederick but I didn’t know it was that bad. It took me around ten minutes to gather my wits and leave the council room but Ryker’s words stuck with me.
When Ryker spoke, I knew he was serious but I had not expected him to implement his words so soon. I was locked in my office for majority of the day and when I left, I noticed that I had more guards than usual following behind me. I tried to dismiss them but they informed me that they were put there by a unanimous council vote.
I had learned the hard way that although the Queen had power- so did the council- and when it came to the safety of the royal family, the council could take a unanimous vote. Ryker had approached them and convinced them that I was in danger spurring that action. I couldn’t even be pissed at him because I had expected it. Besides, it was just a few guards or so I thought.
I soon came to realize that those guards were my shadow and I couldn’t go into the town. The town was in a panic and it was a widespread belief that I was in danger so it had been strongly advised‘ that I stayed indoors. By night time, I was at my wits end and I wanted nothing more than to strangle Ryker. What made everything worse was that he didn’t seem to care about what he had done. He was unapologetic about it. By the time we got back to the room at night, I wasn’t speaking to him. I got dressed in silence and curled up into myself to read the journal. The one I had gotten from Frederick was very interesting to say the least. It was more personal than the others and he spoke about his parents, his contempt with being the crowned prince, he spoke about the tunnels and how he would speak out and a few times, he had mentioned Eva but never in detail.
“Camilla,” Ryker sat at the edge of the bed facing me but I refused to look up. “Baby, please, you can’t possibly be upset with me.
I stayed quiet.
“I did what I needed to keep you safe.”
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“I am a prisoner in my own kingdom. You cannot possibly expect that I – would be happy about that?”
“You are safe and that is the only thing that matters,” he cut in. “If it makes you feel any better, I cannot leave either. It is not just your safety that has been threatened.” I frowned at him and he sighed. “I didn’t want
to do this but I don’t trust that you will not go looking for him to broker peace.”
He was right, I was considering that. I had thought about it while in my office and decided that maybe if I found him again then I would be able to convince him. I couldn’t say that to Ryker but I didn’t need to, my silence spoke volumes.
“We are a team, Ryker.”
“Not in this case and you know it. You have a twisted sense of loyalty towards him and I am not trying to combat that, I am just trying to keep you safe.”
I finally dropped the book and turned to him. There was something in his expression that had me pausing and I spoke so softly that my voice was barely over a whisper. “You’re scared.”
“I am terrified,” he admitted and he gestured for me to come closer which I did. “Facing an enemy is hard enough, facing one that we know nothing about is even harder.”
I knew I couldn’t stay upset at him for long because although I didn’t agree with his methods, I understood why he was doing what he was doing. We had two daughters to protect and we wanted the same results, we were just taking different paths.
I shoved down my ego and straddled his hips. He stayed completely still as if trying to give me the chance to take back my actions if I wanted to. When I didn’t move, his hand cupped my cheeks and he placed the most featherlight k*ss on my l*ps.
“We’ll figure it out,” I mumbled against his l*ps and he cracked a small smile.
“We always do?
