The Pledge (The Pledge 1)

“Guard the door and make sure no one else disturbs us,” Max told Claude, dismissing the scowling guard.

Xander didn’t even speak to Max, barely acknowledged him at all. Instead he came directly to me. He clasped my hand in his, the one that only moments ago, Max had stroked with tender reassurance. “You h J glintwe areave no idea the danger you put yourselves in by leaving, Charlie. We can’t protect you if you won’t let us.”

“She doesn’t need your protection.” Max shoved his way between Xander and me.

Xander laughed derisively. “Why? Are you offering yours? She’d be safer in a nest of vipers. You may as well hand her over to Sabara with the noose around her neck,” he scoffed, surprising me as he berated Max in the Royal tongue.

I took a step back; my world was suddenly reeling. How was it that Xander spoke the language of Royals?

“And you believe she’s safer with you and your band of misfit soldiers? Have you told her who you are? What you used to be?”

Xander cast a quick glance in my direction, as if his words were veiled, their meaning hidden, and I knew in that moment that my secret was still safe. He had no idea that I understood what he was saying. Angelina was the only one in the room who didn’t comprehend. “Damn right she’s safer with us. We have her best interests in mind.”

“Your interests are as selfish as the queen’s. You need a ruler, and you think Charlie fits the bill.”

“She does. She’s the One. And you know it too, or you wouldn’t be here on the queen’s errand.”

Max’s teeth ground together as he took a warning step toward Xander. “You have no idea why I’m here, and neither does the queen.”

Xander hesitated, but only for a moment. “She must know something. Otherwise . . .” His eyes swept over the destruction inside the house. “Otherwise she would have no need for Charlie’s parents.”

I gasped, my hand reaching around my own throat as I staggered backward. I settled down on the sofa, where Angelina sat silently.

“You—you think Queen Sabara has my parents?”

Xander’s eyes grew wide, his anger toward Max momentarily forgotten as he stared at me, finally realizing that I’d understood him. He didn’t ask for an explanation; he just frowned, looking sorry. “I do, Charlie.” This time in Englaise, so there was no room for misinterpretation. “And you may be the only chance they have. But right now, we need to get you out of here.” He shot an angry glare in Max’s direction as he added, “Before she sends someone back for you and your sister as well.”

Suddenly my home had become a trap, and we stayed for only as long as it took me to gather Angelina in my arms and rush through the doorway into the street. Brooklynn was waiting there, along with a small contingent of Xander’s soldiers, and I was again struck by how at ease she appeared among them. We made an odd assemblage, our traveling party—soldiers and commoners, rebels and royalty; although I doubted anyone looking would recognize us for what we truly were.

Once it was decided that the only place we could safely go was back to the underground city, we traveled in silence. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, however; it was strained and filled with unspoken tension.

Claude and Za J gl="0 city, we fir had both made it clear that they had reservations about going with the resistance fighters, while Xander had qualms about allowing the queen’s grandson, and his two guards, into his underground operation. But no one could agree on an alternate option, another place where the queen would be unable, at least for the time being anyway, to locate Angelina and me.

Brooklynn walked at my side, and I wondered if it was simply out of habit or if she was still my oldest friend. I honestly couldn’t tell any longer, and I hated that I was questioning her loyalty.

Max stood on my other side, his bulky guards surrounding him as best they could, keeping Xander and his people at bay.

We didn’t go back the way that Angelina and I had come, through the tiny fissure in the ground. Instead Xander led us through the back entrance of a restaurant that was closed for the night. We made our way through the shadowy kitchen and through a doorway that should have led to a cellar below, but rather than a cellar, it opened up into a passageway that stretched endlessly before us. There were lamps, already lit, along the way. It was cleaner, and smelled better, than the sewer through which my sister and I had traveled earlier.

Still, whether from fear or attraction, I found myself moving closer to Max. My shoulder bumped against him, and I felt the tension within me unravel with his proximity.

I set Angelina on the ground between Brooklynn and me, my arm aching from the weight of carrying her. On her other side, I saw her reach for Brook’s hand, clinging to each of us as she walked. It was reassuring to know that Angelina still trusted her.

Only once we were securely ensconced within the tunnel, away from the staircase that led back to the restaurant above, did anyone speak.

It was Xander who first broke the silence. He fell back so he could speak directly to Max. “If you didn’t tell her, how did the queen know about Charlie?” His voice echoed along the dim corridor.

There was a brief pause, and I got the distinct sensation that this wasn’t a question Max wanted to answer. But I, for one, was anxious to hear his response. I glanced up so I could see his face.

His brow creased when he finally spoke. “They had no idea who she was until they went to her home and discovered her parents.” Accusation was heavy in the stare he directed at Xander. “It was you they were looking for, questioning everyone with suspected ties to your revolutionaries. They use force to gain any information they can.”