“You can teach me what my people need,” Branford said. He took my face in his hands, and his dark jade eyes blazed at me. “I have always thought myself a just ruler, but then you began telling me all these stories from your life, and I realized there must be people here, in my own castle who have lived lives not dissimilar to yours. Alexandra, I’ve never even considered what their lives are like. It has never crossed my mind. Every time you speak of something done to you or to those you knew, I am shocked, and I am angered. My first thoughts faulted Edgar because he cares not for his people, but I myself have given servant girls to knights after winning tournaments, and I have no idea what happened to them afterwards.”
He took a long breath and tightened his grip on me.
“Had it not been for your intervention, I would have killed Thomas the day we arrived,” he said. “If I had killed him, I would have lost you and never even known it was truly my own fault. You stopped me from making what would have been the gravest mistake of my life.”
I felt another tear in my eye though it was not for the same reason.
“I need you, Alexandra,” Branford said. He turned my face to his and pressed his lips against the corner of my eye, slowly kissing the tears from my face. “I need you to show me where I am wrong.”
“Your word is law,” I whispered. “How can you ever be wrong?”
“You will be my voice of reason someday,” Branford said, “when you are ready for it. I need you to be exactly who you are. I need you to help me help my people—especially now.”
“Why now?”
I watched as Branford’s chest expanded with his deep breath. He let it out slowly while his eyes stared at the ground.
“I will be leaving tomorrow,” Branford finally said with his eyes still downcast. I felt my chest tighten.
“Leaving?”
“Parnell is riding here tonight, and Ida will stay in Castle Silverhelm until we return.”
“Where are you going?” I asked though I knew the answer already.
“To war.”
And that was when I first began to feel like there was a hole in my chest.
Chapter 5—Dolefully Struggle
“War?” The word came out of my mouth in barely a whisper.
Branford nodded his head once.
“With Hadebrand?”
He nodded again.
“King Edgar has amassed an army.” As Branford confirmed my fears, I remembered the words of the forester from days ago. “Those that attacked us were not robbers but men from Hadebrand, hoping to ambush me on my way back from Sawyer. If we had paused much longer, they would have had many more men waiting to claim my life and likely yours as well. They sit near our borders now, barely a day’s ride from here. Their intent is clear.”
I was completely unable to respond. Since the day we were wed, I knew this was what he wanted—what he had planned to do since long before he brought me back here as his wife—but his words were unexpected, nonetheless. I knew though—I knew something was wrong since the day we picked up Amarra from William and took her to meet the rest of Branford’s dogs. Since that day, he had been distant and often completely absent.
We rode back to the castle in near silence, speaking only of mundane things and not broaching the subject of Branford’s impending departure. He gripped me tightly against his chest, and he kissed the top of my head over and over again.
When we returned to our rooms in the evening, my eyes fell upon the leather-wrapped package I had planned t
o save for the celebration of Branford’s birth. I felt pressure behind my eyes as I reached for the gift and picked it up slowly.
“My…Branford?”
Branford broke into a smile for the first time since we had left the meadow.
“Yes, my Alexandra?” He cocked his head to one side and graced me with his half smile. I felt my cheeks redden. If we were married for fifty years, I would never get used to that particular expression.
“May I…may I give you something?”
“I can think of something I would like to get from you,” he said darkly. I turned to find his eyes moving slowly down my body and back up again.