“I know,” Branford said as he pulled me tighter against his chest. “I have felt that same way before.”
“Why? Why would she, after what we did for her?”
“I do not know,” my husband said, “but I intend to find out.”
His gaze fell to Nelle, still on the ground with two of Branford’s soldiers standing over her. Rylan was close by, his sword drawn to keep her at bay. Branford approached the prostrate woman and glared down at her.
“Tell me everything,” Branford said through clenched teeth.
Nelle’s gaze flashed from the charred corpse on the field back to Branford.
“Will you burn me, too?”
“I have not yet decided,” Branford said with a sneer. “It depends on what you reveal.”
I reached out and placed my hand against his arm, but he shook me away.
“Tell me everything. Now.”
Nelle sobbed and placed her hands over her face.
“It was Kimberly’s idea!” she moaned between sobs. “Kimberly and Whitney planned it all!”
“Planned what?” Branford yelled. He took a step toward her and kicked her with his boot as she tried to protect herself with her arms. “Tell me!”
Through her sobs, Nelle told us how she and Kimberly went to Hadebrand after their exile. There they spoke with Princess Whitney and a young man who apparently wished to win her favor—Sir Leland. He had a young cousin who knew the ways of witches.
“She knew,” Nelle whispered. “Kimberly knew what happened to your mother. She thought if the same thing was happening to another, you would be more likely take pity on her and accept her into the castle.”
“Janet…allowed those men…?” I couldn’t fathom such a thing.
“She did,” Nelle said. “They knew how you cared for others around you and hoped you would try to help her and ask Branford to help her as well. You believed her story and fell right into their plan.”
“Sir Leland planned to set it up as a wager between you with his slave as your prize. He never intended to win. That is why he opted for your second horse when you first refused to wager your stallion. Once you had won, his cousin-slave was yours and would be allowed into Silverhelm. She was to begin making the tea immediately to prevent your heirs.”
“Why would she do this?” I whispered.
“Sir Leland was to be placed as the head of Silverhelm’s army once Whitney was on the throne. Janet was promised Sterling Castle for her part in it all.”
Branford looked to Sir Rylan for a moment, then back at Nelle.
“You knew of this all these months,” Branford said. His voice was cold, and when I looked at his eyes, they were equally frigid.
Sir Rylan tilted his head to the side as Lady Suzette emerged from the castle walls, carrying something in her hands. She approached us slowly as Nelle continued to speak.
“Kimberly said once Princess Whitney was on the throne with you, we would be brought back into Silverhelm as nobles again. But I heard Princess Whitney telling Prince Gage that there would be no reason to keep us around after she was wed to Branford—that we would be a liability. Kimberly did not believe me, so I ran. I knew I could not come back here. You said you would have us killed if we returned to Silverhelm. I did not know what else to do! I had just enough to pay my passage to Seacrest.”
“Is that all?” Branford asked. “It never occurred to you to send me a message?”
“I…I did not know what I should do!” Nelle cried as she threw herself at Branford’s feet.
“You had many options,” Branford said. He stared down at her for a moment. “Get up.”
Nelle slowly brought herself back onto her feet.
“Will you burn me?” Nelle whispered softly. Her eyes dared glance up at Branford for only a moment before she looked back down to the ground.
“No,” Branford said quickly.