The Betrayal Read online

  “How do we prove it?” Scarlett asked, looking around.

  “We can use the letter that Everett sent us to prove it,” Alastair said.

  He looked over at Owyn and Elsa, and continued.

  “Everett sent me a letter letting me know that the sources he spoke to on Ciomodors Garden said that the queen was on Obsidian Ridge. Everett has seen her.”

  Elsa looked at Scarlett and then back at Alastair.

  “He saw her? Why didn’t he tell us?” she asked.

  “Everett didn’t want to send all the information he had to one place because he knew that in the wrong hands, all that information could get us all killed. He knows that she is there, but we have an unexpected friend in all this fire.”

  “A friend?” Owyn asked.

  “Yes. Everett said he is someone that he once worked with in the Keepers of the White. He is certain that he is a friend and that he will protect the queen.”

  Elsa and Owyn digested this information, assured that their feelings were correct.

  “So we know now that Cyrus did kidnap the queen. What of King Art’s abdication? Does it have anything to do with her disappearance?” Elsa asked, looking at Scarlett.

  “Catriona and I were wondering why he abdicated for her to take the throne. Everett has already cleared my uncle of any involvement though,” Scarlett said.

  “There had been rumors of an assassination plot for a while, and I think that the attempt would have been soon if he had not abdicated. He did it for his safety, not to get his daughter kidnapped. The abdication just moved up the plan,” Alastair said from the windows.

  Owyn agreed.

  “I think you are correct in that,” he said, clasping his hands together.

  “What do we plan on doing about it? Cyrus will not hold her for much longer. We all know how impatient he is. If he can’t get her to do what he wants her to do, then he will get rid of her and blame it on someone else. He is just that kind of coward,” Owyn asked.

  “First things first, we must reach out to Everett to see if he has any other information. Then we need to talk to Brigid and find out where her loyalties lie,” Alastair said.

  “Brigid is the last person who would be involved in something like this and you know that. Brigid doesn’t have a dishonest bone in her body. You and I both know that,” he said, standing up, very irritated by Alastair’s insinuation.

  “Even the most honest person can be made to do things. There are ways to get to people and convince them that they do what they are told or be made to suffer greatly,” Alastair said.

  He looked over at Scarlett and Owyn looked at Elsa, Owyn completely understanding what he meant by that.

  “I would like to come up with a plan before telling Brigid what we have found. Are you all right with that?” Owyn asked Alastair.

  “I am all right with that. This way we can come up with a plan in case there are any surprises that need to be taken care of,” Alastair replied, coming to sit down on the couch next to Scarlett.

  “Then we are agreed.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Elsa laid in her bed and rolled over for what seemed like the tenth time at least. She couldn’t sleep after their talk with Alastair and Scarlett. They now had an inside man helping the queen stay alive.

  She had been greatly relieved to hear that, as she had been very worried about the queen. With the soldier’s help, they were sure to save her now; the inside man wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

  They just hadn’t been able to get anything to the inside man to let him know that they were trying to come up with a plan to get the queen out of there and back to Ciomodors Garden. That was where they were lacking.

  Owyn and Alastair had been adamant that they could come up with a plan to get her out of there, but they would still need Brigid to join them. It had to be all of the islands together or there was a possibility of failure and Cyrus or Art would end up ruling the kingdom and change would come.

  It would not be a good change either.

  Elsa slammed her hands down at her sides and exhaled harshly, frustration at the lack of action they had taken so far getting under her skin.

  She sat up and then slipped out of the bed, making sure to put on her slippers before she stood up. The castle might have been named for the volcanic debris that erupted, but Ashaven was not as warm as its name would imply.

  She chuckled at her thoughts when she unlocked her bedroom door and opened it, praying the old wood wouldn’t creak and give her away. When it didn’t make a sound, she let the breath she was holding out and trotted down the hall.

  Less than a minute later, she was at Owyn’s door, knocking softly. When she didn’t hear anyone moving around inside the room, she opened the door and looked inside. She located the object of her affection sitting slumped over at the desk in the room, asleep.

  He also had taken off his shirt, his upper torso on display for her feasting eyes. Elsa felt a blush coming on and couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed. She shouldn’t be blushing anymore, but it was all so new that she couldn’t really help it.

  Realizing that being lost in her thoughts while standing outside with the door half-open of a man she was not married to could get her in trouble, she slipped inside the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

  She walked over to Owyn and tapped him gently on the shoulder, jumping back with the expectation that he would wake up abruptly. When he didn’t, she just stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do.

  If tapping him didn’t work, she wondered if caressing would work or not. It had seemed to work the other night when they were in bed together. Starting at his waist, she ran her hands up his back, scoring his back with her nails as she did. She felt him awaken, the moan and stretch that accompanied it rumbling beneath her fingertips.

  “What are you doing in here, Elsa?” he asked, standing up and turning to look at her.

  “Would you like me to leave?” she asked coyly, turning and heading back towards the door.

  He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back against his chest, making her giggle with excitement.

  She almost melted when he nipped her ear, his deep voice a soft whisper on her skin when he said, “I didn’t say that.”

  She sighed with desire when he nipped at her neck and slipped his hands up her body from where they rested at her waist to cup her breasts and tease her nipples. Already aching and heavy, she thrust the pale globes into his hands, desperate for his fingers to tweak and play as they had done before.

  He pinched and rolled her nipples between his fingers, her desire building with each tug of his fingers. She reached behind her and cupped his erection through his trousers, an unseen smile coming to her lips as he growled into her neck. She stroked him through the fabric and she could feel him thrusting his hard body against her, obviously aching for her as she did for him.

  He growled harshly against her and yanked her around to face him, pulling her to him and kissing her hard. Elsa grabbed a handful of his hair firmly in her hand, effectively anchoring herself to him so she wouldn’t fall to the floor as her legs turned to jelly beneath her.

  They fought the battle of desire with their mouths until Owyn slipped his hands to her waist and yanked her nightgown up, cupping her thighs in his hands and lifting her body. She squealed and instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, almost purring with excitement at the knowledge that soon he would be appeasing the ache deep within her.

  Owyn had not been so hard in a long time, and he wasn’t accustomed to it. He roughly yanked open his trousers, freeing himself from the constraints of the fabric with a sigh of relief. He kissed her softly and then thrust hard into her, the heat and wetness making him groan with satisfaction. Their coupling was rough and hurried, not able to get enough of each other.

  Just then, Elsa exploded, her desire hitting its climax and taking both her and Owyn with it as both of them came at the same time. Elsa rested her sweaty head agai
nst Owyn’s neck as her heart raced in her chest. Owyn’s breath was rough and unsteady, as were his legs.

  He quickly walked the short distance to the bed and collapsed, making sure to fall with his back on the bed, resting Elsa’s sated body on top of his.

  Owyn chuckled when he realized that he didn’t even know why Elsa was here. He was sure he had asked her, but he wasn’t sure if she had replied.

  “Did… I ask you what you were doing in here?” he whispered, stroking her blond tresses with his hand.

  Elsa nodded from where she lay on his chest, but didn’t say anything else.

  “Was this why you were in here?” he asked.

  She started to shake her head, but then nodded. With a groan, she leaned up, resting her elbows on his chest.

  “I actually came in here to talk to you about the note that Everett sent Alastair. From here, I can see you have it there on the desk. I know he told Alastair that he didn’t want both pieces of information in the same place at the same time, but isn’t it now in the same place at the same time?”

  Owyn shook his head.

  “It is mentally, but not physically. I burned the note from Everett before we left Malachite Expanse to ensure that if things should go badly, there is nothing to implicate your brother. I have more power than he does, and I want to make sure that my future brother-in-law is taken care of should this not work out the way we want it to.”

  Elsa’s eyes brightened when he referred to Everett as his “future brother-in-law.”

  “Are you saying that you want to marry me now?” she asked.

  Owyn flushed a deep red and Elsa had to stop herself from laughing at this more serious moment.

  “What I am saying is that I love you and I do want to marry you now,” he said, leaning up and kissing her. “That way I can do this—” He stopped to show her what he meant. “All the time.”

  With a delighted sigh, she rolled with him as he rolled her onto her back, his body hard within her once again and said, “I love you too, and we don’t have to be married for you to do that all the time.”

  With one last chuckle, he kissed her and proceeded to show her how much fun “that” was.

  A few doors down the hall from their lovemaking, a man walked into the bedroom of the queen and softly shut the door. In one hand, he held a bottle of clear liquid.

  He walked slowly over in the darkness of the room and noticed a glass of water sitting on the nightstand next to her. He opened the bottle and was about to pour the liquid in when he heard a sigh come from the bed. He halted where he was and waited for the room to quiet once again.

  He tiptoed towards her glass and reaching out, he poured a small amount of liquid inside the water glass, picking up the water and swishing it around a little bit to mix it together. The liquid had no taste and no color so it was almost undetectable.

  That’s what made it so easy.

  Putting the glass down, he went to leave the room when he heard the doorknob turn. Panicking, he hid behind the curtains in the room, leaving a small gap open so he could see.

  The door opened and Prince Alastair walked through the door, holding a candle in his hand. He walked over to the queen and put his hand to her forehead, a look of concern coming over his face.

  The man behind the curtain had to hold in his laughter as Alastair made the queen sit up and drink some of the water from the glass next to the bed.

  It was working perfectly.

  Now all he had to do was give her a big enough dosage and then it was over, and the man in black would be king.

  It was just a matter of time.

  And he was a very patient man.

  The End

  About the author:

  Janet Berry has been writing novels since she was 14 years old. She loves writing romance novels with a magical or fantasy genre to avoid the constraints of history. She lives with her husband and a bevy of animals in her home in Texas.

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  Discover other titles by Janet Berry:

  To Be or Not to Be

  To Make You Stay

  Hope