A True Prince

Chapter Five

Tawnia lowered the spyglass and backed into the darkened corner of the courtyard as Sebastian crossed over to the stables. She had not been able to hear the conversation in the loft, but she had seen enough, using all her skill to enhance the shadows seen through the glass.

This coming and going through windows and the presence of the Wingfield heir were problematic, but what demanded her complete attention was the fact that Isaiah was right: Aslynn and the boy shared the love of siblings—it was in every motion, every touch they shared. And she had seen in the boy what she hadn't noticed before: traces of magic—white Ley—blurred her Sight when she searched for Truth in him.

"Why did I never notice?" she asked herself. "How could I have been so blind?"

She realized she had hardly laid eyes on the boy since he was brought to the castle. As a stable servant, he was not allowed in the inner rooms of the keep, and she rarely left them. Oh, she had seen him from the window from time to time—enough that she knew his figure from a distance—but the thought that he might be other than he seemed had never entered her mind.

Now she was quite certain the inconceivable had happened. The king's firstborn boy-child had never left the kingdom. If the truth of his heritage and the circumstances leading up to his current situation ever came out, not only would her son cease to be the heir apparent, but her life would most likely be forfeit. Even if he wasn't the true heir, she had to get rid of the boy, just to be certain.

"How?" she wondered aloud. "How did this happen?"

Someone had taken great pains to cast a spell strong enough to disguise the boy—a spell that had lasted fifteen years. The sheer complexity of the accomplishment was more than even her understanding of the workings of magic could grasp. Ley, by its nature, was impartial—neither good nor bad. The energy, effort, and maintenance required to bend it to one task for so long would require advanced skill.... It gave her pause.

For the first time since she became Queen of the Bonnie Isles, Tawnia felt afraid.

***

Silently, Sebastian made his way to the stable door and pulled. It glided open without sound thanks to the lubrication he'd given the hinges before dinner. True to her training, Artemis was a silent shadow beside him as they passed through the door.

Inside, horses whickered greetings to him. He wished he could get one of them past the guard at the gate, but a horse was not why he'd come to the stable.

He opened his horse's stall, pushed the beast to the side, and felt under the straw for the trap door's handle. It gave when he tugged, and lifted to reveal a hole, gaping in the darkness. He swallowed hard before dropping inside, landing on hard-packed dirt only dimly seen from above—dark, enclosed spaces were not on his list of favorite places. On his left, just where they'd left them, he found flint, a striker, two candles, and a lantern.

After they had discovered and explored the tunnel all those summers ago, it had been Aslynn's idea to leave the items in case they ever needed to use the passage. He hadn't ever really expected to use it in earnest.

Striking the flint, he sparked a flame to one candle and mounted it in the lantern before pocketing the other. After urging Artemis inside, he closed the hatch.

Dark and damp from the recent rain, the stone passageway made him think of what it must have been like in that sea chest. He was glad he didn't remember it, though when he was in places like this, he knew something in his soul remembered.

Artemis whined—a soft, short sound—and Sebastian realized the animal was picking up his fear. "It's all right, Artemis," he said, petting her under the chin. "I'm just being an idiot. Let's get this over with."