Leaves of Revolution (3 page)

Once the crown was on the baby’s head, Alvin took him in his arms again, holding him up for everyone to see. This time, the baby didn’t fuss. “His Highness, Prince Samuel Owen Rose.”

“SO, WHAT IS IT you’ve been messing around with in your pocket for half the day?” Linnea asked, setting her empty glass down next to Thomas’. Most of the people they’d been sitting with for the meal had gone off to dance or socialize, or – in Zander’s case – to hide out somewhere and pretend to be invisible, but Thomas and Linnea hadn’t moved.

These days, someone was always baby-sitting her – if not Thomas, then Will or Rebecca, or even Quinn. But usually it was Thomas.

“Hmm?” He frowned, subtly dropping his hand back to his lap.

“Don’t try that with me.”

“It’s nothing, Nay. I’m just…”

She reached over and pulled his cape back, digging into his pocket until she found the bracelet and pulled it out. Her eyes narrowed as she rubbed the thin silver bar between her fingers. “This is not nothing.”

“Okay. It’s a bracelet.”

Mia’s courtship bracelet, she should have guessed. She sighed, sitting back in her chair and throwing the little chain down on the table. His eyes followed her hand – he blinked when her own bracelet peeked out from under her sleeve for just a second. She met his gaze. “See? It means something.”

He squeezed her shoulder, but she pulled back – she wasn’t going to let him take the focus off himself
again.

“This is not what Ben would have wanted,” she said, watching him pick up the jewelry and return it to his pocket.

He looked at her.

“It’s bad enough that he died.” She heard her voice shake a little on the word, but she steadied her jaw and continued. “But this thing where it’s affecting everyone else… where you’re too wrapped up in taking care of me to fix what’s going on with you and Mia – where Quinn and Will are afraid to even touch each other where I can see… It’s not okay.”

“Linnea…”

“No, I know, Thomas. You’re all worried about me, and nobody knows what to do, and you’re all grieving, too. But it’s not like seeing William and Quinn kiss would suddenly remind me about Ben and make me sad again. I’m already there. And seeing you struggle like this with Mia makes it worse, not better. It makes me feel like his death killed your relationship, too.”

“…” He opened and closed his mouth several times.

Linnea reached over and took his hand. The ever-present warm moisture coated her eyelashes, but this time no tears fell.

Finally, Thomas swallowed. “We were a mess before…
before
, you know. She didn’t even tell me she was moving to Philotheum.”

“You didn’t tell her, either.”

“Exactly. We were a mess. Ben dying didn’t cause that.”

“But it’s keeping you from fixing it. Or at least you feeling like you have to take care of me is.” She hated that more than anything.

“No.” He shook his head. “It’s not that simple. First of all, I don’t feel like I have to take care of you. I
want
to, but I know you don’t need me to do that at the expense of everything.”

She shot him the dirtiest look she could manage. “You’re using me as an excuse for not dealing with her, aren’t you?”

At least he looked appropriately abashed. “I guess I kind of am. Sorry.”

“You’re lucky I love you, T.” She shook her head.

“Well who doesn’t know that?” He reached for her empty glass on the table. “Let me get you some more.”

Standing up, she grabbed the glass back from him. “If you’re going to change the subject to avoid having a real conversation anyway, let’s actually get up from the table and pretend we’re at a party for our nephew.”

“After you.” He grinned as he rose and extended his hand to help her up.

She rolled her eyes, but decided to let it drop, again.

Halfway to the buffet table, Thomas stopped short, nearly causing Linnea to bump into him. “What is he doing here?” he hissed.

“Who?” Linnea followed his gaze, over to where Quinn’s uncle, Charles, was talking to several people, but, outside of family members, she didn’t recognize any of them. Quinn, William, and Marcus were part of the group, too, though they were focused on Stephen, who was smiling and playing with baby Samuel.

Thomas didn’t answer her question, turning to her instead with a fierce look in his eyes. “Get out of here now, Nay. Ask James or Dorian to escort you to Quinn’s council room.”

She wouldn’t normally have allowed Thomas to be so abrupt with her, especially without telling her what was going on – but something in his expression made her turn and search the room immediately. James Blackwelder was furthest from the group Thomas seemed so worried about, so she went to him and asked him to take her to the council room.

The guard led her out immediately staying right at her elbow as they exited through a side hallway. Only once they were inside the meeting room, with the door closed, did he speak. “Is everything all right, Lady Linnea?”

“I don’t know. Thomas … I think he saw someone he didn’t expect to see, I don’t know who. He just told me to ask either you or your father to bring me here right away.”

“All right.” James nodded as if she’d just told him something normal instead of bizarre. “Why don’t you have a seat, and I’ll start a fire?” He led her to an area in the far corner, away from the long table where Quinn now presided over meetings. Here there were several comfortable chairs and couches gathered in front of the large fire grate.

She was just settling into one of the leather chairs when James ducked behind a couch and emerged with a wool blanket. “You should be keeping warm, milady. It will be cold in here until the fire is going.”

“Thank you. I suppose the news of my condition has spread to everyone by now?”

He shrugged. “I tend to fall behind on castle gossip, sorry. I just thought you should be comfortable.”

The blanket was soft and warm; she wrapped herself in it as James knelt in front of the hearth, spreading kindling from the bucket on the floor.

“It’s true,” she said. “I’m with child.”

He didn’t stand, but he turned his whole body to face her. “I hadn’t heard that. It’s not any of my concern, but if you’ll forgive my indiscretion, I would like to tell you how pleased I am to hear it.”

“Thank you.” She watched him turn back to the grate, so formal and solemn. “James?”

“Yes, milady?”

“I’m going to be living here in Philotheum – you don’t need to be quite so afraid of me. Surely you’ve at least heard that I’m not the sort of princess who disdains interactions with guards.”

He turned to her again, still mostly serious, but this time she could see a tiny spark of amusement in his eyes. “Even if I did partake of gossip, milady, I’d have assumed Ben was a special case. Certainly he was a rare man worthy of the honor.”

She swallowed back the feelings that always snuck up on her whenever she talked about Ben with anyone. “He always spoke highly of you.”

James’ gaze fell to the floor. “I only knew him for a short while, but even in that time, he became one of my dearest friends. The fact that he didn’t return … my life will never be the same. It may be presumptuous to say this, but I had hoped, when he returned with you, that I might be blessed with the friendship of the lady who occupied his every thought.”

She smiled around the thick feeling in her throat. “Even under these circumstances, James, we can still be friends.”

To her surprise, he gave her a little smile, betraying a hint of a less-serious young man underneath. Unless she was mistaken, James wasn’t any older than William. She doubted he’d seen his nineteenth birthday. “I would like that, milady. Thank you for sharing your news with me. It gives me peace to know that his legacy will be carried by his child. Please know I will do whatever I can to serve the both of you.”

Just as he was turning back to the grate, the door at the other end of the room burst open. James was on his feet in one swift movement, blocking Linnea, his hand on his hilt. She quickly brushed away the few escaped tears.

But it was Marcus who’d opened the door. He, too, rushed to Linnea’s side, followed by Thomas, Quinn, William, Stephen, Dorian Blackwelder, and Luke Willoughby. Once everyone was inside, Luke closed the door and secured it with a heavy wooden bar.

Quinn looked first at Linnea. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thomas just told me to come here. Nothing’s wrong,” she repeated, noting her sister’s concerned look didn’t quite go away. She stood and walked over to the table to prove her point. “At least not with me. What’s going on, Thomas? Who did you see?”

“That man,” Thomas said, looking at Quinn, “the one who was talking to Charles. What is he doing here?”

Quinn frowned, glancing at William. “I think that was Callum Haddon – if I’m thinking of the same man. Is he wearing a red shirt?”

“Yes.” Thomas nodded. “Long brown hair, going a little gray, pulled back.”

“That’s Callum.”

“Why is he here?”

“He’s the head councilman in Brandleby. We invited councilmen from every town and village in the kingdom. Not all of them came, clearly.”

“Is Brandleby close to the Rhinewald estate by any chance?”

“It
was
, before we dismantled the Rhinewald estate and sold off the pieces,” Marcus said, his voice dark.

Quinn had gone pale, though, undoubtedly having the same thoughts that were making Linnea’s hands clench into tight fists. There was only one way Thomas could recognize the man – one reason he was so distraught over seeing him.

William walked away from the group, toward the fire, bouncing and rocking Samuel in his arms.

“Okay.” Quinn’s shoulders rose and fell several times as she tried to compose herself. “How bad are we talking about, Thomas? Is Callum guilty only of withholding information about your kidnapping, or is it worse?”

“
Only
? Isn’t just knowing about it and not doing anything bad enough?” The shaking had crept from Linnea’s hands to her voice.

“Nay.” Quinn’s quiet warning came at the same instant Linnea felt her father’s gentle, but firm, hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t know how involved he was,” Thomas said, looking at the floor. “He was at Harbin Rhinewald’s estate already when I was brought in, though. And I saw him a few times after that.”

Thomas was… Linnea had
never
seen him this upset. No, upset didn’t even begin to describe him. His voice was small, in a way that suggested if he raised his volume at all, he would explode loud enough for the whole castle to hear. His shoulders were curled forward, his whole body wound tighter than a spring. She reached for his hand to squeeze it, but he yanked it from her grasp and took a step away from her. Her father pulled her a bit closer.

“Okay,” Quinn said again, pacing back and forth. She looked up at Marcus. “We have several separate problems here.”

Marcus nodded. “He needs to be questioned.”

“We need to
arrest
him,” she said. “But doing it now would be a disaster – people are here for a party, and we have no idea who’s here with him.”

“Which brings up the security issue.” Marcus’ gaze shifted between Linnea, Thomas, and William who still held the baby. “There’s a strong chance Callum still has ties to Tolliver.”

Quinn took another deep breath. “All of the guests’ names were recorded?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. And checked against the invite list – but clearly we don’t know everything about the people who were invited.”

“It would be a bold move to attempt something during the heir’s Naming Ceremony.”

“Yes. Bold and unwise. It’s difficult to sway public opinion to your side if you commit a crime in front of enough people,” Marcus said. “Although that’s the same reason you can’t arrest a man with his level of influence in the middle of the party, either.”

“Perhaps you can have someone follow him?” Stephen asked. “A small guard detail, to see if we can discover his associations?”

Marcus looked at Quinn. “I can arrange that, if you’d like, Your Majesty.”

“Yes. Thank you, Marcus.”

“In the meantime, we have to address the clear safety concerns. This man presents a potential danger to Linnea, Thomas, the other Rose children… and to Samuel, in particular.”

Quinn’s entire body twitched, though she retained her composed demeanor. “Yes. So what can we do, Marcus? Can I remove them from the party without causing a scene?”

“I think it’s probably been a long day for the children already,” Stephen said. “The babies all need to be fed and put down to rest and the other children surely can’t be expected to maintain their composure for much longer.”

Over in the corner, Samuel gave out a sudden squeak – his warning signal that he needed to eat soon.

“See?” Stephen smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “The future king over there is in agreement. I can start having the oldest children quietly escort the younger ones upstairs.”

“I’ll gather some Eirenthean guards to keep constant watch.” Luke said, already heading for the door.

“I’ll stay with you and Samuel,” Marcus said to Quinn. “James, Dorian, help me out with these two, and also William, Thomas, and Linnea?”