The King's War

26. The Secret Weapon

AVERY

I found the witch in one of the manor's many bedrooms rooms. She was leaning against a bay window, looking with an expression of longing at the spacious yard. I followed her gaze to the white gazebo overlooking a small, well-kept pond. I wondered what caused her to look so forlorn, but that wasn't why I'd come.

In her exasperation at the Duke for foisting yet more people into her care, the witch had created another portal. This one led to a sprawling Greek Revival mansion that was fully furnished and lived in, but surprisingly vacant.

The house may have been big, but no place could be big enough to separate me from the trigger-happy Chase Colter. Lydia and Rowan I could deal with, but not him. Especially since he was in a different kingdom, away from the Duke's authority and influence. He probably had orders not to hurt me, but he was clearly a 'better to ask for forgiveness than permission' kind of guy.

And now that my capture led to the arrest of his girlfriend's family, (something he caused, not that he cared) he had every reason to want to harm me.

This development turned the witch into my only ally. Despite her myriad of wrongdoings, she was the one person in this house who despised me the least. She was the only thing standing between me and Chase.

"Is there something you need help with?" I asked brightly.

She turned, breaking out of her stupor. Her brown eyes were still far away. For an uncomfortably long moment, she considered my question, then frowned. "Help?"

I shrugged. "I figured it can't hurt for me to be useful."

She raised an eyebrow. "You can't have changed your mind about the rebellion that quickly."

"Well, I didn't, but—"

The witch regarded me knowingly. "You're trying to avoid them."

I didn't respond.

She let out a long sigh. "I'm supposed to be working on the potion, not babysitting."

"Let me help you with that," I pleaded, desperate for anything that would put me far away from Chase. "I can crush herbs or something." I had no idea if what she was working on even used herbs, but it was worth a shot.

She didn't answer, which was a better sign than her flat out saying no.

"Whose house is this?" I found myself asking. I couldn't tell from photographs because the place was conspicuously absent of them. Someone had stripped them off the walls when we arrived.

"Sheridan's," she replied, pausing. "Once, it was mine."

I stepped back, seeing the room in a whole new light. This was the Sinclair family's ancestral home? If King Sheridan was watching us from somewhere in the afterlife, he probably wasn't pleased that his killer was now squatting in his home. Then again, he kinda had it coming.

Disappointed, I left the witch to her reminiscing and set about exploring the halls of the Sinclair family manor. I couldn't help my sense of morbid curiosity at how the dead king had lived. The house was extravagant, filled with priceless art and antique furnishings, but it didn't compare to the gilded glamour of Rosethorne Hall.

A fierce sense of longing hit me at the memory of the palace. Not once, even when Nate and I were finally together, did I ever think I'd miss the place. But being trapped in a foreign land with rebels who want to use me if not outright kill me, really made me long for the comfort of its familiar walls. Most of all, it made me long for Nate.

It was a comfort to know that he hadn't stopped searching for me. Now that he was closing in on the rebels, the idea of seeing him again seemed more of a real possibility than a mere hope. These past weeks I'd tried my hardest to avoid thinking about how much I missed him, to fantasize about our reunion. but I couldn't deny it any longer. I longed to be in his arms again, safe and whole. I wanted to gaze into his blue-green eyes and feel his lips on mine.