Page 90 of Veil of Winter

“There is no forgiveness without contrition and repentance.”

“That is not what you said. Besides, there is no other way for me. Do you think I can live with my nineteen-year-old daughter taking my kingdom from me? Do you think I can bow and kiss my child’s feet like a groveling servant?”

Elyce drew in as much air as she could get and screamed.

He gripped her neck so tight she wondered if he’d crushed her airway irreparably. Either way, she was choking again.

Shouting came from the other side of the door, along with loud banging as someone seemed to be trying to break down the door.

“Do not do this.” Father Johannes came toward them and yanked at her father’s hands around her throat, but he couldn’t loosen her father’s grip.

Again, she felt herself losing consciousness. Everything was dark, and sounds were coming to her as if she were down in a deep well.

There was a loud sound, like wood shattering, and she was falling.

Twenty-Six

Gerard had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach when he arrived at Montciel Castle. He left his horse with the stable boy and hurried up the steps two at a time. As he entered the castle, the guards seemed confused and were running toward the chapel.

“What is happening?” he asked the first one he could catch hold of.

“The princess is meeting with the king, and the guards said the king locked himself in the room with the princess.”

“Where? Where are they?”

“This way.”

A scream sent his blood boiling. It was Elyce.

He ran to find three guards trying to break down a wooden door with their shoulders. Gerard grabbed the iron sconce onthe wall and pulled with all his strength. It gave way and came off in his hands.

The guards saw him coming and stood back.

Gerard swung the heavy iron sconce and connected with the door. The wood splintered where he hit it just above the metal lock. He struck it again, this time knocking the entire lock and handle through the wood. The door opened, and Gerard lunged through it.

King Leandre was holding Elyce by her throat. Her eyes were closed and her face was ashen, her lips blue. Father Johannes was trying to pry the king’s fingers from her throat.

The priest stepped back as Gerard unsheathed his sword and charged her father. The former king loosened his grip and Princess Elyce fell to the floor.

Gerard lifted his sword and brought the hilt down on her father’s head. Her father’s eyes rolled back, his eyelids drooped, and he collapsed to the floor, his face landing on the princess’s foot.

All Gerard’s focus was on the princess now.

“Can you hear me?”

She was so pale as he knelt beside her and brushed the hair from her cheek. He leaned over her, as he had done once before, hoping to awaken her. Would he have to try the old Saracen method of waking a person whose breath had left them? He’d do anything to revive her.

But as he leaned closer, her eyes fluttered open. She was alive!

***

When she opened her eyes, Sir Gerard was leaning over her, so close she thought for a moment she was waking up from her sleeping potion all over again, with a strange man leaning down for a kiss. But then his expression changed from one of horror and fear to elation and relief.

Elyce gasped for air. Sucking in another breath, she blinked hard to clear the rest of the darkness from the edges of her vision.

Sir Gerard knelt down and cradled her in his arms before she could even reach out to him. Her limp arms went around him. She pressed her face against his chest, the pain in her throat so sharp she wondered if she would be able to speak.

Father Johannes was explaining to the guards what happened, and she knew she was safe, but she couldn’t help clutching Sir Gerard’s shirt and holding on as if her life depended on her grip.