“Stop!” she yelled, knocking the glass from his hands. It shattered when it hit the wood floor.
Gerard and his officers looked at her in surprise.
Elea clutched at the napkin in her lap. “I am so sorry. But it was poisonous—smell it. The vintage reeks of bitter almonds, better known as the poison cyanide.”
Surely Gerard’s half brother would not try to poison him. The princess must be mistaken.
Monsieur Boucher lifted his own goblet and examined the color and smell. “Princess Eleanora is correct. The vintage is poisoned,” he said, then turned to look at her. “You have saved our lives.”
She blushed but did not smile. “Then my debt is repaid, for you have all saved mine. I am tired. Captain, will you return me to my chambers?”
Gerard scrambled to his feet and offered her his arm. “Of course. Charbonneau, please pour the bottle into the ocean. I don’t want anyone to be mistakenly harmed by it.”
His officers stood as he led Elea out of the dining room and back to his cabin. He opened the door for her and she passed through it.
She flipped her purple hair over her shoulder. “Thank you for dinner, Gerard.”
“Thank you for saving my life,” he said, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to her wrist. “No matter what you said, I still owe you a life debt and I will not forget it.”
He closed the door to his cabin and slumped back against the outside of it.
Surely his half brother hadn’t known the chardonnay was poisoned.
Gerard did not want to believe that his half brother wanted him dead. They had been childhood playmates and friends, two years apart in age. They were family. Alexandre had never made Gerard feel like an unwanted, illegitimate son. A cast-off of the king’s insatiable lust. Biting his lip, he forced back the tears that wanted to fill his eyes. Alexandre had taught him how to play marbles, cheat at cards, and flirt with ladies—not that Gerard had ever excelled at that particular skill.
Why did his own brother want him dead?
He was no threat to the crown prince. Gerard didn’t even have a title, let alone a fortune or an estate to make him a political rival. He was too busy sailing. He rarely visited Haute-Rhône Palace and hadn’t lived there since he was a boy. Mostly, they’d only exchanged letters and small gifts. Gerard had lived for those written lines and eagerly wrote his half brother back the very same day he received his letter.
What could have gone so wrongly between them?
6
ELEA
From a distance, Argylly City looked majestic and beautiful. Elea had done it! She’d arrived back in Urka. She would be the great queen her grandmother had always prophesied that she would be. Now, all she had to do was wrest the power from her wicked uncle, who had seized the throne after killing her father, the king. It would have been easier to fight him if Nora had been at her side, but there was no going back now. Her cousin had taken her place as a hostage. She’d fulfilled her oath and protected Elea until the end.
Guilt wrapped around Elea like a blanket. She had been terrible to Nora for years and yet her cousin had still been loyal.If, no, when Nora was released, Elea was determined to beg for her forgiveness and to do better.
As a cousin.
As a queen.
She watched the handsome and very muscled captain across from her in the small boat. He sat in the middle, like she, as his sailors rowed them to shore. Gerard had said that he owed her a life debt. Maybe he could go with her and protect her in Nora’s place. Elea wasn’t used to fighting her own battles. Nora had always done that for her. And this captain was young and strong. It would be impossible to find a better replacement for her cousin.
They were sitting close enough that she could smell cedarwood, musk, and now vanilla, which was more pronounced. His attraction to her was growing. She could use that to her advantage.
“Gerard, Captain,” she began, fluttering her eyelashes. “I have never traveled alone before and I am scared. You said that you owed me a life debt. . . . Will you help me until I reach my family?”
He clenched his strong chin; a hint of dark stubble grew on it. A stirring of attraction flurried in her belly. But she ignored it. She’d followed her heart once before and it had been trampled on. She would not lend it out again so easily.
“I am sorry, Princess. But I cannot abandon my ship and my men.”
“Surely Lieutenant Petit could take charge until you returned? It should not be longer than a week or two.”
Gerard shook his head slowly. “My ship must return to Kaul. They cannot wait in the Dark Channel for me. It is not a place to linger.”
Elea nodded and sniffed. When they’d passed through the dark mist that surrounded the island, she’d sobbed like a baby. If only she could do so now. She could not cry on command, but she could appear distressed. “I suppose that your words last night were merely that—words. Not an oath or a promise.”