Blooms of Consequence (Dusk Gate Chronicles Book 4) (32 page)

William frowned, reaching up to feel her forehead. Quinn watched as he took longer than necessary, running his hand across her forehead, then down the sides of her face with supreme care. She thought she saw tears in the corners of his eyes as he took the wrist of Linnea’s uninjured right hand and felt for her pulse.

“I think you might be in a little bit of shock,” William said to her. “Honestly, I think we might all be. I’m going to get you fixed up, though, and then we can rest and figure things out.”

He rubbed at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt before reaching back into his bag, and Quinn had to swallow back a lump in her throat.

“Here,” William said, tossing a small, plastic bottle to Quinn. It took her several seconds to figure out what it was – a bottle of hand sanitizer, from her world. She didn’t know why, but she almost felt like crying as she used some of it to clean her hands.

“Okay, sweetheart, I’m going to get started numbing up your hand here in a second,” William said.

Linnea’s eyes grew wide. “I can’t believe I did this to myself,” she said.

“Enough.” William’s voice was more serious than Quinn had ever heard it. “You didn’t do
anything
to yourself. You were a hero in there. And right at this moment, I’m wishing Nathaniel would have let Tolliver bleed to death from that awesome move of yours.
You
are going to be fine. I can fix this.”

“The numbing medicine is the worst part,” Quinn said, echoing what Thomas had told her the first time she’d gotten stitches. “It stings for a minute. But then you won’t even feel the stitches.”

 “Tell me I didn’t give you too much of a bad time when you were scared of a needle,” Linnea said.

“You did, but I’m not much for revenge,” William said, smiling, though it didn’t reach all the way to his puffy red eyes. “Besides, I never earned my cuts the way you earned yours. It’ll be over in a minute. You just look at Quinn, and not at me. I need you to just relax and breathe, okay?”

Linnea nodded. Quinn scooted closer to her on the bed and faced her, holding her uninjured hand.

“Okay, Nay. Take a deep breath in, and then blow it out through your mouth. Big pinch.”

“Ow.” Linnea’s hand clenched Quinn’s tightly. “Okay, Will, I’m sorry I ever teased you.”

“Don’t be. It was probably funny.” Though his eyes never left what he was doing, he used his free hand to rub gently at her upper arm.

There was a soft knock on the open bedroom door, and Quinn looked over to see Ben standing there, holding a large stack of towels.

 “How is she?” he asked, with obvious worry in his voice.

“She’s going to be fine,” William said. “It’s just a couple of cuts. The one on her hand is going to keep her from grabbing another knife any time soon, but she’ll be okay.”

Ben didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?”

“I’m fine,” Linnea said. “You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not here. I’m here.”

That made Ben smile. “I’m sorry. I should have known better. Can I come in? I’ve got these, and there’s a basin of water on the table out here.”

Linnea shrugged. “It’s not very exciting. Come on in if you want.”

William leaned close to her ear. “Are you sure, Nay? I still have to do the one on your neck.”

She grimaced, but nodded. “Ben, you’re fairly warned that you might see me cry or something else ridiculous if you do stay.”

Ben’s eyes widened and he darted to her side. Quinn moved out of the way. “Does it hurt?” he asked, kneeling next to her.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry. You hurt Tolliver a lot worse than he got you, though. That was incredible.”

“Thanks for trusting me and giving me that knife,” she whispered. “That was you, too.”

“I’m surprised I could even think, seeing him with you, like that … I just…”

Quinn raised an eyebrow at Will; she’d never seen Ben like this. Or Linnea actually. William shrugged and gave her a half-smile. “I kind of like it,” he mouthed.

Quinn did, too. Ben and Linnea … yes, she definitely liked the idea.

“Okay Nay, ready to finish this up?”

“No. But go ahead.”

“Can I hold your hand?” Ben asked.

“I don’t know. I might really feel like a weakling – needing my hand held for a couple of stitches if I’m surrounded by three people who have a Friends of Philip tattoo.”

“My father had to hold my hand when they did my tattoo,” Ben said quietly. “And I’m supposed to be a big tough guard. And that was my choice, and that wasn’t as bad as what just happened to you. Even you, strong Princess Linnea, are allowed to fall apart sometimes and let other people take care of you.”

Linnea bit her lip and nodded, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

William wiped his sister’s tear away with his thumb. “Even if you don’t think you need it, Linnea, we all really need to take care of you right now, okay?”

“Okay.” She held out her hand toward Ben.

WILLIAM HAD FINISHED working on Linnea, and they were all just sitting around her on the bed, when there was a knock on the door out in the main room.

None of them moved to answer it, but after a moment, Marcus appeared in the bedroom doorway. “Is everything all right?”

Quinn put her fingers to her lips and climbed gently off the bed – Linnea had been about to doze off.

But her efforts failed. “I’m fine,” Linnea called out, just as Quinn reached Marcus.

Marcus raised an eyebrow, but Quinn sighed and nodded. “She’s okay. She just needs to rest.”

“Okay. There’s someone out here I want you to meet.” He tilted his head behind him, and Quinn could now see there was someone standing out there. A man, a few cycles older than Marcus, perhaps, with salt-and-pepper coloring his neatly trimmed hair and beard. “You, too, William and Ben.”

“Princess Quinn, it is a profound honor,” Brian Miller said, lowering his head, after Marcus had introduced her.

She flushed, and started to tell him the gesture was unnecessary, but William’s hand on her elbow reminded her quickly that she was supposed to accept such deference.

“I’m sorry for barging into your home the way we did,” she said instead. “We’re all very grateful for your hospitality.”

“My home is open to you at any time, Princess,” he said, pulling back his collar to reveal the symbol that she’d already known was there. “You are certainly more welcome here than our other, uninvited,
guest
. Anything you need here, anything I might be able to provide, if you don’t see it, you need only to ask.”

“Thank you. I take it this means you know who I am?”

“Yes, Princess. Your grandmother and your uncle have explained it to me. I’ll admit that I’ve never been so shocked in my life, but also never so filled with relief and hope. You are the true heir, and your marriage to Prince William will fulfill the prophecy. This is wonderful news, indeed.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I was afraid this news would be difficult for people to accept.”

“It might be for some,” Brian agreed. “For those who have been influenced by Hector and Tolliver, for those who gave up the hope and the fight in exchange for promises of favor under the new regime, it will be a challenge.

“But I think you underestimate the power of tradition and of your family in particular – and how we feel about the connection of the crowns. Over the past twenty cycles, we’ve seen our relationship with Eirentheos slipping slowly away, carrying our friends and families further from us. You, Princess, may just be able to give that back to us.”

“I certainly hope so. Thank you for being one of the first to give me that chance.”

“Anything, Princess. And I must apologize to you that my home was not a safe haven for you when you first arrived. I never imagined that keeping the secret of my loyalties
too
well would result in my home being seen as a hiding place for that…” He shook his head.

“I’m so sorry. Please tell me that Princess Linnea hasn’t suffered any permanent damage. It was only a few hours ago that I realized they’d brought her here as a prisoner, and I nearly lost my mind. I couldn’t believe even Tolliver would stoop so low."

“Are there members of the Friends of Philip hiding here, then?”

“Yes. About twenty-five who are known to Tolliver’s troops. More, of course, that they’re unaware of.”

Quinn’s eyes widened. “So many?”

“Yes. Until recently, many were coming here so we could help them get across the border into Eirentheos. Queen Sophia has done much for the cause in the last half-cycle or so.” He sighed.

“It doesn’t matter now. We’re done hiding. It had already been decided when we realized Linnea was here. We were going to get her back home safely, whatever we had to do. I’m actually glad you all arrived when you did. Otherwise, you might have walked in to the middle of a battle. Tolliver’s troops are being removed from my home as we speak.”

Quinn blinked. “Are you telling me there’s a battle going on, here, right now?”

“Yes, although I suppose it isn’t much of a fight. Soldiers or no … the only advantage they ever had over us was that we were trying to keep this safe house hidden.”

“We were traveling with more people,” she said, suddenly alarmed. “They were on their way here as well.”

“Yes, Prince Jonathan spoke to me about Prince Charles and Princess Ellen, and the others with them. Prince Jonathan has sent them a message with his bird, and a small contingent is heading out to look for them and escort them back safely.”

“Okay, good,” she said, breathing again. William put his arm around her shoulders. “Do you know how Tolliver is doing?”

“I don’t particularly
care
Princess, but when I checked in with Prince Nathaniel, he said he thought he’d be all right. There were two other healers here at the estate, and they went to help him as well.”

“All right.”

“In the meantime,” he said, eyeing the bloodstained floor, “I imagine you are all tired and hungry, and would probably like to get cleaned up. I am having some rooms prepared for you.”

*          *          *

An hour later, Quinn, William, and Linnea found themselves alone in a much larger suite.

“Is this place as big as the castle, or something?” Quinn asked, looking around at the expansive sitting room. It was very nice, featuring several couches and a fire crackling in the large stone fireplace.

William nodded, rubbing her shoulders. “Well, maybe not quite as big, but these old estates owned by royal families are pretty impressive sometimes.”

“Right. The Millers are related to me somehow?”

“I think so,” William said. “But I’m not exactly sure how, probably distant cousins or something.”

“Yeah, Queen Sophia said they were cousins,” Linnea said. “But not how.”

William and Quinn both looked at her. “You spoke with Sophia before this afternoon?” Quinn asked.

“Yes. They brought me to her first. We’ve been talking for the past two days. Tolliver wanted his mother to get to know his bride, you know.” She shuddered and sank down onto one of the couches, being careful of her bandaged hand.

“Was she really going to let that happen?”

“I don’t know, Quinn. She wasn’t happy about it, but she didn’t really see any other options. I almost told her about you yesterday. Tolliver only arrived here a little while before you did. If I’d had the chance to talk to her before he was dragging me in front of all of you at knifepoint, I probably would have told her today.”

“I would have been okay with that, Nay. Anything that might have helped you.” She sat down next to Linnea on the couch, and William went to kneel in front of both of them. He was so grateful to have Linnea safe in front of him, he would have been okay with anything.

“How did it happen?” he asked. “How did Catherine get you out of the castle?”

“You found out who it was?”

“Yes. Maxwell figured it out somehow. Don’t even get me started on how angry I am about all of that.”

“I don’t think he knew, Will. I mean, I never really liked her, either, but I don’t think he had any idea that she was just tricking him the whole time. I thought she was kind of … well, anyway, still, I didn’t think she was the kind of person who would do this.”

“What did she do? How did she pull it off?”

Quinn gave him a look, and he realized how insensitive he was being. “Sorry, Nay. You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready to,” he said.

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “It was simple really. She just found me in the hallway, after I took you two up to your room… She started being all nice to me, and then she asked if I wanted to meet her brothers, since I never had. Said they were driving her father’s new carriage. I didn’t really want to, but she was Maxwell’s companion, and I thought I should be nice.”

Tears started forming in her eyes, and William sat down next to her on the opposite side of Quinn, and they both put their arms around her, holding her tightly.

“I can’t even really remember what happened after that. We went out the front door – I saw one of her brothers waiting outside of the carriage, even though it was raining – and the next thing I knew, there was a pillowcase over my head, and I was on the floor of the carriage, and it was moving. Someone’s hand was over my mouth…” Her shoulders started shaking.

“Shh, Nay,” William said, his heart rising into his throat. “You don’t have to tell us anything else, sweetheart. It’s all over now. You’re safe; we’ve got you.”

William didn’t hear him enter the room, but when he looked up from where his head was buried against his sister’s shoulder, he saw Nathaniel standing there, watching them – all three of them huddled together on the couch, a shuddering mass of tears and hugs.

William wiped his face on his sleeve before waving his uncle in, and Nathaniel dropped to his knees in front of them and put his arms around them all.

Sometime later, William looked up again and saw Quinn watching him. Her tears were dry now, leaving grimy streaks down her cheeks, and he realized for the first time just how dirty they all were. Quinn was the only one of the three of them with no blood on her clothes. Nathaniel looked like a scene from a horror movie – not that William had ever watched one, but Thomas had, on the computer when he’d visited, and William had seen a little bit of it.

“They said there was water for baths, right? I’d do just about anything for a bath right now.”

Quinn nodded toward several large pots sitting near the fireplace. “I don’t know if we’re supposed to climb in those, or what.”

Nathaniel chuckled. “There’s probably a bathtub in one of those rooms,” he said, pointing toward the doors that led off of the main sitting room. “It’ll even have a drain through the floor, and a water pump from the well, but that water will be
cold
. The water over there is for warming over the fire, and then we can mix it in the tubs. We can ask some servants for help.”

Quinn shook her head, and he knew how she felt. He didn’t want to see any more strangers right now either.

He and Nathaniel hefted one of the heavy pots up and onto the hook over the fire, and then they all explored the rest of the apartment.

Nathaniel had been right, in addition to two bedrooms, there was a bathroom with working pumps both at the sink and by the enormous cast iron bathtub.

Quinn went with Linnea into the bathroom first. The anesthetic William had used earlier was starting to wear off, and they all wanted to get her cleaned up and in clean clothes for bed before she was really hurting.

While the girls were in the bathroom, there was a knock on the door, and when Nathaniel opened it, two servants carried in large trays of food. One of the servants, a strong young man, was upset he hadn’t come early enough to warm the bathwater for them, but William assured him they were fine. Still, he insisted on hanging the second bucket for them and refilling the empty one.

“Are you going to go and check on Tolliver again tonight?” William asked, once the servant had left.

Nathaniel shook his head, shrugging out of his bloodstained shirt, and into a soft linen one that had been left on a chair in the corner of the room. “If I never see that man again, it will be too soon. There are other healers; they can take care of him.”

“They don’t have the knowledge you do.”

“Is Tolliver entitled to the knowledge I gained because I had to run away to another world to avoid actually being killed by my own stepfather or half-brother?”

“No. I don’t disagree with you, Nathaniel. I just… I know who you are, and I wanted to make sure you’d thought it through. I don’t care who he is – you saved his life already, and that’s more than he deserves. I’ll never be more proud of anyone than I am of Linnea right now – and I hate violence.”

Nathaniel smiled. “She was wonderful. And nobody’s ever deserved that as much as Tolliver did. Even while I was pulling that knife out of his leg, he was still making comments – thinks he’s going to get back at all of us. He said a couple of things about both Quinn and Linnea that made me want to shove that thing in further.”

William’s eyes widened. “What did he say?”

“You don’t need to hear it, William. But I did go and share it with my mother, and I plan on sharing it with Stephen, as well. Tolliver won’t be seeing the light of day again. I don’t care what Hector has to say about it.”

“Do you think Hector really is going to try to go through the gate?”

“I don’t know. It’s not worth taking the chance. We have to let Stephen know what has to be done. How bad is Linnea? Would she be all right traveling, if we could find a way to get her back home?”

“She’ll be all right. I think she’d be okay to travel tomorrow if she needed to, though the day after would be better. She’s going to be hurting tonight.”

Nathaniel nodded. “I didn’t have a lot of morphine, but I saved a dose for her. She deserves it more than Tolliver does.”

“Agreed.”

Nathaniel paused for several seconds. When he spoke again, his voice was hesitant. “Does Quinn really know some way to close the gate?”