Blooms of Consequence (Dusk Gate Chronicles Book 4) (14 page)

She looked up at him in surprise.

“Does anyone else know?” he whispered.

She shook her head.

“I won’t tell.”

Just then, William looked back and frowned as he tried to decipher their quiet communication. Then he smiled and paused, falling into step with Quinn, and taking her hand. Nathaniel reached across Quinn and squeezed William’s shoulder as they reached the back entrance of the castle.

*          *          *

Inside the castle, they followed Nathaniel up the stairs to the guest wing. William was a little surprised that they weren’t going to his father’s office or council room, but then he thought that this might go better in a less formal setting. He knew Quinn was nervous. Her hand was sweaty inside his, and it wasn’t all from the fact that Nathaniel had just discovered their secret. As they reached the top of the stairs, her hand only grew colder and damper.

He squeezed her hand as they approached the door of one of the guest suites. She took a deep breath, and in the next instant, her whole demeanor changed. Although her hand trembled slightly now, the rest of her looked calm and collected. She almost looked taller to him as Nathaniel knocked on the door and then turned the knob.

William had been expecting to see everyone in the room, but only one man was in there with his father. He stood when they entered, looking like an older and more muscular version of Nathaniel.

“Quinn, William, I would like you to meet my brother, Charles,” Nathaniel said.

“Hello Lady Quinn,” Charles said.

Quinn sucked in a breath as soon as he spoke, but William didn’t think anyone else noticed. She didn’t hesitate with her response. “Hello, Prince Charles. It’s nice to meet you.”

“And you as well.” Charles studied her face for a long moment before he held his hand out toward the couch. “Would you two like to come have a seat?” Charles was eyeing William warily, and he realized that it probably was a little odd that he was being included in this meeting, especially when nobody else knew just how serious his relationship with Quinn was.

Everyone was silent for what felt like a very long time as the rest of them took their seats, Nathaniel and Stephen in chairs that flanked one couch, and Charles and Ellen on a sofa facing them.

It was Ellen who spoke first. “So, Quinn, you’ve learned a lot about yourself since you and I first met.”

“More than I could have imagined, yes.”

“Nathaniel tells us you’ve decided to step in and take the throne. Are you sure you’re prepared for that?” Charles broke in without hesitation.

William stiffened a little at Charles’ tone, but Quinn didn’t miss a beat. “I’m as prepared as it’s possible to be, given the circumstances. It’s not a decision I ever expected to have to make, and I didn’t make it lightly, but it is what I have decided, yes.”

“And you understand what we’re up against?”

She shook her head. “Not all of it, no. That’s something I’m going to need help and support with – I’d like to know that I have that from all of you.”

Charles raised an eyebrow, glancing at Ellen.

Quinn’s chest rose and fell as she inhaled deeply before she spoke. “I know we don’t really know each other, and that this is hard for everyone. I want you to know that I didn’t come here with the intention of undoing everything you’ve worked for, or to take over everything from you.”

“Then what is your intention?” Charles asked. “Why should we trust you?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t. I don’t know what I could say to convince you. I know my father ran away and left you to deal with this instead of fighting to make things right. My intention is to stay and try to make things right, if I can.”

“And how do we know you won’t just run off and leave if things get too difficult?” Ellen asked.

Quinn’s body tensed, but she maintained eye contact. “The only thing I can give you is my word. I can tell you that I fully intend to see this through.” She pulled back the collar of her shirt to reveal her tattoo.

Charles’ eyes widened just a little. He looked at Ellen, and she nodded, before turning back toward them.

“And what of you, Prince William? Are you prepared for all of this?”

He pulled back his own collar.

Ellen nodded again. “And to marry Quinn?”

William nearly choked on his spit. “Excuse me?”

“Surely you’re both aware that the best chance we have at ousting Tolliver is for you to fulfill the prophecy yourselves – unite the kingdoms through marriage, and assume the Philothean throne. To do that, Quinn needs to marry one of you, and I assumed it was going to be you, since you’re courting.” She looked pointedly at William’s courtship bracelet.

Beside him, Quinn had gone completely rigid, and he felt a little sick. Of course Ellen was right – but that wasn’t why he’d asked Quinn to marry him. He honestly hadn’t even considered the political aspect of it. So much for telling her mother first.

He turned to Quinn, searching her expression. She looked mortified, and there was some other emotion underneath that, too –
anger? fear, maybe?
– But she gave him a single nod.

“Yes, Ellen. We hadn’t shared the news with anyone yet, but Quinn and I are betrothed.”

He felt his father’s eyes boring into him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look.

“Well, then, it sounds like congratulations are in order,” Charles said. “I’m happy for you both.”

“Yes,” Nathaniel said, before William had the chance to respond. “It’s very good news. Now, you’ve had your chance to meet with Quinn, and to voice your concerns. I’m sure it’s been a long day for both of you already, and you’d like to have some time to settle in before dinner.” He stood, and William immediately followed his lead. He extended his hand to Quinn in a way that he hoped looked like he was only being polite in helping her up, but really he was trying to whisk her out of the room as quickly as possible before they said something worse.

Stephen followed them into the hall. “Find Charlotte for me, please, Nathaniel? Ask her to meet us in Quinn’s room.”

Nathaniel nodded and disappeared down the hall. William held Quinn’s hand tightly as they walked to her room.

*          *          *

Quinn was still in shock as she and William followed Stephen into her room, and he closed the door behind them. She couldn’t tell if Stephen was upset. She was sort of upset herself. This wasn’t why William had proposed to her now, was it? Just so they could fulfill the prophecy? She didn’t think so, but an uneasy feeling had settled in the pit of her stomach. Was she really just a pawn in their political game?

“Sorry about that,” Stephen said, turning to face them. “I wasn’t expecting something like that to happen.”

“Well, it did,” William said. “That’s not how we intended to tell you.”

“So it’s true, then?”

William’s eyes widened. “Do you think I would do that to Quinn? Put her on the spot like that just to satisfy them?”

“No, I don’t. I’m sorry, I just – I’m a little surprised right now, I guess.”

“Good. Because I don’t actually care what they think. I’m sure it does make things easier for them, and maybe it will make them take Quinn more seriously. But that’s not why I asked her to marry me.”

He pulled her closer to him, standing right in front of her, and used his finger to tip her chin up so she was looking at him. “Don’t even think that, Quinn. I see it in your eyes – but stop, please. I don’t care who you are, or what choice you make. I proposed to you because I want to be with
you
. Please believe that.”

She hadn’t even been aware that she was holding her breath until she nearly fell over with the relief of exhaling. “I believe you.”

There was a knock on the door then, and Stephen pulled it open to reveal Charlotte – and right behind her was Megan. Suddenly, Quinn was having trouble breathing again.

“What’s going on now?” Megan demanded. “I heard Nathaniel asking Charlotte to come here and speak to you. I’m done being left out of the loop on everything. Quinn is
my
daughter.”

Everyone was looking at her.

“Come on in, Mom. Have a seat.”

“Do I need to?”

“Yes, you probably do.”

“All right, Quinn. What’s going on?” Megan asked, as soon as she was sitting down in one of the chairs.

Quinn swallowed hard, searching desperately through her mind for the right words for this, but before she could, William began speaking.

“Megan, I’m so sorry. This is not how we intended to tell you this.” He took Quinn’s left hand in his, momentarily covering up the ring. “And, Mother and Father – this isn’t how I pictured telling you, either.”

Megan’s eyes grew round. Charlotte’s mouth opened slightly, but her eyes were sparkling.

“I have asked Quinn to marry me, and she has agreed. We are betrothed.”

“No!” Megan shouted. “She is seventeen!”

“She’s an adult in our world,” Charlotte said quietly. “She has been for a full cycle already.”

“Well it’s not old enough in our world! She’s a child!”

“Megan, I know this is difficult for you, all of this, and I’m sorry. But Quinn has already decided to live here in our world, and here she is old enough to make this choice as well.” Stephen’s voice was low and even.

There was no question about how furious Megan was as she looked at each of them in turn, and then stood and walked out of the room, nearly slamming the door behind her.

Everyone was silent for several seconds. Finally, Charlotte stood and walked over to Quinn, pulling her up and into her arms. “This is wonderful news, sweetheart! I can’t think of anything that would make me happier right now.”

Somehow, a minute later, she was wrapped in Stephen’s arms, too. “We’ve always loved you like a daughter,” he said. “It will be wonderful to make it official.”

“We’ll need to plan a betrothal ceremony,” Charlotte said, her eyes shining. “I could pull it together quickly, I think, just in case your mother is planning on leaving right away when the gate next opens.”

“I don’t know that my mom will want to come anyway.” Her heart was heavy as she thought about the way her mom had stormed out of the room. At this point, she wasn’t sure her mother was ever going to talk to her again.

“Oh, sweetheart, you don’t know that. Sometimes people need time. Especially mothers with their daughters.” Charlotte reached to brush Quinn’s hair off her forehead.

“Fathers are even worse,” Stephen said. “It wasn’t easy for me when Rebecca and Howard were first betrothed. Samuel might have been happy to find out you were going to marry William, but he’d have been upset that it happened this young – even if you aren’t much younger than your mother was when he met her.”

Quinn chuckled, although thinking about that made her sad, too. She’d never fully understood the term “bittersweet” until now.

“Anyway, whether your mother celebrates with us or not is going to be her choice, Quinn. All we can do is make sure we don’t exclude her from it. We will hold the party while she’s here, and leave the rest to her.”

William squeezed her hand. “It will be okay.”

She didn’t fully believe him, but she nodded anyway. This wasn’t how she’d pictured things going when she told her mom she was engaged – not that she’d really ever thought much about it. It had always been a vague idea of something that might happen far off in the future. Still, this wasn’t how she
would
have pictured it. But then, everything about her life seemed to have changed the day she stepped off that bridge.

A loud knock on her bedroom door startled all of them. Stephen’s eyes widened when he opened it. “What is it, Marcus?”

“Your Majesty, I’m so sorry for interrupting...” Marcus looked around at the four of them.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. Do you need me to step out with you?”

“Well...” his eyes darted to Quinn and back, “We’ve just gotten some intelligence about where we might find Prince Jonathan.”

*          *          *

“I’m really proud of you, you know,” William said.

“Thanks,” Quinn mumbled. Her eyes were still red and puffy, but she was getting calm now. “Not that that went very well.”

He reached out and took her hand. “We knew it wasn’t going to. But we got through it.”

She nodded and he squeezed her hand, running his thumb against the braided gold and silver of her ring.

“I wanted to tell her first, Will. I wanted her to at least have that – not have to hear about it in front of your parents. She probably thinks we ganged up on her.”

“I know. But that isn’t your fault. She’s the one who barged in here. And we didn’t have any idea that Ellen was going to do that in front of my father, either.”

He
was
proud of her. As hard as it must have been, she had even stayed calm, and she hadn’t cried until the two of them were alone.

It had broken his heart, though, to watch her go through that. For the thousandth time, he wished it didn’t all have to be so hard – that marrying him and choosing this world didn’t also mean her having to say good-bye to the family that she loved.