Unbroken (Unarmed Trilogy #2) (4 page)

"He doesn't know you. Where is Garrett?" Will asked as he tossed the brush into the nearest wagon and turned his attention back to Seraphina.

"He is speaking to some men," Seraphina said softly as she looked to her stomach. "I saw you with your wife last night. You love her very much, don't you?"

"I do love her, which is why I want you hidden. It would upset her to see you and Garrett after what has just happened to her best friend," Will said with a slight sneer. "Garrett couldn't have waited until her body was cold?"

"I didn't know he was married," Seraphina said, though Will knew it was a lie. She didn't look him in the eye when she made that statement, but Will didn't bother to call her out on it. "I am being kept in another wagon. I didn't have much room to move around, so I thought to do something before we started traveling."

"We are going to start again soon, so I suggest you return to your wagon," Will said cordially as he put his foot in the stirrup and lifted himself onto Angus' back. "When we are in Roth Territory, I will inform Tamzin of your presence, but not who you are. If she invites you to join her for anything, Garrett was not your lover and is not the father of your unborn child. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Your Grace. Thank you for your hospitality, Your Highness," Seraphina said with tears in her eyes as she bowed to Will. Will said nothing as he took Angus' reins and pulled him away from Seraphina. The sun was rising just over the horizon as Will roused his men and led them up front down the path. As the sun continued to rise into the sky, the heat continued to rise as well. The air was thick with humidity and Will heard the groan of his men and himself as they wiped their foreheads clean of sweat and dirt.

With one hand on the reins, Will loosened the ties of his jerkin and pushed them off his shoulders with a light tunic on underneath. The jerkin was still tucked into his breeches and hung off the back of him as the roads became clearer. They were close to Roth Territory.

Though it was unbearably warm for Will and the other Northern men, the trees and grass were a lush green and a new smell invaded Will's senses. It was salty, but still pleasant. The air smelt clean and fresh, like Tamzin's skin after her bath. There were purple flowers that grew on the trees and wrapped around them in vines. Will was enraptured by the sight.

"No wonder more people want to live in the South," Garrett said behind Will as he reached out and picked a purple flower. He brought it up to his nose and inhaled deeply. "I have no words for how good this smells." Garrett handed Will the flower and Will tucked it into the bridle around Angus.

When he looked up, he saw the grandest outer walls he had ever seen. Thurston's gates were made of iron and other metals, while this gate was a cream white and solid. The actual gates were a darker marble of sorts, with a large "R" in the middle.

"Halt!" a brusque voice called out and Will looked up the high walls to see an entire line of archers pointing their arrows at him and his men. "We have no orders from the King to expect visitors."

"I am Prince William Thurston of Thurston Territory. I am traveling with one thousand Thurston men and my wife, Her Royal Highness Princess Tamzin Thurston of Thurston and Roth Territory," Will called out with his hands around his mouth to project the sound.

The archer looked taken aback as he turned to his men and they conversed for a brief second.

"Present the Princess!" the archer called back to Will. "You present her and she confirms who you are, we will let you in." The archer seemed suspicious of Will and his men. He could only imagine how he was portrayed to these men after Turner Roth returned home after his wedding. Will handed the reins to Garrett to hold onto Angus as he hopped down.

As he walked, Will removed his jerkin completely and held it in his hand as he approached the wagon where Tamzin was resting. She was sitting up when she saw him approaching her and she sat up on her knees, her belly protruding more.

"Will?" Tamzin began as she approached the edge of the wagon. "Is everything okay?"

"There is an archer that won't let us in until he sees you," Will said as he held out his hand. He approached her again and picked her up like a child, with his hands beneath her armpits and lifted her effortlessly. Her feet touched the ground and she took his hand.

"It's most likely Rolf," Tamzin said their fingers laced together. The men watched as Tamzin led Will back towards Angus and the entrance to Roth Territory. "I've missed home," she said as she breathed in the fragrant air. She craned her neck up to look up at the archers and raised her hand towards them. "Rolf, is that you?"

"Princess Tamzin? We wanted to make sure that this man is who he says he is," Rolf responded as he glared at Will.

"This is Prince William and his men. Please open the gates. I need to speak to my father," Tamzin said in a strong voice. Will turned to look at her as Rolf and his men began to open the gates. On the other side of the gate was the courtyard, surrounded by trees with white and pink flowers. With the gate open, Tamzin stepped forward, with Will in tow, and he saw the Roth Palace for the first time.

In front of the palace were the homes of the Roth people. They were huts, like in Thurston, but were much better made. The people wore shorter breeches and sleeveless dresses. The men didn't have longer hair or thick beards and the women wore their hair high on their heads to expose their necks, backs, and shoulders. There were miles between the entrance to Roth and the first steps to the palace, but Tamzin pushed past the people who had begun to congregate around Will and his Northern men in interest.

"Tamzin!" Will called out, which made her stop. He ran to her, where he put his arms around her. "Tamzin, I..."

"It's best if I speak to my father first, Will," Tamzin interrupted before she cocked her head to see Rolf and some of his men come down from their post. "Rolf, please assist my husband and his men. We have been traveling for three days and my husband's men have been through a war and more."

"Yes, Your Grace," Rolf said as he stared at her very pregnant body. Rolf then turned to Will, who openly glared at the man. "Your father is in his study and your mother..."

"Is taking tea with her ladies. I haven't been gone for that long," Tamzin said as she picked up her gown with one hand and steadied her stomach with her other arm. Will watched helplessly as Tamzin left him alone with the archer, who looked at him with open disdain.

Will took that time to study Rolf. Rolf was Will's age, easily, with tanned skin, brown eyes, and dark hair. He had a sharp nose, similar to Will's, but smaller lips and was slightly shorter than Will. Rolf, however, was more agile with an archer's lithe body.

"Rolf, is it?" Will asked with slight irritation.

"Lord Rolf Dawson," Rolf responded as he put his bow behind his back. "I'm Captain of the Second Archers."

"Second Archers?" Will questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm training to move up to First Archers, who are our first line of defense. It's very honorable," Rolf said with a grumble as he looked at Will's men who continued to pour through the gates. "It takes one thousand of your men to escort Princess Tamzin back home? And they say you're excellent in hand to hand combat."

"We're not here for a visit," Will said grimly as he uncrossed his arms. "If you want to question my skills in combat, perhaps you should challenge me."

"I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of the Princess. I heard you did plenty of that at your wedding," Rolf remarked before he motioned for his men. "The Princess ordered me to help you, so I will."

Will didn't respond as he turned away from Rolf to his men. They spent hours unloading the wagons and carts, as well stabling the horses. The sun was high in the sky when they finished and Will collapsed against the stable door, Angus in his stall. His hair was curlier and slick with sweat and Will smelt his masculine scent become more pronounced.

"You're the Prince?" a voice said beside Will. He looked up to see the stable boy. The Stable Boy. Will immediately stood up and adjusted his tunic. This had been his number one competition from Tamzin's home territory. Realistically, he knew the ring on her finger, the child in her belly, and her sheer love for him bound her to him, but Will eyed the Stable Boy with mild interest.

Tamzin did seem to have a type.

His eyes were light like Will's, but not as blue and his hair was dark as well, something that seemed to be a trait in most Roth people. Will could see the boy's hands were calloused from stable work and his upper body had considerable strength as well.

"I am," Will responded in his most regal voice as he pushed his shoulders back. "And you are?"

"Hudson," he said enthusiastically as he held out his hand. "It's a honor, Your Highness. Tamzin speaks very highly of you in her letters."

"My wife writes to you?" Will asked with skepticism as he ran through in his mind all the times Tamzin wrote back home.

"Well, she hasn't written in quite a few moons, but yes, she has. Tamzin came home with you, didn't she?"

"She did..." Will said as he looked around the stable. "Could you show me the entrance to enter the castle from here?"

"I'm sorry, Your Grace, but we don't have a joint entrance. If you will follow me, I can escort you back to the entrance?" Hudson offered with an eager smile. Will felt slightly uncomfortable from Hudson's grin but said nothing as he followed the stable boy from the stables towards the entrance on the other side of the palace. It was almost unbearably warm for Will, but the people working didn't seem to mind. The people stopped to openly stare at Will and his pale skin. He looked like he had never seen sunlight in comparison to their bronzed skin.

Will could see Garrett standing on the stairs of the palace with the other men, who looked openly unsure of what to do.

"Oh, is that Garrett?" Hudson asked as Garrett pushed his shoulder length hair back. "He looks like Tamzin described."

"She's been very thorough, it seems," Will said before he pushed his curls off his forehead. Garrett spotted him and moved forward swiftly, and barely even nodded to Hudson.

"The men are unsure of what they are to be doing. Do we set up our tents or will King Turner have room for us in the palace?" Garrett began when the doors to the palace opened. A few women came out and Will recognized them as servant girls for the Roth family. They dressed similarly to the girls in his own palace. They brushed past the Thurston soldiers and the Roth people working and to Will.

"Prince William?" the older woman asked. Will nodded before she grabbed his arm. "You're in need of a bath, Your Grace. You smell rancid." Her hand on his arm felt gnarly from years of service but the old woman had strength as she dragged Will up the steps.

"My men need tending to," Will said as the woman pulled him into the palace, where it was considerably cooler. He breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the cooler air float over him.

"The kitchen servants are nearly finished with their food. The King is looking for space to put some of them," the woman continued as Will stared up at the absolute beauty of the palace. The ceiling was painted with the most beautiful mural and the floor wasn't wood, like his. The walls were stark white and the furniture were all light colors. The grand staircase was marble with carvings of faces at the base of the bannister. Will was overwhelmed by the grandeur and wealth of Tamzin's family. "We apologize for how long everything is taking, but this is all quite a shock. Tamzin is in quite a state, which is why it took so long for us to bathe her."

"The King is very angry?" Will asked when Tamzin's condition was brought up. She was covered in bruises and hadn't been properly bathed in months. What he provided her in his camp was only enough to remove the dirt from her skin, but he didn't have the proper oil to make her hair shine or her skin glow. Will could already hear King Turner's barks at his inadequate treatment and care of his daughter. It was a point that Will could not argue. Though he loved her more than life itself, Will could see from her life here that he was woefully unable to care for Tamzin the way she deserved.

The old woman stopped dragging him up the stairs and turned to look at Will.

"If the Princess wasn't swelling and she hadn't gotten on her knees to beg for your life, why I think you would have had your head cut off by now."

The old woman forced Will into a porcelain bathtub, very different from the wooden ones from home. The old woman seemed to care very little about Will's nakedness and only grumbled about the dirt that was caked on his skin, along with the sweat. Will hadn't spoken since the old woman told him just how much anger and hostility King Turner had towards him and he wondered if he should bring his sword with him.

As Will was bathed, he could see the sun setting as he stared out the window. If this were the North, it would be past dinnertime and he would be in his study or spending time with Tamzin. But in the South, time meant something different. Gregory used to say that he didn't like how the South lived; they moved slower than the North. The North did things when they had to be done, but the South accomplished tasks after long breaks, long dinners, and after time spent for pleasure occurred. This bath had taken longer than necessary, but Will found himself relaxed, despite the state of relations between Roth and Thurston.

"I hope this fits you, Your Grace," the woman said as she stepped away from the tub and walked towards the armoire. Like the North, the South had rooms for tubs and privies, but they actually kept the tub in this separate room. It was too cold to go from one room to another after bathing in the North. The room was very large, much too large for just an armoire, a bathtub, and a privy. There were very little decorations in the room and it was sterile white, much like the rest of the palace. "Princess Tamzin picked it out herself from the seamstress. It was supposed to be a wedding gift."

"What happened?" Will asked as he watched the woman pull out a long, intricately made tunic and a pair of fitted breeches with a cape. The clasp of the cape came together to make a 'T'. The gift was probably the nicest thing Will owned, and that included the outfit he wore when he married Tamzin.