Borit opened his mouth, ready to give his soldiers orders to take the two men to the dark hole which would be their new home. But Rhodri interrupted.
"Commander, if you would wait with these men for long enough my daughter to safely be escorted to her room. I would prefer her not try to follow you and sneak in to see them." Rhodri looked at his daughter.
By her sour expression, this had clearly been Rose's intent. This way, Rhodri could make sure the princess obeyed his order and stayed safe from further emotional harm.
He pointed to his head and furrowed his brow. "I will rest easier if I know you are not going to try something foolish. In fact, I can walk with you the first part of the way. I need to get some medicinal tea from the doctor, and I think the walk will do me good."
The princess knew Rhodri was both trying to soften the blow and keep and eye on her. He could easily call for the doctor the way he had summoned her.
This way, the whole infirmary would whip into a tizzy as soon as he arrived. But the king would suffer the minor chaos for the sake of his only child.
Rose bit back her anger. Borit was the enemy, not her father. Lashing out at Rhodri would only make the Commander look like the more rational party. If she hoped to make any progress in convincing the king of the truth, she would have to tread carefully.
"Very well," the princess could see no escape to her current predicament. Rose looked at Silver and then Ethyn. Now that he was ungagged, the Guardian would not meet her gaze.
Silver was ashamed, sickened by the torment he was putting his sister through. Ethyn, on the other hand, had tension in his jaw and fire in his eyes. There was so much he wanted to do and say, but he knew it would do no good with Borit there.
If he could speak to the king alone, maybe things would be different. But right now Ethyn looked like a patsy to a traitor, and worse--a seducer of innocent women. He would have to disprove the second claim before the first could be cleared up.
Seeing Rose's silent plea, Ethyn's face softened. It had never been his intention to hurt her.
Rose's agreement with her father had felt sudden to the knight. His face paled slightly. What if she had come to believe Borit's lies? They were almost convincing enough to fool Ethyn himself, and he was one of the victims.
The knight shook his head slightly. 'Don't believe him. My feelings are real!'
The princess seemed to understand. Rose smiled palely at him, giving him some hope that she still trusted him. Rhodri urged Rose forward. "Then come, my dear. We must go."
The pair exited into the hall. Captain Rabert was waiting for them. He started to fall in line, but the king stopped him.
"Borit has orders to station the new men outside the wall. You are to help him pick the strategic locations. Here are your orders. Read them well. I will go with Rose's entourage toward her room." The king did not need to explain the last portion. No one would question the king on his whereabouts.
'It must be his way of saying he doesn't need additional security,' Rose reasoned. Although she trusted the Captain, it also gave them a small bit of privacy.
"Lady Cait, if you would walk with Philip, I would appreciate a moment with my father," Rose said meaningfully.
Relieved that the two royals still seemed to be on speaking terms, Caitlyn dutifully nodded and fell back with the two soldiers.
Rose leaned on the king's arm, hoping both to make sure his headache would not impair his walking and to close the distance between them.
"You must know that Borit is up to something with the King of Lakyle. You saw the seal!" Rose tried to reason with her father.
"What I know is that you and Borit have very different versions of events. But he has hundreds of soldiers who are willing to testify to his guilt. In fact, the soldier who escorted Silver in gave her testimony before you were summoned." Rhodri kept his eyes forward.
"How can that be when I told Borit not to let any of the troops in?" The princess felt a deep sense of betrayal.
"She must have escorted Silver in when I called for him. Do you expect him to come into the palace without some security?" Rhodri's bushy eyebrows shot up.
Though Rose hated to admit it but the king had a point.
"Borit has a mountain of witnesses to back his accusations of treason, Do you have any proof to confirm your claim that I should not trust him?"
The princess nodded vehemently. "I found something suspicious about the Commander in the royal archives. I can go and get it…"
"Lady Cait may fetch it." Rhodri did not let the princess veer off course.
Caitlyn curtsied. "I have an idea of where to look. I will bring it to Her Highness." The woman peeled off and headed down a side corridor.
Rhodri let her leave before returning to the topic. "Do you have anything else that would implicate Borit?"
"Well, I have that communication from Prince Callum that says there is trouble coming with soldiers and that we have a spy in our midst!" Rose took a deep breath. She could feel herself get carried away.
"And it lists Borit as the spy?" The king tilted his head.
"Not specifically but if when you come to my room, you can see the note for yourself. Perhaps you have seen the prince's handwriting before, you can certainly verify if the creature is from outside the kingdom…" The princess paused again as Rhodri slowed his pace.
"I am afraid I cannot go just now. But I will come and see the bird very soon." Rhodri patted her hand gently. The princess remembered that he had planned to visit the doctor.
"Come as soon as you can, please? If you mean to lock me away for good, at least don't leave me alone." Rose words cut at the king's heart.
"It is not my intention…I want to protect you…" Rhodri sighed and rubbed his head. "I will come as soon as I am able. I promise."
The king pulled his arm away from his daughter with a bow. He nodded to Philip.
"I love you," Rhodri assured her.
'Then why does it feel like you are abandoning me?' Rose kept the question to herself. Not that the king would have heard her.
He seemed to be running away from her down the hall. Before he turned the corner, Rose could have sworn she saw a second shadow join his. The king must have called a guard to escort him.
Rose would have offered her own soldiers to assist him. But her motivation would have been selfish. Right now she wanted to bolt for the prison and tell her brother how sorry she was that she had not put up a better defense.
But she couldn't.
The princess wanted to kick and scream and tell everyone who the real villian was.
But she couldn't.
Rose wanted to break out the men, elope with Ethyn and disappear into the sunset , leaving this insanity behind.
But she couldn't.
Right now there was nothing she could do. She was forced to obey. Defeated, Rose marched to her room.
As soon as the door shut, the princess did the only thing no one could stop her from doing.
She wept.