Fate's Ransom(The First Argentines #4)

The ship rocked on the choppy waters, sending a spray into their faces. Ransom leaned against the railing, watching as the cliffs drew nearer. Dearley stood on one side of him, wiping a hand across his mouth, the ends of his hair dripping, and on his other side stood Dawson, gazing at the distant fortress. The land they approached was hauntingly beautiful, with verdant pastures and ageless trees. The stone fortress stood as a formidable defense against the enemies of the Fair Isle. But as he stared up at the walls, he knew they were not strong enough to withstand the full might of Ceredigion.

The Elder King had helped Claire’s father tame the island. Even though the Gaultic nobles were more united now than they had been in the past, the memory of the invasion still lingered. They’d balk at defying the man who wore the hollow crown and wielded his power with impunity.

“Claire will be furious,” Dearley said, speaking the unspeakable at last.

“She has every right to be,” Dawson snarled. His fury at the king had not abated since they’d left Beestone castle.

“The king does this deliberately,” Dearley said, wiping his mouth on his forearm. “He’s trying to drive us into rebellion.”

He’d tried before, over the years, just as he had with all his followers, but never had his efforts been so blatant, so pointed. His victory against Estian was behind this.

“And he’s an utter pondfoot for daring it,” Dawson said. He shook his head. “If you joined forces with Lord James and Lord Kiskaddon, the three of you could stand up to him together.”

“Get such thoughts out of your head, Dawson,” Ransom said. “The last any of us needs is more war, especially from within. And I won’t make any decisions before I get Claire’s insights. She has a stake in this as well. And should we lose, we’d lose everything. Including our lives.”

Indeed, her counsel meant everything to him, and if they were to rebel, her own lands would likely be forfeit. There was so much at stake, not the least of which was the Fountain’s forewarning of who the next king needed to be in order for Ceredigion to survive. If Ransom could not be loyal to the king in his own right, he would always be loyal to the Fountain.

The three of them stared glumly as the ship approached the docks. Ransom wanted to be home, but he knew the news he brought would break Claire’s heart.

Because the waves were so choppy, a boat from the docks was rowed out to them so they would not have to wait until the winds calmed down. Climbing overboard and into the smaller boat was tricky, but they all managed it, and the two sailors who’d come for them rowed them back with the wind pushing them the whole way.

He looked up and saw Claire and the twins waiting for him at the pier. The boys were whacking at each other with wooden longswords. His heart panged to see them at play. They’d grown so much since he’d last seen them. A sigh escaped him, and Dearley put a comforting hand on Ransom’s shoulder.

When they reached the pier, Ransom climbed up the ladder first, and the boys ran to him with exuberant grins and hugged him around the waist.

“Papa! You’re back!”

“I saw him first!”

“No, I did!”

He hooked his hand around Willem’s neck and dropped down on one knee, clutching both of his boys in his arms. Only then did he look into Claire’s eyes, deep wells of worry and fear. Her beautiful hair was streaming in the wind. She approached more calmly, then tousled young Devon’s hair.

“Is it so bad as that?” she asked him earnestly.

He nodded, his throat too thick to speak.

It was worse.



Claire paced in their bedchamber, the door bolted, the two of them alone. He’d told her about the trickery by Estian, arriving too late to the battle for Auxaunce, and then the deliberate humiliation back at Beestone. The shock on her face had struck him like a blow. She looked angry enough to take a ship to Kingfountain and challenge the king to a duel, and he had not yet told her about the boys.

“I’m the one who sent him word about the Vexin!” she said with fury. “If not for my warning, he never would have won that battle. And he accuses you of intrigue?”

“There is no logic or justice in his words,” Ransom said. “I’ve talked it over with Simon, Dearley, and Dawson, and we all agree. He’s using his only victory as a chance to break our power. He does not want to be beholden to us any longer.”

“You’re the one who gave him the hollow crown!” Claire raged. “Is this how he repays you? No, Ransom, it’s not just a desire to be independent of us. He wants to punish us both. Me for rejecting him. As if I would ever want such a disgusting eel in my bed. And he hates you because you have character, and he has none.”

“I haven’t told you the worst yet,” Ransom said, dreading the moment.

“How can it be worse than this?”

Ransom looked into her eyes worriedly. “He demanded hostages. The twins. He gave me a fortnight to bring them to Kingfountain.”

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Her hands closed into fists, and her knuckles went bone white. “Our sons?”

Ransom nodded. “He is provoking us into rebellion.”

“And what did you tell him? You refused, certainly.”

“I did not. I wouldn’t have made a decision like that without you.”

“But you did make a decision. You told him you’d bring them!”

“What else could I have said that wouldn’t have been treated as treason?”

“You could have said no!” she shot at him.

Ransom held up his hands. “If I had, I’d be in a dungeon at the palace right now. As it stands, we are together, and we can make this decision together. If we’re going to rebel, we should do it on our terms, not his.” He slowed his breathing, trying not to let his emotions rule him. Despite his righteous anger, his protectiveness of his family, he knew down to the marrow of his being that he could not forsake the king without dire consequences. He hoped, through patience, that he could lead Jon-Landon back on a better path, that he might become more like his father and his brothers. But if not, he still had to obey his duty to the Fountain. Ransom himself could not see the larger picture, but he had been shown one piece of it: Jon-Landon’s son had to become king. And in order for that to happen, his father must at least temporarily retain that role. If the Argentine dynasty were allowed to fail, Jon-Landon wasn’t the only one who would pay the price.

Claire covered her mouth and shook her head. “I was not expecting this, Ransom.”

“We won’t be the only ones treated thusly. I warned Kiskaddon that whatever happened to us could happen to him next. Hal was Bennett’s favorite. Jon-Landon would replace him in a trice.”

“Oh, Ransom, what do we do? My mother’s heart wants to defy the king, to force him to come here and take my sons away from my stiff corpse. I’m so angry, I could eat his heart like my pagan ancestors used to do.” She shook her head again. “But that would just give him what he wants—rebellion and an opportunity to crush it. He’d take everything from us, including our lives. I don’t want to see you in a boat heading over the falls, Husband.”

“And I don’t want to be in one,” Ransom said, closing the distance between them. He gripped her shoulders. “The only way we can see this through is to give him what he demands. We refuse him at our peril. I do not trust Jon-Landon with our sons. But I have to. We have to. Let him think we’re beaten. Wait for the giddiness of his victory to dim. A day will come when he needs us. If we are patient, we can have our boys returned to us.”

Tears trickled down Claire’s cheeks, but the hot anger had not left her eyes. “We might be able to beat him, Ransom. If he came here.”