Free The Opal Crown by Jenny Lundquist

drowning out the protests of the woman.
    We pass through the kitchen and Rolf points to the staircase. “Go upstairs and wait for me.” As I walk up the stairs I hear him draw his sword “If any of you come inside this shop, you won’t be coming back out again!”
    The upper story is one large room sparsely furnished with a wooden table and chairs and a few mattresses strewn around the floor. I cross the room and look out the window to the street below. The line outside the shop begins dispersing.
    The stairs begin creaking. “Does that happen often?” comes Rolf’s voice.
    “We close early every day now,” the woman replies. “We’re running low on flour. Kendrick declared himself in favor of—” They emerge at the top of the staircase, and the woman breaks off sharply. She has Rolf’s angular nose and high forehead.
    “Elara, this is my sister, Alinda,” he says.
    Alinda nods curtly at my greeting, examining me with discerning eyes. “I hope you’re worth the risk we’re taking for you.” Rolf shoots her a look, and Alinda sighs, her expression softening. “Forgive me. I shouldn’t have spoken so coarsely. It is an honor to have you in our home.”
    She sinks into a curtsy and adds, “Your Highness.”

Chapter 14
    Wilha
    I t takes everything within me not to flee the room as Lord Murcendor steps around me and Arianne and joins Andrei on the dais.
    “But I thought he was . . .” I look at Andrei helplessly.
    “In exile?” he finishes. “He was. Fortunately, he has returned to offer me counsel.”
    “But . . . but did you not hear of the events in Korynth? How he—”
    “How you went to the Kyrenican Castle that night to switch back with your decoy?” Andrei interrupts. “How he attempted to evacuate you from the castle when he became aware of Lord Quinlan’s plan to destroy Korynth, and you misunderstood his intentions? How Lord Quinlan was all too eager to capitalize on your confusion and paint Lord Murcendor as the villain, forcing him to flee? Yes, I have heard it all from Lord Murcendor himself.”
    “Lord Quinlan’s plan?” I say faintly.
    “Yes.” Andrei frowns. “I will forgive you for your error, of course. But now that Lord Murcendor is returned to us I shall expect you to pay him the honor due him.”
    “Andrei,” Lord Murcendor admonishes, “you are being too hard on your sister.” He turns a pained look upon me. “Surely, Wilha, you cannot really believe that I would have ever hurt you?”
    “It is difficult not to,” I say, forcing myself to look him in the eyes, “given that you put your sword to my throat and told me you would kill me if I did not marry you.”
    “Wilha, please.” He shakes his head. “I was merely trying to get you to leave the castle. I would have said anything to get you away from Lord Quinlan.”
    Lord Murcendor’s eyes are as kind as I have ever seen. Gone is the madman from last year; all I see is the solicitous Guardian who advised me all the years of my life. Yet I am not the same girl who once blindly trusted him; I shall not be caught in his snare ever again. But as I stare at Andrei, sitting on his throne, Lord Murcendor standing closely next to him, my stomach sinks. Even if Andrei granted me the time to tell him every moment of what transpired in Korynth, he would never believe it.
    Andrei and I may have been raised separately when we were children, but we have this one thing in common: Lord Murcendor was our closest friend and confidante. My father never understood how great a need a child has to be loved and listened to. A need, I see now, Lord Murcendor has understood all too well.
    “How does Lord Quinlan answer these charges?” I say finally.
    “He said he was innocent—right up until the moment he was executed,” Andrei says.
    My stomach churns; I was never close to Lord Quinlan, but in Andrei’s words I hear Lord Murcendor’s malice. So what am I to do now? My thoughts turn to Elara; she has always known just the