But first, he had to find the damn princess.
“I thought Conrad was supposed to be infallible, a guaranteed success,” he grumbled to himself. “So what's taking him so long? He should have retrieved her by now.”
“Ahem.”
The sound of a throat being cleared drew his attention to a young page who stood at the top of the steps, a thin scroll clutched in his hand.
“Yes? What is it?” Stefan asked, his mood souring even more. If he was about to receive yet another tirade from his father letting him know in explicit detail just how disappointed he was in the way he'd bungled things, he may just fling himself off the wall and be done with it.
“A, uh, message arrived for you, sir. I mean, Your Highness.” The boy's face paled, and he thrust the scroll out in Stefan's direction, his hand shaking something terrible.
Stefan eyed the boy, waiting for him to bring the paper over, but the boy had apparently frozen in place. With a great, long-suffering sigh, Stefan strode over and yanked the scroll from the boy's hand. The page bowed and scurried off down the stairs.
Stefan stared at the scroll, holding it away from his body as if it might turn into a venomous snake and strike him at any moment.
“Might as well get it over with.”
Ripping open the seal, he unfurled the paper and let his eyes run over the hastily written words. A slow smile tugged at his mouth as he took in its contents.
“Well, well, what do you know? I guess the rumors of her being a witch weren't so far off. But if she thinks her little secret is going to be enough to beat me, she's going to be sorely disappointed.”
He crumpled the note in his fist before stuffing it into his pocket. With one last look across the field, he turned and headed down the stairs, making his way back to the castle. He whistled off key as he walked, his spirits lifting for the first time in a long time. Tonight, he would have his bride.
And his bride would have a cage.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Okay, Suzu. Do your thing.”
Alex watched as Josselyn sent the little bird that'd been perched on her shoulder into the castle gardens. They'd made their way back through the tunnel with little trouble, and now they stood hovering behind the mausoleum's door, just him, Josselyn, and a lanky, red-headed soldier named Francis who was supposed to quite the expert with a crossbow.
Suzu flew back to the cracked open door, twittering the signal for them to follow. They slipped out the door and crept across the grounds, keeping as close to the trees as they could. The entire orchard and gardens were eerily dark and quiet, and Alex couldn't help but wonder at the lack of guards. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he glanced behind them as they ran along the wall toward the stables, but there was no one there. Just a whole lot of nothing.
This doesn't feel right. Where are all the soldiers? There should be at least a few guards protecting the castle.
He saw Josselyn glance his way, and by the look on her face, she was as confused about the lack of guards as he was. It was all just... too easy.
They ducked behind the stables, weaving in and out of the various outbuildings there until they reached the large courtyard at the front of the castle. At the far end of the open space was a smaller wall that separated the castle from the rest of the capital. They would need to get through the gatehouse in order to infiltrate the city. Alex unsheathed his sword, and Josselyn did the same. Francis pulled the crossbow from off his back and loaded a bolt. Suzu flew across the open space to the gatehouse, where she circled around the window before darting back and landing on Josselyn's shoulder. She let out a single chirp.
“Are you sure?” Josseyln asked. “There's only one guard manning the gatehouse right now?”
The bird dipped its head in a nod before zipping back over and perching on the windowsill of the building, her sharp gaze focused on someone inside.
Josselyn looked over at Alex and Francis. “There's only one guard in this entire area? Two, I suppose, if you count the one patrolling the wall. Isn't that kind of... odd?”
Francis shrugged. “Perhaps they don't have enough men to spare. The general seemed to think it was only a small portion of Antoski's army that came over with the prince. Either way, it's our good fortune, is it not?”
Josselyn didn't look convinced, and Alex agreed. It was a little too fortunate. His fingers tightened around the handle of his sword. They were here now, though, so there was nothing to do except see the mission out.
Suzu hopped up and down on the gatehouse sill, turning her head and cocking it to the side as if to ask what was taking them so long. He heard Josselyn take a deep breath in, and then she was off, running across the courtyard. With a last look around he followed her, with Francis bringing up the rear.
They'd almost cleared the courtyard when a sudden thunder of footsteps rang out behind them. Alex wheeled around in time to see a mass of soldiers pour out from the front of the castle, splitting into two sections as they spread out around the sides of the courtyard, their bows loaded with arrows aimed straight at them.
“It was a trap,” Josselyn hissed, dropping into a fighting stance, her sword held at the ready as she faced off the soldiers that continued to circle them, penning them in. Alex did the same, shifting so that his back was to hers as he eyed the men on the opposite
