Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 182

Chapter 182: Last looks
Anaisa looked over her shoulder one last time and smiled bravely at her husband.

Trace appeared as if he might throw up, or rush forward to grab her. She memorized his face, hoping to see it again soon but knowing in her heart that Barnabas might lose his mind with rage and kill her.

She didn’t tell that to Trace.

All this would be over soon, and they could go home to the farm, or back to the city, or wherever they wanted to be, as long as they could be alone.

There were no opportunities for being alone here, amongst everyone else. Trace had even stayed out of her dreams, explaining that he felt too powerful so close to the tree and was afraid of what might happen to her mind if he exerted power too near to her.

She understood his reasoning, but missed him dearly. From afar, he had sent her good dreams during their nights in the cave, but had never come to visit her himself.

That was another reason she wanted for all this to be done. Everyone around them seemed to assume that since they had been married for some time now, that they wouldn’t mind having others around all the time, when in reality they were very much pre-honeymoon newlyweds.

Just before she turned away, she winked at Trace suggestively.

Soon. She mouthed, causing a subtle yet distinct reaction across his face.

But now, it was time to look forward. To concentrate on her task. To remember all she’d practiced.

That had been a game of sorts amongst the cave dwellers as they prepared for Oakdown’s arrival. At any time the plan could go awry. One of them might encounter the evil man and be given a command, potentially throwing everything off-kilter.

Trace had shared Sanders’ strategy of finding the loopholes, and so they practiced. As they worked, one person would give a command of some kind, and the rest would find some way of technically complying with the command while evading the purpose for which it was given.

Anaisa was particularly talented at the game, and usually was the winner.

However, much of the game was guesswork, since only Trace had any direct experience with Barnabas’s commands, and he had been given a particularly challenging assignment of not even attempting to reveal something.

Anaisa contended that she would have simply put everything out of her mind and babbled endlessly until something accidentally came out about Oakdown, but Trace had expressed his doubts that it would have worked, since it would have been an attempt to accidentally reveal something.

She had shrugged off the criticism since it was unlikely she would ever know for sure if that strategy would have succeeded.

If Ben had done his job, most of the nobility was at least suspicious of Oakdown by now. From one of the soldiers’ offhand comments, it seemed that the rumors had traveled beyond the upper class and into the military, at the very least.

That was a good sign, in one way, because it weakened Barnabas’s hold on the kingdom. If he was successful in marrying his son off to the princess and then, probably, killing the king, the rumors would be even harder to put down.

On the other hand, that also likely made Barnabas more desperate, and therefore, more dangerous. He’d played a very patient game for a very long time. Pushing him like this from all sides would make more patience impossible. He would have to act swiftly before they got him out of power.

Anaisa saw sunlight up ahead, and lowered her eyes. Her hands were tied behind her back for effect, but even if they weren’t, there was nothing physical she could do that would help the situation whatsoever.

She was no warrior. She was no fighter.

But she was a Noblewoman. The daughter of a Count, and the friend of a Princess. She belonged near the king, and she would not back down in the face of evil.

The way was slow; there were many soldiers in the narrow passage, all seeming to wonder impatiently what the holdup was. Of course, they had no way of knowing how utterly enormous the cavern was inside, so they probably thought the leader had reached the end and was delaying for some reason.

As they saw her, they moved aside with many whispers. The commander with her stopped several times to explain to each new batch what was going on, and what to do next.

There was much nodding, and a lot of confusion. Many of the soldiers simply stared at Anaisa instead of seeming to really listen to their commander, but at least all of this was buying time while Trace accomplished his part of the plan with the three other soldiers.

They should be deep by now, deep enough to be near the tree.

A lot of the plan from that point might involve improvisation, which could quickly become tricky. Anaisa put that out of her mind for now, focused on her role.

Delay. Distract. Discern.

Her observations during this time might be of vital importance later. She could hopefully determine how much Barnabas had gleaned from Sanders, how captivated the king was in the web of commands, perhaps even how much spare power Barnabas had left to enthrall others.

She just couldn’t let him get near the tree. He must head for the spare room.

Anaisa mentally catalogued all the half truths and misleading true statements she had prepared for various questions Barnabas was likely to ask. If he wanted the truth, she would take Sanders’ example and disguise the truth in misleading phrasing or carefully chosen details.

That was the plan, anyway. Things were highly unpredictable at this point.

As she stepped out into the sunlight, she saw the man she hated more than anyone else on the earth. He was standing proudly, with a haughty air and a straight posture.

King Harold, on the other hand, looked ragged and aged, as if he’d lived ten years since she’d seen him last.

“Interesting that you should bring someone out alive, when those were not your orders,” Barnabas observed to the commander.

Anaisa’s jaw clenched as she prepared to face death.

She would make her execution last long enough to give Trace the time he needed.