Martin here about Shondravar she may have told her father.”
Jonas nodded and hurried to his duty.
“Martin, why don’t you stay the night and tell us everything,” his sister invited.
“All right, but I have no place to sleep tomorrow night.”
“You do now,” Caleb told him in a quiet voice, and Martin grinned at him. “We’ll find you a cottage.”
“You told us Baltrasard was there…” Shauna began.
“He’s a Catcher you know,” Martin told them and then continued eating.
“What?” Caleb came toward his chair and kneeled in front of it. “Martin, do you know what you’re saying?”
“Yes, King. I heard them talking.”
Caleb wasn’t really all that shocked by this news when he thought about it. “What did you hear?”
“Well…” Martin scratched his head. “I was sweeping after Seth went rushing to find Willow flower. He doesn’t know about Baltrasard. I tried to tell him, but he was just too upset over what Drakar had done to her.”
Caleb blinked a tear away. He had killed this Drakar too quickly. And Seth…Did this man really care for her? Did she care for him? Caleb swallowed and threw himself into a chair to listen, his heart completely broken for Willow.
“King Baltrasard was talking with Galin, the leader, so I listened to what they was saying.” Martin threw Shauna a sheepish look before he continued, “The other king was mighty mad, and Galin, he was trying to explain how the king’s own daughter had been snatched. And the other king told him, he said, ‘When I chose you to lead the Catchers, I thought you were a little more than a halfwit. Your men are getting carried away.’ He said, ‘They don’t care who they take. I have a good mind to shut the whole thing down or run it myself like I used to.’”
The sitting room was so quiet, Martin turned to look at the wax crackling against the candle flame.
Then Caleb’s voice broke the silence. “Now, he dies,” he whispered and left the room.
Chapter 32
Willow shoveled the soil with her hand and placed the tiny seeds into the dirt with loving care.
Seth came up behind her. “What are you planting now?”
“Marigolds.” She covered the seeds and packed the dirt with her hands, and as she stood up, Seth moved closer to her, pressing his body against hers. She backed away.
“Forget that for now.” He smiled, taking her hand. “Come and sit with me.” He led her to a chair and sat down after she did. “Your father is driving me mad.”
Willow laughed, torn between asking him what her father had done, and if he was truly driving him mad, then why was he smiling?
Seth answered both her unspoken questions. “Since you freed all the servants in the palace, the guards have to do all the work.” He tried to look annoyed with her. “I’m very angry with you, but you look so beautiful in the brightness of the day that I find I can’t be angry with you at all.”
He reached out to remove the only thing that marred her beauty, a small patch of soil on her face, but she pulled away from him. So he left it there. She had recovered well since he’d brought her home a month and a half ago. The rosy glow around her cheeks had returned and her dark eyes sparkled and danced with a humor he had rarely seen.
There was a shout from the tower guard, and Seth jumped up and ran to the short wall overlooking the valley of Beldar below.
“What is it?” Willow followed him and looked in the direction Seth was staring. “Caleb,” she breathed on a sigh that sounded as if it were being torn from her very soul.
When he heard the name, Seth turned to look at her, then disappeared quickly into the palace to alert the king and the rest of the guards.
There were many Warriors approaching the palace on their war-horses, shaking the ground as they rode.
It took only an instant for Willow to find Caleb with his black bandana holding back his sun-streaked hair. Even from this distance, he looked fiercer than any man there. Like a flame, he illuminated the earth around him, completely breathtaking and yet frightening to behold.
Willow’s hands shook as they grasped the wall.
When he grew closer, his sea-blue gaze found her amid the foliage and flowers of the palace garden. Willow almost waved at him but wiped the tears from her eyes instead. Seth had returned and stood beside her. She watched with a