Royal Blood

by Faith Soprano

  “Do you know where she is?” he said at last.

  “I don’t.”

  “And would you tell me if you did?”

  “I wouldn’t tell you where she was, but I wouldn’t lie about knowing.”

  The king raised an eyebrow.

  “You were a lot more scared of me when we first met.”

  “When we first met, I was scared of absolutely everything.”

  Silence fell as the king considered Carla more closely. She wasn’t what he’d imagined. She was smart and had a sort of inner strength, which really wasn’t at all surprising considering what she'd had to survive in her life. Perhaps, Elloriann’s love for her wasn’t all that surprising after all.

  “This cannot be,” the king said. “Your union with my daughter. I trust that your feelings for each other are genuine, but you cannot be together.”

  “I think you’ll find that your plans for Elloriann’s life don’t hold as much value to her as you like to believe.”

  “She has to marry a royal. That’s how it’s always been, that's how it should be.” Talon hated himself for saying it, and hated himself even more for supporting it. But this was about more than just his or Elloriann's needs and desires.

  “Things don't always have to stay the way they've always been, nor should they,” Carla said.

  “Evlirone needs this. It needs an alliance with another land.”

  “She can make alliances without selling herself into marriage.”

  “You really believe that you can keep her?” the king said, his voice sounding almost confused.

  The fact that the princess would someday marry a royal was a given. It wasn't good or fair to her, but that was part of her duty as a princess. The king never doubted that this was something that would someday happen, and yet here was Carla, who didn't seem to have a doubt in her mind that Elloriann would be with her in the long run.

  “It’s not about me,” Carla said calmly. “She might be with me or with someone else. I might be dead by this time tomorrow. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re willing to destroy your daughter’s happiness for the sake of diplomatic relations.”

  “You don’t know anything about being royalty. We have to make sacrifices. I’ve made them, my wife has made them, and so will my daughter.”

  “And you don’t think there’s anything wrong with that?”

  The king groaned. Of course he thought there was something wrong with that. There was everything wrong with that. There was everything wrong with Carla being in a cage to be executed for Rondall's pleasure, but sometimes one person's happiness or even life had to be sacrificed for the sake of many others.

  “Elloriann will do as I say,” the king said. He had no good arguments left, but he was still the king and Elloriann's father. In the end, that still held power.

  He looked Carla right in the eyes with all the authority he could manage, hoping to make his intent and certainty perfectly clear.

  And suddenly, Carla laughed. She didn’t mean to. It wasn’t cruel, she didn’t mean to mock the king with her laughter. Perhaps the heightened emotions of the conversation finally caught up with her, or maybe it was something like shock.

  “You don’t know her at all, do you?” Carla said, looking at the king’s incredulous expression and taking a deep breath to calm herself. “If you knew anything about her, you’d know that she hasn’t done as you say in a very long time. And if you believe that you can make her, I really don’t think you quite understand how much she values her own freedom and how far she would go to keep it.”

  “You think you have more power over her than I do?”

  “No. I think neither of us has any power over her. The difference is that I don’t want any. I want her to be with me only if she chooses to. You think you can make her do as you say because she has no other choice.”

  Talon stared at her for a few seconds. There were many more things he could say, but he chose not to. He had come down to the cells in search of Elloriann, but she wasn’t there. He had come down there to meet Carla, and at the very least, he has done just that.

  He didn’t know how he felt about her now. Part of him despised her, part of him respected her, and part of him even hoped that she would not survive the next day. But he was no longer wondering how Elloriann could love this simple servant that she'd only known a short while. And he was no longer doubting that their relationship was genuine. Which meant that whatever happened the next day, things would never be the same again.

  He turned around and walked away.

  As soon as the king was gone, Carla collapsed onto the bed and started breathing heavily. Her hands were tingling and she could barely feel her legs. Her vision got blurry and it was difficult to breathe.

  She took deep breaths and tried to calm down. Her breathing was so loud and frantic that even the guard turned around and looked at her with a worried expression.

  It took Carla a while to calm down and start breathing normally again. She thought back to the conversation that had just taken place and let out a whine.

  She knew she’d overstepped every boundary imaginable. Most importantly, she was afraid that she’d let Elloriann down by speaking of her the way she had. Had she revealed something she shouldn’t have? Would this make Elloriann’s future more difficult?

  But Carla knew that regardless of what happened the next day, things in the castle wouldn’t just go back to the way they had been. Whether she lived or died, everything was out in the open now. And she knew Elloriann well enough to know that she would not give up easily, and even if Carla was executed after all, Elloriann would not simply fall back into whatever life she’d had before Carla. No, she would fight for herself, for her future, for her right to choose how to live her own life.

  Carla knew that Elloriann was more than capable of fighting on her own. But she still hoped with all of her heart that she would be there to help her, to support her, and to see her win.

  40

  The castle grounds did not have a place designated for sword fights. Guards usually practiced inside or in the woods, and knight duels were simply not a part of the castle’s life. But there was enough empty space in the courtyard to accommodate both the upcoming duel and the spectators that would undoubtedly arrive to witness the battle.

  The thrones were once again placed in the courtyard for the king and the princess, as well as benches for anyone else who wished to observe the fight. Two tents were installed for the earl and the prince. Carla was led out of her cell and forced to stand on the execution stage, awaiting her fate.

  Kay walked proudly through the courtyard with his visor up, bowing briefly to the prince as he passed him. He headed for his tent, where Elloriann was waiting, wearing identical armor.

  Kay had been selected for the role of the earl primarily because he and Elloriann were of similar height and build. When they were both clad in armor, it was impossible to tell them apart. Which was, of course, the point.

  A trumpet player hired for the occasion signified the beginning of the duel with a few loud notes. The opponents took their places.

  Rondall was wearing armor too now. His sword shone and his posture spoke of confidence.

  Elloriann was prepared to fight to the last drops of sweat and blood. To the death, if it came to that. To her last breath, if she had to.

  She didn’t have to.

  Rondall’s fencing was quite mediocre, though he did make up for it in anger and confidence. Every time he lunged, a wave of rage seemed to follow the direction of his sword. Fighting with your emotions had its advantages, but it also made you less coordinated, worsened your reaction, and made you more likely to make mistakes.

  Aside from that, Rondall was fairly easy to read. He had trained to fence, but he had clearly never trained to fence against a superior opponent. He had almost no strategy, and his movements were easy to predict.

  A few minutes into the battle, Elloriann knew she could disarm Rondall at almo
st any moment, and she felt almost cheated. She’d prepared for the fight of her life, and instead got something she could win without breaking a sweat. It almost felt like she wasn’t working hard enough for this, but then again...this meant that she would win. And if everything went well, it meant that Carla would live. And really, that was the only thing that mattered.

  Elloriann allowed the battle to go on for a while, even giving Rondall a few moments of feeling as though he could win.

  As Gerome watched the fight, he covered his mouth with his hand and smiled. He knew what Elloriann was doing, and he agreed with her tactic. If she won too quickly, Rondall would be too angry to accept his loss and would undoubtedly make more trouble, possibly demanding a rematch, or, worse yet, declaring the whole thing irrelevant and pushing for the execution regardless.

  So Elloriann fought him for much longer than she had to, for much longer than he deserved. Gerome watched Rondall, assessing his skills. He wasn’t actually that bad. The battle was so easy for Elloriann simply because she was better. She had put time and effort into practicing and improving her skills, while Rondall’s fighting had a distinctive mark of a delusion of his inherent superiority.

  The truth was that Rondall’s trainers were simply too scared of pointing out his mistakes to him, because Rondall was a cruel, spoiled prince who was used to having things handed to him and had little interest in working hard for anything. He was prone to bursts of rage that could end in anything from dismissal of anyone who had angered him from their position in the royal employ to violence to, on a few occasions, death.

  Rondall had actually killed more people than Carla knew about. He had also ruined more lives than he cared to remember.

  Which was one of the reasons he was currently having a difficult time accepting the fact that he was probably not going to win this duel. Even all of Rondall’s condescension and entitlement couldn’t convince him that he could win this now that he was sweating and panting, while his opponent parried all his lunges with little effort, graceful despite the armor, confident despite fighting a prince.

  Rondall felt like the earl was toying with him, which only made him angrier and, as a result, more reckless. His advances got less and less coordinated, until finally he lunged with so much force that all his opponent had to do was step aside, and Rondall went tumbling forward and landing in an undignified heap on the ground.

  His armor prevented him from hurting himself on his own sword, but that was the only advantage he got. He made a final, miserable attempt at fighting as he raised his sword, but Elloriann simply hit it with her own, using more force than she had at any previous point in the battle, and Rondall’s sword went flying out of his grip.

  Elloriann set the tip of her sword to Rondall’s neck. It was fortunate that he was wearing armor, or she would have been tempted to hurt him. Not kill him, of course, that would only make things worse, but maybe cut him just a little bit – give him a scar to remember this by.

  After a few moments, she stepped aside, sheathing her sword. Then she gave Rondall a shallow bow and walked off to the side of the fighting field, where she stood beside Zayne.

  As Rondall was lifting himself off the ground, Zayne, playing the part of the earl’s footman, stepped forward and bowed deeply to the prince.

  “Your highness,” he said, “you fought well. It is our hope that you will honor our agreement and surrender ownership of the slave that had been stolen from the earl.”

  Rondall groaned, pulling his helmet off his head to glare first at Elloriann, then at Zayne. Lastly, he threw a look of absolute disgust at Carla.

  “Fine, take her! Death is too good for her anyway. She deserves to live out her miserable life as a slave.”

  Rondall gave a jerky nod to his entourage and headed straight for his carriage, which had been prepared for departure by his servants hours earlier. Rondall climbed in and was off within minutes. The sooner he left, the sooner he could put this humiliation behind him.

  His shame, however, only fanned the flames of his anger. He couldn’t wait to be Mordielle’s king. He didn’t yet know how he would have his revenge on Evlirone’s royals, but he had every intention of making that whole land’s life a whole lot more difficult someday.

  Elloriann approached the king. Then she took off her helmet.

  A few people gasped. Many of the servants had known that Earl Lester was a fiction, a few had even expected Elloriann to be the one to participate in the duel, but most of the spectators who weren't residents of the castle and had arrived to see the battle were sincerely shocked at the revelation.

  The king was speechless. Of all the scenarios he had considered, this was not something he could have ever imagined to be true. He had had no idea that his daughter could fence, let alone so masterfully. He remembered Carla’s words – indeed, his daughter had not done as he said in a long time, and, perhaps, in many more ways than he could think of.

  There were so many things Elloriann wanted to say. She wanted to express how betrayed she felt by her father, how little trust she had left for him now. She wanted to tell him that she never wanted to see him again. She wanted to say that the shock on his face was proof of how little he truly knew about his own daughter.

  But she said nothing.

  She turned around and walked toward the execution stage. She cut the rope that bound Carla’s hands, then she took off one of her metal gloves and took Carla’s hand in hers. They smiled at each other and walked away as cheers broke out from the onlookers.

  Soon they disappeared into the servant wing of the castle, where the king hadn’t set foot in years.

  41

  Carla and Elloriann entered Carla’s bedroom. It hadn’t been used in a while, so it was a little dusty, but the bed was still made, and there was a lock on the door.

  Carla helped Elloriann out of her armor. As soon as all the metal was off her body, Elloriann fell into Carla’s embrace, inhaling her scent, relaxing for the first time in days.

  They stood like that for a long time.

  “I thought I was going to lose you,” Elloriann said.

  Carla kissed the side of her head and ran her hand up and down Elloriann’s back.

  Eventually they undressed and crawled into bed, where they promptly resumed embracing. Elloriann’s head was resting on Carla’s chest, her arms were holding onto Carla, a little nervously still. Carla ran her fingers through Elloriann’s hair.

  “You fought well,” Carla said.

  “Ah.” Elloriann groaned. “That fight was pathetic. He barely knew what he was doing. I expected an epic battle, blood and sweat, possibly tears. Instead I got...that. It was quite underwhelming.” She smiled into Carla’s chest. “But I won. That’s what matters.”

  “You saved me.” Carla kissed the top of Elloriann’s head. “Thank you.”

  “Believe me, I did it for myself as much as I did it for you.”

  Carla grinned at the ceiling.

  They lay in silence for a while, calming down, allowing the world to reestablish itself around them now that the threat was gone. Well, one of the threats.

  “What do we do now?” Carla finally asked.

  Elloriann sighed and held Carla a little closer.

  “I think...now we pack whatever we can carry, and we leave.”

  Carla looked down to meet Ell’s gaze.

  “Are you sure?”

  “If you’re all right with it.”

  “Well, yes, of course I am. But...where will we go?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere...else.”

  At night they relocated to their bedroom in the main castle. They slept for a while, but in the early hours of the morning, they started looking through their personal possessions to see what they could take with them and what they would have to leave behind.

  When the sun was up, Elloriann went to the throne room to talk to the king. She’d asked Carla if she wanted to come along, but Carla said this was between Elloriann and her father, and she didn’t w
ant to intrude.

  As Elloriann reached the entrance to the throne room, the guards bowed their heads and stepped aside. Usually, the guards had no expressions on their faces. But this time Elloriann was sure she could see them suppressing a myriad of emotions – confusion and interest were apparent, maybe even something like respect. Not the kind they were obligated to show to royalty, but the kind you earned with your words and actions.

  As soon as Elloriann entered the throne room, Talon practically jumped out of his seat. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again.

  He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do. He usually did. He didn’t always like what he had to say and do, but he usually knew what needed to be said and done. Now, however, after Elloriann's actions and Carla's words...the king was questioning a lot of things he thought he’d known to be true.

  “Father,” Elloriann said, inclining her head.

  She decided to give him a chance, before she said anything. She decided to let him speak, hear what he had to say. Maybe he’d surprise her.

  For a while, they simply stared at each other. Eventually, the king spoke.

  “She has to go,” he said.

  Elloriann sighed and lowered her eyes. Of course he didn’t change. Of course he wouldn’t surprise her. Of course this was how it would go.

  “I agree,” she said.

  The king tilted his head, unsure of what this meant. Perhaps his daughter had finally come to her senses and was willing to do what needed to be done.

  “I’m glad,” he said.

  “I’m going with her, of course.”

  Of course. The king sighed.

  “You can’t do that, Elloriann. You can’t throw away your life like this.”

  “Oh, Father.” Elloriann smiled mirthlessly. “Like what would you prefer me to throw my life away? Would you prefer I marry someone like Rondall for the sake of an alliance with another land?”

  “I’ve allowed you not to marry Rondall, as you seem to forget.”