An Inconvenient Princess

by Melanie Cellier

  “What?” Narelle ran forward and grasped her father’s arm, her face going white. “Do you mean you think Liesa was kidnapped?”

  The fear in her eyes confirmed her father’s earlier comments. The two had indeed been friends.

  The earl shook his head, but I could see a new look creeping into his eyes. “We found no sign of a struggle. And she left behind so many debts. When I could discover no information about a missing princess, it seemed obvious we had been deceived…”

  My heart raced as I tried to calculate timings in my head. How many months had they said Anneliese stayed here?

  “How long has it been since she disappeared?” Arthur asked the question I couldn’t quite bring my mouth to form.

  “Months, I’m afraid,” said the earl.

  Months. I shivered. And no one had ever even attempted to look for her. Surely whatever trail had existed had long gone cold.

  The earl rubbed at his head. “I confess my mind is in something of a whirl at this host of revelations. I have gone from believing myself duped by a master player, my daughter’s friendship betrayed, to discovering I am responsible for allowing a girl with royal connections in at least four kingdoms to fall prey to unknown villainy. It is a little much to take in.”

  I sighed. “Do not worry yourself about my family’s connections. My sisters know Anneliese and will easily believe the tricks you describe. No great blame can fall to you when she was guilty of such deception. But we must attempt, even at this late stage, to unearth any hints as to what may have befallen her.”

  “Certainly,” said the earl, casting a glance at Arthur that made me think he didn’t entirely believe my assurance of safety from royal reprisal. “I can assure you that my household and I are fully at your service. And in the meantime, I hope you will join us for a meal.”

  “Oh yes,” said Rapunzel, speaking up for the first time. “I would like to eat for a year.”

  “A…a year?” The poor earl looked completely taken aback.

  I groaned while Arthur choked on a laugh.

  “Please pay her no mind,” I said. “She just means she’s very hungry. We would all be pleased to join you for a meal, in fact.”

  As we all followed him out of the room, Rapunzel whispered in my ear.

  “I don’t understand what I said wrong. You told me this morning…”

  I shrugged helplessly. “It’s complicated.” Some things were hard to explain, and this wasn’t the place to try.

  She subsided, clearly shaken to find her one attempt at joining the conversation so unsuccessful.

  The next few hours passed in a busy whirl as we interviewed every servant who had seen Anneliese on her final day. It seemed to be an inordinately large number, and I suspected that after such a long time, many had convinced themselves of memories they had never actually possessed. A headache soon began to throb behind my temples, as I tried to wade through the sea of information, real and imagined.

  At some point our possessions turned up, Narelle having managed to extract the name of our inn from Rapunzel. I had no idea what explanation of her identity the princess had given since I doubted she had laid claim to being the true princess from the tower.

  The earl pressed us to stay as long as we needed, but I itched to be back on the road searching for Anneliese again. Rushing off without a destination would be foolish, however, so we reluctantly agreed to stay one night, at least.

  Chapter 11

  The bedchamber I was assigned was almost as luxurious as the one I had been given at Elisette’s wedding to Prince Cambren. Yet another occasion when Anneliese had been missing. Perhaps she had even been here, in Marblehill, in this very house, when we had passed through on our way to the wedding. A pang shot through me at how closely our paths might have crossed. Had she seen us in the streets and hidden herself, not willing for us to expose her lie?

  My anger at the deception she had played on these people had softened once I realized that she would not have run off on them in such a way. Once again, frustration warred with fear. All of this might have been avoided if she had simply stayed at home in the first place. But then, she wouldn’t be the sister I loved if she meekly accepted life the way she found it.

  Arthur had accompanied me in all the interviews—whether to support me or avoid Narelle, I didn’t know—and by the end of the second day, he looked as dispirited as I felt. We had spent hours in the small room provided for our use and had interviewed every person in the manor grounds. And yet, we had found nothing to lead us to Anneliese.

  “Penny.” Arthur placed his hand on my arm as soon as the last servant left. “Don’t blame yourself. You’ve done everything possible. And you’ll think of a way forward. I may not have known you long, but I can already tell you’re the sort of person who can find a way forward through anything.”

  A strong desire to sway forward into his arms swept over me, and I could barely keep myself upright. I shouldn’t take advantage of his sympathy, however much I wanted to.

  Before I could respond, a knock on the door made me pull away. I didn’t want to fuel any rumors. Narelle was already casting suspicious glances at me, apparently convinced yet another sister in my family was determined to marry into royalty. The idea that Arthur might think the same thing had made me stiff and formal toward him all day. Until the exhaustion, both physical and emotional, had overcome me, that is.

  My attempts to resist his warmth and charm hadn’t lasted long. I comforted myself by remembering that he never tried to avoid me the way he did Narelle, so my fears were likely groundless.

  The steward, who had returned to the manor that morning, came into the room, a young boy trailing close behind.

  “Young Johnny here has just returned from visiting his grandmother. He has yet to be interviewed and claims to have information of import.” The steward had the look of someone discharging his duty regardless of his personal opinion on the subject.

  The boy cast him a resentful look. “I don’t claim nothing. I’m just saying what I saw. Same as I told Old Rupert at the time.”

  The steward responded to our enquiring looks. “Rupert used to be the head groom here until his recent retirement. He now lives in the country with one of his daughters. It’s true that the old man had a soft spot for Johnny.”

  “He recognized quality when he saw it,” said Johnny, puffing out his chest. “I’m the best stable boy in Marblehill.” His face fell. “He didn’t believe me about the princess, though. Told me not to spend so much time daydreaming. As if I had time for daydreaming when Young Molly was so heavy with foal. Twins it turned out to be and born the morning after the princess disappeared. One of them was sickly, too, and Old Rupert and I had to nurse him for weeks.”

  The steward looked at the boy with an arrested expression. “Anneliese did indeed disappear the day before Molly had her twins.” He glanced at us. “Molly is Her Lordship’s favorite mare. I had forgotten that.”

  I felt a bubble of hope. The steward seemed to think the boy’s story more credible, tied as it was with his memory of the foals’ births.

  “And what did you tell Old Rupert?” I asked. “About Anneliese.”

  The boy regarded me suspiciously. “The others are all saying you’re her twin. But you have different colored eyes.”

  Weariness washed over me, but Arthur quickly spoke up.

  “How about we leave Penny’s eyes out of the conversation.”

  The steward glowered down at the young stable boy. “Mind your manners, boy, and get on with the story.”

  Johnny looked like he wanted to rebel but changed his mind at the last moment. “The captain of the town guard was running an archery competition. He’d offered a prize of a gold purse to anyone who could shoot an apple off the old apple tree just out of town. From two hundred yards.”

  He screwed up his face. “I remember it because all the guards were wild to win, and the guards here at the manor were determined it would be one of them. They set up a series
of targets in the grounds outside the stables and were a downright menace to the poor horses for weeks. Not to mention us boys.”

  The steward nodded thoughtfully. “I remember it well. Several of the grooms petitioned me to ban the makeshift practice grounds, but the earl thought it would be bad for the morale of the guards to do so. He ended up finding a new place for them to practice farther from the horses.”

  I contained my impatience, refraining from asking what any of this had to do with Anneliese or her disappearance.

  “Who ended up winning?” asked Arthur, apparently not suffering from the same frustration.

  “One of the town guards,” said Johnny with disgust. “A newcomer who had just moved from Caladonia, too. Ack.” He gathered himself to spit on the floor but held back at a sharp reprimand from the steward.

  “And Anneliese?” I asked, unable to wait any longer.

  “Oh, right.” The boy grinned. “A right one, she was. If you ask me, she wanted to win herself. A girl!” He laughed. “That would have shown them all up, right enough.”

  “She wanted to win the archery competition?” Arthur glanced at me, looking less surprised than I would have expected.

  “Sounds like nonsense to me,” said the steward.

  “No, it ain’t.” Johnny glared at him. “She used to sneak out every night when everyone else was in bed to practice at the targets. I saw her because it used to be my job to sit up with Molly. She was pretty good, too.”

  I couldn’t help a smile, despite the dire situation. It certainly sounded like Anneliese. She would have loved the idea of showing up all the guards, and she had always had a knack for archery, although our parents rarely let her practice.

  “The night before Molly gave birth, I saw her come out and begin to practice. Then, later, I heard voices. I thought one of the guards might have caught her at it, so I sneaked out to watch the show. But it wasn’t one of our guards she was arguing with. I heard her say she wasn’t the princess from the tower, which got me right curious, only then Young Molly whinnied something fierce, and I had to dash back to my post before anyone caught me away from it. And that’s the last I saw of her.”

  The steward looked thoughtful. “And that’s what you told Rupert? And then the next day when she was found gone, the rumor that she wasn’t really a princess swept through the manor. I suppose you were the source.”

  The boy shrugged defensively. “I only know what I heard.”

  I bit my lip, worrying away at it while my thoughts raced. So, someone not from the manor, someone Johnny hadn’t recognized, had confronted Anneliese alone at night in the garden. It must have been her kidnapper. They had apparently known she was supposed to be a princess, so what had been the motive? Ransom? But no ransom demand had been made.

  Johnny described the man three times before I was satisfied I had every last possible piece of information from him and sent him back to the stables. Apparently, the man had been rough looking, his clothes mended and ill-fitting, stained black in several places. It fit with the idea of ransom, except for the lack of communication since. Surely the man had not thought she carried gold around on her person?

  The steward looked thoughtful and asked us to wait in the room for a moment, while he followed up a thought. I started pacing, unable to hold myself still.

  “Penny.” Arthur gripped my arm for the second time, and I stilled instantly. His eyes looked concerned. “I’m sure she’s all right. And we’ll find her, one way or another. We can always call Mortimer if we get desperate.”

  I gave him a pointed look. “If this little chat is supposed to be reassuring, you just veered off course.”

  He laughed and moved closer. My breath hitched in my throat, and I tried not to think about how close we now stood. All I needed was for Narelle to come in and see us standing like this and make a fuss with the earl. Or Rapunzel. I didn’t want to complicate the dynamics of our little group, and she had been hurt enough since we entered this house.

  The doorknob rattled, and I stepped back. Arthur gave me a cryptic look I couldn’t read and then turned to greet the returning steward.

  “Johnny’s description sounded familiar, but I wanted to confirm with a couple of others first. They are all in agreement. The man he saw sounds like one of the miners from Concord. They’re a problem that has been plaguing this town for some time now.”

  “Concord?” asked Arthur. “I thought that mine closed down ages ago.”

  The steward nodded. “That it did. Which is precisely the problem. When the mine closed, most of the residents from Concord lost their livelihoods. The town should have become a ghost town, except that they all refused to leave. They didn’t want to leave the homes and lives of their fathers and grandfathers before them.”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “The earl felt for their situation, of course, but there was little he could do. The mine had been bled dry. And when they turned to banditry and thievery, he was forced to act. It is his job to keep this portion of the trade routes safe. But when the guard rode out to the town, they found it deserted.”

  He shook his head. “After all their protestations about not leaving their homes, the people must have moved up into the hills, and no one has been able to locate their camp. Someone might almost conclude they feel more attached to their new life of crime than their apparently beloved houses.”

  He looked dark, and I wondered if the earl had been softer on the Concordians than the steward would have liked.

  “Things will be quiet for a while,” he continued. “And then we’ll hear of a fresh spate of robberies—cattle missing, or wagons appropriated. I didn’t think of them in this case because we haven’t heard any new grievances for some time. And they have never been accused of kidnapping. But now that I think of it, the latest round of complaints stopped around the time your sister went missing.” He narrowed his eyes and added, in a mutter, “Probably found she was too much for even a group of bandits to handle.”

  I sucked in a breath. My sister had most likely been captured by a band of desperate ruffians.

  For the second time, when greeted with bad news, I felt Arthur’s reassuring hand on my back. I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy its presence without worrying about what the steward would think. After a moment, I thrust away my fear for my twin, knowing it would only cripple me, and opened my eyes again. At least we now had something to pursue.

  “Thank you. That is useful information. If you could have someone draw up a map to Concord, I would be more than grateful. We will leave in the morning.” I wanted to leave immediately, but it would be dark soon, and I knew I needed to think sensibly if I wanted to save Anneliese. She had been missing for months, she would have to wait a little bit longer.

  The earl wished to send a troupe of guards with us, but I resolutely turned down his offer. It sounded as if the miners-turned-bandits had a history with the guards and—if they did have my sister—I wasn’t sure what they would do if they discovered a group of guards descending upon them. The three of us had come this far, and we would travel on alone. It was our best hope of finding and infiltrating the displaced villagers.

  I had wondered if Rapunzel would be reluctant to leave—although she had never complained, she had clearly found life on the road a challenge—but she made no demur. When I voiced my curiosity, she looked surprised.

  “You heard the earl. He’s tried to find information about my history and failed. There’s nothing for me here in Marblehill.” She grinned cheerfully. “But who knows what adventures await us out there?” She waved vaguely toward the gates of the town. “After all, I’ve seen a deer, which apparently is not a rabbit, but I have yet to see this rabbit, which you claim looks like a snail.”

  I smiled back. Once again, she had surprised me. “I’m sorry about my sister. She shouldn’t have claimed to be you.”

  Rapunzel’s grin didn’t fade. “I was still locked away in my tower at the time, so I can’t see what harm it did me. Your sister sounds like sh
e’s good fun.” Now her smile did drop away. “I hope I get the chance to meet her.”

  “You will,” I said, with all the determination I could muster.

  I just wished my desire to find my sister wasn’t marred by a tiny shadow at the back of my mind. A whisper that said that once we found Anneliese, my companions would soon realize how uninteresting I was compared to her. After all, I was the sensible one, she was the fun one. I pushed the thought away. Finding my sister safe was far more important than such petty concerns.

  It was the senior guard at the manor who presented us with the map I had requested, and he had gone to the effort of marking the areas that the guards had already searched for the missing villagers. We thanked him profusely, and he gruffly turned our praise away, attempting to foist a couple of guards onto us. But we stood firm in our rejections of the assistance, accepting only an escort to the gates of the town. Arthur would have rejected even that, but I thought it polite to accept something at least.

  The prince’s relief at escaping the earl’s home was almost comical. And when Narelle joined us for the ride to the gates, wearing a stunning riding habit, with a carefully positioned hat, I made the mistake of glancing at Rapunzel. She was staring in fascination at the other girl’s hat. Or, I suspected, at the enormous bunch of feathers that waved from the top of it. They were admittedly the most fashionably large feathers I had ever seen.

  “What a hideous hat,” she said loudly.

  Narelle glared at us, her color rising. She was clearly trying to decide what punishment she could give the other girl without incurring Arthur’s disapproval. Apparently, she couldn’t think of any because she turned away with her nose in the air.

  “Rapunzel!” I whispered. “You can’t say things like that!”

  Rapunzel looked at me in astonishment. “Why ever not? It’s true, isn’t it?”

  “Well…yes. But it isn’t polite.”

  “Oh.” She seemed to be thinking hard. “So, it isn’t polite to mention ugly things?”