by Lisa Daniels
It was almost painful to decide against following him, but there were other more pressing—and more importantly, life changing—things that I needed to do.
Whatever the love life of the captain, it has nothing to do with me. As soon as that thought went through my mind, the spell was broken. There were a number of tasks that needed my attention before I could visit the person waiting for me, and two of those tasks were going to take a while.
Shaking my head, I moved more carefully toward the kitchens. Mrs. Teasdon was her usual pleasant self, but she quickly told me that she did not have as much time to help me as normal. She offered no other information, and I did not ask. We had always made sure never to ask questions and to listen to whatever information the other imparted. I knew she had her finger on the pulse of much of what happened in the castle among the servants, and I had most of the dirt on everyone else. Prying into that would have put the other in serious danger. Hells, if anyone knew that we talked daily, it would have been a huge scandal that probably would have gotten Mrs. Teasdon killed and me married off even faster.
Our chat only lasted for about 15 minutes before she said she had to return to the kitchens.
“Wait a moment, Mrs. Teasdon. I just need to get a few more supplies, then I promise I won’t detain you further.”
The plump woman turned and looked at me, a curious expression on her face. “Supplies? You make it sound like you are going to run away.”
“Not at all. If that were the case, I would use one of my suitors. No, the supplies aren’t for me.”
She gave a little laugh, “Come along, dear. I’ve got a little extra space that you can use.”
“But I can’t be seen—”
She gave a little wave of her hand. “I know, I know. My assistant cleaned out one of the rooms adjacent to the kitchen, but I’ve yet to tell anyone else. It’s all yours to prepare whatever supplies you need.”
The offer was far more than I could have possibly expected, but there was one glaring problem. “Won’t she see me working in there?”
Mrs. Teasdon shook her head, “Not at all. She’s on a little holiday from all of the horrible girls and boys I have to work with. You can use that room for the next week if you need it. Just make sure to clean up when you are done. Don’t go leaving food out to spoil.”
Though she said that last bit like an aside, I knew that it was more of a reminder, and my cheeks flushed. “I’m not nine years old now. I won’t go leaving food out.”
She laughed, “No, but you certainly do still act like it sometimes. And to an old woman like me, there isn’t much of a difference between nine and nineteen. You’re still a child, whatever you father’s plans.”
I couldn’t help but smile because I really adored the woman. Feeling like the day was off to an even better start than I could have hoped for, I decided to talk about what I had seen on my way. “You know, I think the captain may have found himself someone. Not that I blame him. She was very pretty. Beautiful.” My voice faltered a little. I may not have been able to see her for long, but the woman following the captain was easily the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
A warm pat on my shoulder brought me back. Mrs. Teasdon was giving me a soft smile. “You are pretty enough in your own way. And you had best be glad that you looked a bit more like your father than your mother. Else think of just how much earlier you would have been married off. Beauty isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.”
I frowned, “I know, I know. It’s just, well…”
“You have something much better, and you should learn to appreciate that. If you had gotten looks instead of brains…” her eyebrows moved up as she waited for me to finish.
“I would be as empty-headed as the women I have to put up with. I know this. But still, it makes me feel so—”
“We always want what we don’t have. Most of those women would trade their looks for your position. I would trade my skill to be young again. And the woman you saw would trade her looks to simply have a normal life. You’re a smart young woman. Act like it.”
Mrs. Teasdon almost never rebuked me, so this made her words sound almost cruel. But I knew she was right. There was one thing that she said that bothered me: Mrs. Teasdon clearly knew the woman I had seen—so who was she? I knew that our silent agreement still applied, so I did not ask. I had enough to manage without worrying about someone else’s problems. “You are right. I would trade you a bit of my youth for some of your level-headedness. I hate when my emotions get the better of me, but you don’t have that problem, do you?”
She laughed, “I wouldn’t say that, I’m just better at managing it now. And if that is the price, I would be more than happy to let you keep your youth and that lack of emotional control. I wouldn’t give up any of the level-headedness I’ve gained over the years. Not even for a bit of youth.”
“Guess I will just have to give it time, then.”
“That’s my girl.” Mrs. Teasdon smiled at me as she gave me a pat on the head, just like she did when I was a child. Even though I was slightly taller than her now.
With a smile, I followed her to the little room and was pleased to find that it was stocked with most of the food supplies I would need, as well as a basket. Mrs. Teasdon left me to ready my own things as she prepared the food for the rest of my family and their closest friends.
Making the food and collecting supplies on my own took much longer than I had thought it would. By the time it was all done, more than an hour had passed. I quickly cleaned up the area, knowing full well that I would have to do a better job the next day, and I prayed Mrs. Teasdon didn’t look in before I had a chance to clean it properly.
I slipped out of the bustling kitchen by using a small passage that only a few people in the palace knew of, part of a network of passages for the royal family to escape if needed. I knew the passages about as well as I knew the hallways. With my basket in hand, I slipped through most of the palace and down to the armory. As soon as I reached the passage door, I tucked the basket under the large hoops of my dress. Taking a deep breath, I cracked open the door and made sure the way was clear. Sure that there was no one coming, I slipped out and closed the passage door as fast as I could.
Brushing off my dress, I popped my neck a couple of times, trying to mentally prepare myself for what came next. If I encountered anyone, justifying my presence at the armory would be incredibly difficult. While they couldn’t stop me, they could definitely relay the fact that I was there to my father, who would certainly have something to say. I knew that he was considering having someone follow me since I had suddenly become less openly hostile about the marriage. It had been a miscalculation on my part. I should have continued to be openly opposed to it so that he would not have suspected that I was planning something. Too late to correct it now, so I would just have to be more careful about being found out. My time in the castle was nearing an end. At this point, it was all on me to ensure that I didn’t get caught.
Sneaking into the weapons room, I selected a few daggers and slipped them into some special folds of my dress. I had personally made the small pockets so that there wouldn’t be clanking against each other when I walked. I couldn’t make a place big enough for a full sword, but it had been easy to add a few extra pockets for things as small as daggers. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything else in the room that would be easy to slip into the remaining pockets. Looking toward the door, I moved into the adjacent room to see if there was anything else I could take. If living in the palace had taught me anything, it was that you never know exactly what you need until you need it.
As I moved into the room, I heard the main door open. Quickly looking around, I ended up diving under a table to hide myself. It wasn’t optimal, but there weren’t many places to hide in rooms full of weapons. Pulling my dress as far out of sight as possible, I prayed again that whoever had entered wouldn’t come into the room. It would be impossible to miss me with my bright dress.
Pressed as f
ar as possible against the wall, I held my breath. No one spoke. The only sound was someone walking around the room and moving weapons. My eyes were trained on the door. Instinct told me to close my eyes, but logic told me that my best choice would be to watch for the person to walk into the room.
It felt like I was there forever, just waiting to be caught. It was only when I heard the door open and the sound of footsteps moving away from the room that I finally breathed normally. I had no idea why the person had come to the room, but I didn’t care. Climbing out from under the table, I looked around the room to determine if there was anything that could be helpful. Nothing immediately stood out.
This task was not meant to take long, so I was beginning to feel rushed. Knowing that there was no time to look around now, I entered the first room. Before I reached the door, my eyes were drawn to the table on the other side of the room. The person who had been in the room had reorganized the weapons, creating a strange configuration that was impossible to miss. In the center was a strange-looking piece of equipment that I could not identify. The thing didn’t look like a weapon, but it was obvious that it was important. Throwing a glance at the door, I moved over to the table and removed the strange-looking item. It was too large to hide in my pockets, and it would attract attention to carry it around the palace, especially where I was going. Biting my lip, I pulled up my dress and slipped it into my stocking. The cold of the metal caused me to gasp.
Letting go of my dress, I hurried to the door and left. Slipping back into the passageway, I hurried to my last destination before the meetup. There had been more I had wanted to do, but too much time had already passed. There was one more thing I had to do before I could meet him. My feet began to walk faster and faster until I broke into a run. I almost slammed into the door when I reached it. There was no way that I could exit panting as I was without drawing attention, so I took a moment to catch my breath.
“Shouldn’t have run upstairs,” I grumbled as I finally reached the point where I could breathe normally. This door was one of my favorites because it provided a way to look out into the surrounding area. Giving the hallway a look, I slid the door open, slipped out, and closed it in a few swift motions. My eyes were trained on the room where I needed to go, when I heard shouting from outside. Unable to simply ignore the shouting, I moved to a small balcony overlooking the courtyard. As I began to take in the scene below me, I knew that my meeting was in jeopardy. My initial reaction to the horrific scene unfolding below me ensured that.
The captain stood with his sword pointed at a man whom I knew at a glance was a shifter. It was the woman in the man’s arms who had gained my focus. I couldn’t see too much of her from my current angle, but from the way her body was positioned I could tell she was terrified. A flick of the cold, blue eyes of the captain caused me to look up above the shifter.
It was immediately obvious what they had in mind. They were going to try to kill him, no matter what happened to the woman. The way the shifter was positioned, I knew that he was aware of the danger, and he was setting himself up to protect her. I could see it from the way he positioned himself behind her. With the guards trying to keep his attention on them, they thought that he didn’t know what was coming, but I could tell he was well aware of what they were planning. How could the guards not see it? He was going to do something they would never expect, and that was going to complicate everything.
The guards thought they were condemning her to death under the weight of the gargoyle. What was really going to happen was that she was going to be condemned by that damned law that said she would belong to him once he saved her life.
Forgetting everything that I needed to do, I stepped forward and drew attention to myself. “Don’t you dare, Falmen. Don’t you dare! If you go through with it, I swear it will be the last thing you do as captain!”
The man below me watched Captain Falmen for a moment. I was certain that he heard me, but he kept his eyes forward as if to keep them from knowing that he understood what was about to happen. His next words were confusing. “Ah, sweetheart, just what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?” For a fraction of a second, I thought he was talking to me. Though it appeared that he was talking to the woman in his arms, I knew that the words were not meant for her. Whatever he wanted to say to her, the shifter whispered in her ear. If his words had been directed at the woman in his arms, why would he say them so loudly? My breath caught in my throat as I worried that he had given me away.
Then a noise reminded me that I wasn’t even in his line of sight. Uncertain who he had been talking to, my eyes flew around the courtyard full of men.
Then a sound reminded me what was important.
There was no time to stop and consider as my eyes turned to the gargoyle falling. My legs responded immediately as I raced to the courtyard. I was aware that a couple of the members of the court had been watching, and they began to follow me as it was obvious where I was headed. They were going to use me as an excuse to get closer to the action so that they would have something to discuss for the next few days. Loathing their presence, I knew that there was no way to shake them. Ignoring the hangers-on, I raced to prevent what would come next. The captain was heartless and, learning that the woman was still alive, would attempt to kill her. I was not going to let that happen.
Slowing down, I marched across the courtyard. The beautiful woman I had seen earlier was looking up at the captain and they were talking. I moved quicker—I had to hear what they were saying. I reached them just in time to catch the order behind the captain’s words—he wanted the unconscious woman killed.
I began to glare as I heard him give his vague orders, “It would be far best if she were dead, and it would not take much to make sure she did not breathe long enough to become his plaything.”
Immediately I cut in, “No! Absolutely not!” The beautiful woman turned to look at me, surprise clear on her face. The captain’s reaction was much different, and it was obvious that he was annoyed with my interruption.
At this point, the hangers-on were trying to get me to stop because they did not want the attention. They had no place, so I entirely ignored their pleas to get me to shut up. I placed my hands on my hips and glared at the captain. A hand grabbed my arm. Afraid that they would feel what I had hidden in my dress, I swung my arms widely and let Captain Falmen know exactly what I thought of his men’s treatment of me.
“Unhand me! Falmen, is this how you train your men to deal with the princess?”
He looked at me. To anyone else, his expression was unreadable, but I could see his emotions in those cold, blue eyes. He was pissed that I was interfering with his work. Still, he did not have a choice with so many people watching. “No, your majesty. I will have him punished.” He waved a couple of his men toward the one who had touched me. I knew that he wasn’t going to do anything, just make a show of it. The man was taken away, but that would be the extent of the punishment. If anything was actually going to happen, Falmen would have given them some kind of instructions. He was just playing the part, thinking that it would placate me.
Barely able to hide my anger, I crossed my arms over my chest. “How dare you, after everything? This is unacceptable.”
“Which part, my lady? The part where I apprehended a known criminal? Or did you mean the part where I disregarded your soft heart, which allowed him to get this close to the royal family?”
It was clear his goal was to piss me off as much as possible to see just how far he could push me. If only he knew how little I cared about appearances.
But even worse, there was something behind his words that let me know that he knew about what I had been doing. For a fraction of a second, I was terrified that my plans would be dashed. I clenched my teeth and glared at him.
In the not-too-distant future, he was going to wish he had been nicer to me. I was about to make his life a living hell. That was the only thing that kept me calm enough to respond without making a bigger scene. Instead of an
swering with what I wanted to say, I kept my response as mild as I could. “I shall tell my father about this, and there will be consequences.”
I saw the corners of his mouth twitch. He thought he had the upper hand. “Of that, I have no doubt.”
Falmen let me know immediately that he didn’t see me as a threat when he turned and looked at the beautiful woman, who still appeared concerned about the woman who had nearly been crushed by the gargoyle. With a brief glance, I was annoyed that even the unconscious woman was beautiful. It was like a cruel prank of fate—nearly everyone was more beautiful than me. It really didn’t take much; at best, my appearance was forgettable. But the blood seeping out of her head reminded me that looks weren’t everything. Her beauty didn’t save her from an unenviable position. It was only through interventions that she was saved. My position made sure that I would never have to worry about being in a similar kind of situation. I had something that few people would ever have—a title that protected me from the kind of treatment that most women faced.
And yet I hated everything about it.
I had missed some of what Falmen had said while I was lost in thought. When I finally tuned in, the fate of the woman was being determined.
“…Then I have a different assignment for you as you clearly do not understand the gravity of what you have done.”
The woman’s expression was elegant as she stared up at Falmen, but I still felt sorry for her. It was now clear to me that their relationship was not what I had thought, though I still did not know exactly what their relationship was. It really didn’t matter. That woman’s life was in even worse danger than the unconscious woman’s position. The doe-eyed woman was going to be treated like a traitor, and she would be shunned for the rest of her life. It was obvious she didn’t know that. How would she? Not many people could recognize a shifter on sight; most people weren’t even aware that they existed. A few people who did know would make sure to spread word that she had done something terrible, and that would be enough to ensure she would end up being shunned for the rest of her life.
