“Are you sure you’re okay? I’m sure Gavin could help you,” he said. Corinna nodded and looked off toward the house.
“I’m fine. I suppose I’m just not built for as much damage as you,” she said and smiled. “But I’m tougher than I look. Just ask William Dempsie III.”
“Who’s William Dempsie III?”
“He’s the son of a knight that lives in Lagra. He once bet me I couldn’t break a horse faster than him, so we both picked out horses from some wild stallions his father had found, and… Well, I’ll just say he never doubted me again after that.”
“There truly is no one like you, Corinna,” Alexander said, drawing Corinna’s gaze back to him. “Morgana could not have picked a more original person.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. On the one hand, you may yet break your own curse… on the other, my life was uprooted. Maybe if I wasn’t so special, I wouldn’t have been chosen.” Corinna glanced past Alexander as she spoke. Her bracelet was tingling gently.
Morgana. She was out of the garden and peeking around the corner of the house. Even from the distance, Corinna could tell it was her and not Niviene. She was there, and she looked ill at ease. Her forehead was all worried, and she bit her bottom lip. When she noticed Corinna’s gaze, she pulled her hood further down and pulled back around the wall and out of sight. How odd. Corinna had never seen her look so anxious.
“Well I, at least, am glad for your specialness, Corinna. One day, perhaps I can express my gratitude to you properly, but for now you must accept my word,” Alexander spoke and brought Corinna back to the conversation.
“Of course,” Corinna said and bowed to Alexander. “I look forward to the day, my lord.”
Corinna grinned up at Alexander, still in her boyish bow, and Alexander snorted. He reached his bear hand out and rubbed Corinna’s head, mussing up her hair.
“Oh hush,” he said. “You sound like an idiot. Go help Gavin bring in the horses.”
“Right away.” Corinna chuckled and turned on her heel to go after Elaine. Morgana’s worry sat in the corner of Corinna’s heart, but it hadn’t appeared to be leading toward anything vindictive. Maybe Morgana really wouldn’t notice Corinna interfering, or maybe she didn’t have as much offensive magic as she claimed. But more importantly, her possible wrath seemed smothered in Corinna’s mind. Above her was the knowledge of the gray sky and getting the horses under shelter before the rain hit. And even more than that…
She just couldn’t stop thinking about how her whole body was tingling in the aftermath of that soft blue stare.
Chapter 19 – The King
The skewed time of the hidden manor was always hard to follow, but it was simple enough to keep track of what day it was. On Fridays, Corinna and Alexander went for a ride. The terrain never changed, but the point was the enjoyment of feeling like one with a majestic creature, experiencing the outdoors, and keeping each other company. Gavin rode with them the first two times, but after that he started disappearing inside for a snack whenever Alexander and Corinna wanted to ride. Corinna had a hunch he was truly going inside to visit with Belle.
On Sundays, Alexander locked himself in his room after lunch and wouldn’t be heard from till morning. Corinna wondered if he still read the letters or if he knew them all by heart. It was sad to imagine the prince huddled over his work desk for hours, scouring the pages of notes and looking for the hints of caring he craved from his father, but there was nothing Corinna could do. Alexander wouldn’t let her in there.
And on Wednesdays, they would scurry down to the music room and pretend they were at a concert. Together they practiced and played piano until Corinna’s pinkies ached with the effort and Alexander was either laughing too hard or was upset with his hands. It almost always ended in a shared smile, an understanding, and Corinna wasn’t completely terrible anymore. Even the prince himself commented on the clumsy farmer’s progress.
Alexander played piano at midnight still, but not as often as he used to. Twice, Corinna sat and listened in vain, for Alexander was not in the ballroom.
Four Fridays from their first ride, Corinna laughed about Gavin’s snack break, and Alexander didn’t understand. Most of the ride was taken up by Corinna trying to explain the relationships between Alexander’s servants to him. Gavin came from a well-off family, but he wanted to be greater, to be a famous knight and fight for valor. He cared deeply for Belle, but he was always too flustered to properly speak with her.
Belle came from a lower class family of blacksmiths, and her idea of a dream was marriage and a family with a good man. Her peeping, flirting mannerisms were not overlooked by Corinna, but she seemed much too shy to speak out about such feelings.
Veronica came from a family of Celtic druids and strived to escape her simple life of servitude to discover and use her true gifts – which she told Corinna were a mystery but were doubtlessly wonderful in some way. She liked Belle more than Gavin, which was understandable since he hardly came inside. Veronica was a homely person and extremely shy. Had Corinna not helped her clean the floor that day, she may never have opened up to her either.
Alexander was dazzled by the fog between Gavin and Belle and couldn’t seem to grasp why neither of them had spoken up. That’s when Corinna tried to give a lesson on complex romantic emotion, and Alexander pretended to lose control of his horse and speed ahead to avoid it. Corinna frowned at that. Alexander had to fall in love soon, but that wasn’t going to happen if he kept avoiding the topic of romance.
The following Sunday was ordinary, with Alexander leaving lunch early and disappearing up the stairs. Corinna stayed behind to help the others clean up. Gavin was doing most of the work, which was unusual. He was typically out in the fields again already, and the knowledge of that made Corinna smile. Either he was making progress with Belle or he was biding time until he could tell her. No matter which way it was, Corinna found it admirable and politely excused herself to give them some more privacy.
Out in the main hall, Corinna took a deep breath of the clean smell that always lingered after Veronica polished the banisters. Veronica said she used olive oil and lemon juice on the wood because it brought out the shine best and left a pleasant scent. On other days, she said she soaked lavender herbs in her cleaning water sometimes so the room would smell of that after she washed the staircase and floors. It was some remarkable skill on her part to think of those tactics, and Corinna admired her even more for it.
But today wasn’t about Veronica or Gavin or Isabelle, and Corinna had to remember that. Today was about Alexander and those silly letters of his. The prince would never allow Corinna into his room on a Sunday afternoon, though, so Corinna would probably never find out what those letters said. If the king was so terrible, what about his letters could entice Alexander so much?
Corinna set her hand on the bottom of the stair rail and looked up toward Alexander’s room. She couldn’t hear anything, but that wasn’t unusual. Corinna stepped up onto the first stair and let out a sigh. Maybe Alexander would let her in today. Dragging her hand on the rail, she climbed the first floor with this mindset. Alexander was opening up more lately. It was completely plausible that he would let Corinna in. Maybe Corinna could even put a stop to this routine. It couldn’t be healthy to obsess over letters like this.
She hit the second floor landing and smiled. Almost there. She took a step up onto the next flight of stairs and looked up at Alexander’s room once more. She stopped. What had she been thinking? The Alexander Corinna had come to know was unrefined and coarse. He had his nice days, maybe even weeks, but Corinna knew better than to bother him when he was shut away like this. Alexander would not be pleased. He may throw a royal fit and backtrack on all the progress he had made toward a better lifestyle.
Corinna frowned and gripped the banister tensely. No. She couldn’t let Alexander backtrack. They were close. She could feel it. Alexander was becoming more understanding. He was interacting. He even helped with cleaning
after meals sometimes. He was making great strides. Corinna was certain that by the new year, Alexander would be ready to bring in someone to the mansion, someone he could fall in love with. They could break the curse soon. Corinna couldn’t let Alexander close up again.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. She should just leave Alexander to his obsessing.
“Corinna?”
The sorcerer flinched at the sound of Alexander’s voice, but it was quiet and curious and didn’t sound angry in the least. Corinna turned her face up to the third floor hall and saw her prince standing there, just outside his bedroom door.
“Yes, Alex?” Corinna asked, and it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps she was being to informal all the time. Should she be addressing Alexander as ‘sire’ or ‘my lord’ like the others?
“You’re standing on the stairs,” Alexander said. He shook his head and his fur swayed with the motion. “What I mean is why are you just standing on the stairs?”
“Hm? Oh. I was just…,” Corinna began but stopped. The truth would be better. She’d never been particularly wonderful at lies thought up on the spot. She would undoubtedly end up with gibberish and look a fool. No, the truth, no matter how silly, would definitely be better. “Well I was just debating if I should… well…”
“Do you want to come up?” Alexander asked, cutting her off. Corinna looked at Alexander then, leaning casually on the rail and staring down at her, and realized that the prince was not locked up in his room. He was out in the hall. Maybe…. Was he really offering Corinna the chance to see into his private Sunday routine?
“Yes,” Corinna said, smiling and climbing the last bit of stairs between her and the third floor. She scrambled up and over to Alexander before bowing her head respectfully. “Thank you,” she said in advance for what she hoped Alexander was planning.
“Come into my room,” Alexander said, turning and disappearing through his door. Corinna resisted the urge to bounce. She was entering Alexander’s room on a Sunday! The others would be shocked.
Alexander’s room was brighter than Corinna had thought it would be. All the candles on the chandelier were lit and the window curtains were open wide, streaming sunshine across the floor. It made the room a bit hotter, but no more than the usual fire. The desk was surprisingly bare, and when she checked, Corinna found the reason to be that all of the items from it were on a coffee table between the couches.
It was a stack of letters wrapped with a worn, plain brown string to keep them all together, a stack of four sheets of completely blank paper, and a curly, pure white writing quill. Alexander was sitting himself down in front of the table, squished up between it and the couch like an oversized teddy bear at a little girl’s tea party. He must have felt that way as well, because he pushed the table a few inches back to give himself some room. Then he looked up at Corinna and motioned for her to sit on the other side.
The table was red oak, like the banisters and doors, and Corinna tapped her fingers on it as she sat down. The top of the table was outlined in a banner of flourished wispy designs like growing tendrils, giving the appearance of a regal piece of furniture, but the legs of the table were more like a warning. War horses and knights with swords pursued each other around each leg in graphic detail. Corinna tore her gaze from them and focused on the beautiful top designs.
“Corinna, I need you to tell me something,” Alexander said and broke into Corinna’s thoughts. “In all of your time here trying to make me a better person, we have had some nice discussions about the importance of friendships and treating people respectably. However, I notice you have never brought up the issue of family. You seem to love yours very much. I mean, you surrendered yourself to isolation in return for their safety and livelihood. You must love them or you suffer from a strange mental illness. So explain to me then… How is one supposed to treat family?”
“Well, in your case-,” Corinna began but Alexander rapped his knuckles on the ground harshly to stop her.
“Not in my case, Corinna. How do others treat their families?” he clarified. His eyes were still and focused, his posture frozen in a casual position. He waited almost too patiently, watching Corinna for a very specific answer. He was a serene hunter. It was perhaps more intimidating that Alexander’s glare.
Corinna cleared her throat and shrugged. “That truly depends on the family, actually. William Dempsey and his family are one sort. They seem to treat each other stiffly. There isn’t a lot of smiling seen on the outside of their house, and I can’t imagine much more inside. His father is a tired, wounded veteran. His mother is a lover of gossip. His grandmother does nothing but sit on her front porch and belittle everyone. William himself is the most social, but he’s awkward at it. He’s not very good at expressing himself, and usually comes up with silly excuses why he shouldn’t go home until all hours of the night.”
“Sounds fun. And what about your family? Did you use the deal with Morgana as an excuse to leave home?” Alexander asked, though they both knew the answer to that.
“No. My family has always been sweet to me. We treat each other with respect. We laugh and we play together. We clean and we cook together. The duties of the house are evenly dispersed. Each of us has some way of providing an income to the household. My uncle leaves often. My mother does most of the cooking and cleaning. I handle the yard, the animals, and the fields. It’s a very stable, friendly, homely environment. I treat my mother sweetly, because she means more to me than anything else in the world. She raised me all on her own and never complained about it. Not even once. She was always proud of me, even when I messed things up. Mistakes, she said, were just ways to learn how to do something right…. I never wanted to leave home. I miss her more every day,” Corinna said. She leaned back against her own couch and frowned. “Why are you asking?”
“She raised you on her own?” Alexander asked, ignoring the question. “What about your father? Did he leave her?”
“Yes,” Corinna said. “He left us all, but against his will. He had a strange flu after being bitten by a crazed fox while hunting. I was four at the time, so I don’t remember much, but I remember he was in a lot of pain. He kept me up at night a lot during his illness, gave me nightmares, and was always calling out for my mother. Even with a doctor in our family, we could do nothing to help him. When he died, mother cried for a straight week and then bought herself a new shirt to remind herself that beautiful things still existed in the world.”
“So you didn’t know your father,” Alexander said more than asked. “I apologize.”
“No need. He’s been gone for nearly fifteen years. I miss him, but there is nothing anyone can do about it,” Corinna said. She placed her hands gingerly on the table. “Can I ask why you brought me in here or would that be rude?”
Alexander smirked. “No, I would say that was logical.” He motioned to the letters on the desk and then pushed them closer to Corinna. “Pick a letter and read it out loud.”
“I don’t understand,” Corinna said even as her fingers tugged at the string knot.
“Just pick one. Even you should be able to figure out a reason sooner or later.”
“Thank you. That wasn’t condescending at all,” Corinna replied sarcastically. She pulled out a letter from near the bottom and set all the letters from on top of it to the side. The letter had stiff, perfectly spaced lettering on the envelope and identical writing within. “To Alexander from Father:
Dear Alexander,
Never fear that I will give up on you. Every day I send scouters and knights to all corners of the kingdom in search of Morgause. Your stay in Château de Forêt will be brief. The witch will not outlast my vigor. Before your next birthday, she shall be seized and made to pay for her heinous trespasses. All efforts are being hastened and enforced with the utmost precision. Nothing shall escape our notice. Soon you shall be cured and may return to the palace, but for now you must stay where you are and be patient. Prepare yourself for your duties. Do not slacken. Your late u
ncle’s library is as modern as any here in the palace. Use it accordingly and learn yourself in as many areas as possible.
Remember, a king must be rounded. Keep a steady heart and never mislay hope. I shall never stop pursuing your return.
Your Father”
The letter was not long, and curious silence followed its reading. Corinna folded it neatly and replaced it in its envelope. Alexander didn’t argue. He simply nodded and pressed his hands together.
“He sounds awfully determined, doesn’t he?” the prince asked.
“Extremely. What happened?”
“Pick a more recent letter.” Alexander frowned and seemed even more rigid than during the first reading. Corinna regarded him curiously and carefully pulled out another letter, watching to make sure Alexander didn’t disagree with her choice.
“Dear Alexander,” she read, “The people believe you to be dead more with each passing day, and I deem this is for the best. It is in my confidence that the idea of your passing should coax the witch out for another assault. Eat appropriately. A king should be in good condition. Your father.”
The Rose Chateau Page 24
