by A. J. Bell
Shortly after Sir Daniel’s statement, the door opened and Prince Victor came in. He looked at me with concern, but then sighed in relief before he chuckled.
“You are such a mess, My Lady. There is no way to keep you safe when you manage to get yourself in trouble left and right.” He looked behind me. “And I’ve heard that you’ve made some interesting friends as well.” He frowned at the Gypsy. “Daniel’s wife will take care of your friend, but you will come with me to the palace,” he assured me.
“With all due respect, Your Highness, I would rather take care of my interesting friend myself. If he stays in the palace with me, I could take care of him better.”
Prince Victor sighed again and then ordered his men to carry the Gypsy to the palace and to summon the Royal Doctor to help both of us.
Doctor Matthew Stern was a short man with a big temper who continuously complained about having to work on a Gypsy’s wounds but cleaned and treated them regardless.
At the palace, we both received new clean clothes, oils, and perfumes – the best of the best, given to the daughter of a blacksmith and a Gypsy!
Food was brought over to our rooms but we were warned to not overindulge since we would be joining the Prince for supper.
I was nervous, since dinner at the Royal Table could be disastrous for me. I barely knew how to eat properly in our humble home in Stoneburg. Elle, you will be fine, I kept telling myself, but the truth was that I would have rather stayed in my new room to eat there, rather than to pretend to eat like the lady I wasn’t.
Adding to my nervousness was the fact that I was wearing a gown that probably cost as much money as my parents had earned in their entire lives. What if it gets ruined by me? Or what if I fall while walking in the stupid high heels given to me that made me tip over and stumble with every step? Surely, I was going to make a fool of myself. To make my evening more miserable, once again, I was wearing a corset. This time, the corset was meant to make my breasts more attractive instead of trying to hide them. I had never been so uncomfortable in my entire existence.
The dining room was empty – no food, no servants, no Prince. A servant girl came with haste and bid me to follow her to the garden. A small table was at the end of the outside hallway, under the roof of a small gazebo. The Prince was sitting there, and next to him was Daniel, or Sir Daniel as everyone else besides the Prince called him. He was the Knight of the Everlands, in charge of the security of the palace and the Royal Family, particularly the Prince’s safety.
My Gypsy friend, Vince, was sitting with them. I knew his name through one of the maids, even though we hadn’t been formally introduced. I also found out that Vince was Valdo’s eldest son. The news about having two Gypsies in the castle spread faster than a wildfire in a haystack. The servants couldn’t help but stare. I tried to avoid their gaze so that I could concentrate on my steps, since I was having a hard time balancing on the heels. In a matter of seconds, what I feared the most happened; I missed a step and fell on my knees.
“Not used to these fancy shoes, are we, My Lady?” said His Majesty.
I wasn’t sure what hurt the most – my scrapped knees or my wounded pride. “May I have my old boots back, Your Highness?”
He chuckled at my request and helped me to my feet. Lacing my arm through his, he walked me to the table.
The most beautiful dishes I had ever seen were on the table – porcelain, pearly white in color, with a golden rim, which the Prince confirmed to be real gold, that had gorgeous hand-painted flowers lining it. The strangest cheeses, the most elaborate breads, the sweetest fruits, the leanest cuts of meats, and the finest of wines were abundant as well. Everything and anything I could ever have dreamed of was at my reach to enjoy; yet, the only thing that came to my mind was the labor that was put into it all. How many cooks had to slave over the hot coals or work by the scorching ovens? How many of them would wish to have at least a small portion of such a banquet to feed their families? Have they ever been thanked for their services to the Crown? Did they know that the food would be enjoyed by a Gypsy and a blacksmith’s offspring and not just by the Royal Family?
“Do you not like what you see?” His Majesty asked, pulling me away from my thoughts and the thousand questions swirling in my head. He pointed to the food spread elegantly over the table. He seemed concerned his choice of food was not enticing for me.
“Not at all, Your Majesty. Everything looks delicious. I am used to bread and butter for dinner, with a cup of warm sweetened milk that Mother prepares for me before bed. This is a sight seen only in my dreams, My Lord. I would not know where to begin. What would His Majesty recommend?”
His eyes lit up as if I had said what he had been expecting to hear. With a mischievous smile, he mentioned how he always started with dessert. He picked up a little bowl with a dark orange gooey substance inside, kind of like marmalade. He took a small spoon, scooped some out, brought it to my lips, and watched intently as the flavor burst in my mouth.
“Aligretto,” I said out loud. “The same thing my mother uses to sweeten my milk at night.” Aligretto was a mixture of peaches, oranges, and berries with honey; a recipe of my own making as far as I knew.
“I got this from Stoneburg,” said the Prince. “Sir Richard sends me a few jars now and then, a gift he shares with me somewhat unwillingly. I have not found this nectar anywhere else or anything like it. Over the years, Richard has refused to tell me who makes it for him. I guess he was afraid I might decide to bring that person to the palace and lose this delicious nectar forever. So, you call it Aligretto. Why is that?”
“I don’t know. It needed a name so I gave it one,” I said nervously, thinking of the words he had spoken.
He smiled at my reaction. “So you are the one who makes it! No wonder he would not tell me; he was afraid I would take you away,” he laughed, pleased with himself. “I ended up taking you with me anyway.”
I forced a smile but did not like his words at all. We finished eating and the Royal Servants started to take the trays of food away, everything but the bread, the Aligretto, and the wine. The Prince’s golden chalice was filled again with what he called the finest of the finest wines in the palace. He motioned a servant to fill up mine, but the Prince had failed to notice that I had only been drinking water, so when the maid servant came my way, I covered my cup. Anyone would have thought that I had slapped the Prince’s royal face when I rejected the wine. He was so insulted that I felt the need to explain.
“My Lord, I have seen many good men turn into monsters and beat their women to the ground. I have seen young women waking up in a stranger’s bed after a night of drinking, and then having fatherless children. I have seen men fighting men after a few drinks with minimal provocation. I have seen drunkenness destroy lives that once were precious. I have seen many lives torn apart by men seeking the favor of other women in their drunken state while their wife stays home preparing supper. I have seen too much, and every time, it started with just one drink by people thinking that one drink wouldn’t hurt, just wanting to be merry. But poison in small amounts is still poison, and nobody should poison themselves for the price of entertainment, My Lord.” I felt like a preacher giving a sermon!
“So if you had the power to do it, would you ban the wine and beer and other drinks that make men merry from the land?” asked the Prince, trying to understand me.
“Every person may choose to do as they wish, My Lord. I have made my own choice to not lose my reason to a glass of wine, but you can choose to indulge in wine without thinking of the consequences. After all, you are the Prince of the Everlands.” He said nothing, as if he was not yet convinced of my reasoning. “Your Majesty, I choose not to partake of this wine or any other, and I expect my choice to be respected, just as I would respect anyone who chooses differently than me.”
Silence ruled for a short moment. The servants around us looked tense, while Prince Victor held his wine glass and stared at it. The smell of it was enticing him to taste i
t one more time, just one little drink. However, to my surprise, he lowered the glass and rested it on the table. “Poison,” he whispered, lost in his thoughts. “Poison.”
“Will you sing for us, My Lady?” asked Vince the Gypsy, interrupting the thoughtfulness of the Prince. Vince had been very quiet all night, fading into the background.
“I’m not very good at singing.” I tried to dismiss his request.
“She’s lying, because I’ve heard her singing in her cell,” said Vince. He was not being mean, just tactless; he really wanted me to sing. Surely, His Majesty had the best singers hovering somewhere in the palace, waiting to provide some amusement to the Royal Family.
“What could I sing that might be worthy of His Majesty? All I know are Gypsy tales, a few lullabies, and some songs that I must have learned in my youth, for I can’t recall my mother teaching them to me.”
“Rablaoseck Ethro,” said Vince. Both Sir Daniel and the Prince looked puzzled.
“It means Blackrose Thorn,” I said. I cleared my throat nervously a couple of times and then started to sing while Vince hummed, just like we did in the prison. The song reminded me that something was missing.
“Sir Daniel,” I said, “when I was imprisoned, I was wearing a necklace – a jet rose with diamond engravings. It was not in my chambers with the rest of my belongings. May I go back to the prison and look for it. It was a gift from the Gypsies, and I would like it back.”
“Who gave it to you?” Vince asked, surprised, but turning to Sir Daniel with his bruised face instead of me. “She must have it back. You have no right to take The Ethro. It does not belong to your people!” Vince said firmly.
Sir Daniel stood up angrily and answered him. “You dare to tell me what belongs to the Gypsies! Your people have been stealing from mine for the longest time, and you dare complain about a worthless trinket.”
Vince jumped to his feet, tension building by the second. “I am not sure why it was given to her, but The Thorn is a symbol of power and protection for my people. It has been in my family for generations. It belongs to the Gypsies!” he yelled, losing his patience.
I stood up by Vince. “It was entrusted to me, and I promised to take care of it. May I have it back?” I asked, just as firm.
“Daniel, find it and give it back. We will not have our guests be insulted this way.”
Sir Daniel didn’t argue; his loyalty to the Crown ran deeper than his pride. He bowed and then was gone.
Vince turned towards me, still incredulous that I had gotten such a gift. Maybe he was wrong; maybe it was just something similar to what he called The Ethro.
“Let’s rest now. Tomorrow, we shall have a busy day,” His Majesty said.
A couple of maidens came to help Vince to his room. He nodded goodnight and left me alone with the Prince.
“May I walk you to your room, My Lady?” asked the Prince, extending his arm. We walked in silence. My chambers were the farthest from where we had dined, so we walked under the starry sky for a while. It had been a long time since I had felt such freedom; yet, I didn’t feel safe away from my parents, away from Stoneburg. I had been away from Stoneburg before, but Sir Richard had always watched over me. Having Sir Richard near always made me feel safe, but he was days away from the Royal City.
“They all took an oath,” said His Majesty, breaking the silence. “Sir Daniel’s men took an oath to not reveal your secret; they will keep their oath or pay for it with their lives.”
I thought about it quietly for a minute. “Your Majesty, their oath does not change the fact that too many people know about me and John being the same person, so that security is gone. We do not know who is after me nor why. The more people that finds out the truth–”
“You are safe in this palace. Whoever is after you cannot harm you here,” Prince Victor concluded. We continued to walk until we reached my appointed chambers. “How old were you when you went into hiding?” he asked.
I told him what I knew: that I had been pretending to be John for almost seven years; that when I was fifteen-years-old, I was so sick, my parents thought I would die; and while fate had me battling death, an unknown rider warned them about my life being threatened by someone they didn’t know. I could not remember any details of the events, because my illness took all my childhood memories away. But I don’t doubt my getting into trouble and bringing that burden on myself. All I could remember was leaving our house to move to Stoneburg. “Ever since, Elle has been hidden and John has been my only face.”
“I think it’s time for John to take a long holiday and for Elle to enjoy the goodness of life,” said the Prince.
I liked the idea, but I still needed to finish the Prince’s armor. Sir Richard would not understand why I did not get the job done if I spent my time away from a blacksmith shop. I couldn’t tell Sir Richard the truth about me, because he would feel betrayed, knowing I’d purposely kept from him the fact that I was a woman.
“My Lord, the idea is tempting, but John must stay in case I need him again. Besides, he still needs to finish the armor of Clouds for His Majesty. A lady must not handle the hammer and bellows.”
“So be it, My Lady. John may hover, but Elle is my guest of choice.” He then kissed my hand goodnight, which gave me goose bumps, an emotion I was not well acquainted with.
Inside my chambers, two young maidens were waiting for me. They helped me to get ready for bed, undressing me and then dressing me again in my sleeping gown. I did not like the lack of privacy their company brought to me, because they also brushed my hair and did for me all the things that I would normally have done by myself. They did an excellent job making me look like a lady ready for a night of deep slumber. They even tucked me into bed like a little child, and then I watched them leave the room. A few minutes later, I fell asleep.
Chapter 5
I was awakened by the screams of women and children fleeing desperately for their lives, plus the loud stomping of horses in the courtyard. It was night and darkness ruled over every corner of my room; the only candle on my dresser had been blown out by the breeze coming through the window.
I knew something was really wrong, and I wanted to jump out of bed, but my body felt so heavy that I could barely move. I felt cold, but I was also sweating. Somehow, during the night, I started running a fever, perhaps due to my prolonged exposure to the rain.
With effort, I sat up. My hand reached automatically for Heaven, but my sword was nowhere near my bed. In the darkness, I couldn’t find it. The outside screams grew.
I crawled towards the window in agonizing pain. I could see that the main gate had been breached and estranged riders were coming in, slashing throats and running people through with their swords on their way to the castle. Two good men stood guard right beneath my window; one of them around forty-years-old and the other one in his twenties. The older man caught a glimpse of me holding onto the window frame to keep myself from falling, and his gaze made the other man turn towards me also. Both faces showed fear. They looked so familiar, but I did not recall their names. Surely, they were part of Sir Daniel’s company.
A woman in tears, holding a young boy in her arms, came running towards them. The older man embraced her and motioned for two frightened servants nearby to help them back inside of the castle. Then he took the younger man standing beside him by his shoulders and yelled at him.
“They have come for her! You must get her out of here! Keep her safe! Swear it!”
“I swear,” said the younger man. Then he ran inside the castle while the older man rejoined those who were fighting outside. I made my way slowly to the door, but before I could open it, someone started to kick it in. The pounding was so strong that it made the whole room tremble.
I gasped for air, terrified as Sir Daniel came through the door, sword in hand, searching in the corners of my desolate room for the perpetrator.
Suddenly, I was once again lying in bed. Daylight peeped through the window, caressing lightly the walls that re
flected it. I was safe. It was only a nightmare – a loud nightmare that had awakened the two young maidens from the night before. They were standing at the door, waiting for Sir Daniel to finish searching. Relief showed on their faces when he said that it was safe to come in. Their chambers were across from mine in case I needed anything. The Prince had told them to alert Sir Daniel and himself if anything came up during the night. They had heard me scream and were worried, so they had called the Royal Guard. I apologized for the inconvenience I had caused – about one thousand times. Sir Daniel came towards me, still worried.
“Is everything all right, My Lady?”
I was pretty shaken by the nightmare, so I only nodded. I saw the Prince coming through the door, still in his nightgown. One look from Sir Daniel indicated to him that everything was under control.
“It was only a nightmare,” I told His Majesty. When he came and sat down on the bed beside me, the room cleared instantly and the doors were shut. I saw the feet of someone standing right outside my door, Sir Daniel for sure.
“What did you dream?” His Majesty asked.
I told him every detail I could remember from my dream. He was a good listener, but he showed disappointment at the end of my story. “Even if I had a whole army outside your door, you still wouldn’t feel safe in this palace. Your foes hunt you even in your dreams. There has to be something else that I can do that may keep you asleep, instead of running for your life every night in your own mind.” He wanted to help me feel safe? Maybe he should bring Sir Richard to the palace. “Breakfast will be ready shortly, so I think we both need to get dressed,” he said, pointing at his silky nightgown. “See you downstairs.”
My maidens came in, suppressing smiles as I caught them checking out His Highness’s royal rear and his attire as he passed by them.
