Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  Hot tears splashed down from my cheeks to the blanket and I cried myself to sleep.

  FIVE

  “MILADY,” Padraic whispered. “Alyssa.”

  I opened my swollen eyes, puffy from crying all night, and wiped at the gunk crusted in the corners. “What?”

  “The seamstresses are here to measure you and brought you some clothes for the time being.”

  “How long was I asleep?” I asked and sat up. However long it had been, I didn’t feel rested at all.

  “I was only able to let you sleep an hour unfortunately,” he told me. “After supper you can return and go to sleep if you wish.”

  I nodded and he opened the door and let two old women enter. They curtsied to me and then one glared at Padraic. “Turn around,” she said in what sounded like a Scottish accent.

  He rolled his eyes, but turned around with one hand on the hilt of his sword.

  “If you’ll hop down, we’ll measure you and then get you off to the bath,” the other old lady said to me.

  I remembered that I didn’t have any pants on and stood, but with the blanket wrapped around me.

  “You’ll have to remove that if…”

  “I don’t have pants on,” I admitted with a blush.

  Padraic’s back tensed and he stood ramrod straight.

  “We’ll be fast,” she assured me.

  I put the blanket back on the bed and hoped that when I came back it would smell like him again and not like me. They gawked at my odd underwear a moment and then quickly measured me and made comments to each other that I didn’t really get.

  “Here’s a lovely dress you can wear for now,” the one with a thick accent offered.

  It was pale blue with white leaf patterns and was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen in person. “I can’t wear that,” I whispered and took a step back from it, afraid I might get it dirty.

  “It’s not to your liking?” one of the seamstresses asked.

  “I’ll get it dirty and it’s too nice for…”

  “Why don’t you take her to her bath and then she can put on the dress?” Padraic offered.

  The seamstresses agreed. I slipped on my pants and followed them down the hallway towards the bath room. Padraic walked beside me and I asked, “Are you really my guard now?”

  He nodded. “I am.”

  “I could have used you in the orphanage,” I muttered.

  “What’s an orphanage?”

  “A place where kids whose parents died or gave them away live.”

  He stopped walking and looked at me. “Gave them away? Why would someone give a child away?”

  “They were too young to have a child. They were too strung out on drugs or alcohol to take care of the child. They just didn’t want it,” I said and shrugged. “I don’t know which my parents were though.”

  “You were raised in a place of unwanted children?” He asked me and resumed walking.

  I nodded and ran my fingertips over the stone walls. “Yes.”

  “Why would you have used me there?”

  “It was dangerous there,” I answered.

  “Were you attacked?”

  “Once,” I admitted, “but someone stopped him before he hurt me too much.”

  “Him! A man attacked you?” he asked angrily.

  “No, a boy. We were only ten at the time.”

  “He was your age?”

  I nodded.

  “I would have enjoyed being there as your guard,” he told me with lips pulled back into a snarl, and showed off his fangs.

  “In here, Milady,” the seamstress without the accent said.

  Padraic turned his back to the door and stood with one hand on his sword hilt. He looked ready to attack anyone who tried to enter the room. I entered the room and was shocked to find an in-floor tub with water that produced thick clouds of steam. I stripped out of my clothes and climbed into the water with a happy groan.

  “Glorious,” I whispered and closed my eyes.

  “The King’s never brought a woman to the castle before,” one of the seamstresses commented.

  “Never ‘ad one in his room either,” the Scottish sounding one said.

  “He’s not here,” I informed them. “He’s…temporarily away and he wanted to make certain that I was comfortable so he told Martin to let me sleep in his room.”

  “I’m glad to see the young King taking a fancy to a girl,” the accented seamstress said. “He’s been alone too long.”

  At least he wasn’t alone right now. Despite it not being a great thing for Treyce, I was glad that he was with Eoghan.

  There was a cloth in the tub with me, so I took it and scrubbed at my dirt caked skin. A third woman came in and she rolled up the sleeves of her dress and knelt next to me. “I’m Anasia and I’ve been assigned as your handmaiden,” she said in introduction.

  “I’m Alyssa,” I said and smiled at her.

  “Lady Alyssa, would…”

  “Not ‘Lady’,” I corrected her. “Just Alyssa.”

  “Begging your pardon, Milady, but I cannot call you that,” she told me.

  “Why not?” I asked and frowned.

  “You’re the King’s guest, to be treated as a Queen. If we were to treat a Queen by calling her with just her first name, we would be punished,” a seamstress who I hadn’t realized was still here, answered.

  “I won’t feel comfortable with you calling me ‘Milady’ or ‘Lady’. Please, just call me Alyssa. If someone tries to give you trouble, send them to Padraic and he’ll set them straight. Won’t you Padraic?” I called out through the door.

  He called back. “Of course, Alyssa.”

  I smiled at them, but their shocked opened mouth responses weren’t what I expected.

  “He calls you by your name?” Anasia asked in a soft whisper.

  I nodded. “I asked him to.”

  They exchanged looks and Anasia said, “You’re quite different than the other women of this realm.”

  “I will take that as a compliment,” I said and resumed scrubbing my body.

  Anasia helped scrubbed my back and then washed my hair and brushed it for me.

  “Will you put the dress on now, Mi…Alyssa?” the seamstress without the accent asked. The other seamstress had disappeared during my bath.

  “Are you sure that it’s alright? That dress looks expensive and rather nice for someone like me to wear,” I whispered and reached out to touch it, but then pulled my hand back.

  “The King would want you to wear it, I’m certain,” She assured me.

  I agreed and they helped me get into it, it was a light summer dress and when I twirled the skirt flared out around me. I giggled and whispered, “I feel like a Lady.”

  “May I braid your hair?” Anasia asked me.

  I nodded and she went to work on it right away.

  “I’ll take my leave to start on your clothes,” the seamstress said and curtsied to me.

  “What’s your name?” I asked her just before she opened the door.

  She paused and whispered, “Draya.”

  “Thank you, Draya.”

  She curtsied again and left the room.

  “They’re not used to people wanting to know their names,” Anasia informed me.

  “What? That’s crazy.”

  “That’s how most nobles are.”

  “Is that how Eo…King Eoghan is?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No, he knows all of our names.” She finished her braiding and smiled. “All done.”

  “Is there a mirror?” I asked.

  She pulled a sheet off of a floor length, standing mirror and I twirled in front of it with a wide smile. I looked like I was going to a Renaissance Faire! “I love the braid!” I told her honestly.

  “I’m happy that they are to your liking.”

  I opened the door and twirled in front of Padraic. “What do you think?” I asked him.

  His eyes widened when he first saw me and then he smiled. “You look
lovely.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Padraic!” Anasia hissed in shock.

  “What?” he asked her.

  “You shouldn’t speak in such a manner to His Majesty’s guest.”

  “She asked for my opinion,” he said and shrugged. “His Majesty assigned me to guard her and she’s ordered me to call her by her first name. I think our guest isn’t as stuck on court rules as the usual guests.”

  “If someone else heard you…” She began.

  “Are you two a couple?” I asked and looked back and forth between them.

  Anasia frowned. “Of course not.”

  “No,” Padraic answered.

  “Is it supper time?” I asked and rubbed my grumbling stomach. “I haven’t eaten since noon.”

  “This way,” Anasia said and began walking.

  I walked a bit back next to Padraic and whispered, “What’s up with her?”

  “She was raised in Queen Pella’s castle, so she’s a bit more strict with the rules than most. She doesn’t like elves much either, so we don’t get along very well,” he explained.

  I looked at him and frowned. “Why does your race matter?”

  He frowned and then smiled at me. “You may not care, but most don’t like elves.”

  “Well, Eoghan must not have cared either if you are his guard,” I commented.

  “The King has a soft spot for Padraic,” Anasia told me. “They’ve been raised together since they could walk.”

  “Oh no!” I gasped.

  “What?” Padraic asked and looked around with his hand on his sword’s hilt for danger.

  “I didn’t tell the seamstresses to make me mostly pants and shirts and not dresses. Anasia, can you find them and tell them? I like wearing dresses, but I’m going to need pants for my training.”

  “Yes, Alyssa,” she agreed, bowed, and went back the other way down the hallway.

  “Pants? That’s a bold decision,” Padraic said.

  “It’s hard to fight in dresses,” I whispered.

  “Who would you be fighting? That’s why I’m here,” he said and frowned down at me.

  “You won’t always be here for me.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “Because she plans to run away and save our King,” Martin told him.

  Dang it! He was sneaky and had startled me.

  “Martin, it is not nice to sneak up on people and scare them,” I chastised him.

  He smiled. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Padraic asked Martin.

  “Hasn’t she told you yet? She plans to hone her magic, learn to fight, and then run off to rescue the King,” Martin told him.

  Padraic frowned at me. “Not going to happen.”

  “You can’t order me around.” I told him with my hands on my hips.

  “The King wants you here, where you’re safe,” he replied.

  “He’s not safe because of me! I have to do something to help him.”

  “You’ll get yourself killed!” Padraic argued.

  “And if that brought him back, would it be such a bad thing!” I screamed and then bit my lip.

  Padraic’s eyes widened and then he glared at me. “As long as I’m breathing, you will not be sacrificing yourself.”

  “Why do you care? You don’t even know me. None of you know me!”

  “The King saw something in you. The King risked his life, a life we hold precious to us, to keep you alive. So, I will do everything within my power to do the same.”

  “Then teach me to fight and help me save him.”

  “He doesn’t need to be saved,” Martin said, finally chiming in again.

  “What?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

  “He’ll escape on his own eventually,” he replied.

  “You aren’t making sense,” I complained.

  “The food is ready,” a man with a rigid stance said at the end of the hall.

  “This conversation is not over,” I told them angrily.

  “No, it’s not,” Padraic agreed.

  We went into an ornate dining room with a table that had to weight more than a car. The table was filled with food and I instantly began drooling. “It smells magnificent.”

  Martin pulled out my chair for me while Padraic stood against the wall behind me with a scowl. I sat and ate until I couldn’t possibly fit anymore into my stomach. Everything had tasted delicious and we walked back to the room in silence, but I could tell that Padraic was still upset.

  “I’m sorry that I yelled at you,” I apologized to him.

  “I apologize as well,” he whispered.

  “Well, good night,” I said and pushed open the door.

  “Alyssa,” he whispered. “Will you promise me something?”

  “What?” I asked and my entire body tensed nervously.

  “If you’re going to run off after Eoghan, don’t leave me behind.”

  “You’ll just tell me no and refuse to go,” I countered.

  “If you leave in the middle of the night, while I’m sleeping, I’ll never be able to forgive myself,” he told me. “It would be a huge failure and dishonor to me and I would have to quit being a guard.”

  I didn’t want to cause him to lose his job…

  “Plus, if I were to lose you, I would never be able to face King Eoghan again.”

  “Will you promise to teach me to fight?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Fine, I promise not to sneak off in the middle of the night, as long as you teach me to fight,” I agreed. I was not particularly happy to promise that, but they were doing a lot for me and I couldn’t cause him undue hardships.

  “Great. I’ll give you your first lesson tomorrow after breakfast,” Padraic said with a smile. He bowed to me and then went into his room.

  Sleep didn’t come easy as I continued to worry over Eoghan’s safety as well as Treyce’s. What were they doing right now? Was Pella torturing them? How long would it be until I saw Eoghan? Would I ever see him again?

  Yes! I had to. I had to see him.

  “Rise and shine, Princess.” Padraic sang and pulled my blankets off.

  “Five more minutes,” I mumbled. “And I’m not a princess.”

  “We’ve decided that since His Majesty wants you to be treated like a queen, it would be easier just to unofficially make you a princess,” he informed me.

  “Padraic, I’m tired,” I mumbled into my pillow. It had taken me a long time to fall asleep and I didn’t feel like I’d fallen asleep very long ago.

  “It’s time to start your training,” he said. “If I’m going to teach you to fight at the same time that you are going to learn to use your magic, then we need to start as soon as we can and work together as much as possible.”

  I opened my eyes and he smiled at me from the balcony, the source of the light that had been shining in my eyes. “Can I eat first?”

  He nodded and then pointed to a pile of folded clothes. “The seamstresses stayed up all night making you some clothes.”

  “Wow,” I whispered and climbed out of bed. I paused to stretch and realized that Padraic was watching me. “Can you wait outside?” I requested.

  He smirked and then bowed. “Of course, Princess.”

  I waited until he had closed the door and then got dressed in a pair of my new pants and a black tank top that I had packed in my backpack. The pants were a bit odd, but I was sure that I would get used to them soon. Growing up we didn’t have clothes that were the right size often at the orphanage. I put on my tennis shoes and stepped out into the hallway where Padraic was leaned against a wall.

  “Are there any spare pairs of boots lying around?” I asked and walked towards the dining hall.

  “You don’t own boots?” he asked as he kept stride beside me.

  I shook my head. “I only have this one pair of shoes.” I indicated the shoes on my feet.

  He frowned. “That certainly won’t do. Th
is afternoon I will take you to the cobbler.”

  “Cobbler?”

  “Shoe maker,” he explained.

  “How far away is the cobbler?”

  “It’s an hour ride to the city. It will do you some good to get acquainted with its layout and location,” he said and then paused and looked at my shirt. “Though you may want to change before we go there.”

  I looked down at my tank top, which didn’t even show any cleavage and asked “What’s wrong with this shirt?”

  “While I have no issue with what you are wearing, it is not a common piece of clothing in our dimension and you may cause a raucous. You may very well cause a riot from men trying to follow you and gain your attention.”

  I laughed and he smiled warmly at me. “How’d you know?” I asked with a frown. I thought I had been hiding my feelings so well.

  “Your eyes,” he answered. “It’s always easiest to discover someone’s true feelings when you look into their eyes. You don’t need to pretend with me. I understand that you’re worried about King Eoghan and that you feel responsible. I could hear you thrashing about in bed.”

  “I’m sorry if I kept you awake,” I apologized.

  “He’ll come back,” he promised. “He’s always getting himself into trouble, but he has a knack for getting out of it easily.”

  “You think he’s just going to waltz in here one day without us even doing anything?” I asked in disbelief.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “That’s insane. We have to go get him and help him.”

  He stopped, just feet from the dining room door, and said, “I didn’t want to have this conversation so early, especially not before breakfast, but let me tell you this. You will not be trading yourself for King Eoghan. You will not sacrifice yourself. You will not trade your life for anyone else. Do you understand?”

  “I don’t want to discuss this anymore,” I growled and grabbed the door handle.

  He slammed his hand onto the door and held it closed. His eyes bore into mine and I felt the power and strength he possessed like a weight on my shoulders just from one look. “Good, because I don’t like repeating myself. I will protect you until I am given other orders by King Eoghan. And, if you try to sacrifice yourself, I will sacrifice myself instead. I will not allow you to get yourself killed because you feel responsible. Focus on your training and focus on learning everything that you can about this dimension so that when Eoghan returns, you will be a useful asset for him and our kingdom.” His eyes softened and he whispered, “Elves aren’t known to have the Alpha urge to protect like shifters do, but there is something about you that makes me want to keep you safe. There is something about you that makes me believe that keeping you alive is of the utmost importance. It is a feeling unlike any I have had before and I need to know why. So, I vow to keep you safe and protect you with my life until the time that King Eoghan orders me to abandon that charge.”