They dismounted at a point where the Grauemfall rushed along the bank with determination, but at a bearable volume. It was strange, but Lilli suddenly felt a kind of wild anticipation for this day. Maybe it was because she was no longer under observation, she didn’t know. Involuntarily, she gave Amon a radiant look and he returned it with a raised eyebrow, as if he couldn’t explain her radiant mood either. Amon tethered the horses so that they could graze, and Lilli meanwhile unpacked the delicacies she had brought with her, presenting them on a linen cloth with enough room to sit on.
“I hope you are hungry. I have raided your pantry.” Lilli tapped the cloth and saw the king hesitate briefly before settling down. She was unable to interpret the look on his face, so she decided to pass him over. She poured out water for thirst and wine for enjoyment, unpacked the food and then picked up her goblet.
“To a fine day,” she said, and waited until the king also reached for his drinking vessel.
“If you say so ... it must be true.” He took a small sip and then set the wine aside as his gaze slid back over the picnic blanket. “May I ask how you came up with this idea?”
Now it was Lilli who raised her brows, but then reached for the fresh slices of bread in the basket.
“I thought a little food on a trip like this would be an obvious thought.” She searched for the cheese and cut something off the small loaf.
“It is, but ...” Amon watched her go. “... I don’t know either.”
“Have you never had a picnic before?”
“Not that I know of.” Amon reached for the bread almost hesitantly, as if he were doing something forbidden. Lilli continued to try to hide her amazement at this. There was probably something very wrong with this king. And it increasingly pressed her to know what it was.
“And why not? You have a lovely scenery here, don’t you?” Lilli struck an easy chatty tone. “Isn’t there anyone you go on a trip with sometime, just for fun?”
“No.” Amon glanced at the river flowing past them as if seeing the body of water for the first time. “I ride past here sometimes, but there is no reason to stop and linger.”
“Then it’s time you tried it. Here’s a piece of cheese for you.”
“Thank you.” He took it and bit off a piece each of bread and cheese. “That tastes really good.”
“That’s because we eat it here. It wouldn’t taste half as good in a dark room. That wasn’t meant to be a suggestion.”
Amon waited a moment before replying. Somewhere behind them a horse snorted.
“I apologise again for my rough treatment. For a moment I lost my temper.”
“I am not angry with you. But I do wonder what is wrong with you. Forgive my curiosity, it seemed as if you were ill.”
“I was not well,” said Amon, a little too quickly. “But I’m all right now, as you can see.”
“Perhaps you simply lack a little daylight,” Lilli speculated, unable to help a cheeky grin. She was aware that she was perhaps going a little too far, but she had the thought of having to coax the king a little out of the solitude into which he seemed to have buried himself. It was surely because of his supposed disfigurement that he told himself he could hardly leave his castle.
“I don’t think there is anyone among my people who would have dared to say that to my face.” Amon’s expression again showed that look that could mean just about anything.
“I believe that,” Lilli said calmly. “But someone has to tell you when otherwise you won’t be able to have a single picnic until you die.”
Amon’s face twitched and she wondered if she had gone too far now, but then, to her no small surprise, she saw a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“You don’t know how right you are about that,” he finally said, smiling even a little more. “Why shouldn’t I ... just go out.” He looked across to the other shore and Lilli wondered how he managed the feat of looking sad and happy at the same time.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It’s all a bit unfamiliar here.” He didn’t look at her and Lilli sighed inwardly. No wonder he hadn’t found a wife. This man probably preferred to be alone in his dark room.
“It can help if you do something crazy.” She stood up, slipped off her boots, slipped her trouser legs up a little and this time she had Amon’s full attention.
“What are you doing, Lilliana?”
“You’ll see in a moment.” In a few steps she was at the shore and sat down, then she let her legs hang down into the water – and cried out. “Help! THAT’S cold! Aaaahhhh!” Laughing, she threw her head back and looked straight into Amon’s face, who had stepped beside her. “Come on, Your Majesty, what are you waiting for?”
“No, thank you.” Again, he wore that strange expression.
“Don’t be such a coward!” She bent down, scooped up some water and flung it high at him. Immediately he dodged it, but a few drops reached him anyway and he ran his hand over his face once.
“Are you sure you are a princess and not a stable boy in disguise?” Amon said, sounding not a little displeased.
“Today I am both,” Lilli said contentedly, grinning to herself as Amon settled down beside her without his boots and actually put his legs in the water.
“Crisp ... but not cold,” he judged. “I guess you’re a little sensitive.”
“And you’re a show-off.” She let herself sink back into the grass and moved her legs in the water. To her surprise, the king settled down beside her, in the same posture, and clasped his hands behind his head.
“May I ask you a question?” Lilli lifted her feet out of the water for a moment; it was really darn cold in the long run. The water came straight from the mountains and you could feel it.
“I suppose it would be rude not to allow you. So, ask.” He didn’t look at her, staring at the sky.
“What is the real reason you do not wish to marry?”
As expected, he was silent at first. Lilli turned her head and watched him from the side. The scars ran as fine lines across his face. Across his beautiful face. Yes, it couldn’t possibly be his looks.
“I just don’t want a woman to be attached to me. And there are reasons for that that I don’t want to talk about.”
“But those reasons wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your scars? I still maintain that they are hardly noticeable.”
“Then there is something wrong with your eyes. And didn’t you say we’d forget about the scars for today and you’d be a dear guest to whom I’d show everything here?” Now he didn’t sound quite so cheerful.
“You are right. Please forgive me,” Lilli said sincerely and to her surprise he smiled a little. How different he looked when he wore at least the hint of a smile on his face!
“I would rather ask my esteemed guest why she does not wish to marry.” Now he turned his head towards her, and the smile almost reached his eyes.
“Well ...” Lilli plucked off a blade of grass and twisted it between her fingers. “I just want to decide for myself what I want to do. And I don’t see any point in tying myself down to a man.”
“I see. And why should I see any point in tying myself to a woman?”
“Because you won’t have to give up anything in the process.” Lilli threw the stalk away and looked for another.
“Now, do you believe that?”
“You have fewer restrictions than I would have.”
“Yes, perhaps ...” Amon looked up at the sky again. “I’m grateful to you for this trip, by the way, Lilliana. Really.”
“It’s about time you ... showed your guest around.” She turned her head towards him, noticing the smile at the corner of his mouth.
Shortly afterwards, they decided to ride a little further. As they got up, Amon offered her his hand and it seemed to Lilli that he was reluctant to let go. Together they packed up the rest of the food and Lilli still thought she felt his warm hand in her fingers. It had felt extremely pleasant. In g
eneral, she liked his nature and how he differed from the princes and kings on the lookout for brides she had met. Nothing in his behaviour oppressed her or showed her a hidden desire or claim of ownership. With him she was simply allowed to be herself, and as they mounted the horses again, Lilli admitted to herself that this feeling of freedom was, of course, also due to the fact that he really had no intentions towards her.
They rode on and Amon seemed altogether more relaxed and approachable to Lilli. As agreed, she no longer brought up the matter of the scars and his strange collapse in the room. She assumed that he would dismount on his own and let her know if the nausea came up in him or something similar happened. But that was not the case. Amon sat in the saddle firmly – Lilli had to admit again that he was an excellent rider – and showed no signs of exhaustion.
After a short ride through rather overgrown forest paths, a clear spot in the bushes opened up and Lilli could not hold back an exclamation of excitement. Nestled like a mirror in the forest, a lake with the clearest water lay before them. The horses immediately lowered their necks to drink.
“Lake Grauemsee,” Amon said beside her, “you seem to like it.” From his voice she could hear that he was smiling.
“I love lakes and rivers. And I love swimming.” Lilli sat up in the saddle to watch a few waterbirds passing over the lake.
“Do you want to swim in it?” Amon asked.
“Not today, but maybe on another trip?” She swung off her horse to step closer to the shore. After a glance at the water, she took some bread from the saddlebags and threw a few crumbs on the almost smooth surface. It wasn’t long before small fish ventured over, splashing up the water in pursuit of the best crumb.
Lilli saw herself in the water and the shadow beside her as Amon approached. His face was reflected there as was hers.
The piece of bread fell out of her hand as her heart raced. Immediately, a wild fight erupted among the fish for the unexpected prey, the surface of the water swirled and the face with the deep scars disappeared. Lilli tried to calm herself, almost not daring to look up at Amon, but when she did, he looked the same as ever.
“What about you, Lilliana?” he asked immediately, reaching out to her. Lilli managed not to flinch.
“Have you seen a toad?” asked Amon, his smile making her breathe more calmly.
“I ... yes, I saw a toad.”
“And that scares you so much? When you feed fish, which should be no less slippery.”
“Yes, that was just silly.” Lilli avoided looking back into the water.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to turn back. There’s a storm approaching, Your Highness.” Amon walked to his horse, which by now was plucking the fresh greenery on the shore.
“The sky looks quite blue after all,” Lilli objected, but also went to her horse and took hold of the reins.
“Still, Your Highness. Do you see those clouds?” Amon pointed in the direction of the Grauemfall. “They are drifting towards the mountain and gathering there. The storm is coming fast and opening its floodgates right over the castle. Believe me. We should go back.”
Lilli slid her foot into the stirrup and pulled herself up. Amon had already turned his horse and ducked as he rode along under a low-hanging branch.
She stared after him, forgetting to spur her horse, which made the decision for her and followed his companion.
The scars – they had looked like they did in the mirror in Amon’s room. Either she was dealing with a spell after all – or she was starting to go mad.
The rain caught them a few hundred paces from the castle gate and burst down on them as if river Grauem itself were pouring down on them from the sky. They rode into the courtyard, dismounted while servants looked after their horses, and then ran to the nearest entrance to escape to shelter as quickly as possible.
“All that running did absolutely no good,” Lilli gasped, lifting her dripping braid of hair. Amon’s wet black hair was also stuck to his face and he brushed it out of his forehead, Lilli eyeing him involuntarily. But there was nothing. Only the pale, fine scars she knew.
“Thank you again for your idea, Lilliana.” For a moment he looked as if he wanted to say more, but then he just took her hand, brought it to his mouth and touched it with his lips. “I’ll have a hot bath fixed for you. It will warm you up.”
Amon nodded to her again, then walked briskly away, the beat of her heartbeats still a little faster than his steps.
She hadn’t expected that kiss on the hand, and she knew it shouldn’t mean anything to her. But part of her was pleased that he had liked her surprise. That he had enjoyed spending the day with her.
A tingling sensation had emanated from where his lips had touched her skin, pleasant and a little exciting.
In her room she would reflect on the day in peace.
Sophia had prepared the bath splendidly and told Lilli in a light-hearted tone about Florian and how pleased the doctor was with his recovery.
After her bath, Lilli combed her damp hair in peace and thought about the day. And about what she had observed so inexplicably. Yet she wasn’t really getting anywhere. Of course, she could ask Amon to take another look in the mirror. But how could she justify that? He avoided talking about his misfortune whenever he could, and Lilli didn’t want to press him.
But if she did ask him to, or provoke it, then this time in the brightest light of day. Basically, she didn’t believe in spells and such things and she had to rule out that it was a deception due to the way the light fell.
After doing her hair, she decided to look for Auntie Jahne and once again view the picture that Amon showed with her. Lilli entered the deserted hallway and then walked quickly down the corridor. These walls seemed altogether more deserted, more uninhabited than her castle at home. To imagine that there could be magic here ... curses that might be hidden in harmless objects ...
Lilli felt a little dizzy. What if she had triggered it herself? The old painting! She had looked at it and seen Amon so differently for the first time afterwards. And shortly afterwards, again! Had she brought something on herself when she had looked at the oil painting? And what did it mean for her?
Lilli stopped abruptly. She had heard footsteps behind her, quite distinctly. She whirled around, but of course the corridor lay empty before her. She waited for a moment, her heart pounding so loudly that she couldn’t have made out any more unfamiliar footsteps, when someone stepped out of the shadows into the corridor. Lilli gasped and almost stumbled when she saw that it was Auntie Jahne.
“You’re looking for me, aren’t you?” The old woman came towards her, with small yet confident steps.
“How do you know ...”
“I was waiting outside your room for you to come out. But you rushed right out. How was your trip with Amon?” Aunty Jahne stopped in front of her, and her eyes looked ghostly pale in that light.
“Fine,” Lilli said.
“And now you want to talk to me about it, don’t you? Well, I do too. Yes, indeed.” Jahne patted Lilli on the arm. “Where were you going?”
“Actually, I was going to look at his painting again. Downstairs, in the chamber.” Lilli was grateful now that Auntie Jahne had tracked her down on her own. There was probably really no better person in this castle she could have spoken to now.
“Let’s go to my place,” Jahne said. She took Lilli’s hand and pulled her with her.
Auntie Jahne’s room was of modest size and very cosy. There was a wooden sitting area with soft cushions, a fireplace with a small oven and some dishes. It seemed to Lilli like the interior of a small hut within the castle. The bedroom was probably somewhere else because she didn’t see a bed. But there was a worktable and many boxes of different sizes. On the table there was an elaborate sewing project that had been started, so Lilli assumed that the boxes contained cloth, thread, and haberdashery.
Auntie Jahne served a steaming infusion of herbs with plants from the garden and sat down in a chair opposite Lilli.
“It’s because of Amon, isn’t it? Tell me. Please.” There was an urgency in Aunty Jahne’s face for something specific that Lilli couldn’t place. But as she had already discovered herself, there was no one better to talk to about it. So, after first getting over it, she described everything: Amon’s strange collapse, his inexplicable weakness that seemed to disappear the next day. Then the incident with the mirror and the renewed frightening reflection in the lake. Auntie Jahne listened, occasionally nodding silently, not interrupting her once until Lilli had finished. Then she reached for Lilli’s hand, which felt cool and rough on her skin, almost like the finest leather in the world. Tears stood in Aunty Jahne’s eyes and she stroked the back of Lilli’s hand.
“Did I say something wrong?” she asked, startled, but Jahne immediately shook her head.
“You can’t know that, little princess. But I’ll explain it to you. Only to you.” She ran her hand over her eyes once. “I’ve known Amon for so long. Always cared for him a little. Then his parents died, first the king and then the queen. The thing with his brother happened afterwards. They were twin brothers; you might not know that.”
Lilli shook her head but kept silent. Amon had killed his twin?
“Amon and his brother didn’t even look as much alike as you would have expected. And Amon was the older one. Just a few minutes, that secured his rightful claim to the throne.”
The Scar-Faced King Page 9
