“Does Eli know who you are?”
“Yes. He is one of the few people who do. He doesn’t know who you are, though I think we need to tell him. We’re going to need the support of more Friends of Philip to get to that castle.”
“How are we going to get across the border?” That task had been difficult the last time they’d done it, before they were at full-blown war.
“It’s a good question,” Marcus said. “But it’s not one we’re facing today. It’s still another day and a half of solid traveling before we reach the place where we’re going to try.”
Quinn nodded; she knew they were taking a very long way around. The capitol city of Philotheum was in nearly the opposite direction from the way they’d been traveling. But if they’d tried to travel straight there – taken the route they’d gone the last time they’d made a journey like this – they would have had to go straight through the center of the fighting, and eventually they’d have crossed main thoroughfares in Philotheum.
“Okay, then,” she said. “Cloud Valley by nightfall.”
* * *
For a little while after their break, the weather was perfect for traveling. Sunny, but not hot, and the overnight moisture had brought out the vibrant colors in everything. This was William’s favorite time of year. A few leaves had started changing from green to yellow, but only enough to give a splash of color to the landscape; most of the leaves still clung firmly to their branches.
But the best part of many of the trees was the fruit. The smell of ripe apples, pylinas, and peaches permeated the air as the sun evaporated the rainwater on the heavy limbs of the fruit trees. In many places, the crop was so plentiful that overripe fruit covered the ground below, and the birds, small animals, and honeybees were feasting.
“What are you thinking about?” Quinn asked, letting Dusk fall back a bit so she was even with him.
“Nothing, really. Why?”
“I don’t know. You just had this look on your face, like you were thinking about something good and I could use a little good right now.”
“Oh” He smiled. Determined to be strong for Quinn, and not let his own anxiety get the better of him, he had been forcing himself to pay attention to the scenery and focus his mind on pleasant thoughts. It had worked, he guessed. He’d lapsed into daydreaming when she caught him. “I was thinking about you, actually. About us.”
“What about us?”
“About how different this trip would be if this was a real honeymoon. If we were out here enjoying the fall, just us.”
“Hmm . . .” She looked around. “I could get behind an idea like that. What would we do?”
He smiled, taking note of the playful tone in her voice. “We could pack a picnic, maybe race the horses on the way out to the middle of nowhere, pick all the fruit we wanted, go for a swim, set up a blanket under a tree…”
She’d closed her eyes, trusting completely in her control over and relationship with Dusk as she allowed herself a moment inside his daydream. Even dressed in plain, rugged traveling clothes, with her hair braided tightly and tucked under a heavy, wide-brimmed hat, she took his breath away. And it struck him, then, that she was his wife. He was going to be able to catch glimpses of her like this for the rest of his life.
An irritated sound from behind them was an instant and unwelcome reminder that he and Quinn weren’t alone at all. William’s stomach sank as Charles’ horse suddenly sped and went around them, not slowing again until Charles was well ahead of the group.
Quinn’s eyes were open now, and they widened as she watched. “What was that about?”
He shrugged. “I wish I knew what his problem was.”
She glanced around them. Most of the group was ahead of them, and she slowed a little, falling further back from Nathaniel. William matched her pace. Only Ben was behind them, and he was too far to hear anything they were saying.
“Do you think it’s really that he wants his daughter to be the queen?”
“I don’t know. I asked Nathaniel about it the other night, after that meeting where Charles was so … whatever he was. But Nathaniel doesn’t think that’s what it is. I guess Charles has always been very protective of his family, and he wasn’t happy about bringing Gianna to the castle, even.”
Just then, something wet landed on his hand. He looked down, frowning. There was a big drop of water on the back of his hand. He looked up to see where it had come from, and another one hit his cheek.
“It’s raining,” Quinn said, and they both looked up at the sky.
Where only moments before, the sky had been clear and blue, it was now filling with thick, gray clouds. As they watched, the sun disappeared, and the air around them grew cool. Quinn grabbed for her hat as a sudden breeze nearly blew it off.
A few seconds later, the scattered drops multiplied, and the rain began in earnest. Within five minutes, it was coming down so hard that William could barely see Quinn, though she was only a few feet away from him. Ahead of them, Marcus rode off the trail into a thick stand of trees. Everyone quickly followed.
Even the thick foliage offered little protection from the downpour as Marcus led them to the highest ground he could find. As soon as they found a place where most of the water was running downhill, rather than collecting, the men went to work. Within moments, they’d erected one tent.
“Get inside, Princess Quinn!” Ben shouted, using his body to shield the entrance from the downpour as he held the flap open for her.
She shook her head. “How can I help?”
Ben looked stricken. “Please, Quinn.” William’s heart pounded as he noted that Ben was too upset to bother with the formalities.
Nathaniel’s voice was suddenly right in William’s ear. “Take care of that,” he said. “Get her in there. She doesn’t understand, and you have got to help her.”
William felt Charles’ steely gaze boring into him as he dropped the edge of the second tent they nearly had standing. He crossed the short distance and grabbed Quinn by the elbow, nearly pulling her around Ben and into the tent, both of them landing on the floor. The flap snapped shut, and William could feel the structure vibrate as Ben tied some of the bindings.
“What in the hell, Will?” Quinn shouted, jerking her elbow away from him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But you were about to make Ben have a stroke.”
“How?”
“By not getting into the tent.”
“Excuse me? I was just trying to help, to work the same as everyone else.”
William took a deep breath. “I know you were,” he said quietly. “But that’s the part you need to understand. You’re not the same as everyone else.”
“Why? Because I’m a girl?”
“No, Quinn. Because you’re the heir to the throne. If this whole adventure goes the way it’s supposed to, you’re going to be the queen. It is Ben and Marcus’ whole job to protect you. They don’t need you to help them put up tents, they need you inside where they know you’re safe so they can concentrate on what they’re doing.”
He could see that she was trying to listen, but that she wasn’t hearing him yet. “And if I wasn’t a girl – if I was the potential king, they wouldn’t let me help?”
He closed his eyes for a second, trying to figure out how to make her understand this without making her more defensive. “Honestly? I’m sure the fact that you’re a girl freaks them out a little more, makes them even more protective, but,” he held up his hand, silently begging her to let him finish, “if my father was out here, he would not be putting up tents. He would be inside one so that his guards could feel like they were doing their job – so that they could duck inside their own shelters as soon as they have them up, and not have to check up on him – and he would be inside making decisions about what’s going to happen next.”
She scooted back a few feet from him, as far as she could go in the small space, her gaze dropping to the floor. “That’s what I’m supposed to be doing, isn’t it? Running
this show?”
He swallowed hard; he could have left that last sentence out for the time being. “Not all by yourself. You’re supposed to have help. That’s why Marcus is here.”
She looked at him, raising one eyebrow.
“Yeah, Quinn. That is kind of what you’re supposed to be doing. Judging from the look on Charles’ face a minute ago, I have a feeling that this might be at least part of his problem.”
The tent flap shook again, and then opened. First Ben, and then Marcus appeared in the opening, toting the saddlebags from Skittles and Dusk. They stacked them neatly close to the wall of the tent, making sure to not lean them against the material.
“Do you need help setting anything up, Princess?” Ben asked, and William couldn’t tell from his expression what kind of answer he was hoping for.
“No, we can handle it from here, but thank you,” Quinn said. “Are the tents set up for everyone now?”
“Yes.”
“Well done. It looks like our best bet is to stay under shelter until this passes. Can we make sure there is food in all the tents, in case this keeps us here overnight?”
“There are provisions in every bag,” Marcus said.
“Good. The two of you should take shelter now. We can talk more when this lets up.”
“Very well, milady. Thank you.”
William could hear them closing the entrance tightly after they exited, and he felt the tent move again as someone pulled hard on the lines securing it to the ground.
“Was that better?” Quinn asked, her voice small and wary.
“Hey,” he said softly, crawling over to her. “You’re learning on the job here. Nobody expects you to be perfect at it already.”
“Charles does.”
“I don’t know what he expects, Quinn, but he’s going to have to have some patience.”
“He’s not going to be the only one who expects the leader of a kingdom to know what she’s doing.” She buried her face in her hands.
“And you will. You’re going to be good at this, love. Just take the lessons as they come. Today’s lesson was to listen when your guards ask you to get inside.”
“Point taken.” She reached for the buttons on her soaking-wet shirt. William crawled over to the bag where their clothing was packed, grateful once again for the meticulous Mia who had tied everything neatly into bundles and covered them with waterproofed cloth. He dug out the small bundle of towels, and then searched until he found dry clothes for both of them. He carried them back to her. “Here, let me help you with that,” he said, tugging on her sleeve.
She was quiet as they worked together to get them both out of their wet clothes and into dry ones, and once he crawled just a few feet away again, he wouldn’t have been able to hear her over the pounding rain if she had spoken. He took out a length of thin rope and tried to rig a makeshift clothesline while she laid out the bedrolls. Both pairs of riding boots were hopelessly soaked, but he dried the outsides the best he could before stuffing some washcloths inside, hoping they’d absorb at least most of the moisture.
When they finally had everything arranged as best they could, he joined her over on the blankets, sitting down next to her, and wrapping one arm around her waist.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she said.
“What?” he asked, jerking his arm back.
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t mean that.” She took his arm and put it back where it had been, though this time she kept her hand over his.
Relieved, he smiled and kissed her forehead. “What, then?”
“Grab me like you did outside the tent. Order me around in front of them. Obviously, they’re already having enough trouble taking me seriously. I can’t . . . you can’t undermine me like that.”
He couldn’t stop the small chuckle that escaped.
“You think that’s funny?”
“No, I don’t actually. I just . . . it’s good to hear you like this. You amaze me sometimes, Quinn – most of the time. I know you think you’re not doing a good job at this, but you are getting it so fast. You’re a true royal firstborn – it pours out of you all by itself sometimes. And you’re right. I can’t do anything like that in front of people ever again. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “You were only trying to help. I’m going to need your help learning this stuff. The customs, the etiquette, what I should let other people do, and what I should do myself.”
“I’ll help with what I can. I’m afraid you married the wrong one for some of it. They should have worked harder to set you up with Thomas – or at least one of my brothers who actually grew up in the castle. I’ve always been exempt from half the rules myself.”
“You think Thomas would have actually been able to get me into the tent and listening to him a few minutes ago?”
He frowned.
“First of all, Will, you’re the one that I want.” She turned and put her hand on his cheek. “I love Thomas – I love all of your brothers – but you’re the only one I would have ever considered marrying.”
He smiled, and brought her hand to his lips. “I know. I was just teasing you.”
“Good. Second of all, you underestimate yourself. Thomas can talk to anyone – he charms everyone, gets them to talk to him, they’ll share their secrets while he listens. But you . . . people listen to you. You don’t speak as often, but if you suggest something, people do it, including me, usually. I know you’re taking on a lot and that you would do it all just for me . . . but I don’t think it’s just because of me. I think that in the end, you’re going to find that you’re in your right place, too.”
He smiled. “I wish I was as sure about me as I am about you … but I kind of like the place I’m in right now.”
She followed his gaze around the small tent, this little world with just the two of them, the rain pounding down so hard that nobody could possibly hear anything outside the tent, and she smiled back.
19. Visitors
It was the silence that woke her. That and the soft yellow light that was starting to color the eastern wall of the tent. She opened her eyes without moving; William’s arm was across her chest, heavy and warm. For several minutes she watched him sleep. He looked so relaxed, peaceful – she wondered if she ever looked like that, even when she was asleep. She was sure she hadn’t lately.
His eyes were still closed when she felt his thumb slowly stroking her shoulder. After several minutes, he opened them and smiled. “Morning.”
“Hey.”
He kissed her gently, before pulling them both up and out of the blankets. “When did the rain stop?”
“It couldn’t have been very long ago,” she said, stretching and shaking her head. “Every time I woke up during the night it was still pouring.”
He frowned, probably at her admission that she hadn’t slept well, but then he nodded, already crawling across the tent for their clothes. There wasn’t going to be time to dawdle, whether she’d slept or not. She dressed quickly in the heavy brown pants and tan shirt he handed her.
“Don’t forget this,” he said, pointing to the leather sheath that concealed a small dagger.
“We’re in the middle of the woods. I’m just going to talk to Marcus.”
“Exactly. We’re in the middle of the woods, in an area that is unfamiliar to us, and you’re going to talk to Marcus – who would be upset if you didn’t have it. This is where you practice being the leader and listening to your guards.”
“Right.” She stretched out her leg so he could lift the leg of her pants and secure the leather straps to her calf.
“I’ll get everything in here packed and ready while you go talk to him,” he said.
“Okay.”
“Hey,” he called, as she started unfastening the bindings of the door.
She turned to look at him.
“You can do this.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
He stopped what he was doing and came over to her. “You can,
Quinn. But I’ll be right here if you need me.”
“Thank you.”
He took her hand and pulled it up to his lips. “I love you.”
She leaned in close and kissed him. “Can’t I just stay in here and snuggle with you?”
“I would like nothing better, but . . .”
She sighed. “I know. I love you, too.”
Outside, she was relieved to find that only Marcus was up, stoking a small fire. He looked up as she approached him. “Would you like some tea, Princess?”
“Yes, thank you.”
He nodded, and set about pulling the small kettle from the coals while she sat down on a tarp-covered log that he’d pulled close to the fire circle.
Just as she was sitting down, she thought she heard a sound – maybe a twig snapping or something a few yards away from them. At first, she thought she might have imagined it, but Marcus stood and looked around, scanning the whole area for several seconds before he went back to his task.
Quinn listened again for a minute before she decided to speak. “Marcus?”
“Yes, Princess?”
“Is there a title I should be calling you, other than just Marcus?”
His smile was warm, almost fatherly, and she immediately felt more comfortable.
“No, milady, just Marcus.”
“I know the titles and formalities are important to you, and I’m doing my best to try and get used to it, but this is a learning process for me.”
“You’re doing just fine.”
“Thank you. I know there are a lot of things I’m getting wrong.” She paused, debating whether to bring up something that had occurred to her during the night – not knowing if the mere question would upset him. No, she told herself . . . you have to learn to be in charge. That means you deal with your concerns. “But I’ve actually been wondering a bit about everyone calling me ‘Princess’.”
Blooms of Consequence (Dusk Gate Chronicles - Book Four) Page 23
