An arm wrapped around her shoulders, and she turned blindly into the comforting shoulder being offered. Healing washed through her as she cried, a warmth and peace that seemed to flow from her godmother and fill her body.
When the tears dried up, her indecision and insecurity had disappeared with them. Of course she wouldn’t betray her family. She would use everything they had ever taught her to defeat R and defend the kingdom.
Lisa and Danny’s faces appeared in her mind. She just hoped she could do it without any of the rebels being hurt.
If she could save Northhelm, then she would have earned her place in the palace. She wouldn’t be living with her family as an imposter but as a loved and loving family member – just as she had lived all the previous years of her life. If the High King didn’t care where people were born, why should anybody else?
The decision felt invigorating and left Marie ready for action. She stood and stretched, wiping the remaining tears from her face. Smiling, she turned to thank her godmother and found her place empty. She scanned the clearing, but there was no sign of her. She hadn’t even thanked her. She could only hope her disappearance meant the godmother’s task had been completed successfully. Hopefully Marie had been shepherded towards the right decision.
The thought of facing R no longer intimidated her, so she turned back towards camp.
As soon as she approached the cave system, she was hailed by an unfamiliar face. Obviously one of the new recruits.
“Are you Marie?” the girl asked.
Marie nodded.
“R wants to see you. In his personal cave. He said you know the way.” The girl looked impressed.
After Marie’s recent revelations, the sight of the girl’s blind loyalty sickened her.
She forced a smile and nodded. “Of course, I’ll go find him now.” She could feel the girl’s eyes watching her retreating back and had to fight down the urge to turn around and tell the girl to run home as fast as she could.
As she approached R’s cavern, she took several deep breaths and carefully assumed her ‘diplomat’ demeanour. She couldn’t risk any part of her true feelings peeking out.
R welcomed her with enthusiasm and made no mention of her earlier defection into the woods.
“I can see you’ve done an excellent job ruling in my absence. Tell me, how did you find it?”
Marie tapped into her earlier feelings of enthusiasm and allowed her face to break into a grin. “It was nice to actually use my skills. Fun as it’s been to learn to shoot, archery isn’t what I was raised to do.”
R giggled. “No, indeed. It is my earnest desire to see you using your skills to their fullest extent. You will make a great queen.”
It was a loaded statement and R’s eyes said he knew it, even if his voice remained light.
Marie kept her smile in place. “It would be a pity to waste so many years of training.”
“That it would, that it would.” R came forward and gripped her hand warmly.
She forced herself not to flinch or pull away.
“I knew you only needed a chance to see yourself in action. You were born to rule and I will not have it otherwise.”
The fervour in his eyes made Marie uncomfortable. There was something uncanny about him that always put her on her guard. The high-pitched giggle and light-hearted tone never quite seemed to match the dangerous and almost manic light in his eyes. She would do well to remember that this man was no fool, despite his odd mannerisms.
His words brought her brother, the rightful future ruler, to mind. He had never shown up in camp, but he hadn’t returned to the capital either. Was it possible R knew more about his fate than he was telling Marie?
The thought made it even harder to play along, but Marie controlled herself.
“They can be a fractious lot while you’re away, these rebels,” said Marie. “It makes me wish I had an object of power such as yours. It certainly does simplify things.”
“You shall, my daughter, you shall,” said R. He rubbed his hands together, visibly warming to the idea. “When I find you the right one.”
“May I see yours?” Marie forced her face to betray nothing but idle curiosity. “I’d like to know what such an item looks like.”
R paused for the briefest moment before letting her hand go and swinging around to check the entrance of the cave. “Of course you can, of course. Natural enough, I’m sure. Although it isn’t the look of the item that counts.”
Having established that they were alone, he reached down the front of his shirt and drew out a thick gold chain. A large, red gem winked from the end of it. The jewel caught the light and reflected it back in every direction, making the cavern appear bathed in blood.
A small shiver escaped Marie, but she hoped R would attribute it to excitement.
He stroked the jewel lovingly. “I loaned it to a young fool from Rangmere recently.” He shook his head. “The idiot used to wear it outside his clothes, as if he wanted to advertise its presence.”
He looked over at her. “I know you would never treat one of my gifts so lightly.” Once again, she detected the faintest trace of warning beneath his affectionate tone.
“Of course not… Father,” she said.
A brilliant smile broke across his face. “It gives me great joy to hear you say so, my daughter.”
Marie let out a small breath before smiling back. “What happened to him?”
“Who?”
Marie noted how well her strategy had worked. R’s delight at her use of his title had completely distracted him from the conversation.
“The fool from Rangmere.”
“Oh.” R waved a dismissive hand. “He died, as most young fools tend to do. But not before he had returned my jewel.”
A dark cloud passed across his face and Marie wondered uneasily how much of a hand R had played in his death. What had made the young man so desperate that he had bargained with R in the first place? And what price had he agreed upon?
Whatever the stated price, the arrangement had apparently cost him his life. How had she ever even considered that R might be in the right?
She examined his face, which was focused back on the jewel. What had R wanted from the young man that would make it worthwhile to give up ownership of the jewel, even for a short time? Could he be convinced to make such a bargain again?
Even as she thought it, Marie rejected the idea. R’s bargains brought darkness and death. She would have no part in them. There had to be another way.
She turned her own attention to the gem and noticed a large crack running down the centre.
“Oh,” she said. “It’s damaged!”
The dark cloud on R’s face turned thunderous. “Twice a fool!” he said. “He let his enemies crack the jewel.” Slowly his face settled back into its usual lines. “Thankfully, it still retains much of its power. Don’t worry, daughter, it will be sufficient to place you on the throne.”
“Are you sure?” Marie faked alarm. “What sort of damage has been done to its enchantment?”
“There is no cause for concern.” R grinned. “My current plans have been built around its new limitations. You will notice that I gather only young people around me. Once its powers could reach anyone, now they seem to touch only the young. And even then, there are a few who seem unaffected by its enchantment. They are protected somehow.”
He furrowed his brow but then shook his head, shaking away the expression. “But the young are more than enough. We shall easily conquer with them at our side.”
Marie nodded and matched his smile. Inside, her thoughts whirled. She wished she knew what made her and Rafe immune.
That question led to another that had been itching at her mind for a while. “It’s fortunate that I decided to come here to join you,” she said. “I have to admit to being curious about what you would have done if I hadn’t turned up.”
“Your arrival was certainly an unexpected help.” He looked pleased. “But I never make bargains un
less I have the power to follow through with them. The queen had agreed to my deal. She always knew that one day I would come for you, and she could not have stopped me when I did.”
Marie wanted to ask if she would have had the power to stop him herself, but it wouldn’t have fit with her new cooperative persona.
“I’m so pleased to have you by my side, Marie.” R tucked the gem back into his shirt. “I believe it is time for the next phase of my plan. I will leave tomorrow for Northgate to win the hearts of the city’s youth.” His sharp gaze focussed in on her. “You’ll need to settle the new recruits in yourself. And I’ll be gone longer than usual. I trust in your abilities, however.”
“Thank you, Father,” said Marie, transforming her face into an expression of pride and determination. “I won’t fail.”
Chapter 22
All Marie wanted to do was find Rafe and tell him everything. But she forced herself to wait until R had actually left the camp.
Except, after that happened, the newcomers needed what seemed like an endless amount of assistance, and Lisa and Danny stuck to her side like burrs. However hard she tried, she couldn’t get time alone with Rafe.
She could have used her authority to order everyone else away, but that was just the sort of attention that they didn’t want to draw. Instead, she forced herself to be patient and to ensure that everyone had a pallet and some kind of chore around camp to keep them busy.
It didn’t help that Rafe had taken to hunting every afternoon. He had admitted to her, in the one brief, whispered conversation they had managed, that he was doing it to avoid being asked to take Peter’s place at training.
“I don’t mind helping them learn to shoot,” he said. “That’s a helpful skill for any forester and will keep food on their plates. But I won’t teach them just enough about swordplay so they can get themselves killed by a real soldier.”
Standing watching the rebels’ attempt to integrate the newcomers into their afternoon training sessions, Marie considered his words. He was right, of course. It was one thing to make sure everyone had a bed to sleep on. Helping them turn into an army, however, didn’t fit with her new plans.
What she needed was a distraction. Something other than warfare to occupy the minds of the foresters and, hopefully, something that would give her a chance to talk to Rafe.
For some reason, while she pondered the question, her mind wandered back to her visit to Arcadia the year before. She had been there so that she could both examine, and be examined by, their prince, Maximilian. She had liked him, but it had been obvious to her that he and Alyssa were already in love. And she had no interest in getting in the way of true love.
Of course, the Arcadian court and the Northhelmian delegation had all pretended that it was an ordinary diplomatic visit of state. And how had they distracted themselves from the true purpose of the visit? With parties and balls and picnics and any other entertainment the Arcadians could devise.
The rebels themselves were hardly dedicated to the business of war. They already acted as if they were all on some kind of campout. She thought of the girls’ comments at the creek each day and smiled. A dance would probably be very well received.
She announced the projected dance at the evening meal and, sure enough, the foresters greeted the news with great excitement. She had decided to hold it in two nights’ time since R had guaranteed he would be away for a longer trip. But from the reaction that followed her words, this still left little time for preparation.
She allowed herself one secret smile and then got to work on all the necessary organisation.
***
The kitchen staff were surprisingly willing to prepare extra food for the evening. One of the assistants that she had befriended during her time in the kitchen confided that they were all looking forward to showing off with their specialty dishes.
She asked Lisa to put together a group to decorate the main cavern, and Lisa had soon roped in Danny and several of his friends. She instructed them to gather large boughs covered in leaves varying in shade from deep green to bright red.
“Which only leaves the music,” Marie said to Danny while she watched him place a particularly large branch bright with orange leaves.
“I can play,” said a voice from behind her, and she turned to see one of the newcomers. He smiled at her. “If you’d like, that is. I even brought my fiddle with me.”
“And I brought my flute,” added another of the young men. Marie recognised his face this time. She thought he was one of the rebels from Greenwood.
“That would be excellent,” she said. “But I don’t want you to have to play all evening. Some of the girls might be disappointed if you don’t have any chance to dance.” She gave them her most winning smile, and they both looked away, embarrassed but obviously pleased at the idea that they might be an object of interest to the girls of the camp.
“I know some others who brought their instruments,” said Danny, watching his friends with a twinkle in his eye. “I’ll set up some sort of roster so everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy themselves.”
“Thank you, Danny,” said Marie. “That would be perfect.” She hoped Danny’s willingness to abandon the training and throw his efforts into the dance indicated that R’s grip on him was slipping a little.
“There you are, Marie!”
Marie turned to see Lisa peering into the cavern.
“Oh, good job, Danny, it looks completely transformed,” she said approvingly.
“Always the tone of surprise,” said Danny with his usual grin. “Good to know you had complete faith in me when you assigned me the task.”
“I know I always have faith in you,” said a familiar voice behind Lisa. Rafe strolled into the cave, still dirty from his hunt. “What exactly are we talking about?”
“Lise assigned me the job of decorating the cavern for the dance and is pleased to discover I actually managed to do it,” said Danny.
Rafe looked around the cave. “I was wondering where everyone had got to when there was no one practicing in the clearing. Now I see. A masterpiece like this would have taken all afternoon.”
Danny punched Rafe lightly in the arm. “Watch and learn, my friend,” he said, “watch and learn. The girls will be flocking to dance with me when they see my skills on display.”
“Is that a challenge?” Rafe’s eyes lit up.
Lisa rolled her own eyes at Marie. “It was actually you I came to find. Let’s leave the boys to their displays of manhood.” She grabbed Marie’s arm and began to haul her out of the cavern.
“Don’t worry, Lise,” Danny called after her, “I’ll make sure Rafe saves you a dance.”
Lisa made a rude noise in her throat but didn’t turn around. Danny’s chuckles chased them out into the passageway.
“You were looking for me?” asked Marie.
The sparkle returned to Lisa’s eyes. “All the girls think this dance is a great idea, and we know you’ve been too busy organising it to think about yourself.”
“Myself?” Marie had no idea what she was talking about.
“What you’re going to wear, I mean,” said Lisa.
“Oh.” Marie considered the matter. She’d left Northgate in a hurry and certainly hadn’t packed any dresses suitable for a dance.
“What are all the other girls doing?”
“Oh, most of us packed dresses,” said Lisa.
“Really?”
“Foresters are always prepared.” Lisa grinned at her friend cheekily. “And luckily some of us like to be extra prepared. So, once we pooled our resources, we had enough dresses for everyone. Even for you.”
“For me?” Marie couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Until a sudden doubt assailed her. “Will it fit me, though? I’m quite tall.” She looked down at the plain, serviceable clothes she was wearing. Hardly dance-worthy.
Lisa just laughed at her. “I had noticed, you know.”
Marie still looked sceptical.
&nbs
p; Lisa shrugged. “Some of the girls are pretty handy with a needle. We modified where we needed to. Everyone is going to look their best tonight. We’re determined.”
Interesting, thought Marie. Even with the influence of the jewel, they find it easier to come together and unite for a dance than for weapons training. It looks like the enchantment might be even more damaged than R thinks.
It was an encouraging thought.
Lisa led the way to their shared sleeping cavern, which was now crammed full of girls. Many of them were from Greenwood, but Marie recognised several other faces. They all broke into applause when she entered, and she felt her cheeks redden with pleasure.
Lisa gestured for the small crowd to part, revealing Marie’s pallet. A blue dress lay there, decorated with a large blue bow. It was made from a rougher material than Marie’s usual dresses and the pattern of the material was dotted in bunches of coloured flowers. It was a classic forester design and very different from the dresses Marie had worn to the Arcadian dances. And yet she had never been more delighted by a garment.
“Thank you,” she said, putting as much feeling into the words as she could. “It’s beautiful.”
Lisa smiled around at all the other girls, clearly happy with their efforts. “The design will leave your shoulders bare,” she said. “We thought it would show off your beautiful, pale skin.”
Marie’s eyes actually filled with tears. She had always hated her excessively pale colouring and she appreciated Lisa’s attempts to turn it into an asset.
***
She felt a little less sure of herself when she stood with Lisa outside the meeting cavern that evening. The music had already begun, and she could hear laughter and the sound of dancing feet. She paused and took a slightly panicked breath.
Lisa looked back at her. “Come on, Marie!”
Marie didn’t move.
Lisa came back to her. “Don’t worry,” she said. “It fits perfectly and you look beautiful. And I guarantee he’ll think so too.”
The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin (The Four Kingdoms Book 3) Page 15
