Princess Electra Book 3 Gypsy Music
Page 41
Chapter 41
Kingdom of Henge
As was his custom of late, Prince Blackwell joined Serafina in the afternoon to watch the progress of his two little girls. The prince sat on the floor of the nursery playing peek-a-boo with his four month old daughters. He put his hands in front of his face and called out, "Where's Daddy?".
Esme shrieked and grabbed her foot, putting it in her mouth to suck on her toes. Shalin smiled and watched her father carefully. He pulled his hands away suddenly saying, "Here I am."
Esme shrieked again and waved her feet in the air. Shalin put her hand out and her father took it and kissed it.
"They both favor you, I think. They have your green eyes." Prince Blackwell hoisted himself up from the floor and sat at the table with Serafina.
Ebony, the panther, hoisted herself up as well and put her paw in the crib, fished out a brightly colored rattle, took it in her mouth and dropped it on the blanket beside Esme, where she lay on the floor.
Prince Blackwell laughed in surprise at Ebony's actions. "That's quite a trick. Did you teach Ebony to do that?"
"Ebony and Esme have a strong bond. I believe Ebony reads Esme's mind"
"That's not possible," Prince Blackwell huffed. "Surely you taught her the trick."
Serafina swished the comment away with her hand. "Ebony is very clever. Perhaps she has learned to imitate my actions in giving them toys."
Prince Blackwell shook his head as though this too seemed doubtful.
"We will have to watch the twins carefully when they begin to crawl. We can not put our trust in a panther to keep them from harm." He paused to consider this. "Are you satisfied with your new helper, the gypsy girl?"
Serafina laughed. "She spends more time watching Ebony then watching the twins. But that seems true of all the nursemaids to date."
"You can hardly blame them." Prince Blackwell watched in amazement as Ebony got up and brought a second toy to Esme.
"You are playing with me" he insisted, smiling at his wife. "I know you must have taught that panther to retrieve things. No doubt she expects a reward now."
Serafina put a command into Esme's mind along the lines of 'That's enough.'
Esme's lower lip furled out into a pout and she began to cry.
"They must be ready for their naps." Prince Blackwell turned his attention from Esme to his wife. "I understand you have imprisoned a gypsy man who plays the fiddle quite well. The servants have been raving about his ability. Would you be adverse to bringing him up from time to time to play for us?"
"Not at all," Serafina replied. "I would enjoy it."
"What was his crime, by the way?" Blackwell asked.
"He made threats against the wrong person." Serafina picked up Esme and rocked her in her arms to soothe the tiny girl.
Two floors below the nursery, in the dungeon, Juanita brought the midday meal for the prisoners. Shandor appeared to be over the worst of his sickness from doing without wine. The haunted look had left his eyes and he was eager for his meager meal.
"Cook said I could give you an apple today because she can hear your music through a vent that ends in the kitchen," Juanita whispered.
Shandor reached for the apple and hid it in his tunic so the other inmates wouldn't see. "Ask her favorite song and I will play it every day." He leaned very close to the bars and Juanita did the same.
"If I found a way to escape, could I count on you to help me?"
Juanita jerked back as if his words had stung her. They both knew such an action could put her in the dungeon as well.
"Maybe," she whispered as she moved on to the next prisoner.
As soon as Shandor had eaten everything except the apple he would save until later, he took up his fiddle and began to play. He chose a sad, minor key and a plaintive melody. The guards gathered around to listen and some of the castle staff sat on the top steps heading down to the dungeon to hear as well.
Keys, the guard responsible for the prisoners, seemed worried that so many were taking time from their duties to attend these mid-day concerts. Since none of the royal family had yet complained, he said nothing. Sometimes Cook would send him little treats as well.
When Shandor finished his song, Keys tapped on the cell bars. "That's all now. You can play again after dinner."
Shandor placed his fiddle in the corner of his cell and sat down beside it. He caught Juanita's eye as she was leaving and gave her a slight nod.
Juanita rushed back up the stairs, anxious to speak to Esmeralda about this latest development.
As the two girls took their lunch break, Juanita looked around to be sure no one was listening.
"Shandor is going to try to escape," she whispered.
"I'm sure they'd all like to escape," Esmeralda said as she chewed a bite of bread. "Doesn't mean they can."
"He asked if I would help him," Juanita whispered.
Esmeralda's chunk of bread stopped halfway to her mouth. She leaned in close and whispered, "You didn't say you would did you?"
Juanita bit her lip. "He looked so pitiful. I said maybe."
Esmeralda resumed eating. "Maybe's not yes."
"If I could do it without getting caught..." Juanita seemed to be thinking about it.
"How do you expect to manage that? You know, I think Serafina can read minds."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Juanita agreed.
Both girls went back to eating their lunch, trying to keep their minds free of escape plans, just in case.