She paused, but Katya sensed she wasn’t finished,
“My mother wanted me to marry someone with influence, not only for my own status and hers, but for what a person with influence could do for our people. She puts personal status first, of course, but I know she cares about the families of Newhope. Our local magistrate is a good man, but he has to be impartial. He can’t counsel us on what to do, but I’ve learned a lot about tariffs and taxes and trade laws. Some of what the Farradains are doing is illegal, and I’m sending my research home.”
Starbride clasped her hands in her lap and stared at them. “Meeting you was more than my mother hoped for. She’d ride high on the status alone, but I can picture her marching to the Farradain families’ doors and telling them that the princess is going to make them play nice.”
Katya cleared her throat. “You shouldn’t have kept this from me. People breaking the law is every inch my business.”
“I know, I know. It was pride, but also, we have to learn to defend ourselves. Every time a Farradain tries to take advantage of us, we can’t go running to another Farradain to make it better. We have to learn the law.”
“I understand.” Katya moved next to her. “And you’re right. I shouldn’t just ride in and stop it, even if I learned all the law. It would change nothing in the future, and it would make your people feel that they can’t defend themselves. What I can do is bring over some scholars, picked by the people of Newhope, to study in the Halls of Law to become lawyers.”
“You can…what?”
“If they can’t afford it, the royal family offers scholarships to the different colleges all the time. Why shouldn’t they extend to Newhope? I’m allowed several patronages based on my position; I almost never use them.” Starbride only stared. Katya grinned. “Send your letters. See what you can do about the immediate problem, but send other letters as well, and get some of your people to the Halls. They could start at the winter term.”
Starbride held her arms out slowly, and Katya drew her in. “Thank you,” Starbride said. “That was so different from anything I hoped for or even dreaded.”
Katya took a deep breath. It was her turn to tell a secret, fair being fair. “Do you remember the death I mentioned on Hanna’s Retreat? Well, that was the death of Maia’s father seven years ago. We think the children of the woman who caused his death are the ringleaders of our current troubles: Darren, Cassius, and the bearded man.” She rubbed her aching shoulder. “Today, we went to the Pyradisté Academy to see if we could find the most powerful pyradistés to graduate in the past twenty years or so. Crowe found ten names.”
Starbride’s brow furrowed. “Do you have locations for these men?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m sorry about your uncle. And poor Maia.”
“She’s been a little ball of anger ever since she found out the circumstances of her father’s death. She picked a fight with someone in an alley, and I dislocated my shoulder pulling them apart.”
Starbride pressed her warm lips to Katya’s cheek. “Poor Princess.”
Katya hugged Starbride closer with one arm. “Better now.” The divan was comfortable; Starbride smelled amazing. Even with her injured shoulder, Katya lay back and pulled Starbride with her.
Starbride laid a finger across Katya’s lips. “You’re injured, and Dawnmother is probably wondering what happened to me.”
“Dawnmother doesn’t think I’d hurt you, does she?”
“She never rules anything out.”
“Would she run in here and stab me?”
“She would impose her body between us. Her life for mine, that’s the servant’s code.”
“Our servants are made; yours are born.”
Starbride shrugged, but Katya didn’t expect an explanation. Like many cultural customs, it was what it was. It didn’t matter if she could understand it. “I wonder how late it is.”
“You’ve more to do today?”
“Always.”
“Want some company?”
“The thought of exposing you to danger terrifies me, Star.”
“You’ll have to get used to it.”
Katya had to laugh. It wasn’t the response she expected. “You’re right. Let’s go see what Crowe’s up to. Will you tell Dawnmother that you’re safe and in one good hand?”
Starbride went out, passing Averie on her way.
“All better?” Averie asked. Katya put on her best enigmatic face. “We knew you’d work it out.”
“You and Dawnmother discussed our troubles?”
“No, we had tea in relative silence, but we both knew anyway.”
“The psychic powers of ladies-in-waiting.”
Averie winked just as Starbride came in. “Dawnmother said she knew we’d find common ground.”
Katya kissed Starbride once more and ushered her into the secret passageway that led to Crowe’s study.
“How did you ever learn to find your way in these cramped spaces?” Starbride said softly. The dark tunnels seemed to require whispering.
“There are symbols at the junctions that tell you where you are.”
“I remember.” She felt a tug as Starbride paused. “Circle, circle, square.”
“To my parents’ rooms.”
“And this side says X, grid, square.”
“That eventually leads to the stable but also goes other places.”
“I trust you.”
Katya smiled again, her heart wide open. “Would you like to come to my brother’s welcoming dinner?”
“Your brother’s…? The crown prince’s dinner? It’s…a banquet?”
Katya cleared her throat, amazed at the nervous fluttering in her belly. “No, after he’s formally greeted by the court, we have a small family dinner in my parents’ dining room.”
She heard Starbride’s sharp intake of breath but didn’t turn around. “Should I?” Starbride asked. “I mean, if it’s just for family…”
“I’ve already approved it with my parents, but if you don’t want to go…”
“No! It’s not that, it’s just, well, wouldn’t I be an intruder?”
Katya did turn then, her lantern revealing Starbride’s anxious face. “I’ve never brought anyone before.”
“That makes it worse!”
“No, it means that you’re already such an essential part of my life you can’t possibly intrude.” Starbride leaned forward, and Katya obliged her with a quick kiss. “You’ll come?”
“Of course! But if the air does turn thick, promise that you’ll let me leave early. Oh! I’ll have a new outfit made. You’ve given me inspiration.”
“An Allusian outfit? I’ll buy that for you.”
“If you buy it for me, how can it be a surprise? Besides, it gives me the opportunity to sell one of these awful dresses for some ready cash.”
“I can’t get in the way of such deviousness.” As she resumed walking, she thought of one way Starbride would never feel like an outsider, if she became family. Of course, no one became part of the royal family overnight. Consortship came before marriage. The butterflies within her took wing again as Katya really considered that for the first time: Starbride as princess consort.
At Crowe’s study, she knocked lightly. “Come in,” he called. When they emerged from behind the bookcase, Crowe blinked once before he bowed. Katya waved him down and took one of the couches, Starbride beside her.
“How’s your shoulder?” he asked.
“Better, but that’s not why we’re here.”
“Maia and I both went to your apartment, but Averie told us you’d gone out.”
“I had a prior engagement.”
“So I see. Time to begin the training?”
“Now?” Starbride asked. “Don’t I have to…go somewhere special?”
“If Crowe is teaching you, you don’t have to go to the academy.”
“Your doing?”
“Being royalty has its perks.”
Crowe snorted. “As much
as I love witty banter, I do have preparations for Crown Prince Reinholt’s visit, so if we’re not going to begin today—”
“That’s why we’re here.” At Starbride’s further look of alarm, Katya hurried on. “Aren’t there preliminary tests you can do? Assessment of ability? A pyradisté obstacle course?”
“This isn’t show-jumping, Katya.” Crowe waved Starbride over to a small table in the corner. “We can test your general aptitude. Sit there.” He took the seat opposite, and Katya stayed put, watching them.
“Now,” he said, “we’ll see how easily you fall into a pyramid. No one can hypnotize you, as you’ve already discovered, but a pyradisté must be able to hypnotize himself, to merge with the pyramid he’s using and thus access its powers.” He grabbed a small pyramid off the shelf behind him. “Some pyramids can only be accessed by the maker, and some can be used by anyone. This produces light, so you don’t need to worry about anything dire. Now, take hold and look into it. Feel it, the smoothness of the sides and the sharpness of the points, how the entire shape focuses at the top, all of its power channeled into the tiny capstone.”
Starbride’s brow furrowed as she stared at the pyramid. After a moment, she glanced up at Crowe. “You’re trying too hard,” he said. “Don’t think at it, just think about it.”
Starbride gave Katya an annoyed look and tried again. Tiny lines of frustration stood on her forehead, but they quickly smoothed away in the quiet room. She ran one thumb across the pyramid’s edges, and blinked once, twice, and then not again.
“Now,” Crowe said, “think of light.”
Light blazed from Starbride’s pyramid, and she yelped, tossing it into the air. Crowe reached across the table and caught it as it faded back to normal. Starbride pointed at it, all traces of concentration gone. “It…it…”
“It did as it was supposed to.”
Katya applauded, and Starbride’s confused expression melted into one of joy. “I did it!”
“I knew you would,” Katya said.
“Your happiness is well deserved, no doubt, but we have a long road ahead of us, one which we’ll have to explore later.” As Crowe came around the other side of the table, Starbride embraced him and whispered something. He grinned and gave Katya a glimpse of a much younger man. “You’re quite welcome, child.”
Katya frowned. No one hugged Crowe. Most were afraid of him. But if Starbride could win him over, she could win anyone. “Well, you two can work out your own schedule, then. We’ll leave you to your preparations, Crowe. No word yet from Layra?”
“I don’t expect it for another few days.”
“And nothing new on our guests?”
He shook his head. “They’re better guarded than the crown jewels, though.”
Good and bad news always came at the same time, it seemed. Crowe waved them farewell, and Katya led the way back toward her apartment. “I’ve got to speak with my parents and tell them you’re coming to the welcome dinner. My mother requires knowledge of her guests’ likes and dislikes so she can make appropriate conversation.”
“Oh dear,” Starbride said. “Well, that’ll make things easier. I won’t speak unless she does, and we’ll be guaranteed not to stray into unknown territory.”
“Wise.” They walked in silence for a moment. “What did you whisper to Crowe?”
“Aha! Good to know I’m not the only one with the curiosity bug. I just said thank you.”
“He grinned like a schoolboy.”
“Maybe no one ever thanks him.”
“I thank him all the time.”
Starbride said no more about it, and Katya didn’t press. Whatever endeared her to Crowe was a step in the right direction, just as long as Crowe didn’t share Pennynail’s identity with her. Well, not unless she then shared it with Katya.
When they entered her apartment again, they faced one another. “You don’t mind going back to your room without me, do you?” Katya asked. “It’s a skip to my parents from here.”
“I’ll forgive it this time, on account of the injured shoulder.”
“Oh, thank you ever so much, Miss Meringue. What would I do without your consideration?”
Starbride’s smile made the day seem bright again until Katya’s throbbing shoulder reminded her that fortune was a two-sided coin.
Chapter Twenty-four: Starbride
Handwritten on creamy white paper with a matching envelope, the invitation awaiting Starbride in her room was simple in its elegance. “My, my.” She turned the card over and over. “It’s from Lady Hilda.”
“No perfume, no crests, no monogram. Just a little note,” Dawnmother said.
Starbride read it aloud. “‘I’d be honored if you’d have dinner with me. Lady Hilda Montenegro.’”
“She left off the crest because she doesn’t want to be traced. She’s planning to kill you.”
“If she wanted to kill me, she wouldn’t have signed it.”
“Humph. She’ll claim she didn’t sign it. When she bashes your skull in near her rooms, she’ll point to this note and say, ‘If I’d sent it, it would’ve been on my private stationary,’ and she’ll deny all knowledge. Mark my words.”
“They’ll find my body in a ditch?”
“They won’t find it at all.”
A chill traveled down Starbride’s spine. “You’re coming with me, right?”
“You’re accepting?”
“I have to see what she wants, Dawn.”
“If you must. Well, she’ll have to bash both our skulls in.”
“Yours is far too hard.”
“True. I’ll throw my head in the path of the stick.”
Starbride put her nose in the air. “Lady Hilda would never use something so common as a stick.”
“I’ll throw my head in the path of the bejeweled scepter.”
“Speaking of jewels, I wonder if it would be gauche to bring a guest.”
“Countess Nadia Van Hale?”
“I’ll write her a note. I believe she’d be amused by my situation.”
“Lady Hilda is sure to behave herself in that august company. Ask her to show up late. It’ll be a nasty little surprise. While you write the countess, I’ll write Averie and tell her where we’ll be.”
“Why?”
“Just in case.”
With a chuckle, Starbride set to work.
Lady Hilda had two rooms to herself, a small sitting room and probably a bedroom, but the door stood shut. Her two maids set out a small dinner before withdrawing. Dawnmother sat on her little stool in one corner with a stubborn air and pulled an embroidery hoop from her basket. Lady Hilda raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her presence. Starbride shrugged. She couldn’t have moved Dawnmother with a team of horses.
“Allusian custom,” Starbride said.
“Of course.” Lady Hilda offered a smile that was false to the hilt. “Will you try the walnut salad?”
“It looks lovely.” Starbride held up the cloth-wrapped bundle she’d brought. “Do have one of these rolls my maid baked in the kitchen.”
Lady Hilda stared before taking one. Starbride spooned a bit of walnut salad onto her plate. As one, they took a bite. “I’m so glad you could make it with your busy social calendar,” Lady Hilda said.
Starbride ate slowly and didn’t put anything on her plate unless Lady Hilda had it also. She knew the rolls weren’t poisoned, but she couldn’t be sure about the rest. “I was honored by your invitation and happy to fit you in.”
Lady Hilda offered a polite smile, but Starbride could tell she wasn’t used to being fit in. “The princess must keep you busy.”
Ah, there it was. Her bluntness was rather refreshing after the hordes of courtiers waiting for news of Katya. “Indeed. We’ve much in common.”
“Let’s cut to it, shall we? Your maid’s presence won’t keep me from speaking my mind.”
“Allusian maids respect privacy.”
“Custom?”
“Yes.”
“
I want what you have.”
Starbride wondered just how nasty she could be, how much scorn she could get away with. “What do you expect me to do about it?”
“Leave.” Lady Hilda took a folded bit of paper from the flounces of her dress—a concealed pocket—and pushed it across the table.
Starbride envied the pocket for a moment, picked up the paper, and glanced at it, an offer for two hundred thousand gold crowns. Not a king’s ransom. Not quite a princess’s either, but a fortune nonetheless.
“You have this much?”
Lady Hilda’s look said, “Backwoods peasant.” Starbride had no idea that any of the titled people had that much ready cash, but it wasn’t impossible. “You want proof?”
Starbride shrugged.
“Not enough?”
“She’s not a commodity. And neither am I.”
“She’ll tire of you. She has favorites, but she always leaves them with nothing in the end. You’ll have the money.”
“What makes you think she’ll let me go?”
Lady Hilda toyed with the neckline of her dress. “I’ll distract her.”
“You couldn’t manage it before I showed up.”
Lady Hilda’s face turned to stone, her eyes hardening to jade, a real expression at last. “I won’t discuss my relationship with the princess with the likes of you.”
“I was just about to say the same thing. Keep your money.”
“And how many Allusian troubles can this buy away? Your people can hire proper lawyers; you can break the Farradain monopoly in Newhope and get some of your own people in charge.”
Starbride marveled at Lady Hilda’s spy network, a system that was good, but wasn’t good enough. “I’ve already taken care of that.”
Lady Hilda blinked, and Starbride could almost see the wheels spinning in her mind. “How?”
Starbride shrugged again.
“If you don’t take this offer, you’re a fool.”
“If we’re down to name-calling, it’s time to go.”
“We’re not finished talking.”
Dawnmother’s stool scraped against the stone as she rose. Lady Hilda sneered and dropped a fork on the floor. As it clattered against the stone, her bedroom door and the door to the hallway opened, and her two maids stepped inside. Starbride kept her face composed as she heard her mother’s appalled voice in her mind. Lady Hilda couldn’t be preparing to attack, to brawl with her. Surely not!
The Pyramid Waltz Page 24
