Romana's Freedom (Soul Merge Saga Book 1)

by M. P. A. Hanson

  The prince’s rooms were on the opposite side of the palace, and she edged around to his window. Frustratingly, all of them were shut, so she slipped one of her lock picks that she’d had sewn into the lining of her cape into her palm and worked away silently at the window latch.

  Five minutes later it was done and she was in. She moved silently into his bedroom, noting the clothes that had been thrown on the floor. A messy prince, she thought, no wonder the girl was so charmed.

  Slipping one of her swords from the scabbard on her back, she carefully placed it against his neck.

  “Boo.” She said her tone soft, but loud enough for the halfling to hear.

  As predicted he jerked awake, and she let her blade rise with him as he pulled himself into a sitting position.

  “I figured you weren’t coming.” He told her, blinking sleep from his eyes.

  “Did you do what I asked of you?” She replied, her voice deadly. “Or do I have two more lives to take tonight?”

  “I have the child.” He replied mysteriously, in a voice that made her ear prick up in warning, as she swept the floor of the castle for noise.

  “What else?” She asked.

  “I want to see that it’s being kept in a good home. Technically tonight is the night of the new moon. I can see where the she will live.”

  “She, so the child is a girl?”

  “Yes.”

  “Very well.” Silver replied, “Unlike some people, I don’t break my word.”

  “I didn’t break it.”

  “Liar! Liar!” She replied “Come on.”

  “Let me get dressed first.” He told her. “The child is in the next room.”

  “You trust me not to just run off with her.”

  “I’ll let you blindfold me on the way to where ever it is you’re taking me.”

  “Deal, I wouldn’t miss that for the entire world.”

  She moved out of the room and into a side room. Sure enough there was a relatively large basket, filled with blankets which were breathing lightly resting in the corner. She picked it up and walked back into the prince’s room, he was ready and waiting, a black scarf in his hands.

  “I don’t even want to know what you were planning to do with that.” She told him, tying it behind his head after testing the thickness. He held out a hand, searching for hers, she realised. She pulled on her gloves before allowing him to take her hand, she didn’t like touching people skin to skin, too may ways they could hurt you if they had direct access to your flesh. She’d learnt that lesson after an experience with the fey; an assassin sent to kill her had pretended to be her ally and then pricked her with a poison ring turned inwards as they shook hands.

  They made their way at elvenspeed through the passageways, taking a long and convoluted route to ward off any followers, and throw his highness off balance. By the time they got there, he was out of breath, probably because of the way he was unused to using his normal speed.

  The passageway door opened, and she let go of Marten’s hand to make signals with her hand at Leigh causing the centaur to silently exit the caves. Laying down the basket, she whipped off his blindfold, and closed the fireplace.

  Then she watched impassively as he took in his surroundings. His facial expression was as ambiguous as always, as she studied his reaction.

  “Nice set up.” He commented “Did you choose the décor?”

  “Yes.” She replied bluntly, checking the blankets in the baskets before walking to the newly set up nursery, Prince Marten followed her, visibly shocked at the elegance of the room.

  Unlike the pure white of the previous room Lena had turned it into a pale cream, in the middle was a luxurious floor cot that had been ‘found’ in one of the nicer towns nearby by Lena. A mobile that was more of a work of art than anything else hung over it, while colourfully painted toy chests and draws full of clothes and other baby supplies.

  “Are all women this well prepared for motherhood?” Marten asked

  “Ask your pet elf.” She replied “And I have no intention of becoming a mother.”

  “Then how’s she going to grow up?” He asked, accusingly.

  “Lena!” Silver called. “Acis!”

  “Yes mistress?” The reply came as they both whisked into the room.

  “Your answer.” She informed Prince Marten. “Were you worried that I was going to add child neglect to my crimes?” She asked, sarcastically. “I have lots of work to do. I take it you’re finished here?”

  “Am I going to have another dead body on my hands?” He asked.

  “More than one. I always save the best gossip for myself. I may know where the big players are in this little chess game.”

  “I don’t suppose you need any help.”

  “I don’t need someone quoting morals at me when I get busy.” She replied, “I bet even you cringed when you saw my version of art.”

  “Mistress, do you really think that you should be speaking of violence in the room of an infant?” Lena asked, unwrapping the bundle to reveal a sleeping palomino centaur, the girls hair was long and as pale as her tail. Silver gauged her health with a critical eye.

  She nodded and left the room, followed by Marten.

  “Time for you to go back.” She replied.

  “Give me a clue as to where we are.” He replied.

  “Can you hear well or not?” She replied “Your humanity makes you ignorant of the obvious. Now, you need to leave, head due west, you will reach your palace.”

  “I still want to come with you to this fight.” He told her. “You need someone to hold you back, that man, you broke his mind completely.”

  “Not completely.” She replied. “If I had broken him the way I have broken others then he would have become my creature, I would have been his sole concern, his only desire would have been to please me. I could do that to you, in the blink of an eye.” She paused, assessing his reaction. To his credit he didn’t pale as others would have. “But you’re more useful alive. Friends in high places who owe me favours, even if they don’t always keep their promises are a rare commodity.” When he didn’t answer back she was honestly shocked. “Are you scared of me now, little prince?” She asked “Do you no longer wish to argue with me, knowing I could do that to you, or to little Arianne, your father himself, maybe even Romana if I felt like it, or how about Prince Endis, you seemed to like him.”

  As with all the prodding she’d done relating to his friends, this sparked an attack. Lightning fast this time, she noticed with approval, but the anger was clouding his judgment, he was leaving himself open for an opponent with two swords; an opponent like her.

  She swung one blade to block, even as she used the other to cut him along the side of his torso.

  “Don’t. Threaten. Them.” He ground out as he swung his sword to each word, earning him three more cuts to his ribs, none of them shallow.

  “Your anger makes you predictable.” She replied “Your ignorance of your heritage is one of the key problems with your fighting. Even now you refuse to use all of the gifts given to you. You could be brilliant, yet you have not got the control or the will to be so.” She twisted the blade of the sword where it slept in his flesh, and to his credit he didn’t scream, and barely flinched. “Although, I’ll give you credit, you seem to have a high pain threshold.”

  “Thanks,” he replied, wrenching his body off the blade before lunging back at her again.

  She could get bored with this very quickly, she thought, even as she cut perfectly straight lines up both of his arms with a quick movement she’d learnt as a child.

  “You’re trying my patience.” She informed him. “I have, and always will work solo. Please stop trying to change my mind.”

  “That’s the thing about us little princes, we don’t give up.” He replied, lifting his sword again.

  “Very well then,” she replied “You give me no choice.”

  Then she broke his legs. Both of them, in one fatal hit. That made him yell, which c
aused the baby in the next room to start crying, damn she’d forgotten how annoying crying was. “See what you’ve done now.” She replied over his string of curses. “And stop whining, we both know that a little prayer magic from your priests will have that cleared up in no time.”

  “Go to hell.” He panted in pain.

  “Haven’t we established that I’m already there?” She asked. “Or did I not tell you what a sweet little thing my life has been? Maybe you would’ve guessed from the way that I had to learn how to do what I did to that man when I was four years old.” He just looked at her even as she flicked the blood from her swords before putting them back on her back. His eyes followed her as she crossed the room and pulled out a box from her bookshelves, she withdrew the small muslin bag from inside, and pressed it under his nose. “This will make you sleep. Take away the pain.” He jerked away the moment she’d finished saying it.

  “I don’t want to be that helpless near you.” He replied. “Give me your vow that you won’t harm me while I’m unconscious.”

  “Only to get you back to your palace.” She replied. “I vow it.”

  “And will you alert others to my being there?”

  “I’ll alert them.” She replied. “But my method will see me on the wrong side of the law, a place I like to be.”

  “I could rid you of all charges.” He informed her, between winces. “Make you diplomatically immune.”

  “Oh don’t do that.” She told him “Then I’d have to kill you.”

  With that she stuffed the bag to his nose, and clamped a gloved hand over his mouth to force him to breathe it in, to her surprise it wasn’t necessary; he didn’t struggle against her.

  “Mistress, did you have to get blood on the carpet?” Acis asked.

  “It was unavoidable.” She muttered, inspecting the prince’s broken legs. Clean breaks, good, easier to heal. “I will be back in two hours. I will require a bath readied for me by then.”

  “Of course.” Acis replied.

  With that, she lifted the third most powerful human in the world over one shoulder, and ran outside, through the gap in the wall pausing only when she came to the edges of the palace gardens, when pristine flowerbeds met untamed forest. She sat down, and removed a pen from her pocket. Using the prince’s blood as ink she penned a hasty note.

  Next time he won’t be breathing. My regards to Prince Endis and Romana.

  The Silver Eyed Wytch

  She signed her name with a flourish, before tucking the note into his collar. She pulled her hood up before heaving him back over her shoulder and then running at elvenspeed to the middle of the courtyard. There were shouts as her hooded form seemingly materialised out of thin air, then yells as the prince was seen, faces appeared at windows, and she gave a little finger wave towards her brothers shocked face. His expression turned quickly from shock to anger as she laid down Prince Marten on the floor, and he yelled a promise of retribution that was lost to the yells of the humans, even as she leapt to the roof of one of the buildings and ran along it to vault back over the palace walls.

  It was just as she’d located her prey that the alarm bells rang out, followed by the criers announcing a city-wide curfew. The gangs second in command jumped at the sound, even as she jumped into the alleyway from the roof she’d been crouched on.

  “Hello.” She began politely “I think you know who I am. We’re going to be great friends you and me.”

  With just those words he began to quake. She smiled, before setting to work, this one, she thought, would be harder to break than her first. But, it would be worth the wait. When she was done she would leave him in the market place, and go for another. To show Prince Marten exactly what she’d spent her wartime childhood learning.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  NERVE

  When Romana woke up again to the pounding of fists on her door she groaned inwardly. Could Silver for once go shopping or something normal when she forced her way out? Was it too much to ask for a decent night’s sleep without being woken up because another person had been killed?

  She got up to find herself already dressed in a nightgown and silk robe both in shades of blue, pulling on a pair of fur lined boots to keep her feet warm from the cold tile floors; she walked over to answer the door.

  She was not expecting to see a priest of the Ancients waiting there, sweat beading along his bald head, and running to the collar of his yellow robes.

  “Thank goodness!” He exclaimed “My child, you have been called upon by his highness, who refuses to be treated until he sees you and his dear cousin unharmed.”

  “Treated?” She asked “Was he hurt?”

  “It is best you see for yourself. Perhaps you could comfort him?”

  “I shall do my best father.” She replied, shocking him as she bowed in respect.

  She followed the priest to a room close to the infirmary; waiting outside were several priests, along with Hana, Captain Yates and several doctors.

  “Prince Endis is in there already.” Hana informed her, as she handed her a bowl of water and a washcloth. “Try and persuade him to let you wipe a little of the blood away and put a dressing on it.”

  She nodded, and took the bandages offered to her by another servant, gathering her wits for whatever Silver had done, she walked inside.

  Then immediately wished she hadn’t. The prince lay on a bed; blood, both fresh and dry was covering him and his legs, oh Ancients, his legs were broken like matchsticks.

  She hesitated, then walked up to him and put the bowl on the bedside table, and sat gently on one side of the bed.

  “You’re going to tell me what the hell happened.” She commanded Prince Endis, who was standing on the right hand side of the bed. “And you sit still and let me deal with the mess you’ve got yourself into.” She instructed Prince Marten, who smirked slightly, then winced hard as she dabbed the damp washcloth onto one long cut along his left arm.

  “The Wytch did this to him.” Endis informed her grimly. “She left him passed out on the gravel floor of the courtyard. Had the nerve to give me a little wave while she did it.”

  She said nothing as she wiped and bandaged the rest of the wounds, even as Endis explained in detail the events that had occurred in the courtyard and what little Marten had told him about what had happened in the caves.

  “We have people searching the passageways to the east for her hideout.” Endis concluded even as she finished tying the last bandage. “What are you going to do for his legs?”

  “I have no idea; maybe I should just leave them for the priests.”

  “Yes, Marten have you gotten over your stubborn streak yet, are we allowed to fetch the doctors waiting outside?”

  “In a minute.” Prince Marten replied “Romana, I want your word that it wasn’t you who did this.”

  “I vow that it was not me who caused you this injury.” She informed him. “I wouldn’t hurt you like this. You drive me to violence sometimes, but other than that I would never break both your legs, even if I could.” Technically not a lie, it was Silver who had done it.

  He gave a satisfied grim smile and then called for the priests to come in. Immediately he was engulfed by the medical staff and Romana and Endis were pushed out of the room.

  “She’s never hurt him before.” She muttered to herself. Perhaps she was getting too lenient with Silver.

  “Pardon?” Prince Endis asked.

  “The Wytch, he’s talked to her before but she’s never hurt him, I wonder what he did this time, or what she did to provoke him. He’s not the type to go getting into senseless fights.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Prince Endis replied “we’ve been in some pretty senseless fights before.”

  “You grew up together if I understand correctly.” She replied.

  “We did.” He replied.

  “But I don’t understand,” She replied “You’re supposed to be over a millennia old, how did you grow up together with him?”

  Hi
s eyes widened in shock at what he’d let slip, and she become conscious that she may have just stumbled across something that not many other people thought to realise.

  “Good morning, Lady Romana.” He replied tersely, before striding away in another direction.

  She walked back to her own rooms, mulling over the facts in her head, even as she tried to make the most of what little sleep she had left, which turned out to be non-existent, as Hana came bustling in the moment she’d slipped off her boots.

  “I hope you’re ready for your first day at court.” She informed her, ushering in more handmaids. “Because of his highness’s accident, her majesty the queen has decided to arrange indoor entertainment for the morning, to prevent him from straining himself.”

  “What exactly do I have to do in court?” She asked, even as she was quickly dressed in a pale yellow corset, and the by now familiar silk petticoats. She wasn’t even surprised at the appearance of the cap sleeved net dress with it’s square neckline, although she did have to suck in a breath at the sight of the gold and yellow sapphire jewellery that was hung from her neck, ears and wrists.

  “You need to gossip with the other women, and there will probably be jesters, and dancers, not to mention art from across the globe, and I hear a circus has been arranged.”

  “So I take it I’m not in charge of any of this any more?” She asked.

  “The queen heard how busy you were tending to his highness, and decided to take some of the burden from you.” Hana paused. “Go and see him again before you go into the court. It will help bolster your standing with the queen.”

  “Has Marten told her I’m becoming grand duchess yet?” She asked.

  “Of course.” Hana replied, “They’re having letters patent drawn up for you right now. Therefore your position near to the queen needs to be rock solid as soon as it can be. Become her confidant, make yourself invaluable to her, it’s the best way to stay in favour with her, but make sure your secret stays safe, if anyone finds out about how sudden these appointments have been, then you’ll be under suspicion. And you must be above suspicion at all times, or else both your reputation and his highness’s reputation will be in shreds.”