by K. M. Shea
Rynn stumbled into the palace, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to hold in another sneeze. She started to peel her cloak off when it subsided, then yelped when someone grabbed her by the shoulder and twisted her around.
Captain Hulderic smiled pleasantly. “Hello, Princess.”
Rynn swallowed. “Captain.”
“It’s come to my attention that you go to the stables to ride nearly every day.” The captain started down the dark, empty hallway, keeping Rynn at his side with his iron grip on her shoulder.
“Falada needs exercise, or he’ll tear the stables apart,” Rynn said.
“A believable excuse,” Hulderic nodded, the soft smile plying his lips. “However, it does not explain why you visit the goose meadow.”
Rynn sucked in a breath of air and felt an icy cold breeze sneak down her back. He knows. She scoffed at herself. Of course he knows. Why else would he corner me in an apparently abandoned hallway. “What do you care where Falada and I go?” Rynn tried to discreetly glance up and down the hallway.
Hulderic’s grip on her shoulder tightened, going from uncomfortable to painful. She squirmed, but he did not release her. “You visit the meadow because that is where Davina is. You hope to talk her around, no doubt. But it’s too late for that. You’ve run out of time.”
Craning her neck, Rynn thought she saw an old man duck in the same entrance she had used behind them, but he immediately entered a side room. This is too empty to be a coincidence. Hulderic must have planned for this. “It’s not too late,” she said stubbornly. “King Othmar and Queen Morgaine will understand!”
Hulderic sighed. “So blind,” he murmured.
Rynn tried to step away from him—she even considered kicking him—but Hulderic transferred his bruising grip from her shoulder to the back of her neck. Rynn squeaked and lunged forward, trying to dislodge him, but Hulderic dug his fingers into the side of her neck and hung on.
Whipping her back by the grip he had on her neck, Hulderic pulled her into his side. “Listen, maid,” he sneered into her ear, his breath stirring a few strands of her hair. “Desist your meddling. If you step even one toe out of line, I will reveal you before the entire court.”
Rynn narrowed her eyes. “If you do that, Davina will be arrested with me.”
Hulderic smiled, the darkness in his eyes threatening to swallow up the world. “And you believe I care at all what happens to her? How quaint you are. No, as far as I am concerned the princess can hang with you.”
Horror spread through Rynn. I’ve been so occupied trying to fix everything, I assumed Hulderic had some sort of romantic design on the princess…but I was wrong. He must have a far more insidious motivation…But if that’s so, what do I do?
Hulderic slid his fingers around the side of her neck so they dug into her windpipe. “Do you finally understand the situation, princess?”
It was hard to breath around his fingers. Rynn pulled her leg back to kick him, and the captain flicked a dagger into the fingers of his free hand, sheltering it between their bodies so any passerby would not see it.
Rynn’s blood turned into ice. Do I scream? It will surely summon a huge wind, which will protect me, but will also oust my magic. But I can’t just do as he says!
“It is to be hoped that you have a reasonable excuse for touching the princess,” stated a calm, inflectionless voice.
Hulderic released Rynn’s neck and tucked his dagger away before Rynn was able to turn and set her thankful eyes upon Conrad.
The enigmatic man held an unsheathed short sword and wore an unreadable expression. He glanced at Rynn—his eyes lingering on her neck—before he turned all of his attention to Hulderic.
Hulderic bowed choppily. “Sir Conrad, I beg your pardon, Princess Davina and I were merely exchanging fond memories of our Astoria.”
“And memories cause bruising?” Conrad inquired.
The monster of a captain tilted his head, then turned to Rynn and widened his eyes with false dismay. “Princess—how negligent of me, I had not noticed! What happened to your throat?”
Rynn rubbed her throat as her mind raced. If I declare that he did it, Conrad might believe me…but Hulderic will doubtlessly declare I am a fraud. If the princess agreed to testify as well we might stand a chance. But as it is now, this might put me in a more dangerous position. Still…I cannot give in!
She cleared her throat and forced a smile. “I’m afraid in the stables I ran afoul of a rather mad and deranged tom cat.”
Hulderic’s eyes glittered. He understood the promise.
“I see.” Conrad did not look away from Rynn’s neck, making her fidget with the intensity of his gaze. “Captain, you are dismissed.”
Captain Hulderic bowed again and turned his back to Conrad. The corner of his lips edged down in a barely perceivable quirk as he glanced at Rynn and wrapped a hand around the hilt of his sword. He strode off in a slight swagger, the set of his shoulders and the confidence of his stride making Rynn want to gnash her teeth.
It wasn’t until Hulderic disappeared into a side hallway that Conrad finally sheathed his sword and Rynn found she could breathe normally.
“You visited the stables?” Conrad asked, nodding his head at her wet cloak.
Rynn tried to peel it off her. “Yes. I wanted to make certain Falada was comfortable…for his good and the wellbeing of the stable.”
Conrad nodded slowly. “A wise decision.” He squatted down and pulled the wet cloak from the skirts of Rynn’s dress, helping her shed the sopping garment.
“Thank you.” Rynn flicked raindrops from her hair and smiled. She had to stiffen her spine to keep from shivering.
Conrad raised an eyebrow. “Are you cold?”
“I am fine,” Rynn lied.
He ignored her and instead narrowed his eyes while he studied her. “No, you are cold. Stay here a moment.” He took Rynn’s soaked cape from her and retreated down the hallway.
She shifted uneasily in the silence, peering suspiciously in the direction Hulderic had meandered. I hope he does not return.
“Here.”
Rynn jumped a little in surprise, then shuffled around to face Conrad, who held a hunter green cloak.
“Oh, thank you!” Rynn eagerly reached for it, but Conrad backed out of reach and motioned for her to turn around.
Rynn slowly did so, and Conrad draped the cloak over her shoulders, fussing with the cloth so it properly enfolded her. She instantly felt warmer—though she still had to stifle the desire to shudder from Hulderic’s threat.
“You will tell me if you have any worries or troubles?” Conrad asked.
Surprised, Rynn turned around and discovered he had not backed away after helping her with the cloak. Instead he stood rather close. She gulped. He is taller than I realized, she thought as he loomed next to her. “I’m afraid it’s nothing I can explain at the moment.”
He nodded slowly, though there was a strange light in his dark eyes. “I see.”
Does he maybe suspect…?
He leaned closer, and Rynn found she couldn’t look away. In fact, as he scrutinized her, his eyes thoughtfully tracing her face, she had the very untimely realization that Conrad, for all his reserve, was rather handsome.
The closer he leaned, the warmer Rynn felt and the brighter that strange light in his eyes became.
Enough silliness! Rynn scolded herself. I will soon sound like Davina.
The edges of Conrad’s lips quirked up, and he pulled away, only to offer his arm out.
Rynn hesitated. Though Princess Lunette and Queen Morgaine embraced her freely, thus far Geraint was the only male she had touched. She had assumed it was something to do with being his fiancée. Perhaps it is simply that they are a reserved family?
Rynn meekly tucked her arm in the crook of his elbow, her shoulders stooping a little in her relief. Conrad was warm and reassuring, pushing the memory of Hulderic’s icy fingers digging into her throat from her mind.
She waited for Conrad
to lead the way down the hallway, but he paused for a moment, then pulled his arm from her grip and instead took her hand and intertwined it with his.
Rynn glanced up at him in surprise, but Conrad was faced resolutely forward, his expression as blank as ever as he started down the hallway, gently tugging her along.
He’s much kinder than one would think. Rynn walked hand in hand with him. A smile nearly dawned on her face, until she recalled the situation in which she met him. Hopefully he and the rest of the royal family are also more understanding than one would think. Or Hulderic just might win no matter what I do. And that, she thought grimly, seems to be his only aim.
* * *
Rynn sat on a log, her chin resting on her propped up fist, watching Davina serenade the geese with a long-winded Caladonian ballad about mermaids luring sailors to their death.
Davina’s voice was admittedly sweet and pleasant to listen to. The ballad wasn’t one Rynn much cared for, but she found herself listening wistfully to the princess. “Maybe she really could be a minstrel.”
Little Conrad, who was perched on the same log and eating wild strawberries he carried in a kerchief, snorted. “She’d be robbed blind on a weekly basis. If not daily.”
Rynn smiled and stifled the desire to chuckle. “In all likelihood, yes.”
“Inn owners would cheat her out of her earnings,” the boy added.
One of the geese honked at Davina as she waltzed past him, her sweet voice rising and falling with the crystalline notes of the song. The princess turned in a neat circle, her hands gliding through the air.
“We can always hope her desire to be a minstrel does not outlast the persistence needed to earn the coins for her lyre,” Rynn said. (Over her many visits to the goose meadow, she had identified the goose boy as an ally, for though he was young he possessed all the sense Davina lacked and rather reminded her of an old man.)
“Certainly,” Little Conrad said. “And I might secretly be a lord who has grand plans to sweep you off your feet.”
A peal of laughter finally escaped Rynn with such force she almost slipped off the back of the log.
The wind whipped up by her laughter flung Davina’s hair into her face, and even yanked Little Conrad’s cap off his head. The goose boy hopped off the log and chased after his cap as the wind carried it across the meadow, mussing his ashy brown hair. Several of the geese chased after him, honking and cackling before they were distracted by a patch of sweet grass and stopped their chase.
Davina cut off her song and instead launched into a string of curse words she most assuredly hadn’t known before her career as a goose girl. Her face still obscured by her curtain of golden hair, she tripped on a goose which nibbled on her apron as she righted herself.
Little Conrad finally caught his cap at the far side of the meadow and shoved it back on his head, making Rynn—who was holding her sides to keep in additional laughter at the chaos her first chortle had caused—realize it was the first moment she saw his head uncovered. He does love that hat.
“The wind here is so unpredictable,” Davina complained as she smoothed her hair back into place. She plopped down next to Rynn on the log and sighed.
A smile still played at the edges of Rynn’s mouth. She glanced at Conrad, who was fishing a goose out from a patch of prickly black raspberry canes after the bird had been tossed there by the wind.
“Vina…” Rynn began.
“Please, do not start.” Davina’s voice was not haughty, but instead tight—as if unshed tears clogged her throat. “I am tired of being told I am not bright enough to handle myself.”
Rynn glanced at the princess in surprise. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Davina twisted to face her. “Oh?”
Rynn shook her head. “No. I wanted to talk about Captain Hulderic. I think there’s something…off about him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He threatened me,” Rynn said.
Davina—who was barefoot—dug her toes into the grass and dirt. “Did you tell him you were going to reveal the truth? I imagine he did so out of loyalty to my family.”
“No, it’s more than that. He made it clear he doesn’t care what happens to either of us. I don’t think he’s loyal at all. I think you and I are just pieces in his plan.”
“Impossible,” Davina scoffed. “Captain Hulderic has been nothing but helpful and thoughtful since I approached him about my plan. He told me what other men could be bribed into silence, and suggested swapping places with you.”
“Yes, but would someone loyal to your family let you wander off into a new life without any sort of protection? You were robbed, Davina, but it could have been much worse. Any soldier would know that.”
Davina pressed her lips together.
“Furthermore, a soldier who is honorable and willing to lay down his life for his kingdom would not be willing to risk that same kingdom by attempting to pass off a maid for a princess.” Rynn hesitated, afraid to say too much and draw Davina’s stubbornness to the front.
To all appearances her words had not reached the princess at all. She did not look at Rynn but stared out at the meadow, her lips pursed. But Rynn saw the faint wrinkle in her brow, which stirred hope in her.
She’s thinking about it…she’s starting to see it. It would do, for now. Rynn would bring the matter before Lady Maela as well—if she could ever corner her again.
“Princess Davina,” Little Conrad shouted. “One of the geese is limping.”
Rynn stood up and brushed off her skirts. “Coming!” She glanced down at Davina again, then meandered towards Little Conrad, the grass tickling her bared ankles. Rynn was almost to the goose boy and his charge when she glanced past him, at the shadows of the forest.
She stilled when she saw Hulderic, mounted on a dark colored horse, standing in the gloom of the trees.
Hulderic held her gaze as he flipped a dagger in the air and shook his head.
How long has he been watching?
Rynn’s heart squeezed in her chest as he turned his horse and disappeared into the thickness of the woods.
Little Conrad squinted up at her, then turned to see what she was staring at.
Rynn doubted he saw Hulderic—he certainly didn’t say anything—but he scratched his head through his cap and stared at the woods longer than Rynn did.
Shivering slightly, Rynn placed a hand over her heart and tried to breathe normally to keep the wind steady. Maybe I should talk to Prince Geraint and Conrad…tonight.
Chapter 6
The Truth
Rynn tried in vain to speak to Prince Geraint and Conrad privately, but fate, it seemed, was persistent in thwarting her.
Neither the prince nor Conrad were at dinner that evening.
She did not see Prince Gertaint until the following morning to discuss wedding plans with Queen Morgaine. The prince seemed distracted, and barely listened to two words Morgaine or Rynn said. The queen sent him away before Rynn could ask for a private audience with him.
Conrad was even less available. Rynn saw him once with his father, Lord Medrod, and King Othmar, but before Rynn could approach him, the trio entered the king’s private study.
To make matters worse, Lady Maela was unavailable as well. No matter when Rynn visited, it seemed like the lady was always out in Cadburey or off on a day trip to a smaller town or village. (Lady Maela’s absence was most disappointing, given that she did seem truly concerned for the kingdom. If she learned what a wretch Hulderic was, perhaps she would change her mind!)
Rynn hunched her shoulders up to her chin as she slowly trekked across the courtyard, making for the stables. I feel like a mouse scurrying from a cat.
Hulderic’s look had been unmistakable. Since she had not listened to his warning and continued to visit Davina, he was going to do something in retribution.
If I could just catch Conrad alone for a moment! Rynn frowned and kicked a rock before she slipped into the stables, shuffling t
owards Falada’s stall.
The fairy horse chewed a mouthful of hay and watched her draw closer. “What’s wrong?”
Rynn leaned against his stall door and shook her head. She closed her eyes, cursing her inability to even sigh! Some gift. Mortimer must truly be the worst fairy godfather in history. If I survive this and ever see my parents again, I shall apologize profusely for thinking they were dunces for scorning his gifts.
All thoughts fled her mind, however, when a velvet muzzle pressed against her temple. Rynn was afraid to move a muscle, less Falada change his expression of sympathy into a bite.
“Tell Conrad as much as you can,” the fairy horse said into her hair.
Rynn blinked. “The goose boy?”
“No. The adult.”
Rynn scrunched her brow and turned to him, hesitating only a moment before placing her hand on Falada’s left cheek. “How do you know Conrad?”
“He comes every night to see that I am well cared for.”
“Has he been doing this since we arrived?”
Falada lipped her hair. “No. Only since we began visiting the goose meadows regularly. There is magic on him.”
“Conrad?” Rynn asked, unable to believe Conrad—the most stable and expressionless member of the royal family—had received a fairy gift or wish. Particularly given he was from Farthendale!
Before Falada could respond, a holster, whistling merrily as he strode down the hallway, approached them. “Good day to you, Princess! Would you like one of the lads to saddle Falada for you?”
Rynn stepped away from the door and smiled. “Yes, please.”
The holster motioned for one of the stable boys, who trotted down the aisle to retrieve Falada’s saddle.
The holster reached into the stall next to Falada’s and patted the gray pony—the one enamored with the fairy horse. “It’s a grand thing to see your friendship,” he said nodding first at Rynn and then at Falada. “I’ve met lots of riders who trust their mounts, but you two?”
