“Taleon, I thought we were going to meet in the armory.”
“I thought we could just walk there together and I could explain things to you along the way.”
As they walked, he launched into a deep one-sided discussion on weapons and what made which ones best.
Cassandra tried to wrap her brain around everything he was saying, but felt as if she was failing miserably. Arriving at the armory, Taleon took her to the long wall of swords.
With wondering eyes, she gazed at them and walked the full length before selecting one.
Taleon smiled at her choice. “That is an excellent sword.”
With care, Cassandra swung it.
“Very good,” he said, withdrawing his sword, “Now when you hold your sword...” He showed her how to hold it and some basic maneuvers.
“Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
“A duel.”
“Taleon, I barely know how to hold his sword, much less be able to fight and defend myself. It takes years to learn how to use a sword properly.”
“Well, we don’t have years. So I suggest you start now. Now, for practice we don’t use the real blades until I know you can swing it without killing me by accident,” he said, taking up a wooden sword and tossing it to her.
Cassandra caught it by the blade.
Taleon’s tongue clicked in disapproval. “Never take a sword by the blade or you’ll get cut.”
“But it is only a wooden one.”
“Bad habit in the making. Toss it back.”
Rolling her eyes, Cassandra threw it back.
“Ready?”
Cassandra nodded, and Taleon tossed it. This time she managed to grab it by the handle, though it was a bad catch.
“Much better. Now are you ready?”
“I hope so.”
“Sword up. You can’t let it just hang on the ground when you are getting ready to fight someone. You’ll get killed that way.” He made a direct lunge for her.
“Ah!” Cassandra screamed and stepped back from the wooden blade that could have nearly thrust her through.
“Careful!” she admonished.
“Sword up,” Taleon repeated.
Reluctantly Cassandra held the sword in a ready position.
“You may attack first.”
“I don’t think so. I’ll be killed!”
Taleon threw back his head and laughed before becoming serious once again. “No, I really mean it. You strike the first blow.”
It was concise and hard. Taleon struck back and verbally coached her step by step until he was in a corner, his sword rendered useless.
She smiled at her victory.
“Very good, but one thing you must watch for. A right handed swordsman is trapped but a left-handed-swordsman...” The attack was sudden and Cassandra found herself giving back ground faster than she had gained it. Her sword was flying through the air and she had stumbled to her knees. The point of the wooden sword was at her throat.
Taleon’s face looked cynical. “Do I give a maiden quarter?” His eyes swept her face with a look of a hard man, then he dropped the sword by her side. “I cannot kill such a pretty face.” Turning, he walked away.
Cassandra didn’t wait a second. Taking her sword, she lunged at him from her knees, prodding him harshly in his back.
“Ouch!” With a spin, he turned, swept the sword aside and began a fresh onslaught.
Moments later, she was pinned in a corner, her sword horizontal, struggling for dear life as Taleon’s blade tried to descend on her.
Cassandra stamped on his toe.
“Hey! Stop that.”
Still he didn’t give ground.
Cassandra kicked his shin.
“You aren’t playing fair!” Taleon complained as he stepped back, losing some of his leverage.
Cassandra thought she saw a possible way to freedom and made a mad dash. She turned to see him hot on her heels and with a scream, she fled from the armory, up a flight of steps, and through a hallway into her room. Slamming the door, she turned the key in the lock just as Taleon came heavily against it.
“Cassandra!” Taleon scolded through the door.
She dropped to the floor laughing and panting.
“Well, well, what is my little daughter up to?”
“Pappa!” and she flew to her feet coming to his side. “When did you get here?”
“Only a little while ago. Now what is going on?”
“Taleon is supposed to be giving me sword fighting lessons, but I am not sure that it is going well. He says I cheat.”
King Aric laughed. “Fetch me your sword and I will fight him for you.”
Cassandra took her sword and handed it to her father.
“Now stand behind me and I shall teach this lad a lesson or two.” Leaning forward, he unlocked the door and Taleon lunged in.
Cassandra watched in wonderment as they danced around the room, the wooden swords making a solid crack-like sound when they met. In a few minutes, however, King Aric drove Taleon to his knees and successfully “killed” him.
Cassandra approached and King Aric put his arm around her.
“There, how is that?”
“Much better, Pappa, but he really looks quite dead,” she giggled under her breath.
“You think so?”
Cassandra nodded and slipped to her knees beside him, trying not to laugh. “Are sure you aren’t dead Taleon?”
He sprang to life, grabbing her shoulders with a shake and a loud roar.
Cassandra screamed and sprang to her feet, almost darting behind her father, but hesitating.
He sat up. “You cheated.”
“I do not cheat, sir.”
“I can see the two of you get along capitally while I am away.”
Cassandra blushed. “We usually get along better than this, Pappa.”
“So I see,” he said, offering Taleon his hand to get up. “To a well fought opponent,” he said with a nod as Taleon stood and dusted himself off.
“So what have the two of you been doing?” he asked, taking a seat by the fireplace. Taleon took the other chair as King Aric pulled Cassandra onto his knee.
Cassandra seemed to sober. “Taleon saved my life this morning.”
Taleon’s mouth twitched as he thought of a remark that would have stung slightly but held it back.
“I have heard about that. I want to hear from both of you what happened.”
The story was short as possible from both sides.
King Aric nodded when their story was finished.
“Well, it couldn’t have been handled any better if I had been here myself. Now for these sword-fighting lessons of Cassandra’s. I will join both of you until I have to leave. We will make sure she doesn’t ‘cheat’ anymore,” he said with a smile.
“Oh Pappa.”
He kissed her cheek and pulled her close. “Now Taleon and I must go. I have some business to attend to.”
“Can’t I come with you?” Cassandra asked.
Taleon became tense.
The king was thoughtful for a moment before he spoke. “Not today, Cassandra; maybe later,” he said, rising and helping her to do so.
Cassandra watched him leave with Taleon. Jealousy puckered up in her heart. Curling up in the chair he had just vacated, she rested her head against the back. Closing her eyes, she breathed in deeply. There was a lingering scent of her father—one she wanted to remember always.
Chapter 25
Cassandra was sitting by the fire thinking. She had spent dinner with the council, her Pappa, and Taleon. Now she had been sent away, as they had business to discuss and once again she was to be excluded. She had been taken into their council chamber once before; why be denied it now? Cassandra pushed back the grudge that was creeping up in her heart.
There was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in,” Cassandra answered casually.
“Cassandra?”
“Oh, hello, Edith;
how are you?”
“Well, very well indeed; can I disturb you?”
“Please do. I have nothing better to do at the moment.”
“Well I—I wanted to tell you about what you saw this afternoon.”
Cassandra struggled through her brain searching for what Edith could possibly be referring to.
“The reason I was sitting so close to Blake this afternoon was that he proposed and I had just accepted.”
Cassandra’s jaw dropped and she let out a squeal of joy, rushing to embrace her friend. “Oh Edith, I am so happy for you.”
“I am happy too.”
“Oh, I am so sorry I disturbed you. That was awful of me to come barging in like that. Forgive me?”
“You are quite forgiven.”
“When will you be married?”
“As soon as Blake is on his feet again and well enough to move into the next valley. It will be very soon. There is already a place where he knows he can get work and I am ready to move on with my life. My husband has been dead for over a year now and I would like Brendan to grow up with a man in his life. His father will never be forgotten, Brendan will keep him alive, for he is his father’s mirror image in every way. I am happy and ready to start a new life, Cassandra.”
Cassandra found herself wiping away tears. “I am so happy for you, Edith.”
“So am I, Cassandra. To be honest I think I am floating on air, but I must go. Brendan is almost ready for bed. Good night, Cassandra.”
“Good night, Edith.”
Cassandra watched her go, wondering what it was like to be in love. Love to her had never really existed before. She had said she loved her father King Archibald, but knowing the way her Pappa loves her and the way she loves him, she knew that she had only feared King Archibald. There had never been any real love between them.
The love that Edith was talking about was an entirely different kind of love—one that she had never even considered possible in her own experience. Since her earliest days, such fanciful thoughts of falling in love had been crushed. She, Cassandra, was a princess born under obligation to marry for wealth and power and to produce an heir to the throne of Chambria. If love followed she would be incredibly blessed, but that was not to be hoped for.
Cassandra traced her thoughts back to what she had believed earlier—that bearing her first child would kill her. Certainly the weak thing she had believed herself to be in the valley would have died, but did she need to be fearful of that now? There was still so much unsettled. But the thought of cradling her own child, like Brendan, in her arms warmed and delighted her heart. Her own child—heir to his mother and grandfather’s throne, a noble little boy. Images floated through her mind. She was walking through the halls of Chambria’s castle, cradling the infant in her arms, singing to him a soothing lullaby. Her father appeared to dote over “his little prince,” as he would be called.
But who would the baby’s father be? Would he be the prince in the painting? Cassandra shivered at the thought and shoved him from her mind. Was she still engaged to marry him— she shuddered. No, she would never marry him ever, that was certain.
Unexpectedly a tall, blond-headed figure with serious but mirthful blue-green eyes that stood before her in fine garments. It was Taleon. She blushed and tossed away the entire daydream with a hot feeling of embarrassment. Marriage and children could wait a good long while. She was a princess with duties and obligations. A nation needed her help; they were her first objective. Whatever happened after that would be...after that.
Grabbing her cloak, she climbed to the castle walls and looked down on Chambria—a faraway city glimmering in the dusk. Beyond it, the valley widened and vanished in the far horizon. Cassandra could not help her sigh.
“Why the long sigh, your highness?”
Cassandra whirled around. It was Lord Keenan.
“Good evening, my lord. I was just admiring the valley.”
“That doesn’t explain the unhappiness of your sigh.”
The corner of Cassandra’s mouth twisted and she leaned into the breeze that swept back her hair and kept her eyes dry from tears. “I was just thinking of how much the people are in need, my lord. There is so little I feel that I do to help them. Up here I am safe from harm...” The words died on her lips. That sentence was no longer true. “I am comfortable, my lord, and they suffer hardships that I could never endure. What right do I have to be happy when they are not?”
The silence was long before Keenan spoke. “The people are full of hope, Cassandra. You are their hope and joy. Do not despair. The kingdom shall not come to weigh fully on your shoulders yet. Be grateful for what time you have to be free.”
“How much longer will they suffer, my lord?”
“Not much, your highness. Hope is near at hand.”
Chapter 26
The next few days shed light on how King Archibald’s bounty hunter had snuck his way up the mountain, killing the one watchman who had attempted to send a warning signal. The bounty hunter was skilled. Cassandra and Taleon had gotten off easy.
It was late one evening when her father came to her door. “Cassandra, there is a meeting at the council table tonight. I wish you to be there.”
“Are you sure, Pappa?”
“I am quite sure. Lord Keenan has requested your presence. He thinks you should know what is going on in the valley, and the council has agreed.”
“Then I am more than willing to come,” she said, rising to her feet.
Cassandra entered on her father’s arm. There was nervous tension in the room—one that quivered the air, almost loud enough to make it sing. Quietly she entered the alcove and took her seat. Taleon leaned against the wall, too deep in thought to really notice her.
“Well, men, we received word today that our spy closest to Archibald was caught and killed. We need eyes and ears in the palace, close to Archibald, but who can take his place? Who is trustworthy enough? Who won’t be suspected?”
The men tossed names around, but none seemed to suit the purpose. They were either too well-known by the enemy or too essential to their own campaign to be let go.
“The question, my king, is this, do we even need eyes and ears? Can we not just charge and take the city by force? We will surprise him by taking the north wall; what more can we wish for?”
King Aric took a deep breath. “It will be just like last time if we do, and that is not something I am willing to repeat. We lost too many lives on that day—woman, children and men. There is not one of us who wasn’t touched by that slaughter. We need to know what he intends to do to Chambria and its people when we make our advance. I want to know what it is and how many lives are at stake.”
“Without the shedding of blood there is no freedom.”
“But the price must still be counted. Is there anyone in his household who might be able to gather that information without creating a stir?”
“There is a soldier. However, he only carries messages, though he has done some work for us. But there is risk of him being discovered, as he was close friends with our last spy.”
“No, it would seal his death warrant and we wouldn’t discover his plans. We need someone he won’t suspect.”
Cassandra felt numb, as if she wasn’t really herself but rather someone else who stood up and spoke.
“Send me.” Her voice trembled as she said the words.
The men turned to her, a look of shock crossing their faces.
“I could go into the valley dressed as a peasant. I could say that I exchanged my dress with a poor girl newly arrived here, that I bribed her to take my place and I slipped away into the night, and was far down the mountain before the break of dawn.” Cassandra tried to focus. The world seemed to be spinning around in her head, her mouth was dry, and her fingers were icily cold. She was surprised at how easy the plan came together before she had even thought. It was if it wasn’t really her at all.
“Do you think you could fool him into believing it, child?” asked
an elderly noble of the table.
“Yes, I do,” she answered without hesitation, even though everything seemed to shake about her.
“Your majesty, she is perfect. She is well acquainted with the castle and Archibald; the information would be readily available to her.”
Cassandra only had eyes for her Pappa. He was gazing at her with a deep affection and intensity she wanted to understand. She could feel it touching her heart, but she wanted to hear him speak.
“My lords, please give me a few minutes with my daughter.”
Quickly the men vacated the room, leaving her standing and waiting, with him seated, a thousand expressions covering his face. Neither really noticed that Taleon had stayed in the room.
For a long time neither spoke. The silence grew to an unbearable height, but yet they did not speak.
Slowly King Aric broke the silence in a voice hovering just above a whisper. “Cassandra, do you wish to return to the valley?”
She shook her head, then, rushing to his side, knelt beside his chair, hiding her face against his knee. He lifted her face to meet his gaze. “I do not wish to leave, Pappa. I don’t want to leave you or the people. I love it here. It came to my mind and I could not be silent. There is nothing I would hate more than to return to the valley without you as its king.”
“Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you could fool him and deliver us messages containing the necessary information?”
For a long moment Cassandra thought, searching her mind and heart. She looked up into her Pappa’s face, meeting his steady loving gaze. “Yes, Pappa. I know I can.”
“Oh Cassandra.” And King Aric began to weep. Standing, he walked away and faced a far wall. Slowly, hesitantly, Cassandra followed him.
“Pappa, are you angry with me?” Tears were falling unchecked down her cheeks.
“No, no, no, Cassandra,” and turning around he held her so close she could barely breathe. “I am torn. You are my daughter. I love you more than my heart can bear. I do not wish to let you go, but—there is something strange about all of this, I feel as if I must let you go, but I do not know why. Oh Cassandra.”
Captive of Raven Castle Page 15
