‘Odd,’ she remarked to herself, then looked up brightly at her companion. ‘Do you know, I’ve never had dinch before,’ she admitted, giving a satisfied sigh. ‘It’s wonderful.’
He smiled. ‘I have tasted it only rarely.’
‘You are a strange one, Cassien.’
‘I’m sure of it. Forgive me.’
‘Don’t be silly.’ She reached to touch his hand and he moved it as if scalded. Florentyna frowned. ‘I meant that you engage my curiosity because you have led such a different life to mine and to everyone I know.’
He looked away, back to the path that their companion had recently left by. ‘What did you mean about Tilda?’
She blinked. ‘Tilda. What did I say?’
‘That it was strange.’
‘Ah, no, I didn’t say strange, I said “odd”. I simply meant it was curious that she seemed so friendly — and informed. She joined us for soup and dinch, then disappeared suddenly before the dinch was served.’ She shrugged. ‘Odd.’
‘You know her better than I.’
‘No, not really. I’ve met her on two occasions. I have always liked her brews but I don’t know anything much about her.’
‘I see. I was under the impression that you and she were friendly.’
Florentyna shrugged. ‘I take her infusions and that’s it. I pay a premium and she makes up one especially to my taste. She seems to know when my supplies are low and delivers my leaves to the kitchens. Burrage’s orders.’ Florentyna frowned. ‘You knew she would be here?’
He shook his head. ‘At the palace she mentioned that she would take a direct route north. She made me press her for the information but I did feel she wanted me to ask and then her reply felt like an invitation, but nothing so clearly stated.’
‘Do you doubt her?’
She watched Cassien thinking deeply. She allowed the silence between them to lengthen as his eyebrows knitted in thought. ‘Not until you just asked me.’
Florentyna leaned forward. ‘What does that mean?’
His gaze snapped up to meet hers. ‘Until moments ago I would have considered Tilda an ally.’
‘And now?’
He shrugged. ‘I also think it odd that she left so abruptly.’
‘Cassien, speak plainly. My impression is that we’re running for our lives, so it’s best we are clear with each other.’
He shook his head. ‘I have nothing to say about her. She knows nothing, only that we are running for your life.’
She finished her dinch and wanted to drink Tilda’s, but decided that might be greedy. She gestured at it to Cassien. He shook his head.
‘You’re so restrained, Cassien,’ she said, referring to everything about him.
But he believed she meant his appetite. ‘The forest taught me to eat and drink only what my body needed. It’s habit now,’ he said softly.
‘Do you believe your life is not important?’
He straightened to dig in his pocket for some coins. ‘I believe it has a purpose, certainly. But no, it’s not important.’
She looked at him bemused, shook her head. ‘I’ve been raised in the opposite manner, to believe my life is of the highest importance.’
‘It is. But I’m glad it hasn’t made you indifferent to others.’
‘My father would not have permitted that.’
‘He did with Darcelle.’
She eyed him. ‘Darcelle is … was … indulged. We are all at fault there. However, for all her spoilt ways, she was an asset and no-one could question her loyalty to the Crown. Have you registered how everyone is suddenly eyeing you differently?’
He nodded. ‘Since they noticed my sword, you mean?’
‘So you do know.’
‘I take in everything about my surrounds.’
She smiled and frowned at the same time. ‘I’m not sure whether you’re immodest or honest.’
He looked wounded. ‘I state only what I know to be true.’
Florentyna put her hands up in mock defeat. ‘We should go. I think we’re making the other patrons feel uncomfortable.’
‘I am not the first swordsman who has sat down to a pot of dinch.’
‘The first perhaps who looks as you do.’ When he looked back at her in query, she shrugged. ‘You are intimidating, Cassien, on a number of levels.’
‘Good. If everyone keeps away from you, I am happy.’
She grinned. ‘That sounds very possessive.’ It was meant as a jest to lighten their conversation, give them the right moment to stand and glance over at the others with a smile before they left. Instead, his expression only deepened in its seriousness.
‘If you were the only person I could ever speak to, it would be enough,’ he said, his gaze grave and intense.
She held her breath, for as he’d spoken — his careful words making her feel suddenly awkward — she understood why she didn’t react to him as others seemed to. And the reason was so shocking, she’d caught that single breath and was now too fearful to let it go … and with it the acceptance of what she’d been hiding from.
‘Florentyna?’ he murmured, suddenly concerned by the way she fixated on the pot of dinch and was silent.
‘Forgive me,’ she said, gathering her scattered thoughts and trying to find a smile. ‘I …’
‘No, I’m sorry for speaking so plainly. I thought …’ he stammered, unsure for once. ‘I thought candour is what you demanded of me.’
‘Oh, Cassien, the fault is mine. It’s just … I’ve realised something and the honesty of it is painful.’
‘Can I help?’
She gave a small gasp of a laugh. ‘Shar, no!’
He guided her away from the dinch-house, toward where he’d tethered two new horses. ‘You spoke of honesty. Perhaps it is your turn?’
She cut him a look of reprimand but then realised he was right. This man was prepared to lay down his life for her, not even question why or when, simply that he would give it should that need arise. Florentyna swallowed. ‘It’s Tamas.’
‘The king will be careful. I’m sure —’ He stopped at her horse and looked at her with an unreadable expression. ‘Ah, you meant something else, didn’t you, your majesty?’
She nodded. ‘I thought I’d put it behind me.’
‘You have feelings for Tamas?’
‘They frighten me. I’ve had them under very strict control. I really didn’t think they’d burst through the defences,’ she said, with an embarrassed smile. ‘I’m sorry …’
‘Don’t be. He has no bride to consider anymore.’
‘That sounds so heartless.’ She looked away, hating herself.
‘It’s honest. I didn’t mean to make you feel in any way ill at ease. You should know that I could not and would not permit myself to let my feelings go any further. There is another woman.’ He shrugged. ‘I was simply stating the truth. If you were the only person left in the world, it would be enough to converse with you. You are wise, calm, amusing when you want to be and you are educated. Besides, any interest I showed in you, my queen, defies the law of the Brotherhood.’
She frowned. ‘Celibacy?’
Cassien found a smile. ‘No, thank Shar! No wives, no permanent relationships. No family. We are not permitted to have long-term distractions, and women and children are precisely that; they compromise our emotions and ability to act decisively, swiftly.’ He helped her up onto her horse and handed her the reins before climbing easily onto his mount. ‘You’re still happy to ride through the night?’
She nodded as he guided his horse to the path that would lead them out of the hamlet. Florentyna followed. ‘It looks daunting,’ she said, nodding toward the blackness stretching beyond the soft glow that the hilltop town threw on the path for a short way.
‘We will have to pick our way slowly,’ he said, looking up. ‘But with luck, the moon will come out from behind those clouds and smile her light our way. Then we can move faster.’
She moved her horse into step with his a
nd they set off companionably, winding their way down the hill.
‘Cassien, if it’s any consolation, you make me feel safe … you give me confidence.’
He gave her a rueful smile. ‘That is a rich compliment to a member of the Brotherhood. And, strangely perhaps, it is enough for me to know I have achieved this. You and I, as long as I live, will always be friends, I hope.’
‘We shall. I give you my word.’
‘Then that will keep my heart full … and Tamas is a lucky man.’
She blushed in the dark furiously. ‘Tamas has no idea.’
‘How long have you known?’
‘Since I was a child of about eleven.’
He cut her a sharp look of surprise. ‘Truly?’
She nodded, glad he couldn’t see how hot her cheeks must look, for they felt like they were burning. ‘He didn’t come to Stoneheart. He wasn’t even meant to be visiting Morgravia, but his ship was in trouble and had to limp into the Grenadyn Islands. My father and I happened to be in Racklaryon at the time — that’s in the Razors. We got word that Ciprean royalty was on our doorstep unannounced. My father was a gracious man, Cassien, and often didn’t stand on ceremony. He stopped his meetings, cancelled his tour of the Razors and raced to the islands to see what help could be given to the stricken ship. Tamas barely noticed the shy daughter of the king who greeted him. But I noticed him; I even sat on his lap once,’ she confided with an embarrassed giggle. ‘And my candle has burned for him ever since, you could say,’ she finished, sighing. ‘We met once more, when I was about fourteen, but I was so cringingly shy of my feelings that I found it easier to ignore him. I couldn’t even look upon him for fear of disgracing myself. I’ve always felt sad about that, because Tamas has always been so kind to me. There, now we’ve each swapped our dark secrets!’
‘How did you face him on this trip?’
‘There’s something about becoming a ruler that instils confidence, or at least one learns very quickly how to school one’s features into obedience. He can’t guess because I’ve become adept at hiding and managed to adopt an easy, sisterly approach. Just standing next to him, though, makes me feel weak,’ she admitted. ‘Forgive me for burdening you but it does feel good to admit it to another.’
‘Nothing to forgive. I sensed there was something between you both but it is not my place to ponder it. But he doesn’t know? I mean, when Darcelle —’
‘No!’ She knew her expression was horrified. ‘Absolutely not. Darcelle never knew about my feelings and Tamas certainly has no idea.’
‘But when she told you … I mean surely you —’
‘No. I didn’t … couldn’t. She was in love with him. And he with her, by all accounts. Plus, it was a perfect union for Morgravia.’
‘I don’t understand. Why didn’t you pursue him?’
‘I was fourteen summers, Cassien! And I was a shy child to boot. I became more introverted and Darcelle was so extroverted she seemed the perfect ambassador for the Crown. She begged me to let her go to Cipres and represent Morgravia one year. I wanted to go, desperately … I wanted him to see me as a woman rather than a stammering mooncalf. You have to understand that I had been promised to another and I was fond of him. I could never tell my father that I loved the Ciprean. Don’t ask why. It was all too complicated at the time. My feelings were torn but I had learned to control them entirely, to bury them.’
‘Darcelle never suspected?’
‘Darcelle,’ she gave a mirthless chuckle, ‘wanted to go more than I did on that occasion, or at least our stepmother wanted her to. Darcelle could be so persuasive and — oh, what does it matter?’
‘It matters that even in something as important as love you permitted Darcelle to usurp your heart’s desire. Imagine what could have been if you’d gone to Cipres instead of her.’
‘She didn’t do it deliberately. And she had no idea of my feelings. She met Tamas and they found enjoyment in each other. It seems both sisters were stricken with the pleasure of loving an older man.’ She smiled sadly in the dark, knowing he couldn’t see it.
‘There is nothing in your way now.’
‘Don’t, Cassien. Tamas does not think of me in this manner.’
‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that,’ Cassien advised.
‘I can’t think of it,’ she dismissed, eager to banish talk of her heart and its love for one man. ‘It’s too painful from every angle. My sister …’ She stopped. There was no point in traversing old ground. ‘All I care is that he remains safe and free from the demon’s touch. That we all do.’
They left Micklesham behind, soft candlelight from its dwellings feeling far more cheery than the landscape stretching out before them. As if it could hear their prayers, the moon chose that moment to emerge and instantly the way ahead was cast into a ghostly road.
‘The forest awaits; let’s ride, your majesty,’ Cassien urged.
He kicked his cantering horse into a gallop and Florentyna followed suit, a thought nagging on the rim of her mind. It felt as far from her grasp as the moon that lit their way.
THIRTY
Princess Darcelle caught the Cipreans just past Hynton, a neighbouring hamlet of Harpers Riding and its tithe barn, where Gabriel had made his entry into Morgravia. Behind her raced three dozen well-armed, hardened soldiers from the famed Morgravian Legion, who had been ordered to follow the princess. She’d given Stoneheart’s gatekeepers a fright the way she’d suddenly taken off from the bailey — alone and in pursuit of the Cipreans, who had also left mysteriously swiftly and with no prior warning.
The senior commander happened to be in the gatehouse at the moment of Darcelle’s departure and when he had asked why the princess had no minders with her and received no satisfactory explanation, he had acted on his instincts. Without waiting to find out more he gave orders for three stems of the Legion to follow the princess and bring her back safely. He sent Lieutenant Tyle as his representative.
Tyle had tried but failed to slow the princess enough to discover the reason for her hellish pursuit … she refused to converse with him on the gallop. With no other choice he’d had to keep up, urging the men to do the same. They had their orders and their role was to protect Princess Darcelle.
She arrived at the Ciprean camp, with Tyle on her heels, galloping so fast she could barely stop the horse, and shocked the Ciprean Guard as much as Tyle by carelessly leaping from the slowing beast into the area where the soldiers were congregated. Men dodged out of the horse’s way and two gave chase to prevent the animal harming itself or the men. Darcelle clearly couldn’t care whether the animal lived or died.
Tyle was off his own mount just as fast while the princess was grabbing a man who wore the giveaway gold buttons on his cloak, suggesting he was a senior member of the Ciprean guard. He reared back from the snarling expression on her face.
Tyle came up behind her, loathe to interrupt until he could gain her attention and follow the right protocols. She ignored him.
‘Do you know me?’ she demanded of the Ciprean.
The man bowed. ‘Your highness, Princess Darcelle.’
‘Then tell me where I can find King Tamas.’
‘The king is …’ He looked around, seemed embarrassed. ‘He’s —’
‘Where?’ Cyricus boomed in the man’s face, using Darcelle’s voice as best he could to inflict fear.
‘He’s in Pearlis, your highness.’
‘Pearlis?’ she snarled. Cyricus didn’t understand. Aphra sensibly remained silent, although he could feel her tension skimming through Darcelle’s body. ‘I saw the king leave with you,’ Darcelle continued.
He shook his head. ‘No, highness. We were sent ahead.’ He glanced Tyle’s way and nodded. ‘Let me take you to Captain Wentzl.’
‘Do that!’ Cyricus snapped, his mind racing. Back in Pearlis? That couldn’t be right. He saw it … clearly saw the king mount the pearl-coloured horse and ride with his men.
‘Your highness?’
Cyric
us turned and eyed the Morgravian officer standing before him. ‘Yes?’
The man blinked. ‘Er, Lieutenant Tyle, your highness.’ He said it in a way that suggested Darcelle should know him.
‘Well?’
‘My orders are to accompany you. Is there … um … anything I can help with?’
‘Unless you can help me find King Tamas, I doubt it.’
‘Let me stay with you, your highness,’ he said and Cyricus could see the officer carefully eyeing her with confusion.
‘As you wish,’ Cyricus said and stalked away. He let Darcelle’s body follow the Ciprean officer, who led him to the shade of a tree where a man with a neatly trimmed moustache and grey, intelligent eyes gazed at him. The man quickly stood politely from where he’d been crouching to take a drink from a ladle. Cyricus watched the man wipe his lips hastily and immediately sweep into an elegant bow.
‘Princess Darcelle.’ Cyricus noted the man’s eyes dart behind him. ‘Lieutenant Tyle,’ he said in greeting and nodded.
‘Captain Wentzl,’ Tyle acknowledged and Cyricus observed that the Morgravian drew level.
‘Your highness, your arrival is most unusual.’
‘Your man said the king is not with you?’ Cyricus said, ignoring the pleasantries.
Wentzl nodded. ‘Yes, your highness, he gave you the truth. King Tamas ordered me to take the men back to the ship. I was given no further information. I anticipated that he would join us.’
‘Did you?’ Cyricus snapped, his mind reaching to the possibility that he had been tricked. Darcelle’s gaze settled on a familiar cloak, worn by someone standing close by and listening to the conversation. Its wearer, who should have been Tamas, was clearly not; Cyricus accepted now that he had been outwitted by the Ciprean king. Wentzl was still talking, apparently responding to Darcelle’s last query.
‘… with so much death in the palace, he thought it best, your highness.’ He stopped, cleared his throat, glanced at Tyle.
Cyricus knew he was wasting his time here. He felt the violence erupting, certainly wanted to answer its call even though it was pointless.
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