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“The best I can yield is a fifty-percent reduction in tariffs. As for access to Anseldorn, your merchants may have it under Durbansdanian escort.” Hadregeon’s mouth opened in protest, but Garrick continued over him, saying, “That is my only sure protection against treachery, so my present demand is not negotiable.”
Hadregeon tightened his lips and paused, working his mouth in thought. “Make the
reduction sixty-percent and we are firmly agreed,” he shrewdly bartered.
“Ah-h-h…!” Garrick vented his exasperation in a protracted gasp. He slammed his palm upon the table to make his blood hot. “If this will lower the number of soldiers crowding our common border by half, I will have papers drawn tonight,” Garrick yielded in frustration.
Hadregeon mimicked the pounding palm, and the two leaders shook hands, while their
hands were afire. Garrick settled back in his chair, his tension passing with his change in posture.
Meanwhile, Hadregeon lifted his goblet and toasted, “To cooperation.” His smile remained pleasant.
Garrick’s expression was reserved by comparison, but he repeated the sentiment.
The toast echoed all around the table and verbal terms of the agreement between
Durbansdan and Landolstadt washed down with blood-red wine. Lesser lords and ladies had begun to dance prior to Garrick concluding negotiations with Hadregeon, but the Lord of Moonriver Castle called aloud, “Dance, lords and ladies. Dance!”
All who were present obeyed the command. Lord Garrick took Lady Elena by the hand and led her to the floor to join the merriment. Even Loric participated in the reel, fumbling through the motions the best he could. The young traveler from Taeglin was pleased to see that a black-haired maiden with a lovely face was eyeing him with interest. Each time their paths crossed to where they might link arms, she smiled fondly at him and giggled as she twirled away to the next man’s arms. In fact, the dance ended with her and Loric arm-in-arm, so she gently coaxed him away from the dance floor, where they could talk.
Hadelia by name, Loric had happened upon a remarkable girl from Landolstadt. Although Loric truly enjoyed the lady’s company, he often found his gaze straying to Avalana and Garrett, whose fingers were interwoven as they moved to a slow tune together. Loric thought Hadelia might have noticed, judging from her flat, almost petulant expression. He apologized, “My lady, I do you discourtesy by letting my mind wander as I do. I fear all the excitement has made my attention short and I must make a poor part-”
Hadelia followed his body lean, which drew him toward the princess and the floor, and suggested, “You should dance with me once more. This song is long enough that we might still capture the mood.”
Loric hesitated, fumbling, “I-I could not-”
The lady grabbed his hand and tugged him along behind her with surprising strength, saying,
“Come on. There is no shame in having a little innocent fun with me, when she is your true heart’s desire, just as long as I know that up front.”
“I don’t know-” he started, unconvinced.
“Well, I do,” Hadelia cut him off with certainty. “You do not intend to let her have all the fun, do you?”
Loric readily yielded to such a logical argument, made by such an attractive young woman, who could so gently make proper use of good footing from which to apply her strength. Before he could reconsider, he and Hadelia were locked hand-in-hand and eye-to-eye, with their bodies pressed together. Loric regarded the lady’s face more closely now that she was not bounding at the pace of the fast-moving reel.
A pair of blue eyes looked back into his green orbs, and he marked that as a second
difference between Avalana and Hadelia, besides their obvious contrast in hair color. While it was true that both ladies had blue eyes, those of the princess were warm and friendly, but Hadelia’s gaze was stern and steady. Her shiny black hair did not hang straight down her back, but instead dangled well past her shoulders in a thick shimmering rope, with its entire length adorned in silver ribbons. One yarn-thick lock hung down in a curl to either side of her narrow nose, depending on which way she was tilting her head in a given moment. Presently, the clustered strands were swaying to the rhythm of her steps, mostly brushing against her lightly painted right cheek. So subtle was her use of make-up that the mild pink tint seemed natural and fitting to Loric, even when measured against her otherwise pale skin. Her cherry lips held their pleasant smile, which occasionally broke wide enough to reveal predominately-straight teeth.
Fully aware that she had Loric’s undivided attention, Hadelia whispered into his ear, “See? I have not hurt you, and neither has my company affected you adversely.”
Loric forced himself to keep his focus on Hadelia, but he let her hear his questioned, “Yet?”
She smiled sweetly. The expression evaporated into a serious countenance as she ordered him, “Kiss me.”
“What?” Loric asked incredulously.
Hadelia laughed delightedly, as if Loric had spoken in jest. She tossed her head slightly to the side, letting it circle back near his ear before it stopped, and she hissed, “Do you wish to catch her or not?”
“Yes, of course,” Loric replied. “I think I do,” he added uncertainly.
Hadelia smiled again. Her eyes flashed with something she hid too quickly for Loric to read it. She encouraged him, “You must cast your net.” To his dumbfounded expression she
answered, “Kiss me and she will be drawn to you.”
“But....” Loric began, risking a glance toward Avalana, who seemed unaware of his
presence.
“But what of me?” Hadelia asked for him. “I shall regard myself as a doer of great kindness, who has already accepted her just reward--a kiss from a courtly gentleman, and a handsome one at that.”
When Loric showed no sign of doing as Hadelia had asked, she clutched the bottom of her chin as if it suddenly pained her. The traveler from Taeglin took her hand into his own, to move it away for a closer look, which would allow him to uncover the source of her discomfort. He was surprised to find that she had lured him near enough for a kiss, but her lips actually initiating contact with his proved the greatest shock of all. Loric was caught off his guard, so that the soft peck did not register until she was sweetly smiling at him from six inches away once more.
“A casual glance should show you the truth of my words,” Hadelia told him, smiling as if a fox slinking from a henhouse after it has done with the chicks inside.
Loric was equal parts pleased and ashamed when he caught sight of Avalana, with her eyes flaring wide and her mouth a small open circle framed by tightly drawn lips. What must she think of me? he wondered. I do not know what to think of myself, he concluded.
With such thoughts still lingering in his mind, a crafty young woman who had stolen Loric’s first kiss led him away from the scene. He could not help but wonder what else she had taken from him unbidden in that moment?
****
Loric returned to his chamber after the feast, still reliving that terrible, exciting and confusing moment when a deceitful young woman had shown him a scoundrel to Princess
Avalana. Was it so terrible? was his weakly argued defense of his kiss from Hadelia. His line of reasoning gained momentum as he asked himself, Was it Hadelia’s intent to deceive me or was it to rescue me from a dangerous situation? His inner voice provoked him to self-vindicating thoughts, as he scolded himself, Hadelia seems to have two interests at heart: my happiness and me. Meanwhile, my friendship with Avalana has only brought me heartache and pain.
Wrapped in the twisting twine of such tangled thoughts, Loric failed to notice the woman pacing in front of his door. A harsh whisper caught his attention just in time to keep him from knocking Avalana to the floor, as they clumsily bumped into one another.
The princess placed a hand to her chest, as if it could slow the tempo of her heart. She first excused herself, but then her mouth soured, as from the tartness of lemons. Her wo
rds were bitter with distaste, even as she gasped, “You startled me, Lord Loric.”
“I am sorry, princess,” he apologized. “Were you pacing the hallway with a purpose?”
Avalana’s eyes tightened at the corners. The twist of her mouth tugged her nose off-center left. “Yes, I was. As a matter of fact, I was waiting for you.” She clenched her jaw.
Loric acted as though nothing had happened. “Whatever for?” he asked. I am not at fault. I did nothing wrong. “Could this matter not wait until our allotted lesson time?” He wished it could wait longer than that, but his carefree answer provoked the princess to open vexation.
“Do you not already guess why it could not?” Avalana questioned, a jealous flame burning contrary to her cool blue eyes. Before Loric could respond, she went on to ask, “Have I truly affronted you so much that you already seek the affections of another? And worse, she--that....
that.... girl--is the niece of your overlord’s rival from Landolstadt!”
“No,” Loric denied it aloud, without thinking his denial through. Avalana raked him with harsh words that he neither heard nor wanted to remember as he reasoned, Hadelia claimed she hailed from Landolstadt. Long black hair and pale skin, blue eyes and good looks were all traits Hadelia shared with Lord Regent of Beledon, Hadregeon, the King of Landolstadt. Loric shook his head against the truth and the heat of Avalana’s words. Loric shrugged that matter aside in favor of the true offense in question.
“Avalana,” he began, when the princess at last ran out of Regalsturnian expressions of wrath for him, “Lady Hadelia kissed me.”
“And you accepted the gift she bestowed upon you with great regret!” came her biting
sarcasm. “I saw you! I saw the whole thing, wysz maszba do!”
Unknowing the exact content of Avalana’s insult, Loric loosed the reins on his tongue to lash out in return, saying sardonically, “On two feast nights, I have watched you push Garrett away from you for your lack of want. And Lord Dandrakor leaves me wondering-”
Avalana’s eyes went wet with tears and she shook her head, sniffling, “I am sorry
Dandrakor’s men attacked you, Loric. I had no idea he would react to our friendship as he did.”
She huffed a frustrated sigh and confessed, “Lord Dandrakor and I have shared feelings for one another for time beyond recall, but-”
“Then why did you set your trap for my heart?” Loric growled impatiently. He wanted to walk away, because of his anger. He wanted to stay, for Avalana was hurt and pitiable. He turned his gaze to the floor.
“Trap?” Avalana questioned in a way that begged him to look up. “No trap was ever intended,” came her firm reply. I....” Her voice washed away in rivulets of her tears.
Loric closely studied the princess. The downcast of her blue eyes and the stretch of her jaw with lips fused together signaled that she had something to say. The twitch in her throat assured Loric that she was afraid to share her opinion, which was contrary to her royal rank. Loric pressed her to continue, prodding, “Say on, Avalana. Have you ever known me to be angry with you--before now, I mean?”
She shook her head in reply.
“Then why are you afraid to speak your heart and mind to me?” Loric asked her, desperate and confused.
“It is not your ANGER that I fear,” Avalana replied.
“Whose then?” Loric demanded, misunderstanding her stresses. Silence fell between them, as they both considered where this argument--this conversation--might lead them. Like the unwitting victim of an assassin, Loric was stricken by the truth. The thought that Dandrakor might see to Loric’s untimely end if the princess ever openly expressed her true feelings for him terrified her. Such a profession would be outright rejection to the Lord of Gurn, who was a dangerous man to antagonize.
“I fear nothing,” Avalana lied, afterward adding, “save perhaps me. I feel as though my heart is perilously close to joy and pain, happiness and grief, all at the same time. On two feast nights, I have danced with a would-be prince who has a heart of granite, for all of his courtly niceties. The first night, I thought of Dandrakor and you. But tonight my thoughts were only on you, a stranger I met by chance....”
A flood of tears streamed down Avalana’s cheeks. “Can you not see, my poor blind Ami?”
she choked between sobs. “I imagined that I was in your arms, and that you were leading me across that floor tonight--until I saw you with that--that lesser woman, who is scarcely a woman at all! Garrett has a kingdom, but he cannot know love. The same is true of Lord Dandrakor, who only loves his power. I thought you were different. Although you were deprived of you proper, lordly status--or maybe because of that--I believed you were warm and your words were kind.
Yet, I see now that they are nothing more than oft-repeated phrases that help you steal kisses from whosoever should be willing to give them to you! I wanted to trust you, but now I am afraid to let myself believe you are any better than any other lord is.” Avalana paused but a moment before she reasoned aloud, “And yet, I cannot run from you, as I would run from Garrett and Dandrakor. Mountaintops cast me down! Drown me in the sea!”
Loric shook his head against her woeful pleas.
Avalana continued to pour out her feelings, confessing hopelessly, “I am helpless against my belief that you are not the double-dealing cheat I saw earlier tonight. Therefore, I must believe you are in fact the other Loric I know: my Ami. You have to be the Loric who speaks from his heart and makes no pretense about his feelings. Garrett and Dandrakor are both men of higher birth, Loric, but in you I have seen only a just heart, until tonight. This night robs me of joy and shatters my soul. Perhaps this Lady Hadelia has seen this quality in you as well. No,” Avalana argued against herself, moving toward her door with the clumsiness of one deeply wounded.
“Perhaps it is for the best that you have shown so little restraint in the presence of other women or I would still trust you....”
“What are you saying, fair Avalana?” Loric asked, completely baffled by the jumble of messages he was receiving. “Aside from your warranted loss of faith and trust in me--for which I am deeply regretful--it almost sounds as though....” Loric could not finish his sentence, because he could not believe it was possible.
Avalana had to finish for him, because she could not deny the truth. She nodded reluctantly and said, “I love you, Loric, my Ami.”
Loric could not reciprocate with words. He was acutely aware of every detail of the lovely princess, even down to the subtle points of her ears, the least mole on her arm. He knew her passions, con and pro, and yet he had never thought to hear his name uttered amongst the latter group. It was improbable, but it was wholly welcome. It was forbidden, and therefore more tempting to Loric. He strayed from the magnitude of the princess’ statement to the weight of her burden to question, “Yet this causes you pain?”
“It is painful beyond what words can express,” Avalana answered. “I love thee, Loric, and because of my love, I can forgive you that one kiss.” She continued, “But I am a princess by blood, and by my blood I am bound. That is why I must marry a nobleman of equal status, not lesser.” Avalana burst into tears and begged, “Do you not understand? I have told you before.
My father is not here for a mere visit. Rather, he is here to make alliances by giving away my hand.”
Loric’s mind reeled. He had heard Avalana speak of Avalar’s intent before, but he always denied it by forgetting about it. Belinda and Barag danced through his head once more. “No,” he murmured. He could not believe what he was hearing, and yet he realized Avalana had spoken the truth. It was evident in her words, but he refused to accept it. His heart was screaming to the thinking mass inside his head that it could not be true. He did not want it to be true. Yet he understood that it was as the princess had said.
Loric had released his cares for Belinda and Barag. He had decided the bully could have Belinda. He likewise wished the couple many years of happiness together. Loric was at peace.
“You mean-?” Loric began doubtfully, as he came to realize who would benefit from
Avalar’s intended alliance.
“Yes,” answered the princess, looking as pale as one receiving her death sentence. “My father intends to pledge my hand to Garrett. He has not said as much to me, but I guess all that he plans for his kingdom.” Avalana ended on a bitter note.
Loric’s head was awhirl with confusion. All he could see was a replay of Belinda and Barag making merry at Taggert’s Pub, only the characters were Avalana and Garrett, and the setting was the Hall of Heroes. “My lady,” Loric asked, straining against the wild surge of emotions within him, “why do you tell me these things? Nothing I can do can prevent this happening. It is as you say. You are a princess by blood, and by your blood you are bound.”
“I know.” Avalana wept. “I also know that my father has likely made his choice, not to be swayed from it,” she continued softly. “I only hope to spare you from further pain because of me.”
How does knowing this spare me so? Loric wanted to question. Knowing that the lady I adore above all shall be wed to another before my eyes--It wrenches at my heart.
Avalana spoke on desperately, saying, “I tell you, so you may be comforted in knowing that my eyes weep with yours and my heart also despairs with yours.”
Footsteps came echoing down the hall, making it easier for Loric to say his farewell. “I am warned, but I am still wounded. I am comforted, but I feel no comfort.” Loric brushed tears from Avalana’s eyes in spite of his hurts and assured her, “The only comfort I will ever have, is in knowing that you are happy, fair princess. Farewell. I wish a happy marriage to you.” He turned toward his door.
“The only comfort I will ever have,” Avalana answered, crying, “is in knowing that my happiness comes from your love for me.”