by Kit Morgan
That difference between a “male” and a “man” rang true. “So many of them are just boys,” she whispered to herself.
“Aye. But rest assured, ye have yerself a fine young man.”
Mitzi smiled as Asger reached them, took her hands and gazed into her eyes. “You look lovely.”
Her cheeks grew hot. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.” His suit looked straight out of a historical film, a rich blue suit with a bright green sash and medals on the breast. He looked great in it.
“Thank you.” Music filled the air, and Asger grinned. “Would you like to dance?”
Mitzi’s heart stopped. “I don’t really know how,” she blurted. “I don’t want to make you look foolish.”
He gave her hands a squeeze. “We could dance in the corner, away from everyone else.”
“Um …”
“I’ll leave ye to it, man,” Dallan said. “Dinna leave without telling us.”
Asger nodded at him, then turned back to Mitzi. “To the corner, then?”
Mitzi smiled. “You’re determined, aren’t you?”
“Always.” He leaned down to her ear. “But part of me wants everyone to know you’re mine.”
“Kind of early for that, isn’t it?”
He nodded somberly. “You’re right, of course. We can’t do anything to harm my parents’ relationship with King Bjorn. But that doesn’t mean you can’t dance with me.”
He had heard there. “All right, but if I step on your toes you’ve been warned.”
He laughed and led her toward the dais.
“Where are we going?” Good heavens, he wasn’t thinking of taking her over to his family …
“You’ll see.” He pulled her along, despite some disapproving looks. She wondered if those guests were from Lacona.
Asger took her around the dais and the wall behind it to a large hidden sitting area, with several sets of French doors that opened onto a patio. “Asger, this is beautiful.”
“I thought you might like it. And we can hear the music fine from back here.”
“Won’t you be missed?”
“This area is for my family to retreat to. I’m allowed.”
“Well, okay …” Before she could say more, he tucked a finger under her chin, lifted her face to his and kissed her. It wasn’t a lengthy kiss, but it didn’t need to be. It conveyed how he felt.
When he broke it, she decided to convey some of her own feelings. She didn’t break her kiss until she realized that if someone saw them and told King Bjorn, trouble could start. “Wow, we’ll have to watch ourselves,” she said breathlessly.
He looked into her eyes and smiled. “Only for a little while.” He looked at the wall, beyond which was the dais and the Great Hall. “To think a few days ago I dreaded walking down the aisle of that room. It would be the end of my life. I’d have to marry a woman I wasn’t in love with and probably never would be. No man should have to suffer such a fate.”
“Or woman,” she said.
“Good point. Velta probably wouldn’t have loved me either.”
“Speaking of which, where is she and her father?”
“They’ll be along. Velta probably wants to make an entrance.” He looked her over and smiled. “Now are you ready for your first dance lesson?”
Mitzi blushed down to her toes. “I think the real question is, are you?”
Asger laughed. “We’ll find out.”
Mitzi and Asger didn’t realize they had an audience. Count Rudge and Dag the royal physician stood behind a hedge on the other side of the French doors. “That woman is ruining everything!” the count complained. “I thought Wilks told you to take care of her?”
“Yes, but she’s never alone. What am I supposed to do, shoot her in broad daylight?”
“I don’t care how you do it, just see it done! The last thing we need is for Princess Velta to catch them together. Then the marriage will be off. After all the work I’ve put into this, I won’t stand for it, do you hear me?”
Dag rolled his eyes. “Who can’t, with you bellowing like that? Keep it down.”
Count Rudge looked affronted, then straightened his robes. He was getting hard of hearing. “Just get it done, Dag, or no physician will be able to put you back together once I’m done with you. I want that woman eliminated, do you understand?”
“Perfectly,” he said. “Now disappear before someone sees you. Prince Consort Andel is in there, remember.”
“Yes, sitting on his lovely dais next to his lovely wife and family.” The count snarled. “They should have been mine.” He turned and left.
Dag watched Prince Asger with the young blonde. They made a handsome couple, even though it was obvious she couldn’t dance. But Asger didn’t mind and laughed every time she stepped on his toes. The physician chuckled. “Enjoy yourself, children. I’m afraid that tonight will be your last.” He turned and strode into the darkness, knowing full well that if it wasn’t her last, it would surely be his own.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mitzi stumbled and almost fell several times, but Asger was always ready to right her. She stepped on his toes, misinterpreted his instructions and was a generally horrible dancer, but none of it mattered to him. The longer he was with her, the more entranced he became. He’d said, “I love you” to her and meant it. He knew her, as if he was in her mind, and he liked it. Most of all, he knew he couldn’t live without her.
He looked into those wonderful blue eyes and lost himself. She was like a dream from which he would never wake up, and he wondered what he’d done to deserve this.
After Dallan explained things, he’d started to understand. Once he got past what Dallan and his wife were, that is. He couldn’t deny their existence, and after talking with his parents and heard how the couple had saved them all those years ago, their origins and what they could do didn’t matter. If not for them, he and his siblings wouldn’t even exist.
She stepped on his toe again. “Oh, sorry!”
He laughed, brought them to a stop and pulled her flush against him.
“Asger, what are you doing?”
“Holding you.”
“What if someone sees?”
He closed his eyes, reveling in the feel of her. “Let them.”
“But we can’t.”
He sighed. She was right. “All right.” He let her go, but it was hard – like dropping someone you loved off a cliff. “But I can’t do that much longer.”
“I know what you mean.” She looked at him, then flung herself into his arms. “That was horrible! And it was only seconds!”
“I know!” He held her tighter. “How do we get through this evening? I … I feel so vulnerable without you. Like I’m completely exposed to the world.”
She looked at him. “Wow, that was a lot to admit.”
“It’s true.” Unable to help himself and not caring if anyone saw, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
Mitzi wrapped her arms around his neck, urging him to deepen the kiss. He did and soon they were merging again, as if they could step into each other, fuse into one.
She broke the kiss before he could. “This is dangerous. I can’t let you get caught. Who knows what’ll happen?”
He smiled. “And what of you?”
“I’m not from here – I don’t have a reputation to protect.”
He laughed. “You’re protecting my reputation?”
“Of course.”
The urge to kiss her again was overwhelming, but he couldn’t. She was right, they had to stop. If all went well, in a few hours they’d be married and he could kiss her pretty face off. “Care for some refreshment?”
“That sounds great.”
He took her hand and led her to the opposite wall. “I’d better go first. At this point in the evening, if Velta or her father sees us coming out together, it could cause trouble.”
She sighed and nodded.
He smiled, kissed her on the forehead, then left his
family’s private sitting room – only to get stopped by Lieutenant Wilks. “Your Highness.”
“Wilks. What is it?”
“Princess Velta, Your Highness,” he said quietly. “We can’t find her.”
“What?” Asger glanced around. “Where is Captain Kolbeck?”
“He seems to have disappeared as well.”
“Kolbeck?” Asger said in shock. “What could have happened?” He looked around again, and didn’t see his parents anywhere. “Right, then – start a search. Locate them.”
“And when we find them?”
“Bring them here, of course.”
Wilks bowed. “Right away, Your Highness.” He turned and left.
Asger watched him go. “Hal, what are you doing?” He headed for a refreshment table and wondered if his friend had anything to do with Velta’s absence. Did her father know? He scanned the crowded hall for King Bjorn, but he too was nowhere to be seen. What was going on?
He took two glasses of punch from a servant and headed back the way he’d come. Halfway back to the dais he stopped and looked for Mitzi. She should be mingling by now. He turned a full circle, searching, then walked through the throng of guests, stopping to speak with those who asked if he felt okay. Soon he spied Dallan and headed for him. If anyone knew where Mitzi was, it would be him.
“There ye are, lad.” He saw the glasses Asger was carrying and smiled. “For Mitzi?”
“Yes, but I can’t find her. Have you seen her anywhere?”
“No …” The Scot closed his eyes a few seconds, then opened them. “Come with me.”
Asger followed him – straight for the dais, to his surprise. Had Mitzi decided to stay in the sitting room?
Dallan went behind the wall of the dais, through the door and stopped. “What is it?” Asger asked when he caught up, then noticed one of the French doors was open. They made a beeline for it, stepped outside and saw several guards sprawled on the ground, out cold. “What happened here?”
Dallan smiled. “Come and see.” He took off at a run – Asger dropped the glasses in his hands and had to labor to keep up with him.
They hadn’t gone far when they heard grunting sounds and thuds. “What the …?”
Dallan held up a hand to stop him and pointed.
Asger gasped and started forward, only to be stopped by a forearm like a tree limb. “Umph!”
“Dinna move. Watch.”
“Watch what?” He heard a female grunt and froze. “Mitzi?!”
Dallan held him fast. “Behold, young prince, yer protector.” He nodded at the scene on the other side of a low hedge.
Mitzi was fighting in a way Asger had never seen before. She flipped men over her shoulder, spun and kicked men in the belly or jaw, chopped them in the neck with the side of her hand. A couple of men went sailing over the hedge, one hitting the ground and rolling until he came to a stop just feet away. Asger looked at him and pointed. “That’s a Laconan guard. Why are King Bjorn’s men attacking her?” He tried to approach the hedge again.
Dallan grabbed his arm. “She can take care of herself, lad.”
Indeed, she could. Another man came flying over the hedge as two more took off running.
“Be right back.” Dallan was off like a shot.
Asger stood there a second, then ran to Mitzi. She stood breathing hard, surrounded by six or seven unconscious bodies – at least he hoped they were unconscious. Three more were on the other side of the hedge, and Dallan had taken off after the other two. All were wearing the red, white and gold of Lacona. He stared at her in awe. “Twelve men. You were attacked by twelve men?!” He took her in his arms. “Are you okay?”
She laughed. “Never felt better! Whoo, that was fun!”
He looked at her in shock. “Fun?”
“Yeah, though it wasn’t easy fighting in this getup.” She brushed at her skirt, miraculously untorn. “Man, I’m hot.”
He gaped at her. “What happened?”
“Two of these goons snuck in and tried to grab me. They must’ve already taken care of the Dalrovian guards outside. I put up a fight. Their buddies must have been waiting, saw what was happening and came to help. They got me outside and I realized they were having a hard time holding me and keeping me quiet, so I cut loose and let ‘em have it.” She looked at the men sprawled on the ground. “Wow. Shona said I’d be stronger now, but I didn’t think I’d be this strong.”
Asger held her close. “I thought I’d lost you when I saw my mother’s guards unconscious.”
“Not me,” she whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.” She smiled and kissed him. Asger felt her excitement in that kiss. An energy he couldn’t comprehend coursed through him at the contact. She was like a force of nature, and he wasn’t sure he could stay on his feet.
Thankfully Dallan returned, a struggling Lacona guard in each hand. “These men have some verra interesting things to say.” He raised his arms, holding them each up as easily as if they were a brace of rabbits.
Asger let go of Mitzi. “What were you doing? Who sent you?”
Dallan gave one a healthy shake. “The royal physician, Dag,” the guard yelped. “He ordered us to kidnap the woman and bring her to him.”
“What? Dag?” Asger said in disbelief.
Dallan shook the other guard. “And Lieutenant Wilks,” he whined.
“What?!” He stared at the guards’ dangling feet. “What treason is this?”
“It’s hardly treason to be rid of your mistress,” the second guard snarled.
Dallan pulled his arm back, getting in the guard’s face. “I’d think of something nicer to say if I were you. Like why they wanted ye to take the young lady.” He shook them both.
Asger frowned. “What did they want with her?”
The first man gulped. “They want her out of the way so you’ll marry Princess Velta.”
“What?” Mitzi looked at Dallan in alarm. “Is King Bjorn behind this?”
“King Bjorn doesn’t know – he just wants to be rid of her. She’s such a …”
“Shut up, Johann,” the second guard growled.
“No, I won’t shut up, Philip. She does nothing but complain and talk about finding her one true love. Who in their right mind wants to listen to such babble? None of the men His Majesty has found for her is ever good enough. She rejects them all!”
Philip rolled his eyes. “Now you’ve done it.”
Asger glared at them both. “Are you saying I’m Bjorn’s last chance to get rid of Velta?”
“Please don’t begrudge him, Prince Asger,” Johann begged. “He’s at his wit’s end.”
Mitzi laughed. “Are you saying she’s so hard to live with, he’s willing to cut a deal with another country just to get her out of his hair? Even threaten war if he doesn’t?”
The guards looked at each other, then at her. “Yes!” they said in unison.
“There’s more going on here than meets the eye,” Dallan said. “I understand King Bjorn’s motives, but not to the point of harming Mitzi. So what do this Dag and Wilks have to gain? Who’s telling them what to do?”
Asger’s heart sank. “Hal? No, it couldn’t be.”
Mitzi glanced at the palace and back. “Sounds like we have some people to question – starting with King Bjorn and His Majesty your dad.”
“Aye, I agree,” Dallan said. “It’s time to straighten this whole thing out. Let’s be off.”
“What about them?” Mitzi pointed at the guards.
Dallan glanced between them, banged their heads together and let them drop to the ground unconscious. “Let’s go.”
Asger winced, took Mitzi’s hand and followed. Things were definitely not going as planned. But then, what had the last few days?
“… And another thing!” King Bjorn huffed. “I’ll not be made a fool of! I know you know where she is! Speak!”
Andel sighed. “I told you, Your Majesty, my men are looking for her. Captain Kolbeck will report to me as soon as Velta is foun
d.”
Shona rubbed her forehead. Their argument was giving her a headache. As soon as King Bjorn showed up, all chaos broke loose. Dallan had been outside with Mitzi and Asger taking care of something – he didn’t tell her what, but from the amusement she felt in his heart, it was nothing life threatening. She hoped things remained that way inside.
“If anything’s happened to her,” King Bjorn bellowed, “heads will roll!”
Shona glanced at Queen Madeleina, who was squinting like she already had a headache. “If you will be patient, Your Majesty, I’m sure we’ll have news.”
“News? The only news I want is that my daughter is well and marrying your son tomorrow!”
“Oh, dear.” Maddie stood.
Shona was next to the dais where Maddie, Andel and King Bjorn were seated. She had no idea where Asger’s siblings were, but that was just as well – the fewer people listening to the king’s blustering, the better. She sensed Velta was near and in no immediate danger, and knew she needed to let this play out a little longer. It would be best if Bjorn, Andel and Maddie worked this out on their own.
“If Asger doesn’t marry my daughter immediately, then that’s it! I’ll not be insulted like this!”
Maddie gave Andel a helpless look. He held up his hand. “Your Majesty, there’s no need to be upset. Maybe the princess is nervous about getting married. Perhaps she doesn’t want to marry our son?”
“Not marry? It’s all she talks about. Of course she wants to wed!”
“Marry, yes, but not necessarily marry Asger.” Andel glanced at the ceiling as if praying.
More and more people were inching toward the dais to listen to the argument. Shona envied Lany, who’d they’d taken back to the Muiraran city of Mishna before the dance so he could find out a few more things concerning the history of the two countries. What would he find? Would all this matchmaking alter history? Would the name of the woman Asger married even be mentioned in a book or on the internet? She’d find out as soon as Kwaku and Zara brought him back.
