Princess

by Nicolette Andrews

  “And what was the other reason?”

  Nathaniel and Celeste exchanged a look. She nodded her head, and he continued explaining, “The people are unhappy with your marriage to Mathias. As you know, there are many who are angry about it. The people of Danhad do not like the idea of a Biski ruler.”

  “Because I am only half Danhadine they feel that a child of Mathias and mine would not be fit to rule?”

  “Something like that,” Celeste said with a smile. She was watching me, her eyes raking me up and down. I wrapped my arms around my chest.

  “I get the feeling there is more you are not telling me,” I said

  “You’re right. As you may have noticed, the Order is not just Danhadines. Our interests are spread across all the kingdoms and we hear much. We have learned of a new prophecy; Duchess Diranel foresaw your son. He will be a ruler among men, but he will also bring destruction to the kingdoms.”

  I pressed a palm to the flat of my stomach. Could I be with child? It was too soon to tell for sure. “How do you know her vision will come to pass? Many children die in infancy or never reach adulthood. Why would my son be so different?”

  “We do not know what would make him special, but we know you must be removed from those savages. For the good of the kingdoms. Ideally you would not have been wed to that savage, but once we can be certain you are not carrying his child, a suitable husband will be found for you…”

  “He is not a savage!” I snapped.

  Celeste, Lord Herrondell and Jean-Paul all looked at me as if I had grown a second head. My eyes swiveled between the three of them. I had to think quickly. “You said my brother wanted me to choose my own spouse. What you are planning is no better than what Layton or my aunt planned for me. Why would I agree to help you?”

  Celeste spoke. “You will help because a war is coming. Four kings will raise their armies, and the blood of the innocent will soak the earth. If you bear a son to Mathias, he will become the leader of the Biski, and all the kingdoms will go to war.”

  I clutched at my throat. “You’re lying to me. That cannot be true.”

  “Why do you think we fought so hard to stop this marriage? Why others have tried to kill you? If you die, then the child will never be born.”

  I shook my head. It could not be true. They were lying to try to scare me. But when I thought of Duchess Diranel with her grave expressions and her veiled warnings to me, I felt compelled to believe.

  “And if I do not bear Mathias a child, then lives will be spared?”

  “There is a ceremony we must perform to ensure you are not carrying his child,” Nathaniel said.

  I felt sick to my stomach. My value had always been in a son I might bear. I had never considered what it meant to be a mother, but when I thought of carrying a life made by Mathias and me and having it ripped from my body, I felt cold all over. I could not let them perform this ceremony. I dared not reveal my reservations, however.

  My hands shook and I gripped my gown. “I do not have a choice, do I?”

  Celeste smiled. “We never really do, my dear.”

  Chapter 14

  I have always been good at escaping. In Keisan I slipped in and out of places without ever being seen. Often times I left my guards guessing as to where I would pop up next. In Celeste’s camp escape was impossible. Her guards were hypervigilant, and I always had at least two of them with me. According to Celeste, it was for my protection. They did not chain me up, not yet, but I suspected that was the next step if I put a toe out of line. We were all pretending to be friends, but we all knew I was their hostage. They needed me, that much was true, the rest of her story I doubted with every fiber in my being. I knew they did not want me to bear Mathias’ child; as for this prophecy, I was not so certain. I believed Duchess Diranel had the power of foresight, but whether or not this ragtag group was privy to her prophecies was another matter.

  Despite the shabby state of the camp and its soldiers, Celeste had a veritable court traveling with her. She had three lady’s maids who tended to her every need. She also employed a cook and two valets in addition to the ramshackle soldiers who acted as guards and I would presume her defense should we be attacked. There was no sight of rescue even days after I was kidnapped. We saw no sign of life, not even smoke in the distance. It was eerie. And though I thought often of escaping, I was not sure where I would go. It was as if this group were the only ones left in the world.

  I saw little of the others in the camp. I was kept isolated from everyone but Celeste and Lord Herrondell. Jean-Paul never came around. I had hoped to sway him, but I was not given the chance. Celeste assigned me four guards. They took alternating shifts of two guards each. They were all Neaux. Celeste pretended it wasn’t intentional, but I knew she was keeping me from anyone I could communicate with. I tried starting conversations with my guards, in hopes I might charm them into letting me go. My Neaux was abysmal, however, and my guards only spoke their mother tongue. I had no hope of coercing them. I cursed myself for not paying more attention during my language lessons.

  We broke camp the day after I arrived, and made our way south. The travel was incredibly dull. The landscape stretched out before us as an endless sea of grass. Then each night one of Celeste’s lady’s maids would style my hair and dress me in gowns that were obviously made for Celeste—they were too tight in the bust and too loose in the hips. Then the guards marched me into Celeste’s tent, where we would dine together. She acted as if we were dining together at the palace. A long table stretched out between us and we were seated at opposite ends. The food was not much better than gruel, and on a good day we had dried meat and cheese, but Celeste still carried on as if we were eating fine delicacies. Her maids hovered, holding jugs of bitter wine, waiting to take our plates or refill a glass at a moment’s notice. Lord Herrondell joined us most evenings. He and Celeste made small talk, and I caught him making covert glances at me more than once. The way he looked at me made my skin crawl. I forced out polite conversation though it took all my effort to not shout or curse them for kidnapping me. The game we were playing was exhausting. I did not know how courtiers continued on with this dance of words and deceit full time. I needed to learn more about their plot, but they were both masters of evasion. They did not give me even the slightest hint as to what they were really planning for me.

  After a few nights of this, I figured I had played at being obedient long enough to make subtle inquiries. “How much longer until we reach the ceremony site?” I asked in what I hoped was a conversational tone.

  “Not much longer, a few days perhaps,” Celeste said as she cut into her meat. She did not look up at me as she ate.

  I pushed my own food around the plate. I knew if I was to be prepared to run at a moment’s notice, I would need to eat. The uncertainty gnawed at me and twisted up my stomach. My moon blood had started a few days before. I was both relieved and saddened to find that I was not carrying Mathias’ child. I was certain the maids had told Celeste this, but they had not altered course. That was when I knew this ceremony had nothing to do with a potential pregnancy. I feared what they really had planned for me. I don’t have much time left. I need to get away soon.

  “Something the matter?” Celeste said.

  I glanced up from my plate. She watched me, her head cradled in her hands.

  “Nothing, I was just thinking about my brother,” I lied.

  She smiled that malicious smile. “You miss him, I can tell. He was a clever man. I admired him greatly. You may not know this, but it is in large part due to his efforts that the Order has grown as much as it has. Before it was centralized to just Danhad. However, in recent years we have gained members in every nation. It is all thanks to the work your brother did before his death.”

  My eyes grew wide. Adair grew this organization?

  “You seem surprised.”

  “I never knew he was so involved with the Order.”

  “Oh yes, he was the leader.”

  “Who le
ads you now?” I asked, not expecting an answer.

  “I took over that role since his passing; it’s what he wanted.” She said this with a careless flip of her wrist. But when she turned away, pretending to take a sip of her wine, I could see the self-satisfied smirk on her face.

  We finished our meal and I returned to my tent. As I lay trying to sleep, I thought of Celeste’s hungry gaze and considered fleeing again. There was raw ambition in her expression and it terrified me. I could not imagine my brother, Adair, in her position. I had always thought of him as a good man. How could he be part of a group that would kidnap a woman and kill so many innocent? That is not the man he was.

  An opportunity to escape presented itself a few days later. The endless grass plains were broken at last by a river. We stopped before crossing, and while the party debated the best way to ford the river, I wandered about the river bend. I did not go far; my captors would not allow it. As I walked, I noticed a smudge of brown against the shore, down a few hundred feet from where I stood. I squinted and realized it was a boat. It seemed too good to be true. This is my chance. I just need to shake my guards, and I could hide among the grass and then slip down to the shore and let the current take me. There’s bound to be a settlement or people somewhere along this river. I walked casually down the riverbank, venturing farther from the group.

  The guard shouted after me in Neaux. I may not have understood all the words, but I understood the meaning. I stopped and placed my hands on my hips. “I have to relieve myself.”

  He frowned. One of Celeste’s maids translated. He nodded and waved for me to go.

  I was exalting in my good luck when the maid called out.

  “Madame!” she said.

  I stopped and waited for her, keeping my expression neutral. I did not want her to see my frustration lest she suspect my plans.

  “He told me to accompany you,” the maid explained.

  My heart sank. I wouldn’t be able to get away with her watching. I would have to find a way to sneak away. I wondered if she could be bribed. We went a fair distance from the group; there was a small hillside, the perfect place to make my escape from the others. I looked around for a blunt object, something to hit her over the head and render her unconscious. There was nothing but grass and more grass. I could see the boat turned over on the shore, just waiting to be taken. I was close to freedom; it felt like an itch I could not reach.

  “Do you mind if I have some privacy?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “I’m not to let you out of my sight.”

  I sighed. This woman was nothing like Celia and she would not be cowed. I felt a pang of longing for my friend but stuffed it down. There would be time to grieve later. I marched around the edge of the hill. I found a spot and relieved myself. The maid stood nearby, watching me with a hawk eye. I thought I lacked freedom back home; I never knew how fortunate I was until now. Then I noticed the leavings of some plains animal. I eyed them for a moment before committing to my idea. I grabbed the pile before I could second-guess myself and threw it at the maid. It hit her square in the face and she shrieked. I ran while she screamed. It was less than ideal, but it would keep her from physically stopping me. The others would hear, I was certain, but I was hoping I could run fast enough to get to the boat and on the river. The current was moving fast. If I reached it, they would not be able to catch me.

  Alerted by the maid’s screaming, the guards came thundering after me on horseback. I pumped my legs as hard as I could. Had I a horse, or had I not been inhibited by my gown, I might have made it. My feet sank into the soft earth along the riverbank. I could see the whirling patterns in the wood upon the boat. Then the guard caught me around the waist and scooped me up as easily as if I were a rag doll and flung me over the saddle. I kicked and flailed. I bit his hand and he grunted. He smacked me across the back of my head and said something in Neaux that I knew was a curse.

  They brought me back to the caravan as I thrashed about. He pinned my arms behind my back, and I was forced to the ground in front of Celeste. She stared at me with a cool impassive gaze.

  “I had hoped you would cooperate,” she said after a tense silence.

  “Do you think I am a fool? You kidnapped me in the middle of the night. You probably never knew my brother. Everything you told me was a lie.”

  She laughed and it was a husky sound full of mal-intent. “Oh, dear, you are naïve. It’s true we kidnapped you. But your brother was very much a part of this. It was his idea to use you for the ceremony. We have been waiting for you to come of age, to be of childbearing age; now the time is upon us. It is a pity he is not here to see his plans fulfilled.”

  “I don’t believe you!” I spat in her face.

  She wiped the spittle away with a contemptuous look.

  “Tie her up. I cannot stand to look at her another moment.”

  “I’ll kill you!” I shouted at her. I was being irrational, but I did not care. My brother would never have done this to me. “When I break free, I will wring your neck myself. My brother loved me. You are a liar.”

  She turned to look at me once more. She lifted her chin and smiled in her devious way. “You, my child, were nothing but a tool to him. Who could love the thing that stole away their mother? Her pregnancy with you drove her mad. He never loved you.”

  I wanted to argue, to say it wasn’t so. But her words had more weight than I wanted to admit. I sagged in my captors’ grip and went meekly with them.

  Chapter 15

  The guards grabbed me hard from behind. They yanked my arms back, nearly dislocating my sockets, as they bound my hands and feet. I cried out but did not make any attempt to fight back. They threw me into the back of a supply wagon. Inside it was dark and smelt of flour and spices. I wriggled in my bindings and tried to think of a way to escape. It seemed hopeless. Celeste’s words echoed inside my head. Had my brother loved me? What proof did I have? A few trinkets, a handful of memories that faded each day. I knew the emblem that the Order used was one my brother had chosen as his personal insignia. Could the Order of the Oak be his legacy? I felt as if I did not know my brother at all.

  At night the guard brought me a thin stew, which he spoon-fed me. Celeste was not taking any more chances with me. When dinner was over, the door was closed and I was left alone in the dark with my thoughts. I leaned against a lumpy sack and spent the night tormented by nightmares. In the morning, I was let out to relieve myself. My hands were left bound and a maid held up my skirt while I squatted. It was humiliating. When I tried to complain, I was gagged.

  Three more days passed in a similar manner. I spent my days listening to the creak of the wagon wheels, the thud of oxen hooves, and the low muttered conversation of soldiers. At last we came to a halt. The door to the supply wagon was thrown open, and my guard was standing there grinning from ear to ear. He was missing teeth and one of the remaining ones was blackened. He said something in Neaux, and it was not something I would want to repeat in polite company. It was just my luck I remembered all the Neaux curse words and nothing that could have saved me.

  I blinked in the daylight. My eyes had grown accustomed to the dim interior of the supply wagon. We had arrived at a lake. It was enormous and reflective as glass. The clouds skimmed across the surface as if they could not resist the urge to look upon themselves.

  Hundreds of footsteps had pressed the grass down along the muddy banks. A large group had been here not long ago. My first thought was Mathias, but that could not be possible. How would he know to look for me here? He wouldn’t be looking for me; he’d be glad to be rid of me.

  “What is this place?” I asked instead. I was glad to have the gag off at last.

  It was Lord Herrondell who answered me. “This is the place the Biski call Mother Lake. They gather here twice a year for ceremonies and the like. It is one of the few places where old magic is thought to still dwell.” He kicked at a bit of ribbon that had gotten caught in the mud.

  I don’t know wh
at they want from me, but I am terrified to find out. The group had grown while I had been in confinement. The newcomers were Biski; they had long hair tangled with feathers and beads, and nut-brown skin and almond eyes. Seeing them was a relief, I had not realized it, but I had begun to associate Biski with home, with Mathias. I longed for home, for the feeling of his strong arms. All the petty concerns seemed so distant now. What I wouldn’t give to be back with him to have one chance to tell him how I felt. I only pushed him away. Maybe if I had given him a chance, things would have been different between us.

  These men were not from Mathias’ clan. They wore necklaces made of claws and the border of their tunics depicted wild cats, the fierce plains animals with massive paws and claws that I had read about in books as a child. This is the Cat Clan! Now I had proof of the Order’s plotting but no hope of escaping to tell anyone about it.

  Lord Herrondell smiled at seeing the realization dawn on me. “The Cat Clan has been most co-operative in our efforts, and they want little in the balance, just a bit of steel.”

  “Then you’ve been behind everything, the attacks on Reglabal, all the feuding, everything.” It confirmed my suspicions. It made little difference, however. They would never let me leave this place alive, I was certain of it.

  He laughed. “Not me alone, but the Order has grown in influence among the clans of the Biski. The Cat Clan is just the beginning. They may be savages, but they have their purpose as well.”

  “You’re a monster. Do you really think you’ll get away with whatever you’re planning?” My hands itched to scratch at him, to beat his face in with a rock. Their plots had killed Celia, Owen and all the innocent people in Reglabal. I had never truly hated someone until that moment, but I hated Nathaniel Herrondell.

  He only smiled. “My dear, we already have. You cannot even comprehend the depths of our plans. You’re only a small insignificant part.”