Beauty's Quest

by C. S. Johnson

  Something was wrong, Rose realized.

  It was time to investigate.

  She marched over to Marsor, her sword at her side. “Well, that settles that,” she declared.

  Marsor threw her a murderous gaze. “You cheated,” he accused. “My sword is made of the strongest material this side of the Great Sea. There’s no way your sword could have beaten mine.”

  Rose glanced down at the sword. The pink and green residue glittered once more, and she suddenly recognized it for what it was. “You’ve been using Magdust!” she announced.

  The crowd, now silent, gasped.

  Catcalls, anger, and calls for disqualification poured out a second later.

  Marsor jumped up, momentarily forgetting his injury. “It’s not true,” he objected, before turning back to Rose.

  She stuck her sword blade straight at him in warning. “I have been given the sword of Queen Lucia herself,” she told him, watching as his eyes crossed as they stared down the tip of her sword. “It is more than capable of standing up to your sword’s foul corruption.”

  The jousting judges called for order behind them.

  “Looks like you’re going to get a proper punishment. I know the Magdust trade is costly and illegal.”

  “You’ll pay for this,” Marsor grumbled.

  “I’m already paying,” Rose informed him. “How I would love to slice you up for your cruelty not only to my horse but my friends! Now that justice has found you, I feel the cost of restraint; I feel nothing but disappointment that I couldn’t kill you and send your evil soul to the devil myself.”

  She turned and walked away, her fists clenched her sword and shield more and more tightly as she walked away, even though her mind screamed at her, telling her to go back and secure the full amount of blood due her.

  Rose felt her steps slow as the argument grew louder. But she pressed on. The silent argument within her pressed into her more.

  It was too easy to let him live.

  It would be harder to deal with regret if she killed him.

  He might hurt someone else.

  His pride was defeated, and his person was in pain. That would have to be enough.

  Marsor hurt the innocent and cheated several hundreds of others, most likely.

  She could be thrown out of the tournament.

  He deserved it.

  She deserved to be the better person.

  Rose sighed as she finally made it clear of her post. It was over.

  “Look out!”

  Rose heard Theo’s call just in time; she heard the whisper of sloppy footwork behind her. She sidestepped Marsor’s awkward advance and thrust up her shield in time to protect herself from getting sliced with his broken sword. She returned his attack, lashing at him.

  Her sword bit into him, again and again, as her anger burst free of her self-control.

  She cried out as he finally dropped his sword and crumbled to the ground, weakened too much to stand. Rose felt her sword rise for the killing blow and did nothing to deter it.

  Marsor’s face twisted with terror.

  She felt a violent satisfaction as she swung down.

  Clang!

  Rose gaped as her sword met with another.

  She looked up to see Theo had intervened. “That’s enough, Rose,” he said. “It’s all okay now.”

  “Theo!” Rose roared. “What are you doing? He’s a cheater, using Magdust. He hurt my horse and Roderick, and countless others!”

  “Exactly,” Theo told her. “Every one of those people deserve to have him answer for all his crimes, not just the ones against us.”

  “Augh!” Rose thrust her sword into the ground in front of him. “Fine. Have it your way.”

  She hurried away, knowing it was pity she saw in his eyes as he looked at her.

  *15*

  ҉

  “THANK YOU,” THEO MURMURED kindly to the jousting judge, as he handed Theo Rose’s winnings. As he pocketed the coins, a mixture of exhaustion and resignation cloaked him. It had been hours, surely, he thought, since the joust had been over, but his job was over for the day. “Lady Rose thanks you for today’s ... adventurous joust.”

  “We should be the ones thanking her. I’ve never seen such participation and excitement from the audience. Who knew a woman rider would be so amusing to them? It’s positively decadent.” The judge guffawed before he nodded and dismissed Theo.

  Theo decided it was for the best he had been the one to receive the winnings. Rose would not have taken kindly to the judge’s remarks, even if it would not have been the first time hearing such things.

  Once Rose had walked away, no one else had wanted to joust. Many were more concerned with justice more than the entertainment, as Marsor had been hauled off by officials. One of the judges had let Theo know Marsor would be punished for unfairly attacking his opponent, but with Rose’s fury, more of his behavior was also being called into question.

  The audience, Theo realized, preferred such an ending to the day.

  Sophia came up beside him. “We’re all cleaned up here.”

  “And Rose’s horse?”

  “She’ll be able to walk, but not far, in the bandages I’ve put on her.”

  “Will the inn be too far, you think?”

  “I can run and get Mary,” Sophia offered, “if we get stuck.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t look so glum,” Sophia said. Theo glanced at her. From her expression, Sophia could have been talking to herself as much as she had been talking to him. “We won, didn’t we? And Marsor is out of the way. All we have to worry about is tomorrow, when Philip will be fighting.”

  “That’s all we have to worry about?” Theo shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Okay, so Rose is upset, I know.” Sophia sighed. “She’s just angry at what happened. I am too. Although, I do think you were right to stop her from killing him. I hope they decide to execute him publicly for hitting her horse.” Reaching over, she rubbed the horse’s nose with clear affection. “Although death might be too kind for a brute who would hurt an animal like you,” she cooed, talking to the horse.

  “Rose won’t thank me for stepping in.”

  “She has always overlooked many of your kindnesses,” Sophia told him softly. “And you never hold it against her.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Sophia snorted. “Please don’t pretend you’re going to start holding her accountable to you. That’s laughable. I know you well enough to know you will brood needlessly when it comes to Rose.”

  “I suppose,” he said. Isra had told him once that his love for Rose was always painfully obvious to everyone except Rose, who would never see it, and he would never be direct about making her look.

  “So, how much money did we get?” Sophia asked, deliberately changing the subject. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”

  “Enough to make up for getting you out of work many times over,” Theo assured her, “even with subtracting the cost of a horse from it.”

  “That’s good. We should have enough for passage soon, right?”

  “If my calculations are correct, we have enough now,” Theo said.

  “That’s great!” Sophia cheered. “Philip doesn’t have to worry about competing.”

  “Well, we’ll likely need supplies too, don’t forget,” Theo reminded her. “I’m not sure of what kind of prices we’ll face for those.”

  “Surely, we’re well off enough,” Sophia argued. “We still have some Rhonian coins for when we get to the Romani territory.”

  “Not enough to get us back to Rhone.”

  “Maybe we can stop off in Einish,” Sophia retorted. “Philip’s surely got an allowance.”

  Theo laughed. “Perhaps,” he agreed. It wasn’t a bad idea, he thought.

  They walked with their new horse through the city streets. Sophia chatted easily, telling Theo of her work in the city forage, how Ethan was getting along with Penelope and his music, and ot
her things; Theo largely disregarded her until she mentioned Philip and Rose were going to go see Ethan perform later.

  “Perform?” Theo asked.

  “Yeah, Rose said she’d asked Philip if he wanted to come, since he was working on getting ready for tomorrow’s event. She told me it would be a nice way for him to relax.”

  “That was kind of her,” he replied, his tone neutral, while his heart twisted.

  “Yeah. Ethan didn’t want a bunch of people there, or I’m sure she would have made sure we all went.”

  “Understandable,” Theo agreed. He thought about it. “Sometimes it is hard to allow the people surrounding you to see you change.”

  “You’re not still worried about Rose arguing with you earlier, are you?” Sophia’s eyes sparkled with concern. “You really mustn’t. She was provoked.”

  “Yes, I know. She’s been stressed for a long time, and getting shipwrecked and sidetracked has only added to it. But it is not the nicest thing to know how limited one is when it comes to comforting her.” As an afterthought, he added, “Or at least, in calming her down.”

  Sophia took ahold of the reigns. “Go on,” she ordered. “Go and talk to her.”

  “I’m not one to let her rejection get in the way of my duties,” he said. “And she’ll most likely be gone by the time we get back to the inn, if she’s going to see a performance.”

  Sophia sighed. “Just go and find her.” When he hesitated, she doubled down. “No, really. Theo, she takes care of all of us. You’re the one who makes sure she’s taken care of in return. If you need to go make sure she’s okay, then go see if she’s okay. It’s fine. I can handle Lightning here.”

  “Lightning?” Theo inquired.

  “You know, the horse.” Sophia shrugged. “I figured the name suit her, since she can really gallop.”

  “She was able to,” Theo reminded her. “There’s no guarantee she’ll be able to run again, after her injury.”

  “Mary’ll be able to fix her up,” Sophia insisted. “You’ll see.”

  “Well, I certainly hope so,” Theo agreed, allowing himself to grin as he stroked the newly-named Lightning. “Let’s hope she gets better like lightning, too.”

  Sophia giggled before exclaiming happily, “Look! There’s the inn now.”

  The horse nudged him softly, and he agreed the mare might have had a point. “All right. I’ll go and fetch Mary for you, and then I’ll go and talk to Rose.”

  “Good.” Sophia smiled, satisfied. And then her mismatched eyes moistened. “You and Rose are the closest things I’ve ever had to real parents. I hate to see you both sad.”

  “That’s why we’re working to break the spell Magdalina has placed on her.”

  After a moment of silence, Sophia nodded. “All right. Go on and get Mary, then.”

  *16*

  ҉

  THE TAVERN WAS FULL of cheery music and brightness; Rose found it was easy to lose herself in all of its joyfulness and enchantment. Despite the commotion earlier, she had managed to walk off a good deal of pain and anger. And while shame still lingered, she was determined to ignore it for Ethan’s sake.

  “What are you thinking about?” Philip asked, handing her a tankard of ale.

  “Nothing, really,” Rose answered. “And it was glorious, before you interrupted it.”

  “I’m lucky to be alive, then.”

  “Yes,” Rose said pointedly. “You are.” She nodded in the direction of his wound, and even as he brushed her off, she noticed he was still sitting more stiffly than usual.

  He took a sip of his own drink before asking, “Where’s Ethan?”

  “Getting ready over in the musician’s corner,” Rose told him, gesturing toward the far end of the brightly lit tavern. “As I understand it, the competition will be announced and then they’ll get started.”

  “Thanks for inviting me tonight.”

  “Well, I know you’re a big fan of the arts,” Rose replied easily. She grinned. “Maybe you’ll be inspired to write Isra some more poetry.”

  “I might,” he admitted. “But I’m not sure she’d like it. You don’t like it.”

  “It’s not practical,” Rose said with a shrug. “And I’ve had too much of it in my direction over the years.”

  “From Theo?” Philip asked.

  “What? Why would ... no, not from Theo,” Rose sputtered back. “Goodness, no, never from Theo. No, I had a large variety of suitors who came to see me.”

  Philip laughed. “And you criticized them for praising your beauty?”

  “There’s no point in celebrating what people see when they can’t see what’s behind it.”

  Philip did not say anything for a moment. Then he looked over to see Ethan making his way over toward them, carrying his harp in one hand. In his other hand, he held fast to a pretty young lady with olive skin and glossy, auburn hair.

  “Poetry is better suited to people who live it, rather than spout it with no understanding,” Philip told Rose. “And it looks like we might just have such a sight coming our way.”

  Rose glimpsed up as Ethan came to a halt. “Rose,” he said. “This is Penelope, my music instructor.”

  At the introduction, Penelope blushed. “Pleased to meet you, My Lady.”

  “And this is Philip.” Ethan waited while Rose and Philip inclined their heads in greeting before he asked, “Did Sophia come in yet?”

  “No, not yet,” Rose said. “She might not come at all. We had some issues on the jousting field earlier.”

  “You’re the lady knight who defeated Marsor the Beast?” Penelope asked.

  Penelope was young yet, Rose noticed, even though she had been dressed for a formal occasion. She had almost thought Penelope to be closer to her age, but the innocence of her large, chestnut eyes betrayed her real age to be closer to Sophia’s, or even Ethan’s.

  “That’s right,” Rose confirmed.

  “You are practically everyone’s hero, My Lady.”

  “Please, call me Rose.” As Penelope began to tell her how everyone was more than pleased to hear of Marsor’s defeat, and the subsequent findings of Magdust and several witnesses to his dishonorable methods, Rose wondered if anyone watching had seen that there was a greater enemy inside of her than there had been on the field. Yes, Marsor was a cheat and a liar, with no respect for life, but she had been unable to control her collected anger.

  Rose knew full well she was not a true hero; she was just the better competitor. Even Theo, she knew, would be unable to defend her after how she’d treated him earlier.

  “—so fortunate that he’s being deported.”

  “Deported?” Rose repeated.

  “Yes, uh, Marsor has been sentenced to be extradited back to Castile and Aragon, and he has been completely disqualified from the tourney,” Penelope told her.

  “That’s good, I guess. I’m certainly tired of seeing him.”

  “It will be good if the courts there are able to take him up on his charges. There’s a battle for power in the country, as the two territories are still not used to having a united kingdom.”

  “I’ve heard,” Rose muttered, before changing the subject. “So, Ethan tells me you’re a composer as well as a performer.”

  Penelope smiled. “I hope to establish a reputation by the time I am old enough, so I can wed into a royal court as a player.”

  “Consider this an audition, then,” Rose told her. “If you’re good enough, we can find a court for you where you can perform.”

  “What?”

  “Did Ethan not tell you? I am the Princess of Rhone, a small kingdom on the other side of the continent.” Rose, satisfied Ethan had not told her, was willing to help make Penelope’s dream come true without such a cost.

  She nodded over to Philip. “And this is Philip. He is the Prince of Einish. Between the two of us, we’ll be able to find a place for you in our courts.”

  Penelope looked stricken. “Surely, you are jesting.”

  “No. Why w
ould I lie about that?”

  “I heard the rumors,” Penelope said, clearly uncomfortable. “I didn’t think they were true.”

  “What’s wrong?” Rose asked. “We’re allowed to be here.”

  “Maltians have a complicated history with rulers,” Penelope explained. “They would fear that you would seek to conquer the island.”

  “I’m not here for that, I can assure you.”

  “But why else would a prince and princess be here, of all places?”

  “We were shipwrecked,” Ethan reminded her. “I told you about it earlier this week.”

  “But ... but ...”

  “I didn’t give you stage fright, did I?” Rose asked, suddenly realizing she might have overset the poor girl’s nerves.

  “Uh. No. But Maltia is dangerous for royalty. They have kept their government here for many centuries now because of how kings and queens had sought to conquer the island.”

  “No need to worry then, Penelope.” Rose took another sip of ale. “We’re not here to conquer anyone.”

  Penelope’s eyes were still hesitant as she changed the subject. “Well, then, I’d love to sing for you, Your Highness.”

  “Rose, please.”

  Penelope looked aghast, glancing from Ethan to Rose to Philip. She squared her shoulders. “All right ... Rose. I hope you enjoy tonight’s performance.”

  “I’m sure I will,” Rose assured her. “I’m looking forward to seeing what Ethan has learned.” Ethan blushed, and then excused Penelope along with himself, as the call to begin the entertainment trumped out from the tavern’s small stage.

  “That was certainly nice of us to offer her a position in our courts,” Philip murmured.

  “I’ll say.”

  “You know, it might be better to keep quiet about who we are,” Philip said.

  “I’m not worried about it.”

  “I noticed.”

  “Are you worried about it?” Rose glanced over at him. “You were the one who revealed us to the crew of the ship we came in on, weren’t you?”