"He sees it as a way to join our two kingdoms and prevent further wars." Mariana gave her a sad smile. "It does make sense from his point of view."
"Well, isn't that wonderful, from his point of view? What about from my point of view? I don't want to marry a man I've never met."
"And you don't have to," Mariana said.
Ursula stared at her sister. "But what about Valborough's relations with Heyton?"
Mariana stood and approached her sister. "First of all, no agreement will be made without the release of the prisoners. That is not something I'm willing to ignore. Secondly, you're not a commodity that can be traded for peace. You're a Princess and my sister. I will never force you to marry someone for diplomatic purposes. I remember what it felt like when Father told me I was going to marry Pir Leo. I wouldn't put you through that."
"To be fair," Orlando said, "as far as we know, King Killian isn't as old or as ugly as the Sahdeer."
In spite of everything, Ursula had to chuckle. "I suppose there is that."
"Ursula, please don't worry. I won't make you marry him. I want to look over the whole proposal and discuss it with the rest of my advisors. At least, I want to make sure we can get the prisoners back before we agree to anything." She kissed her sister's cheek. "We'll see you at dinner."
Chapter 5
Gideon paced the large parlor in the middle of the three guest rooms that made up the suite he and the others who had come from Heyton were given. His valet and closest friend, Dashiell, lounged on one of the fragile looking loveseats, long legs thrown over one arm.
While he knew he should probably be bothered by the idea of Dash breaking one of Valborough's fussy little chairs, all Gideon could think about was that delicate Princess Uncle Killian intended to marry. How was someone who looked like a golden porcelain doll going to survive in the Sapphire Palace, where intrigue and back room deals were how everything got done?
Princess Ursula stood half a hand shorter than he was and wasn't as tall as Uncle Killian's oldest daughter, Oriana. Her light blonde hair would stand out among all the darker hues of the women in the court. If anyone was trying to harm her, which, given his family, wasn't unthinkable, she wouldn't be able to hide.
Killian couldn't know anything about his potential bride. The family would eat her alive.
"This is unbelievable," Gideon said, but as he had for the last half hour, Dash grunted in response and shoved another piece of some nutty, chocolate concoction in his mouth from a box sitting on a low table in front of his seat.
"Is that all you have to say to this?" Gideon stopped moving around the room and stared at his friend.
"I don't know what you want me to say. You've expressed your irritation that the Queen didn't agree to the treaty without discussing it with her advisors. I don't particularly share your feelings, but what can I do about it? I will listen to you rant and rave, but I will also enjoy this delicious candy. I probably won't have any trouble sleeping in the bed in that room, either." He pointed to the left most of the three bedchambers that opened onto this parlor.
"You're not frustrated that we are being made to wait for however long while they consider the proposal?"
"I'm not, Gid." Dashiell unfolded himself from the small couch, picked up another chocolate to toss in his mouth, and walked over to his friend. "I'm tired, son. I'm actually grateful for the chance to change out of these dusty clothes, get something to eat, maybe take a short nap. I've never been at my best talking to royalty right after getting off a horse at the end of a full day of riding."
Gideon tsked. "You were in a comfortable carriage all day."
Dashiell shrugged. "Same thing."
"Not exactly."
"My point is, my legs were stiff, my back ached, and frankly, my seat was numb." He grinned. "It's never easy talking to beautiful Princesses and Queens, and much less so when one's nether regions are regaining their feeling and starting to make other needs known."
"Is that all you think about?" Gideon rolled his eyes and turned away.
"Not all I think about, but it does come up from time to time." The grin broadened.
"We're not here for that, and I doubt if there will be time for you to find a willing woman."
"It doesn't take that long. Anyway, what about King Killian's Princess? Was she pretty?"
"I haven't the first idea whether she was pretty or not." Gideon didn't meet his friend's gaze. Ursula was to be Uncle Killian's wife, and she was the daughter of the man who destroyed the village of Clearlea. He couldn't think about her eyes or how her hair reflected the light in the throne room.
Dash laughed. "I don't believe you. Josiah and Damien might think you don't know your way around a woman, but I was at the university with you. Now, is she pretty?"
"I suppose so, if you like skinny women with long eyelashes." He dropped into a chair, moving a pile of lacy pillows out of the way.
"I see." The valet nodded. "Must have been terrible. Poor King Killian."
Gideon threw one of the pillows at his friend. "It doesn't matter what she looks like. I have a job to do, and I want to get it over with."
"It's going to take a few days for all the details to be worked out. You know how women are about their weddings." Dash sighed and stretched.
"Why don't you try to relax a little? I saw a nice library down the hall. It's not my chosen form of relaxation, but you might like it."
Gideon nodded. "You're right. I think I will check out their books. Anything is better than sitting here, worrying about when we'll get home."
When Ursula left the throne room, her friend and Dressing Mistress, Lady Rebecca, was waiting at the door.
"What are you going to do?" Rebecca asked.
"You heard that?" Ursula asked.
The other woman lowered her head, blushing. "The door wasn't closed all the way, and I confess I was curious."
"Well, what can I do?" Ursula replied. "The Queen will discuss the proposal with her advisors and tell the Heyton Prince nothing will be agreed to if the prisoners are not released."
Lady Rebecca smiled. "Then you won't have to cancel your hour with the ladies on the sun porch."
"Of course. I don't have my sewing basket, though."
"I have it, Your Highness." Rebecca took it from under the bench. "I knew you probably wouldn't want to go back to your quarters."
"Thank you." Ursula smiled. Her companion was like a ray of sunshine on her staff. A widow who had lost her infant son to an infection, Rebecca was Ursula's closest friend.
Rebecca's father, Pir Jerome, had been one of King Jonathan's advisors. When Ursula turned twenty, he had asked the King if his daughter could find a place on the Princess's staff.
Now, three years later, Ursula couldn't imagine anyone better to care for her clothing and jewelry.
"I haven't had a chance to work on the tablecloth I'm making for Liliana," Ursula said as they headed for the sun porch, located on the second floor of the palace. "I had hoped to give it to her for her birthday next month, but I'm not sure it'll be finished by then."
"I could help," Rebecca said. "My stitching is not quite up to your skill, but I could do some of the smaller, less complicated areas."
"That's sweet, Becky, but I think I should do it myself. After all, it was my idea to make her the matching set."
"Of course, Your Highness."
When they reached the sun porch, five noble women and their companions, who held various sizes and shapes of needlework baskets were clustered around the doors.
"The maids are in the process of taking up the small carpets," Lady Laura, daughter of the Sahdeer of Reardel said. "We won't be able to talk in there."
"Oh, Royal Princess." Miss Carmela, the Upper Maid for the Public Rooms of the palace, curtsied when she saw Ursula. "We didn't know anyone was going to be in here, and Merec wants all the carpets cleaned now that we have a foreign visitor. He was quite distressed so little warning was given."
She looked around at the four younger maids w
ho had stopped working to watch the exchange. Then she curtsied to Ursula. "Would you like us to leave?"
"No. Of course not. We're the ones interrupting your work. Please continue. My Ladies and I will find another room to use." Ursula motioned for her friends to leave.
"Why don't you just tell them to wait for another day?" Lady Laura asked, pouting. "You're the Royal Princess. You shouldn't have to change your plans for maids."
Ursula didn't look at the other woman as she walked away from the sun porch "The way we treat the servants tells a lot about the kind of nobles we are. I would rather find another place to work than make their lives harder, when there is no need for it."
"Perhaps we can use the Queen's library?" Lady Rebecca suggested.
"No." Ursula sighed. "Orlando and some of his men are using that room to discuss plans to improve the royal roadways." She paused, biting her lip and thinking. "Let's go to the library in the South Hallway. The afternoon light will make it easier to see our stitches."
They got to the library just as one of the maids was leaving.
"You're not taking up the carpets in here, are you?" Ursula asked.
"No, Your Highness."
"Thank you." The Princess and her companions went into the library.
"That window," Ursula said, pointing to one end of the room. Dark blue draperies were tied back, revealing lush sheer curtains.
The ladies chatted as they moved chairs and adjusted the lengths of heavy fabric so the light could shine through. Then they sat, and Ursula smiled.
"This is nice, isn't it?"
"It is," Lady Laura said. "Now if only that maid would return. We could ask for tea and maybe some of those delicious biscuits we had after dinner last night."
"Oh, that would be nice." One of the other ladies sighed as she adjusted her stitching on her lap.
"I can ring her if you'd like." This was said by a male voice somewhere in the middle of the room.
Ursula started, and then stood. "Who's here?" Was someone playing a trick on her, or had her Air Sensitivity improved so much she could hear people talking who weren't even in the same room?
"Show yourself," Rebecca said, still sitting and clutching her needlework project to her like a shield.
"Don't fear." A man stood up from where he'd been sitting in a chair with a high back that hid him from Ursula's view. She gasped when she realized it was Prince Gideon.
"I didn't see you when we came in," she said. "Why didn't you speak up?"
"I saw no need." He took his cane from where it was lying under the chair. "This is a library, so I thought whoever had come in would get what he or she wanted and leave. And, even if they didn't, unless it was an orchestra or a large group of people, I didn't think we would bother each other."
He jerked his chin at the rearranged furniture and curtains. "I will admit all the remodeling you were doing did make it hard for me to read."
Ursula looked over her shoulder at the work they had done, then back at him. "You could have made your presence known when it became clear we intended to stay."
"Until your Lady mentioned tea and biscuits, I didn't know what your true intentions were."
She met his eyes. Was there a twinkle of amusement there? The man was insufferable. First he acted annoyed at her in the throne room, and now he was laughing at her discomfort.
Why was she the one who was uncomfortable? This was her palace. Well, her family's anyway, so shouldn't he be the one who was intruding?
He kept looking at her, as though it was her move in some complicated chess game. Those brown eyes sparkled, and she sensed he wanted to laugh.
"Perhaps it would be best if the ladies and I found another place to do our work," she said after a moment.
"No, please, Princess," he replied, taking a step toward her. "I'm sorry. I should have spoken up when you and your ladies started moving furniture. I'm afraid keeping quiet in these kinds of situations has become a habit with me. A bad habit."
"Keeping quiet is a bad habit?" This came from Rebecca. "I always thought it was best to be quiet. Less chance of getting into trouble that way."
"Ah." Prince Gideon said. "A kindred spirit, perhaps?" He tipped his head toward her, then returned his attention to Ursula. "Please, Princess, it would probably be for the good of my mission here if we could at least speak civilly to one another. I would like us to try to be friends, if possible."
"I don't know if we can be friends," Ursula said, "but we can at least try to be polite. Please, Your Highness, sit down. I'm sure that is preferable to standing." She, herself, sat again, adjusting her skirts as she did.
He took a seat closer to the women. "Thank you."
She cleared her throat and picked up her embroidery. "Did you have a good trip from Heyton?"
The Prince shook his head and frowned. "We're back to small talk? I had hoped we were past that."
"I don't know what you mean." Ursula kept her eyes on her fabric. "I was merely inquiring about your journey."
"Are you really interested in the details of a long, dusty, boring trip from the Sapphire Palace in Heyton to Aldlake in Valborough?"
She opened her mouth to say of course she was interested but when she met his gaze, her voice froze. Something in his dark-eyed expression made her realize she didn't care at all about the details of the trip.
He was different than any foreign royal, or indeed any man of noble birth she'd ever met. All of her life spent in the company of members of society had taught her the art of conversation that never delved any deeper than light, safe, unimportant subjects. She had become quite skilled at talking for hours with Sahdesses and Margresses about nothing at all.
How could she talk to this Prince if he wasn't willing to play by the same rules she did?
She swallowed and tried another tactic. "I have never been to the Sapphire Palace, nor indeed, any part of Heyton. What is your kingdom like?"
"What is Valborough like?" he asked in return. "Can you sum up an entire nation in just a few sentences? Heyton is much like Valborough, I would assume. We have good people and bad people, farmland and villages with shops and a few places where goods are made. Children play in meadows and swim in ponds and men sometimes go to war."
Ursula's heart began to beat harder at these last words. Was he trying to start a discussion of the tensions between their two nations?
"One hopes war is not a regular occurrence," Rebecca said. "Many lives are lost and more are damaged."
Prince Gideon turned his attention to her. "That is an interesting and unusual observation. I wonder why you would say that."
The Dressing Mistress blushed under his scrutiny. "It's just Princess Ursula has taken it upon herself to try to help those children whose fathers did not return from our war with your country. We've seen the pain and suffering these children live with."
"War is painful." The Prince sobered. "As is the death of any loved one."
"Death is one thing," Ursula said before she could stop herself, "but when men are lost and their fate is unknown, the pain never lessens over time. In fact, it often deepens as days and years roll on with no news other than that a father or husband is still not home."
Prince Gideon frowned and studied her face. "Are there many men from Valborough still missing?"
"Missing?" Ursula's voice rose. "The men I speak of, or at least, the majority of the men, are not missing. We both know exactly where they are."
"Then I'm afraid I don't understand. If they're not missing, then how can it be that years have passed with no news of their situation?"
Ursula sighed and shook her head. "I thought you wanted us to be friends, and here you are, lying already." She picked up her stitching and stood. "I think any other conversation we have can wait until our official meeting later."
"No, please." Gideon struggled to stand. His obvious discomfort touched her heart, but she refused to let any sympathy show. He had shown himself to still be the enemy, even though they stood under an invi
sible banner of peace. "Wait."
"I don't believe there is any more to discuss."
"No. I'm sorry. Perhaps there has been a misunderstanding," he said. "I truly don't know what you're talking about. I know many men were killed on both sides of the last war, and I know, at least for our side, we have more than a hundred soldiers who have never returned home nor sent word of their whereabouts. It has always been assumed they were killed in a battle or in some out of the way location and their bodies just never found."
"Well, that may be the case in some situations," Ursula said, "but in the case of the men Lady Rebecca spoke of, they were taken prisoner by your armies and never returned."
His brow wrinkled. "And no offer of a prisoner exchange or ransom arrangement was made?"
Ursula's heart thudded in her chest. His words deflated her anger. Of course, an offer most likely had been made. She didn't know much about the intricate ways of politics, but she had been around her father and Ramone, not to mention Orlando and his men, long enough to understand that civilized nations went to war, but when it was over, arrangements were made to return men to their rightful homes. Anything else was considered unjust and barbaric.
Her father had refused to discuss any terms for the release of the prisoners, ignoring the situation entirely. Now she found herself faced with either defending her father's choice or backing down from her condemnation of his family's actions.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "In truth, Your Highness, I don't know what arrangements were offered. I do know my father refused to discuss them or to meet with any Heyton representatives. I was young when the war ended and had no interest in such things."
"But that has changed?"
"Of course. Many things have changed in this kingdom, and I see the devastation caused to families, especially children whose fathers sit languishing in your prisons. I would like to see them brought home."
"Your Highness." Prince Gideon said. "I didn't know this, and, if what you're saying is true, my grandmother should have released the men with no reservations. It is, indeed, the right thing to do. Unfortunately, I am in no position to make that happen on my own, but perhaps if the proposal I brought with me is signed, we can work together to see those men brought home."
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