by Guy Antibes
Ricky smiled. Now he would be able to tell Effie that he had seen the infamous Princess Pira in the flesh. He had to admit he was a bit nervous. He had met Dukes before, but not under such friendly circumstances. Ricky wondered how friendly Princess Pira would be.
A woman opened the door. “Princess Pira, heir to the throne of Paranty. Please drop your knees.”
Ricky smiled. “How do I do that?” He couldn’t even picture someone ‘dropping their knees.’
Jac started to laugh, and Mara giggled, and the others did the same. Even the woman smiled and looked a little embarrassed.
A young woman with narrowed eyes swept into the room. Ricky’s first impression was that of a mousy girl, shorter than he had expected, with a white, pasty complexion. Her hair was a brown that looked like she had dusted it. She wasn’t pretty like Mara, and she wore a wicked smile. Ricky expected the wicked smile, but not in public.
“Drop your knees,” she said imperiously and then giggled. “My lady-in-waiting didn’t quite get the command right.” Pira sighed with mock disappointment. “A simple bow will work just fine,” she said. “Now you can all sit.”
Jac looked confused, but Ricky stood and bowed when she looked at him. “And you are?”
“Hendrico Valian, heir to the duchy of Naparra.”
“The sorcerer?” she said with a light in her eyes.
Ricky just lowered his head; he didn’t know how to respond to royalty, he just repeated how the woman presented Princess Pira. He was disappointed he was already known to the princess. Ricky would have preferred anonymity
“Now that we are such good friends, will you introduce me to your party?”
Jac’s party, Ricky thought. “May I present Jac Griama, son of Lord Griama, cousin to King Courer of Dimani, Ubbo Cassia, son of one of King Courer’s counselors, Borial Vesteria, son of a lord of Tossa and Mara Tossi, a sorceress from Fisttia.”
“You are a well-connected group. Sit down and worship me,” Pira said, with mischief in her eyes. “Isn’t that what King Courer wanted you to do? You come to woo, do you not, in front of your friends?”
Ricky tried to keep a smile off his face, but he didn’t think he succeeded, and he winced when Princess Pira spotted him trying to stop. He spotted a ghost of a smile on her lips. All of a sudden she didn’t look so mousy with that smile. She was able to make herself look plainer. How could a young woman do that? Ricky felt totally out of his depth, and he believed Pira capable of all the tricks Effie attributed to her.
She went around the room asking questions. Her attention returned to Ricky.
“You are well-acquainted with two of my former bodyguards, are you not?”
Ricky nodded. “Yes, Princess, I know Effilia Asucco and Nania Sarini.”
“Nania is in the city. Did you know?”
Ricky nodded again. “I spoke to her last night.”
Princess Pira made a sound. He thought it meant she understood or acknowledged what he said.
“Have they told you anything about me?”
Ricky began to sweat, but then he thought what did he have to hide? “A few things. Effie thinks you are an exceptionally resourceful princess.”
Pira laughed at that, and that made her visitors uncomfortable, except Ricky smiled back for some reason he didn’t know.
A courtier entered the room. “All rise for King Leon.”
Ricky was already standing. He looked at Pira, who made a face and mouthed ‘knees’ to him. She giggled silently behind the king’s back.
King Leon looked quite different from the princess. He had black hair and black eyes to go with a sallow complexion. He was thin and fifty-ish and appeared to be a man without humor. Ricky took an immediate dislike to his king.
“Lord Jac,” the king said. “It is good that you came to see Pira.” He looked around the room somewhat perplexed. “I see you brought an entourage.”
The princess stood with her hands folded primly in front of her. “I will make the introductions, Uncle Leon.” She proceeded to name and title each person in Ricky’s group correctly. She introduced Ricky last.
“The sorcerer, eh?” King Leon said with a sneer when introduced to Ricky. The king’s tone was not one of appreciation, even if Ricky had used his talent to subdue an insurrection ultimately aimed at capturing his throne. He knew he wouldn’t get any kudos from King Leon.
Jac explained their reason for being in Sealio.
“I’ll have one of my men show you around in an open-topped carriage. There are many sights in Sealio. Perhaps Princess Pira can accompany you. She is unafraid to mix with the masses when not adorned with the trappings of her exalted position.”
“We shall look forward to it, Your Majesty,” Jac said, bowing and placing his hand over his heart.
“Have a safe passage,” the king said. Ricky noticed the king’s suspicious eye on him as the monarch walked out. The king matched Ricky’s original sinister vision of Duke Noacci exactly.
Princess Pira looked triumphant. “I will pick you up an hour after noon. We will travel incognito,” she said. “Nobles travel in open-topped carriages all the time, and no one will notice young people. We are young, aren’t we?”
Ricky wasn’t so sure about Princess Pira. She seemed to be way ahead of everyone.
She gave the tiniest of bows to them all and left. Ricky glanced out the door to see about six women who waited outside the door during the audience. At least two carried themselves like bodyguards.
~
No one spoke until they were out of the palace grounds and back on the square.
“What a handful!” Ubbo said. “Mousy little thing. Who does she think she is?”
“The next ruling monarch of Paranty,” Ricky said. “She is the only close heir to the throne. If something happened to King Leon, she would be Queen Pira, not Princess.” Ricky said.
“That’s not likely to happen,” Jac said. “Some ambitious noble would slit her throat. I think that’s why King Leon wants to marry her off to avoid having to answer for something so messy.”
“Isn’t she too young? She looks like she just became a teenager,” Mara asked.
“Not when it comes to securing a succession,” Ubbo said.
“I think everyone will ignore her when the time comes,” Jac said. “The aforesaid ambitious noble will just proclaim a new dynasty, and King Leon’s relatives will just twist in the wind.”
“They could do it now,” Benno said. “My father said that if King Leon hadn’t stuffed the Council of Notables with his own men, he’d already be gone.”
“I think you should be quiet, my friend Benno,” Jac said. “He is your king.”
Benno blushed. “I’m sorry,” He put his hand to his mouth.
“I couldn’t believe your ‘knees’ comment,” Jac said.
“She was joking with us,” Ricky says. “The princess is a practical joker. What did we do when the king entered?”
“Oh,” Jac said, and then he laughed. “She would have had us kneeling to her as supplicants for the entire audience until the king came in. She probably knew King Leon was to make an appearance.”
Benno grinned and shook his head. “You thwarted her!”
“I doubt she can be thwarted. I only hope she doesn’t pay us back during our excursion through the city,” Ricky said.
~
A clerk at the inn notified Ricky’s party that their conveyances had arrived. Ricky had expected some trick, and he wasn’t disappointed, looking at two rude box carts with hard wooden seats running from front to back that stood at the entrance. The carts weren’t even painted, although the horses were handsome, Ricky thought.
Each cart had two people already sitting in them. Ricky recognized Pira at the rear of the first one. The others all looked like bodyguards.
Jac moved towards the cart that held the princess, but she pointed back to the other cart. Jac, Mara, and Benno piled into that cart along with one of the bodyguards.
Ubbo tri
ed to get in the princess’s cart, but she pointed back, as well. Ricky didn’t want to sit with the princess, so he was about to join his friends, but one of the bodyguards told him to sit with Princess Pira.
Jac laughed.
“I will point out the sights,” the bodyguard said to Ricky’s friend.
Ricky climbed on and sat across from Princess Pira. He looked towards the bodyguard sitting towards the driver.
He looked at Pira. “Who is our guide?”
“Me, Lord Valian.”
Ricky laughed. “I’m no lord, Princess.”
“You are the heir to Naparra. That makes you a lord. Not a duke, but a lord, nevertheless,” she said.
Ricky pursed his lips and shrugged at his friends as the carts began to roll.
Princess Pira patted the seat beside her. “Sit here. I command it.”
Ricky reluctantly obeyed.
“So what stories did Effie tell you?”
Ricky now knew why he had received special attention. Princess Pira was curious.
“I don’t want to get her in trouble.”
“She won’t be,” Princess Pira said. “She is a great friend. I sent her away from my service as a reward.”
“Didn’t she quit?”
Princess Pira shook her head, which didn’t look mousy brown this afternoon. Her complexion looked much fresher. Ricky guessed she had powdered her head and face before her audience.
“I let my friends leave after a while. I can be too much at times, as you have been told. Effie was getting stressed, and it was my fault, so I sent her away with a fat purse. I did the same to Nania, as well, although she didn’t last as long as Effie.”
Ricky thought there was more to the princess after Effie told her three stories. “She told me about the aging scholar, the Jarracian Prime Minister, and a certain queen of Fisttia.”
“That is a good selection. There are more, but those are good ones,” Pira said. She pointed out a few of the sights and then asked. “Tell me about sorcery. I think I have a little talent, but not from the Crespi side.”
“You do?”
“My guardian knows, but has made me promise to keep it a secret,” Princess Pira said. “He is greatly disturbed by it. However, I have my supporters among his Council of Notables, and he knows it.”
Ricky nodded. “You shouldn’t be telling me this.”
“Why not? I want you to be an ally,” she said.
“I serve my king,” Ricky said.
Princess Pira closed her fist and let it rest on her thigh. “Does this mean anything to you?”
Ricky sighed. “I am sorry, Princess,” apologizing for his reaction, “It may.”
“You have met with Duke Bariani?”
How much did Princess Pira know? “I have,” Ricky said.
“Good. When you go to Dimani, keep your eyes open. Something is going on of which I am not privy. The king is assembling forces, and I think they sail for the island nation.”
“And Nemo Mattia?”
“Nania’s friend? I know who he is, but he isn’t one of my people. He is involuntarily caught up in the King’s muster.”
That seemed a frequent occurrence for Mattia, Ricky thought. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Princess Pira pointed to a nondescript building. Ricky guessed she was playacting. “I can only do so much. My little jokes,” she sighed, “are losing their impact. My guardian, the king, wants me married off, like I told you. Now is not the right time for marriage.”
Ricky could believe that.
“Visit me in Dimani at the king’s palace. I am going there for a grand sorcery performance that will be announced soon.”
“Did you just think of holding one?”
Princess Pira sat back with a smug expression. “I did. I want you to participate, so that we can meet again.” She looked into his eyes. “Can you tell if I have any talent?”
Ricky nodded. “If you let me hold your hand for a moment.”
“I will place mine on yours. Will that work? It will be more proper.”
Ricky nodded. She placed her hand over his. It was rougher than he expected. He cleared his mind and tried to link with the princess. Surprisingly, he linked to her immediately. Could they have an affinity? He doubted it since he was also able to link with Mara, easily enough.
I am sure you can hear me in your thoughts, Princess.
Pira’s eyes widened. Do I have power?
You have enough to link with me, so yes, you do. Ricky looked away from her as if he were examining Sealian architecture.
It requires contact?
Ricky nodded. At this stage it does. Not eye contact, though.
It feels too intimate. Ricky could feel her panic. Can you break it?
The princess looked shaken. She rubbed her hands.
“I don’t know what to say.” She put her hand to her head.
One of the bodyguards leaned toward them. “Princess, are you all right?”
“The boy’s touch, it taints my very soul,” Pira said with a smirk.
The bodyguard relaxed.
“Not the way she thinks,” the princess said quietly.
Ricky had no idea what she meant.
“Enough business. Now, let me talk about my city.
Ricky spent the rest of the time getting an interesting and often sarcastic depiction of the buildings, culture, and people of Sealio.
Eventually, they pulled up outside the inn.
“Until we see each other again,” the princess said. She touched his hand, and to Ricky’s surprise the link instantly opened. I will think about this. Thank you, Lord Valian. You may leave me to my thoughts.
Ricky lowered his eyes and bowed to her after he stepped to the payment. Pira’s cart pulled away immediately. He put his hand over the other one, concentrating on how the princess’s hand had felt. He suspected the princess often trained with weapons. She was a unique character, he thought. Did she run the Order of the Curled Fist? Was it some joke to her? Ricky had no one to ask, so he would just have to stay silent.
Jac watched the carts trundle back towards the palace. “What was that all about?”
“She wanted to know about sorcery,” Ricky said. He imagined it was the truth, although the topic never came up.
“Of course. I doubt if it’s an approved subject inside the palace,” Jac said. “It makes sense. You and Mara are the only experienced sorcerers among us.”
“Then why did she pick Ricky rather than Mara?” Ubbo said.
“She couldn’t tease Mara like she teased me,” Ricky admitted. He was surprised how straightforward the princess was. Could that be an act as well? Ricky might not know until he saw the princess again, if he ever did.
They had an early dinner and went out to a sorcery performance. Ricky saw the acts with new eyes. He could do just about everything he experienced and more. The production even had a flyer who rose ten feet into the air and floated back down to tremendous applause.
Could it only have been less than two years? Seeing a first-rate performance showed Ricky how much he had learned. Some of it had been taught at Doubli, and he had figured out even more after working out spells that he learned from the ancient texts.
Thinking of sorcery during intermission, Ricky wondered if Princess Pira had bluffed about a sorcery performance in Dimani. She certainly had the talent, perhaps more than Mara, since they linked so quickly and so easily. But he could tell through their communication that the Princess had been truly shocked by the link. He had to wonder if he wasn’t more shocked that she was.
He barked out a laugh that made his companions look at him.
“Imagine spending an afternoon with Princess Pira and living to tell the tale,” Ricky said.
~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
~
S IPPA STOOD WAITING AT THE DOCK WHEN JAC’S CARRIAGE ARRIVED. Ricky jumped out and greeted his coach. “You came!”
Sippa smiled, flexed his arm, and curle
d his hand into a fist. “I didn’t sleep well last night.” He winked at Ricky. “I decided I couldn’t miss the opportunities that may arise in Dimani.”
Jac clapped his former coach on the back. “Good to have you along. Maybe you can help us improve our techniques.”
“Perhaps,” Ricky said. “I think my shoulder is nearly healed.”
Sailors took Ricky’s things to a single small cabin. “The new gentleman will travel with your other friend,” one of the men told Ricky.
He didn’t care. He wanted to spend most of their trip on the deck watching the ocean he’d never seen before. He took out his wood-cased metal switch. It looked much the same as the cane he took with him everywhere at Doubli. Ricky smiled at the thought that his only serious injury during the spring was the one he had inflicted on himself.
“I’m going up,” Jac said through the door. “The ship is getting underway.”
Ricky took the switch with him to the main deck.
The two of them were the only ones to make it on deck. Jac led him to the railing on the dockside of the ship.
“I never get used to watching a ship get underway. It has its own feel of excitement,” Jac said, watching sailors climb up the sheets and prepare sails for unfurling. Ricky paid attention to the scurrying around on the docks.
“Gangplank up!” one of the uniformed ship’s officers said.
“Gangplank up,” two or three sailors said as they hoisted the gangplank and secured it to the side of the ship.
Other nautical actions proceeded in the same fashion, with every order repeated. Ricky had to agree the process was mesmerizing. Finally, the ship slid away from the port, very slowly. Ricky had no idea how they did it. The sailors could be using sorcery for all he knew.
More sails unfurled, and the ship gradually sped up until it proudly proceeded to leave the harbor. Ricky became aware as the sounds from the dock gave way to the more constant mutterings of the sea slapping against the hull and the wind whistling through the shrouds. He grinned at Jac, who grinned back.
Ubbo finally emerged. “Ah,” he said taking a deep breath. “I hate all the commotion of casting off. Now, to see if I get seasick or not.”
“Seasick?” Ricky asked. “Is that where you get sick from the rolling motion of the boat?”