Princess Triumvirate

by Catherine Banks

  Two of our soldiers monitoring the hallways of the castle stopped and bowed to me. They were from the King’s Steel, the division of our fighters who focused on fighting instead of magic, based on their assignment, they were likely a warrior rank. Jared had brought his top men with us, hand picking each one for the assault.

  I dipped my head to them in acknowledgment and continued on our way in search of the dining room. “Are you happy that you rejoined?” I asked Eric.

  He frowned, a crease forming in his forehead. “That’s a complicated answer.”

  “I thought it would be yes or no.”

  His hand gripped the pommel of his sword and he said softly, “I would rather not discuss it right now.”

  What had gotten into him? Had something happened after he rejoined that was making him regret his decision?

  “Are you okay?” I asked him softly.

  He took almost a full minute to relax and said, “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

  “If something happened…”

  “Tilia, nothing happened. I just don’t want to discuss everything right now.”

  I let the topic drop because obviously, he didn’t want to talk to me about whatever it was. Fine. I had my secrets too. I could understand his desire to keep some things private.

  “Where is their blasted dining room?” I asked angrily. It felt like we had been walking for an hour.

  Eric pushed open doors as we walked, but so far, they had only been bedrooms, a library, and a small office. We stopped on the far end of the castle, having walked the entire length of it and still not found the dining room.

  “Could it be upstairs?” Eric asked.

  “Who puts a dining room upstairs?” I asked with a shake of my head. “Our luck they will have hidden it with some secret passage way where you can only enter if you have a preserved lamb’s head.”

  Eric barked a single laugh and his shoulders relaxed. “Maybe they don’t eat normal food and exist on the blood of goats.”

  I pretended to gag and clutched my stomach.

  “Well, let’s head upstairs. I saw a stairway not too far back.” Eric said. He led the way and I followed silently behind him.

  This castle was set up awfully peculiarly. I had not seen a counsel room or even a ballroom downstairs, not to mention a war room or throne room. Did they not host balls? Could it be possible that they set up their castle more like most people set up their homes? How did they hold court?

  The stairs were curved and as we walked up, round and round, I began to feel dizzy. Eric leaned a hand against the wall and stopped in front of me. “Tilia, is it affecting you too?”

  “Yes,” I gasped, the air in my lungs felt like it was being forced out of me. It felt as if the walls were closing in and squishing all of my breath out.

  Eric looped his arm around my waist and together we slowly took one step after another back down the way we had come. My ears were ringing and my head pounded painfully.

  I touched the ring Faxon had given me and whispered, “Help.”

  “It’s not weakening,” Eric gasped and collapsed to the ground on his knees, leaning back against the wall of the stairway.

  “We. Have to. Move,” I grunted out and pushed on his shoulder.

  He slid down a step on his butt and I stumbled down behind him. If the damn staircase wasn’t curved, we could have tumbled the rest of the way down just to get away from the spell or barrier or whatever was causing this.

  “What rats did we catch today?” an unfamiliar voice asked loudly behind me. His voice echoed around us and pain stabbed into my skull with each word. Someone grabbed my hair and jerked my head back so that they could look at my face. Cognac eyes stared at me with madness etched in their core. “A princess! How interesting. You will be fun to play with for a little while.”

  He released me and someone else grabbed my arm. My hands were shaking, but I forced them to grab the Dragon’s Tooth, the sword I had been given by Jared. The Dragon’s Tooth had the head of a roaring dragon on the end of the pommel, a wing that crossed over your fingers, and a claw on the bottom and was said to feed on it’s master’s enemies’ blood. I pulled the Dragon’s Tooth and stabbed the person behind me before they could tie my hands with the rope I could see in their grasp.

  “Not. Taking me,” I growled. “Never again.”

  The person behind me fell against the side of the staircase and clutched at their wound. I had managed to stab them in the stomach even while being disoriented.

  The first man had tied Eric’s hands together behind his back and left him lying face down on the stairs. He turned to me and smirked. He looked familiar. Did I know him? Maybe I had met him at one of our balls before.

  “I suppose it makes sense that you would not want to be kidnapped again. You have had a rough two years. Sadly, you are powerless to stop me.”

  “Bring it,” I snarled. I didn’t have my magic, but I would not go down without a fight!

  He lifted his hand and my entire body froze. A mage! No. No! I couldn’t protect myself from a mage now! I didn’t know what to do. Where was Faxon? I had called for him! Did the ring no longer work either? Why hadn’t we tested this out before we left home?

  “No!” I squeaked, barely able to do more than breathe.

  The man’s cognac eyes flared brighter as though a candle had been lit behind them and I felt a tickling sensation all over my body. A Seer! I had experienced this once before and that was when Faxon had used his abilities to See how much magic I had. “You’re a very interesting girl, Tilia.” He turned his head to the right as if he could see through the wall, which he very well might have been able to do, and then sighed heavily. “Sadly, my time to play with you is gone. Very soon, I will see you again. I have no doubt about that. And when I do, your precious Faxon will not be able to save you from me. For now, I will leave you with a gift for Faxon.”

  He placed his palm against my forehead and it burned. I screamed in pain. It felt like he was stabbing my entire body with thousands of needles at once. I clenched my eyes closed and continued screaming as tears streamed down my face.

  “Tilia!” Eric yelled.

  I couldn’t move. He had paralyzed me and I could do nothing, but endure the pain. What had he done to me? Why did this needlelike pain continue nonstop? Why couldn’t I move?

  My throat burned for oxygen as I screamed and screamed. Why? Who was this man and what had I done to earn this from him? Of course, I knew we had taken over the country, but we had taken all of their mages, or so we had thought.

  “Tilia!” Faxon yelled.

  I wanted to see him, but my terror and pain had blinded me. I wanted to do something besides scream, but I couldn’t.

  “What’s happening to her?” Finn asked.

  Someone touched me and it burned my skin with an audible hiss.

  “NO!” I screamed and sobbed.

  Faxon whispered something in a strange language and the pain stopped. I sighed and fell into sturdy arms that kept me from hitting the stone stairs below. Blessed darkness surrounded me and I fell into a deep, dreamless, and painless sleep.

  People were talking. I wasn’t sure who the people were, but I could hear them whispering angrily back and forth to each other. I was lying on the hard ground, what felt like stone, but my head was resting on something warm and moving. It must have been a person.

  A hand slid down my hair and then down my cheek. The hand smelled like salt and pine. “Finn?” I whispered.

  “Shh, don’t speak, Tilia. You’re safe now,” Finn told me with clipped words. He was angry.

  “What happened?” I asked and opened my eyes.

  The room was dark except for a fire on the far side of the room where a large table with chairs sat with Eric, Jared, and Esmeralda around it. Faxon was staring into the fire with his hands clasped behind him. I hadn’t seen this room before, so it had to be on the second floor or in a different building.

  “Don’t move,” Finn whispe
red. “Just rest for a bit longer.”

  The floor was hard and cold, but it was nice to rest with my head on Finn’s leg, as he repeatedly stroked his hand down my hair.

  I closed my eyes again and Finn exhaled a deep breath.

  “You don’t remember anything about what the man looked like?” Esmeralda asked.

  I thought she was talking to me a moment, but Eric answered. “No. I know I saw him, but when I try to remember, it’s only a blur. I remember that we were heading upstairs and as we went there was a strange spell or something that made me dizzy and made it feel like the air was being pressed out of my lungs. We tried to go back down the stairs, but someone came and tied my hands. Then Tilia started screaming after he touched her head.”

  I remembered now. That’s exactly what had happened. I sat up and everyone turned to face me, except for Faxon. Esmeralda rushed over and reached out towards me, but I jerked back in fear.

  Surprise and sadness crossed her face and she lowered her hand. “How are you feeling?”

  It took me a few seconds to calm down from the fear her hand coming near me had caused. “I don’t know. I…I remember exactly what Eric does, but I feel strange.”

  “Do you remember what he looks like?” Jared asked from where he was still sitting at the table.

  “No,” I whispered.

  “Are you in pain?” Esmeralda asked.

  “No, but I do not feel normal. I can’t explain it. There’s just something off. Something wrong with me.”

  “Can I inspect you?” Faxon asked. He had not turned around from staring into the fireplace, but still stood rigid with his hands behind him.

  “I…” I stopped talking because the thought of him using his magic on me suddenly terrified me. This was Faxon. Why was I scared of him?

  “You’re shaking,” Finn whispered and rubbed my arms.

  Esmeralda reached out towards me again and I scrambled back from her. “No.” I ran from the room and ran blindly down the hall and into a different room. I slammed the door closed and ran to the window looking for an escape. It was raining outside, which was perfect considering all of the emotions whirling around inside of me. There was a patio one floor down and then the ground below that, which were two jumps I could easily make.

  “Tilia!” Jared called.

  I pushed on the window trying to get it to open, but it was stuck. I growled and pushed harder, straining with the effort and after a moment, the window groaned and flung open. The door to the room I was in opened and I leapt out the window and down to the balcony below without looking to see who it was. I landed on my toes with bent knees and looked up to see Jared look down at me in shock.

  “It’s alright, Tilia. You know I won’t hurt you. I don’t have a lick of magic, remember?”

  He talked to me as if I was an idiot. I knew he didn’t have magic, but he was married to Esmeralda and she had magic.

  I turned and jumped down to the ground. The rain had made the rocks slippery and caused me to slip and fall on my butt. “Ow!” I grunted. I got to my feet and ran as fast as I could away from the castle and onto the ship. As soon as I set foot on the ship, my need to escape disappeared. I collapsed on the deck and drew in deep breaths. What had that been about? Why had I been scared of them? Why had I run away from my family?

  The rain pounded down on me, soaking my clothes, and making me shiver from the cold.

  “Princess!” the Captain of the ship yelled in surprise. “What in the name of the Mother are ye doin’ on the deck in the pouring rain?” He lifted me up with his arm under my shoulders and carried me to the kitchen where a fire was roaring and where most of our men were eating dinner.

  Without being asked, they brought a chair next to the fire and someone grabbed a blanket to drape around me. One of the Commanders, I was pretty sure his name was Riley, held out a cup of steaming liquid in front of me.

  “It’s hot chocolate, your favorite,” he informed me with a soft smile.

  I lifted shaky hands to the mug and took it from him with a silent nod. The mug was exceptionally warm and after a few sips my hands stopped shaking.

  “Anton, report.” Riley ordered.

  A man in the back jogged from the room without a response.

  “You feel better?” Riley asked.

  I nodded my head and took another sip of the delicious chocolate drink.

  The ship’s Captain handed Riley a plate of food and a fork and then disappeared.

  “Can you hold this and eat?” Riley asked.

  I couldn’t talk yet, but I held out the mug towards him and he traded me, giving me the plate with a fork on top. Everyone was looking at me. I couldn’t blame them. I no doubt looked like a lunatic.

  “Oy,” Riley snapped loudly. All of the men turned away from me and the only pair of eyes left looking at me were Riley’s. “Better?”

  How had he known?

  “Fire’s going in her quarters,” the ship’s Captain announced.

  It was the only ship I knew of that had fireplaces in the four main quarters. I rarely used it because I was afraid it might catch my entire room on fire if we hit a storm.

  “Why don’t we take you to your room where you will have a little more privacy?” Riley suggested.

  I didn’t mind being in the kitchen with the King’s Steel, but I did not protest as he lifted me in his arms and carried me. I held onto my plate of food tightly to keep from spilling on Riley. That would be a terrible way to repay the man who was helping me in my moment of lunacy.

  “Did you know that when I joined the King’s Steel and was sent to the castle, that the very first fighter I saw in the arena was you?” he asked me. His voice was smooth and rich with a hint of an accent that I could not place. It was relaxing just to hear him speak.

  I shook my head slowly. Why couldn’t I break free of this feeling? Why was I so scared?

  Riley continued as he ascended stairs and walked down the hallway that led to my room, “I had just arrived and I had actually gotten lost going to my room when I heard swords clashing. I went to the arena and peered through, but remained hidden from whoever might be in there fighting. I thought I would find the King practicing since it was so late, but instead I found a girl no older than twelve fighting the Queen. Not only was she fighting the Queen, but she was holding her own against the notoriously fierce Queen of Crilan.”

  He pushed open my door and set me on my bed. “Sit there one minute.”

  I watched as he took a blanket from the end of the bed and laid it on the ground in front of the fire, which had already warmed my room significantly. He put another log on the fire and then picked me up and sat me down on the blanket. He took the blanket they had draped on me in the kitchen and replaced it with a new one from my bed.

  After a few moments of silence, he took a piece of bread from my plate and held it up to my mouth. “You have to eat.”

  My brain was refusing to act properly. What had that man done to me?

  Somehow, I opened my mouth and chewed on the bread he had offered me. He smiled and as soon as I swallowed the bread, I felt something within my body ease apart, like a knot unraveling.

  Function returned to my limbs and the fog that had settled in my skull disappeared. “What? What did you do?” I asked him in shock and lifted my hands to touch my face.

  “A little kindness goes a long way towards helping a person on the road to recovery,” he said with a smile.

  “Are you a mage?” I asked softly.

  He shook his head. “No, Princess. I don’t have abilities like Faxon or Queen Esmeralda.”

  “But you have abilities?” I asked to clarify.

  He shrugged. “I do not have ones that I control, but I have been told that I am rather good at helping people relax and begin to heal after a traumatic event.”

  I realized shamefully that I had not thanked him. “Thank you,” I whispered and hugged him.

  He patted my back. “You’re welcome.”

  “Ti
lia,” Finn said angrily from the bedroom door.

  I leapt up and spilled my plate of food all across the floor. “Oh,” I gasped.

  “What’s going on?” Finn asked, his glare directed straight at Riley who didn’t look the least bit worried.

  “The Princess came back a bit soaked, so we gave her some food and helped her get to her quarters where the Captain had started a fire for her,” Riley explained. He turned and faced me. “You alright now?”

  “Yes, thank you again, Riley.”

  He winked at me since Finn couldn’t see with his back to him and said, “Anytime.” He turned towards the door and nodded his head at Finn, “Chief.”

  Finn stepped aside and let Riley leave the room with a deep scowl on his face.

  “It’s not what it looks like,” I said quickly, stepping over my words as I tried hurriedly to explain myself. “I don’t know what that man did, but somehow Riley was able to reverse it or get rid of it or suppress it or whatever.”

  Finn walked towards me and the scowl turned into a frown of worry. “Jared said that you jumped out of a window and then off of a balcony.”

  I flinched. “Um, maybe.”

  “What were you thinking?” he asked softly, but not accusingly.

  “I felt terrified of anyone with magic. I don’t know why. I know that Faxon and Esmeralda would never hurt me, but the thought of them using their magic on me horrified me so much that I felt that I had to run away.”

  He lifted his hand out towards me slowly, as though he were waiting for me to flinch away from him. I stepped forward into his arms and buried my face against his chest.

  “Why did it take you so long to find me?” I asked him softly.

  “Jared made me wait,” Finn growled.

  “Wait?” I asked, confused.

  “He thought you needed some time to yourself or to run off your fear,” he explained, “but obviously, you didn’t want to be alone.”