As soon as they reached the hedges around the palace, Jak and Rasha stopped behind a stand of trees. Lu untied Chiza from the bag and helped her to a seated position in front of him. Chiza gave them a nod when she was ready to proceed and she led them in a race toward the palace. Rasha looked over at her and realized that Chiza’s strength and bravery weren’t always on the surface, but today she was a force. Wearing courier clothes, she looked like an ancient warrior queen.
* * *
When they arrived at the gates of the palace they were admitted at once, based on Rasha’s description. They all assumed she was there as a princess to meet the prince. The confusion only worsened when Prince Bashir himself came out to meet them. He was as white as snow and his hair and eyelashes were the same. He admired Rasha, looking over her figure twice before reaching for her hand.
“My dear, what an arduous journey you must have had. I expected you ages ago. What’s kept you?” The prince bowed and placed a light kiss on her hand. Rasha pulled her hand from his and kept it at her side.
“I regret to inform you, your highness, that I am the courier and the princess and I had to engage in subterfuge to get past the border.”
“I apologize for my attire, your highness. Allow me a moment to change before making my introductions,” Chiza said.
Rasha regretted that they hadn’t thought to change her mount. Sitting on the tuskin with Lu holding the reins from behind her made Rasha look at the prince to see if he noticed anything between them. But the prince went to Chiza and took her hand.
“It’s of little matter, you are a vision in anything you wear.” He lifted her hand to his lips and reached up to help her down. “My apologies for overlooking you.” He raised a hand and two of the servants came forward.
“Please help these men with their animals, there should be a guest room available to them. Escort Princess Chiza and Princess Rasha to their rooms so they can… change.” He gave them both a knowing smile before turning to go.
Rasha had the distinct feeling he knew she wasn’t there for The Choosing and was forcing her to stay. Rasha kept her mouth closed and her eyes down as the guard escorted them, carrying both bags with ease. How stupid to think she could just show up here. She’d vowed not to be anywhere near the first kingdom during the time of The Choosing, now here she was right under his nose.
When she looked back Jak was staring at her. ‘It’ll be all right,’ she wanted to say. Halfway up the steps to the palace she couldn’t risk saying anything. Rasha pulled her shoulders back and lifted the dress and followed Chiza and the guard inside, where things only got worse.
32
Rasha and Chiza were brought to the east wing of the palace where the princesses were staying. They entered a corridor lined with doors. They were all open, and the girls were milling about between rooms. When Chiza and Rasha arrived, a general silence fell on the group as they stopped to stare at the new arrivals.
They whispered behind their hands and looked at them as if they’d interrupted an exclusive party. As Rasha thought about it, perhaps they had. Chiza held her head high as she passed them and Rasha tried to do the same. The dress didn’t make it easy. It swayed above her ankles, showing off her large and dirty feet.
“You will be in side-by-side suites here.” The guard pointed to the doors and bowed. He refused to lift his head until they’d both entered. He shut both doors behind them. Rasha took in the luxurious room. The furnishings were not overstated, but every piece was made of precious metals or decorated with precious gems.
A knock at the small door to her right startled her.
“Open the door, it’s me,” Chiza called from the other side of the door.
Rasha opened the door and saw a similar door. Through that was a unique room on the other side. Rasha looked behind her to make sure there wasn’t another door there and found the washroom instead.
“Have you seen the bath? It’s divine. Thank the Universal this will be a comfortable place to pass the time.” Chiza strolled past her and dropped Rasha’s courier clothes down on the bed. “Oh, my goodness, have you seen this mirror? I’ve never seen anything like it.” She ran a hand over the gems and then stopped and turned back to Rasha, who was redressing in her own clothes. She’d been missing the boots and sat down on the edge of the bed to tie them on.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Chiza said.
“What?”
“The prince, he expects you to stay. You mustn’t disappoint him.”
Rasha shook her head and stood up, resting her hands on the hilts of her swords. “I’m not staying here.”
Chiza’s head dropped with her voice. “You could do what I’m going to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Make sure that the prince doesn’t choose me, so I can have Lu.”
Rasha tried to imagine herself faking her way through The Choosing. No, she’d known that wouldn’t work for a long time.
“No, I can’t. I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to be here on your own. The problem is, I can’t be here at all.”
Chiza seemed to try to work something out in her mind.
“Forget about it. There’s nothing you can say to convince me to stay here during The Choosing.” Rasha went to the door to the corridor.
“Yes, it’s fine. I just wanted a friend while I’m here.”
Rasha stopped. She respected Chiza, despite their different opinions about duty and honor.
“You have a friend here.” Rasha wished things could be different, but the palace walls were already closing in on her and she didn’t want to stay any longer than she had to.
“I need to meet with the prince to discuss my license. Now you’ve become a princess again instead of a courier, you need to see him again, too. He’ll need to hear an account from you of all that’s happened.”
Chiza rolled her shoulders back as if preparing for battle.
“Yes, you’re right. Let’s go.”
Rasha opened the door and stopped dead. The other princesses were waiting for them in the corridor.
33
They all came forward, offering Chiza greetings as they took her hands, hugged her, and kissed her on the cheek. Some of them gave her enthusiastic handshakes and fiddled with her dress and jewelry. The princesses from the Buku, Winaka, and Vol kingdoms seemed less than excited to see her. Chiza’s arrival was most shocking to them, no doubt.
“Princess Rasha, what are you wearing? You can’t be wearing that to see the prince.” It was the princess of the Karmir, her dark red skin decorated with the traditional four white dots down the center of her forehead. She’d left her hair loose, unlike the others, who were in intricate braided styles.
“I-I’m not here for The Choosing,” Rasha said, not sure how to respond. “How do you know me?”
“My name is Osika. I’d know you anywhere. I studied you as a child. We were here together once, you and I. To be honest, I didn’t expect you to come.”
Another girl, the one from Vol, stood with her arms crossed. “What do you mean you’re not here for The Choosing? What else would you be doing here?”
“Your highness,” Rasha said with a quick bow. “I have urgent business. Perhaps we can talk more later.”
“Of course.” Osika stepped aside and the others allowed her to pass by. The whispers about their mysterious arrival died down as they reached the stairs.
* * *
“Rasha Jenchat Indari, I knew I’d seen you someplace before,” Prince Bashir spoke as they descended the stairs. He’d been waiting for them, it seemed. “I’ll meet with you in just a moment. Let me welcome you, Chiza. Your journey was arduous and grueling, I hear. That you made it at all is tribute to your excellent couriers.”
“Your Grace, it was nothing, knowing I could fulfill my duty to my nation and my kingdom.”
Prince Bashir looked her over and made a sound in the back of his throat. Rasha wasn’t sure if it was disapproval or annoyance. “Well, that is inte
resting. My home is your home now, please explore and make yourself comfortable.”
He bowed to Chiza once more before taking Rasha’s hand and pulling her away. He walked right out the doors and down to the gardens. The manicured drive they’d glimpsed at the front was mirrored here behind the palace with an identical drive. The hedges were brown, as the cold temperature had killed most of the color here. Rasha imagined there would be flowers everywhere in the warmer months.
“Your attire, Princess, is,” he seemed to search for the right word, “odd.”
“I’m not here as a Princess, your Grace, I’m here as the courier bringing you the princess from the tenth kingdom. I hoped that you might restore the licenses of my partner and myself. They were revoked over a misunderstanding. Perhaps you’ve heard of it by now? We received live human cargo on a mandatory fetch and deliver.”
“Yes, I see where that could be a problem for your employers.”
Rasha waited for the prince to say more. Instead he stopped in between two hedges. Rasha didn’t know where they were. She’d been looking at him instead of where they were going. His long white hair and snow-white skin glowed in the soft light passing through the clouds above them.
“So, you would like your licenses and the freedom to just leave?” he asked.
Rasha’s heart sank. This is the conversation she’d wanted to avoid her whole life. This was the reason she didn’t want to be here during The Choosing. The prince would never understand.
“May I ask why I’m so repulsive that you won’t even give me the decency of a trial?”
Rasha didn’t want to get into her ideals, but it didn’t look like she had a choice.
“Forgive me, your grace, but I don’t believe in a system where women are paraded around a palace for several weeks to be chosen, or not. It may sound like treason to you, forgive me, but I want the option to choose. If you are the only male here, what options are there for me?”
Prince Bashir laughed. It was a deep, from his belly laugh, and it lasted so long that Rasha looked around and wondered if they were being watched.
“Oh, Rasha.” He wiped a few tears from his eyes and smiled at her. Then he took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. “My thoughts precisely.” He kissed her hand but didn’t let it go.
Rasha didn’t know what to think of this prince. Was he crazy or insightful? Perhaps he thought her mad.
“Many years ago, when we were about half the age we are now, you came here to the palace. We played together. I’m not even sure you remember it.”
Rasha remembered. They’d picked up sticks and had been dueling when her father discovered them. He’d grabbed her by the back of the neck. Then he marched her out of sight where he whipped her for being seen as less than a princess in front of the king.
“You were the only princess out of the ten I’d begged my father to let stay.” Bashir stopped, and, stepping close to her, brushed a wisp of hair from her face. “I adored you. When you arrived today, I didn’t notice Chiza because you looked so stunning I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”
Rasha turned away from him but she didn’t pull her hand away. His admission made her uncomfortable. She didn’t feel that way, and it was embarrassing to listen to him.
“I’m making you uncomfortable,” he observed. “I see it in your eyes. You don’t have those feelings for me. You don’t know me.”
He let go of her hand at last and continued walking the gardens.
“I’ve always had a problem with the system myself. Half the girls are in love with some boy or other before they arrive, anyway.” He stroked his hairless chin.
“I’ve given this some thought. What if we invited all the eligible princes and princesses to the palace as a kind of meeting place?”
“It would serve some but not others. What about the prince or princess of the first kingdom? If they don’t find a mate, then it’s all for nothing.”
“Not if done in a more creative way,” Prince Bashir’s pace quickened. “What if after The Choosing we opened the palace to everyone interested? Anyone who did not find a mate among the princes and princesses could look elsewhere.” His hands waved in excitement.
Rasha didn’t hide her shock as she raised her eyebrows and looked at the prince. He had thought about this. It surprised her that he’d be so open to the idea.
“It’s revolutionary. Not everyone, including the council, will like the change, but you’ve got my vote.” Rasha put out her hand to shake his, and he did. He laughed again and turned back to the palace. The wind whipped at their faces, his alabaster cheeks and ears turning pink.
“I want you to consider staying. I know it’s not what you’d planned. However, I’d like to have some lively conversation and someone on my side when I bring this up to the king and queen.”
Rasha almost choked on the words, “The king and queen?”
“Yes, my parents aren’t open to change. Perhaps the two of us can convince them.”
Rasha’s thoughts were racing along with his, leaving her feeling disoriented. “Stay here in the palace with the rest of you?”
“Not just us. I’ll send out an invitation to the other eligible princes. We’ll make The Choosing fun again. I know you’ve already decided against me but I hope after you get to know me you might reconsider. I’m not so bad.” His grey eyes implored her to change her mind.
Rasha’s thoughts were on Jak. What would he say if she stayed? They hadn’t talked about what they’d do after their delivery was complete and they had their lives back.
“I’ll think about it,” she said. Then she remembered why she’d come. “Our licenses?”
“Yes, of course, your licenses are already restored.” He waved his hand. “I need to see to the other girls now, they’re still jealous of each other. Don’t let it bother you. I’ll reserve a seat for you on my left at dinner.” He flashed her a winning smile before he made his way back inside.
Rasha looked down at herself and wondered what she’d wear to dinner.
* * *
Jak was pacing the floor of the foyer when she found him. Rasha wondered if she should wait to tell him the prince’s idea. He seemed agitated. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he held up the small circular disk that she’d placed under the collar of his jacket.
“What’s this?” Jak asked.
“Let me explain.”
“No, I know what it is. It’s you not trusting me. If you wanted to know something why didn’t you ask me?”
“That was a long time ago, before we,” Rasha didn’t need to finish the sentence she lifted his left hand and held it between hers. “I didn’t trust you when I put that on your collar. Now, I do. I trust you with my life.”
“When?” The guards looked up when he raised his voice. Rasha grabbed him and pulled him into a quiet seating area just off the front entrance.
She lowered her own voice. “The day I found you meeting with some men in the woods. They looked like the ones that were tracking us.”
Jak nodded.
“They were. I travelled with them for a time to throw them off your trail. Then I directed them through seven lands so they wouldn’t follow me. I explained to them I was going home to the Wilds. They believed me.”
“Why were you following us in the first place?”
“The king and queen hired me to ensure princess Chiza’s safe arrival. I told you all of this before. With all the tricks that her father had pulled, they didn’t believe she’d make it. They were right.”
Jak threw the disk down on the marble floor and Rasha stepped on it, rendering it useless. He seemed satisfied. Now wasn’t a good time at all to talk about staying at the palace. She’d wait until they were both calmer.
Jak pulled her close, but she wiggled out of his grip.
“What’s wrong?”
Rasha shook her head. The last thing she wanted now was to have to explain why she was staying.
“Have you seen Lu?”
�
�He went to say goodbye to Chiza.”
“Oh.” Rasha wanted to tell him they might not be leaving, but instead settled on something she thought they’d all enjoy. “We’ve been invited to stay for dinner.”
“That’s good, we could all use another good meal before we head out. It looks like a storm is coming,” Jak replied.
He had no idea.
34
Lu peeked around the corner and into the room where Chiza sat with the other princesses. She looked miserable. His heart soared at the sight. He’d been willing to go along with this plan, but when he met the prince he wasn’t so sure she wouldn’t fall for him anyway. He was tall, handsome, and mysterious-looking. What chance did a greenie from Tero-Joro have with a princess when she was promised to a prince like Bashir?
Lu took several steps into the hallway and whistled like the birds in the woods. Chiza had liked that best. It didn’t take her more than a few seconds to leap up from her chair, and, ignoring the concerned questions of the other girls, step into the hall. He waved to her from around the corner and she joined him. There was no one here, but it wasn’t private. Someone could come their way at any moment. Lu reached out and grabbed Chiza’s hands.
“Are you all right, darling?”
“I am, thank you. I will be so miserable without you.”
“As will I.” He pulled her close and kissed her hard and desperately. “I don’t want to leave, but I must.”
“I understand. You won’t forget about me while you’re off having courier adventures with Rash, will you?” Chiza threw her arms around his neck.
“I won’t. Even when we’re not in communication, I’ll be thinking of you every minute.” Lu put his arms around her waist and squeezed her tight. He heard someone enter the corridor, and he jumped back and away from her. He gave her one more longing look before he dashed down the hall.
The Courier's Code (The Bolaji Kingdoms Series Book 1) Page 13