by Anita Valle
“Silly goats,” Coralina muttered.
“Some people say you should’ve had a dozen children by now,” Arialain said softly.
“What?” Coralina shouted as blood burned through her cheeks. “I’ve never... I’ve never....”
Maelyn was watching closely. “No, Coco?”
“Never!” said Coralina. “I promised Mother-” But what did it matter? They wouldn’t believe her.
Maelyn nodded. “But you see why Gord dislikes you. He’s heard the rumors.”
“Why did he give me the owl? If he hates me so much?” said Coralina. The owl perched by her plate, gazing at her veal chops.
Maelyn shrugged. “I don’t see why you should care. Gord is a peasant. You never liked peasants.”
“I don’t care,” said Coralina. But she caught Heidel watching with a small smile. Heidel gave a quick wink and her smile widened.
“Have you decided what you’re doing with the Lumen fruit?” Coralina asked. She didn’t want Heidel saying whatever she was thinking.
Heidel poked more veal in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “I’ve been drying it for five days.”
“Drying it?” Jaedis squeaked. The other princesses looked equally horrified. It seemed sacrilegious to let a priceless piece of Lumen fruit shrivel like a raisin.
“I want to chop it up for bread,” said Heidel. “Lumen bread, think of it!”
Maelyn smiled. “It sounds delightful. Will it be for us?”
“Who... else?” Heidel looked at Maelyn as if she’d lost her wits.
“You have friends,” said Maelyn.
“None worth that much. The bread is for us,” said Heidel.
Coralina ignored her sisters and her food. Her emotions tumbled like fighting dogs. Rage at Gord. Hate for Gord. Hurt by Gord. As the hurt deepened, so did her rage.
She needed more time. Time spent alone with him. He had to be in love with her before the play began.
That’s when she’d strike back.
Chapter 16
“Princess! Your Highness! So honored, my lady!” Grenna dropped a flustered curtsy. She backed away from the door so Coralina could enter the shop. “Such a lovely gown, my lady! Very fine.”
“Thank you.” Coralina had considered Gord’s vision when choosing her gown. Red velvet, dark as blood, from shoulder to toe. He couldn’t miss her.
“I expect you want Gord. He’s out in the yard, fetching more wood.” Grenna gestured to a loose pile of planks on the table. “Making a baby’s cradle! Noble lady in Merridell is having her first.”
“How nice.” Coralina smiled. She spotted Pipsy peeking out from the bedroom behind the shop.
“Come on, Pipsy, give a nice curtsy for the princess,” said Grenna.
“Princess is red,” Pipsy replied. Coralina laughed and Grenna joined with some embarrassment.
“Do you like cake, Pipsy?” Coralina asked.
“Cake?” Pipsy’s brown eyes widened.
“I just passed a baker with a cartful of maple cakes. Still warm! Would you like one?”
“I want cake!” Pipsy scampered out of the bedroom. Coralina pulled two goldens from her coin purse and offered them to Grenna. “Take her out. Buy her some cake and anything else she may want. Don’t come back for an hour.”
Grenna stared at the coins as if she had never seen gold. Like a lizard’s tongue, her hand flashed out and snatched them. Coralina fixed her with a hard stare. “An hour. Understood?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Pipsy ran for the door, her wavy hair flapping. Coralina bit her lip. “Grenna... it’s quite breezy out there. Pipsy should have her hair braided or it might tangle.”
“I’ll get a brush,” said Grenna, turning into the bedroom. Coralina grimaced. Grenna’s hair was loosely braided, lumpy and ragged. When she returned with the brush, Coralina held out her hand. “Thank you. I’ll take it from here.”
She lifted Pipsy to sit on the worktable. Her slim body felt light and fragile, as though made of twigs. A skinny child, but not underfed.
“I’m going to make you beautiful, Pipsy. Would you like that?”
Pipsy nodded shyly and Coralina slid the brush through her brown hair. So different than her own. Coralina’s thick curls were slightly course in texture, but Pipsy’s hair felt smooth as flowing water.
“Do you remember your mother, Pipsy?” Coralina surprised herself by asking the question. The task was summoning memories of the few occasions when the queen had brushed Coralina’s hair. She was slower and softer than the harried nurse and Coralina remembered love within the strokes.
Pipsy nodded. “Ma! She went to the Tunnel Whelm.” Coralina was puzzled until she realized what Pipsy meant to say: the Eternal Realm. The kingdom of souls.
Coralina shifted to brush another section. “Mine too,” she said softly. “Both of my mothers.”
“You had two?” said Pipsy.
“One when I was a baby, but I can’t remember her. And one who I grew up with – the queen.” She divided Pipsy’s hair into three strands for braiding.
“What about your Pa?” said Pipsy.
“He’s gone too.” The smooth strands wove around Coralina’s fingers and she found it oddly comforting. Her eyes dropped to Pipsy’s simple brown dress. She shouldn’t wear brown, with brown hair. Russet red would suit her, or warm yellow. Yes, yellow would look splendid on Pipsy.
“Where’s your Pa?” Coralina asked to change the subject.
“Here,” came a deep voice. Coralina jumped. Gord stood in the doorway to the bedroom, his arms loaded with cuts of wood.
Chapter 17
How could a six-foot man move so silently? No wonder Maelyn hired him as a guard! Coralina gave an uneasy smile though she knew he couldn’t see it.
“Good day, Gord.” She didn’t know what else to say. Why did he affect her as no one else did? She wasn’t prone to speechlessness.
“Princess Coralina.” He said her name without surprise and without interest. Simply stating the obvious.
“Look, Pa, my hair!” Pipsy held up her finished braid. Gord unloaded his wood onto the table. He bent over to study the braid closely, sliding his fingers over the ripples. “Very pretty.” His smile for Pipsy held such tenderness. Though she tried to snuff it, Coralina felt a snip of jealousy.
“I told her I’d make her beautiful,” she said.
“That was kind of you, Princess.”
“Pa! Pa!” Pipsy tugged on his sleeve. “I’m going to get cake!”
Gord looked puzzled. “Are you?”
Coralina helped Pipsy down from her perch on the worktable. “We need to discuss the play. In private,” said Coralina. Gord nodded as he watched Grenna wrap a shawl around Pipsy. “Be careful,” he said. “Don’t go far, and stay with the crowds. Go nowhere alone.”
“The bandits?” Coralina asked. Gord nodded. “Been quiet for a while. But no sense taking a risk.”
Grenna promised caution and guided Pipsy out of the cottage.
Gord shifted the wood on his worktable, sorting it into piles. Coralina walked around to face him on the opposite side. “Can you see me?” she asked.
“You’re wearing red,” said Gord without looking up. He reached for a small piece of wood near her elbow. Coralina brought her hand down to rest on top of his. “Let the work go,” she whispered. “Talk to me.”
Gord pulled back his hand and looked at her. “About what?” His hard eyes sliced her nerves but she continued in cheerful tones. “I thought we could work on the play! We should rehearse our lines - especially the final scene.”
“I know my lines,” said Gord.
“Oh! All of them?” Coralina asked.
“Yes. Grenna helped me.”
“We should rehearse them together-”
“Not today, Princess.”
He refused her. A peasant rejecting the wishes of a princess. Coralina felt more shocked than angry and took a step back. “All – all right.”
He bent
over his work again. Coralina had never felt more awkward in her life. This was foreign to her: trying to attract a man without using her looks. She had always relied on her eyes, her smile, a glance over her shoulder, a figure-hugging gown. None of this would work on Gord. The gown she wore seemed ridiculous now. He saw nothing but a red smudge, like a scab.
“I’ll come back tomorrow.” She walked stiffly across the shop and nearly tread on Pipsy’s doll, lying on the floor. As she moved it to a shelf, a forgotten question returned to her.
“Is Pipsy her real name?” It seemed cute for a child but hard for a grown woman.
Gord shook his head. “Pella, like her mother. She was such a tiny baby, we called her a little pip. The name grew from that.”
His tone was lighter than before and Coralina found this encouraging. “I have another name too. My family calls me ‘Coco’.”
“Coco?” Gord sounded amused. Coralina returned to the table, choosing not to meet him head on this time. She stood at the end, facing his profile. “It was my father. He pointed out that both my first and second names begin with ‘C-O’. He put them together.”
“Coralina Corissa. Coco.” Gord smirked. “By the same token they could call you ‘Corcor’.”
“No!” Coralina laughed. “That would be dreadful!” She was delighted to see him smiling. “What about your name? Is it part of something longer?”
He shook his head. “Just Gord.” He picked up a broad, flat board to look it over. Much like Heidel would stare at a cut of meat before deciding how to prepare it.
“It was kind of you to fix Pipsy’s hair,” he said. “She’ll talk about it for days. She... admires you, I think.” His last words came reluctantly.
Coralina grinned. “She’s a beautiful child, Gord. But she needs a yellow dress! The color would do wonders for her.”
“Yellow?” Gord gave her a curious look. She was discovering that he responded to anything regarding Pipsy. “Her mother said that once. Though we couldn’t afford the cloth. Colors are costly.”
Coralina nodded. “Pipsy told me she remembers her mother.”
Gord’s face grew somber. “A little. But it’s been over a year. She’ll soon forget.” He paused, resting his hands on the worktable. “I wish I could.”
“What was she like?” Coralina asked, tilting her head in sympathy. To her own surprise she actually felt it.
Gord looked at her, but instead of sorrow, his features hardened like a clenched fist. His words came low and strained as he struggled for composure.
“She was like you.”
Chapter 18
Jaedis shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“That’s not possible!” Coralina whined. “You know everyone in the kingdom!”
“Oh Coco, not everyone!” Jaedis laughed. “I never spoke to Gord’s wife. Never. I saw her at the market, maybe three times. That’s all.”
They sat in the sewing room, normally used by Lace, the Wardrobe Princess. A large room, washed bright from wide windows, and overstuffed with jumbles of cloth, baskets of scraps, dummies wearing unfinished gowns, tables lost beneath patterns and cuts, tangled spools of embroidery thread, and buttons sprinkled across the floor.
“What did she look like?” Coralina asked.
Jaedis shrugged. “Pretty enough. And friendly. I saw nothing wrong in her.”
“You must have heard something,” Coralina pressed. Jaedis tugged a needle through the seam of her goblin costume and shook her head. “I don’t hear peasant gossip. Well, not often – they’re usually too busy. It’s the nobles who have leisure to ruin each other’s lives.”
Coralina sighed and returned to the hem of her fair maiden costume. Two days until the play. The scenery was painted. The props were built. Her sisters knew their lines. But still she hadn’t rehearsed with Gord.
She didn’t know what he meant by comparing her to his wife. Clearly it wasn’t favorable. She had hoped Jaedis could explain.
“I wonder how she died,” Coralina mumbled. She shifted the fabric on her lap to continue hemming.
“Oh, that I know!” said Jaedis. “She went to visit a relative in... oh, Bauble or Grunwold – a nearby kingdom. Caught a chill and died there.”
Coralina began to imagine how Gord had received the news. She saw him sitting in his cottage with Pipsy. Getting up to answer the door. His face changing as he heard the words....
With a flick of her head she banished the thought.
Jaedis bit her lip as she examined the stitches. Her black hair hung in smooth curtains around her face, sliding over her sky blue dress. “Why is Gord in the play at all? I thought you were mad at him.”
Coralina smirked. “I am. But he’s perfect for the part. I needed someone to conquer the monsters and his size makes him believable. His voice has a rich tone that will carry over the audience. And despite his strength, he’s not brutish. He’s actually loving and sensitive. If you could see how he looks at his daughter....” She stopped, feeling suddenly self-conscious.
Jaedis giggled. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you describe a man without mentioning his hair color!”
Coralina scowled and Jaedis laughed again. “Don’t look so insulted! I’m glad you like him, Coco. He’s so much nicer than-”
“Whoever said I liked him?” said Coralina.
Jaedis rolled her eyes. “You did. Just now.”
Chapter 19
She didn’t like him. Coralina stood on the terrace at midnight, fuming at Jaedis’ words. She liked Kerrick, not Gord. Gord was nothing.
The ivy crackled on the south wall and Coralina sighed. Finally. She shouldn’t have agreed to meet Kerrick tonight. These late visits always left her tired the next day.
The sliver of moon, shrouded by clouds, barely gave a glow. Coralina had set a candle on the parapet, its flame shrunken and shivering. When Kerrick’s dark form climbed over the wall, Coralina burrowed into his arms. “I thought it would be warmer,” she murmured into his chest. “Can you wrap your cloak around both of us?”
“Princess... Coralina?”
It wasn’t Kerrick.
Coralina felt her insides lurch. She jumped back to look at the man. “Willow!” She bent over, holding her stomach. “Oh, Willow! You nearly killed me!”
“I’m sorry, Princess.” Willow was smiling. “You must be expecting someone. Or do you randomly hug strange men who climb over the castle walls?”
Coralina laughed hard, her nerves frazzled. Willow wore a dark cloak and tunic, his pale hair ghostly under the moon. His sudden appearance was both unsettling and tantalizing, like a visit from a handsome phantom. Coralina was very glad she’d come out on the terrace.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
Willow laughed and hung his head. His face grew somber. “Forgive me, Princess. I must confess... I’ve come to steal something.”
Coralina smirked. “I knew you had a wicked side.” She pushed his elbow playfully. “So what will it be? Gold? Jewels? Me as your hostage?”
“No.” Willow grinned and stepped away from the wall. He began to pace the terrace, squinting at the floor. “I was out here earlier, with Maelyn. She had a small comb in her hair, gold with pink gemstones. It slipped out as we were walking and she didn’t notice. I told myself I’d sneak back later and find it.”
“To steal it?” Coralina asked, confused. She followed Willow along the terrace until he neared the slender door that led inside the castle. He shook his head and turned back the way he’d come. “I want....” He tried to cover his sheepish smile by rubbing his nose. “I want something that belongs to Maelyn. Something I can hold in my hand. When I’m not with her.”
Coralina’s heart grew toasty warm. What a darling! “Heidel would call you a mush pot.”
“I thought it was by the door.” Willow turned to look again. But Coralina knew exactly where the comb was. She had found it when she first came out and stuck it behind her ear. As Willow searched, she extracted the comb and pus
hed it inside her sleeve.
“I have it, Willow.”
“You found it?” He hurried toward her and Coralina felt a momentary qualm. She shouldn’t flirt with Willow. She shouldn’t. He was Maelyn’s. But Coralina hadn’t come looking for Willow. Fate had thrown them together. On the terrace. In the moonlight. And that first hug had been lusciously warm.
No one could blame her.
Coralina reached behind her ear. “I put it... oh dear, where has it gone?”
“It’s in your hair?” Willow leaned forward to peer at her curls.
“Somewhere. But it’s so thick.” She patted her hair on both sides. “Can you help me?” She stepped within his reach.
Willow looked hesitant. “Are you sure it’s stuck in your hair? Maybe it fell.” He glanced at the ground around Coralina’s skirt.
“No, I feel it.” Coralina dropped her hands in frustration. “I can’t see what I’m doing. Do you mind?”
Willow smiled good-naturedly. “All right. I’ll be quick.”
He reached around Coralina and his fingers slid under her hair, his palms grazing her ears and the sides of her neck. Coralina shut her eyes. Willow’s hands travelled to the ends of her curls, then returned to her scalp to search again. Her skin tingled with pleasant shivers. She reached out and curled her fingers around his shoulders.
Willow’s hands froze in her hair. Their eyes locked together.
Whatever might have happened, Coralina never knew. The ivy crackled once more and Kerrick’s head rose above the battlements.
“Coco!”
Willow disentangled himself without embarrassment. “Don’t be alarmed, my friend. Princess Coralina-”
“You swine!” Kerrick thumped onto the terrace floor and whipped a short sword from his belt. Coralina screamed as he sliced at Willow’s head. Willow dodged and caught Kerrick’s wrist. With a quick wrench, he twisted the sword from Kerrick’s grasp and tossed it over the wall.