Mathilde was sitting next to me in the window, holding her duster and looking like she was about to cry. With some difficulty I pulled my mind out of the balance of power theory and concentrated on what she was saying.
“You mean Claud?” I asked.
“Of course I mean Claud, who else,” she replied, exasperated with my density.
“Maybe he’s just been tired,” I suggested weakly. She didn’t reply this time but gave me the glare that my poor suggestion deserved.
“Well, it has been cold!” I defended myself. “And maybe he wants to take things slowly while we’re all here at the Winter Castle. You know Nikki likes him too. She’s always making eyes at him. Maybe he just doesn’t want things to get too awkward – you’ve said yourself things can get a bit intense with so few staff and all of us stuck in the smaller space. Maybe he’s just waiting to get back to the Palace.”
Mathilde seemed momentarily cheered by this suggestion but then her face fell as she imparted her final bit of news.
“But you remember how he wasn’t in the kitchen last night?” she asked.
I nodded. It had been hard not to notice since Mathilde had pointed it out to me every couple of minutes, constantly pulling my attention away from the conversations I was trying to follow.
“After you went to bed he came in.”
I only had a second to wonder why the thought of this made her so glum.
“And about one minute after he came in so did Nikki. And she had this evil gloat on her face too.”
“But they didn’t actually come in together, right?” I was clutching at straws and knew it.
“It totally looked like they’d been out walking but didn’t want anyone to see them come in together.”
“Surely not!” I exclaimed loyally. “He wouldn’t do that to you! And anyway, if he was courting her now, instead of you, why would he be hiding it?”
Despite my words I felt a little uneasy. The more I saw of Claud, the more he gave me a squirmy feeling. A sort of shivering up my spine that I had long ago associated with two-faced people. I was becoming increasingly convinced that something was just a little bit off about Claud.
However, I hadn’t yet worked up the courage to confide my concerns in Mathilde who was still looking like she was about to cry. I decided to try another angle.
“And anyway, if he’s decided he doesn’t like you anymore and isn’t man enough to tell you to your face, then you’re better off without him. You deserve someone better than that.”
It was the age-old cry of friendship but it was the first time I’d been required to say it so I put in all the enthusiasm and sincerity I could muster. Mathilde seemed as completely uncomforted as I imagined every other friend had felt throughout those ages.
“Thanks Alyssa, you’re a good friend” she said listlessly and raised her duster. “I suppose I’d better get back to cleaning.”
I gave her a quick hug before she could escape and then sat there for several seconds watching her wander over towards the bookshelves and half-heartedly run her duster along one of the shelves. Mathilde might be a little soppy and undeservedly obsessed with Claud but she was still the best friend I’d ever had. I decided it was time I started paying a bit more attention to Claud.
Chapter 7
I didn’t get an opportunity to observe Claud that evening because he was once again absent from the kitchen. This seemed ominous and Mathilde excused herself much earlier than usual. Consequently I found it hard to focus on inter-kingdom politics the next morning, my mind constantly wandering to various schemes for finding out the truth about Claud. I’d nearly decided the best thing was simply to confront him and demand the truth when I heard the library door bang open.
“I’ve got it! He’s finished!”
It was the prince’s voice and he immediately came into view between the shelves, rather precariously balancing a large wooden object. I exclaimed in delight and rushed over to help him. Together we managed to get it down on the ground without harm.
“Thanks,” said Max, “it’s not as heavy as it looks but it’s an awkward shape. I banged it pretty hard against the door coming in but I don’t think it’s been damaged. He’s done a good job don’t you think?”
“It’s amazing!” I gushed, “so much better than I imagined. They’re going to love it!”
I smiled up at him and realised how close we were standing. His blue eyes were laughing down into mine and I suddenly felt the need to back away a little. I disguised my movement by turning to examine his burden.
It was a large wooden tower that had been carefully painted to resemble grey stone. There were no doors and only a single large window. Through the window I could see an empty room at the top of the tower.
“It opens here,” said Max, showing me the catch and the hinges that allowed part of the wall to swing away, giving access to the room. “So the girls can get their dolls and things in.”
His eyes were alight with enthusiasm and a sudden suspicion crossed my mind.
“You helped the carpenter with this didn’t you?” I asked before I remembered that a prince would hardly be doing manual labour.
“Yeah, I did actually.” He sounded half sheepish at being caught showing interest in what was essentially a dollhouse but also half proud. “I helped with the design and I painted it. I’m not much good with the actual woodwork.”
“Well, it’s beautiful, so much more finished looking than I was imagining. It’s perfect, actually. Thank you, Max.” I couldn’t help but smile to see how pleased he looked with my praise.
“Alyssa,” he said, letting go of the tower and stepping towards me. But before he could go on we were both startled by a noise between the bookshelves. We both took a step back and I realised I was never going to hear what he’d been about to say. Another cryptic utterance to add to the list. And to make the moment more awkward, it was Nikki, not Mathilde, who emerged from between the bookshelves.
The duster was in her hands and moving along the shelf but her eyes were on us and they were filled with curiosity and a little surprise. I sighed. Nikki might not be as awful as Mathilde thought she was, but she was a gossip. Whatever she’d overheard would be relayed to every servant in the castle by tonight. I replayed our conversation in my mind but couldn’t think of anything I’d said that was particularly gossip-worthy.
Max, meanwhile, seemed to have recovered from his momentary discomfort. I could only suppose the gossip of the servants made no difference to him. Instead his attention had returned to the tower.
“Can I come with you to give it to them?” he asked.
“Of course,” I replied, “I couldn’t carry it on my own anyway.”
“You should give it a try,” he encouraged, “you really will be surprised by how light it is. It’s the way Joe constructed the walls.”
He began a detailed and enthusiastic description of the engineering behind the tower design. I tuned him out while I tried to determine the best angle to pick it up from. At last I crouched down and simply put both hands underneath the base. I straightened back up and realised he was right – it was surprisingly light. But as I took a step, the structure shifted balance and the top of the tower, which was now above my head, started to swing towards me. I quickly shifted it in my grip and the edge of the base scraped along one of my hands.
“Ouch!” I exclaimed and put it down. I examined my hand. There was no mark but I could still feel the sting. I gripped the spot in my other hand but not before Max had leaned in to have a look.
“Wow, you’re so soft,” he said, with a laugh. “There’s nothing there.”
“Don’t even start,” I said, more sharply than I’d intended.
He stopped laughing and looked taken aback. I softened.
“Sorry,” I said and then, as an explanation, “I have four older brothers.”
That brought the laugh back, although this time only in his eyes.
“Ah, I see,” he said, “a trial for anyone. H
ere give it to me, I can kiss it better for you.” He held out his hand for mine but I whipped both hands behind my back, cross at his teasing. I was painfully conscious, even if he had forgotten, that Nikki was watching us with interest.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped. “My hand’s fine. I’m just sensitive. Which, for your information, is not a crime. There are more ways to be strong than just physically, you know.”
“How did that argument work on your brothers?” asked Max as he leaned down and picked up the tower. When he stood back up and I saw his face around the bulk in his arms, I realised he was still laughing at me.
“Boys,” I muttered to myself and stalked off ahead of him to get the door.
He needed my help balancing the tower as we climbed the stairs and by the time we reached the princesses’ suite my annoyance had been swallowed by anticipation. We put the tower down just outside the door and I told Max to wait while I went in to fetch the twins. It looked like Gretchen had just left so we’d timed it well. The girls looked up from their desks where they were packing away their books and papers.
“Alyssa,” called Sophie and “There you are!” added Lily.
“Do you remember that I had a surprise for you?” I asked them. “The one that didn’t exactly involve the stables.”
“Yes! Of course we remember,” cried Lily, her eyes alight. “What is it? Where is it?”
Sophie looked wildly around the room as if she expected it to have appeared while they were doing their lessons.
“It’s outside the door, with your brother,” I said, pointing at the door I’d just come through.
Both girls rushed past me and through the doorway. I followed them in time to hear their indrawn breaths.
“It’s beautiful!”
“It’s so tall! Much taller than our dollhouse.”
“So much better than the stack of cushions we used the other day.”
And then, as if suddenly remembering the story that went along with the tower:
“Thanks, Max!”
“Thanks, Alyssa!”
We both received a hug from one of the girls and our eyes met above their heads. As we smiled at each other I had the sudden thought, is this what it feels like to be parents? But then I shook it off. Luckily I still had several years before I had to find out the answer to that question.
“Let’s get it into the room, I know just the spot.”
Both girls rushed back into the room and I could hear Lily bossing Sophie around as they moved their things, making a space for the tower next to the dollhouse. Once it was in position we all stood back and surveyed it in satisfaction.
But the girls stayed still for only a moment, rushing to move their dolls and various furnishings from the house to the tower.
“Now the lesson should stay fresh in their minds,” I said quietly.
“Is that why you wanted it made for them?” asked Max, equally quietly.
I looked up, startled to realise I’d spoken aloud.
He answered the question in my eyes. “Lily told us the story. The one about the tower. It was the other morning when Sophie spilled hot chocolate all down her dress during breakfast and you had to bring her back here to change.” His voice was even and I couldn’t tell whether he disapproved or not.
I flushed when I realised the king and queen now knew I thought their daughters lacked consideration and courtesy. And worse, that I was trying to school them in it. The older members of the family would know the story wasn’t a classic fairy tale. I waited to see what else Max would say but apparently he had nothing further to add. Instead he bid us all goodbye and left the room, a departure entirely unnoticed by his sisters who were fighting over which items to put in the tower room. I sighed and headed over to arbitrate. I’d always wanted a sister in the past but these days I was starting to think I’d dodged a bullet.
The tower occupied the girls for most of the afternoon, the spirited arguments that interspersed the happy games seemed to use their energy as effectively as a game of tag or hide and seek. It was significantly less draining for me, however, since I sat back and let them go, only intervening if things started to get out of hand. Mostly the fights seemed to die out as quickly as they started, harmony returned through some mysterious medium I had yet to fathom.
The result of an afternoon’s worth of thoughts was that when I left the suite after the girls fell asleep I was wearing my cloak and boots. I went down the back servants stairs as usual but instead of going into the kitchen, I slipped out one of the castle’s back doors and began to slowly meander towards the stables. I knew the carpenter lived in a small cottage down there and I thought an evening visit to thank him would make a good excuse to be outside. My real purpose, of course, was to try to get a glimpse of what Claud was doing that was keeping him out of the kitchen in the evening.
I walked as slowly as possible but still reached the carpenter’s cottage without seeing anyone. I knocked on the door and was gruffly bid to enter. I pushed the door open and was glad to enter the warm room beyond. When Joe saw me, he stood up from his rocking chair by the fire and gave me a tentative smile.
“You’ll be Miss Alyssa, I suppose,” he said. “I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
“All good, I hope.” I smiled a little uncertainly. “It seems we servants do like to gossip.”
I hoped he would relax when I included myself with the servants but he remained standing respectfully.
“It wasn’t from the servants,” he replied and now I was truly curious. Unfortunately he seemed oblivious to my questioning look and it seemed rude to press him.
“I came to thank you for the beautiful tower you made,” I said instead.
His smile broadened and he reached up to scratch his head.
“That’s very kind of you, Miss Alyssa,” he said. “It was a pleasure to make it. And I wasn’t alone. His highness came down most evenings to keep me company. It’s a pleasure to see how he cares about those poor little girls.”
“Poor little girls? You mean the princesses?” I asked.
I could tell from his uncomfortable look that the words had been a slip of the tongue and he was slow to answer me.
“Well, not really poor, of course. It just seems mighty lonesome for children out here at the castle. No other children to play with. Although they have each other at least.”
“That’s why they have me.” I tried to sound cheerful although his words echoed my own thoughts. “I suppose it must have been worse for the prince when he was a child. He would have been all alone.”
“Oh, the royal family didn’t spend their winters out here before the princesses were born,” said Joe. “Times were less settled then. Kept the young king busy for years after he got the crown.”
I wondered what ‘times were less settled’ meant but concluded he must be referring to King Henry’s unexpected ascension to the throne so shortly after he had married Queen Eleanor. No-one could have predicted the hunting accident which had killed King Edward and it must have been a confusing time for the current king and queen. They certainly would have been expecting to have many years as prince and princess before having to take the reins of government.
Joe seemed kind and honest but he didn’t seem comfortable having me in his cottage and I felt like an intruder into his rest.
“Well the princesses are certainly delighted with their new doll tower,” I said. “Thank you again for all the work you put in. It’s so much nicer than the one I imagined.”
“Happy to be of service,” said Joe and he held the door open for me.
As it swung closed, I thought I heard him murmur to himself, “Now I understand, pretty as a picture she is.” But when I turned back around the door had closed and all I could hear was the faint sound of his chuckle as he moved back towards the fire.
As tantalising as his last remark had been, the cold air reminded me of my second purpose for the evening. I began to walk as slowly as possible back towards the castle, st
raining my eyes to see any movement in the dark around me. Sure enough, I saw a figure striding away from the castle and realised after a moment that it was Claud. He also saw me and checked, changing the angle of his steps to come towards me.
When we met we were close enough to the lights of the castle that I could see his face clearly. He was smiling but it didn’t warm me. Instead it made me realise that we were alone for the first time and I felt again the shivering up my spine, heightened now by the night around us and by our aloneness.
“Alyssa,” he held his hands out in greeting and I reluctantly put my hand into his. “I’ve been hoping to have a chance to speak to you properly but you’re always surrounded by friends and admirers.”
My thoughts flew to Mathilde and it made his attempt at charm seem even more false. I said nothing so he continued, perhaps encouraged by my silence.
“You outshine them all, of course. You have brightened our little world since your arrival.” He paused. “You have brightened my world.”
My hand had been hanging limply in his as he spoke and he now raised it to his lips. Horrified I snatched it away.
We stood silent now, regarding each other, and his expression changed. He looked confused and resentful and I could only assume Mathilde and Nikki responded a little differently to his honeyed phrases. But there was also something darker lurking beneath and I remembered my fear. I forced myself to speak.
“I think you forget, Claud, that I’m friends with Mathilde. Good friends,” I said and his face relaxed a little.
“Of course, of course,” he rushed to say. “I didn’t mean anything by it, I assure you. Mathilde is charming, I like her very much. You won’t mention this to her?”
Some of my contempt must have shown on my face because he rushed on. “I really do like her. I was just swept up in your,” he seemed to be searching for the right word, “novelty.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Was he serious? And he obviously didn’t understand how friendship worked if he thought I wasn’t going to say anything.
“I’m going back inside now,” I said coldly. “I was only out on a short visit to Joe Carpenter to thank him for some woodwork he did for the princesses.”
The Princess Companion: A Retelling of The Princess and the Pea (The Four Kingdoms Book 1) Page 7