Of course, she hadn’t thought it would happen the day after her arrival there. Yet it had still felt right. Lily was a big believer in following her instinct and had never been led astray by the impressions and promptings she’d felt to do or not do something.
If only she could see proof somewhere, sometime that her decision to marry Eduardo really was the right thing to do. She turned her attention back to her husband who was now sitting beside her. As she looked into his eyes, she felt another rush of confidence. Things would be okay. She didn’t know everything, but of that she was certain.
Obeying the impulse she felt, Lily reached out and touched Eduardo’s hand before he picked up his roll. She didn’t let it remain long, but just enough to let him know she was there and that she wasn’t worried about the two of them.
***
Eduardo wished they didn’t have to leave Antonio’s land right away. Something about the cozy family atmosphere at his cousin’s home had him feeling like he hadn’t in a long while. And Liliana fit in so well there.
Antonio managed his lands with fairness and firm judgment and his people and tenants respected him. The meetings with the tenants and villagers had gone well, and Eduardo kept mental notes on the way Antonio led the people in his care. By emulating the goodness he found in others, he hoped he could make things better for Aragonia.
They wouldn’t have time to visit all the land owners on this trip. Just the more influential ones. In a few months to a year, they would do another tour through the kingdom in order to continue to build up goodwill toward his father. Though at times, Eduardo wondered if it would do any good. Until King Gerardo stopped raising taxes and ensured the safety of his own citizens, Eduardo would have a lot of work ahead of him.
At least Liliana wouldn’t be an embarrassment. He’d worried about taking her to his people before they’d met, but once he’d been assured of her intelligence and practicality, he felt no concerns any longer.
They traveled along the road with no interruption and no hint of anything amiss among the trees allowing Eduardo to feel as if the journey to Lord Vincente’s land would go without incident. They stopped briefly for a meal and a chance for Liliana and her lady’s maid, Ana, to stretch their legs. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a little village like before and they had to just eat a bit of bread and cheese and some meats Maria had been kind enough to send with them.
Eduardo wished they could have spent a few minutes alone, just the two of them, but being out in the open wasn’t the wisest of ideas so he reluctantly ushered her back into the carriage and hidden away in case anything might happen.
The remainder of the trip between Antonio’s land and Lord Vincente’s went by quickly enough they arrived before the need of another meal on the road.
As the carriage came through the gate of the high protective wall, Eduardo scanned the gathering crowd of staff and servants that worked in Lord Vincente’s estate. Curiosity filled the eyes of everyone there, and they all peered at the carriage, trying to get a glimpse inside.
Eduardo kept close to the carriage in order to be of assistance when it stopped. He wanted to be the one to take his wife’s hand and help her descend from the carriage. He wanted all the people around them to just disappear so she could be his and his alone. He knew the people wanted to meet the woman who would one day be queen, but right now, he didn’t want to share her.
The driver of the carriage pulled the horses to a stop and the carriage pushed forward just a bit as the wheels eventually came to a complete rest. Eduardo dismounted from his horse and handed the reins to one of the young stable lads who’d approached.
Eduardo moved to the door of the carriage and opened it with a flourish in order to please the crowd that had made a half circle around the arrival. Liliana’s hand touched his and he gripped her steadily to allow her to find her footing on the step. When her feet touched the ground this time, she didn’t release his hand and he was half tempted to keep hold of it in his own hand, but instead lifted her hand to place it on his arm as was more proper.
The two stood in front of the gathered people and Eduardo waved with one hand and noticed Liliana did the same. She leaned a little closer to him and whispered softly. “What would you like me to do?”
“Just stand here with me. We’ll be going inside soon, then we’ll hold court tomorrow where the people will come pay their respects and make their petitions.”
Liliana nodded once and smiled at the people and Eduardo struggled to not just stare at her. Most of the people here had seen him before and he knew they would be just as mesmerized by Liliana as he was. A few young children waved and some even welcomed her with words and greetings. One little girl stepped forward with a small flower and offered it to Liliana.
The princess bent down to the little girl’s level and thanked her for the flower. The personal interaction must have encouraged all the other children, because nearly a dozen more little girls and even a few boys moved closer and reached out to take her hand or touch her dress.
“I am so happy to meet all of you,” Liliana said, smiling brightly at the children. “Thank you so much for your welcome here. I know you will do such great things with your lives. You will be the ones who make Aragonia such a great nation.”
Eduardo looked down at his wife, wondering how she could command such presence with such a simple statement, but the children beamed up at her and the parents standing nearby nodded in agreement and appreciation at her words to their children.
If only King Gerardo could see the effect that kindness had on the people. There would be little need for might and threats against the people to force them to do his bidding. If he could win them over with the same actions Princess Liliana was doing, Aragonia would be a great nation. The people there would come to love and respect the ruling house more. They would need to go inside soon, but he loathed to take her from the crowd too soon. She was the change Aragonia needed.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lily had always been a people watcher, and being in the past made it so different. She had tried to find commonalities between the people of the time and the crowds she’d seen in other places in her own time. Most parents were very interested and observant of their children no matter when they were living. It was fun to see how excited the children got at the chance to meet the prince and even herself. The parents seemed to study her with blatant interest as well, none of them trying to pretend they weren’t interested.
Someday, she hoped she would be able to actually go out among the people and talk with them. To discover more about them, but she knew this first meeting wouldn’t be the best time. They had to get used to the idea of their prince being married. And she needed to make sure she understood the rules and etiquette of the time. It wouldn’t do her any good to upset the people and make them angry with her because she was so foreign to this place.
She kept most of her interactions to simple things and smiles and some casual touches of the children’s hands and shoulders. Lily watched the reactions of all the people she looked at and talked to, wanting to be sure she didn’t make any kind of mistake.
One man standing a few feet back from the crowd caught her attention. She couldn’t tell which woman or child in the group he might be connected with. Perhaps he was just a villager that had come to see on his own. Yet the look in his eyes worried her. She continued to talk with the people in the group and listened as Eduardo spoke to them. She smiled up at her husband, loving to see the way he seemed to genuinely like his people. There was nothing of the stuck-up nobility in his posture or responses to the crowd. After a few more minutes of casual interaction, he turned to her. “Shall we go in?”
Lily nodded and placed her hand on his offered arm. She looked at the people once more and smiled then waved gently as they turned to go into the huge stone fortress. A shiver ran up her spine and she looked behind her, wondering what had set off her senses so strongly.
The man who had been looking at them was still standing
where he’d been before, but was looking off into the trees. Lily looked in the same direction, and was certain she saw a movement. Flashes of memories from movies she’d seen made her certain it was the movement of an archer’s bow. Acting more by instinct than rational thought, Lily turned to face Eduardo and pushed him backward, using the full force of her body to do it.
His eyes widened in surprise, and one of Eduardo’s guards rushed forward to help just as she felt the sting of something biting her arm. If she hadn’t felt the impact of something nicking her bone, she would have been certain it had been a wasp. The force of the impact threw her off balance just enough she was spun in a half circle and she fell onto Prince Eduardo as he lay on the ground still.
Had he been shot as well?
“Eduardo,” Lily gasped. “Are you hurt?”
Sounds of screams and shouts from the children and parents nearby almost drown out the yells from Eduardo’s guards and Lord Vincente’s men.
“In the trees!” Diego shouted.
Lily tried to shift enough to see Eduardo, but the intense pain that had begun to register in her arm made it hard to think clearly.
She looked down at her arm, wanting to know what had happened exactly and she stared dumbly for long moments at the back half of a shaft of an arrow sticking out of her arm while the front of it with the razor sharp tip stuck out of the inner arm about six inches.
“I’ve been shot by an arrow,” she said stupidly as her mind tried to wrap itself around the whole thing. “What the heck, Lachele? You said everything would be just fine.”
“Liliana,” Eduardo’s voice cut through her thoughts. “What were you thinking? Don’t move that arm. Let’s get you inside to safety.”
Lily looked into Eduardo’s stormy eyes, wondering why he was so mad at her. She looked back down at her arm and as she saw the bloodstain that had begun to blossom out across the fabric of her sleeve, she realized she really had been shot and that there wasn’t any kind of modern medicine or a real doctor of any kind that would be able to tend her injury.
Her head spun with the pain and shock of it all, and as she looked back into Eduardo’s angry eyes, her own vision began to swim and she felt dark spots crowding her vision until she could see no more. “I’m sorry,” she said, fearful that his anger might make him do something.
The last thing she remembered was Eduardo roughly grabbing her, jostling her arm to the point where the pain made her lose all consciousness. That was better than facing her husband being angry at her.
***
How could he have let this happen? Eduardo rushed through the doorway of the stone building and yelled for someone to clear a space for him to set her down.
A servant rushed forward and moved a chair out of the way in order for him to place Liliana on the table in the great hall.
“What happened, Your Highness?”
“An assassin outside!”
The servant gasped and Eduardo saw more of the men and servants from the castle rush toward the outer doors with swords and daggers at the ready.
“Get me cloths! And where is your healer?”
“Right away, sir.” The woman rushed off and Eduardo was left alone with Liliana for a moment. He felt her face, then let his hand rest on her neck, checking to see if he felt movement beneath her skin. Her heart beat was still there, and felt strong and regular. He watched the rise and fall of her chest as she continued to breathe, and he hoped she had just passed out from the shock of it, and that it wasn’t anything serious.
He checked for any other signs of injury, but the arrow in her arm was the only thing. He relaxed only slightly. Though the injury itself wasn’t life threatening, it was impossible to know how someone would react to a wound like that. There were many people who died of fevers and infections in the arm. He couldn’t let that happen. And he would never allow them to amputate the arm. She had saved him from the assassination attempt, he was certain of it. She’d pushed him out of the way, and in return was injured herself.
He would never forgive himself for allowing harm to come to her.
Eduardo leaned closer to her, checking once again to be sure she was breathing. He placed his hand on her cheek and the comfortable temperature was a good sign. She wasn’t overheated, or cold and clammy like some injured people were.
The sounds of footsteps running into the room brought Eduardo upright with his sword drawn to protect his wife. When he saw it was the same servant woman with a man with her, Eduardo relaxed a little.
“Are you the healer?” Eduardo asked the man.
“Yes, Your Highness. I will care for the princess.”
“Can you remove the arrow?”
The healer moved closer, then pulled out a small knife. “I must cut away the fabric to assess the wound more clearly. Please hold her arm still.”
Eduardo did as he was asked and watched as the healer made every effort to be gentle as he cut the dress sleeve away from the arrow shaft. The tip of the arrow was sharp enough, and looked new, giving him hope that there would be little chance of infection. It had gone through the fleshy part of her arm, and didn’t seem to have broken the bone or anything. Mostly it would only be damage to the muscle.
The thought made him nauseated. His poor wife. Guilt washed over him that he had not been more observant of his surroundings and that she had been the one to keep him out of danger. Even to the point where she had been injured in his place. If she suffered lasting damage from this, he would never forgive himself. As the healer began his work of removing the arrow, then caring for the wound that remained, Eduardo did his best to keep Liliana’s arm still.
He was glad, for her sake, that she remained unconscious through the proceedings. It would keep the pain at bay and though she moved and whimpered incoherently on occasion, she still remained asleep.
In no time at all, the healer declared himself finished and handed Eduardo a small bottle with a liquid inside. “You should add a drop or two to some tea for her to drink when she wakes. It will help with the pain.”
Eduardo nodded.
As the doctor moved away, Eduardo became more aware of the others in the room. A man servant stepped forward. “Should I carry her highness to her room where she can rest?”
“I’ll carry her,” Eduardo said, not willing to let anyone else do so. “Just lead the way.” He looked at the woman who’d brought the healer to him. “Bring up some tea and soup as well as that bottle. I’ll want fresh water as well.”
Eduardo slid his arm under Liliana’s neck, then the other arm under her legs and lifted her easily. He wished there had been some other reason to carry her close to his chest like this. One where she would be awake and looking into his eyes with hope and expectation, instead of unconscious and injured.
The stairs gave him no trouble at all, and soon Eduardo was standing beside the bed destined for his wife. He laid her down gently and reluctantly stood up and pulled away from her.
In only a few minutes, the serving woman entered the room with a tray of bread, broth, and tea with the bottle the healer had given him as well.
“Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No. I will remain here with her until she wakes. When Lord Vincente returns, send him up. I must know if the found the man responsible for this.”
The woman curtsied then quietly left him alone with his wife.
“I am so very sorry, Liliana. There is nothing I can do to take away this pain from you, but I swear to you, from this point on, I will keep you safe always. I will never let anything happen to you. You are too dear to me, and so very important to the kingdom of Aragonia.”
***
Lily woke to the sensation of her arm burning. She squirmed, trying to get away from the heat, worried she’d fallen asleep too close to the fireplace, then as her eyes opened she realized she was in a bed and far from the fireplace.
Yet her arm still burned. She reached with her other hand, trying to find out what was wrong, but the movem
ent brought a jolt of pain to her burning arm.
“Hold still,” Eduardo’s voice from her side said. She moved her head and saw him stand from the chair he’d been in and move closer to the bed. “You don’t want to hurt it more.”
“What happened?” Lily asked, then remembered the sight of the arrow sticking out of her arm. She tried to lift the arm, but any movement of the muscles made her want to scream out in pain.
“You were hit by an arrow. One meant for me, I was told.”
“Oh,” Lily said, remembering a little more clearly. “Was anyone else hurt?”
Eduardo shook his head. “Don’t worry about anything more. Just let yourself rest.”
Lily didn’t think going back to sleep would be possible. It hurt way too much for that. Too bad there weren’t any modern day medicines like what she’d had when she’d broken her arm as a teen. She’d even settle for some over the counter pain pills. But now she doubted there was anything she could take unless it was hard liquor and she didn’t think her stomach could handle anything like that.
“Drink this tea. The healer said it would help with the pain.”
“What’s in it?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know, but just try it.”
Lily looked into his eyes. He looked hopeful and she wanted to believe it would work for the pain as well.
“Help me sit up then.” Lily leaned to her side with the still good arm and tried to prop herself up, but struggled to make much progress.
Eduardo’s strong hands reached under her shoulders and helped her sit up, sending different shivers of sensation through her body that competed with the pain for the most attention.
“Thank you,” she said once she’d finally gotten adjusted against the head rest of the bed with a pillow behind her to help prop her up. She took a sip and though the drink was pleasant enough at first, the aftertaste was bitter and she frowned as she looked at the cup.
RELUCTANT ROYAL, THE Page 6