“I don't think that's going to work, Tobey!” she called to him.
“Wait...I feel wind!” He thought he felt a breeze tickle his cheek, so he hurled his makeshift kite into the air as hard as he could. When it fell down and thumped him on the head, Lyneah erupted in another fit of giggles. “Bloody hell...” Tobias murmured, frowning at the kite in his hand.
“I think you might have to give up!” Lyneah taunted him. “If you don't, we'll be here all day... and our food will get even colder than it already is.”
“I think you're right,” he agreed, then he walked to the cliff and pitched his useless kite over the edge. Seeing him dispose of it made Lyneah laugh again.
“Aww, you should have kept it!” the princess chided him as he returned to the blanket. “It could have been a memento of this day.”
“Right. A memento of my m-monumental failure!” Tobias sat beside her and opened their large picnic basket, from which he extracted two lukewarm portions of fish and chips. He gave her one portion, then he shoved a large chip into his mouth. “I really did try, you know.”
“And I appreciate your effort. At least it was amusing to watch. It was the perfect thing to cheer me up!” Lyneah tore off a piece of greasy battered fish and pinched it between two fingers. She'd never tried fried fish, so she nibbled on it with caution. When it tasted better than expected, she shoved the entire bite into her mouth.
“Ah... look!” Tobey suddenly exclaimed, pointing at a gaggle of gray geese flying alongside the cliff. From where they sat, they had a perfect view of the lustrous Onyx Cliffs and the water rushing below. The geese came closer, honking loudly as they soared over Tobias and Lyneah's heads.
“Geese?” Lyneah's nose wrinkled as she popped another piece of fish in her mouth. “It doesn't take much to amuse you, does it?”
“W-well... I like geese!” he said with a shrug. “Now that we've turned our world into a cesspool of steel and steam, no one takes time to appreciate nature.”
“You're such a dork.” Lyneah swiped the brown newsboy cap from Tobias' head and transferred it to her own head. “But you're a delightful dork, so you need not despair.”
“I-I-It looks better on you,” Tobias said, pointing at his hat.
“Thank you, Tobey!' Lyneah exclaimed before turning her attention back to the fish in front of her. “This is seasoned to perfection! How do they make this?”
“I could make some for you sometime. I work at a pub, so I fry fish all the time. It isn't hard, or I wouldn't be able to do it.”
“Hmm...” Lyneah cocked her head as she considered his offer. “I'd like that.”
Suddenly, Tobias pulled a small, purple flower from the pocket of his vest and presented it to her. When she took it from him, her eyes lit up. “Aww, a flower? How sweet. It reminds me of something Roderick would do.”
“R-Roderick...” As he whispered the name, Tobey sat back and crossed his arms. “Right.”
When he finished eating his fish and chips, Tobias laid down on their picnic blanket and stared at the clouds above them. Kitt asked him to keep Lyneah distracted all day. He was trying to think of ways to keep her with him without sounding too desperate for her company.
Lyneah scooted closer to him and touched his cheek with her flower. When he felt the petals brushing his nose, he turned his head away from the offending flower and shouted, “Hey! That tickles!”
“I know!” Lyneah grinned at him. “That's why I'm doing it!”
“You want to tickle me?” Tobias squinted one eye as she continued to tickle his cheek with the flower. “You're a very evil girl. You know what this means, right?”
Lyneah innocently shook her head. “No.”
“It means I'll have to get revenge!” Tobias suddenly sat up and tickled her stomach. Lyneah roared with laughter as she tried to flee, but he pulled her back and tickled her sides, around her rib cage. When she finally broke free from his monstrous fingers, Lyneah sprinted away from the picnic blanket as quickly as she could.
Of course, Tobias gave chase. And since he was much faster than her, he quickly gained ground. When Lyneah glanced over her shoulder and saw him approaching, she yelped loudly. His capture of her was not only imminent, it was inevitable. He grabbed her by the waist, picked her up, flung her over his shoulder and carried her back to the picnic blanket. Lyneah was surprised by how easily he lifted her. Tobias must have been stronger than he looked.
“You can't get away from me yet. We're not done with the picnic.” Tobias laid her down on the blanket, sat beside her, and hauled the picnic basket toward them. His hand momentarily disappeared into the depths of the basket, and when it emerged, he was holding a small, flat, white, rectangular cake.
“Cake?” Lyneah leaned toward the plate, trying to get a better look at it. “Where did you find cake in Dovyr?”
“I made it!” he announced with a smile.
“You made it? How and where did you find the time to make cake?” As Tobias handed her a fork, she thought he looked a bit hesitant, if not guilty.
“I... I, um...” He was clearly struggling with the truth. “D-d-don't be mad, but I went back to The Courtesan's Plate. The ladies helped me make it.”
Lyneah was so stunned, her fork froze before it reached her mouth. “The ladies? You mean the whores?”
“W-w-w-w-well.. I personally prefer not to call them that,” Tobias defended his friends. “They're actually v-v-very nice ladies.”
“Oh, I'm sure they are!” Lyneah tossed the bite of cake into her mouth and chewed vigorously. As she swallowed, her eyes were suddenly filled with panic. “Wait, they didn't take advantage of you, did they?” She thought he looked puzzled, and he didn't answer right away, so she rephrased the question. “You didn't sleep with them?”
“What? No!” Tobias' face was suddenly flooded with several shades of red. “I n-n-n-never would!”
“Oh really?”
“No!”
“Truly?”
“No!” As Tobias dragged a hand over his face, he heaved the longest sigh of his life. Why was it so difficult for her to believe him? “We just made cake!”
“You just made cake.” Lyneah doubtfully rolled her eyes.
“Yes! If you haven't noticed, I'm sh-sh-shy! I just wouldn't do that!”
“Well... I suppose you have a point. You do seem a bit timid. I wouldn't be surprised if you've never been intimate with anyone. Have you?” Lyneah kept her eyes on the cake as she asked the question. She knew it was too personal to ask, and it probably wasn't her business, but her curiosity demanded satisfaction. Tobias seemed so naive about so many things, it wouldn't have surprised her at all if he--
“No,” Tobey quietly confirmed her suspicions. “I... h-haven't.” A little while ago, he thought his stammer was improving, but the princess' barrage of awkward questions made him regress.
“So you just... haven't had the opportunity?” Lyneah briefly glanced at his face, but he wasn't making eye contact with her. When she saw how red he was, she felt a bit guilty for making him blush so abundantly.
“I-I-I-It...” Tobey took a deep breath before continuing, because he knew he would stutter through the entire sentence if he didn't take a moment to gather his thoughts. “It's not for lack of opportunities. I require the right sort of girl.”
“I see.” For a moment, Lyneah considered telling him about Rory. She desperately wanted to unburden herself. She wanted to tell someone that Rory had his way with her, and that she was disgusted with herself for letting it happen. As much as she wanted to tell Tobey the truth, she didn't want to risk losing his respect. If he knew what she had done, he would know she was not the right sort of girl for him, and having Tobias' respect was important to her. When she was with him, he made her forget the awful parts of her life. Tobias made her feel innocent again, if only for a moment. For that reason, she enjoyed spending time with him.
Even so, Lyneah failed to suppress the negative thoughts that were fighting their way out of
her mouth. “Sometimes, I think I'm exactly like my mother,” she quietly confessed. “Sometimes I think I'm no better than the whores at The Courtesan's Plate.”
“What?” Tobias' brow furrowed, as if she had personally offended him. “No! No no no. First of all, those women are actually very nice ladies. Secondly... you're a saint by comparison. Don't ever put yourself in the same category as that lot.”
Lyneah was sighing as she shoveled another bite of cake into her mouth. “I don't know...”
“Don't,” he repeated. “If I hear you say something like that again, I'm not going to be very happy.”
“Thanks, Tobey.” The princess sighed again, longer and louder. “You really are a good friend.”
And there it was: that dreadful word to put him in his place. Friend. He heard the same word from Kitt on more than one occasion. He knew it was all he would ever be to them, but hearing the word would always sting.
All of a sudden, Tobias leapt to his feet and offered her a hand. “Come on. Let's go for a walk,” he said, bowing his head in the direction of the cliffs. “Scenery like this should be enjoyed to the fullest.”
“What about the cake?” Lyneah was licking frosting from her fork as she asked the question.
“Leave it. It's dry. It's ant food.” Tobias chuckled at the thought of his failed cake. “I'm as good at making cake as I am at making kites, apparently.”
“It wasn't so bad,” Lyneah weakly defended him against his own criticism.
“Not so bad is still bad, isn't it?” Tobias took the princess' hand and helped her to her feet. Then he escorted her to the edge of the cliff, which was the perfect place to enjoy the sprawling scene. The dark cliffs were a stark contrast to the crystal blue water, and it was quite a sight to behold. Lyneah continued to hold his hand, even when he tried to let go. Her desire to cling to him was confusing, but he didn't mind too much.
And Tobias' confusion persisted throughout their entire walk. Lyneah hugged him once, and a minute later, she hugged him again. If she only wanted to be his friend, he secretly wished she wouldn't hug him quite so often. Even a friendly fool like him had struggles with restraint.
“I still can't believe you,” Tobias suddenly grumbled. “Comparing yourself to the women at The Courtesan's Plate? Really? Is that not the grossest and most ridiculous exaggeration in the entire world?”
“I'm sorry!” Lyneah was surprised by his reaction. He seemed more offended by her self-deprecation than she did.
“You're so silly.” When he turned in her direction, Tobey was exaggerating a glare. “You make me so upset, I think I might jump off this cliff!”
“What?” Lyneah was shaking her head with disbelief. “Ha! You wouldn't do that.”
“Wouldn't I?” Tobias let go of her hand and started kicking off his shoes. “Are you sure about that?”
Lyneah peered over the edge of the cliff, checking the water below. “No, you wouldn't. We're way too high! If you jumped from here, you'd probably d--” He was sprinting to the edge of the cliff before she could finish her thought. “Tobias!”
He took a running leap into the water, and Lyneah didn't breathe again until she saw his head emerge. She was shocked. She hadn't known Tobias that long, but she felt like she knew him well enough, and he didn't seem like the sort of person who was prone to foolish decisions or unnecessary risks. “Are you alright?” she called to him.
“Yes!” He was so far below her now, she could barely hear his reply. “The water feels nice!”
Lyneah didn't want to follow his lead or do anything foolish, not when the future of her country depended on her survival. It took her several minutes to find a safe path to the water, but she finally joined him at the water's edge. “Tobias, are you mad?” she continued to rail at him. “You could've gotten yourself killed!”
“But I didn't. That's the important thing, right?” He started to swim a bit further out, away from Lyneah. “You should join me in here! It's not too cold, believe it or not.”
When his back was facing her, Lyneah removed her slippers, her necklace, and even her dress. Wearing only her undergarments, she dove into the water and swam toward him. As soon as he turned around, Lyneah splashed his face. “That's for being an idiot!” she exclaimed.
“Hey, now!” Tobias splashed her too. “You can't ambush me while my back is turned! That isn't fair!”
“Fair? How's this for fair?” She sent both of her arms through the water, building a small tidal wave. When she unleashed it on him, Tobias gasped. Only when he was thoroughly drenched would she feel satisfied.
Lyneah's insane splash launched them into an all-out war. When Tobey retaliated, she splashed him back, and then he got her again. It was juvenile behavior, to be sure, but at least Lyneah looked happy again.
When the smile returned to her face, Tobias considered it a success.
20
With Miles' help, Kitt managed to find an acceptable red wig in under two hours. She might have asked for Roderick's help too, but she had yet to explain that Princess Lyneah was in Dovyr. Though she trusted Roderick, Kitt strongly suspected he would abandon her if he knew. The moment he found out the princess was nearby, Kitt expected him to fly to Lyneah's side, leaving her behind.
It was against Kitt's better judgment that she decided to join Rory McCray for supper. But she had no choice—not only because Lyneah was still absent, but because Doon was going to be there. When Rory greeted her with a lengthy kiss in front of the inn, Kitt nearly retched into his mouth. Needless to say, she was not too thrilled with the idea of showing affection to Doon's brutal captor.
Once they were inside the inn, he led her to a private meeting room, where dinner preparations were underway for Rory and his guests. Several tables were shoved together to form one long table, which was necessary to accommodate the many allies he had invited. Rory had not only invited his fiance to supper, but several of his officers as well. And since many of them were Rory's friends, they congratulated him on his recent engagement as they trickled into the room.
When everyone was seated around the table, Rory clapped his hands together twice. As soon as they heard him clap, several servers surged into the room with heaping platters of food. They had prepared a feast for McCray: Ham, chicken, roast, corn, potatoes, fish, carrots and bread covered every inch of the table. Kitt, the only female in the room, watched the men descend on the food like starving savages. She waited until all of them were served before she finally moved a slice of roast to her plate.
“All of this is for you, Lyneah,” Rory whispered to her. “This is a feast for us, to celebrate our union.”
“Uh huh.” Kitt couldn't bring herself to look at him as she sawed her meat. She had never been so disgusted by a man's face in her life. He might have been handsome, and he might have even been charming—to some. But her bias against him was so strong, she would sooner stab him in the throat than kiss him again.
Unfortunately for Kitt, Rory wouldn't leave her alone. When she felt his lips on her neck, she gripped her fork as tightly as she could. She prayed for the strength to resist the temptation to plunge the fork's prongs into Rory's blue eyes.
“I adore you, you know,” Rory whispered to her. “You're a very beautiful woman.”
Kitt didn't thank him for the compliment, she simply gave him a fake smile and hoped it would suffice.
“I have another treat for everyone!” Rory suddenly announced. “No, it's not dessert. It's even better than dessert!”
When he clapped his hands again and Kitt saw his “treat,” she groaned. Two large men were dragging Francis Doon into the room. He was collared, chained, and stripped down to his knickers. The men shoved him to his knees next to Rory, who looked absolutely delighted by Doon's presence. Some of Rory's men were chuckling at Doon's shameful state, which only made Kitt more angry. At that point, she was gripping her fork so hard that she nearly bent it in half.
“Doon!” Rory patted Doon's head as he addressed him. “Doon-da-
doondoondoon. It's so wonderful to see you again! How have you been?”
Kitt, who was sitting beside Rory, had a clear view of Doon, and she could see his jaw twitching with rage. She knew he was hating every second of this awful moment.
“Oh, I'm delighted,” Doon's dry answer finally came. “I'm just so thrilled to be here.”
“Is that so?”Rory reached for a slice of ham and tore off a sliver. He dangled the meat in front of Doon's face, as one might do when teasing a hungry dog. “Eat it,” Rory commanded him.
Doon didn't do anything. He didn't move at all. He just knelt on the floor in front of Rory, glaring ferociously. The way Doon looked at Rory—Kitt had never seen such hatred in anyone's eyes.
“Come on, boy!” Even when Rory brushed the ham across Doon's lips, Doon didn't budge. “Eat it. Be a good boy and eat it. You don't want me to beat you in front of all these people, do you?”
Doon didn't know what was worse: letting Kitt see him get shamed, or letting her see him get beaten. He assumed it would be more difficult to see him under Rory's whip, so he opened his mouth and allowed Rory to slide the ham onto his tongue.
“There.” Rory stroked Doon's hair as he chewed the meat. “That wasn't so hard, was it?”
Kitt closed her eyes and sighed. The Francis Doon she knew was a proud man, practically overflowing with confidence. Watching him kneel to Rory and obey Rory was one of the most difficult things she had ever been forced to witness. She kept trying to think of ways to free him—not now, but later. If she could bring Miles to Doon, maybe he could pick a few locks and release him from his bindings? It was a risk, but Kitt's options were limited. Rory was a dangerous man, and Doon was always under guard.
“Captain Doon will have a chance to prove himself soon. I'm sure he's very excited,” Rory spoke up again. “I'm reopening The Pit tomorrow.”
A Lost Princess (Belles & Bullets Book 2) Page 13