She could have left then; she could have taken Jayde and galloped away faster than the brownies could ask if she wanted a cup of tea. But, curiosity, her biggest flaw, made her walk back to the main corridor, and open the door to the next room. It was a bedroom, one of three she discovered. The largest, was made up for her use, probably by the brownies, and had two doors leading off from it. One leading to an en-suite, the other was a hidden door in the floor, leading down to a study. She could tell neither of the brownies had found the study before. The desk was covered in scrolls, some of which had fallen to the floor. Most were maps; three of them had been attached to the walls, one of the world, one of Morendor, and the other of Elvardis, the elven capital.
She saw another open on the desk, and picked it up. It was a map of the palace of Morendor, but, she noticed, where the map on the wall only showed walls, it showed extra corridors even small rooms and accessible vents. Secret passageways? Oh, she knew that she wasn’t dreaming. Elves didn’t dream. But she could’ve sworn this was a trick. According to the map, some of the passageways led out of the palace. One of them, the largest and most complex, which was accessible via what seemed to be every fireplace in the palace, even led to these caves.
Determined to prove to herself that it was just a hoax, Romana walked over to the unlit fireplace, and combed it for triggers. It, like most fireplaces she’d seen, was huge, but that was common in the human lands, it was only the elves that favoured outdoor bonfires and small wood burners indoors.
Then she realised that there was a chain hanging down from the inside of the chimney.
She pulled it, and nothing happened. Ha, she thought. Then the grate moved left, and a three foot section of the brick wall at the back moved upwards, on hinges. She groaned inwardly. This was unreal.
She glanced at the map. It showed the passage going straight for a few meters and then splitting three ways. She stepped inside the fireplace, and jogged briefly along the passage. Sure enough it split three ways.
She walked back; disheartened by the way she’d been proved wrong. It was all real. Romana told herself, even as she returned to the fireplace door to find that it was possible to see everything that was going on in the study from this side of the passageways.
When she got back into the study, she pocketed the map, and headed back up to the bedroom.
When she got there, she saw the wooden box on the dresser, and moved cautiously over to it. She snatched the letter from the top as if the box was a pile of hot coals she didn’t want to get burned by. Okay, so she was being a little silly, but the only people she knew who wore catsuits were the harem girls of the desert dons. And that wasn’t by choice. Romana had seen the girls they chose being dragged from the Slave Shop screaming.
She unrolled the scroll, and read it through again. How the hell was she supposed to help people she didn’t even know much about? And why on earth did the woman want a servant girl to do this work? Questions buzzed in her head, and, against her better judgement, Romana crossed the room once more to the box, and opened it. Lena had re-folded the suit, but Romana wasn’t interested in that, she picked up the mask. It was hard leather that would only cover the strip of her face that was level with her eyes, and could be tied together with two pieces of black ribbon. She put it against her eyes, and looked into the dressing table mirror. Wanting to prove to herself that the first person she met with it on would recognise her.
But the truth was, she didn’t recognise herself.
As her reasons against doing exactly what the letter asked her to do started to dwindle, she yawned. She was just tired, she reasoned; when she was fully alert later, she’d be able to find some decent answers. She eyed the bed wearily, but her stomach rumbled before she could take a step forwards.
Lena had said something about a meal, she recalled, heading for the kitchen, relying on her nose rather than memory to direct her there. When she reached it, she found Lena ladling stew into a bowl, and serving it up on the table, along with slices of what smelled like freshly baked bread.
Romana sat and helped herself, wishing she could pay, or even give the brownies something for doing this for her. But that would make them leave. The only thing anyone with a brownie could do for their friend would be to give them honey or porridge, the moment that became payment, the brownie left. That was how the elusive, yet friendly creatures worked.
She ate what was put in front of her, but when Lena asked if she wanted second helpings she declined. She was full, and tired, and it took most of her energy to stay awake long enough to find her room and fall into bed.
Chapter Seven
NOT RIGHT
The instant she woke, Romana looked over to the dresser, hoping that if the box wasn’t there it would mean that she had started dreaming as a result of overexposure to humans.
It wasn’t there. But the scroll was.
“Lena?” She called. “Have you seen that box?” She pulled on a night robe, as she spoke.
“Don’t worry milady.” The brownie replied, appearing in the doorway. “I hung it up in the second wardrobe, where it’s usually kept.”
“Oh.” Romana replied, trying to hide her disappointment, and failing badly. “Thank-you,”
Lena gave her a knowing smile. “You don’t really understand, do you milady.”
“I understand that some crazy woman wants me to wear something that looks…” She trailed off, unsure how to describe the form fitting armour.
“Something that looks like what a prostitute would wear.” The brownie laughed, “Its fine, I understand where you’re coming from. But centuries ago, during the Elven Wars it was a sign of salvation for the elven people. It meant someone was giving them food and paying for the homeless to be given homes.”
“Surely Queen Hira, the lady of the elves would’ve done something.” Romana replied, disbelieving.
“She was too busy worrying over the huge casualty rates that she was achieving.” Lena replied “The last wearer of this mask became known as a saviour of the poor, and a criminal to the rich. It was their money she stole to pay the poor.” The last was said with a mischievous grin
“I won’t steal from anyone.” Romana replied, adamant. “It’s not right.”
“Even if those people stole it from others themselves?” Lena asked “If you didn’t want to steal from honest working people, I understand, but what about the new gang in Morendor that’s charging protection money from normal people. Would you not think that it would be better to steal it back and give it to the people who paid it in fear of their lives?”
Romana thought about it for a moment. “I suppose when you put it like that, it does make sense. But I’m not going to be able to steal from this gang forever, what happens when they figure it out and just start killing the people.”
“Not if you stop them. The gang works only after dusk.”
“You know this how?” Romana asked, sceptical.
“Brownies in the area have been watching them for me. I have a lot of friends who owe me a lot of favours.”
“And what is the prince doing about this gang.” Romana asked “What if I get caught?”
“You’re an elf child.” The brownie replied incredulous “Have you forgotten that you can run faster than a dragon and have strength to lift something three times the size of a full grown man?”
“Oh, right. That thing.” Romana remembered, feeling stupid.
“You can fight can’t you?” Lena asked.
“Fist fighting.” She replied.
“I mean with swords. You know how to use one don’t you?”
“I’ve never learned.” She replied, wondering where this was going.
“Then we will have to teach you.” Lena replied calmly.
“I didn’t realise that household brownies knew how to fight.” Romana replied, astonished.
“I have a friend.” Lena replied mysteriously “She’s not a brownie.”
“When can I meet her?” Romana asked.
/> “Do you mean to take up the destiny offered to you?” Lena countered.
“What difference does that make?”
“She’s a centaur. They’re fanatics when it comes to destiny and fate. If you answer yes then you must mean it.”
Romana thought for a moment. She’d never wanted any of this, but it would help people. But how would it affect her? Less sleep, obviously, and Katelyn, what would Katelyn do?
Well, she had wanted to give her more space to be human. There was nothing else she really cared about, maybe that was why the woman had chosen her, only one other person in the world that cared for her. But there were plenty of others with even less.
“I’ll do it.” She replied. “But I want to know why it was me that was chosen.”
“Who knows why the Ancients ever do anything.” Lena replied, absent minded.
“She was an Ancient?” Romana asked, open mouthed.
“Yes, how else do you think she did the fancy light show?” Lena replied, sounding annoyed and more than a little jealous. “The armour is in that wardrobe, I’ll go see if my friend will help you.”
The brownie left, and Romana quickly changed into some new clothes, but paused on her way out of the door. Might as well get it over with, she thought, she had just signed herself up for it.
She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it, expecting to find the suit in the bottom in the box, or at most hung on a hanger. Instead it had been put up as if meant for display. The cloak behind it with the hood down, and the mask was hung up by two nails that held it up by the eyeholes.
But there were some added extras in the wardrobe she wasn’t prepared for. A pair of flat heeled black boots that would come up to knee height stood in one corner, and extra masks were hung on the inside of the door. That was alright, Romana could deal with those. What she hadn’t been prepared for was the weapons that hung from every other available space. Three different sets of double broadswords and an array of knives unlike anything she’d ever seen. And that was just the start, expertly crafted bows and matching quivers of arrows hung from more nails inside.
And she’d agreed to this?
She walked out to the stables and began to re-prepare Jayde. They would take the fastest route back to the castle, no sightseeing this time, and try to be back before dawn.
When Jayde was ready and Romana had promised Lena she would be back late the next evening, she rode out, pushing Jayde into trot after about ten minutes of walking.
Chapter Eight
TACTICAL WEAKNESS
They crossed the wall in the same place they had before, thankfully they were still unseen by the guards, and when Romana gave Jayde over to one of the stable boys to take care of, she could just see dawn peering over the horizon. She took a leaf out of Hana’s book and speed walked to her rooms. When she got there she knocked, to see a wide eyed Katelyn open the door a bare second later.
“Romana!” She began to cry, and jumped up into her arms.
“What is it?” Romana asked, worried. Katelyn almost never cried.
“They want you to talk to the prince. Did you do something wrong, are you going to get told to go back without me? Please don’t leave me, please don’t go.”
Where on earth did the girl get ideas like this? “Katelyn.” She tried to reason with the now hysterical girl “Calm down and explain why you’re upset, slowly.”
Katelyn nodded, and Romana carried her inside, putting her down on the table, and taking out ingredients for her breakfast.
“When you didn’t come get me, Miss Rebecca took me home and I went to bed properly.” Katelyn paused, seeking approval.
“Good.” Romana replied, knowing that her friend would know how proud she was.
“But just now, a message runner person, asked for you, and when I told him you hadn’t come home last night, he frowned and patted me on the head and gave me a note for you.” The girl pointed across the room to where a scroll with the royal seal in brown wax was sitting innocently on the sofa. “And you’d been gone for so long I thought you were in the dungeon.”
She sniffed and wiped a hand across her face to get rid of her tears.
“Katelyn, I wasn’t in the dungeon. I went riding yesterday, and it was too late to get back home, so I had to stay in a cave for the night. But I’m fine and so are you.”
“Can you tell me what the letter says?” Katelyn asked, still on the verge of collapsing back into tears.
Romana nodded, putting porridge into a bowl and setting it on the table.
“Eat first.” She added, walking over to the letter, and opening it. The curling script was nothing she wouldn’t have expected of the heir to the throne of the human realms.
Dear Romana,
If it is not too much trouble I would like to request your presence in my quarters at 8 of the clock this morning, for a discussion over breakfast.
HRH Prince of the Human Realms
She put the annoyingly ambiguous letter down and looked at Katelyn. “He wants to talk to me over breakfast in his quarters.” She informed the girl. “In about half an hour.”
“You’ll come back right?” She asked.
“Katelyn, if they wanted to put me in the dungeon they would’ve done so when I passed the guards in the stables.” She replied, “But yes, I will come back.”
“Do you promise?” The girl insisted.
“I promise.” Romana replied. “Now how was yesterday?”
“It was fun!” Katelyn launched into a tale of how many new friends she’d made, and the boy that had drawn her a picture of a rainbow to welcome her into the class.
That made things easier, Romana thought, now Katelyn had something to do while Romana was occupied with other things.
When the girl was finished, Romana changed quickly into a servant’s uniform, and sped her off to the playroom.
“Good luck today.” Rebecca informed her. “We heard the prince is expecting you soon.”
“Any idea what it’s about?”
“Oh, it’s probably nothing; he talks to the new ones all the time, especially those with some reason or another not to be automatically accepted into the group. You’re an elf, which is a very difficult thing to be around here. Haven’t you noticed everyone staring at your ears?”
Romana nodded “When I get tired of it I just pull my hair over them.”
“You’d be best off staring back at them, try to keep them off you, or next thing you know they’ll be scrambling to ask you every question on the planet about you.”
Romana nodded and set off in search of the prince’s quarters.
It didn’t take her long, thank goodness, and she was a minute or two early. She knocked on the suddenly imposing mahogany door.
“Come in.” The reply came.
There was no trace of emotion in his voice. Why was everything about him most easily described as ambiguous? It should have made him seem boring, but instead it made him secretive, almost mysterious to her elven mind.
She opened the door, to find a scene she never thought she’d see in her lifetime. The prince of the human realms was standing over a stove, cooking.
She bowed her head in acknowledgement of his status, but he didn’t notice as he started flipping something in the pan. Pancakes, she realised, he was cooking them breakfast, and somehow he’d found her favourite food.
“Romana,” He greeted her, “Please, have a seat, I’ll be finished with breakfast in a minute.”
She walked over to the neatly laid table and took the opportunity to survey her surroundings. The walls were all painted white, and a large balcony let in most of the light. To her surprise, his rooms had the same open plan layout that hers did. His kitchen was on one side, perfect granite sideboards, to her wooden ones, with teak cupboards. The living room side contained plush comfortable sofa’s that faced a huge fireplace. For some reason she memorised the position of everything; ranging from the rug on the floor to the position of the balcony in relation to the fireplac
e.
“Here you go.” The prince said, putting a pile of pancakes in front of her, and then serving up toppings in the middle of the table. He sat down and Romana waited until he’d eaten the first bite before starting on her own. “I hope you enjoy it, they’re my favourite, and Hana tells me that you quite enjoy them too.”
“I didn’t realise that I’d had a conversation about my eating habits to anyone here.” Romana replied.
“You may not have, but Katelyn likes talking about her best friend to her friends, and certain maids have been listening to these conversations.”
Romana grimaced “She needs to learn to place less focus on me. I’m not going to be there for her whole life.”
“Is that why you weren’t here last night?” He asked, casually but she wasn’t fooled by the tone.
“I was out riding and it became too late to ride back, so I had to stay in a cave for the night.” Romana replied, giving the same vague story she’d told Katelyn.
“I take it you found the gap in the wall then.” He guessed. “What did you think?”
“Useful, but at the same time, a tactical weakness.” Romana replied. “You left it that way, probably for one reason or another, but certainly not for lack of funds. It’s large enough that even the thick jungle beyond it wouldn’t stop a determined attacker in times of war. And the guards there were playing poker, which shows a lack of vigilance especially as I got through on horseback.”
“I left it that way for when I want to get out on a longer ride without the palace guard following my every step.” The prince replied “I could have it filled in at a moments notice if I wanted.” It was a very subtle reminder, that the man sitting opposite her eating pancakes he’d just cooked was one of the most powerful people in the world. And she hadn’t even called him by his title when she walked in. “You have the same stubbornness as the rest of your kind even though your file says you’ve never come into contact with them.”
Romana's Freedom (Soul Merge Saga Book 1) Page 5