Romana's Freedom (Soul Merge Saga Book 1)

by M. P. A. Hanson

  Her skin was a pale white, but her eyes shone happiness, and it was that that made the ridiculously overdone dress beautiful. The gold and blue seemed to radiate with the same glow of contentment that the woman did. She stepped out and hugged her step son, kissing his cheek fondly.

  Okay, that was definitely not how she’d imagined the queen from the prince’s hesitant description.

  Then the woman turned and ushered someone out of the carriage.

  “Arianne, come.” She ordered, as a little girl with the same hair as the prince came out of the carriage. She, like her mother was wearing a huge dress, however, her youth had been accounted for; the skirts were less puffy and shorter so she wouldn’t trip on them. The bodice was less stiff, as she skipped up to join her mother, taking the offered hand. “Arianne, say hello to your older brother.”

  “Hello Marten.” Arianne said in a shy voice. Well, now she knew his full name, something she had never been told, probably because nobody here addressed him by his first name.

  A man emerged after them, he had greying hair and she saw in him the same deep blue eyes that the prince had. His posture was regal, yet he was clearly older than the queen by at least a decade. His shirt was gold and blue, complementing the queen, and he raked his gaze over the scene with the assessing gaze the prince also used.

  Trumpets sounded, once more, and she curtseyed low.

  “Mother, father, this is Lady Romana, of the elven lands. We’ve been courting for a while now.”

  “You may rise.” The king said, and she did so. “She is elven.”

  “As was your wife, if you remember.” The prince replied evenly. “And although she holds her tongue, I can assure you she will not appreciate being talked of as though she wasn’t there.”

  There was a stubborn silence, and a battle of wills flashed briefly before the king bowed his head.

  “How do you do, Lady Romana.” He asked, kissing her hand.

  “Very well your majesty.” She replied.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you.” The queen interrupted, smiling.

  “Would you like to go and freshen up after your journey?” She asked, “Your rooms have been made ready.”

  “Romana organised everything.” The prince informed them with a note of pride that she thought might be genuine.

  “Did you?” The queen asked. “Well you’re braver than me in that respect, I’d never dream to arrange this conference in case something went wrong.”

  It was a subtle reminder that should something happen, she was going to get the blame.

  “I should hope that the conference goes wonderfully.” She replied.

  “As do I.” The queen replied “We shall take you up on your offer of retiring to our rooms. I look forward to speaking with you at the Orientation Banquet tonight.”

  “I look forward to it also.” She replied, curtseying as the king and queen left. Arianne stopped to briefly hug the prince before running after her mother. “They aren’t as bad as you described them to be.” She told the prince. “So your real name is Marten. Should I call you by that? Or do you prefer your highness?”

  “Either will be fine, I’m sure.” He replied stiffly. The trumpets blew again, and this time it was a human baron.

  Indeed over the next few hours, Romana greeted so many Lords and Ladies that she thought she would never remember all their names, let alone their full titles.

  “That’s all the humans now.” The prince informed her. “Next thing we hear will probably sound a bit like a gong, I don’t want you to be alarmed, but a huge pool of silver water is going to spread in front of us. It’s like a portal, and it’s the way the other races travel.”

  Indeed, around five minutes later an echoing clang sounded throughout the courtyard, and a small cloud gathered above them. Prince Marten led her back up the steps as it began to rain right where they’d just been standing, forming a pool around nine feet in diameter. It was reflective like a mirror, and as she watched, the cloud dissipated and the water began to rise upwards in the form of six short people, none of them an inch over three feet. The dwarves she realised, as their features began to solidify and the water ran back into the pool, leaving six long bearded men in its place.

  The ambassadors all wore armour of the finest quality, and their bags, which had appeared with them seemed to be full of it, or at least she didn’t think that they would be so bulky for any other reason. One of them walked up, carrying a sack of something and laid it open at their feet.

  “To honour your house, prince of the human realms.” He said, getting down on one knee, as the others followed his lead.

  Inside the bag were so many beautiful gems that she had to draw in a breath.

  “Honour to your house and our thanks to your King, Ambassador Tyr.” The prince replied with a bow. “This is Lady Romana; we’ve been courting for a while now.”

  “Honour to your house, Lady.” The dwarf said turning to her. “May I say that it pleases us to know that the prince has finally found himself such a beautiful woman? Although, you appear to be worth the wait.”

  “I certainly hope so ambassador. Honour to your house.” She informed him, smiling as she curtseyed.

  “Maybe the prince wouldn’t mind me stealing a dance at the ball?” the ambassador suggested.

  “If you only knew how many others have asked the same thing today.” She replied “If it carries on this way, I’ll be dancing all night. Not that I’d object.”

  “We must freshen up quickly,” He replied, smiling at her.

  “Of course.” The prince said, ushering a page over to show them to their rooms.

  Once all the dwarves had left, and their bags had been taken away by some servants, the pool began to shimmer again. This time four hooded figures emerged, with only one bag between them all. As the water drained, their robes were revealed to be white with red stitching. Each of them wore a small gemstone pendant wrapped in a coil of golden wire; the patterns etched upon them were unique and intricate.

  “Greetings.” One with a bloodstone pendant said. “I am Ambassador Mia, of Dragon species Bloodstone, current favourite of my queen. May the fates smile upon you.”

  “And also on you, Ambassador.” The prince replied. “May I introduce Lady Romana.”

  At that instant, Romana became aware of a brush against her mind. The feeling was so unfamiliar that she mentally recoiled, but she felt Silver doing something. Suddenly the presence was gone.

  “Interesting to meet you, Lady Romana.” The Dragon priestess informed her, and there was no mistaking her double meaning.

  “Likewise.” She replied. “May the fates smile upon you.”

  “And also on you.” The dragon replied.

  They left up the steps without explanation, heading in the right directions to their rooms without being told where to go.

  “What just happened?” She asked.

  “They read our minds.” He replied.

  “So they know.” She guessed.

  “Yes. But they will not tell. It holds no interest to them to ruin both our reputations. Also, they have a strange sense of honour; it will ensure our secret is kept.”

  “Did you ever give Silver that centaur child?” She asked suddenly.

  “Where did that come from?” He asked.

  “Because they’re the next group to be announced.” She replied.

  “No, I didn’t, because there were no centaurs in the city orphanage.”

  Romana knew this to be a lie. She also knew Silver had been sitting in the rain by the northeast wall all night all those weeks ago. The woman was now well and truly annoyed with Prince Marten.

  “Surely she’d see that as the breaking of your vow.” She replied “Wouldn’t the consequences be dangerous.”

  “I’ll explain it to her when she turns up again.” He informed her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  PRINCE ENDIS

  After greeting the pixies, the gnomes, the centaurs, the trolls, the giants
(or at least their human representatives), the fey and the goblins, Romana was getting anxious. The elves were the last on the list to arrive, and she was nervous about meeting her people for the first time. She knew everything that there was to know about Elvardis, except she’d never been there. She knew all about elven politics and yet, she’d never been a part of it. She knew all about elven customs, but, she’d never practiced them before. There were so many buts in her knowledge, what if someone picked up on them?

  Prince Marten squeezed her hand lightly, as if he knew that she was panicking.

  Then the water began to ripple again, and soon five figures began to emerge, each at least six foot tall or over. They wore hooded cloaks, obscuring their features, but as the water drained from them, the cloaks were revealed to be in a deep green.

  One by one, they lowered their hoods, and bowed before the prince.

  “Peace to your house, Prince Marten.” The one in front greeted him.

  “Peace to your house also, Prince Endis.”

  “Yes, because I seem to remember you causing a riot the last time you were with us.” The elven prince replied, smiling.

  The two men embraced, and Romana got a look at the elven prince’s face from her spot just behind the prince. He had silver eyes, like her, while his hair was brown. But that alone didn’t make him anything unusual. Brown was the most common colour hair for the woodland elves.

  Around his head he wore a gold circlet, with a ruby set on the front, signifying him as the heir to the elven throne, and as his cloak parted she glimpsed fine clothing underneath.

  “Who is your companion, Prince Marten?” One of the elves behind the prince asked.

  It was the first time Romana had noticed them, but now that she did she had to quickly hide the shock. The four elves behind Prince Endis were old. You could see their hair beginning to grey, and feel their power even from where she stood. These then, were the queen’s magicians.

  “This is Lady Romana. We’ve been seeing each other for a while.”

  “So this is how you keep your parents at bay?” Endis asked.

  “Yes, and she’s in on it too.” Marten told him.

  “I don’t remember seeing you at any events in the elven lands.” Prince Endis said, turning to her. “But it is an honour to meet you.” He kissed her hands.

  “I was a third child.” She replied “My mother and father never took me to any events. When I reached my maturity I went to study in the desert lands, so you probably wouldn’t have seen me.” She replied, knowing that many nobles took leave from the Elven Kingdom to study other cultures this way.

  “Did you learn anything?” He asked.

  “I’m afraid to say nothing new.” She replied “Much of the culture there was already documented, however I was hopeful.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Thank-you.” She replied, surprised by his sincerity.

  “Maybe I could steal a dance with you at one of the coming balls?” He asked.

  “I would be delighted.” She replied, meaning it this time.

  “Marten you’d better watch out.” Prince Endis warned. “If she dances half as good as she looks, I might just steal her from you.”

  “You wouldn’t do that to me.” Prince Marten replied.

  “Oh yes I would, remember Annabelle when we were fifteen?”

  “My heart still bleeds.” He replied, “come, we can talk more inside.”

  “If you’ll excuse me gentlemen?” She replied “I would go and freshen up before I join you at the banquet.”

  Translation: The seamstresses want to play dress up again before the banquet.

  “Of course.”

  They all bowed to her, and she did another of those little curtseys before walking off towards the seamstresses rooms.

  Hana caught her halfway there.

  “You can’t keep going there to change.” She whispered urgently. “We’ve had some rooms prepared for you.” The words were less than a whisper, and although Romana could hear them, she doubted anyone else would.

  She followed Hana silently up to the fourth floor of the castle; a place she knew was off limits to most servants.

  “Up here are the prince’s apartments, and a spare set of rooms, just in case something happens. They’re soundproofed magically, so apparently not even an elf can hear what’s said up here.” She was right. Romana had never been able to tell what went on in this mysterious part of the castle, but she’d had her theories.

  “But I can hear outside of this floor.” She replied. “How does that work?”

  “I don’t know, but sound comes in and doesn’t go out. That’s the main thing.” Hana replied, walking along a corridor and to a single door on their left.

  “In here.” She replied “Everybody’s waiting for you,”

  Romana opened the door and was pounced upon by the other women, who ordered her quickly through a steaming hot bath to remove the make up and glue from her, and then made her stand in the middle of the bedroom while they dried her off.

  Another corset, this one in a dark grey that was nearly black, following that were two shimmering black silk petticoats, both with long sleeves, but the difference between them was that one had tight fitting sleeves, which went on first, while the second had long elegantly flared sleeves.

  “Why can’t I just wear the same dress I wore before?” She asked, confused.

  One of them gasped. “No lady ever wears the same dress twice.” She replied, “Even if ten years have passed since she first wore it.”

  “Don’t ever mention that to the queen.” Another inserted “She’ll be able to tell you’re not who you say you are in no time.”

  “Besides, what do you think every other lady is doing right at this moment?” the first asked, “Freshening up is an excuse to change quickly before meeting someone a second time.”

  “Think of it like a bunch of peacocks.” One advised. “The white ones are fed better because they’re rarer and more beautiful than the normal ones. For all the women, the best dress means more chance of finding a man, and keeping one once you’ve snared him.”

  She nodded and pretended like she understood.

  When the final layer came, they had already redone her hair in a different style, using wire to hold it in place properly.

  They ordered her to put her hands over her head, as they dropped the dress over her, pulling through the long flared sleeves of the petticoat.

  It was the same net as before, but this time in dark grey, with beads sewn on in glittering eight point star shapes that were clustered at the hem, and then faded out as you went up. The sleeves, which were long and flared like the petticoats, were edged in glittering thread and similar beads, as was the neckline, which dipped modestly at the front.

  The women played around with the skirts for a little while, before rimming her eyes with more kohl, and painting her lips a deeper shade of pink.

  “The lights in the banquet hall will reflect of the beading.” One told her. “You’ll really shine.”

  “It’s a shame that no one will see the beading because it’s under the table.” She replied.

  “Oh, the banquet table isn’t like that!” One of them replied “You sit on cushions around a low table. Remember to sit cross legged, arrange your skirts as you sit down, and don’t worry if your feet fall asleep, it’s normal, just make as graceful an exit as possible when you leave.”

  Romana nodded, and waited for them to finish before leaving. If she looked in the mirror now she might loose her nerve, and where would that get her.

  She paused to listen at the top of the stairs. A lot of the humans were already downstairs in the hall, talking, while she knew that the royals who had attended would not come down until everyone was inside, when they had to be announced.

  She wasn’t a royal and so she didn’t need announcing. Pasting a smile on her face, she walked quickly down the stairs to the banquet hall, braced herself, and walked in.

&nb
sp; Inside the banquet hall long tables were arranged in a square horse-shoe shape. The tablecloths were finest white linen, with lace along the edges; she knew the pattern because she’d chosen it last week. The seating arrangements had been sent to all of the nobles a week before, and now they walked around trying to find their place setting, chatting with other people as they went.

  “Lady Romana!” Someone called from the crowd, and suddenly a herd of human women descended upon her. “May I offer my congratulations on your dress?” The same woman told her. “You look simply fabulous. Is that the latest fashion in Elvardis?”

  “That’s what I’m told.” She replied. “And your dress is equally as lovely, if not more so.” This was obviously the wrong thing to say as it started up a chain of compliments between her and the half dozen women. “Would you excuse me?” She asked after they died down slightly. “I must find my seat.”

  “Yes. I expect their highnesses will be arriving any moment now.” Duchess Beatrice of Fenkirk informed her. “We’re sitting next to each other. So, I’ll come with you.”

  “Wonderful.” She replied, as they began heading through the crowd. They were blocked every now and then, and greeted by more people than she could hope to remember. Beatrice, however, appeared to know everyone by heart.

  “I think this is us.” Beatrice told her as they reached two seats next to the two slightly raised seats, and opposite two others. “Are we opposite Prince Endis?” She asked with an almost squeak. “And next to the Queen?!”

  “And Prince Marten.” She replied.

  “Oh, he’s alright.” She recovered. “But it’s the elven Prince that gives me shivers. I met him last year, so polite, and a perfect gentleman.”

  “Aren’t you married?” She asked.

  “Oh, goodness no!” She replied. “I inherited the duchy after my father died. I’m one of the few unattached duchesses. But I’d give away the entire duchy for a chance at that man.”

  “I didn’t realise he was unavailable.” Romana replied.