Spinning Thorns

by Anna Sheehan

  Will staggered and clawed at her wrist. If this was a briar like the ones surrounding the palace, it would just twist tighter and tighter until Will’s blood splashed onto the floor. But it was dead and lifeless, and fell from her without a struggle. Will wanted to pick it up and examine it, but she didn’t have a chance, as the sound of boots and the mutters of frightened soldiers quickly surrounded her. She looked up to find a selection of guards holding swords and crossbows forming a ragged, breathless circle around her. ‘She’s come back!’ one of them shouted over her head.

  ‘Of course I’ve come back!’ Will snapped. She was too tired and angry and frustrated to really focus. ‘Let me pass. I need to speak with the queen immediately.’

  ‘You just stay right there, Highness,’ said a deadly voice. Will turned to look, and frowned. It was Captain Warren.

  ‘What’s going on, Captain?’ she asked. ‘I insist that you let me pass.’

  ‘Stay still, Highness,’ he said firmly. He raised his crossbow a little, and his brow furrowed. He looked very much as if he didn’t want to have to pull the trigger, but several of the others didn’t look quite so averse. Will suddenly realized it was no accident that the guards had surrounded her. She felt an unpleasant sensation up her spine as her back realized it had four ninety-pound-draw crossbows pointed at it, bolts set and ready. Crossbows had been known to misfire on occasion. Will wanted to turn inside out.

  She cleared her throat, and two of the crossbows shook a little at the unexpected sound. ‘I have no intention of disagreeing with you fine gentlemen. I surrender myself into your capable hands. If you would be so kind as to lead me to my mother or father, I’m sure we can clear up this little misunderstanding.’

  ‘Just stand there, Your Highness,’ Captain Warren said. ‘Don’t move, I beg you. The king’s already been called for. He expressed orders to be fetched should you dare to return.’

  ‘Yes,’ Will said, a little relieved. ‘I’m sure my father can sort things out to everyone’s satisfaction.’

  Captain Warren shook his head. ‘Not your father, Highness.’

  Will frowned. ‘Who …’ she began, but she already knew who he meant. She swallowed. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked in a lower voice. ‘While I was gone. Has something happened to Mother?’

  ‘The which you well know,’ said a loud, accented voice from behind her. The creeping sensation up her spine clutched at her, and she flinched. Very, very slowly, she turned around.

  King Lesli was standing by the stairs, surrounded by quite a little knot of frightened looking courtiers including … ah, of course. Ginith. She would be in the thick of things, wouldn’t she.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ Will said, curtsying in her travelling clothes. ‘I apologize for my appearance, but you have an unfortunate habit of failing to catch me at my best. These kind gentlemen inform me that they are following orders issued by none other than your illustrious self. May I ask what has occurred that you find yourself in a position to issue orders in Lyndal’s house?’

  ‘The overthrow of my nephew’s household by his conniving witch daughter,’ Lesli said. He nodded at two of the surrounding guards. ‘Bind her. No knowing what tricks she can pull if her hands are free.’

  ‘Bind her mouth, too, Your Majesty,’ Ginith said. ‘She could still mutter spells at any of us.’

  Will stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Someone might take it for the beginning of a spell, and then ten inches of pointed ashwood would embed themselves rapidly into her torso.

  Lesli narrowed his eyes. ‘A fine notion. You, see to it.’

  He had pointed at Captain Warren. As hands grabbed Will’s wrists and none too gently trapped them into manacles, such as were used for common convicts, Captain Warren took a hesitant step forward. He reached into his pocket for a clean handkerchief. ‘Forgive me, Highness,’ he muttered as he wrapped it loosely around her head. It was a much less intrusive and unpleasant gag than the one Ginith and her cronies had forced into her mouth earlier, but it was no less degrading for that. Particularly before half the court guards.

  Will’s mouth closed on the clean linen, and she sunk her teeth into it. Her eyes bored into King Lesli until he actually looked away.

  ‘What shall we do with her, sire?’ Captain Warren asked when he was finished.

  Ginith stepped forward brazenly. ‘The dungeon!’

  Lesli looked amused for a moment.

  Warren stood before Will. ‘You can’t do that, sire. She is the royal heir of Lyndaria.’

  ‘Of course we can’t,’ Lesli said. He was too disciplined to let the disappointment Will saw in his eyes colour his voice. ‘I had no intention. I’ve already called for a trial, which shall be held within the hour. In the meantime, I suggest we set her, guarded, in the antechamber with the fruits of her crimes.’

  ‘Are you sure that’s wise, sire?’ Ginith asked. ‘No telling what she might do to them!’

  Lesli turned his gaze on Ginith, and she took a step back, realizing her error. ‘Of course, you would know the best, sire,’ she said hastily.

  ‘Indeed.’ He pointed at Warren. ‘You. Choose four of your men and stand guard on her at all times.’

  Someone tried to take hold of Will’s shoulders but she whipped her gaze back at him and he shied off. With her head held high, with as much dignity as her rank could possibly lend her, she marched steadily and serenely through the throne room to the antechamber, where her sister was laid in state.

  She suspected the truth before she was brought in. Lavender was no longer alone in the room. Another bed had been brought in and set up opposite Lavender’s lovely dais. This bed was larger and even more ornate. Will recognized it immediately as the antique bed from her grandmother’s chambers. As she expected, the figure laid out in antique silk – her coronation dress, if Will remembered correctly – with her fine, slivering hair spread delicately over the pillow, was Queen Amaranth. She was frowning unhappily in her dreams. Beside her, looking as much like a farmhand as he ever had despite the velvet suit they had somehow gotten him into, her husband Ragi was curled on his side, wrestling furiously with a nightmare.

  Will tried not to react, but she swallowed. Reynard had done this. Wretched, wicked Nameless. She made a small sound of frustration. It sounded odd and muffled, and it drew movement from a shadow beside Lavender’s bed. ‘What’s this?’

  Prince Ferdinand rose to his feet as gracefully as a wave of the sea. He turned his attention to Captain Warren. ‘What is this? What are you doing to a member of the royal house?’

  Captain Warren opened his mouth and frowned. It seemed to take him a moment to find words. ‘Pardon me, sir. I’d forgotten you were like to be here, or I’d have insisted on another place. We’ll just find another chamber, if you please, sir.’ He bowed and began walking backward.

  ‘Nonsense!’ Ferdinand rushed forward and pulled the gag gently from Will’s face. ‘You’ll not drag this young woman around her palace in chains! Whoever ordered such a thing?’ He glared at Captain Warren. ‘I can guess. You tell your new master that he is not the only one with a claim to the Lyndarian crown. Until this young woman has been convicted, she is currently in a position of regent until her mother’s or sister’s awakening. Go.’

  Captain Warren shook his head. ‘I’m to guard her, sir.’

  Ferdinand strode behind her and began fearlessly taking bolts from the crossbows. ‘If two of your men with swords at the ready can’t guard a young woman in a closed room, than your entire regiment needs restructuring and retraining, and quite possibly new leadership. A point I will be sure to bring up with Queen Amaranth upon her awakening, which, I might point out, may well be any minute of any hour of any day.’ He pushed the bouquet of bolts into Warren’s hand. ‘The key, if you please, sir!’

  Warren hesitated. ‘I have orders … Highness.’

  Ferdinand laughed. ‘Indeed. Have you finally remembered that I, too, am visiting royalty, betrothed to the heiress, with as much claim as yo
ur wretched Hiedelen king? You do not treat a royal prisoner as you would one of your common stales.’ He held out his hand. ‘You may inform His Hiedelen Majesty that it was my royal command.’

  Warren thought for a brief moment and then pulled the key from his waist. ‘Here you are, sir. But we must remain here as guards.’

  ‘As your conscience dictates, gentlemen,’ Ferdinand said, closing his hand around the key. He turned back to Will and unlocked the manacles. ‘Are you all right, Highness?’ he asked her in a quieter voice once the bands of iron had fallen to the carpet.

  ‘Yes,’ she lied.

  Ferdinand wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her quietly to a couch.

  ‘Sir,’ called Captain Warren. ‘I’ll need to stand near to hear what the two of you are plannin’.’

  Ferdinand turned his ice-blue eyes into a frozen glare that stopped Warren in his tracks. When it became clear that Warren wasn’t about to press the issue, Ferdinand softened a bit. ‘Your ordinary charges are not royalty, Captain Warren, nor is guarding political prisoners originally your assigned responsibility, so I shall let this misinterpretation of your role pass. For now. In the meantime, you will maintain a respectful distance between yourself and our royal personages. And as you had outrageously presumed to gag the princess, I find it unlikely that you had direct orders to listen in on her conversations. Am I correct?’

  Captain Warren decided to cover his confusion in efficiency. ‘Men, at attention,’ he said. ‘Swords at the ready.’ He stood with the others by the doors.

  Ferdinand’s hand on Will’s shoulder smoothed the uncomfortable clutching feeling she’d suffered since she’d noticed the crossbows. ‘I thank you,’ she whispered.

  ‘No need,’ Ferdinand said in a low voice. ‘The palace has been in a state of chaos since you vanished.’

  ‘I tried to make it back in time for the wedding,’ she said.

  Ferdinand laughed. ‘That should be interesting,’ he said. ‘You can see what’s occurred since your departure. Do you know they’ve already arranged a trial?’

  Will nodded. She already knew what she had been arrested for. The rumours had gone from whispers to accusations. With the king and queen out of the picture, Heidelen had taken those accusations and turned them to charges. Will was to be put on trial for bewitching her own family. She wasn’t very worried. They’d never be able to prove she had any part in this, and once she had told them all of Reynard and Cait’s betrayal, they’d turn their search to finding him. ‘When did the Sleep take them?’

  ‘It took your mother yesterday morning,’ Ferdinand told her.

  ‘Yesterday?’

  ‘Aye. Your father had hidden it, trying to find a way to keep it from Hiedelen’s men. After the attack on the royal vault there was a general outcry, and then no one could find you. Lesli was furious. He personally oversaw a search of your rooms, and he said it looked as if you had packed in a hurry.’

  Will scoffed. ‘My rooms were raided by a bloodthirsty mob! Ask my chambermaid.’

  ‘I’m afraid she’s asleep. There was a sudden surge in cases in the last eighteen hours. First Narvi fell prey, which threw Lesli into an uproar.’

  ‘I thought the Hiedelen were immune.’

  ‘So did we all, but first Narvi, and then half of Hiedelen’s guard. It all seemed to happen in one fell swoop shortly after midnight. One minute, all the men from Hiedelen seem immune, and the next, yawning and nodding and snoring all around. Hiedelen grew very quiet then, drew all his men into his chambers and didn’t come out for three hours. Everyone was terrified. We thought he was plotting some kind of revenge. When he finally did come out, all he did was demand that Ragi let him see Queen Amaranth. No more of his men have succumbed, though, which is making things difficult, as the rest of the palace seems to be falling like rose petals in autumn. We’re down to mostly Lesli’s men as guards, now, as you may have noticed.’ He nodded at the men behind them which, apart from Warren, were all Lesli’s. ‘Also, there doesn’t seem to be anyone left any more who doesn’t believe you’re some evil witch.’

  Will grunted in frustration. Damn Reynard to the darkest hell! ‘When did it take Father?’

  ‘About an hour ago, I suspect. That’s when the dreams started, in any case. But he’s been unconscious since last night. After they couldn’t find you, they did a careful count of all the royal jewels, assuming you had taken some to finance your escape.’

  ‘I never touched them!’ Will cried.

  ‘Shh!’ Ferdinand hissed, looking over her head toward Captain Warren and his men. ‘They discovered that immediately, but what was taken was bad enough.’

  ‘The spinning wheel,’ Will said. ‘But it isn’t really missing. If you go around the back of the palace, it should still be there.’

  ‘I know,’ Ferdinand said. ‘Sitting in the middle of a large cleared swathe through the thorns.’

  ‘Right,’ Will said. ‘You’ve found it then?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ferdinand said, seeming a little uncomfortable. ‘My hound found it, actually.’

  Will grinned. ‘Good Edelweiss,’ she said praising the white fleethound, but Ferdinand looked so grim that her smile died on her face. ‘Ferdinand, what do you need to tell me?’

  He took a deep breath. ‘Lesli was adamant about seeing your mother, particularly after he found out about the raid on the vault. He said he couldn’t risk marrying his grandson to a witch, and she had to know it. Your father said that Narvi being asleep made the entire issue moot, and they would discuss it and sign a treaty when the crisis was over. They argued. Lesli pushed past him to get to your mother’s chambers. You know we don’t have enough guards, and your father was doing the best he could on his own. Lesli discovered Amaranth, and found that Ragi was trying to hide her condition. They fought. It was quite heated, apparently.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Your mother’s chambermaid was trying as hard as she could not to be noticed in a shadow by the clothes press. According to Helene, Lesli accused your father of being nothing more than the son of the chairman of the miller’s guild in the Duchy of Ethelbark, and your father grew enraged. He said Natiniel was an honourable man, and a far better choice than Lesli’s weak-brained younger brother. At that point the argument came to blows. Your father had Lesli down, and Lesli surrendered, and then attacked your father with a jug from behind. Ragi went down. Hiedelen said he succumbed to the sleep, but I’m inclined to believe Helene. Your father was in and out of consciousness until a little bit ago, but he stopped waking to my hand, and the dreams started. I think the Sleep did finally catch up to him.’

  Will sighed. ‘You’re sure?’

  Ferdinand smiled ruefully. ‘I’ve been sitting by Lavender’s side for weeks. I think I know what the Sleep looks like. He didn’t have it before, but he’s suffering it now.’

  Will rubbed her forehead and glanced over at her father. She wished he was only suffering a blow to the head, and would sit up, bleary eyed but awake, stride forward and make everything better. But there was little chance of that. ‘I’ll check and see,’ she said. ‘There’s only one way to know if his nightmares come from the Sleep or his own troubled mind.’

  ‘Later,’ Ferdinand said. ‘You need to hear the rest. Lesli announced that both the king and queen had succumbed to the Sleep, and he was taking over again as regent. But the only way he could do that was by revoking your right of inheritance, and he could only do that by accusing you of treason. So, as of now, you’re officially accused of causing the Sleep.’

  ‘I didn’t, you know,’ she said. ‘But I do know—’

  Will didn’t have the chance to say that she knew who did cause it, because Ferdinand went on, ‘And he has proof.’

  ‘Proof? What proof?’

  ‘You’re a magic user and a thief. He has proof of the one and witness to the other.’

  ‘I’m not a thief.’

  ‘You stole the spinning wheel,’ he said. ‘And the guards were ther
e to see it. Sort of. And apparently you attacked a handful of innocent servants who were wandering the halls. Ginith bears witness to this.’

  ‘That bitch tried to kill me,’ Will snarled, just like Reynard.

  Ferdinand grimaced. ‘I believe it. Why do you think I stay by Lavender’s side all the time? She’s been trying to lure me away so that her gentleman friends can have their vile way with her.’

  ‘I know,’ Will said. ‘She mentioned it.’

  ‘She says you cast spells on them and set them on fire.’

  ‘I do use magics,’ Will admitted. ‘Small magics mostly, charms really, but that was never against the law until Lesli came along and made it so.’

  ‘It’s against the law now, and he has a hundred witnesses to prove you’ve done it. And I wouldn’t call spinning deadly thorns into skeins of purest gold a small magic.’

  ‘Gold?’ Will blinked. ‘Into gold?’

  ‘Yes. I can see why you didn’t want to reveal this little trick, given the renunciation of spinning in this country, but don’t you think you could have given your parents a hint? They say Lyndaria has been in desperate need of finances due to all of Hiedelen’s exploitation over a hundred years, and according to your sister, the thorns have been a serious threat.’

  ‘But I didn’t,’ Will said.

  ‘Don’t be so modest,’ Ferdinand told her seriously. ‘I suspect it’s the only thing keeping you alive right now.’

  Will blinked. ‘What?’

  ‘You heard me,’ Ferdinand said. ‘They didn’t discover the skeins of gold until after sunrise. Before that, Hiedelen had ordered all his guards to kill you on sight, before you could do more witchcraft. Only after he discovered that, did he arrange for the trial, should you dare to reappear.’ He sighed and gently touched Will’s cheek, causing little frightened birds to beat their wings in her chest. ‘I’d half hoped you had run for good, Will. Gone out to seek your fortune, as I had.’ He smiled. ‘I could see you going far. If you’d asked me, I’d have given you my horse and hawk and hound to set you on your way.’