Lose A Princess, Lose Your Head (Merchant Blades Book 2)

by Alex Avrio

  Regina was used to long marches in the mud, and her mind drifted. Now they were getting closer to Eressia and Neidenwalde, the Black Fox’s attack and the conspiracy weighed heavily. In the aftermath, they hadn’t pressed Schaefer for more details. If Baron Orsy was involved, who knew how deeply it went. She wondered whether being Merchant Blades would give them some measure of protection. Probably not. Whatever the ill-conceived plan, it would come to nothing when Rosamynd was returned. Provided that the Neidenwalden prince still wanted to go ahead with the wedding. Yet there was a bigger picture here that they couldn’t see. Regina didn’t claim to know the vagaries of Eressian diplomacy and politics, but it was surely a hare-brained, half-baked plan. And yet. How had the Black Fox learned about this secret plan? How had he known exactly which ladies to take? Regina’s gaze wandered to Emilia plodding along, mud up to her knees. What a coincidence she’d been involved in all this.

  66 SISTERLY ADVICE

  SHE caught up with Emilia, who was chatting with Rosamynd and Charlie. Regina made a subtle signal to Charlie; the girl winked back and immediately engaged Rosamynd in conversation and they slowly fell back, leaving Regina alone with Emilia.

  “It was such a good idea to wear breeches and these shoes,” Emilia chirped as the mud squelched under her feet.

  “Years of experience,” Regina shrugged.

  “I will definitely be reading the further adventures of the Merchant Blades with a different eye.”

  “How is it you started reading them?” Regina asked casually. “It’s unusual for a lady of your station.”

  “Oh, but you don’t know how fashionable they are,” Emilia said, excitement lighting up her eyes. “Everybody reads them, from princes to the scullery maids. Some pretend not to, but they do. I had to hide them under my pillows because Lothaer doesn’t allow me to read such things. He says they’re unsuitable for a princess and not worthy to be thrown to pigs.”

  He’ll love his sister bringing him a Kapitan of the Merchant Blades as a potential brother-in-law, won’t he? Regina thought.

  “I love them,” Emilia went on with joy in her voice. “They take you to such exotic places and such adventures. Fighting evil tyrants, saving damsels in distress, and they always triumph in the end.” There was such yearning in her voice.

  “When I was young I read adventure books, explorers going to the far-flung corners of the South Across the Water, seafaring adventurers fighting pirates, daredevils getting in scrapes with the Eressians and saving the honor of the regiment. I wanted to go away and do all these things,” Regina said. She'd wanted to be away from the confinement of her home, her brothers, advancing age slowly creeping up on her father, turning his hair white and his hands unsteady. “I wanted to see the cities I read about in the books, the strange animals in the natural histories, the various peoples described in the explorers' journals. I wanted to prove myself, show how capable I was, what I could achieve. To shine.”

  “And you made it,” Emilia said with admiration.

  “Sort of. It required a lot of effort,” Regina said. “Sometimes people tell you about all their achievements but forget to mention what they had to put in. They make it sound like they snapped their fingers and it happened.” No one had told Regina what sacrifices would be required, what she would have to give up. No one told her about the hours of training in the Military Academy. The nightly exercises in freezing rain and mud. The cuts and bruises from the training. The live ammunition and cannon fire. The long hours of studying. No one told her that she would be too old to marry by the time she became lieutenant. No one told her about the illness and disease on the long marches. About having your horse shot from under you and having to kill it to put it out of its misery. The cannons blowing the man next to you to bloody pieces and fighting the rest of the battle with his brains and guts on your coat. Leading your company on a charge and seeing them cut down. Writing the letters home to the relatives of the dead. No one had told her about the monsters in the South Across the Water, or Nephthys waiting for them.

  Emilia looked at her, eyes wide. “Tell me more what you had to do. Was it an awful lot of training?”

  “Four years of the Royal War Academy. First year, when we did a march in the rain, I caught a cold which turned to a fever. I pulled through. Then I coughed like a donkey for months.”

  “I suppose telling you that I have to practice the piano for hours, or drawing, or dancing, will make you laugh,” Emilia said disconsolately.

  “I wouldn’t put down anyone’s achievements because they’re different from mine,” Regina commented.

  Emilia’s eyes lit up. “Really?” she said. “Sometimes I sneak into the councils. Lothaer doesn’t like it. He says it’s unladylike and my time would be better spent practicing my manners. When I’m in the councils I pretend to be bored - then he doesn’t mind much. But I’ve learned things. Then I read books on diplomacy and politics and war. I have to hide them too.”

  “You must have a lot of pillows,” Regina commented.

  Emilia laughed. “I do actually. I have a large bed full of pillows with books hidden in them. On my bedside table I put all the romances, so the ladies-in-waiting see and tell Lothaer I was reading those.”

  “So where did you find the Merchant Blades books?”

  “Magdalain, one of my ladies, was reading one. She gave it to me when she finished it, making me promise first I wouldn’t tell. I suppose it doesn’t matter if I tell you, does it?”

  “I won’t tell anybody,” Regina promised. “So, you liked that first book?”

  “Oh, I loved it.” Emilia brought her hands enthusiastically together.

  “And how do you feel after living a Merchant Blades adventure of your own?”

  She had seen Lieutenant Franz Adler being cut in half by the creatures of the mist. She had met pirates, Mercy Blue who'd flogged Jaeger and killed Johannes without a second thought. She had had daredevil escapes from dastardly bandits, the Black Fox and his gang. She had gone outside the shiny palaces and seen how the people of Eressia really lived. Some dreadful things, Regina thought, must await her at home if she still preferred this life.

  “I wish there was less mud,” Emilia said ruefully.

  Regina laughed. “You are Merchant Blades material.”

  Emilia beamed back. “Do you really think so?” she asked hopefully. “Lothaer said I’d never make it as an officer and didn’t let me go to War School. Said I wouldn’t last five minutes in Kesselburg Academy. Said I’d be more useful serving the Empire in other ways. Do you think I’d have made it?”

  “You’d have to ask Lieutenant Schaefer, she went to the War School,” Regina said.

  “I did. She suggested I come along on this trip and see how life on the road is,” Emilia said. “She said there would even be Merchant Blades among the escort. And that Rosamynd would love the company. They’re cousins, you know.”

  Gotcha! Regina thought. So it had been Schaefer who suggested that Emilia come along.

  “I think life on the road, as you’ve found out, is a bit different from what you would have seen traveling on that coach,” Regina said.

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Maybe I’m not cut out for the life after all,” Emilia said. “I mean, I rather like sleeping in a bed with a feather quilt and soft mattress, and eating nice warm food with no maggots in it.”

  “Don’t we all?” Regina replied.

  “But I wouldn’t change this time for the world. I’ve made all these new friends. You and Kapitan Jaeger and Charlie, Thomas, everyone in our company.”

  Regina’s heart sank. Emilia was saying the same thing Rosamynd had said. That they were now their new friends. She didn’t doubt the sincerity, but despaired at the lack of practicality. Once they crossed the gilded gates of the Winter Palace they would revert to their assigned roles. Emilia and Rosamynd would go back to being princesses and Regina and Jaeger to being hired help. It was touching that both young women thought of them fondly. Bonds form
ed quickly when you fought for your life, shoulder to shoulder. But soon the rigid distinctions of rank would be re-established.

  “Would you like to stay with me after we get back?” Emilia asked, catching Regina by surprise.

  “Sorry, what?” Regina said.

  “Would you and the rest of the team like to be my personal guards? I’m sure I can talk Lothaer into it. I’ll get old Gunthar to ask. He always knows what to say to get him to agree. Oh, please say yes, it will be lovely. We’ll have so much fun together. We can travel anywhere we want in Eressia. Charlie would be my lady-in-waiting. She’s so much better than the other ones I have, she really looks after me. Not like the others that run and tell Lothaer and his horrid wife everything I do. We could stay with Rosamynd for as long as we like. Oh, please say yes.”

  Regina felt the blood drain from her face. The Mother and Child definitely had a sense of humor. A year ago she’d been praying for something like this. For any position that would take her out of the mercenary life. Now Emilia was offering the chance of a lifetime, to be her personal guard, her friend, living in comfort to the end of their days. Which wouldn’t be too far away; despite Emilia’s best intentions, her brother would probably have them all shot the minute they set foot in the Winter Palace.

  “Why not?” Regina said. There was no reason to dash Emilia’s hopes, and if there was the smallest chance they could get a court position she wasn’t about to throw it down the sewer. An Eressian court? Regina didn’t care anymore.

  “Oh, I’m so happy,” Emilia said, grabbing Regina’s hand. “I wish I had a sister like you.”

  Regina winced, as her palm wasn’t completely healed yet. With a small pinch in her heart, she thought that Emilia was like herself when young. Except Regina had her mother and sister. Emilia’s mother and siblings had died when she’d been very young. Who had ever cared for this child out of love, not merely duty?

  “Sorry,” Emilia said.

  “Don’t think about it.”

  “So, Regina, what do you think of Kapitan Jaeger?” Emilia chirped happily.

  Regina frowned. She was about to give Emilia a stern warning and list all his shortcomings, then couldn’t bring herself to bad mouth Maximillian Jaeger. Not after all the things they’d been through and the things he’d done for everyone. Sure, he could be a bastard sometimes; he could be a damn good man too when he wanted to be.

  “Why are you asking, Emilia?” she asked. Emilia went beet-red.

  “I see,” Regina said. “Does he know?”

  Regina thought it impossible that Emilia could blush more, but she did. Surely Emilia couldn’t think a liaison with Jaeger could lead anywhere. Marriage in Eressia was usually a business affair. Emilia, however, was headstrong. Perhaps enough to hold her own against her brother. As a princess, she would be expected to marry whoever she was told to. There would be wants still unmet. If a marriage was a business decision, it made sense that people in her position knew they had to have something on the side. In that case Jaeger had a great deal to gain with his association with Emilia. Why had he only mentioned marriage when he’d spoken to her?

  “I just have to tell you something, Emilia,” Regina said. Emilia waited expectantly. A sheep threw them a cursory glance, then returned its attention to the grass. “Sometimes when you spend time with people, you get attached. Like we do. We’ve been together through a lot, haven’t we?”

  “Yes,” Emilia agreed.

  “I’m telling you this in a sisterly way because I like you too. You must remember that people get paid to do a job. They’re polite to you because it’s their job. Nice. Attentive. You can’t help liking them. Sometimes they jump in front of bullets or take a cut from a saber for you. As their job. It’s easy to forget. Forget that too much and you might fall in love with them. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Emilia frowned and said nothing, her shoes sinking in the mud, her heart possibly too. Why is it always me that has to dash their hopes and dreams, Regina wondered. She’d done the same with Rosamynd. Does no one talk to these young women? But how can one control their heart or feelings? Hadn’t she herself fallen for Jaeger despite all her prejudice? As she thought of Jaeger, a little spark flared in her mind. He’d gotten into all sorts of trouble because of Eressian inheritance law. What if– what if–

  “Emilia, can I ask you something?” Regina asked. It was a measure of Emilia that she still spoke to Regina with a smile.

  “Of course.”

  “Your brother, he has children, yes?”

  “Yes. Three.”

  “How old is the eldest?”

  “Seven.”

  “And when do you become an adult in Eressia?”

  “At eighteen. I’m eighteen and a half.”

  Regina bit her lower lip, oblivious to the pain. Another possibility was now open. One she hadn’t thought of before and hadn’t thought out fully either.

  “If, the Mother and Child forbid, something happens to the Emperor–”

  “May the Mother preserve us,” Emilia exclaimed in terror. “Nothing will happen to him.”

  “Sorry,” Regina swiftly apologized. “Of course nothing will happen.” Emilia looked rattled by the mere mention of the possibility. Lothaer Augustus the Third was, apart from being the Emperor of Eressia, the only family she had. Regina chatted a bit longer and then gestured for Charlie and Rosamynd to catch up, before she fell back to find Jaeger, who was again deep in conversation with Morgenstern. They stopped talking when she approached.

  “Max, a word,” she said.

  “At your service, My Lady,” he said with a mischievous smile.

  “Is that what you’ve been saying to charm the pants off Emilia?” The smile left Jaeger’s face.

  “Of course not. She’s our Princess. I wouldn’t–”

  “Yes, yes,” Regina cut in. “Tell me, if the Emperor happened to die, who would be next in line?”

  “Emilia,” Jaeger replied. “I can’t see how, though: he’s fit and healthy.”

  “Shit happens,” Regina said rubbing her temple. “If he falls from his horse?”

  “Emilia will become Empress.”

  “What about his children?” Regina asked.

  “They’re children. Tough luck. They’ll be princes of Eressia, but only that.”

  “Won’t their mother be regent in their place?”

  Jaeger seemed to consider this. “That would happen only if there was no living sibling. If Emilia died too.”

  “Couldn’t the Empress overrule Emilia?”

  Jaeger stroked his unshaven chin. “You’ve thought of something.”

  “Humor me.”

  “People like the Empress even less than they do her husband, so there's little chance of it happening if Emilia’s around. It also comes down to the support each side would have. I guess it could be done if she had strong support. It’d better not. She’s worse than the Emperor, her brain is filled with frocks, jewels and grand balls. If the ruler is below par, the Council or High Command rules. It can be done. These are turbulent times, we couldn’t withstand another incompetent ruler.”

  “What if Emilia was disgraced in some way?”

  “Like?”

  “Involved in some scandal, or morally compromised?”

  “Short of having a bastard child I think she could weather it. Wouldn’t be pleasant but could be done. Even with a child it could be done, given the right support.”

  “That’s your opinion, though.”

  “We can ask Morgenstern.”

  “In a minute. If he can keep his trap shut to Schaefer. If there was such a scandal, could she still become Empress?” Regina pressed on.

  “Easily. If there was need it would be overlooked. The only way she couldn’t be Empress would be if she became wife-consort to a foreign ruler, thus forfeiting her right.”

  “So, excluding that, she could still inherit?” Regina insisted.

  “Regina Fitzwaters, the only way an adult does not i
nherit in Eressia is if they’ve disgraced themselves by cowardice in battle,” Jaeger said emphatically. Regina fell silent. She had much to think about. Such as: who would want Emilia disgraced? Who would want her dead?

  67 THE MONUMENT

  AT the end of a long day's trek they made camp in an uncomfortable rocky clearing. It was out of the mud, at least. Ice settled in, chilling them to the bone. The company had kept to the fields, and given Border Town a wide berth. Regina smiled at the thought of Emilia’s and Rosamynd’s faces if they'd seen Border Town. What a highlight in their education that would have been. Mr. Gold and Honesty, the gangsters who ran Border Town, were to be avoided. They’d been less than pleased with the results of Regina and Jaeger’s last job in their employ; though Jaeger had given them sincere and dire warnings that they’d ignored, they now blamed Regina and Jaeger for the consequences.

  They continued through the fields for a few more days, spending the evenings gathered round the fire, chewing on salted beef strips and traveling biscuits. They drank herbal tea to warm their innards, with a snuck sip of brandy every now and then. Regina made sure watches were assigned each night. Jaeger fell back to his habit of sleeping snuggled next to her, his hand round her waist. Regina didn’t complain. In such bitter cold, she wouldn’t complain if Morgenstern snuggled up.

  “I’ve been thinking,” she whispered to Jaeger.

  “Why do you always think when we’re about to sleep?” he grumbled.

  “My mind is always thinking, unlike other minds I know.”

  “Think tomorrow, when my feet are not falling off. I’m trying to sleep,” Jaeger said.

  “What have your feet to do with anything? I need your ears, not your feet.”

  “Sleep! We’ll talk to Morgenstern tomorrow.”

  “How did you know?” she whispered.

  “I’m psychic. Sleep.”