by Paige Elwood
Sarah's brow creased in confusion. "It was just a joke," Max said hurriedly.
"Oh!" Sarah said. "I thought it might have been a… difference in the way we speak in my land."
"You do speak strangely sometimes," Max said. "I like it. I think I am learning some new words from you."
"Good ones, I hope," laughed Sarah.
“They’re OK,” Max said, grinning. She rolled her eyes.
"Where exactly are you from?" Max asked, his head tilted. He couldn’t place the accent, and yet her appearance was similar to the women of his own land. Other than the adorable freckles scattered across her nose.
"Oh, you know. Around."
"No, I don't know. Around? That doesn't make any sense. Where were you born? Where are your parents from?"
A strange flash of sadness passed across Sarah's face, and Max felt remorseful for asking. Maybe he'd touched on painful memories. Her parents might have passed.
"You don't have to answer," Max said. "I just was interested, that's all."
Sarah gazed at him with those impossibly blue eyes. "I will tell you. But maybe that's for another day. It’s a lesson that might blow your mind!"
"Blow my mind? Sounds dangerous." He widened his eyes in mock surprise.
"Maybe it is," Sarah said. He knew she was joking, but unease bloomed in Max’s chest as he remembered the first time he'd seen her and his suspicions that she could possibly be a spy for King Benak. It dissipated almost as quickly as it had descended, though, at the sight of one of her dazzling smiles.
"Come on," Sarah said. “Let's stretch before we get too stiff.”
"Stretch?" Max said.
"Yes, like stretching your muscles," Sarah said, reaching the tips of her fingers up towards the sky.
"Yes," Max laughed. "I know what stretching is, I just don't understand why we’re doing it now."
"Oh! Well it’s good for helping your muscles recover after a run. Besides it’s also really great for flexibility and general health. Let me demonstrate."
"This is a stretching practice that we call yoga in my land," Sarah said. "It's a sequence of specific poses, designed to stretch your muscles and improve the flow of energy in your body."
She brought her hands above her head, arms stretched fully and brought her palms together, before releasing her arms back down in a wide arc until they rested at her sides. Then she bent forward at the waist, wrapping her arms around her legs, the tip of her ponytail sweeping the floor. Max was mesmerized by how gracefully she moved.
“Follow what I’m doing,” she encouraged, beginning the sequence again, going slowly and waiting for him to copy her. Max felt a little silly moving through the various positions. It wasn’t very manly, but it did feel good on his sore muscles from the run.
“Breath in as you move your arms up, and out as they come down,” Sarah instructed. “Yoga is as much about good breathing as it is stretching.”
Max nodded, trying to follow along as best he could. Some of the moves were unsteady, and while Sarah was as solid as a rock doing them, his own body wobbled a few times, and he almost tumbled over. He suspected he looked nothing like as graceful as she did.
"How do you do this in your normal clothes?" Max asked as they moved through their second sun salutation. "I'd imagine wearing a dress would be particularly restrictive?"
"Yes," Sarah said. "So, where I am from, I would wear special clothes for exercise, but I don't have them with me here."
"Then is this the first time you’ve done yoga since you got here?" Max laughed, and almost toppled over from his mediocre Crescent Pose.
Sarah shrugged, straightening up and indicating the session was done. Max stood gratefully. He’d enjoyed the yoga, in a fashion, but it was becoming humbling to see how many things Sarah did with ease that he struggled with.
"No, I normally just do it in my room when I wake up,” she said.
Max couldn't help imagining Sarah doing the stretches first thing in the morning before getting dressed, still wearing her nightclothes. He pushed the image out of his mind quickly, doing his best to think of something much less distracting and much more proper. The best he could come up with was the Onager. He spent a moment thinking about its lever mechanism in great detail before he brought his attention back to Sarah's yoga lesson.
His musings had not gone entirely unnoticed, and Sarah was looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Sorry, I was distracted for a moment." Max said.
"So I see, care to share?"
"I was thinking about something I’ve been working on," Max said. It wasn't a lie, at least.
"You've been working on something? What kind of thing?"
"A military sort of thing. A new kind of weapon, actually,” he said, enjoying the impressed look that flashed across her face. He liked impressing her.
“You’re building a weapon?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Just to make the kingdom safer.”
“Is it not safe?”
Max shrugged. “It could always be safer. And I know you’ve had a run-in with the bandits. I was thinking of trying to invent something to help with that situation too.”
“Um, yeah,” Sarah shifted from foot to foot. “I’m not sure how I can help though?”
“You should visit my workshop. When you see my inventions, you might get some ideas.” He paused, an idea occurring to him. “In the meantime, let me teach you something!”
“Like what?” Sarah said reluctantly.
“Like how to fight back if you were stopped by bandits again.”
“Self-defense?”
“I suppose so. If that’s what you call it?”
Sarah nodded. “We don’t really have time now, we need to get back and start the lesson, but tomorrow morning let’s do that instead of a run. We’ll do yoga together because you need practice — you’re terrible, by the way, and then self-defense. Deal?”
“Deal,” Max agreed.
Chapter 22
Max took her back to the castle, leading Sarah through one of the passages that opened out close to the stairway to the wing where her chamber was. “What is this? she asked, looking around and touching the narrow walls, rubbing the moisture from them between her thumb and finger.
“The castle has some secret passageways. I believe only I, and a trusted friend, are aware of their existence.”
“How, though? Surely your father knows?”
“I’ve never seen him use them or indicate he knows they are here,” Max said. Was he telling her too much?
“Where does this one go?” she asked.
“It opens close to the stairs for your wing. You’ll still need to hurry if you don’t want to be asked why you’re wearing men’s clothes.”
She shrugged, the gesture barely visible in the dim light. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Max wanted to question that statement, but they’d reached the door. He cracked it open, checking to see if the coast was clear. “Go,” he whispered, and she stepped out into the corridor and raced up the stairs.
Max doubled back on himself, using the passageway to take him closer to his own bedchambers. He rushed through the empty corridors and slipped into his bedchamber, removing the dirty clothes smeared with grass stains now, and washing hurriedly with the tepid water left out for him. The rubies in his ring were mildly abrasive against his face as he washed, and it struck him again how the ring seemed to react to Sarah’s presence.
His nanny’s words popped into his mind: “The rings will recognize the one.” His hand moved to the small pouch he kept around his neck with the real female ring inside it. What would happen if he gave Sarah the ring to hold? It was a crazy idea, since Katherine had the replica on. He’d never be able to explain it.
He opened the pouch and tipped it, but no ring fell out into his palm. He ran his finger along the inside of the pouch. It was empty. Ice cold fear gripped his stomach. He’d been wearing the pouch every day since he had the fake
rings made.
What if it had fallen out in his sleep? He dashed to his bed, feeling every inch of the mattress, but there was no ring. He got on his hands and knees, practically crawling under the bed. Still no sign. What if one of the servants had found it and kept it?
How could he have lost it? He’d gone to all this trouble to have the fake rings made and now it was pointless as he’d lost the real one. He rubbed at his eyes. It had been foolish in the first place. Katherine was his betrothed, even if she wasn’t his destined love. What good would the real ring do him, anyway? And if he gave it to Sarah and something happened, then what? He couldn’t simply break off a diplomatic engagement that was supposed to bring unity to their kingdoms based on a tale an old woman told him as a child. What was he even thinking?
He dressed hurriedly and rushed down the stairs, already late for breakfast. He took his seat at the breakfast table to disapproving looks from his father. He was disappointed to see Katherine sitting there. “Are you feeling well today?” he asked her.
“Yes, thank you. I feel much better today,” she said.
“Will you be joining us for lessons this morning?”
“I will.”
Max’s heart sank. He’d hoped to be able to go for another walk in the woods, but Katherine was unlikely to support that. It looked like they’d be cooped up in the library or restricted to the courtyard, and he certainly couldn’t start to discuss his inventions.
He waited for Katherine to finish her breakfast, which she was picking at like a little bird, and they walked to the library together.
“Did I miss anything interesting yesterday?” she asked.
“Just some more discussion on philosophy,” Max said.
“So, no then,” Katherine said, a smirk tilting the corners of her mouth.
“Actually, I find it very interesting.”
“I have noticed. You seem… enthralled by the tutor’s lessons.”
“I find them interesting, as I said.”
“Some of her ideas are… not what your father would approve of.”
“They are just points for debate,” Max said, defensively. “It’s imperative to debate in order to learn”
“We both know learning is pointless for the sake of itself,” Katherine said. “It doesn’t matter what we learn, we follow what the church and our elders tell us to. Why explore beyond that?”
She swept into the library ahead of him, taking her seat and arranging her usual stony, closed off expression on her face. He’d thought she was barely listening through all of the lessons, but perhaps he should warn Sarah to stay away from ideas that might be thought of as heresy. He doubted the Princess would report it to the Church, but he couldn’t be sure.
Sarah was already in the library, her hair pulled into prim braids, looking every inch the lady. Max couldn’t help but grin at the image of her running in his britches. You’d never have thought it, looking at her now. He took his seat, catching the brief flash of disappointment when she registered Katherine’s attendance, but it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared.
The lesson seemed to take forever. Not because Max wasn’t enjoying the topic, but because Katherine was paying more attention than usual, which worried him. He also wanted to get to the afternoon, so that he could show Sarah his inventions.
By the time he sat down for lunch, he wasn’t even hungry, just eager to get back to spend time with Sarah.
“What did you learn today?” his father asked. “History, I hope?”
“More philosophy,” Katherine said.
“Perhaps I should have a word with this tutor,” his father said.
“I’m sure she’ll come to history,” Max said. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.”
“Well, make sure you do. I’m paying her handsomely, I expect my wishes to be carried out. I was very clear in my letter to her.”
“I’m sure this is just a foundation to build up to the history lessons,” Max said.
“It does seem to be building to something,” Katherine said, before taking a bite of her food.
Max gazed at her evenly, unsure what she was trying to achieve. When she didn’t add to her cryptic comment, Max turned his attention to his own food. He left the table as soon as he’d finished eating, eager to show Sarah his inventions.
Sarah was waiting for him in the Great Hall, as he’d requested. They looked at the paintings on the wall a moment, waiting for two guards to pass through the hall. When the coast was clear, Max lit two candles he’d kept in his pocket from the large candelabra by the stairs.
He pulled back the tapestry, revealing the door behind. He watched Sarah's face as the door came into view. He saw the recognition for a second, and then she arranged her features into an expression of surprise. She didn't realize Max had seen her discover the door her first day at the castle. He wondered if he should tell her. There was no real reason to keep the secret now, was there?
Chapter 23
He hurried her through the door before any more guards or servants came into the hall. The candles they were holding flickered wildly in the breeze created.
“This is a different passage than the one you brought me through yesterday,” Sarah said, her head turning this way and that, trying to see the dimly-lit passageway.
“Yes, they each lead to different places — although some of them are actually interlinked," Max said.
"They’re so dark," she said, holding the candle out as far in front of her as possible. "And so narrow."
"Yes, and the ceilings are quite low if you're any taller than five feet six."
Sarah laughed. “Hey, don't expect any sympathy from me! I’ve had to put up with all the short jokes my whole life.”
“You’re not particularly short for a woman.”
“Well, yes, but where I'm from girls are always a little taller than me.”
“Well, I think you're the perfect height.”
Sarah blushed, pleased that the darkness would hide her reaction. She bumped suddenly into Max, almost spilling hot wax over his back. “Watch out! I almost set you alight!”
“We’re here,” Max said, retrieving the key from his pocket.
He opened the door and stepped inside, waving Sarah in. She walked inside the room, a strange feeling of déjà vu creeping up on her. She glanced around as Max began to light the candles and candelabras. It looked exactly like her dream!
“Welcome to my workshop,” Max said, waving a hand around the small, windowless room.
There were all kinds of strange looking contraptions leaned up against one of the walls. Most of the room was taken up by a large workbench, cluttered with various tools. Sarah recognized those that were similar to the tools in her father's garage, but some of them were completely alien to her.
She walked across to where the strange collection of objects was lined up against the wall. “You built all of these?”
“Yes. They’re all either prototypes that need revising, or a work in progress. Here, let me show you.”
He stopped in front of a large contraption that looked like a large bowl on a lever handle. Possibly a catapult, she thought. “Is that…?”
“Yes,” he beamed proudly. “That’s the Onager.” He pulled the mostly metal contraption out from the wall, its wheels screeching against the stone floor. Sarah winced at the piercing noise.
She frowned. “You've invented a catapult? I hate to rain on your parade, but I think those have been around for some time now. I mean, didn't the Ancient Greeks have them?”
“Yes,” Max said, rolling his eyes. “I am well aware of that, thank you, teacher. But this isn't just a catapult. It works with an easy lever contraction. It basically means that you could have a small child operating it after barely any training.” He yanked the lever, demonstrating how easy it was to flip the bowl.
Sarah's mouth dropped open. “You want to man your catapult with children?”
“No,” he laughed. “I just want to reduce the amount of military e
xperience and training needed to assist the kingdom in an emergency.”
“I see the logic. But still, it's just a catapult.” At his crestfallen face, she added, “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to insult you. I’m just wondering, what’s different about this? You’re obviously an intelligent man. So, what’s different about this catapult that makes it special?”
Max thought for a moment. “Well, the difference it is that it can fire heavier missiles than any catapult before. Oh, and it also fires flaming missiles!”
“That’s more like it,” Sarah said, “but you want to trust untrained people to fire flaming missiles? Wouldn't that be dangerous for them?”
“No, they don’t light until they’re on the downward trajectory. Plus, it’s got a very accurate aim thanks to sturdy materials and the special lever action.”
“Okay. This is good. But how do those missiles ignite only on the downward trajectory?”
“Well, I haven't why worked out how that will happen yet.”
“So it’s a theory, not an actual feature?”
“For now,” Max said. “This is just a prototype, so it hasn't been tested yet and I need to be sure it fires accurately first. If I can create the fireball beforehand than I’ll test them together. If not, I’ll work on the fireball later.”
“I suppose if you could get two volatile compounds in a container that kept them separate until a certain trigger,” she said, stroking her chin. “Then, if they mixed at the right time it would ignite.”
“Yes! I should create the container first!” He scribbled something on the schematic in front of him.
“How are you going to test it?” she asked.
“My friend Henry is arranging a carriage to take us to a remote field on the edge of the kingdom. That way, we can't do too much damage.”
Sarah looked at the catapult again. “Isn't it a little small?”
Max narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you sure you're not recruiting children to work them?” she teased.
Max ignored her comment. “The workshop isn’t large enough to build them full-size. Once I know it works I can speak to my father about producing them on a wider scale in the correct size. We could maybe hire the villagers to help build them.”