“And?”
“I forgave him, and he was grateful. He knelt, and kissed my hand, and swore his undying fealty. I rather think you had something to do with all that.”
“In a roundabout sort of way.”
“Then, once again I am in your debt. I don’t know how I would have managed if he’d gone on working against me like that, stirring up ill feeling. I might have had an insurrection on my hands—on top of my cousin Reynard nipping at my heels. Now I have a very useful ally where I once had an enemy. All thanks to you, Molly. I sometimes wonder if there’s anything you cannot do.”
“A bargain, Your Highness?”
“A bargain?”
“I’ll stop blaming my upbringing, such as it was, for my every rude remark if you’ll stop saying that I can work miracles.”
“But I truly believe you can.”
“And I truly believe that I was ill raised.”
“A bargain, then.” Alaric smiled as he said this, but the smile slipped quickly away.
He’d grown solemn since becoming king, but he was more solemn now than before. The weight of responsibility, which had come to him so tragically and while he was yet so young, was with him every hour of the day. It had snuffed out the bright joy that once had been a part of his nature. For never was there a more ardent king, determined to rule with wisdom and courage, no matter what it cost him. He looked older now, and exhausted.
“Stephen’s not really your valet, is he?” she said.
He stopped on the pathway, threw back his head, and laughed. “No, Molly, he is not. When my parents sent me to Austlind as a boy, they sent Stephen, too—as my ‘minder,’ to make sure I didn’t disgrace myself at Reynard’s court. In time he became more like a father. Now he is my close adviser and trusted friend. Acting as my valet gives him good cover. People discount him and speak freely when he’s around—just a servant, you know. It’s very convenient.”
“I can see that. I like him very much.”
“I thought you would. So—that box you’re carrying. I assume it holds the cup?”
“Yes. Why don’t we go over to that bench by the pond. It’ll be easier for you to open it if you’re sitting down.”
“All right. But tell me, is it the real thing? Made by your grandfather?”
“Yes and no. It’s the real thing, but my cousin Jakob made it. And don’t look so disappointed. It was made especially for you.”
They turned a corner and walked through the boxwood arch. Straight ahead was the pond, the stone fish still standing on its tail, still spouting water. They sat on the bench, and Molly handed Alaric the box.
“Jakob wishes me to tell you that he’s sorry the case is so plain. There wasn’t time to order a proper one.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll have a cabinetmaker build me a presentation case, with the arms of Cortova on it and Elizabetta’s initials.”
He took off the lid and started unwrapping the layers of silk.
“It’s very powerful, Alaric. The bond it forms can never be broken.”
He looked up at her. “What are you saying?”
“Just use it carefully, that’s all. Use it wisely.”
“That has always been my intention.”
“Good. Because once the princess sets her lips to the cup, there’s no turning back.”
“I will take that under advisement.”
The last layer of silk came off, and now the cup was revealed. He held it up to the sunlight, turning it in his hands. “Your cousin made this?”
“Yes. And he refused any payment. I believe a handsome reward might be appropriate.”
“Without question. This is astonishing work. I am overcome.”
“And while you’re at it—being generous, I mean—you might do something for Richard.”
“The ratcatcher who followed you home? Why?”
“Because you’re in my debt, and that’s how I wish to be paid.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“All right, then. What does the fellow want?”
“Nothing at all. This is entirely my idea, and he doesn’t know I’m asking. Alaric, Richard is an amazing man, very generous and kind. A good storyteller, too. He entertained us wonderfully on the road during our return. But he told me one story in private that wasn’t comical at all—quite sad, in fact—about his childhood. And, well, it set me to thinking.”
“What?”
“I believe Richard would find it . . . very amusing, and deeply satisfying, if you were to make him a lord.”
The king laughed at that quite merrily. “Sir Richard, Lord Rattington?”
“Perhaps something a little more conventional would be better. Alaric, I did think twice before asking this of you. I know you’re in a delicate position just now, and you took a risk when you raised Tobias and me to high estate. But perhaps you could do it quietly, not call undue attention to it. And you needn’t give him lands or a house. He’ll be staying on with Tobias at his estate.”
“All right, then. Consider it done.”
She grinned. “You will make a good man very happy.”
“Then I’m glad it’s in my power to do so. Now listen, Molly. I’d like you to remain at court this time and not go back to Barcliffe Manor. I trust you will not mind.”
“Not in the least.”
“The others may go home, of course—Winifred and Tobias. And I have nothing against the boy, Molly. I just don’t need him.”
“I understand you, Alaric.”
He studied her for a moment, his head cocked at an angle. “What have they done with Molly, and who is this person they’ve put in her place?”
She laughed.
“Truly. You’ve grown up in—what has it been? Five, six weeks?”
“Horse flop! I’m just not my usual annoying self today. And I brought you the thing you wanted.”
“Oh, Molly—please don’t play a part with me.”
“I’m sorry. I did it out of habit. It’s . . . my armor.”
He was looking at her now straight on, with something on his face she’d never seen before. It was the most intimate moment they’d ever shared. Molly felt as if she’d taken in a deep breath and couldn’t let it out.
“Something happened to you in Austlind,” he said.
She didn’t speak. Still he held her eyes.
“And it’s changed you. It lifts you up, even as it weighs you down. And you can’t tell me what it is.”
Oh, help me, Sigrid! Molly thought.
“It has set you on a path for life and laid a great burden on your shoulders. It was thrust upon you unexpectedly, but you accepted it all the same.”
Sigrid? Is it permitted?
“It came at a heavy price. And now it’s breaking your heart.”
Do you trust him to keep our secret?
Oh, yes! With all my heart!
Then what are you waiting for, child?
43
Ravens
HE’D ALREADY SAID his good-byes, but he had to see Molly one last time. So he circled Dethemere for several hours till he saw them in the garden. They were sitting together on the bench beside the pond. Neither of them looked up.
So he rose into the sky and banked toward the east. He knew where to find her, and it wasn’t far. She’d promised she would wait.
Soon they would soar through the skies together again side by side, dancing in the air, dropping and rising, one form mirroring the other. They would lock their talons and fly in loops, like a pair of acrobats. It would be wonderful.
Then they’d find a home and build a nest. She would be his, and he would be hers, for as long as they lived. A bond that could never be broken.
And at last he would be complete.
About the Author
DIANE STANLEY is the author and illustrator of beloved books for young readers, including THE SILVER BOWL, which received three starred reviews; SAVING SKY, winner of the Arab American Museum’s Arab American A
ward and a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year; BELLA AT MIDNIGHT, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and an ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice; THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALLBRIGHT ACADEMY; THE MYSTERIOUS MATTER OF I. M. FINE; and A TIME APART. Well known as the author and illustrator of award-winning picture-book biographies, she is the recipient of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children and the Washington Post–Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award for the body of her work.
Ms. Stanley has also written and illustrated numerous picture books, including three creatively reimagined fairy tales: THE GIANT AND THE BEANSTALK, GOLDIE AND THE THREE BEARS, and RUMPELSTILTSKIN’S DAUGHTER. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can visit her online at www.dianestanley.com.
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Other Works
IN THIS SERIES
The Silver Bowl
Bella at Midnight
The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy
The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine
Saving Sky
A Time Apart
Credits
Cover art © 2012 by Dan Craig
Cover design by Cara Petrus and Megan Stitt
Copyright
The Cup and the Crown
Copyright © 2012 by Diane Stanley
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-0-06-196321-6 (trade bdg.)
EPub Edition © JULY 2012 ISBN: 9780062190093
12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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