“Excellent.”
“Father, why did you send me?” Roderick asked, placing a hand on his father’s map.
The king looked up with eyebrows raised. “Because you are the crown prince! Who better to look after the people?”
“Maria told me you sent me because of her letter.”
The king muttered something under his breath and then straightened to his full height.
“And what else did my loose-lipped daughter say?”
“Little worth repeating. But I do need to know if you know anything about where Liesel has gone.”
“She has left then?”
“It appears that way.”
“Good.”
Roderick clenched his fists, but refrained from saying what he wished he could say.
“I wasn’t aware she had left,” the king admitted, “but I can’t deny that I am happy she did. She is a spoiled, head-strong young lady. She wouldn’t make you a proper wife at all.”
“And I suppose you and Maria are more capable of determining who would make me a proper wife than me?”
“Settle down, Son. Time will help you see things more clearly. I should have never agreed to your needless and foolish plan. I should have seen there was more to it than simply concern for the young woman’s future,” King Carl lamented. He then folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. “Maria lived with the young woman for a month. She would not have written her letter if you had not been in jeopardy of placing your affections where they were not deserved.”
“I will not listen to such slander any longer,” Roderick replied, his jaw clenching before he asked again, barely keeping his anger in check, “All I want to know is—do you know why she left or where she has gone?”
The king stared him down for a few long seconds before admitting, “No, I know nothing.”
“You did not send her away on any unnecessary excursions?”
A muscle jumped along the king’s jaw, and his eyes narrowed in warning. “My patience is quickly fading, son. Do not use that tone with me.”
“I would not have asked it if it were not a valid question,” Roderick responded. He then turned from his father, and began taking long strides toward the door.
“Where are you going?” the king called after him. “Do not forget your part of our bargain! I agreed to let you spend a month to help Richmond’s daughter, because you promised you would pick a bride at Maria’s ball!”
Roderick turned on his heels to face his father again. “I have not forgotten any of that and I am ready to keep my promise. But first I must retrieve my choice.”
“You are not really intent on making Richmond’s spoiled daughter the queen of Brenhausen, are you?”
“You never qualified that you had to agree with my choice—only that I had to make my decision today,” Roderick reminded the king. The hard lines of his face then softened and he added, “But I have hope you will soon see that you have been grossly misled by Maria, and that your concerns about Liesel’s character are unfounded. She is my equal, and I intend for Liesel to be my wife.”
Roderick didn’t wait for a reply, but immediately exited the room and traveled down through the castle until he reached the kitchen.
Hilda took a break from her many chores to greet him with a smile. “Welcome home, Your Highness. I’m glad you are safely returned from the dam.”
“Thank you,” he answered, his eyes sweeping over the kitchen. When he didn’t find Liesel, he asked, “Have you seen Liesel today?”
“I have not,” Hilda answered. “I presumed she was home in bed. She looked quite ill yesterday.”
Roderick’s heartrate accelerated as his worry increased. Liesel was not only missing, but could possibly be sick or hurt by now too.
“Do you know what caused her ailment?” he asked, taking the old woman’s plump shoulders in his hands.
Hilda shook her head. “I don’t know. I sent her to retrieve some platters from the dining hall and she returned looking as pale as a corpse.”
“I’d rather you’d refrain from such comparisons,” Roderick answered more brusquely than the kind woman deserved. He then turned as the back door to the kitchen swung open and Albert walked through.
“Have you seen Liesel?” Roderick asked again, releasing Hilda. He hoped Albert would finally be able to offer him some answers. His patience was wearing thin.
“Is she not at the hut?” Hilda interjected, looking between the two men.
“She is gone,” Roderick replied. “And all of her belongings have disappeared as well.”
Albert shook his head and rubbed the white whiskers along his jaw. “This doesn’t make any sense. She asked me to sell her silver buckles and get as many coins as possible …. I thought she wanted to fill the jar so you two could be married. It wouldn’t be very smart to ask for so many coins if she planned on hauling them a long way.”
“Perhaps she hasn’t gone too far then,” Roderick mumbled, sighing with relief.
He then clasped Albert’s shoulder and stated, “But I have to find her before the ball. Will you help me, Albert?”
Smiling, the old man placed his own hand on Roderick’s shoulder, and declared, “You never have to ask.”
Chapter Nineteen
Adelaide caressed her sister’s tangled hair in her lap as Liesel slept, curled on the seat beside her. The worried lines on Liesel’s face were quickly fading, and Adelaide was glad when she finally heard the deep, rhythmic breathing that indicated Liesel had fully surrendered to sleep.
She felt like weeping when she contemplated her sister’s heartbreaking situation. Dearest Liesel. The girl who had vowed to never marry. Who had always kept her heart so carefully guarded. Why did she of all people have to be hurt so deeply?
Adelaide brushed a few stray hairs from her sister’s face and looked down at her with concern. She dearly hoped Liesel would be able to heal. It would be utterly tragic if she now locked away her heart forever.
She watched her sister sleep, still struggling to process the surprise that Liesel had actually been willing to marry a peasant. That alone was proof of just how much Liesel must have fallen in love with the man. Adelaide shook her head. Surely the prince must have recognized her feelings. Why hadn’t he shown more compassion?
There were so many questions Adelaide still yearned to ask, but she couldn’t justify forcing Liesel to stay awake just to satisfy her curiosity. Liesel looked as wretched as her poor, tattered shoes.
She wondered how Liesel had discovered the truth. If the prince had told her, had he at least done it delicately? And if he possessed any sense of chivalry, why had he let her return to her home without a horse, or in the least, an escort for protection?
Adelaide clenched her teeth together. The prince was certainly lucky that she was not the crowned regent. In her opinion, his behavior constituted an offense worthy of war. Even if the plans had been devised in concert with Liesel’s own father, the prince had allowed things to go too far.
Adelaide shook her head. Poor Liesel. She had never done anything so terrible as to deserve such a bitter punishment.
She sighed and turned her gaze to the passing trees. She watched for quite a long time, not really paying much attention to the scenery. She was too absorbed in her thoughts.
Eventually, her legs fell numb from siting in the same position too long and she shifted in her seat to sit more comfortably. Her leg accidentally knocked over Liesel’s satchel and she bent to gather the spilled contents.
She retrieved a faded shawl, a comb and something a little larger that felt like a canvas. Overcome with curiosity, wondering what picture could be so important that her sister would haul it around, she picked it up and turned the canvas over.
She gasped. The minstrel!
She touched the picture with reverence as she studied her sister’s heart so blatantly revealed in the small painting. How she must have loved him to paint him with so much care! It was perfect! Just as she had remembered
seeing him that day he had sang for her family.
But there was one distinct difference.
His face.
It was still just as handsome, but instead of the unmistakable disdain he had shown when he had been ordered to marry Liesel, he wore an expression of pure adoration. Adelaide looked between the picture and her slumbering sister with more than a little confusion. No one could ever fake such a look. Surely he loved her as well. What had happened?
She bit her lip. She wanted to let her sister sleep, but she was bursting with questions now. And something inside her was sure the questions were better asked sooner than later.
She moved to sit across from her sister before she reached over and shook Liesel’s shoulder.
“Liesel? Liesel?” she called softly.
Liesel’s eyes fluttered open. She squinted as she looked around the carriage and back at Adelaide, reluctantly trying to shake off her slumber. “What’s wrong?” Liesel asked.
“Liesel, did the prince tell you that he didn’t love you?”
“What?” Liesel questioned groggily. “Why do you-” Her eyes fell to the canvas Adelaide clutched at her stomach, and suddenly looking very much awake, she quickly sat up and snatched it back.
Adelaide watched her sister hastily stuff it back into her satchel, wishing she didn’t have to be the one to cause her sister more distress. But she couldn’t see any possible way to avoid it.
“I didn’t want anyone to see that,” Liesel scolded.
“I didn’t mean to pry, but it fell out of your bag …” Adelaide replied with only a hint of remorse. “Liesel, I don’t understand. You love him, and I can’t help but feel when I look at his face that he loves you too.”
“I must have painted what I wanted to believe,” Liesel replied, looking out the window.
“What did he say when you told him you were leaving?”
“I didn’t give him any chance to say anything. I left without telling him.”
Adelaide reached over and clasped her sister’s hands in her own. “Who told you that he didn’t love you?” she asked.
Liesel sighed. “His sister.”
Adelaide felt hope begin to bubble within her. “But did you confirm her assertion with him?”
Liesel shook her head. “I couldn’t. He was away, helping with a ruptured dam.”
“Then it might not be true!” Adelaide cried, giving a shake to Liesel’s hands.
“Adelaide, please,” Liesel replied, tugging her hands away.
“Could his sister have had any reason to lie?”
Liesel didn’t say anything so Adelaide pressed, “Did she like you?”
“No … she hated me,” Liesel reluctantly admitted.
“Then she probably was just trying to separate you from her brother! Liesel, don’t you see?”
Liesel shook her head and argued, “But it’s more than just whether he loved me or not. He tricked me! He deceived me into thinking the betrothal was real. And now I can never know just how much of what I remember is him only playing a part.”
“You could ask him,” Adelaide replied with a nod.
“You don’t understand,” Liesel argued. “My heart couldn’t bear it.”
“Can your heart bear running away without ever learning the truth?” Adelaide remained silent for several seconds and then asked, “In the least, don’t you want to show his hateful sister that you can’t be bested?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Let’s go to her ball! Wouldn’t the best revenge be to outshine her at her own celebration?” Adelaide asked, finally earning a hint of a smile from her sister. She could see her sister softening so she continued, “And if the prince was only being a deceitful imposter the entire time, then you can show him and his family that you are not so easily injured.”
“But that’s not true …”
“But they don’t need to know that,” Adelaide answered with a smile.
“It would be easier to just return home,” Liesel contended.
“True, but that’s not our family’s way, is it?” she replied with a knowing look.
Liesel folded her arms. “I think you have learned to enjoy battles just as much as Father.”
Adelaide winked. “I think we both do. Which is why I think we should finish this and win.”
Liesel looked out the window and remained silent so long, Adelaide was worried she would drift back to sleep before she finally answered. But eventually, she turned back toward her and noted with a wry smile, “I don’t think Maria will feel threatened if I show up wearing such a dress.”
Adelaide waved a hand in the air. “You should know me better than that. I never go anywhere without at least a dozen dresses to choose from.” She leaned forward, a smile spreading on her face and offered temptingly, “If you agree, I’ll even let you choose first.”
Liesel frowned. “I remember the last time you made me such an offer. It’s ironic that if I had only accepted you then instead of wearing that horrendous peasant dress, I could have avoided all of this mess.”
“So hopefully you have sufficiently learned your lesson to trust my judgment and accept my offers,” Adelaide professed with confidence.
“You’re not planning on relenting, are you?” Liesel questioned with a bit of a grimace.
“I think you should at least hold the prince and his family accountable for what they’ve done. Even if it is hard.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“Which is why I will stay by your side the entire time.”
Liesel folded her arms, and seemed to fight a battle within until she finally replied with a sigh, “Alright. I concede.”
Adelaide smiled and waved an arm out the window to beckon one of the soldiers to draw near.
“Please tell the driver there’s been a change of plans,” she ordered in an imperial voice. “We wish to return to Brenhausen at once.”
She then turned back toward Liesel with a smug expression and finished, “We will both be attending the ball.”
Chapter Twenty
Clinging to the hope that Albert was right that Liesel wouldn’t have had plans to travel far with so many coins, Roderick and Albert focused their search to the city during the morning. They traversed each road, searching every inn and path, leaving no area untouched. Roderick called her name through the marketplace in case she happened to be inside one of the many merchant tents lining the roads. He hoped that she had only discovered an acquaintance from her old kingdom that she wished to now visit, but after searching the marketplace twice over, Roderick was confident she wasn’t in the city.
“I don’t understand it, Sire,” Albert lamented to him when they had reunited again near the castle. “Where could she have gone? And why would she have left? I truly thought she had asked for the coins so that she could give them to you. And I still don’t think I’m mistaken about that.”
“Something must have happened,” Roderick mumbled, looking up at the castle. He had hoped it wouldn’t be the case, but he had an unsettling feeling that either Maria or his father had been untruthful with him. One of them must have done or said something to send Liesel running. And if he had to choose, after the way Liesel had obviously been afraid of his sister during the last few weeks, he suspected it was Maria.
Roderick yanked on his horse to turn toward the road that led to Levenstein. If Maria had lied to him before, he couldn’t exactly trust her assertion that Liesel had run off with Prince Cornelius now. But the prince was the person that Liesel had petitioned to help her leave before, so it was not unthinkable that she might have done such a thing again.
And although it made his blood boil hot under his skin to consider that particular possibility, he had to admit it was preferable to the alternative of her running off into the woods alone and without protection.
However, considering her stubborn determination, that was quite a likely possibility too and it needed to be speedily addressed for the sake of her safety.
He pointed toward the other direction and shouted to Albert, “I think we had better separate again. I’ll ride toward Levenstein, and you can take the road to Pozlow in case she has decided to return home.”
“Are you sure that’s wise, Sire?”
“What do you mean?”
“What will you do if you do find the prince and discover he has taken Liesel?”
“I won’t do anything to start a war, if that is what you are worried about,” Roderick replied tersely. “But if the prince has her, then you can be certain that I want to be the one to find her.”
“As you wish, Sire,” Albert replied with a nod. He then obediently turned his horse and charged off the other way.
Roderick kept his gaze fixed on the road ahead as he leaned forward and pressed his horse to travel faster. He tried to keep his temper in check as he imagined what he would do if he did end up discovering that Prince Cornelius had been the one to take Liesel from him.
He clenched his teeth together and pushed that unsavory thought from his mind. Perhaps it really would have been more prudent to allow Albert to be the one to travel the Levenstein road.
But he didn’t really care about being prudent now.
He couldn’t afford to leave anything to chance. Especially given the likelihood that the prince would be accompanied by armed soldiers, he couldn’t entrust Liesel’s retrieval to an old man when his strength might be needed.
And he was ready to use it.
He was willing to do anything to find and bring Liesel back to the ball.
Chapter Twenty-One
After their carriage arrived at the castle in Brenhausen, Liesel and Adelaide were immediately ushered upstairs to one of the palace’s many guest rooms so they could change and prepare for the ball.
Adelaide shooed away the young maids who offered them their assistance, and then bolted the door tightly closed.
Only then, when they were finally alone again, did Liesel remove the cloak Adelaide had loaned her and passed it back with a sigh. “Thank you for allowing me to borrow this.”
Princess without a Palace: A King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale Page 19