by Aya Ling
Bran raised his eyebrows. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but simply shook his head. "All right, cousin. Watch out for thorns and rabbit holes. But don't forget what I'm warning you about."
Elaine brushed away dirt and grass from her shirt and stood up. She headed to the bushes, keeping a lookout for potential dessert, all the while thinking of her conversation with Bran. She wasn't naïve enough to assume that as long as feelings were mutual, she could ignore all the 'drawbacks' in Andre's situation. Valeria was a princess, but to this day there were still a few who did not approve of her, although not openly. What people would say when they learned Princess Elaine preferred a blacksmith's son--it would surely cause a bigger sensation than her enrolling at the University.
Still...first she had to ensure Andre also felt the same way. If he didn't care for her, then there was no point worrying about his eligibility as a potential suitor. A pang of frustration tugged at the back of her mind. So far, things hadn't been encouraging. She really had to be more...open with her feelings. James had once bragged that "a faint heart never won the fair lady," when he told her stories of how he wooed Ari, who was not charmed by his looks or behavior when they first met. Well, if James could win over Ari, who took after Lady Matilda's intimidating character, then she could find some way to break down the barrier to Andre's heart.
The princess can invent a machine that takes people in the air, Effie's voice echoed in her mind. There's nothing she can't achieve.
Elaine smiled dryly. There was a lot she could do, but it seldom came easy. Ensnaring a man was no exception.
To her delight, she found a wild apple tree growing in the midst of some thick rose bushes. The apples looked smaller than the ones in the palace orchards, but after meals of bread and cheese, Elaine was glad to see her favorite fruit. She climbed up the tree nimbly and started to pluck the apples, one by one. She had brought a cloak with her and soon had it filled with apples.
Presently, she heard a scratch on the trunk and looked down.
A wildcat–a sleek, spotted, unfriendly-looking creature–was looking up at her with glowing eyes.
"Damn!" Elaine cursed. Realizing that she had left her dart slinger in the carriage, she looked about for something to use against the beast. She had her serrated dagger in her boot, but it was small and felt useless against the wildcat. Oh, what was she to do? That wildcat looked capable of climbing the tree and attacking her. Could she possibly hold it off by pelting the beast with apples?
"Ahem," Elaine cleared her throat and tried to smile disarmingly. "Here, kitty, kitty."
The wildcat simply stared, its great yellow eyes unblinking. Elaine swallowed. Not many creatures could resist her charm. Maybe the wildcat was a female.
"You can have all the apples on the tree. Or if you don't want them, that's fine. Just... let me come down, all right? I have to get back to my companions and I've no time to play."
Swoosh.
A shriek.
Elaine blinked. An arrow had pierced the wildcat straight through its heart.
"Are you all right, princess?" Andre lowered his bow and hurried towards her. In her eyes, he had never looked so handsome.
"Phew." Elaine sank back on the branches, realizing that she had been so nervous that her legs had turned to jelly. "Oh thank you, Andre. I suppose this has taught me a lesson not to run off unarmed."
Andre held up his arms. "Bran told me you've gone, so I came to look for you."
Elaine could get down the tree by herself–she had plenty of experience climbing trees–but if it meant a chance to throw herself in his arms, why not? So she jumped down, hoping that she wasn't too heavy and was rewarded by a warm embrace.
"You saved my life." Elaine snuggled up against him. Oh, how nice it was to be held by him--to lay her head against his broad chest and feel his strong arms encircle her protectively. Dear kitty, kitty, thank you for the opportunity.
For a moment, they stood there by the bushes, wrapped in a loose embrace, but then he gently pried her arms away. Elaine did her best to conceal her disappointment. She turned her face away and busied herself with gathering the apples--some of them had spilled from her cloak and rolled over the ground.
"There's a noise," Andre said, his gaze fixed on a spot far away in the northwest.
"Huh?" She didn't hear a thing.
"I'll go and find out, just to make sure it isn't anything dangerous." Andre set his jaw. "Princess, you'd better return to where Bran is."
He turned and hurried away in swift, long strides. Elaine felt like throwing an apple at his retreating back. Why did he continue to call her princess when addressing her cousin by his first name?
She stomped off, nearly tripping over a clump of tree roots. Dash it, she had forgotten the way back. Without thinking, she took off in the direction where Andre disappeared. He had a head start, but as she ran along, she found she could hear the noise he mentioned. Soon, she reached a thick wall of wild bushes and pine trees. Beyond the wall, she heard Andre speaking.
"Release her at once."
Through a hole in the middle of a tall hedge, Elaine glimpsed a clearing in the forest. Three men in dark cloaks, each wielding swords and maces, were facing Andre. One man was completely bald, another had a scar running diagonally from left eye to chin. The third man wore a mask. Two swords hung from his belt on either side of his hips.
And lying on the ground, bound and gagged, was Princess Marcella.
Elaine clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from gasping out loud. Why was Marcella attacked, out in this wilderness?
Andre unsheathed his sword and advanced slowly to the trio. "I said, release her."
Mask-Man gestured towards his two companions with a flick of his right hand. The bald man and Scar-face rushed towards Andre, one brandishing his mace, the other swinging a baton. Clang! Andre raised his sword and blocked their attacks. He took a deep breath, sprang forward, and slashed at the bald man's arm while aiming a kick at Scar-face's knee at the same time. The bald man gave a howl of pain–blood dripped on the grass. Scar-face stumbled backwards, clutching his knee, his face contorted in pain.
Clearly, the bald man and Scar-face were no match for Andre. Mask-Man muttered a curse--he withdrew his two swords and joined the battle. Deftly, he twirled and thrust his swords--with an ambidextrous ability that forced Andre to duck and parry and block.
The addition of Mask-Man to the fight had tipped the scales--Andre seemed to be in no danger yet, but he could only defend himself and had no room to attack his opponents. If the battle did not end soon...
Elaine wiped her moistening palms against her thighs. She couldn't get Bran; she forgot the way back and besides, Bran couldn't fight. As a medical man, he was only useful after the battle, not during the battle. And she still hadn't brought her dart slinger. And even if she had...Elaine wasn't sure her aim was skilled enough when Andre was fighting in close range. She might accidentally fire her drugged darts into his body instead.
The princess reassessed the situation. Andre was trying to fight his way through to Marcella, but the trio kept forcing him back. Marcella writhed and struggled, but her bindings were too tight. There were raw, red marks where her wrists met rope. If only she could free the Tintagel princess, Andre could concentrate on fighting off those men.
Elaine felt in her pockets--all she had was the dagger and the apples. As if any could cause real damage. Think, she commanded herself. She may not be skilled in combat, but it did not mean there was nothing she could do. She had outwitted Jayden and Kayden many times, even though either guard could easily overpower her with one arm. Looking up at the heavy pine tree with its black-and-blue branches, an idea sprang into her head.
Using her dagger, Elaine cut away a good number of pine needles and jabbed them into the apples so each apple had several needles jutting out, almost like the tip of a club. She stashed the apples in her cloak and tiptoed into the clearing.
She crawled her way to Marcella so
as to make herself as inconspicuous as possible and pulled out her dagger. Still in a lying position, she started to saw at the ropes binding Marcella's wrists. Beads of sweat gathered on Elaine's forehead. The rope was made of coarse hemp, braided and twisted--making it difficult for her to saw through without injuring Marcella. When she finally cut through the rope, Marcella rolled over. The Tintagel princess stared at her; Elaine wondered if she saw through her disguise.
"The princess has escaped!" Scar-face shouted. "Get her!"
The bald man barreled towards them, the flanges on his mace gleaming.
Her heart pounding, Elaine pressed the dagger in Marcella's hand. "Hurry," she whispered. She couldn't trust herself to cut away the ropes on Marcella's feet--it was better to let the combat-trained princess handle it.
The bald man was getting closer--Elaine shook out the needle-spiked apples and flung them into the air.
Taken by surprise, the bald man batted away an apple that was pelting straight at his throat. Then he yelped and stumbled--a pine needle had found its way into his right eye.
By this time, Marcella had deftly slashed apart the ropes around her feet. Clutching Elle's dagger in hand, she sprang forward and attacked. The bald man, distracted by the needle in his eye, was too slow to react. With a swift stroke, Marcella made a gaping wound on his arm, forcing him to drop his mace. Then she grabbed the mace and clubbed it in his stomach. He fell forward, blood splattering over the grass.
Elaine averted her eyes in horror. She had witnessed tournaments, but they were well regulated and the injuries were never life-threatening. Now, seeing a man falling before her eyes, she felt like throwing up. She sank on the ground, her legs seeming to have turned into pudding.
Marcella, armed with the bald man's mace, leaped over to Andre. With one of his opponents taken out and additional assistance, Andre's remaining battle was an easy win. He and Marcella parried and attacked and thrust with the incredible ability trained from the Academy days.
Clang! Andre managed to send one of Mask-Man's swords flying into the air--it made a curve in the air and embedded on a tree trunk. Then he delivered a flying kick that sent Mask-Man sprawling on the ground. Andre kicked away the other sword, put a foot on the nape of Mask-Man's neck, and ripped away the dark cloth covering his face. A square-jawed man with blonde curls and blue eyes--standard Tintagel features.
Elaine's lips parted. She had seen this man before. But where and when--she racked through her brains, trying to pin down the answer.
Meanwhile, Marcella had taken care of Scar-face with a bone-shattering blow on the knees--almost at the same time Andre dispatched Mask-Man. Now that the danger was past, she came over to Andre, only to stop mid-stride.
"De Lornay." Marcella drew her brows together. "Explain."
The man licked his lips. "I didn't intend to kill, Your Highness. I was only given instructions to delay your journey."
"Renee ordered you to kidnap me?"
So he was Renee's right-hand man; he had appeared at the feast. Elaine hadn't paid much attention to him then--most of her time was spent avoiding ardent suitors.
De Lornay flashed a cold smile that resembled the one Renee wore.
"Why?"
Still no answer.
Andre applied more pressure on De Lornay's neck; the latter winced. "Answer Her Highness."
"Fine," De Lornay snapped. "If you hadn't guessed it already--Renee wants the throne."
Andre and Marcella looked at each other.
"My mother's wish is for Felipe to be heir," Marcella said. "She sent me a message telling me so."
"Before she fell ill."
"What do you mean?" Andre said.
De Lornay raised an eyebrow. For a man who was lying prostrate on the ground, with a foot on his neck, he sure was fearless. "The empress is no longer in her right mind. Renee persuaded a girl to lace the empress's morning coffee with poison, so she has kept to the bed these days."
"You lie." Marcella's hand shook, and so did her tone. "Renee may have ambitions, but he isn't that stupid to commit treason against the ruler."
Elaine wasn't that certain. After all, it was true that the empress was not well enough to attend Ralph's coronation. Considering that Tintagel and Riviera had a fairly amiable relationship for the past decade, it was unlike her to be absent.
De Lornay shrugged. "Believe what you will."
"Your Highness," Andre said quietly. "I believe this merits a visit to the castle. Whether he speaks of the truth or not, we can only verify it by going to Bayeux."
Marcella took a few long, deep breaths. When she spoke, her voice had returned to its normal crispness. "You will inform Renee by letter that you have succeeded in delaying me, and in the attempt, you and your companions have been seriously injured."
"As you wish," De Lornay said, his eyes gleaming. "I will need your necklace, lady."
Instinctively, Marcella touched her throat. She was wearing a golden chain with a pendant shaped into a briar rose round her neck. "Renee told you that he needed my necklace as proof you've captured me?"
"Be thankful he did not require me to bring one of your fingers instead."
Marcella's jaw tightened. "Very well."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
After Marcella made De Lornay write the letter stating that he had successfully captured her, she confiscated everything he had--from the horses, weapons, down to the outer garments he wore. Andre double-checked, making sure that De Lornay and his two companions had nothing on them but linen smocks. All of them looked sullen, but with Andre watching over them with his sword drawn, they could do nothing but obey.
"Say that you have met a band of highwaymen in your journey back home," Marcella told them.
Then Marcella and Andre held a quick discussion. Since they were all heading towards Bayeux, they might as well travel together, not to mention Andre had also intended to see the empress.
When they returned to Bran, who happened to be drinking from his water bottle, he took one look at them all and promptly spit out everything, choking and spluttering.
"Wha..." coughing, "where did you..." more coughing, "did she come from?"
Elaine ran towards him and gathered up the plates and bottles they brought. "Bran, we've got to leave now. We'll tell you everything on the way."
Andre helped Marcella into the carriage. Elaine whisked her cousin in, clambered onto her seat and shut the door.
"What on earth happened?" Bran said, his voice heightening with anxiety. "I've been worried sick, I thought some disaster occurred and Ralph will kill me because I've agreed to sneak you out. And now you appear out of nowhere with the Tintagel princess? And what about Andre? He's got a scratch on his face and his hand is bandaged. Was it an ogre or some wild animal?"
"Calm down, Bran," Elaine put a hand on his arm. "Sorry--I didn't mean to worry you--but if Andre and I didn't go off, we wouldn't have had the chance to save Marcella from being kidnapped."
Bran's eyes looked in danger of popping out of their sockets. "You said what?"
"He's right," Marcella said calmly. "If it weren't for this lad and Andre, I would have been abducted."
Bran darted a swift glance at Elaine.
"Er..." Elaine pulled off her cap. "Actually, I'm Elaine. Princess Elaine."
Now it was Marcella's turn to gape. "You..."
Elaine briefly explained her desire to enter the Exhibition but was delayed by illness.
"I had heard some opinions about you, even when I was travelling around the world," Marcella said slowly. "Most of what I heard was uncomplimentary."
Despite the situation, Bran smirked in Elaine's direction. "You're notorious."
"Hardly so." A smile tugged at the corners of Marcella's mouth. "Those opinions actually gave me a favorable impression of you, Princess Elaine."
Instantly, Elaine warmed towards the Tintagel princess. She always regarded Marcella as a female version of Ralph, but apparently there was more to her stoic demeanor.
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"I'm glad to hear that," she beamed. "Now tell us how you were captured. Didn't you have any attendants with you?"
"I had planned to come back earlier, but the Academy wanted me to give some archery lessons," Marcella replied. "So I told my servants to go ahead without me. It turned out to be a huge mistake. De Lornay and his men had been trailing me since I left Riviera. Once I got to this forest, when there were no people around, they attacked. I didn't expect the ambush, so I was unprepared." Her voice was bitter. "I thought they wanted a ransom, since I am the princess. I did not expect it would be worse, that the real reason I was attacked is because of Renee's treachery."
"How about Felipe?" Bran said. "Doesn't he know that he's going to inherit the throne?"
"Mama should have hinted it, but now he is in Amaranta. He sent word that he was working on a trade agreement to export Amaranta's tomatoes and olives in exchange for Tintagel's wines. Otherwise, he would have been at the coronation."
"So when he comes back, it'll be too late?"
Marcella nodded. "Our annual spring festival is coming up in a week. It is customary for the bishop to make a national announcement during the first day of the festival. Mama had mentioned that she would announce the heir this year, since she isn't getting any younger."
"So that means we'll have to prevent the bishop from proclaiming Renee is heir."
"Exactly. It is very difficult to renounce a national announcement when it's made in front of all the people."
"Are you certain the bishop will say Renee is heir, if the empress has shown preference for Felipe all along?" Bran said.
Marcella exhaled deeply. She clenched her hands briefly before letting go. "When Mama named Felipe her successor, several lords, including the bishop, were resentful. Felipe would raise the taxes for the rich. He plans to enforce mandatory primary education for all citizens, as Riviera is currently doing now, and allow well-educated commoners to partake in state affairs."