Chapter 6
Kingdom of Henge
Prince Blackwell watched the port of Henge from his window in the castle's garden room. A large ship glided out to sea under full sail. He had seen the ship arrive earlier and wondered why it was leaving so soon. Usually ships' captains allowed their crews some time ashore. This ship would barely have had time to unload its cargo and load the provisions necessary to make for its next port. He wondered if this quick departure had anything to do with Fernland's newly opened port at King's Lake.
Henge's port made both Henge City and Prince Blackwell prosperous. He was not happy that his longtime enemy, King Geoffrey of Fernland, now had a port as well. The clumping noise of his father's wooden leg thumping down the hall turned his attention from thoughts of the port competition.
"Father. Good day. Thank you for accepting my invitation."
"Hummp. It sounded more like a summons than an invitation. What is this 'grave concern' that demands my presence?"
"Please, have a seat." Prince Blackwell pointed to a comfortable chair next to a potted red rose bush.
"All right. I'm sitting. What it it?" Phinneas Blackwell looked at his son with suspicion. He knew his son never valued his father's advice. He regretted his decision years ago to transfer power to his son. At the time Phinneas believed he was on the verge of death with gangrene already setting in around his leg injury. The amputation had saved his life, but too late to take back his kingship.
"It is about this theatre you have undertaken to build. When you first came to me with the idea, I thought it would be a minor project and might stand as an incentive of sorts for my soldiers. A show now and again for excellence or work well done." Prince Blackwell paused to make sure he constructed his coming criticism carefully. "It seems to have become a bigger project than I first imagined, not to mention more expensive."
"I suppose you have a point to make eventually." Old King Blackwell sat scowling with his arms crossed in front of him.
"I feel we need to scale it down a bit. Quite a bit, in fact. It is not only too expensive, it is taking too much of my soldiers' time away from their regular duties."
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well." Old Blackwell's jaw took on a stubborn angle.
Prince Blackwell pursed his lips and realized this was not to be an easy negotiation. He sighed with relief when his wife, Princess Serafina, walked into the sun room with their twins, Esme and Shalin, tottering along beside her, each holding one of Serafina's hands to keep their balance. Princess Serafina was tall, slender, with long dark hair, green eyes and pale skin. The identical twins looked like miniature versions of their mother.
Old Phinneas Blackwell broke into a smile as he watched his twin granddaughters move toward him.
"Look at that! The two of them walking already."
Serafina smiled down at her daughters. "They are not quite balanced as yet, but soon they will be taking their first steps."
Esme sat down suddenly and moved into a crawl, the faster to reach her father.
Prince Blackwell scooped her up and kissed her forehead, then set her gently back on the floor.
"You are just in time to voice an opinion in our disagreement," Prince Blackwell said, taking a lighter tone now that his wife was there to side with him. "I believe this theatre my father is building is costing too much in terms of man hours and building materials. Do you not agree that a smaller, simpler design might serve just as well?"
Serafina let go of Shalin's hand so the girl could crawl over to join Esme's inspection of the flowering rose bush. Serafina studied her father-in-law before she spoke.
"Would this theatre project have something to do with your visit with Take the Thief?"
"What?" Old King Blackwell's face flushed red. "How do you know of his visit? Am I being watched in my own castle?"
"Who is Take the Thief?" Prince Blackwell asked, dumbfounded. "You have an acquaintance with a thief?"
"What business is it of either of yours who I know or what I do?" The old king stood up and thumped his way out of the garden room with a parting shout. "And I will build my theatre as I choose."
"What was that all about?" Prince Blackwell asked. "Who is this thief?"
Serafina's attention was still on the departed king. She seemed to be considering his outburst. When she turned back to her husband, a faint smile crossed her lips.
"Take the Thief is the person who stole Princess Electra from her nursery and brought her to me. He visited Henge a few months ago. In fact he was traveling with our escaped prisoner and fiddle player, Shandor, when he first arrived here. Take said his mother was a gypsy and he wanted to visit the gypsy camp to learn more about his family. I believed his story so I did not imprison him along with Shandor. Shandor made threats against Electra, but I do not believe Take was involved."
"And what prompted the visit with my father?"
"That I do not know—yet. Take the Thief has organized an acting troupe in Fernland that is doing rather well. My sister, Delphinia, keeps them busy entertaining visiting dignitaries when they are not performing at a new theatre down at King's Lake. That is why I was curious as to whether the visit and your father's theatre might be connected."
"Do you suppose this thief is blackmailing my father into building a theatre somehow?"
Serafina shook her head. "I am certain Take would not dare such a thing even if he had some dark secret to hold over your father." Serafina turned again to look at the door through which her father-in-law had left.
"It might be worth finding out more about the meeting between Take and your father. The knowledge may give you the leverage you need to control the size of the project. I am quite sure your father is hiding something."
Prince Blackwell nodded and took the rose petals from Esme's hand before she could shove them into her mouth. He was so lost in his contemplation of this theatre mystery that he did not notice when the petals escaped his hand and flew back into Esme's waiting fingers.
Serafina picked Esme up, pried the petals from her tiny fist and put them in a pocket of her gown. Before Esme could begin her outraged wail, Serafina substituted a crust of bread into the little fingers.
Serafina bounced Esme on her hip and caught Prince Blackwell's eyes. "It is another concern which brought me to see you," she began.
Prince Blackwell stiffened. Serafina did not often come to him with concerns. "And what is that?"
"The Jungle Queen left today without leaving our shipment of white powder. No one could give me an adequate explanation. The dock master who held payment for the shipment said he asked the captain why there was no shipment of white powder. The Captain said he did not know. No shipment had been brought aboard at Manoa. He knew nothing more about it. But he left port as soon as all goods from Henge had been brought aboard. No one left the ship while it was in port. Evidently the Captain did not wish to be questioned at length."
Prince Blackwell rested his chin on his fist as he considered the information. "And how is our supply at present? Have we enough white powder to continue production of the exploding arrows?"
"For a time. But it is a concern."
Prince Blackwell and Serafina turned their attention to the twins as chunks of dirt began to fly from the pots of planted roses.
"We must have rodents," Prince Blackwell scowled. "I shall have to inform the gardener."
Serafina shook her head, but said nothing.
Princess Electra Book 4 School of Medicine Page 6