She glanced up at Nessa for a moment. “I only asked you here to pump you for information. If you, however, happen to be leaving for the nearest city soon, well, it seems like a golden opportunity for me to escape now, while no one expects me to. Closer to the wedding, I am sure they will up the guards to keep an eye on me. Presently, no one will expect me to take off as soon as I arrived,” she said, tucking a small but full glass bottle between her books.
“No. Me included,” Nessa muttered.
Elisandrine stopped packing and looked up at her again, wide-eyed and blinking her long, black lashes.
“Oh, I am so sorry! Do you not wish to travel with me? You seemed so friendly and you sounded so sad about traveling alone that I assumed that you would be amenable. Is that my Noble blood making me presumptuous again? Were you only being polite?”
There was insecurity in those wide, golden eyes now. The skin-crawling sensation of letting people down overtook Nessa.
“No, no. I would be honoured to travel with you. It’s just that I…” She trailed off.
Elisandrine tilted her head. “That you what?”
Nessa pulled at her earlobe. “Firstly, it’s not safe to walk at night. That means you’d have to spend the night in my parents’ home. I’m afraid it’s humble, draughty, and sometimes has field mice in the eaves. Secondly, I won’t be travelling in the way you are accustomed. Like most farms in Ground Hollow, we don’t have a horse. Only an old ox to pull the plough and the boat along the canal. Therefore, I’m going to walk to Nightport. Which is about a day’s walk.”
“Fine by me,” Elise interjected with a smile
Nessa held up a finger. “Hang on. I’m afraid I hadn’t finished, milady. I was going to say that when I get there, I’ll have to live in the most meagre of circumstances until I find employment. Rent the cheapest room I can find and take any job that’ll buy me rent and bread.”
Elisandrine picked up the coin purse from the satchel. “Not anymore. This will not sustain us for more than a few weeks, but it will get us decent accommodation until we find jobs.”
Gathering her courage, Nessa crouched down next to the lady on the floor. “May I?”
“Of course,” Elisandrine said, handing her the purse.
It was heavy. Very heavy. They could buy quite a bit of land in Ground Hollow with that sort of coin. Especially if the purse had golds and silvers in it, not just coppers. She wasn’t sure what it would buy them in Nightport, but it was sure to make their stay much more comfortable.
Nessa cleared her throat. “Well, that should serve you very well no matter where you decide to stay. But milady —”
“Elisandrine. Or Elise.”
“Right, yes, Elisandrine. I’ve just met you. And you have just met me… Are you certain you wish to travel with me? And under such complicated circumstances?”
“Yes, I am sure. I do not mind taking risks. Besides, strangers have never bothered me. It is the people you allow close to you that scar you. Wait, what do you mean by complicated circumstances?”
Nessa stood again. “W-well, I assume that if you escape the castle and your planned marriage, people will start s-searching for you and try to take you back.”
“Oh yes, they most certainly will. Not for long, though. I shall not be the first person who escaped a royal marriage. Remember the Queen’s aunt being left at the altar? They searched for the groom-to-be for a full two weeks. Then someone more eager to take his place stepped in. As there is no love, political alliances, or riches involved in this match, all they need is someone compatible to mate.” Elise closed the satchel and stood up before continuing. “Someone will surely take my place in days. Besides, my mother will be ashamed that I did not fulfil my duty. She will try to cover up that I ever existed and probably aim to put my awful cousin in my place at Macray’s side.”
Nessa gaped at her. Could a mother be that callous?
“I know what I am doing,” Elise concluded. “I have given this a great deal of thought, even if it may not seem that way. I need to leave, but as I have limited knowledge of the world outside of Noble circles, I need a guide. And crash boom bang, here you are. It is clearly fated to be this way.” She smoothed her dress down and leisurely adjusted her hair.
“I see. I’m amazed at how easily you make decisions. It’s taken me many years to decide to leave my safe home,” Nessa said shyly.
“That is simply my nature. Besides, when you are not allowed to make many decisions about your own life, you learn to not dither when you finally get a choice. I need to move quick or this gilded cage will snap shut around me forever.”
Nessa chewed the inside of her cheek. “Pardon, milady, but… what about when we get to Nightport and have found accommodation?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, what happens then? Do we part ways?” Nessa asked.
Elise smiled warmly, crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Oh my, you really do fret about everything. I do not believe we can decide on that now. Perhaps we will hate each other after travelling together. Or maybe we will be friends for life. We will have to decide on paths when we reach the fork in the road.”
The platitude was one Nessa had heard her father say many times, but it didn’t calm her. Perhaps Elisandrine was comfortable with making life-altering plans at the drop of a coin, but she wasn’t. She looked at her feet, thinking hard to catch up to the other woman. How could she refuse the offer? Lady Falk was, according to every law of society, her superior. She also needed coin, and Elisandrine had that. Moreover, it might be nice to travel with someone so interesting. Someone who was brave and had the drive she herself lacked.
She raised her head to look Elisandrine in the eye and say that she would like to travel with her, only to see that the lady had already put her satchel over her shoulder and was peering down the window.
“You know,” she said to Nessa, “I have never climbed a wall. Do you think I will fall?”
Nessa swallowed down a chuckle and caught up with the lady. “Not if I help you. Besides, I suggest we don’t go down the way I came up. It would be far easier to tie some form of rope here and then lower ourselves with that.”
Elise stared at her with knitted brows and her kohl-lined eyes wide.
Nessa tried to be more specific. “You hold on to the rope, or whatever we can use as one, and sort of walk your way down the wall. I’ll go first and show you.”
But before they could go, there were footsteps, and then a knock on the door. As the women stood stock still, Nessa’s heart began thudding so hard that she heard it rush in her ears.
“Hide under the bed,” Elisandrine whispered after a pause.
Nessa hesitated. Perhaps it would be better to try to climb down again? If she was caught in here, what would they do to her?
“Now!” Elise hissed.
Nessa obeyed and shimmied under the lavish bed covered in silks. She was just barely in when Elisandrine kicked her newly-packed satchel under there as well. Nessa grabbed and hugged it tight.
She watched Elisandrine’s feet as she walked over to the door and opened it. More light spilled into the room as she heard Elise say, “Macray, what an honour to see you again tonight.”
She saw Elisandrine’s white heeled shoes walk back into the room, followed by a pair of big, blood-red leather boots.
“It might be an honour, but if so, it is an inconvenient one, I fear,” Prince Macray drawled.
The prince’s voice sounded smug and laced with amusement. Nessa’s heart pounded even harder. If it continued to pick up, she worried about passing out.
Elise gave a tittering laugh. “I am sure I do not know what you mean.”
“Oh, come now. I heard voices from in here.”
“I was talking to myself,” Elisandrine said. Nessa was impressed with how calm she sounded.
“No, no, future wife of mine. Two distinctly different voices. Both female. Now, where could you have hidden her? Who is she?”
Nes
sa held her breath as the prince opened the large chest that Elisandrine had just packed from. Then he strode over to the bed and bent down. An ornate watch fell out of his uniform jacket’s pocket and dangled in front of Nessa’s eyes. She had never actually seen one and marvelled at its beauty and technology. Peasants like her had to get the time from the crowing of a rooster, the setting sun, or the village clock tower. Soon the dangling timepiece was replaced by a face with squinting eyes.
“Well, hello there. Welcome to Silver Hollow Castle,” Prince Macray said with a toothy grin.
Chapter 5
Prince Macray Intervenes
Elisandrine felt an equal amount of fear and annoyance. Of course he would find Nessa and ruin it all. He mustn’t know that she was going to escape. She had to disguise Nessa as something other than a travel guide.
“She is my lover,” Elise blurted out.
Prince Macray chuckled. “What?”
She put her hands on her hips. “I told you. I prefer women.”
He laughed again. “I never doubted that. In fact, I am willing to wager that you prefer lovers that are smaller than you so you can boss them around. However, what I do doubt is that you could have found someone to seduce after only a day in the area. Especially as my guards inform me you have not left the castle.”
Elise kept her face as neutral as she could.
Ah, so the lovely guardswoman has not confessed her indiscretion, then.
Out of the corner of her eye, Elise saw Nessa scramble out from under the bed. She was happy to see that she didn’t bring the satchel with her, but its shoulder strap stuck out. Macray couldn’t be allowed to see the bag. It had the Falk house emblem on it and all her valuables in it. It would be obvious to him that she was leaving. Or he would think that Nessa was stealing it and throw her in the dungeons. The last thing she wanted to do was reward this woman’s kindness by getting her locked up for life.
Elisandrine saw Macray turn to evaluate Nessa. She took the chance to stare right into Nessa’s eyes and nod her head in the direction of the bag, hoping that Nessa would get the hint and push the strap under the bed with her foot.
Nessa stared at her in confusion for a while and then her brow smoothed as she gave a tiny nod.
She got it. Thank the gods.
Nessa took what looked like a nervous leap forward and placed her arm around Elise's waist. No. She hadn’t understood. She had thought that Elise wanted her to do something else; back up her lie.
“Yes, Your Highness. She did have time to seduce someone. I-I saw her arrive in her carriage this morning and was instantly smitten. I spoke with her through her window this a-afternoon and affirmed that she was, um, wanting a romantic tryst. So, I scaled the w-walls and now I’m… here. Your Majesty.”
Elisandrine wanted to scream. It was a sweet lie, and she could see that lying didn’t come easy to her new friend. She could also tell that Nessa wasn’t sure about the arm she had draped around her waist. The hand was barely touching her side, and even through her layered dress, she could feel the increasing warmth of the palm.
Exceedingly endearing. She merely wished that Nessa spent less time being lovely and more time hiding satchel straps.
Luckily, Macray was facing them now, and not the bed. Perhaps he wouldn’t see the long strap sticking out. Perhaps it was only to Elise that it seemed so obvious, laying there and poking out like a dog amongst cows.
She tried to breathe calmly and keep Macray’s attention on them. She put her hand over Nessa’s, pushing it closer to her body, making it grip her properly. Then she turned her head, placing her face a hair’s breadth away from Nessa’s. She brushed the tip of her nose with her own, finishing the performance by giving Nessa the most amorous and flirty smile she could. Nessa’s cheeks grew crimson, and even in her panic, Elise noted how adorable she was when she blushed. She squeezed the hand at her waist, unsure if she did it to reassure Nessa or herself.
“No,” Prince Macray said.
Elisandrine’s head snapped towards him. “No? What do you mean ‘no’?”
He grinned. “This was too easy to get you to confess to. And the two of you are acting far too shady. There is something bigger going on here than passion of the flesh.”
He looked so pleased with himself for his surmise that Elise itched to wipe the smug condescension off his face. There was only one way to catch him off-guard.
She straightened to her full height and let go of Nessa’s hand. With a couple of careful steps back, Nessa pulled away, and Elise advanced towards Macray. Drawing his full attention away from the anxious Nessa. “Fine. Yes. There is something else going on. I am leaving, and Nessa here will be my guide.”
She heard Nessa gasp and wished that she hadn’t involved the innocent woman in this mess.
Macray looked taken aback for a moment. The lower part of his chinless face wobbled as if he was about to cry. Luckily, it turned out to only be shock and passed in an instant. He looked up, features collected once more. “I see. Well, do not let me keep you.”
Elise stared at him. “What?”
“Well, I do not want you here, do I? If you disappear, my sister will have to find a new wife for me. It will delay the inevitable a few more weeks if I am lucky. Perhaps that winter wedding can be moved until next spring.”
Elise had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t just the extra time as a bachelor that made him want her to leave so much. She was willing to wager that there was some wounded pride at her rejection.
Or perhaps you are only assuming that because you are full of yourself.
She suppressed the unpleasant thought and latched on to what was important. “If you want me to leave, will you help us?”
His eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Help you?”
“Yes, we planned to escape through the window, but it seems dangerous. Considering that the only physical activity I am used to is bedding women, I will probably get myself killed. Can you sneak us out through a less perilous exit?”
He recoiled and began to shake his head before he stopped and groaned. “I suppose that is the gentlemanly thing to do. I have a passageway leading from my bedroom out to the back of the castle. Beyond that is a part of the wall which has cracks that make it easy to climb.”
Elise saw Nessa roll her eyes and assumed that the secret passageway into Prince Macray’s bedroom was well-known in the village. Elisandrine looked at Prince Macray and saw pride in his regal eyes.
“You wanton little sleep-around,” she said with a purr.
He sniffed, looking offended.
She rushed to clarify. “Not that I am one to talk. In the upcoming days, you will probably hear a confession from a guard about being lured into my bed. Corinna was the first name. What was her surname again? Stinn? Sten? Stein! Yes, that was it. Please do not punish her. She did nothing wrong. In fact, she did everything… just right,” Elise said, smirking.
The offended look on the prince’s face dissipated. “I see. It is nice to not be the only — how was it you put it? — ‘wanton little sleep-around’ in the castle.”
Elisandrine quirked an eyebrow to go with her smirk. “Likewise. Still, I shall leave before I become more competition than company. Congratulations on that clever passageway of yours.”
Macray took a bow. One highly sexual creature acknowledging a compliment from another. “Thank you. Oh, and I will let Guard Stein know of your praise and relinquish any punishment. After all, showing our guests a good time should not mean you are penalised.”
They smiled knowingly at each other. Finally, something she could appreciate about the man she almost married.
Nessa cleared her throat. “It’s not for me to say, I know. But perhaps we should make some haste? Before one of the patrolling guards or staff find us? I have no acceptable reason to be here.”
Her terse tone snapped Elise out of her reverie. “Yes, of course. Please lead the way, Your Majesty.”
Macray nodded and strode out of the room wh
ile checking his pocket watch.
Elisandrine picked up the long strap of the satchel and put it over her shoulder. She saw Nessa fetch her worn leather coat and a thick shawl that Elise had left on the bed. Nessa gave her the shawl and said, “I’ll let you borrow some warmer and more comfortable clothes when we get to my parents’ farm.”
Elise smiled at her. She knew next to nothing about this woman, but someone who played along with her lover ruse and worried about her comfort this much would surely be a good travel companion. Fate had served her well.
Chapter 6
Saying Farewell
Nessa was glad to say farewell to Prince Macray at the end of his secret passageway. He was her prince and in that was not only royalty but the steward of Arclid’s lowlands.
But that didn’t mean that Nessa had to like him. He had seduced far too many villagers and left them heartbroken when he moved on. A night or two of passion and physical comfort was one thing. Breaking promises of a lifetime as a royal courtesan was another.
Elisandrine didn’t seem to like him either. Nessa wondered if she, too, could see the callousness under the toothy smile and handsome uniform. Or perhaps the distrust of the royals, that Nessa had heard was so ingrained in all of Arclid, was even stronger in the people from the midlands? Or perhaps it was a Noble trait?
Her thoughts turned to Elisandrine in general. She was such a force of nature and left Nessa quite out of breath. Especially when she had brushed their noses. And when she had squeezed Nessa’s hand on her waist. That waist was so thin, and her hand was so cold. Nessa wanted to get a full meal and a few hours of physical activity into the Noble woman to warm her.
Warming Elise made inappropriate thoughts start to form. So, Nessa focused on her departure instead, which had been pushed forward. She would have to say goodbye to her parents and friends in the morning and leave for Nightport soon after. Maybe it was better that way? The days of waiting she had planned would only be torturous. More time where her parents would grump at her and tell her she should stay in Ground Hollow. Perhaps a quick, clean break was best? Maybe meeting Elisandrine had indeed been fate, as the other woman claimed.
Making a Tinderbox (The Tinderbox Tales Book 1) Page 4