by Andersen,Kai
Startled at his tone, Serena ducked her head. When her head snapped up a mere two seconds later, her eyes shot sparks at him. “Do you take me for a fool? I’m in enemy camp, and you are the enemy. I’d be a fool to entrust my safety into your hands.”
Frederick grinned, further startling her. It was a reaction she didn’t expect. “Good. I don’t have to worry about you then.” His meaning couldn’t be clearer.
Her spine stiffened. “It’s not your place to worry about me.”
Frederick chuckled. She’s behaving very princessly for an imposter. Time to learn something more about her.
He moved his chess piece before she could complain, though what piece he moved he couldn’t say. “So, you’re from one of the southern kingdoms.” It was a statement.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it.”
“You jumped to that conclusion.”
“I still believe you’re from one of those kingdoms there.”
“I’m not answering that.”
“All right, then answer this: Why can’t you just tell your father that you don’t want to wed the old geezer? Aren’t there other women in your kingdom? A senior, unwed noblewoman, perhaps?”
She shot him a dark look. “The ‘old geezer,’ as you put it, wanted a princess. What would you have me do? Ask my sister if she wanted to take my place? Even if she were willing, our child protection laws would not allow her. Females cannot marry until at least sixteen, even princesses. And she’s only ten.”
“So you just leave your father to the mercy of a neighboring kingdom that might launch an attack because your king can’t produce the bride.” Frederick’s voice was sarcastic, though he couldn’t erase from his mind the horror of Serena being wed to a man old enough to be her father twice over. “Brilliant move, Serena.”
“Thank you. Actually, nobody knows I’m missing, except for my nurse and my mother. Mother ...” Here, Serena sighed. “She understood why Father had to have the alliance, but she didn’t like the idea of my marriage either. She believed Father could’ve made other arrangements to have the alliance he so wanted. So, she agreed to help me. I asked her to tell Father that I was dreadfully sick with a contagious disease that would infect anybody who goes within my chamber. Only my nurse, who wasn’t afraid of death, would stay in my chamber to take care of me. Food and stuff would be placed outside my door, which would be consumed or thrown away by my nurse, of course.”
“That would indeed buy you time, and no war would be waged on your kingdom in the meantime. Brilliant move.” This time, the words were said sincerely and with admiration.
“Thank you. Check.”
“Damn, I didn’t see that.” He certainly hadn’t, distracted as he was by the conversation and his tumultuous emotions.
Rodin came in just then, with two candlesticks in his hands. The room became brighter.
“Is it night already? I didn’t notice.”
“It would’ve been hard to tell, with the storm and all.” Serena’s voice was dry. “And guess what, we haven’t finished our game yet.”
Rodin set the candles on the table beside the chess board. “You might want to wind it up. The servants are already setting the table for dinner.”
Serena stood. “Maybe we can continue this tomorrow. We can’t let the queen wait for us.”
“She’s indisposed; she won’t be joining us tonight.” It was Giselda who had told Frederick that little tidbit this morning, when he had been searching for Serena. He didn’t add that the little chit had also suggested they spend the day in bed -- his or hers, it didn’t matter.
Not wanting to think about unpleasant things, he changed the topic. “I remember you telling me that you hate music. So what do you like?”
When no answer was forthcoming, he glanced up from his contemplation of the game to see Serena hovering uncertainly. She didn’t seem to know whether to sit or to leave. It irritated him that she couldn’t bear to spend one extra second with him. “Sit! I want to finish this game.”
She sat. He hated the momentary look of fear that came to her eyes at his harsh tone. Then, she lifted her chin and the fear was gone. His admiration for her grew a notch.
“I never liked music. My fingers are clumsy and I’m tone-deaf.”
“But you played the piano pretty well.”
“I was forced to learn, and I hated every minute of it.”
“Anything that made you abhor it so much?”
Serena laughed. “To say I abhor it is too much. I just don’t like it, the way you might not like to eat spinach, for example. Especially --”
“Who says I don’t like spinach?”
“I saw you passing it to Rodin. Shame on you! Don’t you know greens are good for your health and --”
“You were saying about how you don’t like music.”
“Oh, yes. Especially when my mother beat me once with a cane.”
“She beat you!”
“Yes.” A reminiscing smile danced about her lips. “I remember running through the castle with a dozen servants after me. Mother didn’t run, of course. She just waited until they caught me and then she beat me.”
“That must have hurt.”
“It did. I hated Mother for months. And then I was forced to learn the piano or else --”
“You’d feel the cane again.”
“Precisely. I came up with dozens of excuses why I shouldn’t have anything to do with music, but Mother didn’t buy any of it.”
Frederick could imagine Serena as a little girl, using her wits and cunning even then to get out of things she didn’t want. “So what happened in the end?”
“I negotiated a deal with Mother. I would learn to play one piece and one piece only, and that was that.”
“That piece you played the other night --”
“Was the only one I knew. It’s a good thing the queen didn’t ask for another performance. I would’ve been sunk.”
“What did your mother get out of the deal?”
Serena shot him an innocent look. “Why, she’s got a daughter she can be proud of, a daughter she can count on to play at least one entertaining piece of music for the guests.”
“I like your style.” Every minute, he was learning things about Serena, about her courage and strength, about her soft approach to things, and when that didn’t work, about how she’d take the bull by the horns and tame it to her will. “So what do you like?”
Goddess, she was so lovely, the way her eyes lit up with excitement and passion, so much passion hidden underneath her prim exterior. “I’ve always wanted to be a scientist, a researcher. I want to improve my people’s lives through scientific innovations. I want to discover a way to make better breeds of cattle, horses, everything. If there was some way to isolate bad genes and replace them with good ones --”
“Whoa there.” He was amazed. “You’re serious.”
She was annoyed. He could tell by the way she wrinkled her nose. “Of course I’m serious. Do you think I just love hearing the sound of my voice saying intelligent things?”
“You and Frederick have much in common then.”
Stupefied, she looked at Rodin. She’d forgotten he was in the room with them.
“He loves the sound of his voice?”
“No!” Rodin chuckled. “I didn’t mean it that way. I meant Prince Frederick has done a lot for his people too, over the years --”
“Rodin!”
“Go on.” Serena trained her gaze on him. “I want to hear this.”
“As you can see, our prince is a bit humble when it comes to his own accomplishments.” Rodin smiled, ignoring Frederick’s pointed glares.
“Rodin, if you don’t shut your mouth --”
“Before he kills me, I’ll give you one concrete example.” He talked very fast as he inched toward the door. “Ten years ago, he passed a proposal to install an irrigation system throughout Mithirien’s agricultural lands. It was a big help to the farmers and --”
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“-- I’ll shut it for you!”
“You get the idea, Serena. I’m outta here.”
When Rodin was gone, Frederick sat back in his chair to see Serena gazing at him in amusement. There was also a new light in her eyes. His heart tripped. He almost didn’t recognize it, so seldom did he see it in women’s eyes. It made him feel one foot taller.
“You don’t accept compliments graciously.”
He dropped his eyes to the board in front of him. Whose turn was it? “There’s nothing to compliment. I was simply doing my duty.”
“If you’re so shy, how were you able to accept the accolades of your people?”
“They didn’t know.” He fiddled with the white pawn -- Serena’s -- that his bishop had “eaten” earlier in the game.
“But how --”
“I passed the proposal through one of the senior ministers, who’s one of my father’s oldest friends.”
“So he took the credit.”
He shrugged. “What matters is that it was successful. The people, and subsequently the kingdom, benefited from it.”
“But that isn’t right --”
“I was only twenty years old then, Serena. Why would anyone take me seriously?”
“Because you’re the crown prince?”
“But a green youth nevertheless.”
“You’re really taking this humility thing a bit far.” Serena leaned toward him, her emerald gaze earnest. “Don’t you think your people deserve to know that their prince is a capable man? You’re going to lead them someday, Frederick. They need to believe in you, just as you need their faith and support.”
Frederick hadn’t thought of it that way before. He had to admit that his reputation as a ladies’ man was getting wearisome in recent years. Now that Serena had mentioned it, he realized that he’d like his people to know he had more to offer them than his generative capacity. He especially liked the respect and admiration he saw in Serena’s eyes.
“I’ll think about it.” The strange emotion clogging his throat caused his voice to sound gruff.
“You do that.”
Giselda flounced in the open door and stopped short. “You’re still at it? It’s time for dinner.”
“It’s a game that needs patience.”
Why did she have to show up now?
“Since the queen won’t be joining us, we can basically do as we please and eat when it suits us.”
“Yes, I’d told you that this morning, didn’t I?” Giselda sidled up to him and laid a hand on his chest.
Great. He walked into that one.
He shrugged off her hand.
“Mother’s resting. The storm seems to be affecting her badly. Her whole body’s aching.”
A solicitous frown appeared between Serena’s brows. “Nothing serious, I hope.”
More likely, she had ruled out Serena as a possible rival and didn’t think it necessary to keep a close watch on her anymore.
“I don’t think so.” Giselda stared at the board game.
“Would you like to play?” Serena asked kindly. “You can take a turn with Frederick.”
“But I don’t know how.”
“I can teach you.”
“I want Frederick to teach me.”
“Serena and I haven’t finished our game yet,” Frederick objected.
“I can take your king in three more moves,” Serena declared.
“Prove it.”
She did.
“Now you can teach me, Frederick.” Giselda smiled up at him expectantly.
“Serena offered. I’ll let her do the honors.” Frederick rose. “I’m going to see about dinner.”
* * * * *
Serena saw the naked longing in Giselda’s face as her gaze followed Frederick’s retreating back. Now, she could understand Giselda’s steadfast devotion to her stepbrother.
The womanizing prince, whose reputation had preceded him, had hidden depths she was only starting to discover.
“Come, P-- er, Your Highness, won’t you sit?”
There was silence between the two women.
After a while, Serena reached over to clasp Giselda’s hand. “I promise you, we’re just friends.” She did not have the heart to tell Giselda that she knew about the bogus betrothal.
In many ways, Giselda was still like a child. She felt an irrational anger at Frederick for the way he kept treating his stepsister. If she, Serena, were his betrothed, she wouldn’t allow him to get away with such behavior.
A moment later, her cheeks heated at the thought. She berated herself. She wasn’t his betrothed.
Giselda snatched her hand away. “Don’t touch me!”
Serena’s hands dropped onto her lap.
Silence reigned again.
Serena sighed. “Shall we begin with chess?”
Chapter Eight
Serena couldn’t lie to herself anymore. Spending the greater part of the past three days with Frederick had beaten down her defenses and forced her to face a truth she’d been denying to herself: She was having more-than-friends feelings toward Frederick.
Increasingly, she caught herself weaving dreams of hand-in-hand sunset walks by the seashore, of snuggling beneath warm covers during the cold months (and even the not-cold months), and of sipping hot chocolate in comfortable silence in the night while their children slept, snug in their beds. And always, that person at her side possessed deep blue eyes that saw straight into her soul.
But that wasn’t all.
She also remembered their kisses and how his mouth had felt on her breasts. A strange yearning had swept over her, making her tingle and throb in places deep inside her. She knew. He had awakened her sexuality and made her want him.
It didn’t help that Frederick seemed to enjoy her company, for he spent the better part of the past two days with her. He read to her from the works of the great masters of literature, played chess and discussed farming methods with her. Ever since he’d learned of her interest in biological research, he had pumped her for information on scientific advances in her field. But he was more interested in new farming techniques, for it seemed that a majority of his people were farmers. He was specifically interested in the most recent innovation that had enabled the farmers in her kingdom to produce a larger quantity of vegetables and root crops on the same amount of land.
Frederick wrinkled his nose, a notepad half covered in writing on the table in front of him. “You use horse manure when seeding the plants?”
“Before, not when.” Serena laughed at his revolted expression. “I promise you, it’s a rich source of nutrients. When mixed with the soil, the plants absorbed them as they grow from a tiny seed, and this caused them to produce, not only in larger volume, but also in quality.”
It was late afternoon of the fourth day, and the rain hadn’t abated. It was a wonder that the place hadn’t flooded, with the steady way that the rain had been falling, but Serena supposed Mithirien’s drainage system was good. Maybe another one of Frederick’s proposals. She smiled, feeling an unaccountable pride at his accomplishments.
She could’ve sworn however, that the Goddess was playing a cruel trick on her by making her stay on in a place where the womenfolk did not welcome her and the only person who did, wanted to seduce her. He never missed any opportunity to touch and kiss her, and wasn’t at all discouraged by her rebukes, claiming them to be friendly kisses. If they got any friendlier, she’d surely combust.
Now, his brows lifted. “Quality?”
“Yes. Larger and greener leaves, bigger stalks,” she made an emphatic gesture in the air, “those kinds of things.”
“I see.” His brows furrowed. “Don’t they smell?”
“They do.” Mischief glinted in her eyes. “But the vegetables don’t.”
“Where do you come from that you use such innovative means for your crops?”
“Uh-uh.” She shook her head teasingly. “You’ve got another think coming if you believe you’re getting the answer by slip
ping that question into our --”
A sharp rap sounded on the door, and a moment later, a smiling Mrs. Goode-Heart entered. “Something to quench your thirst as you discuss things, dearies.” She placed a bowl of big and luscious grapes on the table.
Serena’s eyes grew wide. Could these be ...?
She looked over at Frederick and saw the same stunned expression on his face. Obviously, he had never seen grapes this size before. She could understand. The grapes they had consumed last night, probably Mithirien’s produce, were only about a third the size of these. Fat and round, there was also a shiny luster to the grapes in front of them, a color as of the deepest purple and a look so full it felt like each grape was about to burst with its juices.
“These ... these ...” he stuttered and glanced up at Serena, stunned.
A deep longing welled up in her. She had thought she’d never miss home after all the things she had suffered there and the horrid fate that her father had in store for her, but it seemed she was mistaken.
Fingers trembling slightly, she plucked a grape from the thick cluster and bit into its round flesh. Sweet, tangy juice filled her mouth, as memories and images whirled around her: her stern unsmiling father, her beautiful subservient mother, her naughty and noisy siblings, her radical freethinking aunt, sweet Lindy, and her self-made laboratory.
She choked as the memories overwhelmed her.
“Serena ...” Frederick’s voice came from afar.
Her eyes slowly opened, focusing.
“Serena, are these from your country?” There was an odd urgency in his voice and on his face.
“Yes.” Her mind still gripped by her memories, she tried to remember what he wanted.
“Those grapes are examples of what you’ll get if you implemented --”
“Mrs. Goode-Heart, where did we get these grapes?”
A sick feeling lodged in her heart. “No!”
“Why, no need to look at me like that, dearie.” Turning to Frederick, Mrs. Goode-Heart said, “I’ve no idea, my boy. You know I don’t do the buying around here.”
Serena couldn’t believe what Frederick had done. All this while, she thought they were friends, or at least, becoming friends. Friends trusted each other, didn’t they? And they didn’t pry into things they knew you didn’t want them to. But what he’d just done proved that he’d never trusted her, never believed her.