Royal Promenade

by Suzanne G. Rogers

  When Alice was shown into the banquet room, Miss Yardley extricated herself from a gaggle of guests and hastened over to greet her. The young woman’s thick brunette hair was simply arranged around her shoulders and she wore a figure-skimming dress with a portrait collar.

  “Good morning, Princess!”

  Alice beamed at her. “Don’t you look pretty! You certainly had your share of admirers last night.”

  “Thanks to you.”

  “I don’t think it was all my doing.”

  The young woman bit her lip. “Are you acquainted with Ranger Delacourt?”

  “We’ve met.” Alice gave her a sidelong glance. “He’s very handsome, wouldn’t you say?”

  Miss Yardley gave a little wiggle. “I would indeed.”

  Someone activated the vidscreen and an excited squeal went up in the room. Wide-eyed young ladies hastened over to watch the archery competition—Alice and Miss Yardley among them. The leaderboard on one side of the screen was populated by names, with Blade Blackmon at the top. Alice’s spirits fell when none of the Rangers’ names appeared. Could Blade truly have bested them in archery so easily?

  Alice frowned. “Is the event over?”

  Someone called out, “Not until one o’clock at the earliest.”

  Alice touched Miss Yardley’s arm. “Perhaps our friends have not competed yet.”

  Her eyebrows drew together. “Oh, I hope not…although Mr. Blackmon is in the top spot. I expect that makes you glad.”

  Alice’s smile was fixed. “May the best man win, as the saying goes.”

  The event hostess appeared at her elbow. “I didn’t fully realize the luncheon would be vying with the gentlemen for our attention.” She sighed. “Oh well, I’ll have the hotel turn on all the vidscreens and we’ll have a viewing party.”

  Alice laughed. “I admire your resourcefulness.”

  The woman shrugged. “It’s more like accepting defeat graciously.” She hastened off to have a word with the staff.

  Very shortly thereafter, the hostess managed to get the guests into their seats so the servers could bring out plates of chicken salad accompanied by date nut bread. While Alice ate, her eyes were glued to the archery competition. When the Rangers finally stepped onto camera, the palms of her hands grew moist with anxiety. Although she didn’t really know much about archery except what she’d been taught at school, when Kellan struck the center of the target with his arrow, she nearly jumped to her feet. After Rangers Delacourt and Flynn did the same, Alice stole a glance at Miss Yardley. The young woman was beaming with pride.

  During a break in the competition, the hostess made her remarks and gave away door prizes to the girls sitting at one table—copies of Princess Alessandra’s silver bracelet. A second table won advance-release copies of The Making of a Princess magazine, featuring color photographs of Alice and her wardrobe. Excited girls clustered around Alice afterward, asking her to sign the publication, while a Minfo camera crew and photographers recorded it all.

  When Alice excused herself to visit the ladies’ room, she overheard two girls talking about her at the washbasins outside her stall.

  “I cannot believe our Promenade has been usurped by that Vanguardian upstart! My desirability quotient is 9.9 but the Minfo hasn’t covered me the way it should.”

  “Oh, Winnie, don’t I know it! It’s almost as if none of us exist except for the princess.” The girl sighed. “I might drop out and try again next year.”

  “You drop out if you want but the current crop of men is too attractive for me to resist. I expect the fix is in for Blade Blackmon, but you never know. To be perfectly honest, I would love Ranger Stratford to notice me.”

  Her friend giggled. “You’ll have a lot of competition where he is concerned.”

  “I’m not worried.”

  Alice waited to emerge from her stall until the ladies had left the bathroom. The conversation had been painful to hear but she could hardly deny the truth of it. Her arrival had spoiled the Promenade for everyone and there was bound to be resentment. Nobody could possibly know she resented it more than anyone.

  She was washing her hands at the lavatory when Miss Yardley burst into the bathroom with reddened eyes.

  Alice frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  The young woman grabbed a tissue and blotted her nose. “I overheard some girls making fun of my talent…and my figure. I should be used to it by now, but for some reason it hurt my feelings.”

  A flash of anger on Miss Yardley’s behalf stiffened Alice’s spine. “You wouldn’t be human if it didn’t hurt. Just remember that ladies who enjoy belittling others don’t feel very good about themselves.”

  Miss Yardley’s smile seemed forced. “I doubt you’ve ever been made fun of in your life.”

  “You’d be quite wrong. Two girls said rather terrible things about me a few moments before you came into the bathroom.”

  The young woman’s horrified expression was almost comical. “To your face?”

  “Behind my back, of course.” Alice shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to be that ugly inside for anything in the world, would you?”

  “No, I wouldn’t.” Miss Yardley blotted her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. “I take strength from your courage, Princess.”

  “Call me Alice, won’t you?”

  “I’m Sally.” The woman beamed. “Shall we finish watching the competition? The finals are about to begin.”

  “Let’s go.”

  ∞∞∞

  As Kellan packed up his archery equipment, he shook his head. “You were robbed, Dewar. You should have beaten Blackmon.”

  “Well, yes. But at this stage in the game, coming in second isn’t bad.”

  Paddy spread his arms wide. “All things considered, we made an excellent showing on our first event. Third place suits me at this point and I barely edged you out, Kell.”

  Kellan swung his bag over his shoulder. “I don’t mean to be a poor sport, but I hate giving that wizard the satisfaction of coming in first.”

  Dewar chuckled. “Not to worry. One of us is bound to come out on top in horsemanship.”

  “Ordinarily, my money would be on Kellan.” Paddy grinned. “Unfortunately for you both, I have a competitive streak.”

  Dewar waved his hand. “So do I. I make no promises and I will give no quarter—not even to my friends.”

  Kellan chuckled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  They left the field together, passing an open-air refreshment area. Blade sat at a table with several other competitors, drinking bottles of ale. As Minfo cameras caught every move, he lifted his bottle toward the Rangers in a toast.

  “Thank you for losing.” He smirked. “It was a pleasure to put you Rangers in your place.”

  Kellan forced a pleasant smile to his lips. “Yes, well done, Blackmon. Enjoy your victory.”

  As they made their way toward the taxi stand, Dewar lowered his voice. “Well done?”

  Paddy peered at Kellan, clearly aghast. “Enjoy your victory? There is a point at which politeness is excessive.”

  “Quite so.” Kellan’s smile disappeared. “Just wait until we smash Blackmon into dust this afternoon. We’ll see if he can be half as gracious when he loses.”

  ∞∞∞

  Although Alice had desperately wanted to watch the dressage competition, she was obliged to report to the Minfo instead for interviews about her first ball, the ladies’ luncheon, and the frequent squabbles between Kellan and Blade. Despite that, she took every opportunity to find a vidscreen airing the sports event. She’d never watched a dressage competition before, but it was obvious a great deal of skill was involved. Blade had never mentioned horses to her or expressed any interest in riding, so when he failed to make the top ten leaderboard, she was not surprised. Just like the archery event that morning, the Rangers were scheduled last. Alice sped through her last interview and rushed back to the makeup room to catch the final few minutes.

  She watched t
he remainder of the event, spellbound, along with the hair stylists and makeup artists. All work in the makeup room stopped as Ranger Delacourt guided his horse through dressage maneuvers while a panel of commentators made remarks. Ranger Delacourt earned first place on the leaderboard for his performance but the next competitor, Ranger Flynn, unseated him.

  Kellan was the last competitor for the event. When he appeared in the arena riding an exquisitely groomed mount, Alice had to remember to breathe. His deft performance left no doubt in her mind who had won the event and his perfect scores catapulted him into first place. She was nearly limp with relief.

  When Alice left the Minfo, her mind was so preoccupied with the competition, she forgot about her bodyguards and veered into the labyrinth. At the first turn, however, she stopped when she realized Prince Theissen was a few yards up ahead. Although she immediately backed away, he spotted her.

  “Princess Alessandra?”

  Alice paused her retreat. “Oh…good afternoon, Prince Theissen.” She curtsied. “I didn’t expect to see you in here.”

  “Likewise, I didn’t expect to be disturbed.” He closed the distance between them more quickly than was normal, but she reminded herself he was a wizard after all. “I like your hair arranged in that fashion.”

  When he reached out to touch her tresses, she yearned to pull away. “It’s the Minfo. They have an entire team devoted to making me look my best.”

  He made no response.

  “Erm…are you enjoying the sports competition?” she managed.

  The prince shook his head. “I haven’t bothered.”

  “What I’ve seen so far has been exciting.” She edged away. “Well, I should go.”

  He grabbed her arm before she could turn away. “In the Shadow Realm, I could imprison you for turning your back on me.”

  Her temper flared. “It’s a good thing we aren’t in the Shadow Realm.”

  Alice extricated her arm from his grip and strode off in a fury, the sound of the man’s chuckling in her ears. Foreign dignitary or not, her ability to tolerate Prince Theissen’s presence was becoming nonexistent.

  When she emerged from the labyrinth moments later, her bodyguards were waiting for her, tight-lipped.

  “What are you doing, Princess?” The dark-haired Ranger glared at her. “We are trying to keep you safe, not play games.”

  His partner fixed Alice with a level gaze. “Forgive me for saying so, Princess, but going into the labyrinth alone was incredibly foolish.”

  “I wasn’t playing games, I assure you. Why didn’t you just follow me into the labyrinth?”

  The second Ranger shook his head. “You put up an invisible block. If we could have moved past it, we would have.”

  “The block wasn’t mine.” Her mouth went dry, and she glanced over her shoulder to see if Theissen was watching her from the labyrinth. “I apologize for causing trouble. Take me to my room… quickly.”

  ∞∞∞

  After leaving the dressage event, Kellan, Paddy, and Dewar stopped by Briar Patch Tavern for a drink and an early dinner. When they entered the establishment, they were greeted like heroes. Before they could even order their food, Trudy brought them pitchers of ale on the house and the bartender came over to their booth to have pictures taken. Once the excitement died down, the trio drank a toast to Gus and sat back to unwind.

  Dewar blew the foam off his tankard. “This fame business isn’t half bad.” He drank deeply.

  Paddy chuckled. “It wasn’t too long ago we thought the Promenade was the stupidest thing in the kingdom.”

  “It’s not bad when you’re victorious.” Kellan laughed. “I thought Blade would choke on his own bile.”

  “He didn’t even make top twenty-five.” Dewar rolled his eyes. “I hope he’s got something else up his sleeve or he might wash out of this thing altogether.”

  “I doubt that.” Kellan cracked a peanut shell and poured the nuts into the palm of his hand. “We’ve a long way to go yet and a lot can happen.”

  “Yeah, let’s not get cocky.” Paddy guffawed. “On the other hand, let’s get cocky. We earned the top three spots in Promenade Dressage.”

  Dewar smashed a peanut wide open with his fist. “Yeah, Captain Woods ought to give us a bonus. New recruits will be flocking to the Rangers now.”

  Several women hastened over to their booth with paper napkins and pens in hand to get autographs. Afterward, the ladies giggled all the way out the door.

  Kellan’s smile broadened as he glanced at his friends. “All right, you talked me into it. We’re cocky and we know it.” He raised his tankard. “Cheers.”

  When Kellan returned to his room in the early evening, he discovered a fresh tux had been laid out for him on his bed, along with an invitation.

  He read the writing aloud. “Ranger Stratford, Congratulations on winning First Place in Promenade Dressage. In light of your achievement, you are invited to sit in the Royal Box at the Queen’s Theater tonight. Very Truly Yours, Elaine Nestor, Private Secretary to the Sovereign, Day Division.”

  Kellan allowed himself to relish a moment of satisfaction, despite the fact that he knew Blade would be invited as well. Even so, if Kellan was sitting in the Royal Box alongside Alice, the evening wouldn’t be half bad. He shrugged and headed into the bathroom for a long, hot shower.

  As he dressed afterward, he thought about his cumulative ranking. The Minfo had not yet announced an overall leaderboard but he had to rank higher than Blade. Kellan had taken only third place in archery, but Blade had suffered an abysmal loss in dressage. Going forward, Kellan felt justifiably confident in his ability to do very well in all the other events. Not only did he have a good chance of beating Blade but by the end of the competition, he could even come out on top of the leaderboard. Would King Justin assent if he thereafter asked for Alice’s hand in marriage? He wasn’t as trained in wizardry as Blade, perhaps, but he had a great deal more to offer than his half-brother in many ways. Furthermore, hadn’t His Majesty been grateful to Kellan for recovering his daughter and keeping her from harm? Although he had no idea why the monarch had chosen Blade Blackmon as a future son-in-law, current events might sway his opinion in Kellan’s direction.

  As he tied the neckpiece of his tuxedo, he gave his reflection a steely glare. “You could do it, you know. Whatever fix is in, you could turn the tables and let the chips fall where they may.” A broad smile transformed his expression. “And that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

  ∞∞∞

  As Alice and her father rode to the Queen’s Theater together in a Pomparriage, his brow was creased. “Did you and Prince Theissen happen to have a quarrel today?”

  Her eyes widened. “Why do you ask?”

  “I thought he intended to stay in Colossus for the entire Promenade, but he left about an hour ago.”

  Sweet relief flowed through her veins even as she felt a stab of guilt. “I can’t imagine his departure would have anything to do with me. We did pass one another in the garden today but nothing untoward was said.” Alice paused. “He remarked on my hair, that’s all.”

  “I see.” The king’s frown deepened. “It’s a pity he’s gone.”

  She stole a glance at his profile. “I found the prince disagreeable.”

  “Not surprising, really.” His laugh was mirthless. “I found Tara disagreeable as well, but royalty seldom marries for love.”

  Alice’s jaw dropped. “Wait…you weren’t hoping Theissen might make an offer for me, were you?”

  “It does no good to talk about it now.”

  She examined his profile. “You’re disappointed.”

  “If a match could have been made, our disagreements with the Shadow Realm would have been assuaged.” King Justin turned his head toward the window, signaling the end of the conversation.

  Her shock was mixed with anger. The notion that her father could have ever contemplated marrying her off to that monster was too awful to contemplate. Did he not care about her fe
elings at all? Surely diplomacy could achieve peace with the Shadow Realm just as well as an arranged union. She counted herself fortunate that Prince Theissen had not been tempted by her charms…but what about her future?

  “Father, you and Minister Seer have been leading everyone to believe Blade Blackmon is a frontrunner in the Promenade. Was that merely a distraction while a match with Prince Theissen was arranged?”

  Her father sighed. “Yes.”

  Alice shook her head to clear it. “Does Blade know the truth?”

  “No, but the fundamental rules of the Promenade are immutable.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “If you are asking whether or not Blade Blackmon may yet prevail, that will depend on his skills in the sporting events.” He gave her a slight smile. “May the best man win.”

  Alice sat back, stunned. The competitions had several days to run yet, but with Kellan’s athletic ability, he could actually go the distance.

  Yes…she was beginning to enjoy the Promenade very much indeed.

  ∞∞∞

  Kellan, Paddy, and Dewar set out for the Queen’s Theater a little early for Talent Night, hoping to avoid scrutiny. Unfortunately, the Minfo’s reporters and camera crews were already strategically positioned when they arrived. When they alit from the auto cab, the crowd erupted in cheers and enthusiastic applause. Although Kellan had little interest in lingering on the red carpet, Paddy and Dewar were enjoying the attention. After a few brief interviews, the three Rangers finally made their way inside the building.

  The spacious lobby reminded Kellan of a jewelry box, with maroon velvet carpet, crystal chandeliers, and plenty of mirrors. Ranger Colton, dressed as a waiter, sidled over with a tray of appetizers.

  “Cocktail weenies, lads?” He gave them a good-natured smirk. “Or are you already too full of yourselves?”

  Paddy chuckled as he reached for one of the bacon-wrapped morsels. “Just remember, Colton, if we make the Rangers look good, maybe you won’t have as much trouble finding a date.”

  The man laughed. “You have me there.” His brow furrowed. “How is Gus doing?”