Storyteller's Series 4 - Heir of Roses Read online

  Chapter Two

  WE HARDLY HAD TIME to bid Christopher and Anika farewell before being whisked off on our horses and were surrounded by a company of thirty soldiers.

  “Is this necessary?” Nicolas asked Mattias with a gesture over the number of men.

  Mattias’s dark eyes hardened. “It is. The towns are protesting, and we didn’t deem it safe for you to travel back with anything less than this.” To my right, a few guards exchanged glances over heavy-set frowns.

  Nicolas’s brows furrowed. “How did that happen? We were at peace when I left.”

  I stared at him. In one moment his entire demeanor had changed from the carefree man in the woods to a prince caring for his country. His back straightened, his shoulders drew back, and the little creases in the corner of his eye vanished as a blank expression swept over him.

  Mattias’s eyes wandered my way before back to Nicolas. “I’ll explain more later,” he said, leaving me with the impression that it was my presence that guarded his tongue. He nudged his horse forward to lead the group and left us behind. Nicolas’s mouth set in a straight line, and his chest rose with a deep breath. When he caught me looking, he smiled.

  “I’m sure it will be sorted quickly.”

  I knew nothing of his country, nor of the depth of the unrest that Mattias spoke of. There were no words of comfort I could offer him, so instead I returned the smile with a nod. “I’m sure it will.”

  Nicolas’s claim to the throne wasn’t the ordinary one. He was third in line as a lad, but then the prince fell down cliffs and perished. Later, the next in line died in a jousting accident, leaving Nicolas as the new crown prince of Thames. He moved into the castle with his uncle, King Silas, and his parents joined him.

  He’d only been crown prince for two years, and much of that time had been focused on me.

  Over the past month, Nicolas had unveiled an array of emotions, but the tight expression he wore now was unfamiliar, as was the blankness in his eye. I could only guess as to what the news of the queen’s death and the unrest brought upon him. He hadn’t spoken much of his parents—the sea merchants who left their seaside manor to join him at the castle. He spoke even less of the king and queen who took them in.

  Though I wanted to ask him about it, the closeness of the men around us made further conversation difficult, so we rode in silence for a short while until the sun began to dip behind the tall trees.

  At last the men halted.

  “We’ll make camp here,” Mattias instructed.

  Tents were raised and fires started. They’d brought meat with them, and they twisted it over flames while my mouth watered. Nicolas rolled the hems of his pants while kneeling to assist them as I brushed down the horses. It was the only task I could find that kept me at a distance from the men who glanced my way often enough that I was never not being watched.

  Nicolas had done me a favor by keeping us in the countryside for the journey home. This was dreadful.

  My horse whined. “Oh you think they are looking at you?” I joked. “That could be, you are very beautiful.” I scratched under her chin. She was eyeing the other horses and shifting as if all she wanted was to run. I felt that.

  Plumes of smoke brought the tender scent of venison drifting by, and my stomach growled in anticipation.

  To my delight, the venison was soon served. I stayed by the horses to eat, my knees sinking into the damp ground as I feasted on the delicious meat. It made a much better dinner than the skinny squirrels would have, though it might have been my extreme hunger that exaggerated the savory flavor of the animal.

  We never had meat this tender in Elenvérs. Everything there had been hearty and thick and dry.

  “It looks delicious,” Nicolas said as he settled next to me with his own meal. Either he was as famished as me or still lost in his thoughts, but we ate in silence. Before too long the golden light left the sky and we were directed to our own tents for the evening.

  “We leave at first light,” a guard said, half looking at us and half staring into the thick trees. I didn’t miss his hand situated on his sword hilt as if prepared to be attacked at any moment. As the darkness settled in, the men turned their glanced from me and into the trees, and their nerves almost made me wish they were staring at me instead.

  “Will we be safe?” I asked.

  “You should be.”

  That was encouraging.

  The guard tore his eyes from the darkness to acknowledge me. “We have guards stationed throughout the night to be sure of that.”

  Without getting another chance to speak, Nicolas said goodnight and ducked into his tent, the worry across his forehead manifesting into wrinkles so deep that he’d need his own hundred years of sleep to ease them out.

  I watched until the folds of his tent had settled before retreating into my own.

  Inside smelled of dirt and slight mildew, but the thick walls of fabric offered a night of freedom from hungry bugs, and my mat had been replaced by a thicker one that invited me into its softness. I shucked off my outer jacket and laid it next to my small bag before pulling my hand through the tangles in my hair.

  Sleep beckoned me, but I didn’t take it.

  Instead, I busied myself with unknotting my hair and waiting several more minutes until the full darkness of night had set in before creeping out of my tent and into Nicolas’s.

  I whispered into the dark as I scoured the shadows to find his figure. He sat on his mat with his legs stretched out as he twiddled something between his fingers, until catching sight of me. He rose. “Rowan?”

  “I wanted to see how you are doing,” I said, bringing myself fully into the tent. “Care for a walk?”

  In the dim light I made out a grin. “Thank you,” he’d said like I just offered him his first taste of water in a week. I ducked back out and he followed me, his hand searching for mine in the moonlight. Ten tents sat around us as the remains of a fire crackled with its last bit of life while owls hooted from above. Rustles came from different directions, sometimes small as if from a creature and other times large enough to turn our heads.

  One such time, Mattias stepped from around a tree and raised his brow.

  “We’ll only be a short while,” Nicolas whispered to him, leading me by the hand further into the trees. The knowing smile on Mattias’s face as we passed led me to believe he pictured this as more of a romantic getaway than it was, but I didn’t care to make the correction. My focus was on Nicolas.

  “Were you close with the queen?” I asked when the camp was behind us. The moon offered a silver hue to the forest around us, and we moved in and out of the speckled shadows of the branches. Even though our eyes had adjusted to our surroundings and we didn’t move at a quick pace, Nicolas kept his hand locked in mine.

  He thought before answering. “Not quite. She was a kind woman and I liked her, but we only knew each other for a short while. She fought in the war by my mother’s side many years ago and the two of them were quite close. I imagine my mother is distraught right now.”

  I wondered if his mother being upset would make meeting her more tense but was glad to hear Nicolas wasn’t thrown by the news. I wouldn’t know how to comfort him if he was. I’d lost many people, but it wasn’t the same.

  “I’m more concerned about the unrest Mattias spoke of,” Nicolas went on. “I knew there’d been squabbles as each of the heirs before me died, and rumors that their deaths were more than an accident, but it’d been nothing to worry the king.”

  We came upon a fallen tree where Nicolas rested himself against the wide trunk. The wrinkles in his forehead had eased, but only slightly.

  “Do you suppose her death was murder?” I asked. As I did, another distressed look marred his face so painful that I almost took the idea back, but he nodded.

  “It crossed my mind. I meant to ask Mattias more about it. I don’t know the other lords enough to guess if they could plot something like this, but if the lords are revolting then the court is we
ak. My ascension to the throne could be in jeopardy.” His free hand picked at the bark in the tree underneath him.

  I draped my loose hair over one shoulder to see him better. “Is the king not a strong one?”

  Once my question left my mouth, it sounded more blunt than I intended. Nicolas paused from picking at the bark. “He is, but the power is not solely in his hands.”

  I played with my lip between my teeth for a few moments as I tried to understand. “Who has control?”

  He shifted, curling one leg up between us and resting his chin on his arm. A breeze ruffled his hair and brought the scent of pine with it. Nicolas’s pupils were as dark as the night, and his blue tunic appeared black.

  “I’ll do my best to explain this,” he said, stroking my fingers one by one. “Silas rules Thames, but the lords have a lot of the control. They have their own armies, their own small courts, and the lands pay taxes to them. In order to remain king, you must have the favor of the nobles, or else you could be easily overthrown. The queen was beloved, and her endorsement of me kept the lands together. But with both her and the rightful heir dead, I will need to fight for the approval of the nobles to keep my place secure.”

  The political system of Thames sounded far more complicated than Elenvérs, where the king ruled all. I couldn’t fathom multiple courts in one kingdom, but then again, Elenvérs was small.

  Thames would be a much larger beast to rule over.

  Nicolas withdrew his hand from mine to drag his palms against his face and groan. “I’m sorry about all this. I meant us to have a few more calm weeks before reaching home.”

  I’d wanted that too. I felt wildly unprepared to begin socializing with other folk. But I shrugged. “It’s fine; we can still steal moments like this.”

  “That might be the most romantic thing you’ve ever said.”

  “I’ve been practicing.”

  His expression relaxed, and he retook my hand with a chuckle. “I quite like stealing moments with you.”

  I wondered what it’d be like at the castle where he was crown prince. Would he have time to spend with me during the day or would our interactions be limited to minutes stolen in the night? It might be difficult to find privacy in the castle, and I loathed the idea of falling in love in front of the kingdom.

  It was almost enough to make me flee.

  The thought of all those eyes on us, scrutinizing our relationship while we still attempted to figure it out for ourselves, pressuring us from every side. I’d be on display, the princess awoken from a hundred-year sleep who now ought to be in love with their beloved prince. And I’d have to convince the nobles to support me.

  My throat tightened while the air grew thinner, and my next breath didn’t come as easily as the one before it.

  I could imagine myself escaping in the night, taking my horse, and riding far away from pestering eyes. We’d travel like a wisp of wind, disappearing into the world until we’d found a quiet place to settle. I’d build a simple life for myself, perhaps on the edge of Elenvérs so I could see what had become of my beloved country.

  The image in my head was a difficult one to banish, but I forced it out. This is what you want. If you leave now, you lose Nicolas and your chance at love.

  My hand tightened in his, pressing the skin of his hand against mine as if I could soak him in and make him a part of myself. Force my heart to want him as much as it ought to. Compel myself to fall in love. As if that’s all it would take to convince myself beyond any doubt that this future was the best one for me and to dismiss the fool-hearted daydreams of the life I could have, or of the life I ought to have had before the curse came.

  Nicolas breathed calmly beside me, as if this were all he needed. A still night by my side. I envied the way he seemed so certain about what he wanted.

  “Did you always want to be the crown prince?” I broke the silence to ask him, knowing the path to his position was far from usual.

  To my surprise, he laughed. “Not at all. I was quite adamantly against it, in fact. I spent my childhood convincing the kingdom that I didn’t want to be prince and was more surprised than anyone when it came upon me. Sometimes I still don’t believe it.”

  I couldn’t imagine. “I spent my childhood trying to reclaim the throne. I suppose things would have been far simpler if I hadn’t wanted it. What was your plan, then? Take over your father’s shipping company?”

  He didn’t take long to answer. “It’s honest work, provides well, and I quite enjoy the sea. I could have done worse.” A hint of remorse stirred in his voice for the path he might have been on, as if the future before him was one of his own doing instead of forces beyond his control.

  For a moment, I wished that were what fate had brought to him, so we would be traveling to a seaside manor with salt in the air instead of a palace with relentless watching eyes. I’d never seen the sea before.

  An idea came to mind. I gasped. “We are the same.”

  “What?” The moonlight fluttered off his lashes as he glanced to me.

  I smiled. “We both had a different future planned. Both of us lost those futures, and both are on a path we didn’t choose for ourselves.” Though it wasn’t a happy thought, it brought me unexplainable joy to know that he understood me in that way. I was not the only one who had lost the life I wanted for myself.

  He matched my smile. “I suppose that’s true. And we are both attempting to navigate this new future as well as can be. Thank goodness we get to navigate it together.”

  That was the feeling I’d been searching for, and it settled in my chest with a flicker of warmth trailing behind it, spreading until it tingled in my fingertips and touched my toes. For the first time since I’d woken, I didn’t feel as alone.

  I buried myself into his side and spread my arms around him, hoping he could feel how happy that made me. But just in case he couldn’t, I whispered into the night, “Thank you. I’m glad to have you.”

  The deep sigh that followed told me he was happy, too.

  A shuffling from the east turned my head, and Mattias came treading from the path. “I’m sorry sire. I must insist you return to your tents.”

  Nicolas’s next sigh wasn’t as happy. “As you wish.” He straightened himself and held out his arm for me. “Thank you, Rowan, for the perfect night.” He led me back to camp and kissed my hand before disappearing into his tent, and for the first time I missed him when he was gone.

  Chapter Three

  WE CAME UPON THAMES nine days later, and it left me breathless.

  A castle as beautiful as this deserved an equally beautiful name, so it was no surprise to find it had two. First, it was called Green Pointe in tribute to the tall towers lining the east and west walls with lush, green ivy so dense I could hardly see the thick stone peering from beneath them, starting at the ground and clawing higher until they’d draped themselves around the turrets that kissed the clouds. Large pink flowers bloomed from these plants to add a flash of beauty to the impenetrable foliage.

  “It’s magnificent,” I found myself whispering as we crossed the drawbridge over a slow-moving stream with iridescent pebbles along the banks that held pieces of the sun inside them.

  The other name had nothing to do with the physical features of the structure, though there were plenty prime areas for inspiration. The scarves hanging from arched windows that greeted us upon arrival. The enormous courtyard with orange trees peeking over a wide golden gate to watch the horses as they approached with clicks over copper cobblestone. The turtles bathing on the bank of the moat.

  Turtles. Little, cute turtles.

  We weren’t in Elenvérs anymore.

  Despite all these ideas, the second name came from the glory of a king who ruled long ago. After further inquiry I discovered long ago meant about when I was born, which properly made me feel ancient. Quickly brushing by that fact, Nicolas explained that this such king was one who had been so loved that half the babies were named after him, and the castle renamed in h
is honor after he died. Heart of Bjorn. It wasn’t a title used often, but when it was spoken it was said with pride for the king that had been theirs.

  Nicolas confessed he hoped to be considered good enough to name something after once he was gone.

  Guards dispersed as we entered the courtyard, each relinquishing their reins to dutiful squires in feathered hats before stretching their bones and bowing away. Mattias didn’t leave us, but rather waited until we were alone and he had waved the squires away to step close to Nicolas and peek at me. I pretended to be fascinated by an orange tree while I tuned my ears to hear his words.

  “Be gentle with His Majesty. He is a broken man in the wake of losing his queen,” he said. I peeked to see him rub his mustache, and Nicolas tightened his lips with a nod. Mattias’s next words came louder, clearly meant for both of us. “I’ll alert the king to our arrival, and both he and your parents will be eager to welcome you in the king’s study. You have a moment to clean yourselves first. She’s to be placed in the princess suite on the first floor.”

  Something about that made Nicolas’s frown, but he didn’t argue. Instead his hand reached to me, and I gladly took hold of the one thing that anchored me to familiarity.

  The beauty of the castle now morphed into a warning as we ventured further in, as if reminding me that only perfection was allowed in these walls, and I wasn’t allowed to be anything but. Inside tall, oak doors we found a hallway lit from a series of bright stained-glass windows showing monarchs from ages gone by that watched our every step. I clutched my satchel closer to my side, feeling the heaviness of their glass eyes.

  “Are you ready for this? We can sneak out the back and leave if you aren’t. Stay away for a while.” Nicolas paused to hold me in front of him and scan his eyes over me. I wondered what he saw before him. Was it someone who could handle whatever these weeks would bring, or did he see my doubt?