Out of the Faold (Whilst Old Legends Fade Synchronicles) (37 page)

“She came out here to be with you,” Amias told him.

“You said she came to be a little girl again,” Fredrick pointed out.

“I lied.”

They laughed and walked back. Amias caught the King’s arm and lifted his finger to
his lips and pointed at Coral.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” Fredrick told him, shaking Amias’ hand. “Thank you.”

Fredrick found Darius and Pearl curled up asleep together. Amias removed his son from her arms and settled in with him on his own bedroll. He sat beside Pearl and listened while the Marshalls began some of the less censored stories they tol
d after the ladies fell asleep.

Jimm smiled the whole evening. Fredrick was proud of him for his actions that day. He was growing up into a fine young man. He reminded himself to have a stern word with Tomas when they returned. He may have to threaten him with a beheading if he didn’t treat Glory with more respect.

Pearl’s hand found his in the dark. She squeezed then let him hold it gently. He smiled, listening to the men’s stories, happy and more content than he’d ever been before.

“What is this place?” Glory asked Pearl.

“My new room.”

“What?” she demanded.

It was a massive room, high ceilings with grand moldings, paintings of local scenery and small children playing. The furniture was dusty and old. The grand bed needed to be repaired or replaced, the wardrobe was massive, almost a separate room of its own. There were rich tapestries covered in dust, trinkets and vases of gold and silver. A stunning writing desk with floral carvings down its legs sat in the corner under layers of linens. And best of all was the bank of windows from floor to ceiling
looking out over the gardens.

“Krisa and Pat have no privacy so I asked to have a room. I’ll share it with them.”

“You are wicked,” Glory laughed. “We could make this beautiful.”

“That’s why I asked you to help me. Fredrick said we can replace anything. Just tell him what we need.”

Glory looked at her dear friend closely. “What’s happening with you two?” she asked with a smile. “Do I have to worry about you being queen before me?”

“I’ll never be queen,” Pearl told her.

“Why not?” Glory asked. “If he cares for you…”

“I don’t want to be queen,” Pearl said honestly. “I just want things simple.”

“I want to be queen but I don’t want Tomas.”

“What?” Pearl asked in surprise. “You and Tomas are always together. We all thought you were smitten.”

“He’s a bore. And what he did the other day,” she said shaking her head. “I’ll go to him because I am betrothed. But he’ll be lucky to get an heir out of me with his knockers ripped off.”

Pearl laughed out loud and they hugged. With the help of a team of strong backed servants the huge bed was dismantled and moved out. The small one from the Doran suite was moved to her new rooms unt
il she could request a new one.

Coral pouted Pearl was leaving their suite but when she explained to the woman that Pat and Krisa still hadn’t found privacy to love each other she offered her help.

“Now don’t you get any ideas,” Coral told her, pointing her finger at Pearl.

“I’m not wed,” Pearl told her.

“It doesn’t require being wed.”

“I may have ideas but I won’t act on them
,” Pearl told her with a smile.

Coral stood looking around the huge room with her hands on her hips. She sighed. “Pearl, you are a woman now. I trust your judgment. If you find love and you want to be with him…just trust your heart.”

“Sometimes I don’t know if I can trust my heart.”

“Then trust his.”

“What do you mean?” Pearl asked Coral.

“He’s
put you in the Queen’s suite.”

There was a hurried tap at the library door. Fredrick motioned for the guard standing inside to open it. He had two of his councilors sitting with him. The guard who had knocked admitted Pearl.

“I can come back,” she smiled.

“No, Lady,” one said getting up. He was an elderly gentleman who rose uneasily. “My wife will be sending someone to fetch me soon anyway. I thought that was him now.”

“And I am off to hunt with Jimm,” the other said, bowing to Fredrick.

When the two men left the guard also stepped out. Pearl crossed her arms under her breasts
and looked at him watching her.

“Oh, oh. What did I do?”

“I asked you for a room.”

“You don’t like it? Tell me what you need.”

“You gave me the Queen’s suite.”

“It’s the best we have.”

“I’m not the queen. That should be Glory’s room.”

“Glory isn’t the queen.”

“But neither am I.”

He looked at her with his mischievous grin. “I am the King…”

“…So you can give me any room y
ou want,” she finished for him.

“The advantage the King has is a direct passage from his suite to the Queen’s.”

Pearl stared with her mouth open. “You scoundrel.”

He stood and bowed. She had a hard time retaining her visage of anger.

“Now, I won’t make you promise to admit me every time I tap, for I think we’d have the servants hunting down the damned woodpecker that got in the castle, but I’d request you don’t seal it up like a tomb.”

She approached his desk. He sat again, lounging back in his chair. “I need a bed.”

He nodded. “I recall that one had a dangerous foot board loose. I’ll have one brought to you.”

“I’m going to use my small one from the Doran suite for now.”

“It’s not big enough for you to have company,”
he said.

“I don’t plan on having any.”

He held out his hand to her and she reluctantly took it. He pulled her to stand bet
ween his knees in front of him.

“You know, I’m just playing with you, right?” he asked. “You can seal up that door if you want.”

“I won’t,” she told him. “It will be nice to know you are there.”

He smiled. “Do you like the suite?”

“It’s beautiful. Glory and Coral are helping me air it out and decorate.”

“I’m glad. It has a nice hearth to read in front of.”

She step
ped closer. She lowered her chee
k to the top of his head and he held her in a hug, holding his breath for fear she crumble away.

“I’m not the queen,” she said.

“You could be.”

“I don’t want to be queen.”

His heart threatened to come out of his chest and die on the floor. What was she telling him? Was she saying she didn’t want him? While standing in his arms? Pearl lowered her face and took his mouth with hers, so softly and lovingly he almost cried out in joy.  He stood, breaking the kiss briefly then pulled her to him in a tight hug and another kiss. This time it was full of passion and the ache of love. She pulled her face away, breathing rapidly against his open mouth in front of hers. Her eyes were closed and she shook her head. He kissed her gently again, kissed her cheek and then her jaw and neck. She gasped in his ear and shuddered each time his lips met her skin.

“Fredrick,” she pleaded.

“Yes?” he asked looking into her tear-filled eyes.

“We aren’t wed.”

“We can change that.”

She shook her head and tore herself away from his arms. He tried to grab her back but she was too quick. He sighed, punishing himself for pushing her too far again. He slammed his desk in anger at himself.

“You see?” Vunn cheered. “She still listens. She still obeys me.”

“Do you think that is your influence?” Caris asked quietly.

“Yes,” he sneered at her. “She goes to his arms and then she runs away. Look at the pain in both of t
hem.”

“I see it,” she replied.

“Is it the fact that she is going to his arms or the running away that you prefer?”

“It’s a dance. She will crave him now, she won’t be able to help herself. He will melt and fold under her wishes. He is weak.”

“You have made him weak.”

“I have weakened both of them.”

“And when they are together finally. When they have peace in their hearts…”

“…I will rip their hearts out.”

Caris cried inside for her lovelies. The little one didn’t deserve this torment. None of them did. How could she help them more than she already had?

“And the prince? What are you doing with him?”

“He is weaker than the both of them. But he’s trying his hand at control. The princess will weaken. And I will be in control.”

“You are so sure.”

“I am.”

She stood watching Pearl through the arch. She donned her blue robes and fastened the Marshall hatchet around her waist. She plaited her hair loosely and let it fall down her back. With a steady stare ahead of her she
marched out of the Doran suite.

Vunn frowned.

A rider galloped into the garrison outpost a wild look in his eyes. The commander was called for urgently. The man shouted that a large group, perhaps two hundred riders approached from the forest. There was a mix of Kusira and Siri peoples. The commander rang a bell, demanding a fresh horse and rider take the message to the King. He dispatched men to meet the riders from the west and pulled everyone to duty to secure the outpost. The new rider was
told to ride straight through.

He rode well into the afternoon and into the evening. The city wall guards stopped him but he insisted he must get the message through immediately. Escorted
,
he passed several sets of security to find the King at dinner in the hall. He permitted a page to take the letter.

Fredrick had called for a dinner. He’d invited the Dorans, Marshalls, some of his advisors, visiting lords and their families. It was not formal, just a larger dinner than usual. Glory seemed pleased there
were
going to be
neither
betrothal announcements
nor
young men dashing from the room to be sick.

Everyone seated themselves after the King had sat. He greeted them all with smiles. Tomas sat to his left and Jimm to his right. Glory stood by the Doran table, unsure what to do. She didn’t want to sit with Toma
s. They still weren’t speaking.

Jimm noticed her reluctance. Without pause he jumped up to retrieve her chair from the other side of Tomas and placed it beside his own. Fredrick noted the action with raised eyebrows.

He leaned to his younger son and whispered, “You keep that up and you’ll have a beard to sniff in no time.”

Jimm blushed and shook his head in denial that he was thinking the same thing. Fredrick wondered if he’d made a mistake betrothing his oldest too soon. Had he been careless? Glory’s smile of thanks to Jimm encouraged his doubt.

The room hushed as Pearl entered. She stood straight, full of confidence as she greeted everyone with smiles and nods. Fredrick’s heart dropped to see her in her blue robes again. She no longer came in as a woman. She was here as god-
smiter
. He swallowed hard. He’d pushed her too far. She didn’t want to marry him, didn’t even want to be his anymore, if she ever did. She avoided his stare as she walked toward the Doran table. As she passed Darius she kissed the top of his head and placed a hand on Coral’s shoulder. The woman watched Pearl pass the Doran table. With his heart fluttering madly he re
alized she was headed for them.

She appeared to his left. Looking down at him she asked, “May I sit with you?”

“O
f course,” he replied standing.

He made Tomas push his chair further down the table to make room for the chair a guard brought forth. Pearl took her spot next to Fredrick. Coral smiled and placed her hand over her heart.

Pearl leaned toward Fredrick and whispered, “No throne, no crown, no title. None of it.”

“I don’t…”

A messenger appeared at the door. A page came forth with a letter. It was unusual to interrupt dinner though the food had not yet been served. Fredrick read the letter then handed it to Pearl. His face held no emotion. He motioned for Glory to start dinner service. Pearl summoned a guard from behind their table.

She spoke to the guard quietly, “Prepare the war room for a meeting of forty. The Dorans, Marshalls any of the king’s generals or highest ranking from his forces. I need a quill.”

The dinner plates were served as Pearl penned orders for Kel, Krisa and Pat to leave after dinner to meet and escort the incoming group of Kusira and Siri. She then wrote orders to the guard commander to increase patrols. The stables were to be ready to accept Siri horses and quarters prepared for their leaders.