Puss in Boots (Timeless Fairy Tales Book 6) (27 page)

“As I mentioned before, you grew,” Puss said, his ears at odd angles.

“What is it?”

“It is just…all your swains,” Puss said, shaking his head.

“You are surprised men want me?”

“Yes. I had hopes to see you marry a high-ranking magic user, or a mage at least. But I am swiftly learning if I want my plans to succeed, I had better produce a magic user
soon
, lest another chap tries to sweep you off your feet.”

“Why would I want to marry a magic user?”

“Why
wouldn’t
you?”

“I didn’t realize my marriage was going to be a part of our adventures.”

“It is. When it comes down to it, you had best let me make the negotiations.”

“Only if you’ll allow a portrait to be painted of you and the little orange cat that ate the ogre.”

“You shut your blasphemous mouth.”

“Not so eager now, are we?”

“Harpy!”

“Aw, Puss, I love you, too!”

“Unhand me!”

Chapter 14

Love

“Puss, I’m hungry. I want to eat. Can we go to The Turtle & Doves
now
?” Gabrielle complained, plucking a club from a goblin. She swiveled around and swung it into the creature’s gut.

“No. We haven’t cleared out all the goblins yet,” Puss said, landing on a goblin and clawing him before charming the creature to sleep.

“We destroyed the outpost last week, and we must have already cleared out fifteen goblins today. Isn’t that enough? We’re so close!”

“It isn’t even noon. Lunch is meant to be consumed at a later hour,” Puss said, sharpening his claws on a tree.

“But I’m starving, and the servants won’t expect us back until evening—ah!” Gabrielle said, sprinting to her neighing horse so she could take down the goblin grasping at its reins. “There, that’s the last one. Anyway, this is all because you don’t want to see the orange cat, isn’t it?” Gabrielle asked.

Although Gabrielle had tried to make the orange cat that had eaten the ogre into a pet, the little feline made it clear she considered Michi and Dano her owners. Between all the yarn-balls and the dozens of grandchildren willing to share their food with the legendary stray, she couldn’t blame the animal. Still, even though the little cat had chosen a different home, she was still very much enamored with Puss—a fact that made him most unwilling to visit Jagst.

“I must disagree with you. I don’t think that is the last one,” Puss said, peering into the forest.

“No. It was the last one; I know it. I’m going to eat, with or without you,” Gabrielle said, turning to mount her horse.

A goblin screamed and popped out from under a shrub, brandishing a black dagger.

“Gabrielle!” Puss shouted.

The goblin lunged for her, his dagger aimed at her open back.

Before the creature could reach Gabrielle, it dropped in a heap, taken out by an arrow.

“By land and sea—if you’re going to insist on hunting goblins yourself, ask Nick for soldiers!” Steffen shouted as he rode into the clearing, wielding a crossbow and riding a prancing horse.

“Steffen?” Gabrielle gaped. She gulped and scrambled onto her horse—a calm but long-legged, black bay. “Come on, Puss. You’re right. We should forget The Turtle & Doves and return to Carabas.”

“Good call,” Puss said, springing onto a stump so he could leap for Gabrielle’s lap. He sank his claws into the saddle and huddled low while she turned her horse around.

“Gabrielle, wait! Give me a chance to speak,” Steffen shouted, urging his horse after hers.

“I have nothing to say to you, unless you’re here to deliver the seeds for the winter crops Prince Falk and I agreed on,” Gabrielle said, heeling her horse. The clever prince had advised her to grow winter wheat, which needed to be planted before the end of fall.

They weren’t far into the woods, so within a few minutes they cleared it, entering the rolling hills of farmland that surrounding Carabas.

It had been three, almost four, weeks since Gabrielle returned to her new lands. As fall was starting to color the leaves and bring cooler air, the lands were already showing signs of promise. The sky was no longer a constant canvas of clouds, and the sun shone brightly overhead. Some of the Carabas refugees had already returned and were working valiantly on rebuilding the town surrounding the castle.

The farmland was still in poor condition, but she had only begun to speak with Prince Falk about the necessary improvements.

“Gabrielle,” Steffen called.

She heeled her horse into a canter and thundered across the land, her hair streaming behind her in a golden cloud.

When Carabas—much easier to spy now that haze did not drift over the land—popped into view, Steffen managed to cut her off.

“Would you just stop and
listen
?” Steffen said.

“To what, more of your drabble?” Gabrielle snorted.

“No! To my apology, and my…” Steffen clamped his mouth shut and rested his gaze on Puss.

“You’ve run your horse hard, Mistress. You may as well give it a rest and hear him out,” Puss said, leaping from the horse.

Gabrielle glared at her companion but dismounted her horse. She shortened her stirrups and took the animal’s reins, leading it towards Carabas.

Steffen mirrored her, walking on the wrong side of his horse so he could move shoulder to shoulder with Gabrielle.

“You were about to apologize?” she asked, her voice stiff.

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“For the way I treated you and for my careless words. You were right.”

“About?”

“During the celebration at Kinzig, you said you were more courageous than I. That is true.”

Gabrielle glanced curiously at the prince.

Steffen’s gaze was fixed ahead. “I was both a fool and a brute when I spoke to you at Castle Brandis, and there is no excuse for my conduct.”

“I’m glad we agree there.”

“I ask for your forgiveness. Do you give it?” He finally met her eyes. He looked older somehow, with less of a perfect smile.

“I suppose.”

“Good.” He stopped walking to loosen his horse’s girth. “In that case…” Steffen started, but fell silent.

Gabrielle waited for a few moments, tapping her fingers on her thigh. “Yes?”

Steffen’s shoulders sagged, and he turned his head down. “In that case, I must brave your scorn. During the past few weeks, I have realized…I can’t live without you.”

Gabrielle almost tripped, but she reached out in time and grabbed her horse’s saddle to steady herself. She glanced back. Puss trailed them, wearing an idle look of boredom, but she would bet her sword he could hear every word. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Steffen looked up, his blue eyes glittering with hope. “Because I have missed you.” His voice was unadorned and plain, though he cast Gabrielle a nervous look. “I have missed your laughter and your smart replies. I have missed our conversations and our adventures. I have missed you in a million ways, big and small. Pushing you away from me—with my own mouth—and allowing my fear to control my actions has made me into a much bigger idiot than being with you ever could.” He betrayed his nerves by scratching the back of his neck and briefly looking at the ground. “I genuinely love you—you, not just your beauty. I know insulted you—which probably makes me unworthy of you—but I am more selfish than you anyway, so I’m willing to ask, do you still love me?”

“You have made it plain to me, Steffen, that love has no place in your life.”

“But I have learned that it does. I have learned that love brings laughter and happiness to my life. It gives me the courage to face ten goblins alone—”

“What?” Gabrielle frowned.

“And it—you—understand me, and you see
me
, not the future monarch, but me.”

“Stubborn, pigheaded you,” Gabrielle added.

“Exactly! I hadn’t realized it until you were gone, but I’m comfortable with you
because
I love you. And I’m going to be a better king because of that.”

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow. “This is still all about you, Steffen.”

“No, Gabi—it’s about you. I have changed, but you have always been brave, loyal, and gentle.” He moved to touch her cheek then, but she shrank back.

He swallowed hard, clenched his hand into a fist, and pressed it against his leg. “I love you, Gabrielle—Lady Gabrielle, Marquise of Carabas.”

“How nice for you. Do you expect me to believe you after all your talks about love not mattering to you?”

“I want to marry you.” 

“
What
?”

“If you’ll have me. I’m aware I will need to grovel for a few months to make up for it.”

“Yes,” Gabrielle agreed. Puss increased his pace a bit, but still affected an air of disinterest.

“But,” Steffen sidled up to her. This time Gabrielle didn’t pull back when he caressed her cheek. “I can promise to be devoted to you, to love you not because of your appearance—even though you are the most beautiful woman I have set eyes upon—but because you’re you. I promise to adore you, and treasure you, to buy you new swords and plum rolls until you are sick of them, and to get along with that cat of yours. I’m not the hero you are, but I’ll do everything in my power to support you. And if I’m left behind, I will be every bit as heartbroken as my father, but I will still be grateful that I had you for a time.”

At that, Gabrielle couldn’t help but look up at him. He kissed her softly. It was a gentle caress that said the things his words couldn’t. It warmed her with the promise of a faithful love, and it captivated her with the sheer emotion it held.

Joy and happiness spiraled through her. This was the love Gabrielle had dreamed of. This was why she had stood up to her male tormentors, why she’d left her village.

This
was home.

When they parted, Steffen sighed, placed his forehead against hers, and gripped her waist. “But there will be a few conditions if you say yes.”

All the pleasant feelings abruptly left her in an unpleasant, cold rush. “What?” Gabrielle’s voice held traces of a warning as she pulled herself from his grasp.

“They have nothing to do with love. It’s that—curses—I will one day be Arcainia’s king. As my wife—”

“
If
I choose to marry you…”

“—you will be queen. I love you, Gabrielle. I love your uncontainable spirit. I would love to box you up in Castle Brandis and never let you out, but I know you and that cat will go spiriting off across the country, fighting secret battles for little villages across Arcainia.”

“For once, the bumpkin-head has said something intelligent,” Puss muttered, no longer even trying to pretend he wasn’t listening.

“But as my wife, I need you to understand that the country must come first—for me as well as for you.”

“What do you mean?” Gabrielle asked.

“I mean I would gladly give you all of my life, but as a monarch, there will always be a part of me that will belong to Arcainia. There will be times when I’ll have to attend a stupid function or speak to a dry lord when you would rather that I go off on an adventure with you. I can’t escape it. I saw it with my father and mother, and they couldn’t escape it.”

“I can understand that,” Gabrielle said. “Puss and I will always share
our
bond. You will always be bound to the country.”

“Yes,” Steffen said, a frown marrying his handsome face. “But if something happens to me, you must consider yourself bound as I am. You must operate for the good of the country, even if it means letting me go. If I were a middle prince, we’d be free. But I’m not. It’s hard, Gabrielle. I don’t want to put my royal responsibilities first. I want to give you everything. But—”

“Very well.
If
we are married, I promise I will care for Arcainia, should a time arise when you cannot.”

“Don’t underestimate how difficult it will be,” Steffen said. “It was hard for Father to keep going after Mother died, but in the end he had to. This country still needs him.”

“I don’t take it lightly,” Gabrielle said. “But there’s still something you’re overlooking.”

“And what is that?”

“I never said I
would
marry you, Steffen. You were terribly pigheaded in Brandis. I’m not a dessert—a guilty pleasure. You need to prove that I’m important to you, and that this is a lifelong commitment.”

“I know that,” Steffen said. He kissed her cheek, lingering longer than he should have. “So tell me how I can begin making it up to you.”

Gabrielle turned to Puss, but the cat shook his head. “I will leave matters of your heart to you, Mistress. Although I still believe marrying a mage might be more advantageous,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Steffen.

Steffen glanced back at the cat before placing a hopeful gaze on Gabrielle and waiting.

Gabrielle thought as they continued to walk down the path. She didn’t want words from Steffen—they could be easily given and just easily broken. She needed an action. Something that showed he believed she was worth the effort, that she was worth fighting for.

Gabrielle smiled as the gray walls of Carabas castle grew on the horizon. “I know what I want,” she said.

“What?” Steffen asked.

“Yes, what?” Puss asked.

Gabrielle raised her free hand and pointed to her new property. “Rebuild Carabas Harbor for me.”

Steffen blinked. “What?”

Puss laughed outright behind them.

“Rebuild Carabas Harbor. It will take money—which will mean you’ll have to get your sister to agree. It will take resources—specifically trees—so you’ll have to deal with Falk and the forests he has grown for lumber. It will require planning and action—so you’ll have to have Erick’s help.”

“You’re trying to make me work with my family?” Steffen asked.

“No, I’m trying to show you this won’t be easy. Love, marriage, any of it. Like rebuilding Carabas Harbor, it will require a lot of work and effort from you,” Gabrielle said.