A young woman toted a basket full of herbs as she hiked through a scraggled, dormant field toward the village of Dresden. As she crested a hill she saw young boys running from house to house. A man shouted something unintelligible. Smoke rose from the square. She walked closer. Two women by the fence cast a glance her way and dropped their voices to a whisper.
In the square, the constable ran up the flag of Calendenia. A bonfire crackled twenty feet beyond them, devouring scrolls.
Four men—dressed in black sleeveless uniforms—stood guard over a man and a woman. Blood dripped from the man’s arm.
She turned toward the gate, but a firm hand pulled her back the other way.
“Alessandra, don’t look. They just hung the Bishop.”
“What?” she looked up into her father’s dark brown eyes.
“Ravonna’s men.”
“They aren’t in Calendenian uniforms,” she said.
He pulled her into an alleyway, and scanned the open green. “It’s a new division, tasked with protecting Ravonna from personal enemies.”
“The Bishop…”
“Declared an enemy of the king. His library is in the fire. See the big man?” he indicated one of the soldiers. “Orlando Santuzza, the Captain of this division, Ravonna’s right arm. He brought the man and woman here to watch the Bishop’s execution.”
“Are they prisoners? Who are they?”
“Ravonna’s enemies, like us. They aren’t supposed to be here. Not now.”
“What are we going to do?”
He pointed to her necklace, a pendant with three overlapping circles. “Hide that. You’re on the next convoy out of here to Lacasse.”
*****
Roderic debriefed his commander, and then slipped into a drill with the night squad. For the first time in weeks, he found it difficult to focus on the maneuvers. He kept thinking about the tracks in the forest. Someone was watching Anne. An archer could have fired a shot. The boot print was large, and belonged to a rider. It had to be someone with means to own a horse, or a soldier—off duty?
“Delorro! Look where you are!” the captain shouted. Roderic jumped back into line, the column had stepped forward without him. He concentrated and hit every mark for the next eleven minutes of drill at double speed. After that, he worked his way home. Too tired to climb to the loft, he collapsed on his parents’ vacant bed.
He couldn’t remember falling asleep, it felt like he’d only been there a few seconds when a knock on the front door jolted him awake. He jumped up and went to the window. A royal guardsman waited at his door. He swung the door back, and saw a handsome young man about his equal in height, maybe slightly thinner.
The guardsman lifted his chin, “Roderic Delorro?”
“Yes.”
“Lieutenant André le Cavalier, the king’s squire,” he said, introducing himself. “The king sends his greetings. Follow me.” He retreated down the steps.
“The king?” Roderic repeated.
A horseman with lank blond hair trotted near the gate of the cottage walkway. “Ho there, André! Still running about I see. No horseflesh for a simple squire, eh?”
He took notice of Roderic. “Who’s this? André, what are you doing? Asking this fellow if he’ll lend you a few pence so you may rent a horse? You know you would get one free of charge if you and your family would come work under me. Think about it.” With that he wheeled his horse about and set it into a merry trot.
Roderic saw the André’s fist tighten and stepped closer. “Who is he? I’d like the chance to spar with him.”
“Tremenas de Richesse. I have the distinct honor of calling him cousin. His family lives in a castle not far from here—“
“Knight de Richesse?” Roderic interrupted.
“Yes, that’s his father, a member of the royal council. Which reminds me. You’ve been summoned.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain as we walk,” André led the way through the courtyard. “Fardius and the king have been discussing your future occupation here at the palace. They have agreed on a course of action, and now Fardius is trying to sell it to the other council members.”
“What?”
André snapped to the left, going through a darkened entrance. “Congratulations, my friend, Fardius meets you one day, and the next you’re launching off on secret spy missions. Of course, in your case, that may be a little more difficult.”
“What?” Roderic was struggling to keep up as André twisted through the castle halls. As they strode by the rooms quickly, Roderic caught a glimpse of Anne and her sisters dancing in the ballroom with an instructor. He hesitated for a moment, watching Anne fall into another girl. “Adrienne! Shall you ever learn to do it? Here, Mademoiselle, dip and turn like so, then turn and place your right foot like so…no, no! Adrienne!”
Roderic tore himself from the door and hurried to catch up. André had marched boldly into a dark hallway. Disoriented in the black corridor, Roderic kept his hand to the wall until he heard his guide stop. André turned a key in the lock and shoved open the door. A flickering light stretched onto the young lieutenant’s chiseled face. Roderic moved in front of the threshold. The room had a yellowish cast from the torches lit around the soot-covered walls.
“Go in,” André prompted.
Roderic stepped through and saw a crowd of nobles at one end of the narrow chamber. They stood grouped in conversational packs. Roderic knew some of them, but no one welcomed him into the chamber. Nine pairs of eyes met his, all demanding an explanation for his presence. Fardius stepped out from behind two men and walked to his side. Roderic looked down and watched the edge of Fardius’ crimson cloak brush the floor next to him.
“Why did you bring him here, Fardius?” Knight de Richesse asked.
“If he is going to fight the Society, he might as well learn exactly what it is,” Fardius replied.
“Do you plan to train him? I thought we agreed that fighting the rebellion was going to fall to the Royal Guard,” another objected.
Roderic felt his jaw lock as the stony faces glared at him. Every muscle in his body tightened. He wasn’t supposed to be there.
Fardius spoke evenly, attempting to alleviate the hostility in the room. “Roderic Delorro is in the Royal Guard. He has been drilling for years. He’s the best they have.”
“At drilling,” a duke shot back.
Fardius acquiesced with a slight bow.
The duke continued. “The king does not appreciate it when you subvert our meetings with meaningless antics, Fardius.”
“If I may speak…I will explain.”
Knight de Richesse, weighted down with chain mail, looked to his left and then right, gathering consensus. “You’re audience with us will be short.”
Fardius paced to the other side of the room, close to the blazing fireplace. He took a poker and stirred the coals, allowing quiet settle upon the group.
Roderic scanned the faces. Hadn’t André said that the king had decided? Why wasn’t he here? Of course, he couldn’t expect too much. He was looking at legends. Everyone in Lacasse knew their names. His father worked with them. The stories…the decisions…the disagreements…had been rehashed over dinner many nights. And now, it was his turn to experience the great council of Lacasse—minus the king.
Fardius paced back, arms hanging loosely at his sides. Forced relaxation. “Three weeks ago, Lucas Delorro gained permission from this council to journey west to Provinia. He went east. He’s in Calendenia.”
Roderic’s spine chilled as the council members exchanged alarmed looks.
Fardius continued, “Lady Delorro went after him one week ago.”
A chorus of angry voices filled the room.
“Why did they do that–” “He should have come to us—“
Fardius cut them off. “Yesterday, Roderic found that he and the princess were being observed. I investigated. It was Zohlton.”
“So, the same old Society activity, stalking the royal family?” General Gautier, the Supreme Commander of the Royal Guard, surmised.
“Yes, for the time being. But, I find it strange that no attempt was made to capture Adrienne yesterday.”
“The boy was a deterrent.”
“It is also strange that the disappearance of Lucas and Carmelina Delorro coincides so closely with increased activity from the Society. True, we routed them thoroughly two years ago, but they’ve had time to rebuild. They cannot be overlooked. We need new recruits of our own to fight the insurrection. You, General, would agree with me on that point. Roderic is a skilled fighter, and if this council will permit, I would like to train him for that purpose and take him with me to Calendenia to aid his father.”
“Only if he pledges his allegiance to Lacasse, forever. We will not allow another Zohlton de Sagace to rise under our protective care to turn back and smite us,” Knight de Richesse growled. “In fact, when considering his strong ties to Calendenia, we shouldn’t teach him anything.”
Roderic’s face burned.
Fardius walked quickly up to Roderic put a hand on his shoulder and whispered. “That’s a bigger decision than you think. You must answer him, but be careful.”
“Well, young man, would you turn traitor to your country? Or will you pledge your allegiance forever to this land, forsaking citizenship of all others…will you pledge to live and die here, and to forever uphold the good name of the house of du Parries? Will you promise to pursue the best interests of this land forsaking all rights to your own life?”
“I’ll do what is right, Sir.”
A murmur rippled through the men. Roderic inhaled deeply and explained, “This is the only home I’ve known. But I cannot commit to this pledge, as honorable as it is, without my father’s leave. Has he ever taken such an oath?”
Silence.
General Gautier cleared his throat, and exchanged an amused look with Fardius. Then Fardius tilted his chin up for Roderic to go on.
“This council has no risk of rebellion from me. Zohlton was motivated by greed when he turned against the royal family; I am only motivated by honor. Allow Fardius to train me so I can serve Lacasse right now. When my father returns, I will discuss the oath with him.”
“If your father returns,” Knight de Richesse shot back.
“Roderic, go,” Fardius gently pushed his shoulder. “I will talk with them.”
He felt vulnerable as he turned his back to the crowd, and made his way outside the chamber into a shroud of darkness. He kept walking toward the courtyard. Nothing had been decided.
*****
“You finally got here! What took you so long?” Anne demanded.
Helaine, standing next to her, smacked her fan closed. “Adrienne, you have been waiting for Captain Delorro only two minutes. Faith, sister, be patient.” She curtsied to Roderic and whisked away, around a couple of boys kicking a ball, but she stumbled into a mud puddle. The spell was broken. “Take your filthy ball and play somewhere else!” she shouted.
Helaine was doing it again. Absorbing all notice from surrounding people like a black hole. Anne coughed to regain Roderic’s attention.
He didn’t say anything, but plastered a smile on. A very nice looking smile.
“How were the dancing lessons?” he asked, as he assisted Madame Veiller onto her horse.
How could he? He had seen her fall. What did he want? An admission of incompetence?
“You know very well, sir. You saw us practicing. I am nothing this society wants and everything it does not want, so I might as well try and live the best I know how. And if you find it funny, you can go back to drilling for all I care,” she said, looking away. He was just like everyone else. So what if she was bad at cotillion? Point and laugh. The princess who should have been a scullery maid.
Roderic grimaced. ”I…”
“It’s a wonder I didn’t hear you laughing down the hallway,” Anne groused.
Madame Veiller tugged at her restrictive scalloped collar.
“I didn’t laugh,” Roderic answered. “You did better than I could. Honestly, if you could have seen some of my early drills in the guard…pshaw, very bad.”
Anne’s mouth twitched.
He extended a hand to help her onto the horse. “What would you like to do?”
“Uh, let me consider it,” she replied, accepting his assistance. “Tell me, why were you late?”
As he mounted he thought of the Council room, and the eight powerful men staring him down, …“I slept late.”
“Oh, lucky man! I thought you were in the Royal Guard. Up at dawn, run about, scale the castle walls, shoot haystacks, all that…” she said, trotting forward with a coy smile.
“Oh, you scoff my prestigious vocation?”
She giggled.
“I train with the night squad. Now, have you decided what you want to do?”
“Night squad? No wonder–”
“Do you want to ride to the orchards? Visit someone—”
“Race you across the meadow!”
Roderic caught Madame Veiller’s eye. There was no way this would be approved. The stately maid took a breath, looked skyward, then exhaled and gave a nod of permission.
“I think we can manage that,” he said as they lined their horses against an imaginary starting line at the head of the meadow.
Anne leaned close to the horse’s mane.
“Ready….Go!” Roderic shouted.
Anne shrieked with delight as Jolie surged forward.
Roderic spurred his horse faster.
Jolie inched ahead of him. He glanced across at the princess. A wide smile stretched across her face. The last time he’d raced a horse, it was against his father. His mind began replaying the council room conversation again, but a delighted howl from Anne brought him back to present. The meadow would recede into the tree line shortly and the race would be over. He urged his horse to drive forward for more speed. The little stallion burst forward and would have beat Jolie by a nose, had Roderic not reined in at the last second and let Anne win.
“Good race, Anne,” Roderic congratulated her as the horses slowed their pace.
“Yes, one of the best I have run,” she said breathlessly.
“How many would that be?” he asked.
She laughed, “Not many. My goodness, that was bouncy.”
“Jolie’s fast, that’s certain. Ah, that’s enough talking I suppose,” he said as he saw Madame Veiller wave to them.
Anne cringed inwardly. “Let’s go to the courtyard and see what is new,” she suggested. They cantered back to meet Madame Veiller. On their way to the hub of social life at the castle, they left their horses at the stable. There was nothing much to hear—old ladies gossiping, two boys talking about old superstitions, and a few young girls chatting and giggling. Roderic couldn’t concentrate on it.
Anne noticed the far away look in his eye and cleared her throat.“I almost forgot to tell you,” she said, popping a grape in her mouth. “The day after tomorrow, Mother is sending me to Laupette for a week. The festival.”
“Am I going to come?” he wondered.
The nurse shook her head.
“No, that’s the only thing that might go wrong. You cannot come because my father said you had other things to do. Tremenas de Richesse will escort me. He is a friend of my brother’s and he always seems to be daydreaming, about what or whom I do not know. Anyhow, he is dry and dull, and I believe it might not be as pleasant as I had hoped.”
“I know, we have met,” Roderic said grimly, as Helaine came out of the castle.
She stepped daintily around some scattered hay. “Adrienne, you must come into the castle we’re all waiting for you so we can make arrangements for our departure.”
Anne hurried toward the castle, shuffling right through the hay. Madame Veiller quickly curtsied to him and bustled after her charge.
Roderic looked about the courtyard, and then up at the sun. Hours of daylight left. Anne hadn’t taken up much time at all. He rested his boot on the low stone wall at the fountain. Other things. He wasn’t going to Laupette with Anne because he had other things to do–maybe the council members had agreed to his training. He leaned forward and in the smoother water at the edge of the fountain he saw the reflection of Fardius on a balcony, watching him.
