Chapter 11 #3
“You would be likely to regret it if you found one,” he told her. “Whatever you hope it would magically give you, you’d be better off working to achieve it by honest, non-magical means.”
“No doubt you’re right,” Lady Sophia said, her polite tone forced and unhappy.
“Wise words,” Elowen said, although her tone contradicted the compliment. She was nettled by his chastisement of her friend, apparently. “But some of us try the best we know how and still fail to achieve our desires through non-magical means, don’t we?”
Theo said nothing, his thoughts circling uncomfortably around his various recent failures.
“There really isn’t anything you want favor for?” Elowen was needling him now. “Maybe a carbuncle favor would let you magically set the wedding date you’re so determined to lock down.”
Theo felt his jaw set. “If I can’t get what I need without magical favor, perhaps I don’t deserve it.”
“Perhaps.” Elowen sounded miffed, but he also thought he detected a flush on her cheeks. Did she regret her blunt words? Or just his cold answer?
Theo pulled his horse away, keeping his distance for the rest of the ride.
As expected, dinner was over by the time they reached Toledda.
Tired and saddle-sore, the three younger members of the group ate a late dinner together in a small dining parlor in the castle, the duke having gone on to his city manor.
The spread was still excellent, and they mostly ate in appreciative silence.
Theo therefore had plenty of time to regret his part in the uncomfortable moment on the road, and he decided to stay with Elowen until she’d said goodbye to her friend, in hopes of a private moment to apologize.
He should have known better. The three of them had just finished eating and were emerging back into the castle’s large entranceway when an unwelcome addition strolled up to the group.
“My dear, foolish Princess!” Lord Bertrand’s eyes were over-bright as they rested on Elowen’s face.
“What did I hear about you riding all over the country without me to keep you out of mischief?” He didn’t give her time to respond before directing his attention at Theo, his expression indulgent.
“Of course, you had your dashing prince at hand, so no doubt all was well.”
Elowen, not looking pleased, seemed on the point of responding, but Lord Bertrand wasn’t finished. His gaze was cool as it rested finally on his sister.
“I’m burning with curiosity to hear the extreme circumstances that prevented you from informing me about the expedition, Sophia.”
“Sophia had no reason to raise the matter with you,” Elowen said. “You weren’t invited.”
“Because Elowen thought you were training today,” Lady Sophia added quickly.
Elowen sent her friend a swift frown at the amendment, but Lord Bertrand didn’t seem to see it. He waved an airy hand.
“I only trained for an hour or so. No one at the tournament gives me enough competition to require serious training.”
Theo raised an eyebrow. It was a bold declaration given some of the sword work he’d seen from others in the training yard.
He was aware that he had been placed in a pool of less skilled swordsmen to make sure he emerged looking capable, but he knew there were other groups with much stiffer competition.
“Perhaps you were misinformed about my activities,” Lord Bertrand told his sister. “But taking Simeon along with you without clearing it with me was too far, Sophia.”
Lady Sophia stared at him. “What do you mean? Simeon didn’t come with us. Why did you think he had?”
Surprise flashed across Lord Bertrand’s face, followed by irritation. “I’ve been unable to find him all day.”
Lady Sophia looked concerned, but she said nothing. Theo saw the way Elowen looked to her friend, as if hoping for a moment of silent communication, but Lady Sophia avoided her eye. Something clearly wasn’t right between them, and Simeon seemed to have something to do with it.
“I was just heading home, Bertrand,” Lady Sophia said. “We can walk together.”
“I’ve just come from there,” said her brother. “I thought I’d see if the princess would like to take a walk with me in the castle gardens.”
“Actually, it’s been a long day, and I’m ready to retire,” Elowen said. She stepped back, as if to take her leave, but was hailed by another young member of King Ronan’s court. The man bustled over, clearly full of news.
“Your Highness!” He bowed deeply to Elowen then, as an afterthought, more stiffly to Theo. “I didn’t see you at the tournament today. I hope you’re well?”
“Did you go to watch the commoners’ pig racing, Erik?” Lord Bertrand said, lazy derision in his voice.
“Yes, I did, and it was very entertaining,” the other young man said, unashamed. “At least until the news came in, then everyone was too busy talking about that to pay much attention to the pigs.”
“What news?” Elowen demanded.
He turned to her. “There was a huge forest fire not far to the south of here. No one knows how it started, and they’re calling it suspicious. It was enormous, it’s destroyed a whole section of the forest.”
“How terrible!” Elowen said. “Was anyone killed?”
“They don’t know yet. It’s not a very populated area of forest, but there were a few houses destroyed. They’re trying to ascertain whether everyone got out in time.”
A friend of the newcomer called him from across the entranceway, and he quickly bowed before hurrying away.
“Another disaster?” Theo’s eyes met Elowen’s, his own frown reflected on her face. “The tower collapse, the dam failure, the landslide, now a fire.” He lowered his voice. “Have you noticed that all of these disasters are of a type that could generate significant magic?”
“Are you an investigator, Your Highness?” Lord Bertrand sounded amused. “A forest fire surely doesn’t fit that description.”
“If you mean it wouldn’t generate a lot of magic, it could, actually,” Lady Sophia interjected. “The fire isn’t tangible enough for its movement to stir up Dust, but the smoke is. A huge forest fire would no doubt create a vast plume of smoke, which moves constantly and swiftly.”
They all looked at her in surprise, Lord Bertrand’s eyebrow rising toward his hairline. “You seem to know a great deal about the matter, Sophia.”
She just shrugged, her cheeks pink but a hint of defiance in her posture.
Her gaze wandered over the entranceway, and her color deepened as she caught sight of an approaching figure.
Following her eyes, Theo saw Simeon coming in, looking weary and dusty as if from travel, his gaze searching the space.
When he saw their group, he moved quickly toward them.
“Simeon!” Lord Bertrand scowled at him. “Finally.”
“Apologies, My Lord, I heard you were looking for me,” the servant said, bobbing his head.
“Yes, all day.”
Something flitted across Simeon’s face at the terse words, but Theo didn’t know him well enough to read it.
“You seem unconcerned with leaving me to manage without magic during a particularly challenging time,” Lord Bertrand chastised. “You must think beyond your own convenience, Simeon.”
Lady Sophia made a protesting noise, and Elowen looked openly angry.
It didn’t surprise Theo to learn that the young viscount saw his servant’s skill in magic as an extension of his own capabilities, his to claim by right.
He remembered King Ronan’s words about the duke’s family being generous with time and resources in contributing to magical innovations in the capital.
He wondered how much of it had been single-handedly completed by Simeon, to the sole credit of his employers.
The young servant said nothing in response to the viscount’s rebuke, but as Theo studied him, he saw a hardness in his expression that Simeon seemed to be trying to hide.
There was defiance in his eyes. The thought flashed through Theo’s mind that he was looking at a man on the edge of something, and it made him uneasy.
“Lord Bertrand, Lady Sophia.” Another man, this one in the uniform of a servant, came toward them. “Have you seen—Simeon!” He cut himself off as he caught sight of the servant. “There you are.”
“Yes, were you looking for me?” Simeon’s voice was quiet and pleasant, the hardness held at bay.
“You dropped this in the courtyard just now,” the servant said, holding out an item of clothing.
“Careless of you,” Bertrand said casually.
Simeon stared down at the garment, his expression wary. After a moment, he accepted it from his fellow with a murmured word of thanks.
As the item changed hands, Theo realized that it was a scarf.
A purple scarf. He stiffened, remembering the words of the man at the site of the landslide.
His eyes searched Simeon’s face, noting that the servant looked uncomfortable and eager to be gone.
Surreptitiously studying the rest of the group, Theo saw that Bertrand looked unconcerned, and Elowen barely seemed to have noticed the exchange.
Did the garment not trigger her memory of the forester’s story?
Then it hit Theo—neither of the girls had heard the account.
He and the duke had been followed around the site by many from their party—guards, servants of the duke, assistants to the member of the Craftsmen’s Guild.
But the princess and her friend had been told to stay well back from the site of the disaster.
So mention of a purple scarf would mean nothing to them.
And yet…his eyes traveled last to Lady Sophia, and he realized that she looked even more uneasy than Simeon as her eyes lingered on the scarf. Where exactly had she been standing? Had she heard after all?