Chapter 12
Woodsbrook Manor
Cai
The servant showed me my chambers and I thanked him before he closed the door behind him. The room was glamorous, with large windows presenting a view of the estate gardens. I made my way over to a basin and filled it with cold water from the jug that had been placed next to it.
The water cooled my face, but did nothing to soothe the gnawing feeling in my stomach. I was filled with unease, though I had no idea why, and perhaps that was what bothered me most of all. Lance was definitely up to something, but Eloisa’s involvement was unclear.
Jack appeared to be right about the two of them not getting along, as they acted very coldly towards each other. But I needed to spend more time with Eloisa if I really wanted to know her. I had a feeling that with time, all would reveal itself.
Deciding that waiting around until dinner wasn’t going to make me feel better, I started to explore the manor. The entire place possessed large windows and from some of the hallways you could see the ocean in the distance. I didn’t see Lance or Eloisa and I contemplated what exactly they could be discussing. It didn’t appear to be a very joyous reunion, after all.
I pushed open a white wooden door and found myself standing in a small parlour. Surrounded by books, I paced along the bookshelves, hands behind my back.
The books were all quite old and well-worn. Nothing appeared to be of any interest. I turned to face the fireplace on the other side of the room. But it was the painting above that caught my eye. I stepped closer to observe it more intently. It was clearly an old painting, as the royal children were still young. I glanced over the colours that composed a picture of the young princess. Something caught my attention and I wondered if the artist had purposely forgotten to add Eloisa’s small birthmark. I reached out, gently dragging my fingers over the small black lines that formed the names of the royal children on the bottom corner of the painting. And then it hit me. It was like the air had been sucked out of my lungs for a moment, but only a moment. It was shock first, but confusion settled in quickly. It simply didn’t make sense.
I burst through the white doors and marched down the hallway to find out if what I thought to be true was, in fact, true. Rounding one of the hallway corners, I ran into Jack.
“Your Highness, is everything all right?” I don’t know if it was my shocked expression or ragged breathing that gave me away.
“All is fine, never you mind about me, Jack.” I was about to go round him when Jack spoke again.
“I couldn’t find out much more about Eloisa, but Alastor has been on Rhen’s trail and it turns out he’s only been working for the royal family for a few months — and somehow became the prince’s most trusted confidant. Something doesn’t quite add up there.”
“It’s all right. You can forget it. Forget all of it.”
“But, Your Highness . . .”
“Forget it!” I spat out, and I walked away abruptly, without giving Jack a chance to reply. It was only a moment later that I felt guilty. I couldn’t remember the last time I had spoken to him like that. The poor man was only following orders. I would apologise later. Right now, there was a more important matter at hand.
I asked one of the servants to lead me to Eloisa’s chambers. Not bothering to knock, I swung open the door, but it wasn’t Eloisa inside. Her lady-in-waiting, who appeared to be in the middle of unpacking her trunk, looked at me with wide eyes.
“Cordelia, is it?” I closed the door behind me.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
I glanced around the room again for some unknown reason, as if my senses couldn’t be trusted any longer, but she definitely wasn’t there.
“She’s not here.” Cordelia didn’t move, garments still in her hand.
“I must speak to her. It’s very important.” I didn’t know Cordelia at all. Didn’t know if I could put any trust in her yet, though my instincts were telling me she wasn’t much trouble. But my instincts had been wrong before... clearly.
“If she comes back, would you please tell her that I’m looking for her?”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Cordelia said, closing the trunk. I was about to leave when she spoke up again. “I know she seems odd.” She hesitated for a moment. “But deep down... she’s not a bad person.”
“I know,” I said and left the room.
* * *
I didn’t get a chance to see her again that night, but I was told that a hunt had been arranged for us in the morning. If what I thought to be true was indeed true, maybe this would be my way of finding out.
I met her at the stables, dressed in hunting attire, her hair braided away from her face. It certainly had a way of bringing out those determined eyes.
“Good morning,” I said politely while my eyes scanned her guard with the scar on his face. He’d remained very close to her throughout our travels and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It was as if she would tense up every time he came close to her.
“Good morning,” she said and then frowned at the stable boy who handed her a bow and quiver. She looked at them for a moment, as if she weren’t quite sure what to do.
“I thought you couldn’t shoot with a bow?”
She looked at me sheepishly. “I can’t. But you said you’d teach me.”
“I did say that, didn’t I? Well, I suppose a promise is a promise.”
She looked pleased as we mounted. We rode in the middle of our party of guards, all Evernean. I hadn’t seen any of my men this morning, though I was more than certain they were occupying themselves with sword duels in the gardens.
“Do you and your family do this often?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. But yesterday you spoke of the good times you had while hunting, and well...” Her cheeks flushed a little. “I thought you might enjoy this?” she said, looking hopeful, and I smiled in slight disbelief.
“You arranged a hunt for me?” I watched her jaw clench, her eyes looking back and forth between the guards. We weren’t exactly riding on top of each other’s horses, but I was fairly sure they could hear most of what we said despite the sounds of the forest that stretched behind Woodsbrook.
“Don’t look so surprised.” She lifted her chin. “I can be a very likeable person.”
“This coming from a woman who held a dagger to my throat,” I teased and she gawked at me for a moment.
“Hey, you tied me to a tree first!” Her accusation, though true, was made in a humorous tone.
“For which I am profoundly sorry.”
She shook her head, but there was a smile on her face and, truth be told, I was starting to grow quite fond of that smile. I bit the inside of my cheek, the truth dripping into my train of thought once again. I couldn’t lose focus on the task at hand.
“I can’t remember the last time I went hunting, though. These past few years I’ve been too occupied with other royal duties. I really miss hunting with my younger brother.”
My eyes drifted towards her face, seeing if she would take the bait. If not, I would look profoundly silly and suspicious.
“You have a brother?” She didn’t meet my stare, as if trying to regain a memory.
“Yes, I told you all about him in that letter I sent a few months ago. Don’t you remember?”
Her face fell, and upon realisation of this she tried to pull herself together. But it was too late.
“Yes, of course I remember. It was just so long ago.”
Just as I’d assumed she would, she had fallen into my trap and had given herself away. I didn’t have a brother and I most surely never sent her any letters. Eloisa and I had never communicated before my arrival in Everness, and now I knew we still hadn’t. The biggest problem was figuring out why.
The conversation died down after that, as we carefully listened to the sounds of the forest and hoped for an interruption of the harmonising birdsong by the sound of an animal grazing amid the undergrowth. But luck was not on our side, and after a few hours of riding, we hadn’t managed to catch anything. Not that I could really get my mind to focus on the forest or the hunt. I could only think of her next to me.
We turned back, making our way to the manor. “May I ask you something?” She gazed at me from under her lashes, a curious expression on her face.
“You may.” I grinned. I had to applaud her pretend interest in me.
Perhaps I should have felt betrayed. But curiosity had always been one of my biggest flaws and I knew I was knee-deep in trouble, because I was intrigued.
“When we first met, you said that dagger was a gift.”
“Yes?”
“From whom?”
I chuckled. “It’s a peculiar story actually. It was the morning we crossed the border and we stumbled upon this strange old woman in the woods. She appeared to be selling little trinkets and she asked us for water. As a thanks, she gave me that dagger.”
“You’re right, that is fairly odd,” she said sarcastically.
“Mock me all you want, but there was something strange about her.”
“Something mystical?” she teased, eyebrows raised.
“Sort of. Regardless, it’s a very nice gift.”
“Is that story really true?”
I looked at her in confusion. “Yes, it’s true. Why would I make that up?”
“I don’t know. I just thought that a gift like that would be from a past lover or something.”
I snorted. “Delany wasn’t very fond of giving gifts.”
“Ah.” She smirked. “So there is a past lover?”
I sighed, looking towards her and away again. This question wasn’t a pretence.
I could tell from her face: she truly wanted to know.
“ Lover was hardly the word. She was the girl who had been promised to me since I was scarcely a child of four. We were to be married after I turned eighteen. Her family is one of the wealthiest in Norrandale and they had good relations with my family.”
“What happened?”
My grip tightened on the reins. “When the time came, she decided that she would rather marry someone else.” I remembered, as clear as daylight, when Delany had told me the truth.
“Who?”
“My cousin, the Duke of Orrington,” I admitted.
“She gave up being a future queen to be a duchess?”
“She married him because she loved him. I could hardly blame her for choosing love over a title.”
She tilted her head to the side. “But you loved her?”
“I used to think so. But I was too young and naive to know what love even meant. I was very fond of her, though. We got along really well.”
“And you didn’t take another for a wife?”
“The war with Argon happened so soon after. I had to train and leave to go and fight. And when I came back—” I couldn’t bring myself to remember. “Well, things were so different.”
I could see the manor, indicating that we were close to the gardens.
“Why did you agree to this union?”
No one had asked me that before. “Our kingdoms have been in each other’s bad graces for a very long time. As future king it is my job to create alliances and not enemies, so that I can protect my people.”
It didn’t appear to be the answer she was looking for. It was half of the truth anyway. I wasn’t sure if I could admit all of it to anyone.
“So you’re going to be the kind of king that makes sacrifices for his people?”
I managed to chuckle at her words. “You think of marriage as a sacrifice?”
“For some people it most definitely is. I suppose it depends on who you end up with.” She met my gaze.
“Yes, I suppose it does.”
We emerged from the stretch of woods and entered the gardens. “What about you?”
“Oh, I’m just in it for the riches and advancement. I could never be queen of Everness.”
I laughed at her joke. “You are second in line to the throne. It is not impossible.”
“Yes, let’s plot the death of my father and brother, shall we?” she said, and we dismounted near the stables. “Thank you for the ride, it was most pleasant.”
She curtsied before walking away, and I realised she hadn’t answered my question.