Chapter 14 #2
“Your story has flaws,” he said. “It sounds fake.”
“It sounds fake because it is. He’s lying to you, Ser,” I said.
“How is that helpful?” Cyrus asked.
“I think it’s very helpful,” Elías said.
My Sword cocked his head. “It’s fine, Your Highness.”
“It’s not fine. My knight thinks you’ve endangered me, but it was I who endangered you. Don’t paint yourself an idiot. You deserve the credit here.”
“Credit? For standing near you?” Elías choked on the retort.
I scowled, conquering the final steps to my chamber and pulling the door open for myself and their escort.
“He wasn’t standing near me,” I explained. I sat on the vanity stool. “Mr. Evergreen withholds information to protect me, but I was, at points, a good fifty feet away. At least. Around a corner, too.”
Elías barked. “You let her around the corners? Out of your sight?” he asked.
Mr. Evergreen parted his mouth.
I said, “I abandoned Sam almost as soon as we’d gotten to the market. Cyrus was sharp enough to keep close to me, but… but there was a moment in one of the shops that I let my pride rule my movement. I can only imagine he thinks he is doing me a service by omitting that, but it’s the truth.”
Evergreen and I stole a few fractions of a second of each other.
“I left in a hurry because I was embarrassed by…by something I picked up. A bra.”
“A bra?” Elías asked.
“At the modiste,” I added. “She thought I was there to order my… garments.”
“What garments?” he asked.
“For the honeymoon,” I said.
Elías’ face paled. He sat down.
“Mr. Evergreen pursued me,” I said. “Despite my every effort to lose him in the crowd, he kept pace. Then, when we were confronted, he drew his sword ready. Ready to kill for me. He protects me now, still because he hasn’t realized you’re sharp, too, Ser. Too sharp to ever fool.”
“I see,” Elías said, canting his gaze toward my Sword. “Is this true?”
He shrugged. “Mostly.”
“Then I am glad for your vigilance,” Elías replied. “I’m disappointed with the approach… but Svana is… difficult.”
“That’s right. I am,” I stated. I raised my nose. “And you’re glad for his bravery,” I added.
“I beg your pardon?” Elías asked.
“You’re glad for his bravery,” I told him.
“Your Highness,” Cyrus said.
“Mr. Evergreen was quite valiant,” I said. “Quite intimidating with his steel. He saved me.”
Eli gestured a lazy, “Yes,” glancing at my swordsman. He said, “For that as well,” then stood and walked steadily to the door, motioning for the man’s departure.
I lent Cyrus a nod. He offered a small bow of his head.
“Farewell, Your Highness,” he gave. Then he left.
Elías closed the door.
“You’re treading in deep water, Svana,” he said.
“I apologized for my recklessness.” I looked into the mirror and studied my face, collecting and smoothing what disruptions I could find in its appearance. “But I cannot help that I have lived a sheltered life, Lord Commander. How was I supposed to anticipate a robbery?”
He nodded. “I’m speaking of the Blade,” he said.
“I-I’ve apologized to him for running off. What more do you want?”
He didn’t say.
“Honestly, Eli. It was a couple of crooks.”
“A couple of crooks today, tomorrow these southern bandits. You think nothing bad can happen to you,” he said.
“That isn’t true,” I muttered. “I think plenty of bad happens.”
“I don’t say it with the intent to upset you. I say it as I wish to keep you safe.”
“Elías.”
“Please, Svana. Remain near someone at all times, even if it’s him. We don’t know the nature of the people here,” he said. “You were lucky today.”
“I wasn’t lucky,” I reminded him. “I was guarded.”
He acknowledged the comment curtly. “I cannot find fault in that statement. Much as I would like. If the boy did what you said he did, then I am pleased with his priorities. For now.”
I pursed my lips. “...What did you mean by the way? When you accused him of being a decorated soldier?”
He shook his head. “What of it specifically? Evergreen had many merits in the war.”
“…Cyrus told Ser Willoughby and I that he remained here.”
“I see. …It’s not my place to discuss another man’s service, nor do I long to have another fight between us,” he said.
“Though I would challenge the idea if he should insist upon it. Rarely have I seen able-bodied men grounded like that in a war. Not someone of his skill set. No. If he remained here, there was a purpose.”
“He said his birth was questioned,” I said.
Elías made a face.
“What?” I asked. “What purpose would he have?”
He said, “Ask him. Privately. Not with Ser Willoughby present or anyone else. Which may sound counterintuitive, as I don’t want you alone, but I know better. Besides, he might choose to revise his answer the next time you ask, should you eliminate the audience.”
That stumped me. “Why would someone lie about his service? A soldier is an honorable role.”
Elías gave me a look and I took a strained, irritated mental leap in an attempt to guess its point.
“You’ve been incredibly unhelpful, Ser.”
He nodded. “It’s honest work.”
My feet dangled off the bed. They were swollen inside my shoes and difficult to slip off—the result of rambling through the Capitol and running after.
The adrenaline had worn away, and left my body shaking and tired. Even the act of holding onto my sole was enough to elicit a yawn. I glanced up as Josie entered the suite. She flew to my side and knelt by the bed.
“Miss Svana!” she begged, panicked. “Heavens, are you alright? Daniel told me you were confronted!”
I made a silly comment about the hour.
“Were you very scared?” she asked.
“I was,” I said, but then, I narrowed my brows in realization. “Actually, no. I wasn’t. I wasn’t scared at all. How strange.”
“At all?” She sat next to me. “Then you are remarkably brave, Your Highness. I would have been petrified.”
“Yes… I should have been.” I stood and for whatever reason, immediately twirled a distance deeper into the chamber. I caught my balance at the desk.
“Miss?” she asked.
Outside, I watched Cyrus close the barn and start down the path that led him off the grounds.
“I’m not brave, Miss Jocelyn. Not really. Once, I found a centipede in my room and I slept in the dining hall the next night. But he is brave.”
“The centipede…?”
“Mr. Evergreen,” I breathed, watching him shrink against the horizon. “And I… I am brave with him.”
“Oh, I see,” she said. “I’m very happy he was there.”
“As am I,” I said.
The flame of my melody was quickly doused, remembering what Ser Elías had said about the War.
“Josie?”
“Yes, Miss?”
“Say, hypothetically, Ser Willoughby lied to you about something. Something important. Would you forgive him?” I asked.
“Daniel wouldn't lie to me,” she said.
I sighed. “But if he did?”
“Well. What sort of lie?” she asked. “How important?”
“The importance is a matter of perception,” I explained.
She frowned.
“It’s likely more trivial than anything, to most, I mean.”
“Trivial by a lady’s standard? Or by a maid’s?”
“There’s a difference?” I asked.
“Aye,” she said. “A lady has room to spare when it comes to selecting a partner. She need not settle for someone, should there be concerns. Us maids don’t always have the means.”
“I see.”
“It’s true. I once knew a woman whose husband was a crook. She wasn’t by nature but when she met him, he was charming and kind and she covered for him more than she should have liked. They were wed before she realized just how bad a crook.”
“How terrible,” I said. I thought about the woman and felt sad. “Did she die?” I asked.
“I beg your pardon?” she asked.
“The woman you knew. You don’t know her now. Did she die?”
Josie looked away. “I do not know what happened to her, Your Highness.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Whatever her fate.”
“I’m sure she appreciates it.” Jocelyn laid back into the bed. “I would ask him about it,” she said. “Privately. Men like privacy.”
“That’s what Elías said.”
“Then we are speaking of Evergreen, still?” she asked.
I whispered. “I’m always speaking of him.”
“He doesn’t seem like the type to lie,” she said. “He’s very gentle. He’s very direct. One of the servants here told me that his departure from his engagement was done perfectly so. Mr. Evergreen followed every courtesy to ensure the woman’s reputation was not lost.”
“But he is caught,” I explained. “I know the lie is there.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Then he must have a reason for it. I don’t believe he would lie maliciously. Not to you.”
“Would you be angry?” I asked.
“It depends on what his reasoning was…” She touched her stomach. “I’ve known a lot of liars. I might be more forgiving than you. And Daniel is very pretty.”
“Pretty?” I crawled into place beside her and stared at her face. “You’re very pretty,” I told her. “I can’t imagine you’ve endured such terrible men with a face like that.”
She grinned, meeting my eyes. “A pretty face only gets you so far,” she said. “What was the lie?”
“If it’s all the same, I’d like to keep it to myself. I don’t understand his reasons, but I might find the courage to try if I have the chance, and… I’d like to preserve his privacy,” I said.
Josie nodded. “A shame. I love the gossip.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ser Willoughby, huh?” I teased. “Of all our knights, he’s the one?”
“I think I’m in love with him,” she said.
My eyes went wide. “Love?”
She looked at the ceiling. “You’re in love with a swordsman,” she muttered. “There are a number of things one could say about that, Princess.”
“My. What teeth! Do tell,” I told her.
“His station,” she replied. “Your station. Your mutual acquaintance whom you are never speaking of when you discuss such things.”
“Yes, but…” I had nothing else. I scoffed. “But I’m not in love with Cyrus Evergreen. I just like to kiss him when he lets me.”
Josie shot up. Her hands bolted to the sheet.
“You’ve kissed him more than once?” she asked. “How many times?”
“Shh!” I covered her mouth. “Lord have mercy, Miss. Please do not summon the Lord Commander with your excitement! He will murder us both to save us from our ruin!”
But it was no use; her smile stretched ear to ear beneath my hand. I let go, and her mouth hung open in a special air of anticipation.
“Tell me everything,” she pleaded.
I adjusted awkwardly. “There isn’t much to say,” I said. I felt my lips, recalling the vibration. Then I sighed longingly. “Mr. Evergreen is very… warm. Gentle, like you said. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not at all like I expected things like this to be.”
“Like kissing? Or have you done more?” she asked.
“Josie!” I whined. “I have not done anything. We have not, I mean. Mr. Evergreen is the utmost gentleman! He’s never-!”
“I wouldn’t be offended if you had!” she said. “I was asking out of curiosity....” Her amusement tapered into a slight pout. “I like knowing.”
“Have you kissed Daniel?”
She shook her head. “He hasn’t even looked at me for too long.”
“Well, he is bound by an oath of Chivalry. That’s likely a hindrance,” I said.
“You don’t know the knights I know,” she said.
“I’ve…I’ve heard rumors that knights have lost love to the confines of the oath, though my only real connection to that life is Ser Elías, and we don’t suspect he was ever bound to anyone like that.
Don’t tell him I said it, but I’ve heard he was quite the scoundrel in his youth.
The Blades all talk of him like he’s a man of legend. It’s scandalous.”
“I can’t envision Ser Elías with any woman, let alone enough to cause a scandal,” she remarked. “What a thought.”
“Don’t I agree,” I said. “But I’m serious. Don’t tell him I told you. I don’t ask him about it because that isn’t the man he is now. None of us want to be sentenced for our less-ideal years.”
“That is a nice thing to say,” she said. She wilted. “Do you think Daniel is a lost cause?”
“No. He seems very taken with you,” I explained. “I should think he’ll declare himself soon.”
“I’d be happy if he just kissed me,” she said.
“Perhaps you should kiss him?” I asked. “Or take your own advice and speak to him about lost causes,” I said. “Either way, I’m not sure I’m the best judge of a man’s character.”
“No, probably not,” she said.
“You’re not supposed to agree,” I said. “Ahem. But, based upon his reaction to even the hint of your name, I’d wager he at least likes you…”
“I see.” Josie inhaled deeply as she stood, wading toward the wardrobe. “You’re right, I suppose. I will ask him where it is we stand. Someday. Not tomorrow. Certainly not the day after, but soon. Perhaps. Shall we dress you for bed?”
“Yes. Please,” I said, reaching for my brush, and playing with it in a moment of melancholy next. “I’m very mad at Mr. Evergreen,” I said. “I wish I wasn't but I am and I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Wallowing in it seems to be working, yeah?”
I laughed. “I’m not sure I like this side of you, Jo. You’re sort of cheeky.”
She nodded. “I’ve been told that, yes.”
I smirked. “My father…” I swallowed, clearing my throat. “When my father is angry, he stonewalls me.”
“He what?”
“Stonewalls. Like when you try to speak to a stone wall. There is no emotion. No reaction. You only know he’s mad because he tells you he is. Sometimes.”
She nodded.
“I don’t want to make Mr. Evergreen feel that uncertainty. I’m afraid that by not addressing my feelings, my natural way of things will default to my father’s.”
“Ah.” Josie paused. “I stand by my assessment of his character. I think you should ask him about the lie, whatever it is. Tell him he is safe to disclose his reasons.”
I exhaled. “I don’t want to do that either.”
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Are we still to ride tomorrow?” she asked.
I nodded. “I’ve not heard that we won’t.”
“Then I will do my best to distract Ser Willoughby again. Perhaps you can speak to your Cyrus and determine what you want with privacy?”
“Thank you for being so thoughtful,” I said.
“You’ve invited me to spend all day alone with the man of my wildest dreams. It’s really more self-serving than it is thoughtfulness, but I shall carry this burden for you.”