Chapter 15
With information given to them by Star, Posey and Professor Cloudtree worked on finding Dove’s husband, Michael Engells. While they researched him, Ro did something she hadn’t done in a while.
She practiced her sword drills with Gabriel.
The clang of blunted steel rang through the private training room as Ro parried Gabriel’s latest strike. Sweat stung her eyes, her shoulders burned, and the leather headgear he’d made her put on smelled faintly of horse, but she didn’t drop her guard this time. That was progress.
“Better,” Gabriel said, circling her slowly. His own practice blade rested lightly on his shoulder, the picture of relaxed control. He wasn’t even sweating. Show-off. “You remembered to keep your elbow in. Last time, you were flapping around like a startled goose.”
Ro snorted out a laugh. “So now I’ve graduated from goose to… what? An indignant duck?”
“More like a very determined duck,” he corrected, the corner of his mouth twitching. He came at her again, slower so she could see the opening. “Now, again. Step, pivot, strike. Don’t think. Just move. Let it become natural.”
She tried. Her footwork was clumsy compared to his, but the blade actually met his with a solid thunk instead of whistling through empty air. The impact vibrated up her arm, and for one quick second she felt something like competent.
Gabriel nodded approvingly. “Again. And breathe. You’re holding it like you’re waiting for the executioner.”
“That’s a lovely thought.” Ro lowered the sword, wiping her forehead with the back of her sleeve. “Does Summerton actually have an executioner?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Come on, now, you can do better.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve been doing this since you were old enough to walk.
Whereas I spent my days in the mortal world filing grant reports and arguing with donors about whether a 14th-century chamber pot belonged in the decorative arts wing.
True story.” She rolled her aching shoulders.
“At least the chamber pot never tried to kill me.”
He stepped closer, adjusting the angle of her grip with careful fingers. “You’re not that woman anymore. You’re stronger than you think, Ro. Both here—” he tapped the flat of her blade “—and here.” His knuckles brushed her sternum, right over her heart.
For a moment, the training room felt smaller. She thought he might kiss her. They were alone, after all.
Then the door creaked open and Star’s voice floated in like an unwelcome breeze. “A footman said I might find you here. I don’t want to interrupt. I just wanted to see you in action.”
Star slipped inside, seemingly more subdued than usual. She moved to the far bench and sat without another word, watching.
The revelation about Dove and Mason hung between them like smoke, impossible to ignore. If Star thought she was getting an answer about them so soon, she was very wrong.
Star’s eyes flicked to Ro once, then away, as if she knew she had no right to interrupt but couldn’t quite stay away.
Gabriel’s gaze grazed her, then came back to Ro. He raised his sword again, voice low enough for only her to hear. “Focus. You’re doing well. Everything else can wait until we’re done.”
Ro nodded and lifted her blade, jaw tight. “Ready.”
He attacked. She parried, stepped, and countered. She felt clumsy but remained determined. For a few heartbeats, the only sounds were steel on steel and the quiet rhythm of their footwork.
Thankfully, Star remained silent on the bench, a shadow in the corner of Ro’s vision, the weight of unspoken words pressing heavier than any practice blade.
At last, Gabriel dropped his sword and smiled. “You did very well.”
“Thank you.” She was going to need another shower, but the workout had been worth it. What was the point of wearing a sword at her hip if she didn’t know how to use it? Not only that, but the exercise had helped clear her head.
There was a lot to be accomplished, but none of it seemed quite as daunting.
Gabriel took her practice sword and went to put it away. She unclipped the protective headgear and pulled it off. Thanks to her braids, her hair probably wasn’t too messed up.
She went over to see if Star really was just here to observe. “Afternoon.”
“Hi. I mean, hi, your highness.”
“You don’t have to say that unless we’re in public.” Ro hung the headgear up on the same peg Gabriel had taken it off of. “Have you thought any more about what you might like to do?”
Star nodded. “I have. But nothing’s come to me yet.”
Ro was holding back on offering Star any kind of position until she found out the truth about Dove and Mason. If Star was lying about them, Ro didn’t want her working in any job remotely connected to the throne. She might find Star a job in the village, but that was as far as she’d go.
She sat on the bench next to Star and started untying the wrist and shin guards Gabriel had made her put on.
“Here,” Star said. “Let me help.”
Reluctantly, Ro stuck her arm out and let Star assist. “What jobs did you have in the mortal world?”
“I taught yoga, which I think you knew.”
“I knew you did yoga. Not sure if that would be interesting to anyone here. Working out isn’t really a thing because most people live very active lives. They don’t need to work out.”
“Right,” Star said. She moved on to the second wrist guard.
“Is that all you did at the yoga ranch? Teach?”
“No. I helped in the kitchen at the ranch one day a week, but I also worked in the stables.” She handed Ro the other wrist guard. “I loved helping out with the horses. Brushing them, feeding them, exercising them. Even mucking out the stalls.”
Ro put the wrist guards aside and dealt with the shin guards herself. “Horses are a pretty big deal here. That might be something you could get involved with.”
Star didn’t react to that the way Ro hoped she might. “I was kind of thinking I could go back to being a full-time grandmother again.”
Ro shook her head as she pulled off the last shin guard. “I’m not ready to discuss that yet.”
“Are you at least considering it?” Star asked. “I’m worried about Mason. Dove, too. At some point, Michael’s life insurance money is going to run out, and she’ll have to put him in school and get a job that will support them.”
Ro looked around to see why Gabriel hadn’t come over to rescue her.
He was polishing the practice blades. Something Ro wasn’t sure really needed to be done.
He probably thought she wanted to talk to Star alone.
She stared at him until he glanced over.
She gave him a look she hoped he interpreted as come over here now.
Ro got to her feet. “I’m considering it. But I also have to do my due diligence.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Star stood up, too. “Do you not believe me?”
Gabriel answered before Ro could. “The crown doesn’t move without having every available detail. We will not take the queen into a dangerous situation.”
Star frowned, clearly unhappy with this answer. “How is bringing my daughter and grandson, who’s actually the one in danger, to Summerton seem like a dangerous situation to you?”
“Ma’am, if I explained how palace security worked, I’d lose my job. Trust me when I tell you we are gathering the necessary information needed in order to proceed.”
Star stared at them both. “My grandson could be taken away from my daughter. Do you understand?”
Gabriel nodded. “Yes, ma’am, we understand. Again, we are gathering the necessary information needed in order to proceed.”
With a grunt of disappointment, or maybe it was disapproval, Star stormed out.
Ro exhaled. “Thank you.”
Gabriel watched Star leave. “She seems sincere.”
“I want to believe her, but her track record tells me we’re doing the right thing.”
“You are,” Gabriel confirmed. “And I give you a lot of respect for even considering bringing them here. It has to be painful for you knowing your birth mother has a child that she actually raised.”
Ro took a moment so that her voice wouldn’t come out full of emotion. “It is. I keep asking myself what was so wrong with me that she didn’t stay with Aunt Violet and learn to be a mother. Why wasn’t I worth it?”
He took hold of her shoulders. “Sparrow, her actions have nothing to do with you. And there is nothing wrong with you. Star, on the other hand, has some very obvious flaws.”
Ro nodded. “Thank you. I really hate how she makes me question who I am.” She lifted her chin, strengthened by his words. “I know I turned out all right. Aunt Vi did an amazing job as a mother. She was an even better grandmother. Star has just turned everything upside down.”
“She doesn’t have to stay here, you know. There are other villages. Brookridge, Greenhaven, Woodburn—”
“But I worry that sending her somewhere else will result in exactly what I’m trying to avoid.
Her telling everyone who will listen that she’s my mother and I sent her away.
That she’ll paint me as a terrible daughter who wanted nothing to do with her.
I know how quickly a thing like that could snowball.
With everything going on with Malveaux right now, I need the people on my side. ”
“Then maybe we find a way to send her somewhere without it feeling like you’re sending her away.”
“What do you mean?”
“We make it seem more like an opportunity than a punishment.”
Ro nodded. “I could get behind that. Of course, if Mason really is aetheryn, he will have to stay in Rivervale, where he can be trained and protected. Which means Dove will be here, too, and there won’t be any getting rid of Star if that happens.”
“Are you prepared to have all of that new family so close?”
She hesitated. There was no reason not to speak the truth with the man she loved.
“No, I’m not. But Castle Clarion is a big place.
I know I’ve only seen a fraction of it. There has to be a wing somewhere far away from the royal apartments that would work for them.
A place where they could live without me having to run into them every day. Right?”
“There are many rooms that could accommodate them, but they have been closed for more years than I can count.”
“Then I guess we’d better go have a look at them and see what needs to be done to make them habitable.”