CHAPTER 22
Keenan
He couldn’t imagine crossing the narrow ridge on anything but his own two feet, but Keenan had to hand it to the princess: after leading them east for a little over a day, she had guided them south to the only path across this section of the mountains.
He still didn’t know how she did it. He’d been behind or next to her the whole time, and he’d never seen her consult a map.
When they reached the other side, Keenan quickened his pace to catch up to her.
Her back was perfectly straight but not stiff, and her right leg was folded across the horse in a manner that looked terribly uncomfortable to him.
Not that he had any experience with riding a horse, side-saddle or astride.
He set his hand on the pommel of his sword and tried to look casual. “I owe you an apology, Princess.”
She tilted her head to look down at him. “Oh?”
Nodding, he replied, “It takes a pretty good memory to find your way through the mountains without a map, even if you’ve traveled them before. Which, no offense, I doubt you have.” A smirk slipped onto his face. “And it’s even more impressive if you’re working off book knowledge.”
Her shoulder twitched in a tiny shrug. Sending her eyes ahead again, she replied, “Lifting a cup would seem like a great feat of strength to a fly.”
Just when he thought she was still trying to endear herself to him for some unfathomable reason… “Did you just compare me to a fly?”
“I made a simple observation,” she said lightly. “You are the one who applied it to yourself and assumed that position for your own.”
And again, right when he thought he understood her…
Clearing his throat, he said, “Right. Not that I would object if you had a magical way to find our destination.”
Princess Sakura gathered the reins in her right hand and smoothed her skirts with the other. “Magic may exist, but it takes a great deal to do what you suggest. Or so I have heard.”
“Not surprising.” Keenan shrugged. “And when I think about it, I’m sure the queen wouldn’t have give me such a vague map if she had a better method available. She wants this thing pretty badly. It’s a good thing you followed me; I would have struggled to meet her deadline otherwise.”
The princess finished rearranging the fabric and returned her hand to the reins. “I knew you would need me. How could I stay behind?”
He snorted. She was a terrible liar.
To cover the fact that he’d been hunting for information, he cast about for another topic. “Learn anything interesting from your book the other day? Advanced machinery, right?”
Her eyes darted back to him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
While he stared up at her with a furrowed brow, Kasumi called out, “Why don’t you tell him about the alarm clock you made for Prince Hatori?”
A spot of red warmed the princess’s cheeks. “I never finished it. I was still working out how to make the bell ring at the correct time when…” Her eyes drifted down to Keenan. “When Mother decided to move us out here.”
“You made a clock?” Mori piped up from his position next to Kasumi.
“As in, you built it from scratch, or you modified an existing clock to have an alarm? One of the puzzles in my book talks about gear ratios, but I didn’t understand what…
” His words devolved into a mumble. Keenan twisted to look back at him, surprised to see his head ducked.
Princess Sakura’s spine straightened. She angled herself as if replying to Keenan, but she lifted her voice enough to carry.
“My brother has often wanted to enjoy the morning silence of the gardens. But as it is unseemly for the servants to wake a prince so early, I wanted to give him a way to rise at the time he wished.”
“And did you build the clock yourself?” Keenan asked, watching her as he repeated Mori’s question.
She hesitated, as if unwilling to admit it, just as she had tried to hide her book in the library.
“She built it,” Kasumi answered for her. “I saw it a few times. It was quite impressive.”
The princess pinched her lips together but said nothing.
“Oh!” The maid slapped a hand over her mouth. “But don’t tell anyone. It’s all very hush-hush; Queen Arisa doesn’t approve of such avenues of interest for her daughter.”
Keenan watched Princess Sakura’s hands tighten on the reins. So that was the reason she’d hidden the book. “Do you know about gear ratios, then?” he asked. He made his voice sound barely interested. “Could you explain them to me?”
“I don’t know why a weapon-smith would care about such things,” she replied carelessly, keeping her eyes pointed straight ahead. “But I suppose I could give you an overview if you wish.”
A hand tapped Keenan’s shoulder. Turning, he saw Mori’s eager face. “Can I have the book back? I’m not at risk of falling to my death here.”
“It’s still not safe to walk while reading it.”
Mori gave him a look. “Have I run into anything yet? Come on, Keenan, she’s going to explain gear ratios,” the boy pled.
The princess’s eyebrows twitched together, but beyond that and a quick glance over her shoulder at the young guard, she didn’t comment.
Shaking his head, Keenan dug into his pack and pulled out the book from the winter castle’s library. Mori reached for it, but Keenan drew it back over his head. “If you trip, I’m taking this back,” he warned.
The young guard lunged forward, snatching it from his hand. “I’ve never tripped while doing a puzzle. I have great peripheral vision.”
While Mori flipped through the book, Keenan gave the princess a smile. “So, gear ratios?”
Her eyes darted behind them, but then she focused on Keenan. “You can measure the diameter, but counting the number of teeth on each gear may be easier. If one gear has twenty teeth and another forty, the one with fewer teeth will complete two turns for each single turn of the larger.”
He’d never worked with gears before, but he nodded as if he understood. If the pretense helped the princess offer her knowledge to the young guard, Keenan would play along.
Mori tapped him on the shoulder and whispered, “What about a third gear?”
Keenan raised an eyebrow, and the guard showed him a picture. “And if the larger gear is turning another one?”
The princess’s lips twitched, but she directed her answer to Keenan as before. They continued in this way for several minutes until Mori dropped back to solve his puzzle. She closed her eyes, her head tilting to the side, then directed her horse a little more east.
Keenan noted it, but he kept his observations of her behavior to himself.
~
Keenan handed a stack of clean bowls to Kasumi and stretched his arms over his head. Maybe he should give in and accept Oliver’s offer to strap his pack to Oliver’s horse since the guard had opted to walk; no sense making the trip harder on himself, right?
Dropping his arms, he bade the maid good night and headed for the tent he shared with Mori. Oliver called him over. “I have something for you.”
“Not a tea to help me sleep,” Keenan grumbled. “You took two watches last night instead of waking me when it was my turn.”
“You don’t have fresh stitches tonight.” Kneeling next to the pile of saddlebags, the older guard dug around in one until he unearthed a roll of fabric. “I thought you might like this back.”
Curious, Keenan took the offered package and unwrapped it. When a hilt appeared, he sucked in an excited breath. “My dagger! But how did you get it?”
“I found it in the bandits’ camp.” Oliver picked up the shirt that he had used to protect the contents of his saddlebag. One of his eyebrows lifted a fraction. “I decided to liberate it along with myself.”
“I’ve been wondering about that,” Keenan said as he slid the dagger into its sheath. “How did a distraction allow you to free yourself when you hadn’t managed it in the week before?”
The guard blinked at him for a few moments. “They didn’t check my boots,” he finally said.
“You just needed a few minutes with a boot-knife?” Keenan asked incredulously.
“I’ll wake you for second watch. Mori has first.” Then as if he hadn’t completely ignored the question, Oliver hefted his bags and retreated to his tent.
“The man guarding him was unconscious.”
Jumping, Keenan spun to face the princess. When had she slipped up behind him? “What?”
She nodded toward Oliver’s tent. “Mother had a report from the guards sent to rescue him. The man watching over your friend was insensible by the time the others were subdued.”
“So he knocked out a bandit and cut the ropes.” Keenan shrugged. “What’s so surprising about that?”
“Who turns his back on a prisoner while within striking range?” Princess Sakura raised one of her black eyebrows.
Keenan narrowed his eyes, but she watched him steadily. “Oliver is the head of Prince Michael’s personal guard. You won’t convince me that he’s untrustworthy.”
“I simply find it curious.” Her black eyes returned to the tent. “When I took an interest in the conversation, Mother sent me away.”
Instead of replying, he examined her calm expression, wondering why she was telling him this. She’d been an odd mix of haughty and almost cordial, but she hadn’t attempted to touch him today outside of the briefest contact when he helped her into and out of the saddle.
What was she up to?
Her eyes flicked to him before landing on the tent she shared with her maid. “How is your arm?”
It throbbed a little at her mention, but not nearly so bad as the night before. “I’ll live.”
She nodded and turned to go. “Good night, weapon-smith. I’ll trust you not to let anything eat us.”
“No, ma’am.”
Pausing, she looked back over her shoulder. “I’m not a ma’am.”
“Of course not, ma’am.” He let the tiniest bit of cheek slip into his voice.
It must have been a trick of the faint light, but he thought he saw the corner of her mouth twitch up before she minced away.
Pity her mother was a queen forcing him into this journey. If she’d been a simpler woman with no reason for his mistrust, he might have been free to discover what that hint of a smile meant.