Thirty-Five - Mina
At some point , I drifted off to sleep, though I had been determined to remain awake until Alan returned. My sleep was fitful, and I woke well before dawn. Reaching out, then opening my eyes and confirming that I was still alone in my bed, explained my restless slumber. Alan hadn’t returned.
I didn’t bother to ring for my maid, racing to get dressed in one of the few outfits fit for a princess that didn’t require a second set of hands. It wasn’t something I would normally wear outside my rooms, but I didn’t care today. Let the court gossip.
I made it to the hall where my guests had been given rooms less than a quarter hour after I woke. But I still didn’t know which room was Alan’s. A passing maid provided me with the information, but no one answered when I knocked. Nor was there any sign anyone had used the bed in the room when I entered anyway.
I moved on to Sam’s room. Luckily, he was awake and dressed, and answered after my first knock. He slipped into the hall, a grin on his face. Then he took a step back when he saw me, his smile disappearing. “Mina?”
“Have you seen Alan?”
“Not since last night when I left you both. What happened?”
I opened my mouth, but the words didn’t come .
Sam watched me for a moment, then glanced back at his room. His cheeks flushed, but he looked at me once more and opened the door just far enough to poke his head inside. “It’s Mina and I’m bringing her into the room.”
I didn’t hear a response, but a moment later, he opened the door fully and I stepped into his room.
A man stood by the bed, facing away from me, pulling a shirt on over his head. He turned around, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. Given everything I had seen the last few days, I hadn’t expected Sam to have anyone but Noel in his room, but I’d still suffered a momentary fear that I’d have to deal with a stranger. My brother was a welcome sight. “Noel. You haven’t seen Alan since the ball either, have you?”
He looked up from tucking in his shirt. “No. I’ve been here since I left the ballroom.”
I tried to summon a teasing smile, but I couldn’t.
“What happened, Mina?” Sam asked again.
I took a shuddering breath. “Alan and I left the ball, and everything was fine.” I glanced at the rumpled bed in the corner and shrugged. “I took him back to my room. Later we were talking, and Alan freaked out when I mentioned wanting him to be my consort.”
Whatever embarrassment Sam felt about me finding my brother in his room, or talking about bringing Alan to mine, faded away. Worry etched his brow.
Noel went a step further, his annoyance clear as he crossed his arms. “Shouldn’t he have realized the entire point of the ball was for you to find a husband?”
“If I had said husband, things would probably be fine. But I said consort.”
Noel’s stance softened, and he ran a hand through his already mussed hair. “Why in Affenala’s name would you say consort instead of husband at a moment like that?”
“Because I’ve barely even thought the word husband until now.” I took a step forward, and my brother flinched as the full force of my emotions slammed into him. I retreated, moving far enough away that his power wouldn’t pick up what I was feeling. I took a deep breath. “You know my marriage has always been about finding a consort. I never considered the possibility of falling in love. And I realize I said the wrong thing, but it wasn’t intentional.”
Sam came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “What happened next?”
“He said he needed to move. That it was too much to think about, and he was going to take a walk. He promised to come back soon, but he never did. And he didn’t sleep in his room at the palace either; I already checked.”
“All right,” Noel said after a moment. “Here’s the plan: Sam and I will ask around and see if any of the servants or guards saw Alan last night. Once we know where he went, we’ll beat some sense into him.”
“Noel!”
“What? That’s twice now he’s broken your heart, and I know you’ll give him a third chance. I’m not just going to sit back and watch him hurt you.”
Sam pursed his lips together. “He might not need help to see sense.” He held up a hand to forestall my brother’s protest. “I agree that he shouldn’t have walked away from Mina last night, but he has been forced to rely on no one but himself for years. And even before that, he had a habit of retreating inside himself when something big disrupted his life. Maybe he just needed a little longer than he expected to think things through.”
“Fine, but I reserve the right to break his nose if he is being an idiot.”
“You are not going to punch him,” I told my brother. “Just help me find him. Please.”
???
Noel and Sam insisted that I return to my room and at the very least brush my hair before I joined them to question the servants. I conceded defeat and rang for my maid, letting her fix my hair and dress me for the day ahead. By the time that was done, Noel and Sam were waiting for me in my sitting room.
That they had returned so quickly gave me hope, but their expressions weren’t happy. I twisted my rose ring around my finger. “Somebody saw something?”
“A couple of servants saw a man matching Alan’s description being escorted from the palace,” Sam said.
“But Alan would have told a guard who he was.”
“The guard,” Noel added, “was the same one who failed to recognize the threat of the heart-changer a couple days ago. If he had seen Alan in the royal wing, I don’t think he would have listened to any explanation. Not after being chastised and reassigned to night duty after the incident with the mage.”
“Alan didn’t purposefully leave. He couldn’t come back.” I nearly sank to the floor, my relief was so intense. “We have to find him.”
“We asked at the gates, but no one knew which direction he had gone.”
“Damn it.” I paced over to my desk and back. “How do we find him, then?”
Sam put out an arm, stopping me from turning back for another lap. “He probably went to wherever he’s been staying while he made the slippers. But since he didn’t leave on his own, I think we can assume he’ll come back.”
I shook my head, not denying Sam’s trust that Alan would return, but his suggestion of waiting. “I can’t just wait, not anymore.”
It was an irrational need to go, but after everything, including my decision the day before that I would chase Alan down if he didn’t come to the ball, waiting wasn’t an option. Alan needed to move and do something to help him think; I needed to act so that I wouldn’t overthink. If I didn’t do something, I’d devolve into a mess of worries.
“How do you know he made the shoes in Haiwella?” Noel asked Sam.
My friend quirked an eyebrow. “There’s not enough gold in Skorsa to make those slippers.”
“Then we can start visiting forges.” Noel turned to me. “But you realize that if you go out hunting, the odds are good he’ll come back while you are gone?”
I did. But—I glanced at the clock—it was late enough that unless Alan had slept far better than I after being evicted from the palace, he should have already returned. “We can send messengers with our location as we travel around the city and arrange to be notified if Alan arrives at the palace.”
“Then let’s go. There are a lot of forges to visit.” Noel opened the door to the hall. “I’ll make arrangements with the guards at the gates and meet you two at the stables.”
Noel hurried away, turning left at the end of the hall. Sam and I followed behind, turning right, toward the door closest to the stables.
“So, you and Noel?” I wasn’t surprised. My brother had made his interest clear after his brief trip to Skorsa. Since Sam had teased me on my first day in Skorsa, I had expected he and my brother would get along splendidly. Normally, I’d have allowed Sam to start such a conversation, but talking about something other than Alan was the only way I’d avoid a spiral of wondering why he hadn’t come back to the palace.
To my surprise, Sam showed no signs of discomfort with my question. He grinned. “Your brother is a very persuasive man.”
I snorted. “He is, but I suspected you’d make him work harder.”
“I return to Skorsa the day after tomorrow,” Sam said softly.
“So, this was only a one-time thing? ”
This time, he blushed. “I don’t know. Now that it has happened, I admit I would like more. The village isn’t that far from the capital...”
“But still not convenient. It is a good thing, then, that I was planning to offer you a position on my staff before you left.”
“What?”
“I think you would make an excellent advisor. I’ve thought so since my first week in Skorsa. I need people I can trust working for me.”
“Mina, I don’t know what to say.”
“Promise you’ll think about it. You don’t have to decide today, or even this week.” I spotted a familiar figure walking down the hall toward us. “Speaking of my staff, Sam, allow me to introduce you to my secretary, Willow. Willow, I’m heading into the city; did you need me for something?”
“Oh, no, but Hayden and I wanted to let you know how much fun we’ve been having reading over the scavenger hunt cards.”
I blinked. “Fun?”
The fact that my secretaries would be stuck reviewing every scavenger hunt submission had been one of my biggest regrets in suggesting the event. I assumed the task would be tedious.
Most of the scavenger hunt had centered on finding certain businesses and obtaining stamps from the owner, but there had also been a card of questions about different parts of the city and what people saw. Willow and Hayden had reviewed the cards of the first people to finish immediately, confirming they had completed the hunt before the winners joined me for supper the same evening. But now they had to go through the rest because we had implemented a contest in order to encourage taverns and dining houses to offer free meals to the participants. One of the questions on the card was the name of the street where the contestant had dined. The establishments on the most named street would receive a purse from the crown .
“Oh yes,” Willow told me. “While tallying the various streets, we can’t help but read some of the other answers. One man put your name as the answer to every question. Another apparently saw a blue horse in the city. I think the most creative lie we came across was the card that claimed the first craftsperson he saw was making a pair of shoes out of gold.”
“Where was this?”
Willow’s eyes went wide at my sudden intensity.
Sam placed a hand on my arm and shook his head. “The question about the craftsperson didn’t require a location, only an item.”
I groaned. So close, and yet . . .
“But,” Sam continued, “most people only visited a small portion of the city, trying to find everything as close together as possible. If we see what other answers are on the card, it should give us a starting area.”
“Your Highness?” Willow looked between Sam and me.
“The shoes weren’t made up. And I am looking for the smith. Can you show me the card?”
“Of course. It is in our office.”
I turned to Sam. “Go tell Noel. I’ll be out as soon as I have the card.”