Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
Tisera
We chatted until we reached the palace. Then we began the first run through of our clandestine process for getting to Prince Victor’s rooms.
The guards at the servant’s gate had been told to expect us and ushered us through. We passed through a storeroom and some kitchens before slipping into the servant’s halls. Once we reached the royal wing of the palace, we entered secret hallways, which even the servants didn’t know about. Those brought us out close to the prince’s rooms, only a short walk out in the open.
Before we returned to the regular halls, I checked to make sure the way was clear before escorting Veora to the prince’s chambers.
After I’d handed Veora over to the prince, I asked if I could go see my aunt, while I was there. Since I was already in the royal wing it wouldn’t be that far to Princess Alice’s suite. Victor agreed, telling me to return at the fourth bell. I left the lovers and made my way to Princess Alice’s suite.
Luckily, it was my aunt who answered my knock on the door and greeted me warmly.
“Who is it?” came the light and breathy voice of Princess Alice from deeper inside the suite.
“My niece Tisera,” Aunt Emri called back and closed the door behind me. We made our way through the entrance hall to the main room where Princess Alice struggled to stand. Emri went and helped her up.
Alice had been weak and frail ever since she’d contracted the waning sickness as a child. She’d survived, but had been sickly ever since, even as a grown woman. She was a few years older than I, but quite small and slight of build, very fragile. She had the same blond hair and jewel eyes of all royals and most nobility. In her case, the hair was more a flaxen tone, a bit washed out, and the eyes a very pale blue.
“Come, sister,” she said, arms open.
It was what she called me whenever I came to visit my aunt. I’d grown to know and love this small princess, and since Emri had been like a mother to both of us, Alice always referred to me as her sister.
It warmed my heart.
I went to her and embraced her, very carefully. She was so weak I almost didn’t feel her hug. And even that much effort tired her. She swooned, unsteady on her feet. I helped her back to her chair, where Emri laid a blanket over her lap.
“Too much excitement!” she breathed, yet she smiled wide. “But I do love a visit.” Her face clouded a little after that.
I sat in the chair next to hers, pulling it close and held out a hand for her to clasp.
I felt sorry for the woman. Even though she was a royal, she was pretty much confined to these rooms, partly because she didn’t have the stamina to go far beyond them, and partly on orders from the queen.
Alice had always been the black sheep of the family because of her frailty. The other royals tended to avoid her, not wanting to be reminded of what might have happened to them, if they’d been unlucky enough to have caught the same illness.
Alice was a stain on the otherwise active and hearty family. As such, I was one of her few visitors. Though, Prince Leonin did stop by now and then, of all her siblings he was the most welcoming of her. Thinking of Leonin, brought to mind Leo, the nobleman I’d started training, and I must have flushed a little.
Alice noticed. “Oh! Tisi, what is it? Are you well?” Alice asked.
Emri sat nearby in another chair, listening intently. She was a bit more worldly and very perceptive.
“No, I believe your mention of a visit got my niece thinking of someone visiting her. Is that right? A man perhaps?” my aunt said with a knowing smile. She seemed happy that I might have finally found a suitor.
“Yes,” I breathed and laughed.
“Oh, Tisi! That’s wonderful, who is he?” Alice asked, squeezing my hand, with little strength in the gesture.
“His name is Leo. One of the many nobles named after your brother.”
“Yes,” Alice laughed. “There was an abundance of Leos after my brother was named. It seemed to catch on amongst the nobility.”
“Well, one of them found me,” I said.
“A noble?” my aunt asked, very curious and excited.
“Yes, but… he’s not interested in me in the way you think, at least, not yet. He came to me for combat lessons, practice with a sword. I don’t know why he came to me when many others in the city could train him. Yet he seems glad I took him on and he’s paying me well.”
“And is he handsome?” Alice asked, flushing a little. She’d never married. No man had even been allowed to court her. Her mother had forbidden it. Such… excitement… would be too much for her. And in truth, it might be. Certainly, the trials of childbirth would have been brutal, if not fatal for Alice. But still, she’d been denied so much, so she had to live vicariously through others.
“Not handsome,” I said finding myself blushing a little more. “But beautiful , with delicate features and soft, caring eyes.” I wasn’t sure where that description had come from. It was true, but I wouldn’t usually have described anyone that way.
“Oh, you have fallen for him, haven’t you?” Emri said with a laugh.
“You certainly speak of him as a lover might,” Alice added.
I laughed. This was all so new for me. I drew a long breath to calm myself.
“Perhaps, but I have no clue if he feels the same, and even if he did, the chances of a relationship would be slim. He’s a noble and I’m not. We might… have a little fun, but it could never go farther than that.”
“Trust me, girl, have some fun if you get the chance. Love, or even just the passing affections of something like this are… rare.” My aunt ended with a sigh. She spoke from experience.
She’d never married.
I’d gone to live with her when she was just sixteen. And having a baby in her life — even one that wasn’t her own — had made it very difficult for her to find a man to court her. She’d never complained about it, and it had turned out to be a boon when she’d been selected to be Princess Alice’s lady’s maid, since the position was for an unwed woman.
Still…
I nodded to her. Perhaps I would ask Leo if he’d like… something else . Or perhaps he might ask me first? I didn’t think it likely, but I could hope.
“What brings you to the palace?” Alice asked and I was caught a little off guard. I should have expected a question like this. I couldn’t tell them I was bringing Prince Victor’s mistress.
“I… just wanted to see you both. It’s been so long,” I lied. It had been too long. I should have come to see them on my own without having had any other reason to come, which meant I now felt horrible.
“It has,” Alice said with a smile. “I’m glad you came.” She sighed. “As you might have noticed, today’s been a rough day.”
At times, it was almost impossible to tell Alice was afflicted. Some days she felt well enough to walk in the palace gardens, though no farther than that. Today she seemed particularly weak.
Alice looked out the many windows streaming sunlight into her rooms. “Sometimes I think that we are connected, Tisi,” she said a bit dreamily. “Two parts of some whole. The world made me weak so you could be strong, as strong as a man, perhaps stronger.” She smiled, though it was tinged with sadness.
“I… I never knew…” I said softly. It was an interesting compliment, if a horrible thought. I certainly hoped that I hadn’t taken strength from another to become who I was. “If I could give you my strength…” I would help her if I could.
She turned to me, the sad smile growing bright. “You do give me strength Tisi. That’s the other reason I have this strange fantasy, because every time you’re here I always feel stronger.” She squeezed my hand again and oddly… it was more forceful.
“I’m… touched,” I said. “I’m glad my visits help.”
“They do,” my aunt said softly. “Very much.” I sensed a subtle admonition in those words. I shouldn’t be a stranger.
“I’ll come more often,” I vowed. Certainly, I’d be here at the palace much more often now, with Veora’s visits. “It’s a promise.”
“I’m so glad,” Alice said. “Now.” She perked up, definitely livelier than when I’d arrived. “What else is new in your life Tisi? You must tell us everything!”
So, I did. Though there wasn’t much new to tell. I didn’t feel comfortable mentioning Prince Victor, at least not yet, so not much else in my life had changed. Yet, when conversation turned from me to life at the palace, Prince Victor quickly came up. Alice was conspicuously silent, but my aunt had a lot to say:
“I can’t believe that man! He seemed perfectly respectable and reasonable, then suddenly he’s pushing his wife and family away and seeing this hussy! I don’t know who to blame: this new noblewoman, whoever she is, or Prince Victor himself for being so weak willed and lustful as to pursue her! It’s shameful. The man should be flogged for his infidelity. It makes me glad I never married. Men can be so… ugh! Just… like… Men !”
I couldn’t fault that logic. Certainly, the one man I’d thought I’d loved had broken my heart, leaving me after the war with only the words: “I’ll be back!” But Kel had never come back. He’d returned to Pearlia and apparently forgotten about me.
We continued to chat until the fourth bell, when I made my way back to Prince Victor’s rooms. Veora was flushed and a little disheveled, but she hid it well.
I walked her back to her house, then returned home.
When I arrived, Daz was there with an odd look on his face.
“You’d said you’d gotten a couple of new jobs, but I’d never expected…” He motioned to a small chest on the table. “Someone came by while you were out and dropped that off. There are twenty-four strips of silver in it! They said it was three months’ payment. What job did you get: guarding a prince?”
Close.
“Not quite.” I smiled at the look of wonder on his soft brown features. “Let me get changed out of this damned dress, then I’ll tell you all about it.”
I was halfway to my room, with one of the ties on the dress already undone when Daz called to me. “No! Ah… wait… Leave the dress on.”
I turned back with a questioning glance, one brow raised.
He smiled. “A celebratory meal deserves a special dress, doesn’t it?”
I cocked my head. He wasn’t wrong. “And what will you wear?” I asked.
He blinked. “Ah… well… I’ve got some nice things I could put on.”
“Are they comfortable?” I asked. Because this dress wasn’t: not with the way the ties sinched tightly around my waist and under my bust and the restrictive shoulders, not to mention the draft up my legs.
“Well… no… but…”
“Deal,” I said. “I’ll wear this uncomfortable thing, if you wear your most uncomfortable thing, and we’ll both be uncomfortable together eating a special dinner.”
He grinned, then laughed. “Deal.”
I liked it when Daz laughed, so light and free, a truly joyous sound, which filled me with warmth. Yet he did it so rarely. He was too serious and up tight.
He changed, returning in a tightly-fitted suit, which accentuated his strong shoulders and arms, taut over his rolling muscles. The entire ensemble was black, a buttoned shirt under the snug coat, and well-trimmed pants falling perfectly to just above his booted feet.
“Very dashing!” I said, hoping that was the appropriate sisterly comment. His words from this morning about my dress still sat uneasy with me.
He smiled, and even blushed a little, before returning to the cooking area to gather the meal he’d made.
I sat at the table, watching as he brought the various dishes over. “So, what have you cooked up for me?”
He laughed again. “I don’t know if it’s worth twenty-four strips of silver, but I’ve done what I could with the wide variety of foods you bought.”
Oh, right, I’d been going to tell him about my new jobs. So, as he finished bringing the last couple items to the table, I told him about my work for the prince and that it was highly sensitive and not to tell anyone. He already knew about Leo, but I mentioned that his lessons might continue for a while as well.
“Then you have certainly earned this meal,” he said, dishing out the dinner he’d made onto two plates. “I hope you enjoy it.”
And I did, very much. The mix of flavors, some strong, some delicate, was perfect. The textures and tastes danced on my tongue and filled me with such delight I actually moaned and sighed my way through the various bites.
“This is almost better than sex!” I said around a mouthful, savoring it. I’d never had an orgasm from food before, but this came very close.
Daz blushed again, dark red staining his soft brown cheeks. “Ah… thanks?” he said softly.
He always got so flustered at talk of sex.
Oh! That reminded me. “You need to tell Avela how you feel and get that woman into bed,” I said as I reached for some wine.
He gaped at me.
I shook my head. Sometimes I wondered if the man was a virgin. He always got so fidgety and awkward whenever I mentioned sex.
“If you haven’t been with a woman before, I could tell you some things she’d like.” Though I wasn’t like most women, so perhaps I shouldn’t give advice. “Avela probably doesn’t like it as rough as I do, so maybe not. But definitely, make sure to use your?—”
“Dizzy, no!” His voice rose a few octaves as he cut me off, eyes wide. “No… I… you…” His lips moved with no sound before he found his words. “Avela and I are just friends, nothing more. I’d never think of bedding her. She’s… she’s not my type.” He drew in a long breath. “Actually?—”
“Then take some of this silver and buy yourself a top-notch whore,” I suggested. “Pick out a pretty girl you like and wet your whistle with her.”
He blanched. “Dizzy, no… I…”
I laughed at his awkward stammering. True, I wasn’t one for whores either, but he really needed to get laid. And being the vicious sister I was, I couldn’t help but goad him a bit more.
“If you’re shy, I’m sure she’d teach you a thing or two. Actually, your birthday is coming up, isn’t it? Maybe I’ll buy one for you. Some round wench, all oiled up and ready for love. You’re always getting me nice things, it’s time I returned the favor.”
It had been a joke, but the way Daz looked at me, gaping, mouth bobbing open and closed, like a fish, he thought I was serious.
Still, he looked so silly I had to laugh. I couldn’t figure out why he was so shocked by this. Though, if he was a virgin, then perhaps this was all a bit too much for him. Or, if he wasn’t interested in Avela or other women, then…
“Or… do you like men?” In truth I didn’t know what he liked. He’d never spoken of his affections at all. “No worries, I could get you a man if you like? A hard, handsome bloke, oiled up and ready for love. Or maybe one of each if you don’t know which you want yet?”
Daz choked on nothing, coughing and sputtering.
I laughed harder, then sighed.
I didn’t know what I could do to help the man lighten up. He seemed insistent on remaining clammed up, high-strung, and celibate. Though, to be fair, I hadn’t had sex in a while either, but that’s because I was picky.
Perhaps he was picky too?
Daz got up and walked out, still coughing and sputtering and bright red in the face. I’d teased him too much.
Still, he’d have to get laid someday. I just hoped he’d find the right partner soon and loosen up a bit.
Shaking my head, I went back to the glorious meal he’d made, feeling just the tiniest bit guilty about what I’d said. I shouldn’t tease him so much… but then… he shouldn’t make it so fun!