4. Chapter 4 #2
“No, I had planned to be gone until morning,” he said, his words stiff.
“I’m sorry you had to change your plans because of me.”
“I’m not. My plans to amuse myself are hardly worth your life.” He sat back and folded his arms over his chest, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the seat.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d ridden in a carriage. I knew my parents had one, and I’d often gone with them, but those memories were dim.
It took only a few minutes to arrive at the castle, which was much larger than I had anticipated.
When the government of Branfrie had shifted from the rule of royalty to those with magic, most of the royal and noble residences had fallen into disrepair as those families lost both their influence and their affluence.
The only castle I’d ever seen was the one where I’d resided.
My corner tower had not offered a view of the rest of the castle, however, and I had moved there so many years ago that I could not even say how large it had been.
The carriage rolled to a stop in front of a set of huge, carved wooden doors.
Prince Tavric got out of the carriage first and then urged me to follow.
The cobblestones of the drive were smooth under my feet, and as I looked up and gaped at all the shadowed majesty, Tavric pulled me along until we entered the enormous grand hall inside the castle.
And then I gaped some more. Even with only a few torches to light the hallway, it was spectacular, and I wondered what it would look like in full daylight.
“Tavric, really?” a woman called from down the corridor.
She was wrapped in a dressing gown but had a regal bearing and the look of a mother.
“The middle of the night? You come wandering in in the middle of the night! You should have returned from your inspection well before sunset. It’s bad enough that you take off without warning on these little adventures of yours, but it’s the height of discourtesy to wander in at all hours and expect—”
Her Majesty had finally looked away from her son long enough to catch sight of me. She fell silent, and I watched her eyes go just about as wide as I’d ever seen before an enormous grin curled her mouth and lit up her entire face.
Tavric leaned down to murmur in my ear. “I told you she’d be happy to see you.”
“My darling, what have we here?” Tavric’s mother rushed forward, reaching her hands out toward me as she addressed him.
“Mama, this is Lyrielle. Lyrielle, this is my mother, Queen Ondyra.”
“A pleasure, Your Majesty.” I did my best to sink into a curtsey but utterly failed. I’d never had a reason to curtsey to anyone before.
“And you,” the queen said as she grasped my hands and gave them a squeeze. “But tell me, how did you come to be here?”
“I fished her from the ocean, if you’ll believe it,” Prince Tavric explained.
The queen’s look indicated that she didn’t know if she should take him seriously or not. “You did what?” she asked, her eyes bouncing from her son to me and back again.
“It was quite terrifying, to tell the truth. We spotted her in the water, nearly drowning, and I jumped in to retrieve her.” He made it sound simple, and yet there was something in his tone suggesting that he truly had been terrified.
The queen’s eyes fixed on my face, compassion tugging on her features. “You poor dear,” she said, wrapping a protective arm around my shoulders and anchoring me to her side before guiding me further into the castle.
TAVRIC
As my mother pulled Lyrielle along at her side, the confused little mermaid looked over her shoulder, unsure but not frightened. I gave her an encouraging nod, knowing full well that my mother would slather her with an excess of love. Could one be drowned by love? Hopefully not.
I just hoped that my mother didn’t get it into her head that Lyrielle should be a permanent guest. Mama was a matchmaker at heart, and I had a feeling that if she became attached to our mysterious guest who seemed in need of a home, she might get it into her head that I should be her home.
And aside from the fact that Lyrielle and I didn’t know each other, or that I felt no need to rush to the altar, there was still Melody to consider.
I sounded like a fool, like I’d had my head addled by a siren, which was why I never said any of it out loud. I would continue my search for Melody and hope that the ocean gifted me the chance to at least see her, just once. Just to say thank you. Just to assure myself that she was real.
I was a fool, indeed.
I should have been dead tired and ready to retire myself, but the mystery of Lyrielle’s origins swirled fiercely in my head, so I turned to the library.
The rows of books were a comfort, and the desks gave me room to work.
I lit several lanterns before going in search of answers, pulling out atlases and histories, hunting for any reference to a place called Branfrie.
I pulled out maps, digging out the oldest ones I could find and looking over each one carefully, hoping I’d find it somewhere.
I turned pages and scoured maps until my eyes were dry and gritty and I couldn’t keep them open. But I never found any references to Branfrie. It was like it didn’t exist.
Despite my failure, the mystery ate at me and I couldn’t leave it alone. It was the same sort of fixation I’d felt after Melody had saved me, and I fell asleep in a chair in front of the fire, a giant book open on my chest.
I jerked awake when someone shook my shoulder.
“Hello, Brother, I come bearing good news,” Dorian said without preamble as he stood over me. He was less than two years younger than me, with hair as fair as mine was dark.
I blinked and tried to shake the sleep from my head, but also smiled at Dorian’s greeting. “Glad to see you made it back safely.” I stood to embrace him.
He pounded on my back. “I was back last night, but you were off galavanting on your ship again.” He pulled back and squeezed my shoulder with a frown. “How’s Father?”
I opened my mouth but couldn’t find the words. “You’ll have to go see him for yourself.”
His expression turned grim. “Right.” He went to sit in a chair by the fireplace, slouching into it and looking exhausted. “I hear you brought home a stray.”
My muscles tensed and I sucked a breath through my nose. “Don’t call her that. She’s been through enough,” I chastised as I sank into the chair opposite him.
He lifted a brow. “You better not have developed feelings for her.”
I scoffed. “I met her less than twelve hours ago, Dorian. Don’t be daft.”
“Glad to hear it. Now ask me how my diplomatic mission went.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “Tell me.”
“We will soon have a guest.” His tone tried and failed to sound enthusiastic.
I frowned. “Are the Ravencairn royalty coming for a visit?” It wasn’t good timing, not at all.
“Not all of them. Just one. Princess Saria is coming here, Tav.”
“Congratulations,” I said, confused by his stormy countenance. Dorian and my parents had been hoping to make a marriage alliance with Ravencairn, and it looked like they were close to succeeding.
“Not for me, you idiot. She doesn’t want me. Why would she when the crown prince of Islewyn is as yet unwed?” There was a bitterness to his tone, but I couldn’t focus on it.
“Excuse me?” Surely I’d misheard; he wasn’t really suggesting—
“Brace yourself, Tav.” He pulled a flask from his boot. “You’re about to be betrothed.” He raised it and then took a swig of whatever spirits were in the flask.
I was dumbfounded. “That’s…that’s not funny.”
“It’s really not,” he said as he leaned his elbows on his knees. “The stupid thing is that I actually thought she and I would make a good match.” He tried to look nonchalant about it, but I could tell that he was wounded.
Perhaps stating the obvious would help. “I’m not going to marry her.”
“Of course you are.” His tone was resigned, almost bored.
“Give me one good reason why.”
He sat forward, his eyes snapping with fire. “I’ll give you three. Princess Saria is delightful. Ravencairn is a powerful ally, and you will be king much sooner than any of us wish.”
My shock turned to pure anger. “You can’t drag a girl home with you and assume I’ll marry her. Are you mad?”
“Believe me, this wasn’t my first choice—it’s hers.
But, by all means, if you don’t want to give a beautiful, cultured woman a chance, then go ahead, tell the Princess of Ravencairn to turn her ship around and go home.
I’m certain that will end stupendously.” He took another harsh swig from his flask.
“You’ll undo all the goodwill I’ve accrued by going on this pathetic, diplomatic mission. ”
“I was not the one to invite her here,” I pointed out, my clothes feeling suddenly itchy and the room too warm.
He just shrugged.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “When is she coming?”
“A fortnight.”
It was both more time than I had feared and far less than I needed.
“I will treat her with respect and dignity. However,” I said as I looked up and fixed him with a stern glare, “if you somehow gave her the idea that I would jump at the chance to marry her, that’s your fault, not mine.”
“I don’t know why you’re acting like this is some great imposition,” he grumbled. “I’m basically hand delivering you the perfect queen. Just say thank you, Tav.”
I bit my tongue, too uncomfortable to keep fighting and too aware of how dejected my brother looked. “We’ll talk of this later. I have to check on Father, and you should too.”
Leaving the library, I traversed the castle corridors in the early morning light as I tried to breathe through the shock of what Dorian had told me.
Surely Princess Saria would not truly expect a proposal.
The very idea made my chest tighten, and the sound of my own feet hitting the stone floor echoed in my head.