Chapter One RÉPONDEZ S’IL VOUS PLAÎT Alison #2
“I travel in disguise,” begins Prince Idris, setting down his teacup and glancing at Rinka as if to ask her permission to share the details.
Rinka nods regally. “It prevents attracting too much attention. When I ran into Rinka on the rail-wheeler, I’m afraid I looked quite down on my luck.
Rinka was kind to me. She offered to mend the holes in my trousers. I was taken with her at once.”
Rinka, for her part, didn’t share the prince’s immediate affections. “There were little things about him that didn’t add up. The holes in his trousers, for one. They were in the wrong places. I thought he might have been in the picture-show.”
Rinka regales me at length with her extensive knowledge of the picture-show.
At one point, impressed by her erudition, I offer her a position here at The Loegrian Woman covering the new pictures as they’re released.
She blushes and declines the suggestion, clearly embarrassed by her outburst. But, dear reader, if you could only see how charming she is when she talks of something she loves!
(The only other subject that seems to merit such enthusiasm is the prince himself.)
“She was on to me from the start,” says Prince Idris. His eyes crinkle at the corners when he looks at her. “I’m certain she would have figured me out, too, had it not been for a little interference from Burning Ash.”
Yes, dear reader, Burning Ash. The notorious pirates hailing from the Western Isles, whose raids on innocent cargo vessels and small port towns went from a source of annoyance for the King’s Navy to their top priority following their attack on an unarmed passenger ferry.
The very same ferry that Prince Idris and his new companion were traveling on.
“Of course, there was little I could do with no weapon on me. They knew my identity—knew I’d be on the boat. I foolishly attempted to challenge the pirate captain to fisticuffs, and it landed both of us overboard.”
This part was definitely untrue. “A peace offering to the king,” Alison explained to Willow. “He wants support for stepping up the action against Burning Ash. Idris must have dropped that in there to soften the blow of Rinka’s announcement.”
Miles from the shore and alone at night, Prince Idris and Rinka were all at sea.
“I’m an okay swimmer,” begins Rinka, but Prince Idris interrupts.
“She’s being modest. She’s an excellent swimmer.
It saved our lives.” Rinka explains she learned to swim in the waters of the River Eabrun, a common pastime for those without a summer home to escape to.
“The way they talk about the common folk like they’re some sort of wild species. As if most of their readers aren’t common,” muttered Alison, stroking her dark braid in indignation as she read on.
“We also had some help from a lovely pair of mermaids. They helped us to the shore in exchange for stories,” says Rinka.
I ask them about the stories they told the mermaids, but they get uncharacteristically cagey.
“Just tales of life on the land,” says Rinka.
She quickly changes the subject. “Once we made it to the shore, we found our way to the main road, and from there it was just the matter of a pleasant country walk to Fossholm.”
But they’ve left out the part I wanted to hear the most—how Rinka reacted once she heard who the prince was.
“Oh, I’ll admit I was a bit upset. I had grown rather fond of him, and once I knew who he was, I knew my hopes were in vain.”
But once they’d arrived at their destination, Prince Idris had an idea: “Let’s tell them you’re a noble,” he told her. “Then we can spend the summer together getting to know each other.”
“It was only meant to be for the summer,” says Rinka. “It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone. I thought I’d go back to my life—or I’d start a new one there in Wilderise like I’d planned—and no one would need to know about Lady Rinka of Paistos.”
But they found they couldn’t bear to be apart. “I knew I couldn’t say goodbye to her. This isn’t the kind of woman you say goodbye to.”
I ask if that means what I think it does.
“We’ll see,” says Prince Idris. He winks at me, and it’s so charming I can’t fault Rinka at all for wanting to keep him. “If anything happens, you’ll be the first to know.”
Princess Chloe steps in then to usher me out. I glance back in their direction as I leave, watch them relax as they stop holding their perfect poses. They look at peace with each other, absolutely content in a way I’ve seldom seen.
To pose as a courtier, to fraudulently present yourself as being above your station, is still a crime in this country, although it’s one that’s rarely prosecuted on its own.
And yet I can’t imagine the pair in that room as criminals or schemers or fraudsters or anything more than two people deeply in love, doing what they have to in a world that hasn’t made things easy for them.
I hope, dear reader, that you’ll join me in getting to know them before passing judgment. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
“Well that went as well as it possibly could have,” said Willow. “No mention of magic, but the rest of it sounds like the story you told me. Did she include a note?”
Alison reached into the envelope once more.
My Dearest Alison,
Enclosed you’ll find our magazine debut as well as our response to your invitation. (Of course we’ll be coming! And I graciously accept your offer to be your Maid of Honor. Idris is a bit miffed he’s only to be the Best Man and not being asked to officiate, but I told him to get over himself.)
We’ll both be arriving in Wilderise shortly for the Solstice lighting.
Then Idris will return to begin the spring term, but I’ll stay behind to help you plan for the big day.
I hope you haven’t ordered your dress yet—I’m bringing along a stack of magazines with the latest fashions from Aunt Chloe and Ceri.
Give my love to Willow. I heard it through the grapevine that a certain canine is very excited to see her again.
All my love,
Rinka
Willow purred. “How nice of her to think of me. Is that everyone you invited?”
“Almost,” said Alison. “Nothing yet from Genn and Mab, although Aras wasn’t completely certain about his instruction to tuck the invitation into the hollow of a log. Maybe it never arrived.”
“What about the spriggan?”
Alison shook her head. She had gone into the forest on a warmer day the week before, but he wasn’t in his usual location, and she didn’t want to resort to the breaking of branches method to summon him. “I’ll try again the next time I head to town.”
“If you can even get into town. Those ‘lectric wirers are blocking half the roads. I’ve been stuck walking along the walls to get there.”
Alison didn’t point out how Willow had always preferred to walk along the wall. “It will be worth it in the end. The ‘lectric lights will be wonderful for the Solstice tree lighting. Didn’t you enjoy the ‘lectrics at the College? The ‘lectric can-opener?”
“Good point,” said Willow. “Speaking of—”
Alison smiled and headed into the kitchen to feed the cat. It would be a bit more effort with the manual can opener, but Willow deserved a treat.
She had earned it after all her hard work keeping Alison on task.