AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Princess Bella held out her hand, and one of her guards helped her step delicately from the bridge onto the deck of the Tarenhieli ship.
Edmund stepped forward, swept his hat off his head, and gave a gallant bow. “Welcome to Escarland, Princess Bella. I hope you enjoy your stay in my fair kingdom.”
“As I hope you enjoy your stay in mine. Landri is particularly lovely this time of year.” Princess Bella’s smile flashed a row of perfectly straight, white teeth. Almost too perfect. Had she worked with some human magician to get her teeth that perfect?
“I look forward to seeing it.” Edmund put on an even dopier smile as he turned to Jalissa. “Come, my muffin cake. We should step aboard.”
Jalissa took his arm, wrapping her hand over his bicep in the human style this time. The better to give him a hard squeeze. Mild revenge for the nickname, probably. “Yes, dear. You are due for your mid-morning nap.”
“Yes. We had to be up atrociously early. Abominable hour to rise and all that.” Edmund steered her toward the swaying bridge, then hesitated to step onto the first, swaying section. “Is it truly safe, you think?”
“It is far safer than the bridges of my kingdom.” Jalissa tugged him forward, her face twisted with a mix of elven aloofness and a frustrated fondness. Playing her role to perfection.
“Right you are, my flower blossom.” Edmund squeezed his eyes shut. “I’ll just keep my eyes closed and let you lead me across like you always do.”
Jalissa’s soft, frustrated huff seemed more real than exaggerated this time. But she obligingly steered him onto the bridge.
After the first few steps, Edmund cracked his eyes open, though he still kept up the pretense of staggering and wandering, as if needing constant guidance from Jalissa to keep him from taking a tumble.
Sarya followed closely behind them, all icy wariness. There would be no mistaking her for anything but a guard, and there was no reason for her to play a role.
Behind her, the two Escarlish guards filed onto the bridge in their matching uniforms. Well, they were posing as guards, at any rate. They were from the Intelligence Office. One of them, James, was a spy who had worked in Mongavaria and been forced to flee six months ago. He had bravely volunteered to return to Mongavaria to lend his expertise to Edmund and Jalissa. If all went well, he would quietly disappear during their departure to aid in rebuilding the new Escarlish spying network under a new false identity.
As they stepped onto the teak deck of the Mongavarian ironclad, a Mongavarian nobleman dressed in a neatly tailored black coat and white trousers approached and bobbed a half-bow to them. “Prince Edmund, Princess Jalissa, welcome to Mongavaria. I am Lord Crest, member of King Solan’s Consular Prime.”
Edmund nodded in return, keeping his empty and genial expression in place. “It is our pleasure to be here, Lord Crest.”
In Mongavaria, the Consular Prime was a group of the ranking nobles in the land. For centuries, what had then been Mongalia had remained an absolute monarchy with the Consular Prime merely a group of advisors. In recent years, the Consular Prime had been trying to wrest some of the power from the king to become more like a Parliament than a mere council. Some of the nobles had done it out of an honorable concern for the direction of the kingdom. Others were simply power hungry.
Which one was Lord Crest? Honorable man concerned for his kingdom? Or a lord coveting the power of the king for himself?
Or perhaps a little bit of both?
Jalissa drew Edmund to the side as crews from both ships started hauling Princess Bella’s luggage to the Tarenhieli ship and their luggage over to the Mongavarian ship. Compared to their mountain of luggage, Princess Bella had a mere three trunks.
Was she simply disciplined when packing? Did she plan to buy the things she’d need in Escarland?
Or…was she, like them, packing with the knowledge that whatever she took might get left behind?
Either way, Farrendel’s magic didn’t trigger as the trunks passed over, so they likely didn’t contain any weapons, even if they had hidden compartments.
Lord Crest gestured toward a hatchway. “If you would follow me, Your Highnesses, I will show you to your quarters to settle in. Lunch will be served in the captain’s quarters shortly.”
“Linshi.” Jalissa bobbed her head in a regal fashion.
Edmund leaned closer to Lord Crest and stage-whispered, “That meansthank-you. It is one of the few words of elvish I know.”
He said the last line with a smug note, as if it was a huge accomplishment to pick up a word or two while married to an elf.
“Ah, yes, Your Highness.” Lord Crest coughed, then gestured again. “Please follow me.”
He and Jalissa followed Lord Crest to a large cabin. As soon as Lord Crest stepped out and Edmund closed the door firmly behind him, Jalissa gave a sigh and leaned against the bank of windows that looked out the stern of the ship. “Muffin cake? Flower blossom? Really?”
“What? You don’t like ridiculous nicknames?” Edmund smirked at her, crossing his arms. It felt good to let his real expression break through, his face aching as if it physically hurt to keep up the vague geniality.
“No.” Jalissa pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”
Edmund pushed away from the door, crossed the cabin, and pulled her into his arms. “I know. Keeping up a pretense isn’t easy.”
