"And you, Angelica, here in Fernland! Do you live here now? When did you find out I was Princess Electra?"
"For a short time I was supposed to be you. It was Serafina’s plan to keep them from finding you. But I am explaining it badly." She stood aside and waved Electra through the narrow doorway. "Please come in, we’ve so much to tell each other."
While they sat together near Angelica’s little stone fireplace, Electra listened to the story of Angelica’s sea voyage and her subsequent marriage to Muller the Spy. Electra looked at the dying embers and realized suddenly that she had been gone far too long from the castle. She interrupted Angelica’s tale.
"Where is your husband off to just now? I saw him leave as I neared you house," Electra said.
"He wouldn’t say. Some business for the king. Some dark deed I’d venture as he packed his knives and cudgel."
"I believe he just came from a meeting with my father," Electra said, hoping for more information. Instead, Angelica changed the subject.
"Isn’t this incredible, how we’ve both come to live in Fernland? And you, all this time not knowing you were a princess. Can you believe it?"
"I am beginning to," Electra said. "The title comes linked with its own set of problems. Even now, my absence has probably become a matter of concern." She stood up to leave.
"But you’ve only just got here," Angelica protested.
"It seems my life is no longer entirely my own," Electra said. "I had best return before a search is organized. But Ido look forward to a longer visit soon." Electra rushed out the door before Angelica could say goodbye.
Electra ran back up the castle steps. She tried to sort out everything she had heard. Was Muller on his way to kill Dagon? Surely he wouldn’t try such a thing while Avor was still a prisoner. Still, with knives and cudgels…She had been right not to trust the king. He thought her a silly girl.
She came to a long hallway that looked dark and unfamiliar. The stone walls dripped condensation. She backtracked to the throne room entrance and down a different corridor. Should she try to get a message to Dagon? He would surely be at the banquet tonight. She tried to calm her breathing as she entered her room.
"Where have you been?" Delphinia asked, jumping up from the bed.
She tried to sound cheerful but Electra could see that she had been worried.
"King Geoffrey asked to see me, I became lost, returning to my room," Electra said.
"Of course, you would. How careless of me not to have assigned a lady to wait upon you. We will find someone at once to accompany you..., until you become more familiar with the castle."
Delphinia and Electra spent the remainder of the day with dressmakers and jewelers, getting ready for the evening’s festivities. Electra’s thoughts kept returning to Muller and his knives, but she still wasn’t sure what to make of it. One thing she knew for certain—her father meant to undo the alliance if he could.
At the appointed time Electra walked into the receiving hall beside her mother and father. She wore a light green chiffon gown and a small diamond tiara. Her arrival at the hall was met with thunderous applause and shouts. "Long live King Geoffrey and Queen Delphinia! Long live Princess Electra!"
A long line of dignitaries stretched along the wall. The king and queen stopped at the head of the line. "Captain Hanford, so nice to see you," Queen Delphinia said. "This is our daughter, Electra."
General Hanford bowed. "Your Highness."
Electra was unsure of the proper response. Since he didn’t put his hand out, she surmised shaking hands would not do. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said.
The captain lifted his head and smiled at Electra. "We have hoped for this day for so long," he said.
"Thank you," Electra said. She looked at her mother for a clue as to what was expected next, if anything. Her mother beamed happily, and took a step forward.
The next man in line bowed to the king and queen.
"Minister Crespie, I am so glad you could be here," her mother said. "Minister Crespie sees to Fernland’s treasury," she said to Electra. She returned her attention to the minister. "This is our daughter, Electra."
"So nice to meet you," Electra said. She looked at the long line of dignitaries ahead and tried not to sigh aloud.
After the introductions were finally complete, the guests were ushered into an expansive dining room. Electra was only mildly surprised to find Dagon seated at the far end of the table. He had not been included in the introductions and no one had mentioned the upcoming alliance. Electra sat between her mother and Daisy, her newly appointed lady in waiting.
As soon as all the guests were seated, servants in pairs swept into the dining room. While one held the tureen the second ladled the soup into bowls. The king waited until about half the guests had their soup before tasting his. As soon as he tasted it and nodded his acceptance, the other guests joined in. It was a thick soup with chunks of meat and vegetables. Electra realized she was hungry, even though she had consumed a large lunch, and she cleaned her bowl. A servant was immediately on hand to refill it, but she shook her head and he backed away.
The soup bowls were removed and replaced with salads and warm slices of bread.
"Will this be the end of it?" Electra asked Daisy.
Daisy put her fingers to her mouth to suppress a smile. "Oh, no. There will be four more courses with wine, and then, dessert."
"Truly!" Electra said. She picked at a lettuce leaf and glanced down the table at Dagon. He was busy with a second bowl of soup. He probably had no idea how much food was still to come.
Queen Delphinia looked down at Electra’s plate. "I must remember you do not care for salad," she said. "I should have asked your favorite dishes and planned the menu accordingly."
Electra hardly knew how to respond. Telling her mother what a luxury it was to have anything at all to eat after her weeks in Helsop did not seem a good idea.
"It is all delicious," she said. "I am just not accustomed to large meals."
"That would explain why you are so thin," her mother replied. "Thin but lovely," she added quickly.
By the fifth course, the diners were slowing down. As plates of pheasant and potatoes made their appearance, a series of toasts began. The first was made by King Geoffrey.
"We welcome our Princess Electra home after sixteen long years." Cheers, clapping and stamping feet accompanied the drinking. More toasts followed and the servants were kept busy refilling wine glasses. By dessert the diners began to look both tired and tipsy.
Finally, King Geoffrey stood up. All the guests stood as well.
"Delphinia and I thank you all for your warm words of welcome. We thank the fates for our daughter’s return. Only one thing remains to complete our happiness. Tomorrow we begin our journey to Helsop to bring Prince Avor home."
"Hear! Hear!" the guests shouted. The dinner was over. People made ready to leave, most to begin preparations for tomorrow’s journey.
Dagon made his way to Electra’s end of the table.
"You are a vision," he said.
"And you as well," Electra said. Somehow he had managed to find clothes fitted for the occasion. "How goes the alliance negotiation?"
"A simple thing has somehow become complicated with many officials involved," he said. "How goes the reunion with your parents?"
Electra’s expression turned wary and she moved close to speak in a whisper. "I believe my father seeks to subvert the alliance. It is possible your life is in danger. He sent a man…"
Dagon quickly stepped back and bowed as Queen Delphinia moved behind Electra.
"Did you enjoy the banquet, Dagon?" she asked.
"I shall require no more food for a week," he said with a smile.
Delphinia returned his smile. "I plan to arrive in Helsop prepared to celebrate doubly, both Avor’s release and the banns’ posting," she said. "Do you mind terribly if I steal Electra away from you? We have so much to pack before tomorrow."
"Of c
ourse not," Dagon said. "I have matters to attend to as well."
He gave a slight nod to Electra to show that he had understood her warning. "Until tomorrow, then," he said.
"Until tomorrow," Electra said as she accompanied Queen Delphinia out of the banquet hall.
Chapter 56
Electra awoke the next morning from a restless sleep. An array of sounds rose to her window from the courtyard below. She looked out to see a colorful procession taking shape. Soldiers galloped to and fro shouting orders, while servants scurried about, loading their wagons with fruits, vegetables, chickens, cooking pots, tables, chairs, tents, blankets and sundry items. Pigs, cows and sheep were tied behind the wagons. Yoked horses stood ready at the front.
A group of about a hundred men walked and stumbled into the square, shepherded by the palace guard. They shielded their eyes from the sun. Prisoners released from King Geoffrey’s dungeon, no doubt. Already some good has come from the proposed alliance, Electra thought.
Coaches and wagons for the royal family and their ministers were driven into place. Entertainers and musicians assembled around wagons decorated with red and gold streamers. It looked as though half of Fernland would be making the trip to Helsop.
Electra turned away from the window to find Queen Delphinia coming through the door to her room.
"I had to come at once to see you were truly here, and not just a dream," the queen said. "It is a gift to see you seated before that window. Would that I could keep you here always." She tilted her head to the side and smiled, savoring the moment.
"Good morning," Electra said, "I see preparations for the journey are well underway."
"Yes, soon we will have your brother returned to us as well." She paused, and pressed her fingers to her mouth. "But surely you must return with us for a time. We will finally be a family."
"I have made promises," Electra said.
"But those promises could be delayed, could they not? Besides, it would be unseemly for you to live in Helsop, without a chaperon."
"You may leave a chaperon with me if that is required, but I must be free to come and go as I please." Electra spoke firmly but calmly, hoping her mother would see that further argument was futile.
"Your father will insist on guards, as well; it really would be so much easier if you would just agree to return with us, at least this time, until we can set up a proper place for you to stay when you visit Helsop."
"I already have my own house there. Dagon has assigned guards to protect me," Electra said.
"I doubt that your father will approve. We will have to see this house," Delphinia said. "But we must put that aside for now; what more have you to pack?"
"My new clothes and jewelry are packed. I believe I am ready," Electra said.
A servant girl bustled into the room carrying stacks of materials. She flushed when she saw Electra, and took a step back. Delphinia gave a slight shake of her head and the girl turned to rush down the hallway.
Delphinia tapped her fingers against her lips, "You will need more clothes, of course. I have secured a coach for your dressmaker. She can sew as we travel."
Electra looked with disbelief at her mother, but said nothing. Could more dresses possibly be that important?
"I look forward to the time we will spend together in the carriage on our journey to Helsop. I have so many questions," Delphinia said. "But if we are to arrive prepared, I had best see to things now." The queen smiled and left quickly in a rustle of satin. She turned in the direction the servant girl had taken.
Electra patted her small bundle of belongings, feeling relaxed in knowing she had so few possessions to worry over. She resumed her post at the window.
An hour later the royal family descended the castle stairs and stepped into the royal coach, a large ornate carriage painted and trimmed in gold. Inside, red velvet covered the seats. King Geoffrey waved his hand out the window, a trumpeter blew a loud fanfare, and the long procession started out over the castle drawbridge.
Inside the carriage, Delphinia handed out little pastries to Electra and Geoffrey and settled back into her seat, smiling happily.
"We have a long trip ahead," she said, "a perfect time to hear all about your life growing up in Chase Bound. Tell me, did you ever dream of being a princess?"
Electra laughed, "No, such an idea never crossed my mind. I was always busy learning the properties and uses of things found in the swamp."
Delphinia puckered her lips in an expression of distaste. "I cannot believe Serafina allowed you to live in a swamp. I do not wish to speak ill of the dead, and I know she must have been deranged to have taken you as she did, but she was your aunt. She should have treated you better."
Electra stopped herself from correcting Delphinia’s notion that Serafina was dead. It would only muddle an already delicate situation. After all, she had thought Serafina dead, too, until very recently. She realized she was taking too long to respond and finally replied with a shrug. "I was happy to be her apprentice, even though I never had her gifts for sorcery."
"You have led such an austere life. It must have been difficult," Delphinia said.
"I found it fulfilling. I suspect austerity suits me."
"You will find plenty of that in Helsop," Geoffrey put in.
"Stop, Geoffrey," Delphinia chided, "We have agreed to live by her decision. Perhaps with the alliance, Helsop will begin to prosper."
"That is my hope," Electra said.
King Geoffrey eyed her suspiciously, clenched his jaw and stayed quiet, seemingly content to sit listening as Delphinia, happy for the first time in many years, chattered on.
By the time the procession made camp for the night, Electra felt drained and exhausted by her mother’s exuberant inquisition. She pleaded a fatigue that was not feigned and left their private campfire early for the solitude of her tent.
Finally alone, she began to review the conversation she had overheard between her father and Muller. Was Muller waiting here with his knives and cudgels? Why send him out ahead of the procession? He could as easily have come along with them, looking for an opportunity to dispatch Dagon.
The longer she thought about it, the less sense it made. She needed to talk to Dagon. So far her parents had been successful in keeping them apart. Electra was almost certain that was a deliberate strategy on her father’s part. She wrapped her new fur cape around her and stepped out of the tent. A wary guard stepped in front of her.
"M’Lady?"
"I wish to go for a short walk," she said.
The guard stepped away but followed a few feet behind her.
Electra walked back to the royal campfire, deserted now that the king and queen had retired for the night. She sat down and poked at the dying embers with a stick, occasionally flicking them to and fro, until her guard was distracted by an ember that escaped to set a patch of weeds ablaze. She quickly slipped into the dark forest.
She felt her way through the trees until she reached a moonlit clearing. She recognized Dagon’s saddle at the edge of the clearing. He lay wrapped, head to toe, in a blanket. Beyond him slept the crowd of soldiers newly released from Geoffrey’s dungeon. She moved quietly to where he lay and reached out to shake him awake.
Suddenly she found herself jerked back with a hand across her mouth. As she struggled, she heard Dagon’s whisper.
"You are the worst assassin I’ve ever come across."
"Stop it," she whispered. "I need to speak with you."
He led her away from the sleeping men to a fallen tree trunk, shielded by thick foliage. The dark night hid his expression from her but he reached out for her hand and she felt its warmth.
"I have tried many times to speak with you since your warning, but King Geoffrey’s guards keep me at bay," Dagon said.
"I suspected as much," Electra said. "The king and queen are understandably protective, but I believe there is a political strategy behind it as well."
"Tell me what your father said to you."
; "It is not what he said to me, but what I overheard, that concerns me."
Electra relayed the conversation she had heard between Muller the Spy and her father.
"Geoffrey said, ‘we have the information we need now’," Dagon repeated. "And that was just after you had finished speaking with him?"
"Yes, I had not been honest with him…, but that is another matter."
"What did the two of you talk about?" Dagon asked.
"My reasons for wishing to marry you, what sort of man I thought you to be, how you were treating Avor; the basic concerns a father would have."
"What did you tell him about Avor?" Dagon asked.
"That you hadn’t the resources to detain him as befits royalty, but that you had given him his own tent and were not mistreating him."
"If I were in his place, my first concern would be to free my children. With you safely in hand, that leaves only Avor to be rescued. Were he able to free Avor before we arrive in Helsop, he would have no reason to sign the alliance or to allow our engagement to ensue."
"Do you think him capable of such treachery?" Electra asked, already knowing the answer.
"I would think him unfit to rule were he not capable of it. I sent Deimos back to Helsop after your warning at the banquet, fearing just such a strategy on his part. Deimos will tell Avor he will soon be free, and make sure he is carefully hid."
"Will even an alliance suffice where such distrust runs rampant?" Electra asked.
Dagon held her hand more firmly. "It is a beginning."
"I must return before my guard becomes frantic and raises an alarm," Electra said.
"What did you mean when you said you were not honest with your father?" Dagon asked.
"We will have time soon to discuss it," Electra said, hoping to delay an explanation. Now was not the time to tell him that she had lied to her father about wanting to marry him. "One of my demands is that I be free to come and go as I wish between Helsop and Fernland, and I wish to be free of banquets, dressmakers, and decorators for the foreseeable future. I hope no one has moved into my house in Helsop."
"If someone has, consider him evicted," Dagon said, smiling.
Electra walked back through the trees, whistling, until her frantic guard located her and fell in step behind her.
Chapter 57
Deimos arrived back in Helsop at dawn, barely able to hold on to the reins of his horse. He had ridden two days and nights, stopping only to rest his horse and take short naps along the way. He slid from his mount in front of the command post and called for a soldier to take over the care of his grey stallion.