Ascendant (42 page)

The wizard was
right, the weather did turn foul, with clouds and cold, and a drizzle, with
sleet falling at night. The day they returned to the castle, a wet snow fell,
covering the roads and making the horses slip in the mud.

Paedris
hurried from the stable up to his tower, telling Koren his old bones needed to
get out of the cold. It took Koren two hours to get the horses groomed and fed
and settled in their stalls, and the saddles cleaned and stored away. With the
work done, Koren headed up to the royal kitchens with a gang of boys to see
what they could find to eat. The boys were in a playful mood because of the
unexpected early Spring snowfall, laughing and joking, running around the weary
Koren. When they came through the gate in the castle wall, a boy in front saw
some of his friends on the other side of the courtyard, and with a shout, threw
a snowball. The packed ball of wet snow arced high through the air toward the
surprised boy, but it was Koren
’
s
friends who were most surprised, for while the snowball was in the air, Ariana
came around the corner, and the intended target ducked out of the way. The
snowball hit Ariana square in the chest, splattering her all over, and soaking
her dress. The crown princess sputtered, melting chunks of snow dripping down
her face.

There was a
tense moment as the pair of royal guards in Ariana
’
s party reached for their
weapons, and Koren and his friends froze in horror. Assaulting royalty could
get a person, even a young boy, thrown into the dungeon.

Ariana held up
one hand to stay her guards, while her other hand wiped the melting snow off
her face. Without a word, she bent down to scoop snow from the courtyard and
packed it into a ball.
“
Charge!
”
She shouted, and the
fight was on.

Snowballs flew
back and forth, and the fight raged, with the royal guards stepping aside and
letting the children have fun. Soon everyone had been thoroughly smacked with
snow. The ruckus attracted the attention of Carlana, who was walking down a
corridor where windows overlooked the courtyard.
“
Oh, dear, what a shame.
”
One of the Regent
’
s maids exclaimed.
“
That is no way for a young
lady to-
“

“
Oh, hush, Matilda.
”
Carlana said with a
wistful smile.
“
She
is young, and growing up too fast. Let her be a girl for a while longer.
”

Down in the
courtyard, the two sides had moved closer, each side barely having time to pack
the snow into balls before throwing. Koren took shelter behind a wagon, as he
stood up to throw, he caught two well-aimed snowballs right in his face. He
fell backwards onto the cobblestones.

Ariana put her
hands to her mouth in fear for Koren. Forgetting about the fight, she raced
around the back of the wagon to see if Koren was injured, slipped in the snow,
and fell right on top of him.

“
Ooof!
”
Koren tried to catch his
breath, with Ariana
’
s
knee digging into his stomach.
“
You
’
re heavy!
”

“
Oh no, did I hurt you?!
”
Ariana cried in distress.
When she had seen Koren across the courtyard, her only thought had been to run
over to him, and tell him it was terribly unfair that he was not getting proper
credit for finding the Cornerstone, and that it hadn
’
t been her idea, and that
someday she would be queen, and then she could see that he was recognized as a
hero for saving her, and she was so sorry-

And Koren
’
s face was only inches
from hers, and he looked so cute, with his mop of dark curly hair falling
across his eyes, and his face wet with melting snow, and his eyes sparkling-

In the
corridor above, Carlana
’
s
saw that her daughter, the future queen, was laying on top of  a commoner
boy, and going to kiss him, right in the courtyard of the castle! Her maids
also saw what was going to happen, and gasped in shock. Carlana
’
s hands flew to the
window, fingers fumbling with the handle to fling the window open.

Ariana had
never kissed a boy before, but it seemed so natural. She closed her eyes, and-

And shrieked
in shock as Koren stuffed a handful of snow down the back of her dress. They
both jumped to their feet, Koren laughing and grinning, Ariana hopping around,
tugging on her dress as the cold slush dripped down her back.
“
Oh, you are the most
rotten-
“

“
Ha! I got you!
”
Koren laughed, dancing
away as Ariana tried to tackle him.

Up in the
window, Carlana pressed a hand to her heart in relief. Matilda the maid
observed knowingly
“
Girls
at her age are interested in boys, before the boys are ready.
”

“
Yes. Still, I think you
were right the first time, it is time that I treat my daughter as a young lady,
instead of a girl.
”
The Regent sighed.
“
I
wish she never had to grow up.
”

“
Every mother wishes so,
your Highness.
”

Ariana gave up
trying to catch Koren, and rubbed her back up against the wagon to soothe her
wet, frozen skin. Around them the snowball fight had died down, with the
combatants trying to wipe the snow off their own sodden clothes.
“
Sorry about the snow.
”
Koren said, regretting
that he
’
d
stuffed snow in her clothes. It had been an impulsive act, that now seemed
immature and stupid.
“
Can
I help?
”

“
No, I got it.
”
Ariana laughed.
“
Koren, I
’
m sorry, about-
”
She looked around her,
people were too close for her to speak freely.
“
About, you know.
”

Koren frowned,
then shrugged, his mouth dry with nervousness at being so close to her, his
stomach dancing with butterflies.
“
Paedris
explained it to me. You
’
re
the crown princess, I
’
m
a servant. Besides, it was your idea for us to look for, you know.
”

“
Still, it
’
s not fair.
”

“
Life isn
’
t fair.
”
Koren said with a wink.

“
People tell me that all
the time.
”

“
So.
”

“
So. Uh,
”
Ariana didn
’
t know what to say. A
moment before, she had been about to kiss Koren.
“
How was your, uh, where did you go?
”

Koren scuffed
his boots on cobblestones. Talking to Ariana was suddenly awkward, and he didn
’
t know why. 
“
Oh, nowhere special,
digging roots for potions, and Paedris was healing people along the way. It was
fun, to be out of the castle for a while.
”

“
Good. That
’
s good. Really, uh, really
good.
”

“
Your Highness?
”
A guard asked, coming
around the wagon.
“
You
should change out of those wet clothes before you catch a sickness.
”

“
Yes, I suppose. Koren,
will I see you sometime?
”

Koren made an
exaggerated bow.
“
Most
certainly, Your Highness.
”

“
I agree, this is not good.
”
Paedris muttered. He took
a sip of wine, taking time to gather his thoughts.
“
Still, I am not surprised.
He is a young boy, and, princess or not, she is a young girl. And you told me
she has admired Koren as a hero since the day he saved her.
”
And their fates are tied,
although he said nothing of that to the Regent.

“
Has Koren said anything to
you?
”
Carlana
asked. She had not mentioned to her daughter that she saw her almost kissing
Koren, but she would have to talk to Ariana about it someday.

“
No, nothing special. Of
course, he does talk about Ariana often, but I expected that was because he was
excited to be invited to the palace. Not many servant boys get invited to lunch
with the crown princess.
”
Paedris swirled the wine in his glass, then gulped it and set the glass down.
The discussion had him too upset to enjoy a fine wine.
“
We shall have to keep them
apart, I suppose.
”

“
I do think that is best.
”

“
In the summer, I would
likely be out with the army anyway,
”
Paedris glanced at the Regent to see her reaction to the idea of the army
fighting again. Carlana
’
s
frown deepened, so he dropped the subject.
“
Until then, I can take Koren with me to visit
Rellanon." As he said it, the idea sounded better and better to Paedris.
Rellanon province lay to the southeast of Linden, where springtime came sooner.
Duke Magnico, a steady friend of the Trehaymes, had a cozy guest house where
Paedris could stay, away in the hills, surrounded, as Paedris remembered, by
well-tended gardens, and a lake stocked with fat trout. Yes, that sounded like
a very good idea. And not just because it would keep Koren and Ariana apart,
for young passions to cool. "Such a journey would keep me away for several
weeks, probably until the Cornerstone festival.
”

“
You could leave soon,
then?
”

“
Ariana, we need to talk.
”
Carlana said, as she
waved her maids away for privacy. Mother and daughter, Regent and crown
princess, had been discussing plans for the Cornerstone festival, and while
Carlana had been concerned about seating arrangements for the guests, Ariana
had been talking Koren this, and Koren that, half her words were Koren, Koren,
Koren.

After the
maids had closed the door behind them, Carlana took her daughter
’
s hand gently in her own.
“
Ariana, I understand that
Koren has done wonderful things, amazing things. I understand why you admire
him, but, you do know there can never be anything between you two?
”

“
What?
”
Ariana protested, a bit
too forcefully.
“
I
don
’
t,
”
tears in her eyes told
that she had been about to lie.
“
It
’
s not fair! Koren should
be a knight already, for saving me. Now he finds the Cornerstone, and he gets
nothing for it?
”

“
You know why we can
’
t-
“

“
I know why, and I hate it.
It
’
s not fair
to Koren. It
’
s
not fair to anyone!
”
She angrily wiped away her tears with a napkin.
“
Sometimes I hate being princess. Everyone
thinks it
’
s so
great to be a princess, and it
’
s
not. I can
’
t
even be friends with a boy, because all the Dukes and Duchesses want me to
marry one of their horrible sons!
”

“
We can
’
t all marry for love,
Ariana. Not many women do, I
’
m
afraid.
”

“
Did you?
”
Ariana asked through a
sniffle.
“
Did
you love Daddy?
”

Carlana pursed
her lips, paused for a moment, then shook her head.
“
Not when I married him, I
didn
’
t love
him. I was afraid of him. But later, yes, when I saw how kind he was, how much
he cared for me, and his people, and then how much he loved you. Yes, I did
grow to love him, very dearly.
”