Berlina's Quest (16 page)

He sat down, and there was another ten minutes of applause. This time, when it was again quiet, he rose and took the arm of Queen Mother Lystia. The two walked around behind the thrones and into the palace proper.

The crowd sensed that the ceremonies were over and began to disperse, most exiting the palace grounds. A few, like Berlina and Felistia, went inside. “Thank goodness that's over,” said Berlina.

“Do you think this will make any difference with regard to you and Lathan?”

“I don't know. I hope so, but I don't know.”

Six weeks after Darvid's coronation, Queen Mother Lystia passed away. There was a state funeral, and they laid her to rest next to King Samsor. A month of mourning was declared, and most of the citizens of Jylyria wore black, if they had it, or at least black armbands. Even Berlina, who often objected to such observances, wore mostly black during the mourning period.

True to his word, Darvid appointed Berlina an official adviser, and he made sure she did not forget the regular meetings of the advisory council. Darvid had quickly built up a corps of “special messengers” who he could send out to search the palace and bring in members of the council who were not there at least ten minutes early for the meetings. From the way they would pry into everyone's business to deliver messages or fetch in people for meetings, they quickly earned the nickname of “Snoops.”

Berlina and Felistia were sitting and talking when a snoop entered and said, “Princess Berlina, His Majesty would like to see you in his study as soon as possible.”

“What?” asked Berlina. “There's no council meeting set for today.”

“Nonetheless, His Majesty wishes to speak with you. I can escort you, if you wish.”

“No, no. Run along and tell my brother I'll be there. I just have to…er…uh, brush my hair.”

The snoop bowed and left.

“What's the matter, Bee?” asked Felistia.

“I don't know, exactly, but my witch-sense is tingling. I think there is trouble of some sort racing toward us. Go find Lathan and tell him to get out of the palace. Tell him to go someplace where he'll be inconspicuous…the Pink Wyvern, maybe.”

“You want him to go to that dump? Okay, I'll tell him.”

Berlina said, “Just have him tell the innkeeper that I sent him. I have some special arrangements still set up from earlier.” She left the room and strolled slowly down the corridor toward the king's study. Felistia exited a moment later and headed for the quarters of the palace guards.

When Berlina got to the study, she gave a slight bow and said, “Good day, Your Majesty.”

Darvid looked up and said, “Don't worry about the formalities, Berlina. Just have a seat, and tell me where you were yesterday evening when you were supposed to be at the ball.”

“Yesterday evening?” Berlina screwed up her face like she was trying hard to remember. “Oh, I know. I went to see Forsythia. I had some questions about the material we covered in class the day before.”

“Do you have any idea how upset Count Strados was when you didn't show up? He was positively livid. How do you expect to find a husband if you keep insulting the men we ask to escort you to balls and state functions? How do you expect me to retain peaceful, diplomatic relations with their countries?”

“Darvid, will you please stop all this matchmaking? I don't much like balls and would often prefer to skip them. If I do go, I'm capable of either going alone or finding my own escort.”

“You are
not
capable. That's the problem. One time, you showed up on the arm of a palace guardsman. A commoner.
Totally
inappropriate. I told Mother, before she died, that I would make sure to find you a suitable husband, and that's what I'm trying to do. Tell me, the events before the coronation, you never failed to show up for those. What has changed?”

“Obviously, Darvid, our mother never told you about the palace guard ‘Ladies from Hades'. They are for situations where it would be quite out of the question for male guardsmen to deal with female prisoners. I was going to skip one of Mother's events, when six of these amazons showed up in my room. They stripped me and dressed me in a ball gown, then half-carried, half-dragged me down to where I was to meet my escort. After that, I got dressed on my own, thank you.”

“You're kidding, aren't you? Mother wouldn't go to such lengths.”

“Wrong. She did, and if I hadn't gotten the message the first time, she would have done it again.”

“Well, I hope I don't have to find those ‘Ladies from Hades' and use them. When you receive word there is a ball or other social event, and that you will have an escort for it, I expect you to show up and spend the evening with him. Understand?”

“Yes, Darvid. I understand. You are the king, and I must comply with your orders.” She stood up, made a deep curtsy, and sat down again.

“Now, Berlina, no need to get sarcastic. There is another matter. There are rumors floating around that you are…well…messing around with some man. You must realize that such behavior is unseemly, inappropriate for a member of the royal family, and it must cease. Especially since the rumors seem to say the man involved is a commoner. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out who it is, or he'd be in the dungeon before you could blink. What do you say to that?”

“If there were such a man, I suppose I could stop fooling around with him. I could just marry him and get it over with.”

“Berlina! Don't say things like that! The idea of a princess—the king's sister—marrying a commoner is outrageous. Can you imagine what Mother would have said?”

“Darvid, you're sounding more like Mother every day. If and when I marry, it will be someone of my own choosing. Not some Count of Bignutz with whom you want to make a political alliance.”

“I can see I'm going to have to take more drastic steps, have my special messengers keep a closer eye on you. Perhaps make sure you have an escort any time you leave your quarters. I'm going to have to arrest and question anyone I think might be your ‘special interest'. Starting with a couple of servants who are assigned to your quarters. Oh, yes…and that guardsman. I forget his name. The one who was with you when you rescued me.”

“Brother, you are the king, and your word is law. Do your best…or more accurately, your worst. Is that all? May I go, now?”

“Yes, you may go.” He rang a small bell, and two of his special messengers entered. He told them, “Please accompany Her Highness back to her quarters. In the future, she is to be accompanied at all times when she leaves her quarters.”

Berlina and the two snoops left the king's study and went back to her rooms where Felistia was waiting.

When the door closed, Berlina sat down next to her companion and cast a silence spell around the two of them. “Did you get Lathan out of the palace?”

“Yes, I did. I also got him some different clothes, so he wouldn't be immediately recognizable as a palace guard.”

“Good. Darvid has heard rumors that I am, as he put it, messing around with some man, and a commoner at that. He doesn't know who it is, so he plans to pull in just about any man I have contact with and question him. That includes Lathan…if he can remember Lathan's name. All he seems to know is that it was ‘that guardsman who was with you when you rescued me'. Well, the less he remembers the better.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to have to get Lathan further away from the palace. I hate to do that. It'll make it harder for us to get together, but I have to make sure he's safe. Darvid is going to have me escorted by snoops any time I leave my quarters. Fat lot of good that'll do him. A stun spell and a glamour will take care of them. Take a look and see who's outside the door, will you, Fee?”

Felistia went over to the door, then came back and said, “Just two of the snoops. No guards.”

“Good. Hey, this is just like the time Mother had us confined here.” Berlina got up and went over to the door. She let just the end of her wand protrude through the little window and muttered a spell. There were two thumps as the snoops collapsed. Another flick of the wand, and she was a sixty-year-old serving maid. “Felistia, I am going to get Lathan from the Pink Wyvern and take him to a safer place. I want you to remain here. If asked, just say you don't know where I am. Those two snoops will awaken in twenty minutes or so, with no memory of what happened…you know nothing about that, either.”

“Will do, Bee.”

Berlina left the room and headed down toward an exit from the palace which always locked and, hence, never guarded. A quick opening spell, and she was out and heading down the road to the inn where Lathan was sequestered. When she got there, she walked up to the innkeeper.

“Can I help you, ma'am?”

Berlina dropped the glamour from her face for a few seconds, and the innkeeper said, “Oh, it's you, Bejanna. The man you seek is upstairs in room seventeen…your old room. There are some barmaid clothes there, if you want them. Good luck.”

Berlina went up, entered room seventeen, closed the door, and dropped the glamour.

Lathan, who had been sitting on the bed reading, looked up and said, “Ah, it's you. No names, right?” He rose from the bed, went over to Berlina, put his arms around her, and kissed her.

When they finally broke apart, she said, “Yes, it's probably best if you don't use my real name. Call me Bejanna if you have to, but we need to get out of here. Darvid is beginning to wonder about things, and you're on the list of possible suspects. Near the top of the list, I'm afraid. Let me change clothes, so I only have to glamour our faces, and we'll get out of here.”

She peeled out of the clothes she was wearing—clothes proper for a princess. As she picked up the barmaid outfit, she said to Lathan, “You enjoy watching me get undressed, don't you?”

“Of course I do. There isn't anything there I haven't already seen, but I still like watching.”

Berlina put on the other clothes, then glamoured both of their faces. “Grab your stuff, if anything, and let's go.”

The two of them went down a back staircase and out into an alley. They walked several blocks down the alley until they came to a stable. Berlina whispered a special password to the man in charge, and he immediately brought out two horses, saddled and ready to go.

“Your steeds, and there's some food in the saddlebags, ma'am. Not too much, but enough for a day or two.”

“Thank you,” said Berlina, as the two mounted and rode away. Turning to Lathan, she said, “I was afraid Darvid might make a big, hairy nuisance of himself, so I had some escape plans set up. After I get you to a safe place where Darvid's snoops won't come looking for you, I'll just go back to the palace and claim I never left.”

“Won't your brother give you a rough time?”

“He can probably get away with pulling in men he suspects of being my boyfriend and giving them a rough time while questioning them, but he doesn't dare do much to me.”

After an hour's ride, they passed through a little village. Berlina pointed out a store. “The owner there will be providing you with food and supplies. The house where you'll be staying is not far from here, and it's stocked and ready. Once I give the word, they'll deliver food and supplies every week, so you don't have to come out where you can be seen.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I can't maintain a glamour on you at this distance from the palace. If Darvid decides you're the one he wants and orders an all-out search, someone might recognize you. They won't be able to trail
me
when I come out to visit you. I can use a different glamour every time.

“When will you come to visit?”

“As often as I can.” She paused and pointed. “There's the house now. Let's go in and check the house out…especially the bedroom.”

“Good idea, Bee. Always want to be sure the bedroom is satisfactory.”

They dismounted, tethered the horses, and went inside.

An hour or so later, Berlina came out and went over to her horse. Lathan came to the door and said, “Don't forget to put your glamour back on. I think you kind of lost it while we were otherwise engaged.”

“Oh, right.” She muttered the spell, and her face changed to go with the barmaid's outfit. “That's better. I'm leaving the horse with you, in case you need it…for an emergency or something. Okay, I'll see you as soon as I can.” After a quick kiss, she mounted and rode off.

She returned her horse to the stable where she had gotten it, then went to the Pink Wyvern. She changed back to her own clothes, but then glamoured herself to look like the old serving maid. She went to the palace door she had exited from, opened it with a wave of her wand, and entered. When she got close to her rooms, she could hear an argument going on between Felistia and someone she assumed was one of the snoops.

Making sure there was nobody in sight, she dropped the glamour and reappeared as herself. As she walked into her quarters she asked, “What's all the commotion? I could hear you two all the way down the corridor.”

“Oh, hello, Your Highness,” said Felistia. “This clown was looking for you, and wouldn't believe I had no idea where you were. Stupid idiot.”

The snoop spun around, then bowed and said, “Your Highness, I have been seeking you on behalf of His Majesty. He wishes to talk to you. Your companion here was being most uncooperative. She claimed she did not know where to find you.”