Don't Forget to Dream (10 page)

“
I see my lady. I am most grateful for his consideration and overwhelmed by his
rapid action. Was that where Prince Callum
was going this morning?
”
Rhyla asked softly, hardly believing that anyone was going to help her, let alone Prince Callum. He was out there looking for the men who had taken her father
’
s life. A
sudden stab of fear filled her.
What if he found them; they would be outnumbered.
He could be injured or killed.
It
would be all her fault. The anguish that filled her expression was blatant to Lady Emelia.

“
Do not worry me dear. My grandson is a skilled swordsman and there are fourteen of them. This is not an arrest party, more a simple investigation to asc
ertain the extent of the crimes. They will see which
areas are affected and how many men are involved. He will be safe, do not worry for him.
”

Abashed at the ease at which Lady Emelia had seen her feelings
,
Rhyla blushed a little but she was still in agony at the thought of Prince Callum being at risk, especially because of her. Any injury to him would not ease her grief for her father.

The days that followed had her constantly alert for any news of the Prince and his men. She spent most of her time in the
women
’
s
’
hall as Lady Emelia had her working on the detailed embroidery of a fine new shirt. She had never worked on such a beautiful material or with such fine thread but she was honoured to be given such a task. It gave her the best opportunity to learn any information on the Prince, even if the remainder of the conversation was often not of her concern.

As her third week in service to Lady Emelia began there was excitement building as the Palace started preparing for the upcoming celebrations for the King
’
s birthday.

“
It is always a lovely day in the city,
”
Lady Emelia began as they sat in her sunroom.
“
Liam
’
s birthday is a day of tournaments, feasting and dancing.
It is a
day for the family, the household staff and a few guests to enjoy all together.
”

Rhyla smiled at her mistress but the warmth she had expected was replaced with some anxiety.

“
You will truly enjoy yourself Rhyla,
”
Lady Emelia reassured,
“
the feast is being held in the great hall.
”

“
The great hall,
”
Rhyla replied,
still unsettled.

“
Ah,
”
Lady Emelia sighed in realisation,
“
have you been in the great hall yet?
”

“
No my lady,
”
Rhyla replied a little embarrassed.

“
How silly of me, of course you haven
’
t. That is my fault for choosing to dine in the
quiet of my rooms or the
women
’
s
’
hall. The great hall gets so noisy with all those men in it. No wonder you are a little unsettled. It is certainly nothing to be concerned about. Really it is just a huge room with lots of tables and a space in the middle, for dancing on nights such as this,
”
Lady Emelia said thinking she was comforting her young companion.

“
Dancing,
”
Rhyla nearly whispered. A dozen dreadful thoug
hts fluttered across her mind. She could just imagine a
ll the beautiful court ladies in their fine gowns gracefully dancing with their handsome partners while she made an absolute fool
of herself in an old worn dress. Her simple dance steps would appear clumsy in comparison.
Would she have any
idea of how to dance those complicated steps?
There
was little chance of the Royal Court doing the
Ploughman
’
s Peal or the Cart and Mare, favourites in Bendarin. It would be better to be the only girl left sitting in the corner than to make such a spectacle. Perhaps she could make her excuses and retire before the dancing began. That was the best plan.

“
Feasts are always followed by dancing Rhyla,
”
Lady Emelia continued as Rhyla
’
s fears fought to overturn the calm her sensible solution should be providing.
“
I wonder who shall be the first to ask you to dance. There are obviously many eligible young men in the Palace, but I doubt you have had time to get to know many. Although I am sure they have been noticing you.
”

Rhyla felt her cheeks flush and then begin to burn with every new sentence that left her mistresses lips
. She held onto her escape plan.
There
would be no possibility of humiliating herself if she just avoided the entire situation. Lady Emelia mistook the glow in her cheeks as no more than a simple case of nerves and continued chatting away merrily, very enthusiastic regarding the upcoming celebrations.

“
I shall have Mistress O
’
Mara seat you at her table so you are not too far from me if I have need of you. Not that I am expecting to call on you, but it would be better than leaving you at the far end of the hall near those young guards. They should be on their best behaviour but you never know when young men get too much ale into them. As you are not of noble birth I cannot have you placed any higher up the hall and it would be good for you to socialise with the other senior servitors of the household. I have been meaning to introduce you to Master Smythe, Liam
’
s scribe
,
who i
s overseer of the royal library.
I am sure you shall have much to talk about. He is getting on in years but any chance to talk about his books has him prattling away.
”

Rhyl
a thoughts remained in the past. S
he remembered the few feasts she had been to in Bendarin. They were mostly the annual celebrations of t
he summer and winter solstice, A
ll
Saints
day and the occasional wedding that
brought the town and local farmers together. She had never been shy about dancing there, but then she had known all the lads her entire life and generally she was the better dancer, but that would not be the case in the Palace. She was only half listening to Lady Emelia as her thoughts wandered into memories and away from the upcoming events.

“
I think we should take a little break and walk down to the great hall,
”
the Lady finally decided, effectively regaining Rhyla
’
s attention.

“
What.
Go down there now?
”

“
It should be fairly quiet at this time of the day. It gets busier as the noon meal time approaches but I expect few to be there but a maid or two.
”

Rhyla still felt uncomfortable at not helping with the domestic work, of which there was a significant amount to be done in such a large building with so many rooms. She was no diff
erent to those girls. I
t was not their fault that they were illiterate. She had never thought that something she had done because she enjoy
ed it would really make her so
different in some people
’
s eyes. Once Lady Emelia decided to take her in as a companion rather than a lady
’
s maid
,
Rhyla had not heard a bad word said about her. She had expected some ill will as
after all she was still
the farmer
’
s daughter who avoided working but spent her time reading wonderf
ul books and sewing in the
hall. Even Elsie didn
’
t begrudge her position.
She
was truly thankful that Rhyla was there to allow her more time to concentrate on her chores. Several days ago Rhyla had also learnt that it meant she now had time to spend with Kyle, a guardsm
an who had caught her attention
and
for
that she declared eternal gratitude to Rhyla.

“
Are you alright my dear?
”
Lady Emelia
’
s
question forced her to contrive a smile for the benefit of her mistress.

“
Yes my lady, I
’
m fine, truly,
”
she assured.

“
Then if you are done day dreaming shall we go down? Or are your musings something you wish to share, to discuss per chance?
”
the Lady offered with a wry
,
barely suppressed grin.

“
Oh no, my lady,
”
Rhyla far too quickly replied, blushing once again.
“
I would like to see the great hall.
”
She attempted to portray enthusiasm as she placed her sewing down, before standing and assisting Lady Emelia from her chair.

They walked slowly through the Palace halls, arm-in-arm so Rhyla could support the elderly lady. Her joints had stiffened
with age so that walking caused
her great discomfort, particularly in the winter but as the days were gradually getting warmer she was up and moving more freely.

The great hall was down a flight of stairs and on the opposite side of the Palace from the sunroom. Lady Emelia directed her to a closer small side door rather than walk the length of the hall to enter through the main double doors that stood near the main entrance to the Palace.

The door opened quietly at Rhyla
’
s touch. At first she c
ould see only a few long tables.
The
first
table was
encircled with chairs while benches flanked the
rest. Large tapestries were hung on the opposite wall between the tall
windows;
the first depicted a hunting scene with men on horseback pursuing a stag through a clearing. To her left behind the first table the hall ended with a large dais on which stood two large ornate chairs, the thrones of King Liam and Queen Aletta.

With a gentle hand on her arm Rhyla looked back at Lady Emelia,
“
You may enter my dear.
”

Rhyla blushed knowing she was acting like a little girl spying where she shouldn
’
t be. Supporting Lady Emelia she stepped into the great hall.
Expecting a dark, smoky, threatening room she was pleasan
tly surprised at the grand room.  A room full of light and colour
greeted her.
Rhyla was impressed by all the tapestries
which depicted processions
of triumphant soldiers; ships under sail;
snow capped mountains
towering over
a large lake;
ladies dancing in a garden and a young couple kneeling as crowns were placed upon their heads, Rhyla could not be sure if it were King Liam and Queen Aletta but she thought there was some resemblance from this distance. Turning around to look at the wall she had just passed through,
she noticed
there were two large hearths evenly spaced between where she stood and the great doors at the far end. Covering the wall were b
anners and shields of all types;
some she recognised but most she did not.

“
They are the emblems of our noble houses. Each has their own banners and shield design to identify them. The brown bear on yellow is the house of my husband, now headed by my son Joshua. The black swan on white with the blue rim is the family I was born to, and am the last of,
”
Lady Emelia said with a mixture of pride and sadness.

Rhyla nodded and squeezed her mistress
’
s hand as it lay over her arm. She knew there was nothing to be said as this pain Rhyla understood, any light-hearted comment would only be condescending. Lady Emelia
’
s brother and sister-in-law had died childless several years back leaving the estate to fall with her, but she was too old to live there by herself so she left the management to a trusted servitor, Master Stephen. Rhyla had been involved in several correspondences with Master Stephen over the last few weeks. Having her around had meant Lady Emelia had not had to wait for Master Smythe or one of his juniors to be free to attend her. She was quickly learning a gr
eat deal about managing estates.
It
was much more complicated than the farm she had grown up on. She soon came to realise that she knew more about crops and livestock than Lady Emelia and was surprised that her mistress was willing to take her comments into consideration.