Kethril (21 page)

When she moved her arm and spoke, the other
two helped her onto a nearby couch, where they sat on either side
of her. “Yes. You’re filthy and there are streaks of dirt and tears
down your face,” the older acknowledged. Trust a princess to tell
it like it was. “And I must tell you that I absolutely hate you for
being so gorgeous in spite of it.” She lessened the impact with a
smile. Anilyia laughed softly in response.

“I’m Chirelle, oldest daughter of King
Turman Cranwer and fourth in line to the throne. This is my sister
Millia, second daughter and fifth in line to the throne.”
Chirelle’s voice was high-pitched, but powerful. She was elegant
and self-assured in her movements.

Anilyia fell into the soft back of the
couch. “Thank you for having me in your beautiful home.” More tears
began flowing. She wondered where they got the nerve to come from.
It was time to stop crying. “I’m Prin . . .”

“We know who you are,” The younger said
gently with a hand on Anilyia’s knee. “You need a bath. I’m certain
our handmaidens haven’t been staring at us like timid little mice,
but instead have been preparing a nice hot bath with vanilla oils.
That’s my favorite scent, what’s yours?”

The subtle chastisement didn’t pass the
notice of said handmaidens. In an instant, the room was a flurry of
activity. They could hear water being poured in one of the rooms,
while an older servant brought glasses of wine. Dresses appeared
out of nowhere to change into after the bath and two
ladies-in-waiting grabbed Anilyia’s hands, pulling her up to strip
the dirty travel clothes.

“I like vanilla, but almond is my favorite.”
It was wonderful to be taken care of after so many weeks of doing
everything herself. She was rushed into the luxurious bathroom
where a marble pool large enough to fit six people took up a
corner. Anilyia saw that one of the older maidservants was sticking
her hand in tubs and heating the water magically. The pool was
almost full and steam rose from it. She sighed in pleasure just at
the thought of getting in.

Numerous glass bottles filled with scent
were on a shelf nearby. Millia pointed at them and told one of the
women, “Almond and vanilla, they’ll make a nice combination. Before
she goes in the bath, wash the worst of the dirt off outside the
tub.”

“Excellent idea,” Chirelle agreed. Anilyia
was led to an open space in the other corner with a drain in the
marble tiled floor. The woman heating water briefly dipped her hand
into another tub of water. Anilyia saw a rune-stone in her hand
that held the magic to do the heating. It was a common magical item
among wealthier houses. Two of the stronger women stood on a bench
near the drain and poured the water over Anilyia’s head while three
others surrounded her and began scrubbing with soap. Being a
princess was splendid.

When the women were done scrubbing, Anilyia
was led into the bath where the other two were already lounging
with glasses of wine. A glass was put in Anilyia’s hand as well and
she sighed in pleasure as the water surrounded her body.

“Your beauty has not been exaggerated,”
Chirelle said. “Even with all the dirt, you put us to shame.”
Anilyia glanced sharply at her. The statement conceded rank, but
could be used to catch her off guard. Chirelle looked her in the
eyes. “Peace. You need friends right now, not competitors. Let’s
just skip all the posturing. You’re Princess Anilyia of Mayncal,
the most beautiful and richest princess in the world. Perhaps we’re
just a couple of provincial bumpkins in your eyes, but we have the
bath, wine and servants, so I figure it evens out at the moment,”
she said with a wink.

Anilyia burst into laughter. “Yes, you have
me there. This is oh so lovely and you’ve been wonderful to me.
Thank you,” she told them sincerely. “You’re both beautiful and I
don’t think of either of you as bumpkins. Perhaps I would have a
year ago, but things are different now.” A handmaiden had her sit
up so she could massage Anilyia’s neck and shoulders. “Ohh, that’s
nice.” She didn’t realize how tense she had become. Tathan had
given her massages on occasion, but they usually led to other
things before any knots could be worked out.

“The news of your kidnapping reached us even
this far away. It must have been terrible,” Millia said, obviously
wanting details.

“I can’t imagine,” Chirelle agreed. “And to
be rescued by Tathan of the Shadows and they said a dragon too.”
She took a sip of her wine and frowned. “If you don’t tell us this
story, I swear I’ll throw you over the castle walls to the ocean
below, rank be damned.”

Anilyia laughed again and the princesses
joined in. Everyone else stared in shock at the complete disregard
for propriety. Anilyia contemplated how much to tell them before
saying anything. As she told her story, handmaidens worked on
getting her back to looking like a real princess. She especially
enjoyed the manicure.

“I was kidnapped by a group of men at night
while walking through the palace gardens. They murdered my personal
guards and my best friend.” Anilyia stopped for a moment while
vainly trying to hold back the tears welling in her eyes. It had
been a while since thinking about that.

“I’m sorry,” Chirelle leaned forward and put
a hand on her arm.

“I haven’t talked about the actual
kidnapping with anyone.” One of the handmaidens wiped Anilyia’s
nose for her. “The desert men that took me were deadly and
efficient. I didn’t get a chance to scream because one covered my
mouth with a cloth while the others killed. There was something in
the cloth that made me lose consciousness.”

“That’s horrible. You must have been so
frightened,” Millia said with a hand to her throat.

Anilyia nodded. “I was. When I woke, I was
bound, gagged and blindfolded. My head hurt and I was being carried
in a chest that was bouncing around. They didn’t let me out for a
couple of days and when they did, I was in a room with the men
surrounding me. I thought for certain . . .” she trailed off. Both
looked horrified by the thought. “Their leader told them that I
wasn’t to be harmed. He had his sword out and they were afraid
enough of him to leave me alone.” That elicited sighs of relief
from Anilyia’s audience.

“Then a horrifying creature came into the
room. It had four arms, pasty white skin and eyes like a deranged
cat.” The description elicited gasps from the audience. “It spoke
with two voices at the same time, making it difficult to
understand. The cloth was put over my mouth and I lost
consciousness again. The next thing I knew, I was in a cave with
garish colored decorations. It hurt my head to look at them.”

“I’m surprised those men didn’t . . . you
know . . .” Chirelle said in relief.

Anilyia mentally kicked herself. She had
meant to say that they had in order to justify why she was no
longer a virgin. Instead, she nodded and decided to explain it a
different way. “It would have been better than what the creatures
did.” Tears welled again. They hadn’t done
that
, but they
did torture her and she still had nightmares about it.

“What creatures? This sounds even worse than
we imagined.”

“They call themselves ‘Rojuun’.” Her voice
was cracking. “They held me captive in that room for months. They
would tie me down and cut me and . . .” Anilyia broke down again.
She was going to have to get control soon. This crying was
completely unlike her. She didn’t see the wide-eyed looks the
princesses gave each other at the mention of Rojuun. They hugged
her sympathetically, not saying anything.

Anilyia took slow, deep breaths to regain
control. “I don’t want to talk about everything that happened, but
. . .”

“That’s alright. I think father will want to
hear about the Rojuun though. There are rumors,” Chirelle said.

“Yes. I’ll tell him tomorrow when my head is
clear.”

“We’ll let him know. I’m sure he’ll want a
private audience,” Chirelle agreed. “Now let’s dry off, get dressed
and have some food while you tell us how you were rescued.”

“Everyone’s talking about how you were
holding the hand of Tathan of the Shadows and someone said you
kissed him. We especially want to hear about that,” Millia
suggested as they all stood up and let the handmaidens dry
them.

Anilyia had no intention of letting them
know how serious that relationship was. The kiss complicated things
but she would say it was a lapse of judgment or something. She had
come up with a story to explain things that wasn’t too far from the
truth, but waited until she was dressed to tell it. It gave her the
opportunity to compose her thoughts again. While doing so, she
built mental barriers to keep from bursting into tears like a silly
little girl again.

Food was set upon a table. The three
princesses sat in chairs and began to eat daintily. Anilyia
realized she had been eating with her hands a lot while on the
road. “So tell us how they rescued you,” Chirelle encouraged.

“And about Tathan of the Shadows,” Millia
added again.

Anilyia smiled. “I’ll start with Tathan. I
know who and what he is. His name has been heard even in Mayncal.”
She thought she had heard his name once during a party, but the
activities of a thief had been beneath her notice at the time.
“Tathan was one of my rescuers. To be honest, I wasn’t behaving
very bravely after being rescued.”

“That’s understandable. You’ve been through
a complete nightmare,” Millia reassured her.

She smiled in thanks and nodded. “We had to
escape those deep caverns in mountains. There were endless dark
tunnels and then caves with all kinds of glowing plants and
animals. I turned to Sir Danth, the knight, for comfort and safety,
but then I realized that he wasn’t alive in the normal sense.”

“What do you mean?” Chirelle asked.

“He’s some sort of ghost haunting the armor,
but I don’t understand it. I also don’t think it wise to say too
much about it because I still need him to get me home.” Anilyia was
taking little bites as often as she could. It was the first thing
she’d eaten since breakfast.

“That’s wise. I heard father won’t have his
men take you home because he thinks you’ll just be kidnapped
again,” Millia replied. She seemed irritated by the fact.

“It makes sense,” Anilyia responded,
dismissing the matter with a casual wave of her fork. “Anyway, I
found myself holding onto Tathan’s hand whenever possible, though
‘clinging desperately’ might be more accurate,” she said with a
giggle. “I won’t deny he’s handsome and there’s something
attractive and forbidden about such a dangerous rogue.” She winked.
Chirelle and Millia blushed and tittered. Once again, the women
around them looked shocked by the impropriety, but they listened
just as intently.

“I’m not supposed to let men touch me, but I
felt safe when he held me in his arms.” Anilyia played with her
food, not looking them in the eyes as though she felt guilty. “We
traveled together for a long time and I even saw him with his
clothes off. He’s very strong and . . .” She reddened in
embarrassment.

“Oh my!” Chirelle exclaimed. Both Kethril
princesses blushed as did the women. The conversation appalled more
than a few.

“The kiss in your father’s grand courtroom
was a reward for rescuing me since I don’t know if I’ll ever see
him again. I like him, but it hasn’t gone further than that, though
you may not believe me. I’m certain the common folk will judge me,”
she said with a sigh.

“They always do,” Millia agreed with a nod.
Chirelle glanced at her sister and gave her a barely perceptible
shake of the head. It didn’t pass Anilyia’s notice and she filed it
away for future use.

“His cousin Liselle is the one who took the
quest to save me though.”

“Oh really?” Millia asked. “Someone said
she’s the child of a goddess?”

Anilyia didn’t answer right away. She didn’t
know how to answer. Considering the things she had seen Liselle do,
it didn’t sound too far-fetched. “She may be, but I have no idea.
She has powerful magic though. She’s intimidating too. I tried
making her a handmaiden after the rescue, but her eyes lit on fire
and she threatened me.”

“How dare she?!” Both princesses were
furious.

“She’s also the dragon’s mate,” Anilyia said
quietly. She still didn’t trust Vevin. “And yes, he really is a
dragon. I’ve seen him in his natural form.”

Both of their jaws were wide open. “Dragons
eat princesses. We all know that,” Chirelle said.

“We’re not covered by the treaty. How did
you survive?” Millia asked.

“He promised Liselle he wouldn’t eat me,
which made me that much more afraid of Liselle. If she could
control a dragon . . .”

“Oh my, yes. I would be afraid of her too,”
Chirelle agreed.

“I stayed with Tathan in the hopes that he
would protect me from the dragon. I’ve made it here safely, though
it’s still a long way to home.” Anilyia took a sip of wine. Tathan
was in jail and the rest were off to fight a silly ship. She wasn’t
getting home anytime soon. “I want very much to go home and I think
I need them to get there.”

“I’m sure they’ll take care of that ship
soon, especially with a dragon,” Millia reassured her. “A dragon in
human form, I didn’t even know they could do that.”

“That makes them all the more frightening,”
Chirelle said in hushed tones. The other two nodded. Chirelle
invited Anilyia to spend the night in her room. Anilyia didn’t want
to be alone. The thought of her kidnapping was strong in her mind,
so she agreed.

They talked about princessly things awhile
before Anilyia fell into a deep sleep.

***

She awoke late the next morning feeling
refreshed. Seamstresses spent the day making her new dresses and
traveling clothes that were much more extravagant than what she had
arrived with. The traveling clothes were soft, warm wool that
caressed the skin, but would be sturdy enough to handle any terrain
they might face. It felt good to wear a full dress as well. They
were heavier than the silks she normally wore at home, but she
didn’t mind considering the cooler air.