Once Upon a Romance 03 - With True Love's Kiss (18 page)

“We do not
share with mortals.”

“Why not?”
Her voice rose in indignation.

“Think,
Bianca.” He spoke calmly, trying to make her understand. “When the Fae share
among themselves it is an even exchange. The energy flows around us like air,
and we offer and receive it in equal measure. Such cannot be with a human. You
have so little life force of your own, and no control over it. We would be like
two pools, one full, one empty, and the energy would spill from me to you until
it balanced between us.”

“You mean, I
was stealing your life from you?” She was horrified. He could see it in her
face, hear it in her voice.

“No, not
stealing.” He smiled at her. “Say, rather, that I was offering it to you. But I
did not know that it was even possible for you to accept the offering.”

“Can’t you
control it?”

“Even the
Dame cannot control her energies perfectly, and she is far more adept than I.”

“No wonder
you avoid me.” There was misery writ in every line of her face. “I could drain
half your life away without even trying.” She pulled her hand from his and
sketched a half-hearted curtsey, turning to leave.

“Bianca…”
He sighed and followed her. She was so ready to believe in her own fault. “It
is not only myself I am concerned for. There could be repercussions for you, as
well.”

“Of course.”
She sounded like she was on the verge of crying. “At any rate, it hardly
matters.”

He caught
her by the arm. “What do you mean?”

She looked
back at him, and he could see the sheen of tears in her eyes. “I have to marry
one of these men before the summer ends.” Robin felt the words burrow inside,
to the wounded place in his heart, but Bianca wasn’t finished. She took a deep
breath, and blinked hard. “It doesn’t matter why you avoid me, or if there is a
way around it. You are not an option. Not for me. Does it really matter if
there is one reason or many? I appreciate the explanation, but,” her words came
out on a sob, “it just doesn’t matter.”

“Pardon me?”
Fain MacTíre’s deep voice came at Robin’s elbow. “May I cut in?”

***

Bianca tried
to surreptitiously wipe her eyes while she danced with Fain. Robin had practically
fled, leaving her in her foster-brother’s care, and Fain had given her a moment
to pull herself together.

“My fiancée
would like me to remind you that you are attempting to make an alliance of
marriage, and having a lovers’ quarrel in the middle of the ball is hardly
advantageous to that attempt.”

“I am not
having a lovers’ quarrel.”

“I didn’t
say you were, Bianca, I am merely relaying a message.”

Bianca
looked up at her foster-brother, giving him a considering gaze. “And what do
you think?”

“I think you
should consider what you want.”

“I can’t
have what I want.” It was true. It didn’t matter that it hurt to say it.

Fain seemed
to understand. “Then I think you should try to make the best of the choices you
have.”

Bianca
nodded. “I agree.”

“Smile then.
You look lovely. And Lord Cymedrol is headed this way.”

The music
came to a sweeping halt, and Fain gave her a courtly bow. Then he took her hand
and turned her towards Cymedrol. The lord nodded politely to Fain before
addressing Bianca.

“Your
highness, I was wondering if I might have the next dance?”

“I would be
my honor, my lord. My brother is tired of dancing with me.”

“Blame it on
Princess Vivienne, my lord.” Fain smiled at the man. “She keeps me quite worn
out.” He strode off with an energy that put lie to his words, and Bianca and
Cymedrol laughed together, though for Bianca’s part, the laughter was rather
strained. Cymedrol took her hand and steered them to where couples were forming
up for a quadrille.

“How are you
enjoying your evening, your highness?”

“It’s been
an interesting experience.” Bianca realized that her emotional exhaustion made
her disinclined to guard her tongue. “I cannot decide if I feel like the
challenge, or the prize.”

“Ahhhhh…”
Cymedrol was at a loss for words.

“What I mean
is, do any of these fellows actually want to marry me? Or do they seek to
impress me so that they may gain the throne?”

“I’m sure
they wish to marry you, you highness.”

“Why?”
Bianca decided to be blunt. “Do you?”

“Well,
actually—” He paused. “Your highness, may I assume from your rather frank
speech that you prefer honest discourse?”

“You may.”
In fact, Bianca thought it would be a relief.

“I’m already
married.”

Bianca
stared in shocked disbelief, and then burst out in laughter, honest and
unfeigned this time. “Why on earth would your family send you?”

Cymedrol
seemed relieved that she wasn’t offended. “They don’t actually know. We’ve kept
it secret. She’s not of noble birth, and we’re only married by common-law.”

Bianca
smiled at him warmly. He couldn’t possibly know about Thomas, but she felt a
kinship with him, nonetheless. “You must love her very much.”

“Indeed I
do. When my brother thought to send me here I almost told him, but my wife is
with child, and it seemed a bad time to share the secret, in case…” He
trailed off, but Bianca knew what he was thinking.

“In case you
needed to leave?”

“Precisely.”

Bianca took
his arm and led him off the dance floor, before the music could begin. “Lord
Cymedrol, I hope this isn’t too forward, but you should know that you and your
wife would always have a place in Toldas, should you need it.”

“That’s kind
of you, your highness.” He smiled at her. “My brother is a hothead. I’d prefer
to be out of his reach when he finds out, both for our sakes and his own. He
would regret doing anything rash, once he calmed down.”

“Then you
must come visit me, once your babe is born. You can write him a nice long
letter, from the safety of another kingdom.”

He beamed at
her, and Bianca felt like she had gained a friend. It didn’t cure the hole in
her heart, but it did ease the pain a bit.

She heard a
polite cough at her elbow. “If you aren’t going to dance with her, my lord, may
I?” A blindingly boyish grin assailed them both.

“With
pleasure, Prince Felix.” Cymedrol nodded his head at the prince, then bowed to
Bianca. “Your highness, it has been a joy meeting you.”

Felix wasted
no time sweeping Bianca out into the quadrille. They were a well-matched pair,
and they moved gracefully through the figures.

“If I were a
glib fellow, I’d say something about how dancing is much like marriage, or some
such nonsense.” He caught her by the waist, executed a quick swing, and then
stepped back into his place. “Fortunately for you, I’m not glib at all. I always
find such chaps to be terribly dull.”

“Oh dear,
now I shall never get to hear all that heavy-handed innuendo.” Bianca skipped
lightly around him. “Whatever shall I amuse my friends with, later?”

Felix cocked
his head in thought. “I could tell you the tale of the squire, the baker, the
thief, and the chef, but I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for a ball.”

“Perhaps you
could tell me about yourself, instead.”

“Not much to
tell.” They linked arms and sashayed forward. “I am a prince, but I have
several older brothers, which would normally make me a terribly useless fellow.
But I have far too much energy to sit idly by, so I’ve taught myself a bit of
this and a bit of that, and waited for an opportunity such as this one.”

“You mean,
your lifelong dream has always been to marry a woman you hardly know?” She was
teasing, but he suddenly looked serious.

“I arrived
here almost a week ago. Did you know?” She shook her head. “Protocol dictated I
not meet you, but there was nothing to stop me learning more about you. I’ve
been playing the spy for six days now.” He smiled again, but this time it was
sincere. “You and I don’t know each other, but I’ve managed to learn quite a
bit about you. I think we would do well together.”

“And what
does he think?” Bianca nodded at the young man off to one side of the dance
floor, who was steadily glowering at them. It had taken her a while to notice
him, but once she did he was hard to ignore.

“Hmmm?”
Felix played at innocence, but Bianca fixed him with a level gaze. “That’s my
friend, Leander. He’s…” Felix seemed at a loss for words.

“He’s very
much against you marrying any woman, isn’t he?” Bianca wasn’t sure why, but she
was almost positive her growing hunch was correct.

Felix looked
panicked for a moment, but when Bianca gave him an encouraging smile he melted
into relief. “Yes, he is.”

“Why are you
here, if you don’t want to marry me?”

“But I do!”
Felix spoke with earnest sincerity. “It might be more, ah, academic, than
visceral, but I would very much like us to be wed. I meant it, when I said we
would do well together.”

She nodded. “In
that case, you should probably introduce me to Leander.”

“Now?”

She looked
around. The ballroom was full of people watching her every move.

“I think tomorrow
is soon enough.”

“You are as
wise as you are beautiful, your highness.” He linked arms with her and began
the promenade. “We’re going to be fabulous friends.”

Dawn broke
over the logging camp on Lord Vandlefarb’s land. It was by far the largest
operation Baines and his men had come across, and, as they’d learned a few days
before, it was also where the people of Dorshire had been sent, after Brannon
had taken the whole village prisoner.

The raiding
party had swelled to over a hundred men by now. There were the original fifty,
of course, but as they had traveled around putting a stop to the production
camps, more and more of the men in those camps had joined them. Some were
prisoners, some were guards, but they were all men who were tired of King
Brannon. Baines had welcomed them with open arms.

Baines
gingerly touched his lip, which had been split open a few days before. Men were
joining them, true, but that didn’t mean that every camp had surrendered
easily. Some of the soldiers were still loyal to Brannon, and there had been a
number of fights. So far they’d had numbers on their side, which had kept the
bloodshed to a relative minimum, but that was about to change.

As the men
sat around, eating their bowls of porridge, a quick conference went on around
Baines’ campfire.

“There’s too
many of ‘em.” Baines didn’t like it, but he had to say it. “They’ve got more
guards than the other camps. We’ll never be able to overwhelm them with
numbers. It’s going to be nasty. We’ll have to fight it out.”

“Too right,
we’re gonna fight.” That was Tom Woddsmith. His sister and her family were down
in that camp.

“‘Tis a
shame.” Connelly shook his head. “Ta cut ‘em down when the lads might be as
eager ta join us as this fine laddie, here.” He placed one gnarled hand on
Dawlton’s shoulder. The young man had been the first of Brannon’s soldiers to
decide to come with them. He was staring into the fire, his brows drawn
together in thought.

“Permission
to speak, sir?”

Baines
rolled his eyes. “You’re not in the army now, lad. Say what you like.”

“Yes, sir.
Of course, sir.” Connelly thumped him lightly on the back of the head, and
Dawlton stopped babbling. “I was just thinking that there’s a good chance some
of us know some of them. I mean, we all got shuffled around to serve different
places. We might have friends down there.”

“Go on,”
Baines prodded the young man when he paused.

“What if I
went down there with some of the boys, and tried to find men we knew? The ones
who were tired of the king? Might help. We could take a few of them out of the
equation.”

“What if you
get caught?”

Dawlton
raised an eyebrow. “In there? I’m a soldier in a uniform, and if that camp is
like most of the rest, they have patrols come through often enough. I doubt
there’s much risk, sir.”

Baines
thought about it. It was too good a chance to pass up, not when it could turn
the tide in their favor. “Alright, then. You can take anyone who volunteers
with you. Be back here by tomorrow morning.”

Dawlton
stood and threw a salute. Baines didn’t know how the little bugger managed to
make it look so impudent, but he did. He smiled at the boy.

“Off with
you. And good luck.”

***

“You have
got to be joking.” Baines glared at Dawlton, while the boy stood at his side,
whistling cheerfully. “Stop that and explain yourself.”

“What can I
say, sir? The Toldan army is an excitable bunch. Once we explained what we were
doing, the lads didn’t see any point in waiting.”

Dawlton had
woken Baines up that morning, asking him to come see the new recruits. Of the
two hundred guards in the work camp, one hundred and ninety-seven were kneeling
calmly in the grass with their hands clasped behind their heads, just outside
the spot where the band had made camp. The other three, all commissioned
officers, were trussed up like holiday roasts, screaming what were probably
hideous profanities. Baines couldn’t really tell, because they’d each had a
dirty rag shoved in their mouths, to mute the noise.

He stared in
shock at the men kneeling before him.

“We’re here
to surrender, sir!” A lad in the front, who must have lied about his age in
order to be accepted, piped up. “In the absence of clear orders from our
commanding officers, we deem it prudent not to stand against such a fearsome
force as your own.”

“Aye, lad.”
Connelly sauntered up, looking amused. “‘Tis always a fine idea ta raise the
white flag, when yer numbers be only double that o’ the enemy.”

The boy
nodded solemnly. “That’s what we thought, too.”

Baines
rubbed his face. “Dawlton?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Introduce
your new company to the rest of the men.”

“My company,
sir?”

“Oh yes,
Dawlton. If you’re bringing them along, then you are going to be in charge.” He
looked out at one hundred and ninety-seven faces. “You hear that, men? Dawlton
is now responsible for you. Feel free to embarrass him as much as you like.”

“Sir, yes
sir.”

“Good. Now,
I’m going to find Tom. I have some good news for him.”

In no time,
Baines, Tom, and Connelly were making their way down into the logging camp.
Apparently a few of the soldiers had passed word along of what was happening
before they marched up into the mountains, so there was a welcoming committee
waiting to greet them. One small girl was bouncing up and down on her mother’s
arm in delight, and Tom’s eyes darted to her.

“Cady!”

“Uncle Tom!”
The tiny sprite ran forward and leapt high enough to land in the lanky man’s
arms. “I tole ‘em and tole ‘em you’d be along to fetch us.”

“I’m just
sorry it took me so long, Mite. But what happened to your eye?” The girl
sported an enormous purple and black bruise on the right side of her face.

“Awwww, it’s
nothin’. That ole Sir Miles was here, and he said somethin’ nasty to Mama, so I
bit him good.”

“Cady!”

“What? He
deserved it. He clobbered me pretty hard and tried to get his other knights to
string me up, but they wouldn’t.” The girl spoke cheerfully about her narrow
brush with the noose.

As Tom gaped
in horror at his niece, Connelly spoke softly to Lara, Tom’s sister.

“Yer lass is
a brave warrior, is she?”

“A little
too brave for me.” The woman smiled ruefully. “My heart almost stopped when he
gave the orders to hang her.”

“An’ the
knights with him wouldna do it?”

“They talked
him out of it, but I think if he’d insisted, they would have refused outright.
I know the men stationed here never would have stood for it.”

“They’re
good lads.” She nodded in firm agreement. Cady came prancing up and took her
hand.

“Mama, Uncle
Tom says I can join the rebels, but only if you say so.”

“He what?!”

“Please,
Mama? Can I? I know I’d do good. I’m awful sneaky. And I’m real brave. I only
cried a little when I got clobbered. Can I go? Please?”

Lara shot
her brother a dirty look, before kneeling down to speak with her daughter. “Cady,
sweetheart, why don’t you get a bit older before you begin fighting
revolutions.”

“But
Maaaamaaaaaaaaa!” The girl wailed. “By the time I’m bigger, it will all be over!”

“I hope you’re
right, darling. I really do.”