Roses & Thorns (6 page)

"You
are displeased with me?" Angelique gazed at the abandoned rose.
"You're annulling our engagement?"

"No."
It was spoken wearily, as was what came after. "I am merely uncertain if
you know what you've agreed to."

"I
will learn —"

"Yes."
A sigh, a pause, then, "Learn you must, my Lady. For it will do neither of
us any good if you... do not understand."

Angelique
felt the weariness herself. Her head bent and, exhausted, she found herself
close to tears.

"I
have kept you from dinner —"

"No,
please." Angelique shook her head. "It is not your company, my Liege.
It is merely fatigue."

"Which
has not been helped by my company." A mocking self-deprecation colored the
words, but Angelique was too tired to argue. "You should be in bed, my
Lady."

"Would
you find it rude of me?"

"Not
in the least." Drew's voice was warm and reassuring. "Can you find
your way?"

Angelique
nodded and managed a small smile. "Yes, Culdun was very explicit with his
directions. But thank you."

"No,
my Lady — thank you." The tall figure bent over her hand in a low bow.

"None
of that." Impatiently Angelique tugged on the black-sheathed hand as a
corner of mischief resurrected itself within her. "I thought we'd agreed
to dispense with such nonsense?"

Drew
laughed, a genuine hearty sound, and Angelique withdrew, feeling better about
leaving with that warm laughter singing in her ears.

"Oh,
drat it all," muttered Angelique, spinning about on her heel. Hands on
hips, she stepped to the side of the corridor and eyed the sunny garden court
below with frustration. The babbling of the fountain wafted upwards with the
cool breeze into the white, arching halls surrounding it.

This
part of the palace was built in a square about that small, marble-floored
garden. Her bedroom was on the third level across the hall from the open
archways. Culdun had said the library was one floor up and around the comer.
The winding staircases between floors, however, left Angelique feeling
disoriented as none of them began or ended in exactly the same place on each
floor.

She
was lost. She had discovered just how lost she was when she had attempted to
retrace her steps. So far she had found an unused parlor complete with dust
covers, an exquisite sewing room with a marvelous selection of silks and wool
as well as an abundant supply of needlework patterns, and a guest bedroom in
need of a thorough cleaning. What she had not found, however, were her own
rooms and the library.

"Well,
I suppose somebody will come looking for me eventually," she muttered,
bending over the railing again with a determined expression. The potted
shrubbery with the fluffy red stalks could just possibly be the same one she'd
been admiring before breakfast. She leaned out a bit further to get a good look
around the post and saw the hanging baskets of purple flowers in the arches a
level down. If she figured correctly, her room should be directly behind them.
"Which means," she said, turning around, "the library
should
be
right behind me."

The
wide double doors reached to the ceiling and were centered in the long hallway.
A smaller, single entry was visible further along on the left, but this was the
entrance that invited use.

With
the anticipation of success, Angelique grasped both handles and pushed the
doors open. Relief mingled with delight when her eyes fell upon the tall, dark
bookcases which flanked a wide oak desk. A pleasant breeze ruffled a sheath of
parchment papers that were spread out on the desktop, and Angelique quickly
closed the doors to stop the papers from blowing every which way.

With
the great double doors shut, the little whirlwinds ceased and the papers
settled. Sparkling sunlight and fresh air gently streamed in through the tall,
open windows, bathing the desk with light that spilled like liquid gold down
the sides of the polished oak and pooled on the gleaming floor boards. The
familiar smell of leather bindings and book dust made her feel at ease and
Angelique leaned back against the doors with a happy sigh. She had never seen
so many books. Rows of shelves extended back into the shadows on the right, and
they were filled with books and much, much more.

A
small globe of stars, a brass sexton and a few other navigational tools she
knew little about dominated one shelf, but just as she was about to move closer
to explore, the slow tread of booted heels upon the wood floor stopped her.
Glancing about, Angelique spied a small corridor to her left. At its end, she
glimpsed the satin blue of a bed quilt and the elegant drapes of a canopy.
Until this moment, she hadn't realized that the library was attached to persona
quarters — and they looked as though they had been recently occupied.

Angelique,
thinking quickly, folded her hands before her as her host appeared from the
depths of one of the book aisles. Unaware of her presence, Drew, familiar cloak
in place, bent over a book and paused beside the desk, a writing quill dangling
from gloved fingers. Drew tapped the quill absently against the binding for a
brief instant, then stopped.

Angelique
coughed discreetly.

Drew
looked up. "My Lady? What a pleasant surprise!" The book snapped shut
as Drew turned to face Angelique fully. There was genuine welcoming warmth in
Drew's voice.

"Good
morning, Drew."

"It
is a good morning. Are you feeling rested today?"

"Yes.
Thank you."

"May
I help you with something?" Drew closed the book and placed it on the
desk. Cautiously, Angelique's host advanced a few paces then halted. "Or
have you merely need of some company?"

"I
didn't mean to intrude, my Liege. Actually, I was looking for the
library."

"Ah,"
the figure turned about, "you have gotten yourself turned around. Not an
uncommon problem here." Drew paused and gestured to the pleasant room.
"Although this may look like the library, you've found my study instead.
The library is just opposite, on the far side of the courtyard."

Angelique
blushed and stammered an apology.

"No
need to apologize. I'm afraid it's all too easy when you're new. Especially
with the way the staircases keep moving about."

"Moving?"
Angelique felt her frustration return in a flood. "You mean those damnable
things have been shifting about all the while?"

"Culdun
didn't tell you?" The other stepped nearer again.

"No,
Culdun didn't tell me. Do you know I've been lost for a good twenty minutes!

Drew
laughed, and Angelique glared rebelliously up into the dark, faceless void.
"It is not funny!"

"No,
you're right. It's not," the other admitted, but the smile did not fade
from Drew's voice.

Exasperated,
Angelique leaned against the door with a scowl.

"I
am sorry, Angelique, but I have never seen anyone quite so unafraid."

Dubiously,
Angelique looked up.

"Others
have always seemed so reserved, intimidated. But you? You're annoyed!"

"Well,"
a rueful smile danced across her lips, "it is annoying."

A
friendly silence enfolded them. The scuffling of Angelique's shoe hinted at her
temptation to pout. She glanced at Drew quickly and then away, "You're
still smiling, aren't you?"

"I'm
afraid so."

She
watched as the tip of her shoe appeared and disappeared beneath the hem of her
skirt. "Do you think it's silly of me to be annoyed?"

"No.
Actually," a gloved finger reached over to trace the swirls of Angelique's
hair comb, "I was wondering if I dare give you a reason to become even
more annoyed."

"What
do you mean?"

"Mind
you, it may only be my ignorance of current fashions."

Angelique's
eyes widened as the gold comb was adroitly plucked from her hair and offered to
her. "Did you wish to be wearing one gold and one silver comb?"

"No,"
Angelique breathed. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back against the
door. "I suppose that I was thinking of gold when I put in this one and
silver when I put in the other. I'm afraid I'm not very good at controlling my
thoughts — it's hard enough to control what I say out loud!" She giggled
at that and suddenly they were both laughing. "I warned you,"
Angelique said when they paused for breath, "I have no practice with
magickal things."

"Then
perhaps," Drew said, striving for a slightly more serious note, "I
should give you a hint or two?"

"Please."

"The
servants in the house are for companionship and to tend to the details of
maintaining the palace and grounds. However, the actual work is done by magick.
The palace itself is sensitive to your commands. Any time you say 'I need' or
'I wish,' the palace will respond. Although, if you said 'I'd like' or 'I
want,' it would ignore you." Drew paused before adding, "I found the
more I limited the specifics, the fewer accidents occurred."

Angelique
blinked. "You built this place?"

Drew
shrugged noncommittally. "Some of it. Mostly I redesigned it to suit my
purpose."

"And
what purpose is that, my Liege?"

There
was a moment of hesitation, and then Drew answered, "To protect the lands
and the village while I wait."

Angelique
almost asked 'wait for what?' but something in the rigid tension that suddenly
gripped Drew's body stopped her. She raised her gold comb instead and
challenged lightly, "Do you think I really could change it myself?"

The
tension fled. Drew chuckled softly and waved a gloved hand. "Try."

Angelique
took a breath, excitement stirring. "I need a silver comb." The gold
twinkled and then it was silver. "I did it!"

"You
did." The black-gloved hand passed over the comb, changing its design. A
splay of diamonds now graced the scalloped ridges and then Drew murmured
something.

Angelique
stiffened as she felt her hair suddenly swept back into place.

"It
does take some practice," Drew explained matter-of-factly. "If you
want the comb's design to match, you need say so."

"And
the staircases? I'm quite certain I said nothing."

"Then
they wouldn't have known where you were going. The destination would be
completely determined by whoever was on them last. The palace is limited by
some physical boundaries. Often, when one stairwell is used, another must also
move in order to compensate for the change."

"But
I only wished to go up one flight. No matter where it left me off, I shouldn't
have gotten so thoroughly twisted about."

"In
this place you will never need to climb more than one flight of stairs. Whether
you begin on the first or the third floor, you will take only one flight to
reach the fourth."

A
sudden breeze disturbed the desk's parchments, and Angelique was reminded that
she had interrupted something. "I should leave you to your work."

"If
you like." Her companion straightened. But Angelique hesitated, eyeing the
little corridor to the bedroom. "I honestly didn't mean to intrude."
She opened the door, but left her hand resting on the handle.

"Angelique."
Drew's gloved hand folded over hers. "This is your home now. There is no
place forbidden to you. You are welcome anywhere in the palace."

Overwhelmed
by the sincere kindness in Drew's voice, Angelique blinked back sudden tears.

"Now
I have made you cry." Drew's hand withdrew as if afraid of burning her.
"I do not seek to hurt you, my Lady."

Angelique
looked at Drew for a moment. "I am not frightened, my Liege. But if you
show me such kindness, then you must expect a few tears of happiness." And
with that, Angelique slipped quickly out the door before Drew had a chance to
respond.

A
polite cough drew Angelique's attention away from the book she was reading.
Looking up, she swiveled around on the bench to find Drew standing behind her.
The room's shadowed aisles seemed dense in comparison to the brightly lit area
with tables and benches which lined the window wall. But Drew's cowled figure
was recognizable even in the dimness.

"If
you'd rather I go-?"

"No.
Not at all," Angelique insisted, smiling as the hesitation in Drew's
stance was replaced with confidence.

"Again,
you surprise me," Drew shared, nodding toward the book. "You read.
I'd thought you'd be in search of a dress pattern or pictures."

Angelique
made a face. "Aloysius taught me to so that he wouldn't have to read to
Mama so often. Which was typical of him. He'd make you think he was doing you a
favor, but it was always himself he was serving."

"Yet
it was a gift after all, in the end, wasn't it?"

"Yes,"
Angelique admitted, then smiled. She opened the book to the place she'd marked
with her finger and said, "I was reading about the Persian astronomer who
was among the first to believe the world was round. It seems amazing to me that
people were so certain once the world must be flat."