The Chosen (38 page)

“Nephew that is not wise!” Jasmine protested. “Only those highly favored are given such an honor.”

“Only those who are highly favored are allowed to sit with the royal family,” Derek reminded her calmly. “I wish to get to know these two lovely ladies, and by favoring them I give myself the opportunity to do so.”

Startled as he was by the Crown Prince’s latest antics, David was about to burst out laughing while Kathryn and Amy looked like they were ready to die of embarrassment.

“We’d best be going,” Jasmine announced suddenly, as if she had just taken notice of the two girls’ embarrassment. “Good day Lord Prince.” She curtsied to Derek, and Kathryn and Amy followed her example before they hurried off.

When they were out of ear shot Derek exclaimed, “Lady Kathryn is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld.”

David nodded slowly. Kathryn was beautiful, but in his opinion no more beautiful than the other Dragons. However because he didn’t want to get into that particular argument, again, with the Crown Prince, he simply agreed with him. “Yes she is.”

Derek wasn’t done however. “What I want to know is who in this realm had the audacity to claim her hand for two nights before the Crown Prince?” he asked in mock disbelief.

David grinned. “I did.”

Derek looked completely shocked, and then he burst out laughing. Clapping David on the shoulder he exclaimed, “Well you’ve done it again little brother, stealing the most beautiful woman right out from under me.”

“You’re too old for her,” David laughed.

“Excuses, excuses.”

Is the crown prince always so…” Kathryn struggled to find a word that fit... “friendly?”

Jasmine chuckled softly. “Not always, most of the time yes, but not always.” She sighed. “Derek is much too trusting for his own good.”

Kathryn nodded in agreement. “I was thinking something similar along those same lines.”

“How about forward?” Amy asked suddenly. “Is he always as forward to the ladies as he was back in the garden?”

Jasmine gave a graceful shrug. “It depends on the lady,” she said with a glimmer in her eye. “If he’s smitten then yes, he’s definitely forward with her.”

Amy grinned. “I think he was smitten with Kathryn.”

“In your dreams,” Kathryn muttered as she sipped her drink.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When it comes to men, Kathryn is completely and totally blind,” Amy laughed as she reached for a piece of fruit from the platter sitting on the table.

When they had returned to Jasmine’s apartment the Dowager Princess had ordered a light meal to be sent to her quarters. Kathryn and Amy were delighted at the small spread of food that was ten times more flavorful and delectable than their ordinary fare. Now the three ladies were enjoying a small meal that would, hopefully, last them through the tournaments until the banquet that would be served in the great hall.

Destiny flew in the nearest window and perched herself on the edge of Kathryn’s chair, eyeing the food. Kathryn picked up a piece of fruit and tossed it to the bird. It was caught in Destiny’s beak almost as soon as it left Kathryn’s fingers.

“I’m always amazed at the bond between you and Destiny,” Jasmine observed as she took a turn tossing fruit at the hungry bird.

“I must admit,” Kathryn said as she slowly stroked the eagle’s feathers, “that there are times I marvel at her loyalty to me. I often feel like I don’t deserve her friendship.”

“You did save her life,” Amy pointed out as she reached for more food.

“Yes, but how often does that inspire this kind of loyalty in a bird?” Kathryn asked as Destiny decided to go hunt meatier fare.

The women were silent a moment, each lost in her own thoughts, and then Jasmine suddenly asked, “Kathryn what does your wardrobe look like?”

Kathryn, who had been in the process of taking a bite of a sandwich paused, the small morsel halfway to her mouth. “What?”

“You heard me,” Jasmine returned. “What does your wardrobe look like nowadays?”

Frustrated Kathryn put down her sandwich. “What is with everybody asking me about my clothes all of a sudden?”

Confused by Kathryn’s outburst, Jasmine looked to Amy for an explanation.

“One of the girls just made Kathryn a whole new wardrobe after learning that Lady Kathryn only had one court dress,” Amy offered.

Jasmine turned to look at her ward. “One court dress,” she repeated her tone skeptical. “Kathryn you have a whole closet full of formal wear.”

“At your palace,” Kathryn replied while taking a bite of her sandwich.

“You mean you didn’t take them with you?” Jasmine yelped in disbelief.

“Well I didn’t exactly have any use for them at school and I didn’t have time to get them before we left for our new home,” Kathryn explained matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean you didn’t have any use for them at school?” Jasmine demanded. “I happen to know that there are dances held at the school and imitation balls where you are supposed to dress formally.”

“I took one with me for those occasions,” Kathryn reminded her. “I didn’t see any wisdom in dragging around an extra closet’s worth of dresses that I would rarely use.”

Jasmine raised her eyes and hands heavenward. “I tried. I really honestly and truly tried.”

Kathryn looked at her. “Tried what?”

“To turn you into a lady,” Jasmine explained in exasperation. Quickly she turned to Arianna. “Fetch me all of the dresses Kathryn owns,” she ordered. Arianna disappeared from the room.

Amy and Kathryn looked at each other. “What are you doing, Jasmine?” Kathryn asked warily.

“I’m going to take a look at your wardrobe to decide how soon I need to call my seamstress,” Jasmine announced. She paused and then changed her mind. “Actually I’m going to summon her now.” She sent another of her ladies-in-waiting to fetch Madame Nireta, the palace seamstress.

“What in the kingdom’s name do you need a seamstress for?” Kathryn demanded as the serving lady left the room.

“To correct your wardrobe.”

“My wardrobe doesn’t need to be corrected,” Kathryn protested as she moved across the room and sat down gruffly on a rather ornate settee.

“I will not have my ward running around the palace dressed like a common noble woman,” Jasmine declared.

“I didn’t know there was such a thing,” Kathryn muttered as Arianna returned with her clothes.

“No, no, no! This won’t do!” Jasmine cried as she looked through the dresses. “You are my ward and I intend to see you dressed as my ward.” It took Jasmine less than ten minutes to go through each of Kathryn’s dresses and while she admitted that the workmanship was normally something she would have approved of, it would not be suitable for dance attire in the capitol.

“Milady, Madame Nireta is here.”

“Thank you, Sira, show her in.”

Madame Nireta, a tall graceful woman with graying hair entered the room followed by three of her subordinates. “You sent for me milady.”

“Madame Nireta, I don’t believe you’ve met my ward, Lady Kathryn.” Jasmine nodded to her ward who looked like she would rather be anywhere than sitting on the couch at the moment.

“It is an honor,” Madame curtsied. “Is Lady Kathryn in need of a new wardrobe?”

“Immediately.”

Madame flew into action. Her three assistants measured Kathryn while Madame picked through Kathryn’s wardrobe. “Not exactly royal made,” she commented as she held a dress between two fingers. “Although whoever made this has a sense of fashion.”  She squinted at the beaded bodice as if it held the secrets of the ancients, before skimming her gaze down the full skirt.

That would be Natalie,” Amy told her, trying unsuccessfully to hide her gleeful grin at her friend’s obvious discomfort.

“Well, I would like to have this Natalie working for me.”

“Sorry, that’s not possible.”

“Pity.” She turned to her assistants. “You have her measurements?”

“Yes, Madame.”

Kathryn, resigning herself to her fate, mumbled softly, “It’s only three nights!”

“What did you say?” Madame asked

“Nothing,” Kathryn sighed.

“Good,” she turned to Jasmine. “I shall return tomorrow with several new gowns for your ward, in the meantime this gown,” she picked up a deep purple dress, “will suffice.”

Kathryn grimaced. She remembered trying on that particular dress back at the glade. It was hot and heavy; not to mention the corset had a loose bone that dug into her ribs every time she took a breath. When Natalie had tried it on, it had looked stunning; the wide, stiff skirt held out by too many petticoats to count appearing to float out from her waist before dropping in light flounces to the floor. The gold embroidery on the bodice and skirt hem had complemented the older girl’s skin beautifully whereas Kathryn felt like nothing more than a servant playing dress-up in the gown.

“Thank you, Madame.”

Knowing that if she left the design to the older woman she would regret it for her entire stay, Kathryn called out, “Before you go, I have one request.”

Madame wrinkled her nose as if expecting Kathryn’s one requirement to be a significant breach of fashion. “Yes?”

“I want the style of the dresses to echo what you see here.” Seeing that Madame obviously didn’t understand she summed it up in one word. “Simple.” The last thing she wanted was to be the dragging heavy, ornate gowns currently in vogue through the palace on a hot day. The purple dress would be bad enough, but if Madame added jewels and beading to her new creations…well she could imagine the comments she would later receive on her apparent “crankiness” from the Dragons.

Madame looked to Jasmine, who nodded her approval. “As the Lady wishes,” she sighed, sounding as if Kathryn had just asked her to slit her own throat.

After Madame left the three women returned to their luncheon. They ate quietly for a few moments before Jasmine asked, “How have you been settling in Kathryn?”

“Settling into what?”

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “To your new life, what else?”

“Fairly well, I’m still getting used to it.”

Before Jasmine could reply, a servant came into the room. “Prince Darcy to see you Milady.”

A young man in his mid-twenties strode into the room, a large smile plastered on his face. “Good morning, Aunt Jasmine,” he bent down and kissed her cheek. “How are you?”

“Very well, Darcy. How are you?”

“At the moment very curious,” he sat down on one of the couches. “You see, Derek came to see me and told me that two angels were staying at the palace and so of course I had to see for myself.”

Jasmine smiled at him. “I presume you speak of my companions and not of myself?”

Darcy shook his head. “You are the Queen of Angels,” he laughed. “And now you’ve brought forth your hidden jewels.” He laughed, but Kathryn got the impression that he was laughing at himself and his ridiculously poetic reply.

“I see you haven’t lost your touch,” Jasmine laughed as her nephew kissed her hand.

“Thank you,” he said with an amused grin. “Would you care to introduce me to your companions?”

For the second time that morning, Amy and Kathryn were flattered and introduced to royalty.

“Will you ladies be at the tournament this afternoon?”

“They have been invited by Derek to sit in the royal box,” Jasmine explained. “Are you jousting today?”

Darcy shook his head. “Not today, but I am fencing. Come and cheer me on.”

“We’ll see how the afternoon goes,” Jasmine said noncommittally.

“Well I shall look for you,” Darcy said as he took a seat opposite of his aunt and proceeded to engage the Dowager Princess and her companions in well-educated conversation. Kathryn found herself liking Prince Darcy. Prince Derek was charming but too trusting and exuberant. Prince Darcy on the other hand was learned and confident, although she had to admit he was just as charismatic as Derek—just in a different manner than his elder brother. His blond hair certainly set him apart from his older siblings.

“I’m afraid I must go,” he said after half a radian of conversation. “It was an honor ladies.” He gave Kathryn and Amy a quick bow before exiting.

“Are all the princes’ forward?” Amy asked once the door was safely shut.

Jasmine smiled. “You’re fresh blood girls, and on the plus side you’re very pretty. All the gentlemen are going to be all over you.”

“And we aren’t allowed to do anything about it?” Kathryn asked in disgust.

“Don’t go getting any ideas,” Jasmine warned. “You will behave yourself Kathryn. You’re my ward and must now act like it.

“Come,” she said picking up her skirts. “We must get ready for the first tournament.”

It is abominably hot
, Kathryn thought as she sat in the royal box, waiting for the first day of the jousting tournament to begin. The purple gown that Madame had declared would
suffice
was ridiculously hot and heavy for the blistering summer weather. Why couldn’t she have picked the green gown? Kathryn would have settled for the pale yellow dress with blue trim, though Natalie had declared it an “emergency” dress as the colors washed out her complexion. At least both were made of lighter linen and cotton. The satin and velvet currently draped over her body made her feel like she’d been stuffed in an oven.

Beside her, Amy looked far more comfortable in a delicate red dress of lace and cotton. She was seated between Amy and Jasmine at the far right hand corner of the box, allowing an excellent view of the field. At least the canopy above kept the sun from shining down directly onto her. So far she’d managed to pick out the other girls from the Dragons in the crowd around the tournament field. The looks of surprise and disbelief on Natalie and Lindsey’s faces when they had spotted her and Amy in the royal box had stirred some feelings of satisfaction deep within her.

As she waited for the games to start she quietly observed the royal family. King Darin she was already familiar with, having seen him at several Guardian graduations, including her own. His silver hair and regal bearing were hard to miss. His two sons had his regal manner and charisma. Briefly she wondered about the last child of the King and Queen, a son if rumors were to be believed. Children of the Royal Family were kept hidden until they were twenty years of age, or unless something tragic occurred, for their safety as well as an attempt to give them a “normal” childhood. If Crown Prince Derek and Prince Darcy were any indication, he would probably end up being a lady charmer, but she wondered if he’d be more like Derek or more like Darcy. In either case he’d be heavily sought after by the court ladies. Kathryn found herself glad that she would never have to interact with any of the royal family on a daily basis.

Queen Estelle was younger than her husband; her red hair still pure, showing no signs of gray. Her daughters had inherited her slight figure and delicate features. Kathryn wondered if Princess Roseanna’s and Prince Derek’s black hair came from their father. Princess Lillian was younger than Roseanna but still just as beautiful—

A trumpet sounded, announcing the start of the tournament. Kathryn turned her attention to the playing field. Well over one hundred competing knights paraded past as the crowd cheered. After today, only half that number would continue on to tomorrow’s event. The third and final day of the tournament would pit the top twenty knights against each other. Kathryn sincerely hoped that Jasmine would not require her to attend all three days of this.

King Darin stood. “Let the games begin.” He dropped a red handkerchief and the knights split into two groups. The first pair, drawn by lot, took their places and waited.

The crowd held its breath as they waited for the two knights to move, no one daring to so much as twitch until the competitors did.  All that could be heard was the jangling and creaking of armor and the pawing of the ground by the battle horses.

Finally, in a sudden burst of energy, the two knights lowered their lances simultaneously urging their horses forward thundering across the field like two unstoppable forces.

They collided with a crash that resounded across the field and the knight coming from the left, a larger man with a purple stag on his shield, fell to the ground. The victor, a knight with a green falcon’s head on his shield, raised his sword in acknowledgement of the king and rode off to begin again.

A smaller replica of his shield was moved from its position along the fence that encircled the field and placed on the tree of arms. The falcon knight had struck his opponent in the center of his chest, winning him two points. A hit to the center of his opponent’s shield would have won him a single point. At the end of the day, the knights with the most points would continue on.

The second challenger, a huge knight with a black snake head on his shield took the first’s position. The two charged and again the victor was the green falcon, again with a hit directly to the chest of his opponent.

The crowd loved the knight, cheering him on and practically leaping for excitement when he emerged victor. The crowd’s second favorite was a knight who bore a shield emblazoned with a white horse’s head. Like the green falcon, this knight was uncannily good at unseating his opponents with a hit to the chest. The people cheered him on with as much enthusiasm as the falcon.

To Kathryn, it felt like the jousts went on indefinitely. Unlike Amy, who was perched on the edge of her seat with anticipation for each joust, Kathryn felt that after one match, she had seen them all. After all, it wasn’t like they were doing anything new in the later jousts. It was still two grown men trying to knock the other off his horse.

The weather, if at all possible, was becoming even hotter and the humidity was increasing with each radian. Kathryn couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable the knights had to be, in their full metal armor and padding. She was wearing a comparatively light dress, sitting in the shade and she felt like melting, what she wouldn’t give for a strong breeze to chase away the suffocating heat.

Finally, the contenders had been narrowed down to half, and the fifty-eight knights stood before the king. In an exciting turn of events, the white horse knight had managed to surpass the green falcon in points during the last three matches. Kathryn was surprised to see Crown Prince Derek was the white horse knight, but she was shocked to see David as the green falcon, although he had demonstrated on several occasions his excellent, superior even, horsemanship. She realized that she should have figured it out, or at the very least recognized his horse. She was pleased to see that Matt, Luke, Daniel, and Tyler had joined David in making it through the first day of challenges.

King Darin stood. “Congratulations to the victors of today’s jousts! Choose your Ladies wisely,” he advised with a wide smile as the knights dispersed across the field.

This was the part Kathryn dreaded. As victors, the knights were, by custom, to choose a Lady and become her champion in later fights. The Lady would donate a token for the knight to carry as a sign of her favor. If the knight were to win the entire tourney, he and his Lady would be declared Festival King and Queen and would take places of honor at the final feast. The two knights with second and third highest points would become Festival Princes and their ladies Festival Princesses.

The Crown Prince moved toward the far end of the box.
Oh, please no
, Kathryn thought desperately. She remembered all too vividly Amy’s earlier teasing about the prince and the thought of possibly becoming a festival
royal
made her stomach clench uncomfortably. That, combined with the stifling heat, was enough to make her nauseous.

Prince Derek approached and bowed. “Lady Amira, would you grant me the honor of becoming your champion?”

Kathryn wanted to wilt with relief, but Amy was too stunned to move or reply. Finally, Kathryn nudged Amy with her elbow, jolting her friend out of her surprise. “I would be honored, Lord Prince,” she said standing and allowing him to kiss her hand. Kathryn suppressed a grimace, oh yuck! Amy reached into her sleeve, pulled out a silk scarf, and handed it to her new champion.

“May I have the honor of escorting you off the field, My Lady?” The Prince asked as he received the token.

Amy glanced at Kathryn in surprise and delight. “You may.”

Prince Derek grinned happily and led Amy out of the royal box and seated her on his horse.

Kathryn was so focused on Amy that for several moments, her senses failed to register a second figure standing before her. Tearing her gaze from her friend she was surprised to find David standing there.

He looked ridiculous. Where his hair wasn’t matted down with perspiration, it stuck up and out at different angles as though he just came out of a windstorm.  His faced was streaked in dirty sweat where the dust had stuck during the match.  His face reminded her of a court jester, especially the smug look that was currently plastered all over it.
Don’t you dare!
Kathryn thought fiercely.

David also moved forward to the royal box. “Lady Kathryn, may I have the honor of becoming your champion?”

Kathryn suppressed a growl. For a brief moment she wondered what would happen if she refused, but sensing Jasmine’s gaze on her, as well as remembering her earlier warning, she stood, offered a small, forced, smile and her hand saying, “I would be honored, Sir Darian.”

Following the Prince’s example David kissed her hand. She fought the urge to wipe her hand on her skirt. Now came the interesting part. Jasmine had been in such a rush to get to the field that Kathryn had nothing on her that she could offer David as a token. Well, she had one thing, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to give it away.

She would have to; there was nothing else she could give him. Slowly she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a long feather. It was one Destiny had lost recently and Kathryn had found it on her saddle bags when she had been helping Arianna unpack. Before the tournament she had tucked it into her sleeve for comfort.

Handing the feather to David, she couldn’t help but notice how appropriate the feather was considering his shieldcrest. He tucked it into his own sleeve. Wonderful. His crest was a falcon and she offers him a feather in token? That was certain to provide fodder for the court gossips. “May I have the honor of escorting you off the field, My Lady?”

Glancing up, Kathryn saw that many of the knights were escorting their chosen ladies off the field, displaying their patronage to their opponents. She might as well go along with it. “You may.”

David helped her out of the box and onto Rumer. It was a trickier feat than she’d imagined it could be. Her dress easily added ten kilos to her normal weight and the numerous petticoats and stiff outer skirt made finding a stable position nearly impossible. Desperately hoping that she’d managed it with some degree of grace, the last thing she needed was the noble women gossiping about her inability to sit a horse, she nodded her readiness to David determinedly ignoring the amused smirk at the corner of his mouth.

Off to her right, the first knight David had fought, the one with the purple stag crest, was helping Princess Lillian out of the royal box. Looking around as David led Rumer off the field, she sought out the other Dragons. The boys had all picked one of the female Dragons to be their ladies and she noted with some satisfaction that the rest of the girls had been asked by other knights to become their patrons. At least no one would harbor any envy or bitterness over not being chosen this trip.

“Well done, Sir Darian!” Prince Derek called as they approached. He already had Amy on the ground and was engaged in cheerful conversation. His two sisters were off to his right, with Darcy looking on to ensure that their knights behaved properly. The other knights were already disbanding, some leading their ladies off to explore or just take a walk. Others parted ways and went off alone. Kathryn didn’t see any of the other Dragons and wondered where they had wandered off to.

“I could have sworn I had you on that last joust, Lord Prince,” David joked as he assisted Kathryn down from Rumer.

Hearing David answer to his court name still struck Kathryn as a little odd. After seven months of learning to call someone by one name and then having to switch to another, she suspected that she wasn’t the only one having trouble with the new names. All the Guardians had official court names that differed from their given names, another measure to protect their identities. All except Kathryn. She lived under her court name on a daily basis. Her special name had been a gift and it was one she kept close to her heart. Only one other person besides herself knew it.

Dismounting, Kathryn was startled to find herself feeling lightheaded, and she placed a hand on Rumer to steady herself. She grit her teeth as world spun slightly and she willed it to right itself.

“Lady Kathryn, are you okay?”

Kathryn forced herself to look at David. “Actually I really don’t feel too well.”

“Perhaps you should lie down,” Amy suggested hurrying over.

“Is everything okay?” Princess Lillian asked as she and her champion, a Lord Tanner, joined them.

“Lady Kathryn isn’t feeling too well,” Prince Derek explained.

“I think it’s the heat, I’m not used to it,” Kathryn heard herself admit. “I think I’ll go lie down for a while.”

Lord Tanner looked her over. “Pardon my observation, Lady Kathryn, but you do look ill. Perhaps you should see a healer. This heat can easily induce fever and fatigue in someone as delicate as yourself.”

Someone as delicate as myself?!
Kathryn felt anger stirring, pushing away the nausea. “I assure you, Lord Tanner, there is no need for a healer. I am simply tired from my journey and the heat compounded the issue,” she told him icily.

Lord Tanner opened his mouth to argue, but apparently thought better of it. He closed his mouth, nodded, and gave a brief bow before walking back to his horse. Kathryn watched him go, fighting the urge to go after him and demonstrate just how delicate she really was.

Someone beside her chuckled in amusement. Turning, Kathryn saw that Prince Darcy had joined them in time to witness the exchange. “I’m afraid that Tanner is still old-fashioned,” Darcy observed. “He still believes that a woman’s place is to marry young and provide her husband heirs. And they certainly don’t have the constitution to watch an event such as this, the blood alone could damage their delicate sensibilities and ability to bear strong children.”