Aurelia Page 7

  but he did not. And the disappointment and her anger at herself for feeling that disappointment were too much. she lurched into motion, pounding around dim corners and down musty streets. Taverns and boardinghouses ranged beside her, the sharp smell of alcohol emanating from their connected facades. The uneven surface of the streets challenged the strength of her ankles, and rough edges of broken cobblestones dug into her leather shoe bottoms.

  A jagged pain in her side slowed her to a walk. Her earlier flight had cost her. she should not be running. For that matter, she should not be hiding and skulking in disguise. she was the future ruler of this city. she should be free to stroll its streets whenever she wanted. Aurelia kicked a broken stone into the gutter and watched it skid over the holes of a grate before plummeting into the sewer below.

  Where to now? Not the palace. Not that gilt prison of her stepmother's with its tapestry barriers and filigree locks. The wharf seemed the ideal refuge, its port filled with ships headed for exotic lands such as the Outer realms. To think, if she stowed away in one of those creaking hulls, she could set foot in a foreign country. The lure of the water pulled like a hook lodged in the tissue of her chest. Her steps quickened, and she lifted her head.

  Away. she must get away from the suffocation of her life, the pressure to marry, and the people she could not rely upon. every time she thought she could trust someone--

  Aurelia brushed back the thought and the hurt that came with it. she must escape.

  robert wanted to leap after her, tell her she was not going to win by leaving. but the truth bound him in the alley. Clearly, she knew he had been keeping information from her, and whatever she knew was a long way from the whole truth. If I stop her, what can I tell her? He had been ordered not to inform her of the assassination plot. Ordered by the king. The king!

  Her anger didn't bother him, but the hurt he had seen in her face did. That same look had gripped him in the tent earlier. He was unsure whether he could . . . whether he should . . . curse it! suddenly he did not know anything.

  Then a chill crackled through his body. While he had been standing still, thinking about his reaction to the argument, she had slipped off among the city streets alone--alone in a city she had nearly been killed in the night before.

  He rushed to the end of the alley. Vacant walls and shuffling strangers met his gaze. searching at random would be foolish. He had no idea where to look, and she did not want to be found, at least not by him. Hoping she was disguised as well as she believed, he plunged back into the fairgrounds, aiming for Fielding's tent.

  The horseman was waiting for him, or rather he was still in his tent, talking with a restless bay stallion. Horizon snorted as robert's head slipped under the heavy canvas flap. drew straightened to his full height. "When I invited you in here, lad, I did not know I was signing up to watch over a horse."

  robert shrugged. "my apologies." He knew his hopes of being overlooked by this man were shredded. Aurelia trusted drew. That much was clear; and based on the information the horseman had shared about the stallion, there was little chance drew could be involved in the assassination plot. robert resolved to open up as much as necessary if it would help him find the princess.

  keeping a hand wrapped around Horizon's reins, Fielding sat down, kicked his feet up on the white box, and gestured for robert to take the other chair. "We have a discussion to resume. Thus far I've been doing all the talking, a point I failed to notice until you took off."

  determined not to waste time, robert said, "I need to know where Aurelia might go in the city. she may be in danger."

  "That girl?" Fielding scoffed. "If she ever was in danger, all she'd have to do would be to announce her real identity. Folks in the city would rather see her on the throne than her father. Without her as his heir, the king would have lost his hold on their loyalty years ago. she stole the people's hearts at the age of three when she threw herself on her brother's coffin at the state funeral. besides, she can blend in with anyone."

  robert filed away drew's comments, wondering how many enemies Aurelia had made in her unintended quest for popularity. "you're saying she does this often, coming into the city in disguise?"

  drew laughed. "she knows the veins of this city better than a street urchin."

  "but how does she get out of the palace?"

  "Lad, I can't tell you that. I can tell you the lass was raised by the palace staff. His majesty never had time for her. For every guard keeping her in, there are three stable hands or kitchen maids or outside gardeners willing to smuggle her out."

  "Can you tell me where she might go?" robert pleaded.

  drew fiddled with Horizon's reins. "maybe, if I start getting some answers."

  "Ask your questions."

  "All right, you show up here dressed like a commoner, but your mount there is worth a small fortune. Judging by your reaction earlier, you know the difference between Favinoit and your regular white wine. And you know Her royal Highness well enough to call her by her first name. Who in the king's name are you?"

  robert told him.

  "Vantauge?" The man drew out the surname. "you're related to the king's adviser?"

  "He is my uncle. I came back to see him."

  "And others, I presume." drew's eyes sparkled. "I haven't seen a lad chase after a girl with such gusto in a long time."

  robert waited for the next question.

  "And why should I tell you where the lass may be when she doesn't want to be near you? she deserves her moments of freedom. They're rare enough these days."

  "I won't expose her. I just wish she'd asked me to come with her."

  "Of course you do, lad." The teasing tone weighed heavy in drew's voice. "perhaps she didn't ask you because she doesn't trust you. she's had a rough time of it these last few years. everyone views her through a spyglass, seeing how she can help them and losing perspective on the person."

  "everyone except you, you mean." robert was less than tactful. The word trust had hit hard.

  "Oh, I like the lass well enough, but I'm in her debt. I count on her support among the upper crust. There are those, even in the royal family, who find me"--he winked--"less than admirable."

  robert reworded his earlier question. "Where might she have gone?"

  drew wrapped the reins around his hand and released them, handing them to robert. "I'm still waiting to hear about this beauty." The horseman rubbed Horizon's cheekbone. "but I can see it'll have to wait till later. The lass wanted to be shut of you, my boy. I shouldn't send you after her. On the other hand, I've chased my share of girls, and I reckon miss Aurelia could do with a little chasing before she has to settle down for the good of the kingdom. she might have gone down to the docks. Has a dreamy fascination with far-off places."

  robert led the stallion out of the tent, and the horseman followed.

  "I'll be checking in to hear about this horse," drew said as robert climbed on to the scuffed saddle. "He has a spirit I like. Not at all the type to obey just because his master says so."

  Horizon broke into motion and headed through the thinning crowd, along the Tyralian wall, past inns and taverns, and out onto the wide crescent of the wharf. gray-green water curved into the city port, its depth renowned along the southern coast as one of only two harbors navigable by large sailing ships. A bustling group of tan men dressed in duck cloth loaded goods on and off a brigantine vessel, but no white cap lingered nearby.

  dismounting, robert walked along the edge of the bay toward a quieter section of the dock. Cool salt air filtered through tall masts and furled sails. The penetrating odor of raw fish drowned his nostrils. Water slapped a legato rhythm against the side of the dock, and shifting boards creaked accompaniment.

  The sight of Aurelia perched on a barrel, one knee slung over the other, eased his mind. she was safe for the moment. An old man with bushy eyebrows and a navy knit cap held the princess's attention. His ruddy fingers composed a fishing net, and his voice wrapped a hypnotizing rhythm around the
lone listener.

  robert slid onto an empty barrel at Aurelia's side. she glanced at him, then turned her eyes out toward the bay. He struggled to reconcile her father's orders with his own emotions, but the sound of the seaman's voice soon overtook robert's thoughts.

  The man's story uncoiled, one thick, entrancing loop at a time. despite having missed the beginning, robert quickly captured the tale's essence because it matched historical fact. Two decades earlier, a ship carrying people from the Outer realms had landed in port. The people, who spoke no Tyralian, had struggled to explain their need for help. Then the captain brought forward the body of a dead man bearing the pockmarks of disease. Fearing an epidemic, the king had denied the refugees assistance, ordering them to leave Tyralian waters.

  In the seaman's story, however, a young boy from the Outer realms named Andrew escaped the rigid guards and convinced the captain of another ship to help. After the forced departure of the refugees, this captain's ship followed, smuggling all the passengers safely onto Tyralian soil.

  "And when you see a man or a woman of special height, there's a good chance he or she is from that same refugee ship."

  The seaman tied a knot. "All thanks to a lad with the courage of a gull in a storm."

  "does that include you?" Aurelia asked, looking up into the man's wrinkled face.

  The seaman uncurled himself from his seat and stood up. To robert's astonishment, the man's head stretched above him almost as high as drew's had earlier that afternoon. "Nay, lass." The man winked. "but I know the story to be true."

  Aurelia laughed. "you know all stories to be true, even the one about the sea monster that swallowed the mermaid."

  The man laughed, then stretched out a reddened palm toward robert. "And who is this?"

  "A friend," she mumbled.

  "I enjoyed the story, sir, what I heard of it." robert took the seaman's weathered hand, surprised at its strong grip.

  "Aye, suppose you'll both be getting off before the sun goes down." The man tilted his head toward a sinking glow in the sky. A thin veil of clouds obscured the light's slow descent toward the western rim of the city wall.

  "yes, we should," Aurelia agreed. "Thank you again." As she hugged the wobbly seaman, robert thought about the story. Law prevented any man, woman, or child of the Outer realms from entering Tyralt. He wondered if the young boy named Andrew could be real, if a child truly had defied the king.

  Then again, the young woman on his right was defying that same king at this very moment. robert doubted whether anyone had defied king Lauzon as often as she had. For all His majesty's attempts to protect his daughter, here she was, standing on the wharf in boy's clothing, completely removed from her father's supervision. robert was never going to be able to protect her if he followed the king's orders.

  "Horizon can carry us both if you don't mind a few antics." robert offered Aurelia his hand.

  she gave him a critical look. "I'd rather walk."

  "Then I'll walk with you. I need to tell you the truth."

  she raised her eyes, seemed to accept the statement as a promise, and didn't argue as he fell into step beside her. The smell of fish faded as they moved up a quiet side street. Horizon's hooves clicked along the narrow stone surface and an uneasy silence descended. robert struggled with how to begin.

  "you were correct earlier about me not being entirely honest," he said.

  she snorted, picked up her pace, and pulled away, a move he had seen from her once too often.

  "Would you stop running?" Frustration cut through his voice. "you don't want to reach the palace too soon. I have a lot to say."

  "get on with it, then." she spun, scorn twisting her features as he stepped close. dark eyes looked up, their depths filled with mixed emotions--anger and hurt, and deep down a layer of fear.

  Holding her gaze, he grasped for words. "Over a month ago, uncle Henry sent a letter, begging my father to return to the palace. In it he claimed the life of the heir to the throne was in danger."

  she froze. "my life?" The emotions on her face clamped down.

  "yes." He watched her step away from him one careful stride, then turn to proceed slowly up the gentle curve of the street. she was no longer running.

  As they walked side by side, he retraced the events of the last several weeks, telling her what he knew about all four assassination attempts. she listened without comment, guiding him from one street to the next, leaving behind the inns and taverns skirting the wharf and moving on to narrow alleys lining the backs of stores and merchants' shops. supply barrels and wooden crates cluttered the path, and the smell of fired clay mingled with freshly baked bread.

  Carriages did not come along these backstreets, but the citizens of Tyralt did. A trio of shoeshine boys drifted past, nibbling on rye bread. A middle-aged man carted a heavy load of dusty coal, and a group of gossiping women rushed forward, toting packages wrapped in brown paper. None of the passersby interrupted robert's explanation. They each went about their business, paying no attention to the boy in the white cap and the commoner in frontier garb.

  The muscles in Aurelia's face remained still. If anything, her emotions became harder to read until robert related his conversation with drew. Then she shuddered. "I was afraid when I heard that," she said, "about the horse being from elise's stables."

  "Is that why you ran?" robert asked.

  "Yes, and because I was angry with you for lying."

  "But you suggested I talk to drew. How did you know I wasn't being honest with you?"

  She let out a slow breath. "This morning when we were playing cards, you told me you couldn't ask Chris about the accident because he was sleeping. That's when I knew you were lying. I saw Chris this morning. He was in my parlor half an hour before I sent for you."

  Of all the stupid ways to get caught in this deception. "What could possibly have motivated Chris to get up so early?"

  "A starling with an excruciating voice. she was visiting melony."

  Robert groaned, then he refocused his thoughts on the scarred stallion's owner. Now that Aurelia knew the truth, he could ask her questions. "do you believe there could be a connection between the queen and the assassination attempts?"

  She eyed him, the screen over her emotions faltering. "I thought you were going to be honest with me. What else could it mean?"

  "A number of things," he replied, "but that's not what I meant. What is your first reaction? does it seem plausible to you that the queen might be involved? Can you trust her?"

  Aurelia trailed her fingers against a sandstone wall. "I don't know how anyone's attempts to murder me could be plausible. elise and I have never been close. she made my father happy after my brother's death. beyond that . . . she has always been melony's mother, not mine." Her voice rose in anger. "but I hardly think that is a motive for murder. What reason could she have for wanting me killed?"

  "If her daughter was in line for the throne, that might--"

  "But the law forbids melony from becoming queen."

  "I know," he said. "And you've never felt threatened by your stepmother?"

  Indecision flashed across her face, but she replied, "If I had ever felt I was in danger in the palace, I would not have kept quiet about the fact."

  "I need you to stay quiet now, though." Intensity filled his voice. "To catch the person behind this, I need whoever it is to come into the open. The culprit must believe he or she is working in secret." Aurelia gave him an incredulous look. "please," he begged. "Let me do my job. don't say anything to the king yet. He did not want me to tell you about the danger. He didn't want you worried. I decided to tell you because I want you to be safe. I know you value your freedom, but I am asking you not to go out alone. If you must go, at least ask Chris or me to come with you."

  "Chris?" she gave a half smile. "He has better things to do, like flirting with melony's friends and lady's maids."

  "Then ask me," robert said. "I didn't come all this way to have you disappear on a city street s
omewhere."

  Aurelia looked at him, an odd expression crossing her face. "Why did you come . . . all this way?"

  He stared at her, unsure what she was asking.

  "Why are you here instead of your father?"

  robert felt his chest tighten. He thought about the day uncle Henry's letter had arrived and the resulting conversation. The memory of that talk with his father still haunted him. some truths robert was not prepared to share.

  Chapter Six

  THE LETTER

  THE SKY WAS BLUE THAT DAY, THE DAY UNCLE HENRY'S letter arrived. blue and arching over the curved hilltops and rugged canyons of the frontier. The sun's rays had not yet chased away the chill of the morning air as robert finished his chores and joined his father beside the corral to watch the approaching rider. A sturdy brown mustang followed the wagon tracks etched in the early spring grasses, and robert recognized the mount of his closest neighbor to the east.

  "Letter fer you, brian," the neighbor said when he pulled up into the open space between the corrals and cabin. He rummaged in his bulky saddlebags and withdrew a thin brown envelope that he handed to robert's father.

  mr. Vantauge ran his eyes over the writing on the sealed parchment. He looked like an older version of his son, except for those eyes, which were brown and wary. "my thanks," he said. "Who can tell when I would have found the time for a trip to town?"

  "ya'll do the same fer me when ya do." The man closed the hide flap on his saddlebag. "point of fact, I didn't pick it up in town. ran into a lost-lookin' courier about five miles out. Asked me fer directions to the Vantauge homestead. He wasn't none too anxious to put that envelope into my care, but he finally handed it over after I explained he had another two days' travel with nary a man-made landmark for a stretch of ten miles." The neighbor coaxed his horse around in a circle. "Can't stay; seedin' still to do."

  robert's father nodded, his eyes once again drifting down to the letter. "understood."

  The neighbor touched his hat brim in a salute and retreated along the wagon tracks. A gust of wind blew over the plowed fields, sending a cloud of dust over the departing horse and rider, and the smell off resh earth swept up to the corral where robert stood peering over his father's shoulder.