A Princess Prays (6 page)

“How is Your Majesty?”

“Feeling better because I am delighted to see you. My daughter is telling me that your garden is even better this year and that is saying a great deal!”

Father Jozsef laughed.

“Her Royal Highness is right. I work very hard on it and I know if you come to see it, Your Majesty will be impressed.”

“That is something I intend to do as soon as I can.”

There was a short silence then Father Jozsef said,

“I have something to tell Your Majesty.”

The King looked rather apprehensive.

“I am taking Her Royal Highness away tomorrow morning, as she desires to make a pilgrimage to St. Janos on Your Majesty's behalf.”

The King looked at Father Jozsef in astonishment.

“A pilgrimage,” he exclaimed.

“Princess Attila believes in prayer as I do and we both pray for a miracle where Your Majesty is concerned.”

“As it so happens I am feeling a little better because Attila has told me I was making a huge mistake in taking the medicine and sleeping draughts the doctors have given me.”

“I am sure the Princess is quite right.”

“I was very foolish, Father, in not consulting you. I am sure you have cured more people in your time than any of these doctors who give themselves such airs.”

“That is a subject I would wish to talk to you about, Your Majesty, as well as the pilgrimage Princess Attila and I are undertaking.”

“Are you sure it will not be too much for you?”

“I am convinced that nothing is more important to Valdina than that Your Majesty should stay on the throne.”

The King was well aware by the way Father Jozsef spoke that he knew the Queen desired the throne if he died.

It was a matter, however, that he felt he should not discuss with the Father, so he merely said,

“If you really believe, Father, that a pilgrimage to St. Janos will give me back my health, then I am prepared to leave my daughter in your charge.”

“I will take the greatest care of her, Your Majesty, and I think that you are aware that she has another reason for leaving the Palace at this time.”

The King gave the Father a sharp glance.

“Are you referring to the visit of Prince Otto?”

He knew as he spoke it was somewhat indiscreet to discuss a Royal guest, but Father Jozsef had always been a privileged person.

It suddenly dawned on the King that there were a few secrets about the Prince not known to him.

“Since Your Majesty has mentioned him, I can only say that if our beloved Queen Anna was still alive, Prince Otto would never be allowed to cross the threshold of the Palace.”

The King raised his eyebrows.

“Is he as bad as that?” he enquired. “I really know very little about him.”

“He is someone, Your Majesty, who should never come into contact with any decent woman and certainly not a young girl who knows very little of the world.”

The King drew in his breath.

He recognised that it was really impossible to query anything that Father Jozsef said, but he had no wish at this moment to be involved in a long argument with the Queen.

After all she had invited Prince Otto and she must have some idea what his reputation was like.

“If what you have just said is the truth, as of course it is, Father, then I am most grateful to you for taking Attila away.”

“Because the Princess has no wish to upset anyone, we have agreed between us that the only person who shall know where we have gone and why is Your Majesty.

“We are in fact leaving at dawn tomorrow morning and we would be grateful if no one was informed that we are missing until we are some way away from the Palace.”

The King smiled.

“I can see you have thought it all out very carefully and of course you are right. It is always wise to go quickly and avoid explanations.”

“That is just what Princess Attila felt and therefore no one will have the slightest idea of what has happened to her except Your Majesty.”

“I am so glad that I have been let into your secret, but I cannot believe you are making your pilgrimage on foot.”

“That is correct,” replied Father Jozsef, “because as Your Majesty well knows I am not as young as I was.”

His eyes were twinkling as he added,

“My carriage, where the Princess will sleep, is drawn by two excellent stallions from the Royal stables. We are also taking a mount for me and Samson, which I gather is Her Royal Highness's favourite mount.”

The King threw back his head and laughed.

“I might well have guessed, Father, that you would choose the best and you are right to do so. I understand from what you have just told me that you have no wish to take a Royal Guard with you.”

“Certainly not, Your Majesty. We are just two very unimportant people to whom no one will give a second glance going on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Janos.”

“I can see how well you two have thought it all out, Father. You have my full approval and I promise you no one will guess where you and Attila are, but I shall be quite content because she is in your hands.”

“There is something else I would now wish to say to Your Majesty about yourself.”

“I am listening, Father.”

“I expect Your Majesty will have heard of Salem, the village which is about ten miles from here?”

“Yes, it is a small village on a large lake.”

“That is right, but I don't know if Your Majesty is aware that the people of Salem are the healthiest people in the whole country!”

“If I was told it, I cannot remember it.”

“Well, they are, and what is so strange is that there has never been any illness to any of the people of Salem. When their ages were last counted, there were three men of over a hundred years of age and a large number of men and women nearing ninety.”

The King stared at him.

“Is there any reason for it?”

“The reason I believe comes from the water in the lake and the land where the locals grow their food.”

“Surely that is nothing unusual?” asked the King.

“I know of no other place where the people are so healthy and where those who join them are cured of many different diseases.”

The King now realised that this information was of personal interest.

He was listening intently as Father Jozsef went on,

“Two years ago I sent two young chimney sweeps to Salem, suffering from a strange growth on their skin due to their being continually in contact with soot.”

“And they were cured?”

“Completely, and the same applied to the workers in a tar factory who spent several weeks there bathing in the lake and drinking the water. The growths on their skin vanished completely before they left.”

“I do know why you are telling me this, Father, and I thank you, but in my case the doctors think that the fatal growths are somewhere near my heart.”

“I sent a woman to Salem six months ago, who had unceasing pain in one of her breasts. The doctors told her it was a growth of some sort, but they had no idea how to cure it and she left them with no hope.”

“And what happened to her?”

“She returned after only three weeks to her family, saying that the pain had gone. She was quite convinced that she was completely cured of whatever was hurting her and making her so miserable.”

There was silence before the King asked,

“Are you seriously suggesting that I go to Salem?”

“I think it would be very difficult for Your Majesty, but as I am convinced it is the water of Salem that works these miracles, I see no reason why the waters cannot be brought to the Palace in bottles, so that you can drink it. The water could also be put in large containers so that you can bathe in it.”

“Father, you are a magician! And of course I will do as you suggest.”

“I also believe that the vegetables grown in Salem and the animals that come to the lake must be influenced by what they eat and drink, so Your Majesty should purchase your meals for the next month or so from Salem.”

The King realised that there was no real difficulty about the Father's suggestion. He only had to give the order to his chefs.

“I must thank you very humbly, Father, for giving me hope when I thought the only thing left for me was to say my prayers and die.”

“I hope Your Majesty will still say your prayers, and of course Princess Attila and I will be praying for you at St. Janos's Shrine. I am absolutely convinced that all our prayers will be answered, but they will certainly be helped by everything Your Majesty obtains from Salem.”

“I thank you more than I can put into words,” said the King, “you have given me hope and that at times is something very hard to come by.”

“I think what is more important that anything else, if I may say so, Your Majesty, is that you should be back ruling your people and leading them into the prosperity this country so richly deserves.”

Father Jozsef rose to his feet.

“Before you leave, I would ask for your blessing, Father. It is something you have given me ever since I was young and I have never failed to be grateful for it.”

Father Jozsef smiled and putting his hands together he said a prayer and blessed the King.

Only as he reached the door did he turn back to say,

“Your Majesty will not forget, please, that no one is to know about Princess Attila's and my secret.”

“Cross my very heart, I will keep it absolutely and completely to myself,” the King promised.

As the Father left the King felt a surge of hope, just as he had after talking to Attila.

In addition he felt pleased that the Father had skilfully, without upsetting anyone but the Queen, arranged to spirit Attila away before Prince Otto arrived.

Now he thought about Otto the King found it hard to understand.

How could the Queen even contemplate marrying his precious daughter to a man for whom apparently no one had a good word?

He decided, however, he would not make a fuss. By the time Otto arrived, Attila would have already disappeared.

Therefore whatever festivities were arranged for the visit of Prince Otto, she would not be around to participate in them.

When Attila came to kiss him goodnight, he said in a low voice,

“I think really, my dearest, you are saying goodbye to me for quite some time.”

“Father Jozsef and I are going to pray for you and I know, Papa, that you will get well.”

The King had already given his orders to bring food and water from Salem as Father Jozsef had suggested.

He did not discuss it with Attila, merely saying,

“I am so very grateful to you for undertaking this pilgrimage on my behalf and I just cannot believe that your prayers, and those of Father Jozsef, will not be answered.”

“I expect as soon as I return I shall be able to ride with you again, Papa, and there is a new horse which I am sure you will find irresistible.”

“I shall be looking forward to it and do take care of yourself, my precious daughter.”

“Father Jozsef will be doing it for me and I expect because I am travelling with him that there will be a dozen invisible angels hovering over us.”

The King laughed.

“I am certain you are right and because it is such an important pilgrimage, I am only surprised that you are not flying to the Shrine on angels' wings!”

Attila laughed and hugged him.

“I knew you would understand, Papa, and not make a fuss because I am going alone with Father Jozsef. If we had other people with us, it would spoil the pilgrimage and make it difficult for us to concentrate on you.”

“I shall be thinking about you all the time you are away, my dearest Attila, and carrying out yours and Father Jozsef's instructions to the letter.”

Attila kissed him affectionately before going to her own bedroom.

She knew that the King was feeling better already because he was not taking the doctors' medicine and because Father Jozsef would have blessed him.

‘I cannot think why we waited so long and listened to what those stupid doctors had to say,' she said to herself. ‘It is all my fault, I should have remembered Mama's herbs earlier and not been frightened by the doctors.'

It took her some time to go to sleep.

*

As she had not drawn back her bedroom curtains, the first gleam of light in the sky woke her.

It was dawn and Father Jozsef would be waiting for her.

After her lady's maid had left her last night, Attila had put out the clothes she was going to wear to travel in.

She had carried in her large bag and case from the bedroom next door and dressed herself in the clothes she had found in the attic.

Then, holding on to her luggage, she crept out of her bedroom and down the stairs. There was no one about and she unbolted one of the doors into the garden.

It was not difficult to find her way across the lawn and under the trees.

She was glad when she reached the little valley where Father Jozsef's Chapel was situated.

Attila had only taken a few steps when Kilkos, the young man who was travelling with them, came running up to her and took her case and bag.

Then they hurried along the twisting path that led towards the Chapel.

There was no time for her to go into the Chapel this morning and beyond Father Jozsef's garden she could see that there was a carriage drawn by two horses with Lamos already holding the reins.

Father Jozsef was standing beside the two horses he and Attila were to ride and before she reached him, Kilkos had already put their luggage into the back of the carriage.

Attila greeted Father Jozsef and then Kilkos helped her on to the saddle of Samson.

She bent forward to give the stallion she loved an affectionate pat and she thought that he was as excited as she was about the unexpected adventure.

Father Jozsef mounted the other horse, which was almost as handsome as Samson, and Kilkos sprang up onto the box of the carriage and they were off.