Mind Guest (16 page)

“Inform the Princess that her coach and escort have already arrived,” a stage-whisper came from one of the other three. “We must hasten if we are not to anger the captain.”

“You need have fear of angering none save me,” I interrupted with Bellna-huffiness, sitting up while making sure I held the covers modestly over myself. “Who is this captain you speak of, and how dare he make demands of me?”

“Captain Fallan is the leader of your mercenary escort, Highness,”

the quavering answer came, this time directly from the girl who had whispered before. She stood with the other two not far from the fireplace, and all four of them looked nervous and uncomfortable.

“Though he uttered no words of demand, we were instructed to ready you as quickly as possible. It would be foolish to ignore such instructions, for mercenaries are known to have little patience, most especially captains of mercenaries.

The girl stopped to breathe after getting all that out in a rush, the other three nodding their heads in agreement. All four of them were young, no more than sixteen at the most, and all of them were clearly peasants. They wore long print skirts made from some cheap material, low cut blouses that had once been white, had solid-colored shawls tied around their hips out of the way, and were barefoot. Bellna didn’t know any of them, and couldn’t understand why they were there.

The female servants who usually looked after her were trained ladies’ maids, efficient, genteel and quietly obedient.

“We were brought here by Captain Fallan for the express purpose of assisting you to readiness,” the girl next to the bed said, drawing my eyes back to her. “We had best do so immediately.”

“Had we really,” I murmured, letting Bellna’s annoyance touch me.

“Have you ever before been privileged to serve a Princess?” They all shook their heads, looking confused, and I nodded. “I thought not.

You have much to learn before you will be acceptable. Bring me a wrap.”

None of the four was terribly pleased with my attitude, and I could see they were having difficulty remembering and accepting my higher social position. If I’d been older than they it would have been easier all around, but I wasn’t older and I may even have been younger. One of the two who hadn’t spoken yet, a pretty redhead with a good figure, went to the large box I’d seen them open earlier and pulled out a long, tie-around dress. The tie-around was the wrap I’d asked for, and when she brought it to the bed I threw the covers aside, stood up, and let her put it around me.

“You may bring beverages and foods to break my fast,” I informed them haughtily as I tied the tie-around. “When I have finished my repast, you may then dress me.”

The two who had done all the talking so far began sputtering as a prelude to arguing, but I wasn’t listening to anything I didn’t want to hear. I moved between the heavy curtain and the bed, found the lighter arrangement Grigon had used the night before, lit the candle, then went back to jerk the drapes closed in the faces of my new servants. They were half outraged and half frightened, but I didn’t think they’d make the mistake of outright disobedience. They may not have liked it, but I war a princess.

I spent some time behind the curtain making use of the room’s chamber pot in private, then went out to find that two of the four girls, the two talkative ones, were gone. The other two glanced at me uncomfortably, but kept quiet as I went to the chair in front of the fire and sat down. Their disapproval was as loud as shouting, but as long as they didn’t say anything out loud Bellna was satisfied, which meant that L was satisfied. I was more eager to get going than to stop for a meal, but letting myself be rushed wouldn’t have been in character. Bellna was used to doing things her way, so obnoxious was the way I would have to play it.

It didn’t take long for the two girls to get back, and they didn’t look happy. One of them carried a tray and the other opened the door for her, and the two of them hurried over to where I was sitting.

“Captain Fallan sends his compliments, Princess,” the second one said while the first, the one who had been nearest the bed, put the tray across the arms of the chair I sat in. “He wishes you a hearty repast, yet asks that you partake of it as quickly as possible. Dawn approaches swiftly, and it is best that we be on our way before then.”

“He swore when he heard you had not yet dressed,” the girl who had carried the tray blurted, her face pale in the candlelight. She had brown hair, just as the second girl did, but looked fractionally younger. “Had it been I he swore at, I would not have been able to cease trembling. His anger grows as his patience thins.”

“And yet the word he sent was most courteous,” I pointed out, lifting the thick wedge of bread smeared with what looked like butter. “He may swear as he wishes in the presence of peasants, yet would my father have his tongue out were he to do the same before me. He will wait as long as necessary, for it is in my service that he moves. Was the lord Grigon as displeased as he?”

“The lord spoke no word in our presence, yet did he seem touched by annoyance,” the girl answered, glancing at her friends. They weren’t used to seeing a female get away with murder when dealing with men, and they weren’t sure whether or not they liked it.

“The lord Grigon will also survive,” I said with a sniff, then tackled the fried meat and boiled oats on my plate. The meal was a quick, slapped-together affair that Bellna didn’t care for, but rather than refuse to touch it, I simply showed distaste while slowly shoveling it in. I did have to get the show on the road, and could intelligently delay things only so long. The four girls stood around watching me, the oddest expressions on their faces, their annoyance growing when they realized I was ignoring them just as much as I was ignoring the men.

Even the slowest meal has to come to an end, and the girls were all ready for me when I indicated that the wooden tray could be taken.

I’d spent a small amount of time privately admiring the intricately carved bone that was used in place of wood or metal plates, and could finally understand Dameron’s reference to collectors. The bone plate would have fit well into my own collection of rare and beautiful things, but there was no way for me to get it out of there. The only practical solution would be to come back for it once all the excitement was over, but that time was a long way off. I had to live through everything in between first, and that might turn out to be easier said than done.

Once the tray was taken, I had to let myself be dressed. I would have preferred doing it alone, without help, but that would have been out of character. The underwear I had managed to avoid in the base was the first thing produced, to Bellna’s satisfaction and the girls’

amusement. The bottom part fit tight down to below my knees, was drawn closed at my waist, and was made up of frilly layers of lace.

The top part was a short-sleeved, waist-long jacket with lacings in front, made of silk without frilly layers, as confining as a straitjacket with the lacings closed. Raising my arms so that the under-dress could be put on me wasn’t the easy gesture it should have been, setting me to wonder how I was supposed to fight in that rig. A light blue dress had been supplied to take the place of the dark blue one Grigon had torn, and then I was urged into the chair so that my boots could be put on and laced. My underwear came to just about the top of the boots, and with the long sleeved, high-collared dress, I was covered all over. Bellna considered that the only decent way to appear in public, but I couldn’t help wishing there was some way to be indecent yet stay in character. The blazing fire was making me sweat, and outdoors would hardly be better. The nights grew cool around there, but the days were pleasantly warm.

After my hair had been combed to Bellna’s satisfaction, I led the way out of the room. It was useful being able to leave some of the small details to the Bellna presence, but I had to be careful not to do it too often. Something like that could get to be a habit, and habits like that I didn’t need. The girls followed after me down the stairs, trying not to step on my skirts in their hurry, even more upset that I was still taking my time. At the bottom of the stairs the redhead, who was carrying my cape, squeezed past me and got to the door to the outer room first, then held it open. I knew she was telling the men I’d finally gotten there, and when I reached the doorway I found two sets of eyes on me.

Grigon stood in the same conservative dark trousers and white shirt he had worn the day before, stood shouldered and narrow-faced, his faint air of disapproval covered by the small bow he performed. As far as being the center of attention, though, he could have been jumping up and down and waving his arms and he still wouldn’t have made it. The second man dominated the room completely, despite the fact that he was doing nothing but standing there. He was taller and broader than Grigon, brown-haired and brown-eyed, square-faced and almost handsome in his ugliness. His pants and knee-length boots were black, but his shirt was a bright, blazing red, telling everyone who looked at him that he was a mercenary. The long neck-scarf he wore was a light blue, showing that he was employed by Prince Havro, whose main color was light blue. My information told me his neck scarf was black when he was unemployed, and also that the length of it claimed him captain of his group. His left hand rested on the hilt of a plain, workmanlike sword, which was sheathed in a well-worn brown leather scabbard belted around his waist; his eyes, piercingly direct and without any trace of backwardness, rested only on me. Bellna unfluttered in my mind at the impact of those eyes, impressed despite herself, sharing the sense of excitement that crackled among the four girls behind me like static electricity. Fallan was the sort of man whose attention most females tried to attract; it seemed only fair to let him know where he stood with me.

“I hope, Lieutenant, that you and your men are prepared to depart,” I told his stare as I moved briskly into the center of the room. “The journey before us is lengthy, and there is little sense in standing about here.”

“In standing about here,” he echoed in a deep voice, watching without expression as I approached him. “You are concerned as to whether or not we are prepared to depart?”

“My Princess, allow me to present the leader of your escort,” Grigon hastily interposed as Fallan began drawing himself up to the explosion point. “This is Captain Fallan, leader of twenty, engaged by your father the Prince to protect you from his enemies at all costs. Where your safety is concerned, the Captain has been authorized to speak with your father’s voice. I feel quite sure, Captain, that my Princess will afford you full cooperation.”

“I will be pleased to give the – captain, did you say, Grigon? – the Captain’s planned itinerary my personal attention,” I answered as I adjusted the sleeves and skirt of my dress, not looking directly at either of the men. “It will undoubtedly be acceptable with only the most minor corrections.”

Grigon looked as if he wanted to close his eyes in pain, and the four girls behind me gasped in shock; Fallan, surprisingly, showed amusement rather than anger

“My – itinerary – has already received the approval of your father, Princess,” he said with the smallest bow it’s possible for the human body to perform. “It is therefore unnecessary for you to concern yourself with the matter, save in compliance. As sufficient time has already been wasted in awaiting your appearance, you may now take yourself to the coach which stands without. My men and I seek to complete our commission before we have attained too great an age to attempt others after it.”

“How dare you!” I gasped, using only a small part of Bellna’s shocked indignation at the way he’d spoken to me. “Perhaps it has escaped your notice that you address someone other than a peasant, Captain! I assure you my father will hear of your impertinence!”

“Your father has already heard of my impertinence,” Fallan grinned, moving a step closer to me. “It is undoubtedly the reason I was given this commission. You may inform his Highness that all proceeds apace, Lord Grigon.”

“It will be my pleasure to do so, Captain,” Grigon agreed with the ghost of a smile on his narrow face. “Now, if I may have a moment alone with the Princess before your departure.

“You may not,” Fallan said, finality in his voice as his big hand wrapped around my arm. “The Princess has expended more moments than her share; yours must unfortunately replace one of them. This moment is the one we depart.”

Grigon’s mouth opened in protest, his faint amusement gone, but he wasn’t given a chance to get any words out. Fallan was already hustling me toward the door, his pace and effort easy enough to pretend to be assistance, his grip solid enough to really give me no choice. Bellna was having a screaming fit in my head, furious over the way Fallan was treating me, but I glanced back at Grigon feeling disturbed. My fellow agent had clearly wanted to tell me something, and was just as clearly not going to get the chance. I sputtered indignantly at Fallan just to stay in character, but inwardly I was cursing at him in a way that probably would have shocked him if I’d done it aloud. Missing inside information was hazardous to the health in my line of work, and I was missing it because of Fallan.

Apparently the information Grigon had wasn’t important enough to cause him to make a fuss over Fallan’s decision. I heard him trailing along behind with the four girls as I was taken through the door into the early dawn. At the foot of the porch steps was a large, ornate carriage, light blue trimmed with gold, Prince Havro’s sigil on the door facing us, six brown vair harnessed to the front of it. Vair were tall, doe-eyed draft animals, four-legged and soft-coated, maned and tailed and usually even-tempered. Fallan’s twenty were also mounted on vair, though not at the time we left the lodge. Right then they were standing around looking bored, but when they saw us they immediately perked up.

“Your four wenches must accompany you in the coach,” Fallan told me as I hastily lifted my skirts to keep from tripping down the steps.

“I lack sufficient vair to mount them among my men, and would not wish the distraction even had I the vair. They will ride with you.”