The False Prince (14 page)

W
e were secluded in our room when the betrothed princess arrived later that night. Roden suggested I sneak out and bring back a report of what she was like, which I was perfectly willing to do, but Tobias said he’d tell Mott if I left.

“You can’t have the advantage of seeing the princess before we do,” Tobias said. “Knowing you, you’ll convince her tonight that you are the prince, and she’ll have you crowned at the castle before Roden and I are awake tomorrow.”

I snorted, and then said, “Now that you’re onto me, I’ll have to figure out an even cleverer plan.” Mocking Tobias was risky, and probably unfair. But it was usually too hard to resist. I grabbed one of the books off his desk and brought it back to my bed, letting it fall open somewhere in the middle.

“What are you doing?”

“Mistress Havala said I’d have to study on my own to catch up. That’s what I’m doing.”

“You can’t read.”

“I said I can’t read well. But I paid very close attention to Master Graves this morning, and I hope to read well enough to understand this book.”

Tobias folded his arms. “Do you even know what it’s about?”

I shook my head and flipped to another page. “It would help if there were more pictures in it.”

“It’s on early Carthyan history. If you are going to study, you might choose a topic more relevant for convincing anyone you’re a prince.”

“Great. Give me one of those kinds of books.”

“They’re in the library and we’re not allowed to leave this room.”

I turned several more pages of the book. “Then I’ll have to content myself with reading this one.”

Roden chuckled and grabbed another book off Tobias’s table. “Me too.”

“Now you’re a reader also?” Rising anger tinged Tobias’s voice.

“It’ll be good practice.” Roden settled onto his bed with a book.

Tobias’s face reddened. “You think this will convince Conner of anything? I’m twice as smart as either of you.”

“And half as strong as me or Roden, even if we’re asleep,” I said. “You have to do better, Tobias.”

“Is that a challenge?” he asked.

“I’d never challenge an inferior. Now go to sleep. You’ll need rest before whatever humiliation comes your way tomorrow.”

“You sleep,” Tobias said. “You’ll need some strength for sneaking out later tonight.”

I laughed and tossed the book on the floor before lying down. But I didn’t go to sleep. That was a luxury I couldn’t afford. It was much later in the night before I finally decided to sneak out, this time through the secret passages. Climbing across the exterior walls of Farthenwood was a bad idea since I still felt so weak, but as long as nobody else was in the passages, it would be a fine way to explore.

I was gradually learning the exit points of the passages. They ran throughout Farthenwood, or at least to areas where Farthenwood’s architect felt a person might want to secretly travel. One of my favorite exits took me into the hallway around the corner from my room. It helped to see what was happening on the outside when everyone thought we were safely inside. I left the passages and entered the hallway, using that door.

As always at this time of night, there were only a few servants wandering the halls, so as long as I was careful to find the shadows in Conner’s home, I had access to most of the places I wanted to go. This time, I even got a glance down the hallway at who was guarding our room each night. I practically choked with laughter when I saw him. He might have been younger than the three of us, and he’d fallen asleep. He wore a sword, but the smallest buckle of the belt still hung loose around his waist. Clearly, Conner no longer considered any of us as at risk for running.

The one well-guarded room wasn’t far from Conner’s. The vigils in front of the door were unfamiliar to me and they stood very alert. It had to be the guest bedroom for the betrothed princess Amarinda.

It was impossible to continue any farther through the hallway without risking the attention of her vigils, so I slipped back into the passages. Somewhere in there was a door leading directly into Amarinda’s room, but using it for any reason was a terrible idea. It did occur to me that there might at least be some way to peek into the room without entering it. The curiosity of what Amarinda looked like was very strong.

While feeling around for any place to view into the room, I felt a hand on my arm and the point of a knife at my back. It had been only a matter of time before the others discovered the passages too.

“Is this how I have to prove my strength?” Tobias’s voice was thick and he sniffed loudly. I wondered if he was crying.

“Where’d you get the knife?” I asked calmly. Calm was important here.

“I stole it from the kitchen.” He pressed the long end of the blade into my back and I stiffened as I felt it cut. It was a razorsharp knife. “If the whipping before wasn’t enough, maybe I can stop you.”

“From what?” I said, gasping. Blood trickled down my back, though I couldn’t tell if he’d opened the old wound or created a new one.

“Stop you from being considered. I saw Conner’s admiration for you while we practiced our dancing. But how can he? You’re the least worthy of the title, the lowest of us three.”

“And you’re the biggest coward,” I hissed, then caught my breath in my throat as his blade cut deeper.

“Don’t call me a coward,” Tobias said. “I’m not!”

“Have you come here to kill me?” I asked. “Because I’ll scream when you do and it’ll wake up the princess and probably a whole lot of other people, and you’ll get into trouble.”

“You’ll be dead.”

“Yes, but you’ll be in trouble.”

Tobias lightened the pressure on the blade. “This is just a warning for you to back down. I will be king.”

“If you don’t want to kill me, then lower the knife.”

Tobias released my arm, then said, “Don’t try anything with me. I’ll keep this knife ready if you do.”

I stumbled away from him, my head spinning. “What am I going to try in here? You know that if you’re this paranoid as king, it’ll eat you alive.”

“Maybe King Eckbert should’ve been more paranoid. Then he wouldn’t be dead right now.”

I stopped and grabbed on to the wall for support. It took every bit of my concentration not to be sick all over him.

“You okay?” Tobias asked. Not that he cared. When I began walking again, he followed, adding, “What’s the point of wandering around here every night?”

The sting gradually eased. It was still fierce, but the whipping had hurt worse. Maybe he hadn’t cut me as badly as I first thought.

“Conner has you and Roden in his control,” I said. “Not me.”

“Not me either,” Tobias quickly said, but from the tone of his voice, it was obvious that even he didn’t believe it.

“I’d like to go to our room now,” I said. “I’m tired and you hurt my back.”

“I’m not apologizing for that. I’d rather keep you weak.”

“What a person of honor you are.”

Tobias snorted. “A statement like that, coming from you?”

That brought a faint smile to my face. “Then let’s hope Conner chooses Roden, so that Carthya has some hope of an honorable king.”

Tobias didn’t like that and he strutted ahead of me. “Roden would have this kingdom destroyed in a generation, with or without Conner’s lead. He has no thought that someone else hasn’t put there. I shudder to think either of you has any chance of being chosen.”

“If Conner’s choice was that obvious, my back wouldn’t hurt so much right now.”

“My warning is real,” Tobias said. “And if you try to tell anyone about this, I’ll see that Roden takes the blame. I know how to persuade Conner.”

“You have no control over Conner. You may wear the crown one day, but he’ll be king.”

“I’ll let him think he has control, then get rid of him. Where are we?”

Despite the pain I still felt, I couldn’t help but smile wickedly. “Conner’s room is on the other side of this wall. Pray he is a deep sleeper, or else he heard every word you just said.”

Tobias made a sound in his throat and put his ear to the wall, to see if he could hear Conner on the other side. I used the moment to grab his arm and twist it behind his back, and then withdrew my own knife from inside my clothes.

“Where’d that come from?”

“You’re not the only one who stole from the kitchen.” I withdrew his knife from his belt and whispered in his ear, “You’re in a lot of trouble, Tobias. Conner knows about the notes you made, your plans to get rid of him. You’ve already lost. In a few days, he’s going to kill you.”

Then I hit him over the back of the head with the butt of my knife and he fell unconscious.

T
obias was asleep in bed when I woke up, so he must have found his way back to our room sometime in the night. The idea that I’d slept through his walking freely around the room made me uncomfortable. Usually, I was a light sleeper, and I didn’t like the idea of wondering what he might have been tempted to do to me in my sleep.

Roden was already awake and still working on the book he’d taken off Tobias’s desk the night before. “I can figure out a lot of these words,” he said. “You should’ve paid more attention to Master Graves. I think he could’ve helped you.”

“I can’t pretend to be interested in someone who’s so boring,” I muttered.

Roden rolled his eyes and went back to his book while I got out of bed and began to get dressed. It would irritate Errol, I knew, but lately that fact was more motivation than deterrent.

“There’s blood all over your shirt!” Roden said.

“Noticed that, did you?”

Roden closed the book and came closer to me. “It looks like your shirt was cut too. What happened?”

“Do I need a bandage?”

“How should I know? Let me call Errol.”

I pulled off my shirt and threw it into the fireplace, which still bore a few smoldering ashes. The alcohol that Imogen had used for me was in the corner of our room. I poured just enough of it onto the shirt to stir up the fire again.

“What did you do that for?” Roden asked.

He made enough noise that Errol and the other two servants took it as a sign that it was time to enter from the hallway. I was never sure what time they arrived each morning, but they always came in when they heard us talking.

“I’ll help you finish dressing, sir.” Errol said the words as if he were tired of speaking them. He knew I didn’t want his help, and that was especially true right now.

I turned so that my back was facing the wall. “I’ll dress myself and I’ll do it privately.”

Tobias opened his eyes. “Will everyone speak quieter? I have a terrible headache here!”

“Sage’s back is bleeding again,” Roden said to Errol.

Everyone’s eyes turned to me. Errol walked between me and the wall. A gasp escaped his lips, then he said, “This is a new wound. Where did it come from?”

I shrugged, not yet ready with an explanation. Whatever I said, it’d have to be a lie. Although the truth would ruin Tobias’s last hope to become the prince, it did me no favors either.

Errol gave up asking for details and said, “The cut isn’t so deep, but we have to take care of it.”

“Just give me a bandage and I’ll wrap it myself,” I said.

Errol shook his head and left the room. It was a good thing the two weeks were almost ended. I doubted whether he could tolerate me for much longer.

“I’m already dressed.” Roden scowled at his servant, who was tugging at his shirt. “Get out!”

“You’re dismissed too,” Tobias told his man, a new servant who avoided me as often as possible. “We need to talk in private. Shut the door behind you.”

Immediately after we were alone, Roden leapt across the room, grabbed Tobias by the shoulders, and shoved him hard against the wall. “You did that to him? Were you going after me next?”

“Check me for a knife if you think I did it.” Tobias looked sideways at me. “I don’t have anything that could make a wound like that, do I, Sage?”

“You’re afraid of what Roden would find if he searched?” I asked.

Tobias threw up his hands, and Roden pulled back Tobias’s blanket and checked his pillow. Then he lifted Tobias’s mattress and gasped.

Tobias’s face paled as Roden withdrew the knife Tobias had used against me the night before. Dried blood still stained the tip of the blade. I’d made sure of that.

“How’d that get there?” Tobias whispered. His eyes narrowed as they met mine. “Oh, of course. Well, Sage has a knife too.”

“Do you think so?” I said. “I’m sure the kitchen staff will find there’s only one knife missing.” But I let Roden search my things anyway. No knife was there, and Tobias’s face paled even further.

“I’ve got to tell Conner,” Roden said. “This goes too far, Tobias.”

“Please don’t,” Tobias begged. “Conner already thinks I have a plan to get rid of him. If he thinks I tried to do anything to Sage — he’ll have my head.”

“Conner should punish you,” I said. “Being chosen as the prince is the least of your worries now.”

Tobias’s eyes filled with tears. “Help me, then.”

“You nearly killed me last night. Should I care what happens to you now?”

“Please. I’ll do anything.”

“You’re asking me to lie for you? Then I’d be the one in trouble. Why would I do that?”

His voice raised in pitch. “Please, Sage. Anything you want. Help me, and I’ll fight for you.”

He looked terrified, probably exactly as I had looked when Conner told Mott to take me to his dungeon. Tobias had played into my hands, but I felt sorry for him nonetheless. “I’ll help you, but at this price. It’s time to fail. You will be less intelligent, less impressive, and certainly less princelike.”

“Is what you told me last night true?” Tobias asked. “Does he really know about the notes?” I nodded and watched as tears filled his eyes. “Then he’s going to kill me anyway.”

“What if I promise that he won’t?” I said. “Back off and I promise that you will live, or else I’ll die trying to save you.” Now not only was Tobias out of the competition, but someone at Farthenwood owed me his life.

Errol returned to our room, accompanied by Imogen and Mott. Luckily, no attention was on Roden, who quickly hid Tobias’s knife back under the mattress.

Mott strode across our long room in less than a half dozen long steps. He turned me around to examine my back, then cursed loudly. “The master must hear of this. Tell me how this happened or I’ll take you to him for questioning. You know how that will end.”

I glanced at Tobias, who nodded his agreement to my terms.

“It’s embarrassing,” I said. “I tried to sneak out last night through the window. I got caught on the window frame and it impaled my back.”

“This is more than a scrape on your skin, Sage. You’ve been cut.”

“The window has a jagged edge,” I insisted. “I’m lucky not to be hurt worse. But it’s my own fault because I should never have been out there.” For an extra touch, I shrugged innocently and added, “I hoped nobody would notice.”

“How could you think we wouldn’t notice a wound like that?” Mott cursed under his breath. “Was this your attempt at obeying the master’s rules?”

“All I wanted was to look outside,” I said. “It would’ve been hard to go anywhere off that ledge.”

“It’d be impossible,” Mott said. “But you might have fallen to your death in the attempt.” He inhaled, then added, “Not a word of this to the master, then, but I must punish you. I hesitate because I know how weak you must be from the last few days, but you’ll miss today’s meals.”

I started to protest, then Mott arched his eyebrows and said, “Or shall we leave it to the master to choose a punishment?”

“I wasn’t hungry anyway,” I said.

Princess Amarinda had sent word that she would remain in her bedroom all morning. So Mott called Tobias and Roden to accompany him to breakfast with Conner and brought in Imogen to take care of my wound. She immediately went to work on washing away the blood. Her manner was cool and businesslike, but her touch as she cleaned my back was as gentle as ever.

“He knows you’re lying,” she whispered.

“Am I such a bad liar?”

“I’ll have to wait until you tell the truth so I can compare the differences.” She paused when I drew in a sharp gasp, and when she continued, the cloth was pressed so lightly on my back I could barely feel it. “How did it really happen?”

“A knife.”

“Who held that knife?” I hesitated and she added, “One of the other two boys, obviously. It isn’t a stab wound, though. This was done with the long edge of the blade.”

“You know your knife wounds.”

“I heard the chef say this morning that one of his knives has gone missing. He keeps them sharp. That’s why you were kneading bread, to get close to the knife block.”

“Actually, it was to keep Tobias away from the knives. He’d already stolen one, and that was as much damage as I wanted him able to cause me.”

I thought that would at least get a smile or a chuckle, but she continued as if she hadn’t heard me. “I checked first thing this morning. The knife you took is back in its place, and I found a few drops of blood on the floor.”

“I thought I had them all cleaned up.”

Frustrated, Imogen slapped at my bed. “Sage, please! Someone tried to kill you last night!”

“Not really. He just wanted me to think he could.”

“Why must you play these games?”

“Because now there are only two people competing to become the prince.”

Even without seeing her, I knew Imogen was frowning in disapproval. But she only said, “You know what I have to do now. It’s going to sting.”

“I’m getting used to —” I started to say before she pressed the wet towel to my back and made me howl.

Apparently, I’d reached the end of her sympathies. “Maybe you want Errol back,” she said.

“Maybe I do,” I moaned. “At least he wouldn’t scold me the whole time.”

“Someone should be scolding you,” she said. “If you’re not strong enough to handle all these injuries, you should stop getting them! You’ll never convince anyone you’re a prince this way.”

Imogen began to wrap a new bandage around me. This one had to go diagonally over my shoulder and down below the older bandage. After she knotted it, she noticed the change in my mood and said more softly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. You’ll do fine in convincing them.”

I remained facing the wall. “What if I don’t? What if after Conner chooses me, they look at me and only see Sage?”

“Would that be so bad, just to be who you are?”

This time I looked back at her, grinning. “You mean other than being executed for stealing the crown?”

She laughed. “Yes, other than that.”

Then I grew serious again. “What about you? If you were in the court when I’m presented, would you bow to me?”

After a moment, she slowly shook her head. “I hope Conner chooses you, and I think if he does that you’ll be able to convince them. You’ll be a fine king one day, but I know too much. And I won’t bow to a fraud.”

I turned away as she left the room. Unfortunately, I understood exactly how she felt. Nobody should have to bow to a false prince.