Horse Charmer (6 page)

Maconahay followed silently. He didn't speak until they reached the main staircase. "This might not be a good idea."

She spun on him. "Oh, really. Enlighten me, Captain."

He lowered his voice as the two other guards stopped a few feet from them. "Her Highness did not request your presence for this interview."

"And?" Cassia challenged.

"Your presence might cause problems."

"Considering I will be the sovereign ruler of Karah, Captain." She stepped closer to him. "I believe I should be in attendance to any negotiations between Karah and any other kingdom. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, Your Highness," he said, taking a respectful step back. "I believe they summoned her to the same meeting room you were first shown to."

"Thank you, Captain." She motioned him forward.

The other two guards fell into step behind them and she had worked herself into a good state of agitation by the time they reached the door to the meeting room. The two Karahan guards standing with two Vesperan guards snapped to attention and saluted their captain. One of the Vesperan guards stepped in front of Cassia as she reached for the door.

"They're in a conference," he said.

"I'm aware of that." Cassia raised herself up to her full height. "Step out of my way."

The Vesperan guard glanced over her shoulder and then back to her before stepping back. Cassia shoved the door open and stepped in with her head held back trying not to show how unsure she was. Maconahay reached forward and shut the door behind her. Sarahann and Erich turned in surprise.

"Princess," Erich said, standing and bowing. "Is there a problem?"

Sarahann frowned at her as she also rose and crossed the room.

"Of course not," Cassia said with a false smile. "I was just informed we're having another meeting."

"I see," Erich said, looking at Sarahann.

"Your presence wasn't required, my dear." Sarahann smiled through gritted teeth. She squeezed Cassia's arm. "I can deal with the finalities of the treaty. You should be preparing for your wedding."

"The seamstress released me. I'm at your disposal."

"Shall we continue?" Erich motioned for the two ladies to sit.

Sarahann squeezed Cassia's arm again before taking her seat next to Erich. "We were discussing how to ease the hostilities on the border. The announcement of the wedding hasn't had the desired affect we'd hoped for."

"If the people saw Princess Cassia and Torr together it might salve their wounds," Erich said.

"What do you mean?" Cassia asked.

"An excellent idea," Sarahann said. "They shall go on a tour. A honeymoon tour?"

Erich nodded. "I'll speak with my advisors to see what areas are most affected."

"I shall do the same," Sarahann said.

"What are you talking about?" Cassia asked again.

Sarahann sighed in exasperation and then quickly straightened her shoulders. Erich hid a grin.

"The people need to see you together to be convinced," Sarahann said. "You and Torr will tour the countryside of Vespera and Karah immediately following the wedding. In particular, the border towns, agreed?"

Erich nodded.

Cassia frowned. They had gone on with their conversation without even trying to let her know exactly what they were talking about. "A tour? To show the people Karah and Vespera are now united."

Erich smiled. "Yes."

"I think that's enough for now," Sarahann said suddenly as she stood. "Thank you for your time, King Erich."

"Queen Sarahann." Erich rose. "Princess Cassia. We have a long day ahead of us."

"Until tomorrow." Sarahann bowed her head.

She wrapped her fingers around Cassia's wrist and tugged her out the door. She glared at Maconahay as she swept by with Cassia in tow. Cassia resisted the urge to tug her hand away in front of the guards.

She kept quiet as they went down the many hallways and stairs to the rooms. She reluctantly entered her room. She'd forgotten the seamstress was still there. Sarahann dismissed Madame Celeste and her assistant and turned on Cassia with a glare. Ula and Yaffa hovered on the other side of the room, recognizing the tongue lashing that was about to come. Cassia squared her shoulders and glared back at her mother.

"Captain Maconahay!" Sarahann spun to face Maconahay who stood just in the doorway.

Maconahay stepped forward stiffly and Cassia wondered briefly if he was expecting the same tongue lashing she was.

"Make sure Princess Cassia doesn't leave her chambers," Sarahann ordered.

"Yes, Your Highness," Maconahay said.

A slash of betrayal went through her at his answer. He was her guard. "You can't keep me prisoner."

"If you insist on acting like a spoiled child I will treat you like one," Sarahann said. "If your presence had been required I would have summoned you."

"My presence is required whenever Karah is the discussion." She drew herself up. "Isn't that what you taught me? Isn't that what you've been drilling into me since I was old enough to walk? Karah is my responsibility. Yes?"

Sarahann regarded her daughter quietly for a moment. "Very good, my dear. You almost sound like a ruler, but you aren't there yet." She stepped closer. "You have a long way to go until you will lead Karah with the knowledge and wisdom it needs. Until then, Karah is my responsibility and will be until I tell you otherwise."

"The coronation --"

"Won't change the reality of our situation, Cassia. You're not ready to lead. In time, you will be. Your father and I counted on there being a lot more time." Sarahann looked out toward the window. "But we didn't have that time. This is too delicate a matter for a child to make these decisions. Karah is on the brink of war. All it will take is one mistake for it all to fall apart." She turned back. "One mistake, my dear," she said much more quietly. "Do you want to be responsible for that one mistake?"

"Mother." She thought she saw tears in her mother's eyes. "I have to know what's going on."

"I agree." Sarahann turned to her daughter, "but you are so new at this. You don't understand how one wrong word can ruin a negotiation. You're the next in line for the throne. I recognize and respect that, but you aren't ready for it. It's time for bed. We have a long day ahead of us."

"I need to know --"

"Tomorrow." Sarahann nodded to Ula and swept from the room.

Cassia restrained herself from following her mother. She looked at Ula, Yaffa, and Maconahay, mortification moved through her at them witnessing her reprimand. She turned from all of them and paced to the window. The night was black, no moon.

"If you need anything, Your Highness," Maconahay said.

Cassia refused to answer him and after a moment the door shut.

CHAPTER SIX

Cassia tossed and turned in her bed. She drifted in and out of disturbing dreams, never quite waking up, but yet knowing she was dreaming. She rolled as she sank into another dream.

A large meadow greeted her. She raced through the thick green grass toward a dense grove with her heart in her throat. She wanted to scream, but couldn't get a sound out as she stumbled into the trees. Cassia desperately glanced around, but there was nothing in the grove but leaves and branches. Taking a shaky breath she pivoted on her heel, not sure what she was looking for, but certain it was awful. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief someone stepped into the grove behind her.

Cassia spun around.

"Father!" She threw herself into his arms. At the solid feel of him she began to cry.

"Sh, sh," Robet whispered, rubbing her back. "It's all right, little one."

She buried deeper into his arms at the old endearment.

"No need to cry," he said. "All will be well."

"I thought you were dead." Blinking back her tears, she gazed into his beloved face.

Robet smiled slowly. "Sit down, little one." He pulled her down onto the floor of the grove with him. "I know this will be hard for you, but I am dead."

"No, you're not. You're right here."

"I'm here in your dream. You're dreaming."

"No!" She shook her head in denial.

He smoothed her hair back from her forehead. "Yes. I don't have much time."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain. I needed to come and make sure you were safe."

"Why wouldn't I be? Who killed you?"

"I don't know, little one."

"I don't understand. Why did you leave the palace?" The questions she'd been asking herself over and over tumbled out. "How could no one have seen you?"

"Oh, they saw me, they just didn't realize it. This wasn't the first time Westleigh and I traveled in disguise. I was meeting one of Julyan's men. He had some information for me."

"He killed you?"

"No," he paused, "at least I don't believe so."

"How can you not know?"

"I never saw them. I was ambushed," Robet said in frustration. "I didn't see who they were, but there had to be more than one person involved."

"Where was Westleigh? Why didn't he protect you?"

"I left him behind with the horses. They didn't like the narrow alleys. Idiotic of me really, but I needed a break. Erich and I weren't making any progress on the ridiculous treaty."

"But you signed the treaty," Cassia said, interrupting him.

He stopped looking inward and focused on her. "No. Erich and I didn't make any headway in the treaty. Two days of arguing was all that was accomplished."

"He has a signed treaty with your signature."

He shook his head. "I never signed any treaty with Vespera. You must be careful."

"Of whom?" A chill crept through her. "What of your argument with Julyan? Why would you meet with his man when you were fighting?"

"I saw no danger. Julyan and I were having the same argument we'd been having for thirteen years. We always argued about your future."

She didn't understand why they would argue over her. Then she recalled the feeling she'd met Julyan before. "Why?"

He glanced over his shoulder and shook his head. "I've run out of time."

Her eyes widened as he stood up and stepped out of the grove. She leapt after him, but all she saw outside the grove was thick green grass. "Father!"

"Cassia," a voice said as her body shook. Cassia opened her eyes to see Yaffa standing over her. "Are you all right, Princess? You were crying out in your sleep."

She sat up. "Yes, I'm fine." But she wasn't. The dream clung to her and her heart beat heavily. "What time is it?"

"It's almost dawn." Yaffa stepped back from the bed.

Cassia nodded. Yaffa curtsied and walked quietly to where she and Ula were bedded down in the small dressing room. Cassia flopped back into her bed and stared up at the ceiling. A gray light from the window signaled it was indeed dawn. Her body ached from the lack of sleep. She was almost used to the pain by now. It seemed forever since she'd been able to sleep through the night.

She rolled over and tried to pull the dream back. Panic filled her as she realized it was starting to fade from her memory. She jumped up and padded over to the writing desk across from the bed, writing down everything Robet had said to her in the dream. She relaxed noting the last of the dream, confident she hadn't forgotten anything. At least, she didn't think she had.

Slowly reading over what she'd written, Cassia tapped the quill on the blotter. What was she supposed to do with this? She pushed the tears back. They wouldn't help her. He'd come to her for a reason. She just had to figure out why. As she went over what he'd said she realized she didn't really have anything new on his death. Their conversation hadn't followed a logical course.

He was worried. Worried enough to cross the threshold and communicate with her. But he hadn't said what he was concerned about. She tapped at where he'd said he hadn't signed a treaty. Cassia had seen the treaty herself. His signature and seal were on the bottom right alongside King Erich's, but if he hadn't signed the treaty that meant it was a forgery. Advisor Eb had hinted at the possibility when they'd first gotten the treaty, but he hadn't voiced it. What about the treaty had tipped Eb off and made him think Robet wouldn't have signed it?

If he hadn't signed the treaty than this marriage to Prince Torr wasn't what he'd wanted at all. She didn't have to marry Torr. She shouldn't marry Torr. She had to speak to her mother.

****

Cassia waited impatiently for her mother. Maconahay wouldn't allow her out of her room, but had finally relented enough to send a guard to her mother's chamber to inquire if she could go there. He nodded and she rushed across the hall. She shut the door soundly in Maconahay's face.

Sarahann looked at her expectantly. "What's so urgent?"

"Father never signed a treaty with King Erich," she said. "It's a forgery."

Sarahann put her tea cup down and focused on her daughter. "Who told you this?"

She hesitated. She had no idea how her mother would take the appearance of her father's ghost. "Father."

Sarahann rose swiftly. "You're saying you saw your father?" She clasped her hands together. "Cassia, your father is no longer with us."

Cassia waved a hand. "I didn't say I saw him alive."

"A ghost?" Sarahann asked in disbelief. "You're telling me your father's ghost appeared in your chamber?"

"Not exactly. He came to me in a dream," she said, almost flinching at how it sounded. She wished she had more proof to share with her mother, but she didn't. She rushed through what her father had said. "He told me what happened to him. He never saw who killed him. He was meeting one of Julyan's men. He was ambushed. Then he told me he and Erich had been arguing, and hadn't come to any compromises. He didn't sign the treaty."

Sarahann rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Gods, give me patience." She looked back at her daughter. "You had a dream, Cassia. That's all it was. Your father is gone. You must accept his death. I know you don't want to marry Torr, but it's what's best for your kingdom. Even your father recognized that a treaty with Vespera was essential."

Cassia shook her head.

"He signed the treaty," her mother insisted. "That was his signature. His seal. We both saw it. The treaty might not be what he hoped for, but your father wanted peace with Vespera and he was willing to make concessions."

"Like my future."

"I know you're upset your father agreed to the betrothal without speaking with you first. It's difficult to be angry with someone who's gone. It's much easier to project your anger on other people."

Cassia sucked in her breath. She had seen her father. It wasn't her imagination or a dream with no meaning. She knew it with all of her heart. Just as she knew her mother, looking at her sadly, would never listen to her. Her mother had never really listened to her. Why would she start now?

"The seamstress will be arriving soon," Sarahann said. "You should prepare for her."

Cassia bit back what she wanted to say and nodded. Maconahay waited for her on the other side of the door. She refused to look at him. She still hadn't forgiven him for his defection to her mother's side.

"Captain," she said shortly.

"Good morning." Maconahay hesitated a moment. "Yaffa went to fetch the seamstress."

She nodded and stepped into her room. She didn't have to wait long for Yaffa to return with Madame Celeste and Lola. Breakfast followed shortly after and found her on the stand again playing at being a pin cushion. The seamstress hummed softly as she stood back and looked at the alterations she had finished during the night.

"Good," Celeste said. "We're almost done, just a couple more things to do."

The seamstress walked around her, pinning here and there. Lola trailed behind handing a pin each time Celeste held out a hand. Cassia waited impatiently. She had to know what her mother was going to do. Would she do anything? She jumped as a pin pricked her. Celeste apologized profusely, but didn't slow down in her pinning.

Lola and Celeste gently tugged the dress off of Cassia. Ula hurried forward with a wrap and Cassia sat at the dressing table for Ula to brush and twist her hair up for the day. She hadn't had time to do it earlier because Cassia had been in such a rush to see her mother.

Cassia needed to think. What was she to do with what she knew? Her eyes strayed to the drawer where she had put all of her notes by her bedside. She had hidden them away before Ula and Yaffa had come to attend her. There they stayed for now. Who could she show them to? Captain Kenrick? If her mother didn't believe her why would he? She didn't know him well enough to believe he wouldn't brush her off. She thought about Captain Maconahay. Before last night she would have believed he would listen, but he had shown his loyalty was to her mother.

Tears started to rise and she screwed her eyes shut as the burden weighed down. She couldn't do this alone. Advisor Eb. She had to tell Advisor Eb what she'd learned. He'd been against her marriage to Torr and had been suspicious of the treaty. If only he'd come. But her mother had left him behind to watch over Gordain during their absence. If she could get word to him? She shook her head and Ula tugged her hair and frowned. There was no way she would be able to get a message to him before the wedding tomorrow morning.

"Your Highness." Celeste beckoned her back to the stand.

Ula scowled at Celeste. "Her Highness will be ready in a moment."

Cassia sat still as Ula quickly finished the upsweep she had fashioned. Her handmaiden completed it with several pins and a small tiara peeked out from her hair. Cassia raised an eyebrow at the elegant and elaborate style. She wasn't going to a ball, but at the moment she had other things on her mind besides arguing with Ula.

She grimaced as she climbed back on the stand. Celeste and Lola swept the gown back over her head as Yaffa pulled the dressing robe off. It took a moment for Celeste to adjust the dress just right and then the four women stood back to gaze at her.

Yaffa clasped her hands together. "It's wonderful, Madame Celeste."

Celeste inclined her head in answer. "I'll go inform the queen your dress is finished."

"Thank you," Cassia said in response. "If you could get me out of it now?"

Ula and Yaffa started unbuttoning and untying her out of the dress. Cassia tried to think of a way to stop the wedding. She couldn't say "no" during the ceremony. The repercussions of that  -- well, she couldn't even imagine what would happen. By the way Sarahann had reacted this morning she was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to convince her mother to call off the wedding.

The only solution would be for her not to be there. As the thought occurred to her, she shivered. She couldn't lock herself in her room and hide under her bed. She'd have to leave. Run away.

A knock interrupted her thoughts.

"A minute," Ula called out, tugging the last of the dress away and wrapping Cassia in her dressing robe. Yaffa walked over to the door and opened it. Maconahay stood on the other side with a Vesperan guard. He nodded at Yaffa and looked past her to Cassia.

"Your Highness," the Vesperan guard said. "Prince Torr would like you to join him for lunch in the Garden Room."

Cassia pulled herself out of her churning thoughts to focus on the Vesperan guard. She wondered if Torr knew the treaty hadn't been signed. Maybe this would be the opportunity to find out what he knew about the entire situation.

"I'd be delighted to," Cassia said.

****

Dressed in a light pink gown that matched the fancy hair Ula had done earlier, Cassia followed the Vesperan guard into the breathtaking Garden Room. The large atrium overflowed with exotic plants. She gazed around in wonder at the different blooms. She'd never seen so many bright colors in one place. Sunlight filtered through the large windows and roof.