The Secret Crown (2010) (17 page)

‘Actually,’ Ulster said, ‘I’m not quite finished yet. There’s more drowning still to come.’

‘Really?’

Ulster smiled. ‘Angered by the two deaths, the girls force the sorcerer and his daughter into the lake and watch them drown. The ballet ends as the spirits of the prince and Odette ascend into the heavens above Swan Lake.’

Jones waited for a few seconds, unsure. ‘Are you done now?’

Ulster nodded. ‘I am.’

‘That’s some freaky shit, too!’ Jones blurted.

‘How so?’ Payne asked.

‘Weren’t you listening?’

‘Barely.’

Normally Payne was the serious one, and Jones was the jester. All it took was one story about a ballet for their roles to be reversed.

Jones smiled at the irony. ‘Don’t you get it? The sorcerer behind the deception drowned in the same lake as the prince - just like the doctor behind the deception drowned in the same lake as Ludwig. That can’t be a coincidence.’

Payne grunted. ‘You’re right; it does seem suspicious.’

Ulster shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Honestly, I don’t know if Ludwig’s murder was staged to mimic the ballet or not, but the story of Siegfried and Odette helped establish Ludwig’s nickname as the Swan King.’

‘How so?’ Payne asked.

‘If they hadn’t been killed, Siegfried and the Swan Queen would have been married, which would have made him the Swan King. And as I mentioned, the character of Siegfried was based on Ludwig, so …’

Payne nodded in understanding. ‘Throw in Ludwig’s obsessions with swans and that Swan Knight character you told us about earlier, and the nickname stuck.’

‘He was also called the Dream King, the Fairytale King and Mad King Ludwig, but the Swan King is used most often.’

Payne paused for a moment to consider everything he had learned.
Swan Lake
, one of the most famous ballets in history, was connected to Ludwig. The black swan logo had been designed by Ludwig. And the riddle about the swan had been written by Ludwig. Yet as far as Payne could tell, they still had no idea where a swan would go on his journey home.

Or what they would find if they figured it out.

From a distance, the King’s House on Schachen resembled a hunting lodge on top of a scenic crest. Painted beige and dark brown, the wooden post-and-infill structure was two storeys in the centre but only half as tall on the left and right, as if additional rooms had been added at the last minute. To Payne, the house looked like two capital ‘L’s, stapled back to back. It certainly wasn’t the worst design he had ever seen, yet it seemed out of place in the dream world that Ludwig had created for himself. Why build a house instead of a castle?

‘Remember,’ Ulster said as if reading Payne’s mind, ‘the interior is far more luxurious than the exterior. Don’t be fooled by the outside.’

‘Your friend is correct,’ said a feminine voice from the top of the hill. ‘The rough outer shell protects the pearl within.’

‘Petr,’ said Jones as he searched for the source, ‘the house is talking.’

‘And listening,’ she replied, her voice slightly tinged with a German accent.

Jones grabbed Ulster’s arm. ‘Petr, I’m scared … Hold me.’

Payne laughed and pointed out the speaker’s location. A series of decorative wooden beams ran from the top of the sharply peaked roof to the banister of the second-floor veranda. The mystery woman was standing underneath the overhang, partially hidden in the shadows. Though he couldn’t see her face, her naturally blonde hair and fair complexion had given her away.

‘How often do you scare tourists?’ he called out as he walked up the hillside.

‘Only when they scare us first. We thought there was an avalanche,’ she said.

Payne kept walking, still unable to see her face because of the shadows. ‘Why did you think that?’

‘Why?’ she said sharply. ‘Because most people walk here.’

‘Uh-oh,’ Jones whispered. ‘We pissed off the house.’

Payne told Jones and Ulster to stay put, then focused his attention on her. ‘Sorry about the helicopter. We parked down below to minimize the noise. I hope you can forgive us.’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘On the reason you didn’t hike here like everyone else.’

When Payne reached the top of the hill, he could finally see who he was talking to. Dressed in jeans and a dark sweater, the pretty blonde stared at him, her emotions partially concealed by the long hair that danced across her face in the crisp mountain breeze. In a well-practised move, she casually grabbed her hair with one hand and slid a band off her wrist with the other. A few seconds later, a blonde ponytail dangled back and forth behind her head.

‘I’m still waiting,’ she said impatiently.

As Payne walked closer, he noticed several small things about her - the freckles on her nose, the way her jeans hugged her hips, the curves underneath her sweater. But most importantly, he noticed a twinkle in her light blue eyes. It let him know that she was sassy, not angry.

‘I’m waiting, too,’ he shot back.

She stared at him. ‘For what?’

‘For you to say hello. Or isn’t that ritual observed up here?’

‘Hello,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Now answer my question. Why didn’t you hike here?’

‘Hello to you, too,’ he said, ignoring her question. ‘My name’s Jon. What’s yours?’

She sighed. ‘Heidi.’

He stuck out his hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Heidi. I like what you’ve done with the place. When did you move in?’

But instead of shaking his hand, she stared at it coldly. ‘Sorry, Jon. No more kindness from me until you answer my question. Why didn’t you hike here like everyone else?’

He lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Can you keep a secret?’

‘Depends on the secret.’

Payne pointed back towards Jones and Ulster. ‘I’m not going to name any names, but one of my friends is
slightly
out of shape. To be perfectly blunt, we didn’t know if his heart could handle a four-hour hike, so we convinced him to fly instead.’

She peeked round Payne - since he was too tall to glance over - and studied his friends. It didn’t take long to figure out which one he was talking about. ‘What if he wasn’t here?’

‘You mean, if he was dead?’

‘No!’ she gasped. ‘If he wasn’t with you, would
you
have made the hike?’

‘Come on, Heidi. What do you think?’

Now it was her turn to check him out.

Starting with his feet, she noticed his hiking boots. They were worn and caked with dirt. His muscular legs stretched his cargo pants to their limit, yet somehow the seams didn’t burst. Earlier, she had noticed his hand when he had attempted to shake hers. It wasn’t the hand of a working man - the nails were too clean and his fingers were free of calluses - but she had noticed some scars near his knuckles. Clearly he had been in a few fights over the years, and judging by his size, he had probably won most of them. For some reason, she found that quality - the willingness to fight for something - very attractive in a man.

She patted him on the arm. ‘If I had to guess, I’d say no.’

‘No?’ he said, laughing.

‘You’re too big to hike. I’m guessing a guy like you has no stamina.’

‘Trust me, Heidi. I have size
and
stamina.’

She ignored the innuendo. ‘Why are you here?’

‘To see the house. Why are you so mean?’

‘Not mean,
protective
. Big difference.’

‘Not to the person you’re yelling at.’

‘Trust me, I’m not yelling. If I were yelling, you’d know.’

‘In other words, you’re a screamer?’

This time, Heidi smiled. ‘Does this approach work often?’

‘What approach is that?’

‘Your whole flirty-comment thing.’

‘First of all, my
thing
isn’t flirting. If it was flirting, you’d know. Secondly, you’re the one who started it. My friends and I were having a personal conversation, and you butted in.’

She poked him in his chest. ‘Only because
you
shook the mountain.’

‘With our talking?’

‘With your helicopter,’ she snapped. ‘Tell me, do you know why King Ludwig chose this remote location for his house?’

‘Because he wanted to get away.’

‘From what?’

‘Civilization.’

‘Do you know why?’

‘Not really,’ he admitted.

She explained. ‘Because up here, Ludwig could look down on the world instead of the world looking down on him.’

Payne smiled, impressed. ‘That’s pretty deep. Did you just make that up?’

She stared at him, trying to decide if he was being sarcastic. Eventually, she decided he wasn’t. ‘As a matter of fact, I did.’

‘You’re pretty passionate about this place. How long have you worked here?’

‘Since June. That’s when we opened for the season.’

‘And before that?’

‘Ludwig’s other castles: Linderhof, Neuschwanstein and the Munich Residenz.’

‘Are you a student?’

She laughed at the question. ‘I’m too old to be a student.’

‘Maybe for high school. But there’s no age limit on learning.’

‘Now look who’s deep.’

Payne smiled. ‘If you’re not a student, what are you? A tour guide?’

‘Something like that. I work for the Bavarian Palace Department. We oversee all the castles and royal properties in Bavaria. My area of interest is Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm von Wittelsbach, but most people call him Ludwig.’

Payne laughed. ‘That’s because most people can’t remember Ludwig Friedrich von blah blah blah - or whatever you said.’

She smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth. ‘So, why are you here? From your accent, I would say you’re from, um … Ohio?’

He shook his head. ‘Western Pennsylvania.’

‘Oh, well. I was close.’

‘And based on your diction and mild accent, I’d say you were born in Germany but went to school in the States.’

She nodded, impressed. ‘Big
and
smart. Now I’m doubly curious about your presence here. Are you a fan of Ludwig?’

‘Honestly, no. But my plump friend is.’ Payne turned and signalled for Jones and Ulster to join them by the house. ‘We’re just keeping him out of trouble.’

She watched Ulster as he waddled up the hill. Despite gasping for air, he had a smile on his face the entire time. ‘Yeah, he seems like a troublemaker.’

‘Don’t let his cheerfulness fool you. The guy is a tiger.’

‘What about your other friend? Is he a tiger, too?’

Payne grinned, relishing the opportunity to make fun of his best friend. ‘No, he’s a different species altogether. If I had to sum him up, I’d say he’s part pit bull, part jackass.’

After a brief introduction - in which they avoided the real reason for their trip - Heidi grabbed Ulster by the elbow and led him towards the entrance of the King’s House.

‘Jon said you’re a fan of Ludwig. Have you been here before?’ she asked.

Ulster shook his head. ‘No, my dear, I haven’t. Over the years I’ve been tempted to stop on multiple occasions, but the length of the hike and the short tourist season have always made it difficult.’

Heidi nodded in understanding. Public tours started in June and ended at the beginning of October. After that, the house was closed until the following spring because of snow and ice in the Alps and treacherous footing on the hiking trails. ‘Personally, I think you came at the perfect time. Summer tourists are long gone, and the cool weather keeps most hikers away until early afternoon. Other than a few people who stayed the night at the lodge, the house is empty.’

‘Wonderful!’ Ulster exclaimed. ‘Does that mean you can show us around?’

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Payne. ‘I’d be happy to - as long as Jon doesn’t mind being stuck with me for a while. He thinks I’m mean.’

Ulster patted her hand. ‘Well, I think you’re fabulous, and that’s all that matters.’

Heidi led them to the covered porch where she stopped outside the main door. ‘Before we go inside, let me tell you some general information about this site. If you start getting bored, please let me know and I’ll gladly skip ahead.’

Jones whispered to Payne. ‘I wish Petr had the same policy.’

Payne smiled and nodded.

Heidi started her lecture. ‘We are standing 5,628 feet above Garmisch-Partenkirchen and 7,951 feet above sea level. The mountain directly behind you is called the Partenkirchen Dreitorspitze. Standing 8,638 feet tall, it is the fourth tallest peak in Germany and part of the Wetterstein mountain range that forms a natural border with Austria to the south.’

Payne, Jones and Ulster turned and stared at the Dreitorspitze. It loomed over them like a grey tidal wave, as if the smallest breeze would send it crashing down with so much force that the King’s House would be turned into kindling.