“My lord king of Ungria, may all be well in your kingdom. I pray you, forgive my abruptness.”
The hall grew quiet as the feasting nobles settled down to listen. Sapientia sat in the seat of honor to Geza’s right while Sanglant sat between the robust but gray-haired King Geza and Lady Ilona, a ripely handsome and fabulously rich Ungrian widow. Brother Breschius leaned down to whisper into Geza’s ear as Hathui turned her attention to the royal siblings.
“Your Highness, Princess Sapientia, I come from Aosta bearing news. My lord prince, my lady, I have traveled a long and difficult road to reach you. It has taken me almost two years to come so far, and I have escaped death more than once.”
Sanglant rose to his feet, holding a cup of wine. He wore a rich gold tunic embroidered with the sigil of the black dragon and finished with red braid, and his black hair had been trimmed back from his beardless face. No person could look at him and forget that his mother was not born of humankind.
Yet neither could they forget that he was a prince, commander of the army that had defeated the Quman. Even, and especially, Sapientia, dressed in all the finery appropriate to a noblewoman, looked as insignificant as a goldfinch perched next to a mighty dragon.
“You bring ill news,” said Sanglant.
Hathui almost choked on the words. “I bring ill news, Your Highness, may God help us all. King Henry has been bewitched, ensorcelled with the connivance of his own queen and his trusted counselor. He lives as a prisoner in his own body. You are the only one who can save him.”
2
BLESSING had a disconcerting habit of leaning so far out tower windows that it seemed in the next instant she would fall, or fly.
“Look!” She had crawled up into the embrasure of an archer’s loophole and was still—barely—small enough to push into the narrow opening so that she could look down into the forecourt. “My father has left the feasting hall. I don’t like it when he makes me stay here, like I’m in prison. Doesn’t he have enough prisoners to lord it over? Why does he pick on me?”
“Your lord father does not like it when you behave as you did this morning,” said Anna for the tenth time that evening. “When you act like a barbarian, then you must be treated as one.”
Matto sat by the cold hearth, a lit lamp dangling above him. He had made use of the long and dreary afternoon to oil the young princess’ harness until it gleamed. Looking up, he winked slyly, and Anna blushed, gratified and irritated at the same time.
Blessing forced her shoulders through the loophole. Anna hastily grabbed her trailing feet just as the girl called out, words muffled by the stone. “Who’s that with him? It looks like an Eagle! He’s coming back here!”
Anna tugged, grunting, but Blessing was either stuck or was holding on. “Matto!”
He was more than happy to set down the harness and help her, because it gave him an excuse to put his arms around her as he grasped hold of Blessing’s ankles as well. “Your Highness!” he said. “I pray you, do not get stuck in there or we will be the ones who will face your father’s anger.”
There was a pause.
Blessing wriggled backward, half slid down the stair-step embrasure, and hopped to the carpeted floor. Despite everything, the girl had a profound sense of fairness and did not like to see her attendants blamed for her misadventures.
“Well, there is an Eagle with him,” she said defiantly. “I don’t know where she came from, or how she could have found us out here in Ungria. I hate Ungria.”
“We all know you hate Ungria, Your Highness,” said Anna wearily, allowing herself to lean against Matto’s broad chest. His hand tightened on her shoulder.
“Thiemo won’t like that.” Blessing had a sweet face still, although she stood as tall as many a nine- or ten-year-old child, but her expression was sharpened by a spark of malicious glee as she bared her teeth in something resembling a grin. “I hear him coming up the stairs now.”
Anna stepped out from under Matto’s arm.
“I’m not afraid of him!” Matto muttered as the latch flipped up.
The door had a hitch to it, and the floor was warped, so it took Thiemo a moment to shove it open. To be safe, Anna took two more steps away from Matto.
“My lord prince is returning,” said Thiemo, addressing Blessing. “Your Highness.” His gaze quickly assessed Anna, and Matto, and the distance between them, and then he grinned winsomely at Anna, the smile that always made her dizzy. How could it be that a lord like Thiemo even noticed a common-born girl with skin stained nutbrown from the tanning pits?
Blessing’s tunic was twisted around from climbing. As Anna helped the girl to straighten herself and found a comb to brush her untidy hair, Thiemo and Matto gathered up the harness, neatened up the chamber, and did not speak one word to each other. The two young men had never been friends, since the gulf in their stations did not truly permit such intimacy, but had once been friendly companions in Blessing’s service. Not anymore.
The clamor of footsteps and voices echoed up from below. Lamplight glimmered and, all at once, fully a dozen people crowded into the tower chamber. Blessing scrambled up to hide in the stair-step embrasure, crouching there like a sweetly featured gargoyle with Thiemo and Matto standing as guards to either side of the opening. Anna retreated to the hearth while Prince Sanglant and his noble companions and loyal followers took up places around the chamber. His sister seated herself at the table with her faithful companion Lady Brigida at her side and the others ranged about the room, standing respectfully or sitting comfortably on the bed or the other bench, according to their station. It was the usual retinue: Lady Bertha of Austra, Brother Heribert, Wolfhere, that nasty Brother Zacharias, whose robes were damp, Captain Fulk, kind Brother Breschius, even-tempered Lord Druthmar, who commanded a contingent of Villam cavalry, and the one they all called the Rutting Beast, the notorious Lord Wichman. The only Ungrian present was Istvan, a noble if rather grim captain who, like Brother Breschius, had thrown his loyalty to Sanglant after Prince Bayan’s death at the Veser. Anna had expected to see the prince’s mistress, Lady Ilona, whose favorite gown Blessing had so thoroughly ruined this morning, but evidently she did not hold an intimate enough rank within the prince’s personal circle to be invited into this private assembly.
Sanglant paced, wearing a path from the door to the window and back again, but his attention remained fixed on the battered Eagle who had been given Anna’s stool for a seat, the only common-born person in the room not on her feet. This was no arrogant privilege granted her by reason of her Eagle’s status; she looked too exhausted to stand on her own. But although her shoulders drooped, her keen gaze did not waver from the prince’s restless figure.
o;Your lord father does not like it when you behave as you did this morning,” said Anna for the tenth time that evening. “When you act like a barbarian, then you must be treated as one.”
Matto sat by the cold hearth, a lit lamp dangling above him. He had made use of the long and dreary afternoon to oil the young princess’ harness until it gleamed. Looking up, he winked slyly, and Anna blushed, gratified and irritated at the same time.
Blessing forced her shoulders through the loophole. Anna hastily grabbed her trailing feet just as the girl called out, words muffled by the stone. “Who’s that with him? It looks like an Eagle! He’s coming back here!”