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“That was one of the most haphazard invitations I’ve ever been to,” Pierson said as we made our way out of the Cantralin throne room, the doors closing behind us.
“Do you think this means they’ll cancel the ball?” I asked with more than a bit of hope.
“With all the planning that’s gone into it, doubtful. But I have a feeling it’s not going to be quite as extravagant as it was going to be this morning,” Chelsea said, appearing by my side. “So I will be there tomorrow at five to help you prepare.”
“Sure,” I said unenthusiastically. “Sounds great.”
The ball for Cantralin was a bit lackluster. There were people, though not as many as the servants had whispered there were supposed to be. People were certainly dressed up, and the king and queen made an appearance, though the king left after half an hour and the queen left an hour after that. By the time we left, we were told the tax on those working outside Cantralin had been lifted for the next two months, thanks to the suggestion of Guardsman Green. I still had my doubts about how long this fragile truce would last, especially since the Light Bearers were still a strong presence here and seemed delighted to rile things up, but it would take time for any of this to be fixed well, and perhaps it would buy them enough time to get back from the peace conference and start fixing their country.
There was no ball for Unti or Untili; we were only stopping to give our message and stay one night before moving on. There could have been a ball at each country, but with word of the uprising in Cantralin, any plans they’d had to have one were quietly cancelled in order to appease the unhappy people in their own countries. As we rode the train, a much less stressful way to travel, I asked about the other countries that we’d yet to visit. I learned that Unti and Untili, Unti covering Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and Untili covering New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia, had once been a single country, but had split into two countries over five hundred years ago, and that’s why the names were so similar.
I also learned that, unlike some of the closer countries, Unti, Untili, Cantralin, and the other east coast countries would be flying to Geidy. “It’s just faster,” Larson explained. “They have a long way to go by horse, and since they have the technology at their disposal it’s much easier. Plus, it’s safer.”
“Light Bearers?” I questioned.
Larson nodded. “They’re strong enough to cause trouble and concern. And they don’t like the peace conference.”
“Why.”
“It’s a uniting of forces. A quicker way to pool resources, share problems, make alliances.”
“Which is, of course, helped by all of you meeting up to fight each other,” I said dryly.
“It was intended to share new fighting moves and styles and keep an eye on the strength of your allies, and enemies. And to keep your own people sharp.”
“And so you share these new techniques by beating on guardsmen of other countries,” I interpreted, grinning. “In the name of peace.”
“It’s not just fighting techniques we share. Advanced technology will be shared for protection purposes.”
“We don’t have the technology?” I asked, curious. “I guess I’ve never seen any airports, but I assumed we had planes.”
“Our airplanes are farther south,” Martin said. We were getting along, cautiously along the line of friendship, and we could talk easier now most days. “We have the technology, just not to the extent as Unti and Untili. They have more people, many more people compared to us, and since they deal with countries to the north and overseas more than we do, they need more planes and boats.”
“Can I ask why we’re riding horses across the continent?”
They shrugged. “Tradition,” Martin explained. “We all have ties to your medieval era, and this is one of them.”
“Well, I like horses well enough, but I appreciate technology once in a while.” I tipped a vent to blast cool air directly in my face.
The others chuckled. “You’re just glad you don’t have two more balls to attend,” Remy teased.
My sigh of relief caused them all to burst into laughter. It wasn’t the dancing I hated so much, it was the feeling that everyone was staring at me. And since I was the famous Joan Ilion from the Flip Side, it wasn’t just in my head; everyone did stare at me. Then there was the tension of being with Martin and dealing with that surge of emotion that didn’t get easier to endure, then dealing with the surge of emotion when Martin left and Charlene attached herself to him. The strongest emotion I usually felt was jealousy, but Martin was perfectly polite, managing to extricate from Charlene’s grip after a couple dances, his annoyance hidden most of the time. Occasionally he had to forcefully remove Charlene from him, as she had a tendency to cling, but it was usually before this I worried that he might be going back to her.
In the back of my mind, I was aware that I was the only thing that kept him from being mine, but then something would happen, and I would hesitate in forgiving him, afraid that whatever I’d heard was true. I just couldn’t make myself do it, no matter that I wanted to.
In Wyinn, after stopping in Zou and Cheekomenta, I wore dark purple and Charlene wore a bright, glittery gold dress. She always looked stunning, which just irritated me. Gina was certain Charlene needed a big zit in the middle of her chin. Picturing Charlene’s reaction to that usually made me smile.
Martin didn’t seem to notice Charlene. He claimed the first dance with me. “You look beautiful, Joan,” he said sincerely.
“And Charlene?” I asked the same question every time.
“Charlene who?”
I surprised myself by smiling at that. “You know, the dazzling one in gold who will attach herself to you soon.”
“You’re not wearing gold. I’m not color-blind, Joan,” he chided teasingly. “I can only hope about the second part happening, but anytime you’re willing to find me, feel free.”
I felt warmth bloom in my chest.
This time, I was almost sad when the dance ended. He lifted my hand, then seemed to change his mind and leaned forward, brushing a kiss across my cheek. “Thank you, my lady.” Then he slid a purple lily onto my wrist before letting go.
I kept dancing, noticing that Charlene did indeed attach herself to him again. He managed to get rid of her a couple times, and I chewed my cheek. I’d been thinking that maybe it was my turn, that I should go up to him and request a dance, but before I could during one of his breaks from Charlene, the king motioned him over and he left. It took a few dances before I realized that Charlene had left too and approached Chelsea. “Is something wrong with Mari?” I asked. “Charlene’s not here and neither is Martin.”
She shrugged. “Martin was sent to take care of something. I don’t know why Charlene left.”
I wondered with a twinge if she was trying to get him back, and then I wondered if she was succeeding.
The next morning, Charlene came sauntering in to make sure Mari was dressed and ready to go. I tried to ignore her, but when I sent Cathy and Mari down to breakfast, Charlene stayed behind. “I guess you’re going to give up now,” she said coolly.
“Give up what, Charlene?” I asked mildly.
“Give up getting Martin back.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She inspected her fingernails, intricately decorated to match her dresses. “I guess you didn’t notice that Martin didn’t come back last night. I wonder where you think he was.”
I felt the twinge of fear grow. “He was obeying orders from King Alan.”
She laughed lightly, feigning gentle scorn. “Such ignorance! You don’t really think the king told him to spend more time with me? No, he called for me.” She brushed an invisible speck of lint off her dress as the bell chimed. “Oh, I must go. It’s time for breakfast, and I’m absolutely starving!” Then she swept out.
I sat on the bed for a long time. I knew I should go talk to Martin, but I was afraid of what I would hear. You once called me fearless, I thought to Martin sadly. You were wrong.
I avoided Martin until the afternoon, when we had to get ready to ride out. Martin was next to Mari and Randall. “Good afternoon, Joan,” Martin said. His tone was normal, but then he hadn’t ever seemed to sound guilty even when he should have.
I was distracted from answering when I realized that Cathy wasn’t there. “Catherine Alexandra...” I muttered furiously. “Mari, have you seen Cathy?” I demanded.
Mari shrugged. “She said she wanted to climb to the balcony before we left.”
“What balcony?”
Mari pointed. The king and queen of Wyinn and their four sons had a love for astronomy that had developed into an order to build a large astronomy tower, and that’s where Mari was pointing to. I muttered under my breath as I took off. I’d expressly forbidden Cathy from going there, but it looked like she wasn’t paying attention to me today.
The door to the astronomy tower was unlocked and ajar, and as I hurried up the steps, I heard voices and ground my teeth. “Cathy!” I shouted.
Cathy poked her head into the stairwell, a look of dismay on her face. “He invited me up,” she said, sounding distressed. “I was going to be there on time!”
‘He’ was the king and queen’s third son, Prince Alexander, age thirteen. He stood in the doorway next to Cathy and I mentally growled louder. Cathy had been flirting with Prince Alexander at the ball last night and only the fact that he was royalty prevented me from giving him an earful.
“Catherine, I told you that you weren’t to come up here!” I scolded.
She gave a mulish look. “Why not?” she demanded. “I’m not a baby!”
“We’re supposed to be leaving in fifteen minutes, and you’re not ready to go!”
She scowled at me. “Alex invited me up here. It wasn’t like I was in danger.”
“I didn’t say it was dangerous, I said no.” I pointed stiffly. “Get down there, saddle your horse, and get where you’re supposed to be!”
Alex tried to stick up for Cathy. “Lady Ilion, please, it was my fault...”
I cut him off. “Your Highness, Cathy knows the rules. She chose to disobey, and she knew she would get in trouble if she were caught. She’s been caught and now she’s in trouble. Now she’d better get on her horse, and stay there.”
Cathy pouted and sulked down the stairs. “Bye, Alex,” she called.
“Good-bye, Cathy. I’ll see you in Geidy.”
“Not if she misbehaves,” I said clearly.
“Lady Ilion, please...”
I interrupted again. “Your Highness, I have to get back. I would be happy to let Cathy see you again, but if she doesn’t learn to behave then she won’t be seeing anyone.”
Prince Alex sighed. “I’d like to see her again.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.” I curtseyed and left.
I caught up to Cathy before we made it outside. “There was no need to be rude to him,” Cathy snapped.
“If you wanted politeness, then perhaps you should have done what I told you to do.”
Cathy’s eyes filled with tears. “You still didn’t have to be rude! Now he probably hates me!” She rushed off.
I was in a mood by the time I followed Cathy out to where everyone was. They were waiting and I silently climbed into the saddle.
“Move out!” Martin called.
*
MARTIN WATCHED JOAN silently as they rode. She seemed...melancholy. If things were easier between them, he’d ask what was wrong, but she was being distant today. He didn’t know why, or if he was a reason for it.
When he called a halt, he noticed that Joan was so out if it that she took a minute to realize that they’d stopped. He slipped off his horse and waited until she got down. “Joan?”
“Not today,” she snapped at him. She instantly bit her tongue. “Please, Martin, let’s not do this today.” She looked and sounded ashamed and sad.
“All right, Joan,” he said without censure.
Her frustration was evident as she turned away. He let her go. When he saw her disappear into the woods, he pulled out the delicate metal chain and placed it on her pack where she was sure to see it before attending to his other duties.
He kept an eye on the direction Joan had disappeared and watched when she came back. It was clear that Cathy couldn’t hold a grudge because she went up to Joan and it looked like she was apologizing for something. Joan spoke sternly for a minute, then her face softened. He was distracted by Charlene as she tried to work her way over to him, but Remy was effectively blocking her way. He quickly moved up with the king and queen. When he turned again, Joan and Cathy were laughing and hugging.
When he gave the order to load up, he kept his eyes on Joan. When she reached behind her to check her pack, he saw the surprise flash across her face as she turned to look. A slow, beautiful smile dawned as she inspected the gold necklace and the crest of Valeria pendant. She held it for a moment, then put it on.
As they rode, he couldn’t help but notice how often her fingers brushed the pendant. And he couldn’t help but smile over it.
*