I held the scroll prominently in my left hand. My sword was still buckled in place. It might be a good idea to wear it until this situation ended. I’d changed the scabbard to the plain utilitarian one, but the sword remained the same.
Elizabeth’s cousin Carol conveniently lived about as far from Elizabeth as possible and still be within the palace—if she was home. No doubt, those were the reasons why Elizabeth had selected her. Rushing would draw attention. However, a few brief minutes were spent in the kitchen would be acceptable because to do otherwise was unlike me. When I arrived there, the cooks were busy and talkative, but not of things we were interested in hearing.
The new wing I entered that was under seemingly permanent construction. It had been worked on since before my birth. I passed a few of the bakery sweets I’d snitched from the cooks to carpenters and a stonemason who had treated me well in the past. While friendly, their conversations were well afield of what we were searching for—although I didn’t know what it was until I heard it.
Near the central fountain, where the palace transitioned from our wing to the north wing, a voice called my name. I turned to find a royal of such a low ranking she was hardly above me on the rolls. A few years younger, she had professed a crush on me one dark night when we’d found ourselves alone and under the stars with the music of the spring dance filling the night.
“Tam,” I cried, putting as much surprise and joy into the single syllable as possible. She was pretty, in an understated sort of way. Tam didn’t wear the latest fashions, fix her hair in trendy styles, or other outward appearances. She was pretty enough without those things. Still, it was her personality that sparkled and made her beautiful and dangerous. Her laughter made me want to laugh with her. She was unmarried, although the last few years she attracted more and more young men.
I liked her, but my first thought was the fake delivery of the pretend message of Elizabeth’s. That would be my excuse to quickly leave Tam. Then, common sense took control. Carol was a ruse and Tam a talker of the first magnitude. She lacked the inborne insights and understanding that Elizabeth had, but people trusted Tam and told her things. Talking to her might be beneficial.
The only drawback was that night when we were alone. I’d told Elizabeth about it, of course, and Elizabeth had spent days and days dressing me down over the innocent encounter. No matter how far Tam was away from the throne, she was a royal.
If I ever located and fell in love with the right woman of my station, Elizabeth would be my biggest supporter. If she discovered me in a tryst with a royal, she might have me whipped or exiled. Not because she would want to, but because it was her duty. There are rules to flaunt and others to live by.
“Damon!” Tam called again as she rushed up to me and took both of my hands in hers.
There was no way to extract them without offending her, so I half-turned, made sure we were alone and pulled my right hand free. With it, I pointed to a stone bench. Using a tone that hopefully relayed my pleasure at the encounter and that there were always a few moments to sit with her and talk.
Her smile grew more intense if that was possible. She turned to stroll over to the bench with me, and as she did, my other hand slipped from hers. As any good servant would do, I rushed ahead and wiped the bench free of leaves for her royal bottom to sit upon. She appreciated the attention.
A pair of young royal males emerged from the depths of the garden. They had been out of my sight, hidden by a spreading red rose growing shoulder high. Above that, a weeping willow drooped, concealing them from sight, for whatever nefarious deeds they were up to. It didn’t take the intelligence of any sort to read their guilty expressions. They fled the garden as if the fountain belched fire at them.
While standing innocently beside the stone bench, Tam sat primly and patted the seat beside her. The boys wouldn’t cause us any problems because they were too anxious to get out of our sight. As for me, I knew both their names, their parents, and their royal positions, and knew to avoid sitting beside Tam. Who else might enter to enjoy the fountain and find us?
“What are you doing here?” Tam asked with a giggle.
“Elizabeth needs me to deliver a message to her cousin, Carol. It’s not critical, and there is a little time to spend with you before I have to leave.”
“Wonderful. It has been so long since we’ve talked. What, with everyone departing the palace, there is nobody to talk with. Not to be close to, like you.”
I keyed in on the part about everyone leaving the palace. “Where are they going?”
“It’s a secret,” she whispered with a conspiratorial smile.
Good. Her actions indicated she would share the secret with me, but bad because then I’d be in her debt. That wouldn’t do at all. However, knowing her, her immediate family, and her friends, provided other names to seek out, if needed. Reducing the circle of people who might tell her something in confidence eliminated to a few, and from those few, we could find who is absent from the palace and why. She might also mention a dragon which would draw my full attention.
The idea of a dragon seemed key to what we searched for. Not the dragon itself, but the location, one which I did not wish to visit.
“Nobody who truly likes you would ever ask you to break a confidence,” I said, egging her on.
Her eyes twinkled. “If you really want to know.”
The truth was, I didn’t. Obligations to share secrets are always to be avoided unless they are obligations owed to me. “Listen, if I don’t hurry and find Carol, Elizabeth will be upset. That’s how it is with us servants. It was good to talk to you again.”
She smiled, but her eyes told a different story. She wanted me to stay. Turning to wave after hurrying away brought another smile to her, and the notice of a woman watching from a second-floor window. She was the dour wife of a fur trader. The woman spoke only to upset others with her tales and lies. Before I entered the building, she would be spreading her tales of Tam and me meeting in a secret tryst.
My feet carried me to the door of the apartment on the second floor with the window that overlooked the fountain, one of the better suites of rooms for those who are not royal. An alcove across from the door provided a convenient place to sit and wait.
It didn’t take long. The nasty woman pulled her door open and emerged like a snail from a shell, oozing, and slimy. She eased the door closed before she noticed me.
“Hello,” I said pleasantly.
“I saw you two,” she said, pointing in the direction of where the fountain was located. It was an accusation, plain and simple.
I smiled but refused to object or deny.
“I saw you meeting that royal girl who’s so fond of you. Tam is her name. You did it when there were no others around like it was planned.” She could have been pleasant but chose a different path to follow. “So, don’t tell me what these eyes saw and what they didn’t.”
That was like poking a sharp stick at me and sure to hurt Tam. My eyes fell on the note to Carol clutched in my hand. A little magic had shifted the ink around using a minimal amount of effort, reforming the letters until I was satisfied. Then my eyes raised to meet hers again, ignoring the defiant stance. “I am here to speak with your husband, not you, and before you ask, not about what you saw or didn’t see.”
“Why do you want him?” She moved as if to block the doorway.