Aurelia (6 page)

passing an elderly man swamped with questions from interested customers, robert approached a skinny girl standing in the background. The girl's dress was smeared with dirt and her shoes were covered in manure; but her head was up, and her eyes were watchful. she had spotted his approach before he opened his mouth, and she eyed him as if she thought he might be planning to pilfer her charges. "excuse me, miss," he inquired. "Could you tell me where I might find a man named drew Fielding?"

"Drew?" she arched an eyebrow. "Well, we haven't seen much of him this mornin', but he shouldn't be difficult to find. He doesn't blend into the crowd, does he?" Her eyes danced.

"He doesn't?" The comment aroused robert's curiosity. "I'm afraid I don't know him. In what way does he stand out?"

The girl grinned cheekily. "Well, if you haven't met him, it wouldn't do much good to explain. I would head over toward the plum tent in the center of the field." she motioned toward a bright purple tent about a hundred feet behind her. "He's wearin' a black hat today with a red feather in it. That ought to be enough information for you to find him."

With thanks for her help and a renewed sense of curiosity, robert plunged back into the crowd. He emerged close enough to the purple tent to see a lopsided group gathered around a table in the violet shade. On one side of the table, six or seven people collected coins and jotted down information from the swarm on the other side.
A gambling center,
robert decided.

The sight of a vocal crowd member ripped all other thoughts from his mind. The man's head towered eight to ten inches above the throng, and on it rested a roguish black hat graced with an ostentatious red feather. This, then, must be drew Fielding.

robert had to laugh when he thought of the girl's taunting comment about this man not blending in. He certainly did not.

In fact, drew resembled nothing so much as robert's childhood impression of a gentleman pirate. His skin was charcoal black and gleamed against a silk shirt, tight vest, and tawny trousers. With the exception of a pair of grass-stained boots, the entire outfit shone spotless despite the chaotic surroundings. Tied securely back, the man's dark hair hung below his shoulders, and a single ruby earring sparkled from his left ear.

robert found himself conceding yet another round to Aurelia. she might have mentioned that the man stood out from the general populace like a bird of paradise in a daisy patch.

suddenly the flamboyant horseman appeared at robert's side or, rather, appeared directly in front of Horizon. The man's eyes assessed the stallion, gliding over the black mane, drifting along the sleek red neck, halting on the powerful chest and shoulder muscles, sliding down the smooth forearms and over the black lower legs.

"I say, lad, fresh off the frontier, eh?" Fielding said.

robert chafed at the moniker, but adopted a slight frontier drawl and replied, "Fresh enough." The horseman could not be fifteen years his elder.

"Interesting mount you have here. Thinking of trading him for something better for the city?"

Don't you wish.
"matter of fact, I've seen an interesting stallion. Thought maybe someone here could direct me to the owner."

Fielding's head snapped back. "someone direct you to me, did they? And here I thought I was the one who started this conversation."

"Hmm," robert replied, "I thought a fine horse was the only thing could start a conversation with a fine horseman."

The wary look disappeared from the other man's eyes and a loud laugh whooshed out of his lungs. At robert's shoulder, Horizon snorted in response and took a step back. Fielding moved a step forward, keeping his short distance from the stallion. "Now, that's a truth I can't deny." He met the horse's stare. "you are the one who started this conversation."

Without breaking his gaze with Horizon, drew spoke again to robert. "All right, lad, I'll direct you to this stallion that's caught your interest, in exchange for a little information about your mount here. What do you say?"

"Fair enough."

"Not here, though." drew gestured to the left. "I've had enough time in these crowded surroundings. Let's have a drink in my tent and share our information in a more comfortable location."

robert looked up hesitantly at Horizon. "I'm not leaving him alone, nor in anyone else's charge."

drew slapped robert on the back. "Can't say I blame you, lad. got to admit I'd be tempted to make off with him myself. If you can control him, bring him right into the tent with you. It's big enough, and we can't be excluding him from the conversation anyway, now, can we?"

The noisy crowd parted magically as Fielding led the way toward a white canvas tent propped on ten-foot poles. The heavy canvas draped to the ground on three and a half sides, with one corner flung up to provide a doorway.

Horizon balked at the tent flap. powerful chest muscles rose above robert's head as the stallion reared, threatening the entire structure. drew moved to help, but robert stopped him. "Hold back. He's not reliable with strangers." As the stallion dropped down, robert grabbed the side of the bridle and glared at his mount. Cocky horse came all the way through the crowd but chose this moment to attract attention.

Confident that Horizon was finished with his minor revolt, robert guided him into an almost barren retreat. several folded wooden chairs rested against the pole by the opening, and a painted white box stood two feet high in the center of the tent like an ivory monument.

Fielding set up his own chair beside the box and motioned for robert to do the same.
Not too much of a gentleman to do his own work and not enough of a gentleman to do the work of others.

While robert struggled to find a smooth surface for his own chair, his host slipped a hand into the box and produced a bottle of cheap white wine.

robert shook his head.

The man reached back in and took out a bottle of Favinoit. robert struggled not to grin. drew placed a glass in front of his guest.

"No, thank you." robert said, fully aware he was rejecting the best wine in the kingdom. "Too early in the day for me." He never drank alcohol but found this response gained fewer comments.

Fielding arched an eyebrow but put the extra glass away and motioned toward Horizon. "Well then,
lad
, to our discussion. Where'd you find this temperamental masterpiece?"

"raised him myself, on the frontier."

robert launched into his own question without pause. "I'm looking for a big black stallion, saw him leading a team of six." Leaving out all the circumstances of his observation, he went on to describe the stallion with the scar, the other team members, and the carriage. "seemed like that stallion would do anything for his driver," robert ended. "put his life in danger charging right up to the edge of a cliff, just shifting direction at the last moment."

Throughout the explanation, drew remained silent, seating himself in his chair. He now pushed the chair back, away from robert. "Noticed that, did you?" drew said. "And that devotion to the driver attracted you to that horse?" He took a deep breath. "Well, lad, I can tell you here and now you aren't going to talk the owner out of that stallion. might sound hard, but there's more to a good horse than obedience. If you think obedience without common sense makes a fine mount, you'll never be much of a horseman."

Ignoring the slight, robert goaded, "How can you be sure I can't get the horse if you don't know who the owner is?"

"Here now." The older man leaned back, propping his boots up on the white box. "I didn't say I don't know the owner. It's because I
do
know the owner, and the horse as well, that I told you what I just did. That team belongs to the queen's own stables. Not at the palace, but her personal stables back in midbury. Nobody but the queen herself selects those horses."

Crash!

Noise clattered through the tent. drew and robert sprang to their feet, whirling to face the entryway. scattered at the foot of the tent pole lay the remaining foldable chairs, toppled from their perch. standing above them in the open doorway was Aurelia Lauzon, princess of Tyralt, her face drained of color except for the streak of a bulging red vein running from jaw to collarbone.

Chapter Five

HONESTY

THAT TEAM BELONGS TO THE QUEEN'S OWN STABLES.

drew's words repeated in Aurelia's mind, penetrating her thoughts, her conscience, her self-control. There was something ominous about that team. she could not shake the image of those broad black chests and pounding hooves.
Nobody but the queen herself selects those horses.

"Aurelia?" robert said.

"Well, if it isn't Her majesty in the flesh, or rather in disguise," drew boomed, referring to the white cap, baggy shirt, and worn trousers adorning her body.

robert stared at her as if in shock. No doubt he was. but his shock paled in comparison to hers. she had tried to convince herself that his lie about Chris was not important; but now she saw it for what it really was, a small slip in an attempt to hide a larger truth that the accident had been no accident. Her instincts were correct. The horses had charged. And those horses belonged to the queen. Aurelia could not deal with the implications, not while robert was staring at her. she whirled and fled.

"Aurelia, wait!" she could hear robert coming after her. "Wait!"

Her lithe body slipped into the crowd, and she took advantage of the chaos filling the path. dodging water troughs, bales of fresh hay, and picnic supplies, she zigzagged through the fairgrounds. Twice she thought she had lost him only to have his dark head flash into view.

perhaps he would give up in the tangle of side streets. she burst from the crowd, ducked under the rope barrier, and darted into an alley, where her strategy unraveled. Once he was free of the throng, robert's speed and stamina became a factor. The thudding of his footsteps sped up and, less than five buildings down, a strong hand closed around her upper left arm and swung her to a halt. she fought for a second, gave up, and rested her hands on her hips.

For minutes they just breathed, measuring each other with their eyes. she struggled to gain a grasp on her senses. "All right, you stopped me. Now talk." He was the one who should have something to say. Not only had he lied to her, but judging from what she had overheard, he had lied to drew as well.

robert glanced down the empty street as if searching for an answer, then stated the obvious in a controlled voice. "I want to know why you ran away just now." still avoiding the truth. Well, he should not have bothered to come after her, then.

"And you thought chasing me down and restraining me would explain that for you?" she snarled.

kicking a piece of broken glass, he met her gaze. "I am more patient than you, Aurelia. I can wait here all day."

The comment needled her. He
would
wait there, pretending to be the one who did not know what was going on. she paced back and forth on the cobblestones, emotions warring in her chest. Fine, then. If he insisted on stating the obvious, she could as well. "I ran because I was angry."

He waited.

she took a rattling breath. "With you."

"Only with me?"

Another breath. The coolness of his question was maddening. "I don't know. maybe someday you'll decide to tell me." The accusation sliced into the tight air.

For a moment his face flickered as if he was losing his sense of control, but the words coming from his mouth remained infuriatingly calm. "Let's retrace our day. I saw you this morning. We talked. you told me to ask drew Fielding about horses. I looked up mr. Fielding. you arrived, heard a few comments, and hurtled your way off the fairgrounds into an alley." He waited again.

How dare he patronize her? "Why don't you try that again? maybe you'll achieve your goal of making me sound like the problem." still he said nothing. she turned and began walking away. "Let me know when you feel like telling the truth. Otherwise enjoy your stay in the capital."

she walked slowly at first, trying her best to maintain an aura of calm, hoping deep down that he would stop her and admit he had lied. That he would apologize and tell her what he really knew about last night.

but he did not. And the disappointment and her anger at herself for feeling that disappointment were too much. she lurched into motion, pounding around dim corners and down musty streets. Taverns and boardinghouses ranged beside her, the sharp smell of alcohol emanating from their connected facades. The uneven surface of the streets challenged the strength of her ankles, and rough edges of broken cobblestones dug into her leather shoe bottoms.

A jagged pain in her side slowed her to a walk. Her earlier flight had cost her. she should not be running. For that matter, she should not be hiding and skulking in disguise. she was the future ruler of this city. she should be free to stroll its streets whenever she wanted. Aurelia kicked a broken stone into the gutter and watched it skid over the holes of a grate before plummeting into the sewer below.

Where to now? Not the palace. Not that gilt prison of her stepmother's with its tapestry barriers and filigree locks. The wharf seemed the ideal refuge, its port filled with ships headed for exotic lands such as the Outer realms. To think, if she stowed away in one of those creaking hulls, she could set foot in a foreign country. The lure of the water pulled like a hook lodged in the tissue of her chest. Her steps quickened, and she lifted her head.

Away. she must get away from the suffocation of her life, the pressure to marry, and the people she could not rely upon. every time she thought she could trust someone--

Aurelia brushed back the thought and the hurt that came with it. she must escape.

robert wanted to leap after her, tell her she was not going to win by leaving. but the truth bound him in the alley. Clearly, she knew he had been keeping information from her, and whatever she knew was a long way from the whole truth.
If I stop her, what can I tell her?
He had been ordered not to inform her of the assassination plot. Ordered by the king. The king!

Her anger didn't bother him, but the hurt he had seen in her face did. That same look had gripped him in the tent earlier. He was unsure whether he could . . . whether he should . . . curse it! suddenly he did not know anything.

Then a chill crackled through his body. While he had been standing still, thinking about his reaction to the argument, she had slipped off among the city streets alone--alone in a city she had nearly been killed in the night before.

He rushed to the end of the alley. Vacant walls and shuffling strangers met his gaze. searching at random would be foolish. He had no idea where to look, and she did not want to be found, at least not by him. Hoping she was disguised as well as she believed, he plunged back into the fairgrounds, aiming for Fielding's tent.

The horseman was waiting for him, or rather he was still in his tent, talking with a restless bay stallion. Horizon snorted as robert's head slipped under the heavy canvas flap. drew straightened to his full height. "When I invited you in here, lad, I did not know I was signing up to watch over a horse."

robert shrugged. "my apologies." He knew his hopes of being overlooked by this man were shredded. Aurelia trusted drew. That much was clear; and based on the information the horseman had shared about the stallion, there was little chance drew could be involved in the assassination plot. robert resolved to open up as much as necessary if it would help him find the princess.

keeping a hand wrapped around Horizon's reins, Fielding sat down, kicked his feet up on the white box, and gestured for robert to take the other chair. "We have a discussion to resume. Thus far I've been doing all the talking, a point I failed to notice until you took off."

determined not to waste time, robert said, "I need to know where Aurelia might go in the city. she may be in danger."

"That girl?" Fielding scoffed. "If she ever was in danger, all she'd have to do would be to announce her real identity. Folks in the city would rather see her on the throne than her father. Without her as his heir, the king would have lost his hold on their loyalty years ago. she stole the people's hearts at the age of three when she threw herself on her brother's coffin at the state funeral. besides, she can blend in with anyone."

robert filed away drew's comments, wondering how many enemies Aurelia had made in her unintended quest for popularity. "you're saying she does this often, coming into the city in disguise?"

drew laughed. "she knows the veins of this city better than a street urchin."

"but how does she get out of the palace?"

"Lad, I can't tell you that. I can tell you the lass was raised by the palace staff. His majesty never had time for her. For every guard keeping her in, there are three stable hands or kitchen maids or outside gardeners willing to smuggle her out."

"Can you tell me where she might go?" robert pleaded.

drew fiddled with Horizon's reins. "maybe, if I start getting some answers."

"Ask your questions."

"All right, you show up here dressed like a commoner, but your mount there is worth a small fortune. Judging by your reaction earlier, you know the difference between Favinoit and your regular white wine. And you know Her royal Highness well enough to call her by her first name. Who in the king's name are you?"

robert told him.

"Vantauge?" The man drew out the surname. "you're related to the king's adviser?"

"He is my uncle. I came back to see him."

"And others, I presume." drew's eyes sparkled. "I haven't seen a lad chase after a girl with such gusto in a long time."

robert waited for the next question.

"And why should I tell you where the lass may be when she doesn't want to be near you? she deserves her moments of freedom. They're rare enough these days."

"I won't expose her. I just wish she'd asked me to come with her."

"Of course you do, lad." The teasing tone weighed heavy in drew's voice. "perhaps she didn't ask you because she doesn't trust you. she's had a rough time of it these last few years. everyone views her through a spyglass, seeing how she can help them and losing perspective on the person."

"everyone except you, you mean." robert was less than tactful. The word
trust
had hit hard.

"Oh, I like the lass well enough, but I'm in her debt. I count on her support among the upper crust. There are those, even in the royal family, who find me"--he winked--"less than admirable."

robert reworded his earlier question. "Where might she have gone?"

drew wrapped the reins around his hand and released them, handing them to robert. "I'm still waiting to hear about this beauty." The horseman rubbed Horizon's cheekbone. "but I can see it'll have to wait till later. The lass wanted to be shut of you, my boy. I shouldn't send you after her. On the other hand, I've chased my share of girls, and I reckon miss Aurelia could do with a little chasing before she has to settle down for the good of the kingdom. she might have gone down to the docks. Has a dreamy fascination with far-off places."

robert led the stallion out of the tent, and the horseman followed.

"I'll be checking in to hear about this horse," drew said as robert climbed on to the scuffed saddle. "He has a spirit I like. Not at all the type to obey just because his master says so."

Horizon broke into motion and headed through the thinning crowd, along the Tyralian wall, past inns and taverns, and out onto the wide crescent of the wharf. gray-green water curved into the city port, its depth renowned along the southern coast as one of only two harbors navigable by large sailing ships. A bustling group of tan men dressed in duck cloth loaded goods on and off a brigantine vessel, but no white cap lingered nearby.

dismounting, robert walked along the edge of the bay toward a quieter section of the dock. Cool salt air filtered through tall masts and furled sails. The penetrating odor of raw fish drowned his nostrils. Water slapped a legato rhythm against the side of the dock, and shifting boards creaked accompaniment.

The sight of Aurelia perched on a barrel, one knee slung over the other, eased his mind. she was safe for the moment. An old man with bushy eyebrows and a navy knit cap held the princess's attention. His ruddy fingers composed a fishing net, and his voice wrapped a hypnotizing rhythm around the lone listener.

robert slid onto an empty barrel at Aurelia's side. she glanced at him, then turned her eyes out toward the bay. He struggled to reconcile her father's orders with his own emotions, but the sound of the seaman's voice soon overtook robert's thoughts.

The man's story uncoiled, one thick, entrancing loop at a time. despite having missed the beginning, robert quickly captured the tale's essence because it matched historical fact. Two decades earlier, a ship carrying people from the Outer realms had landed in port. The people, who spoke no Tyralian, had struggled to explain their need for help. Then the captain brought forward the body of a dead man bearing the pockmarks of disease. Fearing an epidemic, the king had denied the refugees assistance, ordering them to leave Tyralian waters.

In the seaman's story, however, a young boy from the Outer realms named Andrew escaped the rigid guards and convinced the captain of another ship to help. After the forced departure of the refugees, this captain's ship followed, smuggling all the passengers safely onto Tyralian soil.

"And when you see a man or a woman of special height, there's a good chance he or she is from that same refugee ship."

The seaman tied a knot. "All thanks to a lad with the courage of a gull in a storm."

"does that include you?" Aurelia asked, looking up into the man's wrinkled face.

The seaman uncurled himself from his seat and stood up. To robert's astonishment, the man's head stretched above him almost as high as drew's had earlier that afternoon. "Nay, lass." The man winked. "but I know the story to be true."

Aurelia laughed. "you know all stories to be true, even the one about the sea monster that swallowed the mermaid."

The man laughed, then stretched out a reddened palm toward robert. "And who is this?"

"A friend," she mumbled.

"I enjoyed the story, sir, what I heard of it." robert took the seaman's weathered hand, surprised at its strong grip.