Fate War: Alliance (6 page)

With that, the General dismissed the room, and the tired nobles filed out. Cole was almost out of the door when someone grabbed his arm. He turned to see his still fuming father. Cole shook his arm free and turned to leave. He was not in the mood for a confrontation, but the King gripped his arm tighter, spinning him in an about face.

“You are supposed to be confined to quarters for your Binding Time,” the King growled and pointed his dragon cane at Cole’s chest. “What is the meaning of this?”

Cole shrugged and leaned nonchalantly against the door frame. “I guess married life has caused me to turn over a new leaf, Dad. You know, taking on a little more responsibility and such.” He knew he was overheating a boiler, but he couldn’t help taunting his father.

“Married life?” The King relaxed his posture, but narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you think taking care of that new wife of yours should be your first responsibility?” He punctuated the sentence with a jab of his ebony cane.

Cole swatted the stick away and sprang from the door, hands clenched in fists at his side. He took two steps and brought himself into the very personal space of the King.

“You don’t get to talk about her,” was all that he could manage to say before hands were pulling him back. Prince or not, no one was allowed to approach the King in such a manor. Cole caught the satisfied smirk on his father’s face before he was forcibly removed from the War Room by the King’s guards.

He had no right! No right at all to talk about her care. It was his father’s fault she needed care in the first place. Of course that wasn’t what his father had meant. The King wouldn’t know about the medical treatment Cole had given her. The King alluded to something completely different, but either way it irked him for his father to even think about Samantha.

“Oh and Cole…”he spun toward the loathsome voice at the far end of the hallway.

“I believe I’ll be joining you and your bride for breakfast tomorrow. I’d like to get to know her better.”

Cole tossed the leather dossier into the air, and papers flew across the hall. He took two steps backwards keeping eye contact with his father, then turned and stormed back to his chambers. That man knew exactly what dials to turn to set him steaming.

****

By the time Cole reached his study his temper still simmered, so it only stoked the fire to hear the familiar voice of his second least favorite person squawking in the bedchamber. He cracked the door from the study to the adjoining room to see Queen Adella fussing over a fully tucked and trimmed Samantha. Even from here, he could see the circles under her eyes, and if possible she was even paler. Samantha should just now be waking up, but she must have been roused shortly after he left this morning.

“…appalled! Men’s’ clothing?! Really Samantha?!!” Queen Adella’s voice grated like the squeal of a rusted cog. Every word punctuated with her disdain.

“I know mother.” Samantha whispered and winced as the Queen cinched her corset tighter. Samantha used the bedpost as an anchor against the tugging. “I’m sorry. I’m really not certain how…”

“…And still asleep!” Queen Adella interrupted. “Do you
want
Prince Cole to think you a slovenly wife?!” The Queen gave a violent jerk to the corset, and Cole could see tears forming in Samantha’s eyes “If this is any indication of how you will perform your duties to your husband I feel sorry for the Prince!”

Cole had enough and burst through the door. “Samantha my….Oh Queen Adella, to what do we owe the pleasure.” He did his best to cover any disdain in his voice. Cole bowed cordially to the Queen, then turned to Samantha without giving the irritating woman a chance to answer.

“Now why have you changed into these cumbersome clothes?” he asked Samantha in an overly hurt voice. When her teary eyes met his, he winked and leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead. She winced, and he hoped the Queen hadn’t seen. “You
know
I adore what you were wearing for me this morning.” Samantha’s pale face flushed brightly, but Cole turned, eager to see the Queens expression. He wasn’t disappointed. She was barely able to hide a disgusted scowl before she composed herself and changed the subject.

“I came to let Samantha know that her things will arrive this afternoon. Word was sent via transagraphic this morning that the steam ship arrived on time, and her trunks were transferred to the train.”

A movement from Samantha caught his attention. He turned in time to see a shadow of something pass through her eyes. No, it was the opposite of a shadow. Something lit her eyes for only a second, but then the sadness settled again.

“Your Father and I will be leaving on the same carriages that bring your things.” Queen Adella continued. “We’ll be taking a little sightseeing trip on the train. We want to get a feel for the beauty of the country of our new allies.”

A knock on the door interrupted Queen Adella’s diplomatic discourse. Cole answered and directed the waiting porter to arrange breakfast on the terrace.

“Well, this is goodbye then.”

“Goodbye.” Cole said blandly and held his hand to usher the Queen from their room. Her nose twitched like she fought to hold back a sneer. Turning to Samantha, she patted her tummy. “I’ll visit after your Binding Time, and hopefully we’ll see a little swelling, yes?”

“Goodbye mother.” Samantha whispered without making eye contact with the Queen. The vile excuse for a mother gathered her skirts and left the room. Cole was relieved of her presence, but when he turned to Samantha tears flowed freely down her face.

“What’s wrong?” He crossed the room and took her arms thinking to console her. Samantha stiffened at his touch, and he dropped his hands. He was not used to women shying away from him.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” She squeaked, obviously lying. Cole let it alone for now.

“Okay. Let’s eat. I’m starving, and I know you have to be too.” He placed his hand on the small of her back to usher her to the terrace, and again she tensed. He chastised himself for not paying more attention to his hands, but not touching was hard!

Cole pulled Samantha’s chair out for her and settled her at the small table laden with fresh fruit, fried meats, sweet rolls and crepes. Taking his seat, he placed items on his plate. He watched as Samantha added a crepe, a sausage and a strawberry on hers. Ravenous, he consumed his overladen plate and filled it again. He noticed her wiping her mouth daintily with her napkin, then placing it on top of the plate signaling she was done. She couldn’t have taken more than a couple of bites of each item.

“You can’t be done.” Cole said, his brow furrowed in concern and his mouth half full of a sweet roll.

“Oh, I am,” she said, her voice barely carrying across the table. She shifted her gaze to the hazy city below.

“I know for a fact you haven’t eaten since yesterday morning. I’ve been with you the whole time. You have to be starving.” She winced at the sternness in his voice. Okay, no touching and no yelling. There was no way she wasn’t hungry. He tried to eliminate the accusatory tone in his voice.

“Come on. You need to eat. You didn’t even try a sweet roll.” He placed one on her plate. Cole barely suppressed a smile as Samantha stared wide eyed at the sweet, and her tongue darted between her lips for an instant.

“Eat it.” He chuckled through a mouthful of crepes and strawberry sauce.

She schooled her expression and shook her head. “I’ve eaten enough…for a lady,” she sighed and turned her attention back to the crowded city.

Cole conceded defeat for the moment on the eating issue, but he was not going to let it rest.

“What do you think of the city?” he asked, hoping she would open up a bit.

“It’s quite lovely.”

“Is the capitol city of Perspicia this congested?”

“No. Not quite.”

“You know I spend most of my time at my manor in the country. Do you think you would prefer the big city to the country or smaller cities of Perspicia?”

She turned to face him with a demure smile and a slight bow of her head. “Whatever pleases you, My Lord.”

Cole stuffed another roll in his mouth to hide a groan. No breasts
and
no personality. Perfect.

****

The smell! Samantha closed her eyes and breathed deeply of the earthy aroma. It was the same smell that was so calming at the Verification that permeated this room. When her senses had their fill, she opened her eyes again to see Cole staring at her. One eyebrow was cocked quizzically, and his lips slanted in a half smile. She flushed under his stare and averted her eyes embarrassed by her own reaction to his study.

“I take it you like my study?” he asked and half sat on the large wooden desk that anchored this side of the room. For the first time today he sounded pleased. Taking his cue Samantha nodded enthusiastically, curls bouncing.

After breakfast Cole had shown Samantha the suite in which she would spend the next sixty days. It consisted of the bed chamber, a washroom, the terrace and Cole’s study. On one side of the room was a grouping of furniture and a desk. The sofa and chairs faced a large stone fireplace that took up most of one wall. The remaining walls were bookshelves. Although one set of shelves contained several large leather bound books, the others held various vials, bowls and instruments. The other side of the room was dominated by a large table covered in various jars, tubes and pipes configured for some unknown purpose.

Samantha trailed a finger along a line of meticulously labeled jars that contained powders, or what appeared to be dried leaves.
Silybum Adans – Milk Thistle, Silybum Eburneum – Silver Milk Thistle, Silybum Marianum – Blessed Milk Thistle.

“I keep duplicate samples at my manor. If one set is ever destroyed I’ll still have them.” Samantha continued to study the rows of jars and vials.

“You collected all of these?”

“Yes. Over the years.” He pushed off from the desk and took a large book from the collection. “Come look at this.”

Samantha turned her attention to the leather bound tome.

“There are also two of these. It’s been my passion for the last ten years or so.” Samantha gingerly turned the detailed pages. Colored drawings, dates and times filled the pages. There were other numbers and measurements she didn’t immediately understand. Each entry was written in a painstakingly precise hand. “It contains records of where all of the natural medicinals of my….well…our country can be found.”

“You drew all of these? Recorded all of this?” She chanced a look at him. She could tell this was a topic he really enjoyed and not just from the meticulousness of his work.

The wedding had been hard for both of them, and though Cole tried to act unaffected, Samantha could tell by the stress lines at the corners of his eyes, and the rigidness of his shoulders that he was anything but. Now, as he showed her the book, and pointed out various concoctions and instruments his eyes softened and his steps took on a certain confident swagger.

Cole’s enthusiasm and smooth baritone voice had Samantha letting down her guard as well. She ineffectually suppressed a smile watching his animated hands as he explained the contraption on the table. He reminded her of a child with a new toy. She quickly reprimanded herself though. She should not have been thinking of her husband as juvenile. Cole paused to take a breath, and she took the opportunity to ask a question.

“How did you find you were interested in herbal remedies?” Samantha thought it an innocuous question.

Though his smile remained, Cole’s rigid posture returned, and the easy atmosphere dissipated. It must have been that she interrupted him. She had been such a disappointment today.

“I stumbled upon it.” He crossed the room and slid the book from her fingers. A creased, loose page floated to the floor and Cole quickly scooped it up. It appeared to be a letter. Sam only saw the closing,
Love, Hope.
She wasn’t so dull as to think Cole didn’t have previous relationships. Nonetheless, she fought back the twisting in her stomach when he locked the letter in a drawer of his desk. As he replaced the book reverently on the shelf, another binding caught her eye, the letter forgotten.

“
Walton’s New Atomic Theory.”
She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, and when he eyed her questioningly, she worked to keep her expression indifferent. He removed the book and ruffled a few pages.

“Are you interested in chemistry?” The sternness in his voice and expression told Samantha exactly what her answer had to be.

“Oh! No. I wouldn’t know the first thing about that. I was just wondering what Atomic meant.”

He shrugged and snapped the book closed.

“It’s a really hard concept. I’ve been trying to wade through this thing for weeks, and I have to admit I still don’t understand most of it.” He replaced the book. “Chemistry is not really what I’m interested in, but there are some scientific concepts I believe might benefit my work.” He paused, and she could see him debating.

“You know we’re going to be together for a while.” He laughed and ran his hands through his messy hair. “Well, that was an understatement. Until death do us part is quite a while wouldn’t you say?”

Samantha could only give a nervous laugh in answer.

“What I meant to say is we are going to be stuck in these quarters with nothing to do. Maybe I could teach you about the plants, and you can assist me.”

Samantha knew what she had to say. There was only one answer to his question. What she couldn’t figure out was why he asked her. He could be testing her. The finishing school teachers said that husbands would test their wives. Though Cole seemed genuine, almost hopeful that she would share this with him. But, sincerity might be part of the test too. With a pleasant smile and schooled acquiescence she replied, “I’m sure I could be of no assistance. There’s nothing here I could possibly understand.”

****

Cole ran a hand through his hair and exited his chambers. He leaned back and rested his head on the door, closing it behind him, trying to make some sense of the woman he had married. He wanted to make a connection with Samantha in hopes of finding a way to make up for the Verification. Pushing off of the door, he thought of the attempts that had fallen short. The woman was not interested in anything he was. She didn’t show interest in anything actually. Though there was a spark of curiosity while they toured the study, it was quickly doused.