Chapter 22

 

          “Baldric, where are you?” Prince Hadwyn scanned the crowd but he was nowhere to be seen. “Why do I tolerate such a doddering old bag of bones? Oh, there you are. Baldric, come here. I need you.”

          “Yes, milord.”

          Prince Hadwyn ushered him away from the crowd. “The orb may or may not have returned. All we know for certain is that the children are lying. The boy, Nathaniel, claims it fell in the river, but the girl, uh, Savannah, says her brother lied. Their mother has the orb.”

          Saphrasus, the woman has the orb. Watch her!

          “I am inclined to believe the girl,” the old man replied, “but it would be wise to separate them and then question their story.”

          “Exactly what I was thinking.”

          “You are wise, my prince. May I suggest that I question the boy and you question the girl?”

          “You may, but I think it better that I question the boy and you question the girl.”

          “As you wish, milord,” Baldric replied, pleased that he would be extracting the truth from the girl. “We should also question Edward to see whether all three of the accounts agree.”

          “An excellent idea. Edward will only speak the truth. After you and I are through with the children, we shall invite Edward to lunch with us. Now, take the girl and get me my orb!”

         

           Duff scanned the crowd and saw his master’s back was turned. He did not know for sure if that meant Baldric could not see him, but he took the risk of flying past Marie and into her room.

          “Oh! Duff, you startled me,” Marie said, backing away from the window. “But the children are safe.”

          Calm, milady.

          Yes, calm. I shall think calm thoughts.

          You must truly think calm thoughts for I risk much meeting with you.

          Yes, Saphrasus, I am calm. What news have you?

          My master claims that you have the orb.

          What!

          Calm, milady, calm.

          But why would he think that?

          I do not know. The plan was to say that the orb was lost to the river. I can only presume that the children changed the story, perhaps to avoid the wrath of the prince.

          Yes, that must be it. So I have the orb. It is possible they would think that. Hadwyn did not search me. He was too intent on other matters and he believed the children had it. This is good, Saphrasus. This is good. I do not wish them to carry that burden any longer. But tell me, where is the orb?

          I do not know, milady. And if I did, it would be unwise to say so.

          Why?

          Because you will be questioned … by Master Baldric. You may not be able to resist his mind. It is safer that you do not know.

          But John resisted.

          Yes he did. But he knew what was at stake.

          And you think I do not?

          Prince Hadwyn wishes to gain the orb, to once more summon the princes, in the hope of unifying the kingdoms. But Prince John believed it was a trap. He would not give up the orb. But he was more fortunate.

          What do you mean?

          Prince John knew you and the children were safe, because you were in hiding. Prince Hadwyn could never connect your family to the house of Caledonia.

          And now?

          Now Prince Hadwyn will use the children against you. First it will be the threat of spilt blood. And then it will be blood. Could you refuse to speak if the children were threatened? Could the children refuse to speak if he threatens you?

          Oh no. Then what do we do?

          We stay with the plan, though the plan remains unclear. I will act as messenger. Master Baldric wants me to watch you closely, so I will be able to communicate with you, and the others.

          Yes, that is good.

          But we cannot act until tomorrow. We cannot storm the dungeon to free Master John, even with the orb. We must rescue him from the gallows, as he will be one step closer to freedom.

          Yes, and one step closer to death.

          Yes, milady.

          Marie mulled this over in her mind. You are right, Saphrasus. We must delay as long as possible. And the best way to delay is to get out of this room and hide elsewhere in the castle.

          Very wise, but how?

          “Oh Rose! I need you!” Marie called out loudly towards the hallway. Stay here, Saphrasus. I may need you. “Oh Rose, do hurry!”

          Loud footsteps lumbered down the hallway. “What is it, milady?” Rose asked, clearly labouring for breath.

          “A hideous black bird is frightening me. Be gone, foul creature! Oh Rose, help!”

          Rose fumbled with the key, but this time she dropped it only once. She flung the door wide open and saw Marie shielding her face.

Saphrasus was still perched at the window ledge. If Saphrasus could smile, he would be now, but then he saw Rose descend upon him like an enraged bull. He flew away just in time, leaving her with his nastiest “Caw!”

“Milady, are you injured?” Rose began, turning to find Marie’s dress slipping through the doorway and the heavy door closing soon after. A quick turn of the key sucked all life out of Rose. “Oh milady, not again.”

“I am truly sorry Rose, but trust me when I say there will be a mighty reward for you for doing this.”

“From Prince Hadwyn?”

“No, from me. Uh, try to avoid the prince until he calms down.”

Marie felt a tinge of guilt for what she did to Rose but it quickly passed. She was about to run but she did not know where. All she knew was she desperately wanted to see John.

“Rose,” Marie began, “have you calmed down? I want to explain myself, and then ask your help, if I may.”

“Ask my help? Milady, I curse the day you arrived.”

“That is understandable, but you just need to get to know me. Rose, do you know why the Prince is building those gallows?”

“No … milady.”

“He is building them for my husband, Prince John of Caledonia.”

“But he is dead.”

“No he is not. Hadwyn keeps him in the dungeon, um, in the meat cellar. I need to see him. Can you help me?”

“I do not know.”

“Rose, he is also building the gallows for me and my children.”
          “Your children?”

“Yes.”

“But why, milady?”

“Because they have the Golden Orb. We need it to free Prince John. Will you help us? I promise you a better life in Caledonia.”

“Caledonia is far away from a locked bedroom.”

“Yes it is,” Marie agreed, thinking quickly. “But we can make it look I escaped. Take the jam knife and cut away at the wood by the lock. Then I will open it for you.”

Marie looked left and then right, but no one was in the hallway. She heard Rose carve away at the door with a ferocity that surprised her. Imagine what she could do with that knife if she really felt threatened. Marie was about to tell Rose that was good enough when the door swung open.

“Oh!” Marie said, looking first at the knife and then that the angry face of Rose. “I guess I could have done that myself and saved us all that bother,” she said, trying to make light of it.

But Rose was not laughing. She stared into Marie’s eyes. “So you are Princess Natascha?”

“Yes I am,” Marie replied.

“Come, princess. We cannot be seen. And here, take this knife. If we are found then you must say that you broke out and I was looking for you.”

Rose led Marie to stairway at the end of the hallway and down the dark, damp steps. Her voice echoed so she tried her best to whisper.

“The meat cellar is closely guarded now.”

“Did you not think that strange?” Marie asked.

“No. Prince Hadwyn trusts few people and he loves his venison.”

“Hmm. But you can get me in?”

“No, milady, but if there is a guard posted I could distract him.”

Rose, stopped on the stairs and turned to face Marie. She brushed her greasy hair back behind her ears and smiled seductively. Marie counted only two teeth missing and the light from the flickering torch made the shadow of the wart on Rose’s bulbous nose dance across her face.

“Yes, I am sure you can,” Marie said sweetly. Good gawd, these men must be like rutting pigs.

“You will take the passageway outside and turn right. There is a barred window. You can speak to your love, if he be there, but not for long. There is much commotion in the square but the guards will return soon. When you are done, come back and wait for me in these stairs. Wish me luck, milady.”

“Luck,” Marie said. Lots of luck.

          Rose opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and poked her head outside. Marie knew she should wait to give time for Rose to play out her seduction, but curiosity got the better of her. She waited only twenty seconds before peering out from behind the door, which opened inward. Marie was just in time to see Rose disappear with a man who was a head shorter and several stone lighter than Rose. Marie smiled and ran her tongue along her full set of shiny white teeth. The hallway was clear. Marie scurried to the outside door and opened it slowly, half expecting to meet Prince Hadwyn again, but Rose was right. All eyes were on the square at the front of the castle. She moved to her right and found the barred window. Marie was just able to reach the window by standing on her tiptoes.

          “John,” she whispered, but there was no reply. “John,” she tried again, just a little louder, but again without success. She looked around but she was still alone. “Damn it John, answer me!”

          Marie listened and heard a faint reply, “Natascha, I presume?”

 

          Prince Hadwyn turned towards Edward. “You have proven your worth today. Get a bath and a change of clothes and then join us for lunch. I am anxious to hear your tale.”

          “Milord, I am more anxious to help you question the children. They would not answer me, but I allowed them their silence because I knew we would get answers here.”

          “You chose well to hasten your return, but choose wisely now and do as I say. I will see you at lunch,” and Prince Hadwyn dismissed his new favourite with a careless wave of his hand. And then he turned towards Nathaniel. “Ah, young man with the fiery spirit, allow me to show you Castle Kesselring.”

 

          Savannah did not like Prince Hadwyn’s smile. If snakes could smile they might look like him. She turned to the old man, Baldric, who did not attempt to smile. He was stooped and appeared to be only slightly taller than she was. Instinct told her to run, but wisdom told her that she would not get away from him.

          “You are the old man from the story,” she said.

          “The old man?” he replied.

          “Yes, the old man carrying sticks, who gives the Golden Orb to Prince Hadwyn in exchange for lodging.”

          “Where did you hear that story?”

          “Oh, everyone in StagsEnd tells it,” she lied, “but it confuses me.”

          “What confuses you, dear child?”

          “If you gave the orb to Prince Hadwyn years ago, why do you care so much about getting it back?”

          “Ah, a very good question. Prince Hadwyn is my friend and I simply want to return his gift to him.”

          “Why do you not give him another one instead?”

          Baldric began to laugh, but the pain was too much. He tightened his face into a more comfortable scowl. “Because there is only one. I think you know that, dear child.”

          It was clear that Baldric had grown tired of Savannah. He grabbed her by the arm and began walking towards the castle. His grip was surprisingly strong for someone so frail.

          “You are hurting her!”

          Baldric spun around and stared at Savannah. “And to whom am I speaking?”

          Savannah’s face turned hard. “Alexander, prince of Caledonia.”

          “Ah, welcome Alexander. I wondered, but I dare not hope. This clears up the first mystery.”

          “What is that?” Alexander asked.

          “How the children came to find the orb in Kesselring Forest. Did you not consider that finding the orb would sentence your brother to death?”

          “No. I thought him dead already.”

          “I see. Come, I shall enjoy catching up on old times while we solve this latest mystery of who has the orb.”