Chapter 18: Chapter 18

he leaned back in the bed and slid one foot to the floor, an unfamiliar flutter in her chest driving her to put distance between them.

“I meant that your nightgown covers you adequately,” said Prince Russal. “Now, if you’re curious if I’m curious what lies beneath it, that’s an entirely different discussion than I had planned. We have rather drifted away from my original topic, but this fresh idea intrigues me enough that I might not mind the desultory turn.”

She jerked the covers aside and got out of bed. “Show me what you want me to see.”

“I’ll stay here. You go peek in the passage.”

She backed away from him, running her hand along the mattress as she went, gauging how far she had traversed without taking her eyes off him.

“You’re safe with me.”

She continued to back away but kept her gaze pinned on him.

“Look at the ring,” he said tiredly.

She glanced at her hand, then raced her eyes back up to look at him. A giggle bubbled in her throat. What is the matter with me?

“Never mind. Look at the passage. I promise not to move from this spot.”

She’d seen enough to know the ring was glowing purple. Did he know she’d already guessed it revealed more than her own untruths?

The wardrobe’s back corner stopped her progress.

“Do you have eyes in the back of your head?” he teased.

She rotated round and peered into the shadows. It was a tiny room off of a passage. A rumpled cot sat against one wall, the edge of a sword in a scabbard glinted on the floor beside it. She spun back around. “You’ve slept on that cot.”

“My feet tired of standing.”

“You slept there all night?” she asked incredulously. “I needed to know you were safe.”

“I have a guard.”

“How long have we been sitting in here talking?”

Her face scrunched in bewilderment, and then she understood no guard had entered her room while they had been talking. Someone quiet enough could enter her room.

“I’m keeping the balcony door and window double locked now.”

This time softly and emphasizing each word, he said, “I need to know you are safe.”

“Why you? Couldn’t you have put a guard in here?”

“I’m the only one who knows about that passage. It runs directly from my bedchamber to this room.”

Her eyebrows rose, and she could not tug them down.

“This belonged to my great-grandfather’s mistress when it was a larger apartment.”

She thought about what Cole had told her earlier when he had checked her room. “Cole told me it was once larger but not why.”

“Doubt he knows. Come back. Let’s talk.” “There’s a sword in there.”

“I might have needed it if you did more than wave your little knife around.”

She tipped her head and grimaced at him. “That’s not why you have a sword under your bed.”

“Kambry, we have shifted yet again from the point of my waking you up. At this rate, we’ll not get to any actual purpose for this talk before sunrise.”

It was fun talking to him. He wasn’t at all scary or difficult to get a gauge on. In fact, the entire time he was in her room, he had been charming, his face for once on the verge of a smile when he wasn’t grinning at her. Though he had always looked handsome to her, now it was difficult to keep her eyes off him. His loose shirt over breeches made him appear casual and common, and she liked it. The lacing at his throat was loose, a deep V revealing his chest to the point of his sternum. She forced her embarrassing scrutiny to gaze into his eyes.

Prince Russal settled more comfortably on her bed. He crossed an ankle over a knee and wiggled his bare foot.

A teasing thought rose in her mind. “Why Prince Russal, are you proposing marriage to me?”

At first, his mouth dropped open, and then he took a long look at his foot. His lips twitched. “Turn and turnabout, my dear.” He grinned and patted the bed. “But we can consider our options later. Come sit down.”

She sidestepped toward her bed, hugging the wall to keep her distance from him. “Have you really been sleeping on that cot?” She considered his clothes. They were loose and probably chosen so he could rest in them.

“I’m a light sleeper. I would have woken up had you needed me.”

And I worried when I changed for bed. Here he was sleeping just a few feet away. “But that cot doesn’t look all that comfortable.” She stood across from him.

“Slept like a baby, only lighter.” He pointed at the bed. “Please, sit down.”

She crawled under the covers. Not wanting to look terrified of him, she didn’t pull them up to her neck, so they lay drawn up around her waist. He may have considered her well-covered, but she wished she had grabbed her robe on the way back to the bed.

He took a breath and leveled an even stare at her. “I chose you for the Kavin Cut to open. In the past, I accepted whoever sang the chant, assuming the person’s desire for safety would be enough to promise me loyalty, but someone always turned them against me. I thought I would choose the next person to come into Kavin and perhaps get a different result.” He shrugged as if that explained everything. “I chose you.”

“Why me? What made you think I would be any different?”

“You weren’t running from anything, and you didn’t appear to be the adventurous sort, so I had a better chance of controlling the situation.”

“If you were hoping to win me over, you went about it the wrong way. I quite disliked you.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head. “I didn’t want you to like me. Well, that’s not entirely true. I wanted them to think I already didn’t trust you. I hoped they’d be less careful when they approached you because they would believe you would be that much easier to turn against me.”

“So how is all this intrigue going?” She crossed her arms, uncertain if it should offend her that he thought she would be an easy target by those out to bring down his kingdom. “Do you know yet who the culprit is?”

“Well, I’m sleeping in a tiny room off a dark passage. All I’ve got for my trouble so far is two attempts at making you appear dangerous, and no sign of who is behind the trouble I’ve been having since before the murder of my parents.” He grabbed the pillow on his side of the bed and propped it up against the headboard and leaned back.

Kambry watched him stretch out his legs and cross his ankles over the top of the bunched covers. She considered asking him if he was comfortable but decided he would probably ask for another pillow. “There’s a chair by the desk you could use.”

He’d been staring at his feet, brooding by all appearances, but turned his head and smirked. “Thanks, but this is fine.”

“You’ve had me followed, haven’t you?”

“In a manner of speaking, I kept watch over you even before I set a guard.”

“I wandered around the castle my first day. Some poor sod had to follow me; how boring.”

“Not so boring. I had to avoid people, keep you from noticing me, and watch for trouble.”

“You followed me?”

“Wasn’t sure whom I could trust.”

She tried to imagine him skulking around his own castle, dodging out of sight and keeping people who’d known him since childhood from recognizing him. She snorted. “I hadn’t thought of you as the cloak-and-dagger sort.”

“Cloak and dagger, swords, sleeping in hidden passages, all in the everyday life of a ruling monarch.”

“Truly? Is there specialized training for that with an actual tutor?”

“Every prince figures out how to move about his kingdom without his parents or his subjects finding out. I just had to improve my disguises.”

“Whom did I talk to in the kitchens that first day?”

Prince Russal tugged on the coverlet, and she gripped it tight to keep him from pulling it away from her. He grinned. “You never entered the kitchen.”

Either whoever had followed her was very specific about where she went, and Prince Russal had memorized the report, or he had followed her himself. She looked up at him and ignored his grin. “How did you know there was someone in my room?”

“I asked Sybil to come to my chambers after you left that night,” he said. “You concerned me when you mentioned the fellow in red. He didn’t sound like anyone I had invited to the

dinner I had canceled. It didn’t sound like someone I knew. When she concentrated on the description you had given me, she grew certain the man was in your chambers. I sent guards to stop you from entering, but you were already inside.”

“But you accused me of meeting someone in my room.”

“If we had caught him, I would have had my traitor. Since we didn’t, I had presented myself as suspicious of you.”

So all that anger and frustration had been for show. Well, hers had not been for show as she had felt all of it. Burty and Prince Russal must have been pretending. “Sybil could see him in my room?” She remembered the flash of red in the hall. Could he have planned to catch her on her return through the corridors, but she had a guard with her, so he went to her room instead?

“It’s more of an impression. She doesn’t get actual visions.”

Could he have been the same man who had spoken to her in Burty’s office? She grabbed his arm and winced at the tug it gave to her shoulder blade. “That man is not a friend of yours?”

“None that I can think of; though it isn’t impossible.” He glanced at her gripping hand and gave her a questioning look. “Why do you ask?”

“That’s what I wanted to tell you earlier when you made me leave your chambers. A man tried to get me to escape from Burty’s office with him right after the arrow was shot at you.” She rolled onto her knees and let go of his arm. “He said you wanted me safe until they found proof I hadn’t shot the arrow, and he tried to rush me to go with him, but Burty showed up. The door closed behind him.”

Prince Russal rose and paced beside her bed. “You saw this fellow? Is he your man in red?”

“He stayed behind the door and kept his voice to a whisper.”

“Whoever this person is, he’s able to move rather freely about.” He stopped at the end of the bed and tapped the

footboard.

She watched him think. His chest muscles exposed at the open V of his shirt bunched with each tap of his hand as if he involved his entire body in knocking the truth to the surface.

“It’s late, and we still haven’t covered everything I wanted to talk about.” He put out his hand and stepped round the bed to her. She lay her hand in his without thinking and rose to her feet. His finger caressed the ring on her thumb. “What have you guessed about this ring?”

She struggled to speak past the sensation of his finger smoothing over her skin. “I’m probably not the one meant to wear it. It’s for you, isn’t?”

“What makes you think so?” he whispered, looking down at the ring and turning it round her thumb.

She watched the ring spin like satin against her skin and stepped closer to him. “It reveals when people lie to me. That would be very useful to a prince who has people actively out to destroy him.” When she raised her gaze to his face, he was looking back at her. A flutter ran down her back, making her shiver.

“Who’s lied to you so far?” “You.”

He winced. “No one else?”

“I only just realized it when I was talking to you at dinner two nights ago. I’ve been distracted since then.” She watched him ponder. “Why did you give it to me?”

“Guilt for pulling you into this? I wanted you to have something that could warn you of trouble. Now that you know it will reveal if someone is lying or about to betray you, watch it closely.” He leaned in. “Kambry,” he whispered.

“What?”

One hand pulled hers to his chest, and the other rested on her hip. Inches separated their faces. He looked into her eyes. “Kambry, look at the ring.”

She really didn’t want to break their gaze. His blue eyes were soft and warm. He leaned in and his breath caressed her lips. Her lungs stuttered.

“Either look at the ring or be kissed.”

She swore a little voice, confused and breathless, said, “What ring?”

Then he kissed her, soft and searching. His hand at her hip slid around her back and pulled her up against him. The air in her room lost its chill.

She found when he pulled inches away that she was gripping his hand and his shirt, pulling both toward her as if that would restart the kiss. She’d closed her eyes at some point, and when she opened them, it was to find his gaze still locked with hers, a very pleased smile on his face.

“Now will you look at the ring?”

“Was that supposed to encourage me?”

“No, I just couldn’t wait any longer. Look at the ring, please.”

She swallowed, blinked her eyes and steadied herself. Would the ring be glowing a passionate red color? She looked. Still purple. It was almost disappointing.

“I’m falling in love with you, Kambry,” he said. “Do you believe me?”

The ring pulsed deeply purple. “Yes,” she breathed her reply.

His lips whisper against her temple. “Are you falling in love with me?”

“Yes.” She wasn’t lying.

She looked up at him, their lips nearly touching. “You didn’t look,” she said.

“I didn’t need to.” He kissed her again, quick and heated, then drew back. His shoulders dragged his back straight. “I’m holding the Grand Review in two days. I want you there and

everyone to see that we have come to an understanding in our relationship. Wear the brown dress.”

The change in subject confused her, along with his determined tone. “What’s a grand review?”

“An overblown mingle. All the lords and ladies of the kingdom will attend, except the Condoris.” His hand cupped either side of her face. “Kambry, before you were a target because they could turn you into an instrument to destroy me. Now you will be a target because they could use you to hurt me. Stay close to me and watch the ring. Let me know whom I can trust and whom I can’t. I will do everything to keep you safe.”

She nodded, breathless with the desire welling in her chest. In all this time, she thought no one would notice her, no one would believe her worth his attention.

“Kambry, will you have dinner with me tonight?”

“I have dinner with you every night, Prince Russal.”

“I told you that you were to have dinner with me every night. Now I am asking: will you have dinner with me tonight?”

She nodded slowly, her gaze captured by his intense look. “I would love to have dinner with you.”

“Would you call me Russal and forego the prince?”

“Will he not be attending?” She touched the loose laces of his shirt, shocked at her own daring. “Will you dress like this?”

He stood staring down at her, his gaze roving over her face, stopping at her lips every few seconds. “So you are a temptress.”

A giddy giggle erupted from her. “Why are you a prince and not the king?”

His expression lost its humor. “I won’t take the king’s crown until I have avenged my parents.”

She nodded, not thoroughly understanding. She supposed he might have felt responsible for their deaths. Maybe when he learned who was responsible, he would feel ready to take the king’s crown. Wishing to see him smile again, she said, “So, will you dress like this at the Grand Review?”

He clutched her to his chest. His chin rested on her head. “I think I’ll come dressed a little more formal than this, but I’ll leave the prince stuck somewhere out of sight and mind.” He kissed her forehead, released her, and backed a half step away. The chill of the room seeped past her nightgown, making her shiver. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “I will return to my little cot in here.” He backed away until he stood just inside the space behind the wardrobe. “Remember, I’m not far, and I’ll keep you safe.”

“I don’t think I’ll sleep well knowing you’re in there.”

His mouth turned down. “Does my being there frighten you still?”

“No, Russal. I’m not frightened of you anymore.”

He clutched the wardrobe side as if he needed the support. “You have just guaranteed I will not be sleeping at all tonight.” He dodged behind the closet and pulled it shut with a snap.

She stepped up to where the closet and wall met. “Good night, Russal.”

The wardrobe jerked open, knocking her back a step. “Ouch!” She rubbed her forehead.

The latch to the door to her chambers clicked, and a boot thudded on the hardwood floor. “Miss do Brode?” Gordy called out.

“Good night,” he whispered and pulled the wardrobe shut.

She rushed to her bedroom doorway. “All is fine, Gordy. I had a very vivid dream. I got up to get a drink and stubbed my toe.”

He gazed about the room, his sword catching the light spilling from her room. His massive size was daunting, which made her giggle nervously.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m fine, really. Good night, Gordy.”

“Good night, Miss do Brode.” The door closed behind him.

She eyed the wardrobe as she walked by it and stopped at the oil lamp. Leaning over it, she turned down the wick and blew lightly in the chimney. The room went black. A muted laugh came from behind her, and she turned with her hands on her hips, her right shoulder twitching at the tug on the tight muscle. She glared at the wardrobe and made her way to the bed. Somehow, she would sleep tonight just to spite him.

~~~~~~~

After breakfast in the mess hall, she’d wandered into the busy courtyards and spied the trees swaying over the wall beyond the bailey proper. The gate to the garden swung on its hinges invitingly.

The rustle of trees and the thick stone wall instantly subdued the bustle of the inner bailey. The breeze carried the scent trails of coneflower, hibiscus and bee balm. Kambry closed her eyes and felt her tense shoulders drop, at ease in the morning sun. She couldn’t help Neal, Kip and Teddy gather arrows, nor could she practice shooting until the guardhouse surgeon gave her permission. Burty had been adamant that she wait until Baraby released her to shoot, despite her assurance that her shoulder felt only a little tight.

As she strolled about, she imagined the day guard Drew was following her, but she refused to look behind and ruin the sense of ease and freedom that came with taking turns and pathways without consideration of where others were. It wasn’t long before the maze came into view ahead.

She hurried along the high trimmed shrubs and found Konnelby’s table near the entrance, but the young gardener was not in sight. There were other gardeners everywhere, shifting shrubs around, shoveling gravel, and trimming. She’d never seen so many about the garden before. Ambling through the entrance to the maze, she peered around. Trimming the

hedges back and smoothing the walkways seemed to be the primary activities. The farther she roamed the pathways, the fewer people she saw. No one seemed compelled to tell her she needed to stay out of the work area.

As she walked around a sharply trimmed bush, she recognized Konnelby’s enthusiastic voice. Before her was an intricate metal and stone fountain, the center of the old maze. Much of the stone base structure had a trench dug around it. There were piles of dark loam, sand and crushed stone. Konnelby and another gardener held a detailed scale drawing of the plans for the new maze, and they spun in place, pointing and jabbering. She wondered how they could hear each other with both talking and neither appearing to be listening.

She grinned at their excitement. Could the prince have already made the selection? She was certain Clive Konnelby had said he had four weeks yet before he had to submit his design. The two men turned again, and Konnelby saw her at once. He shoved the plans to the other man and strode up to her, glee covered his face.

“Miss do Brode, are you here to see the start of the new maze?”

“Whose design did he choose?” she asked. “I thought it weeks away yet.”

He took her arm and looped it through his own. “The prince asked for an early presentation of all plans.” He patted her arm. “He wanted the submissions turned in without the creator’s name attached. We were all scurrying to make our last adjustments. He took a day to narrow it down to two and then pulled us in for final presentations.”

“Us? Were you a finalist, Mr. Konnelby?”

“Yes!” He squeezed her hand. “My design won, and I think the extras you and I talked about made the difference.”

“I’m so happy for you. When did you start?” She gazed about, surprised by the commotion achieved in such a brief time. “It already looks like you have accomplished much.”

“Yesterday, we began the renovation of the old half of the maze which will remain until the new half is complete. We are dressing it, you might say.” He beamed, and his gaze roved the courtyard as he sighed contentedly. “Would you like a tour? I think you deserve one after inspiring me so much.”

“Yes!” she exclaimed.

He turned her to face the rear wall of the courtyard. “Lead on, Mr. Konnelby.”

“I’ll take you behind the curtain, Miss do Brode, where the exciting changes are taking place.” He waved at the other gardener who seemed to only half-notice he was leaving and guided her to a length of burlap which covered a gap in the hedge. They ducked through when he raised it up.

She gasped at the immediate openness before them. Nearly all the interior hedges were gone, revealing twisting pathways of paving stones and a surrounding distant hedge that blocked the view of anyone outside the maze.

“We shifted all the original plants to a holding field,” Konnelby said. “Those with a few years still in them will replace those that are dying in what remains of the original maze.”

“The size is astonishing, and that you will fill it with a labyrinth of greenery is impressive.”

“It will be a few years before it is ready, but it starts today,” he said. “We already have plants man-tall to place. The plan to build a new maze has been in the works for several years and preparations are long advanced.”

“I recall you explaining how using the current plants in this half will transition from the old to the new much quicker. How exciting to see your creation come to life.”

The gardener he had been going over the plans with stuck his head past the curtain. “Konnelby, we’ve some questions to answer. If you’ve a minute?”

“I won’t be long, Miss do Brode. I want to show you where we start the first plantings.” He leaned down close to

her and whispered. “And explain the secret of the labyrinth you and I brainstormed.”

“I’ll wait here for you. Even without all the shrubs, it’s an astonishing sight.”

He patted her hand and ducked under the burlap. She wandered the exposed pathways, guessing which had led to dead ends and which to the central destination. Here and there, a few tall hedges remained. She stood by one and surveyed the vast emptiness of the dismantled maze.

“Excuse me,” said a voice behind her, and she stepped around the hedge that blocked the person. Perhaps Drew had found her.

She stilled, but held her face calmly unsurprised.

“Miss do Brode,” said the man she recognized immediately as the man in red she’d met in the hallway. Today he wore sapphire blue. He was making no attempt to blend in with the gardeners and other visitors. She felt her legs tremble, but kept her trepidation from showing in her face. The sun shone in her eyes, making him difficult to see. One side of his face was in shadow.

“Why, hello?” She held out her left hand, keeping her right thumb visible to her behind the flap of her sling.

He grasped her fingers and bent his head before releasing them. “I heard they mistakenly thought you shot an arrow at the prince. I’m pleased everything worked out for you.”

The ring flashed red for an instant. She smiled. “No more pleased than I, I can assure you. It was all very frightening, but I can look back and be pleased that so many were looking out for me. I’m thankful the prince could sort the truth out.”

He stepped further into the shadow of the tall bush. She turned, reducing the glare of the sun in her eyes, but he shifted as well, leaning his weight jauntily on one foot. “I’m sure Prince Russal would not have left you in the cell for long. I believe he’s grown rather attached to you.”

“He’s shared no such feelings, and I wouldn’t want to presume.”

“You are wise.” He looked around. “One never knows who might be listening.” He gazed out at the expanse. “Perhaps we could walk the gardens and chat awhile.”

“I’m waiting to take a tour with Mr. Konnelby, the designer of the new maze, but I could walk with you at another time.” She hoped that would stave off him realizing she didn’t want to be anywhere alone with him, especially now that Russal didn’t appear to know him and thought his presence suspicious. “I’ve not had much time to meet many of Prince Russal’s friends. So many disruptions have interfered with the dinners we share.” She pretended surprise. “I just realized, I don’t even know your name.”

“You’re right, we missed our formal introductions, didn’t we?”

“True,” she said, encouraging him with a tip of her head.

“Perhaps I will leave that to Prince Russal for the next gathering he plans.” He leaned closer. “It must appear odd he shows so much interest in you.”

The ring flashed red again, confusing her. How was that a lie? Or was it the beginning of some effort to undermine her trust in Russal?

The crunch of gravel at the curtain caught his attention. “Perhaps I’ll find you in the garden another time. I often walk here. Goodbye, Miss do Brode, until then.” He gave a slight bow and stepped out of sight behind the hedge.

She twisted the ring on her hand and wondered if she should have delayed him in case Konnelby might have recognized him. Striding past the hedge, she followed his ambling retreat and watched him slip through the bordering hedgerow.

A gardener entered and wandered the line of shrubbery, trimming a stray sprig here and another there as he went. She cocked her head at him, certain he was familiar, but her interaction with the man in red kept distracting her. She would tell Prince Russal when she saw him again.

Konnelby stepped past the curtain and hurried to her. “Thank you for waiting.” He held out his hand. “Shall we? I want to tell you the overall layout first.” He pointed off to their left and began at once explaining the design.

She found it hard to listen. She may just have been suspicious, but he could be behind the attempts to destroy Russal, perhaps even the man who had shot at him and arranged the blame to fall on her. Her gaze followed the familiar gardener who continued to trim randomly. Konnelby tugged her along, and she forced herself to pay better attention. She gave one last glance at the wandering gardener. He tilted his head and gazed at her from under the wide brim of his straw hat, and her heart leaped. Russal! She grinned. If only she could talk to him now. How could she tell him to come to her tonight? She mouthed the word, “Talk,” and he nodded.

Konnelby squeezed her hand. “I’m so pleased you approve. It worried me it would be too much, maybe embellishing the daisy, as they say.”

“Oh, no, not at all, Mr. Konnelby.” Whatever she just approved of, it was Russal’s fault if it turned out to be outrageous.

Russal tipped his hat at her and snipped another stray stem.

She wanted to rush over there and smack his arm. His impish grin made her insides thrill and drowned out Konnelby’s next words.

“What do you think, Miss do Brode?”

Oh! “Explain that again.”

“The inlays for the special telltale. Should they be tan, blending in with the surrounding sand, or stand out, say in deep-blue agate?”

“Well, would all the inlaid pieces be blue agate or just the telltale?”

“All of them. I don’t want it to draw attention.”

She snapped a set of mental fingers at herself and thought about his question. “I think being bright will camouflage them that much more. No one would imagine the secret would be so easy to locate, and if you included that color in bits here and there in the pathway itself, visitors would take it for decoration and nothing more.”

“Yes, I agree.” His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “I find your argument sound. There should be dashes of color. But perhaps a green agate would be better because it would use the old castle colors.”

“Well, I will never argue with green.” She raised her voice. “It’s my favorite color.”

Russal, now several feet away, dropped his shears. She bit her lip to keep from giggling.