Chapter Three

Kylara and Brandr collected their cloaks and made their way out to the somewhat barren garden. The garden’s braziers were unlit, though the moon provided just enough light to keep them from tripping over uneven paving stones or any untrimmed branches that might stick out. The more delicate plants were semi-illuminated with glass orbs that held candles just strong enough to heat the glass and keep the plants from freezing to death.

The sculpted Juniper hedges that formed the buffer zone between the castle and the garden were capped with a thick layer of ice that had been snow before it melted and re-froze. The many fountains and reflecting pools scattered through the expansive garden held nothing but snow and ice. The otherwise smooth skins of ice on the reflecting pools were pierced by the same slim towers of iron topped with braziers that lit the space through the warmer months, each one incorporating several artistic curls that provided hooks for further candles to be hung. The scattered pavilions, meant to provide comfortable, elegant shade on sunny days, stood without their cotton-linen draping, tarpaulins protecting the furniture within.

“Even in winter, this place is beautiful,” Brandr murmured.

“I suppose it has a sort of haunting beauty this time of year,” Kylara said.

“I am guessing that I will not find this place so beautiful should I return without you,” he added.

“No, they would be the same,” Kylara assured him, glancing over at him.

“But I would not have the pleasure of your company, Princess Kylara,” Brandr sighed. “You are quite a marvel, Highness.”

“I am not entirely certain what you mean, Prince Brandr…”

“Would you mind if I were informal with you?” he asked quietly.

“I suppose not, but why?” she mumbled and narrowed her eyes.

“Princess Kylara, you’re the most amazing woman I have ever met. I just can’t believe that I even had the fortune to meet you.”

Kylara stepped away from him, startled to say the least.

“I’m sorry that I’m so forward, but I’m just amazed at how quickly you were able to capture my heart without even trying. Please, don’t think that I’m trying to hurt you, I’m just so amazed about this that I had to tell you.”

She stared at him, her eyes narrowing for a fraction of a second as a half-remembered pain in her ribs stabbed her consciousness. “Prince Brandr… I do not know what to say…” Kylara mumbled. “I-I cannot honestly say that I feel the same; I thought we were friends.”

He studied her face for a moment before replying. “If that is all the relationship you wish from me, then I shall not push you to feel more. I simply thought you should know the truth,” Brandr explained softly.

She nodded and looked critically at him. For a moment, she considered asking him if he was going to kill her, but she was certain that he would sound insane and put more stress on their relationship than was already present.

“I should get back inside,” she said after a few moments.

“Of course. I shall escort you,” Brandr replied somberly. “Again, I apologize for disturbing you with anything I said.”

“And I apologize, Prince Brandr. I know that you were hoping for a different answer,” Kylara said as she gently pushed his offered arm away. “But I think I can find my way back to the Castle on my own.”

“Indeed,” Brandr said. “Goodnight, Your Highness.”

“Goodnight, Prince Brandr,” Kylara murmured as she turned back down the path they had taken.

“Did you enjoy your evening, Sire?” Captain Nejem asked as Brandr’s puppet collapsed into bed.

“I thought I may have had the upper hand with Princess Kylara, but she is apparently a considerably more difficult target to hit than I had anticipated.”

“That must be frustrating,” the Captain sighed, helping the real Brandr to sit up. “Perhaps you could try again once you have rested properly.”

“I am plenty rested, Tariq,” Brandr replied as Tariq placed a tray of food on his lap. “With you here to watch over my body, I can do whatever I like.”

“Certainly, Sire,” Tariq replied. “Though I thought I might go for a walk tomorrow morning, if I had your permission.”

“Why not? Princess Kylara is going out with her friend tomorrow and I have no idea when she will return. Besides, after the way we left things this evening, I doubt that she will want to see me,” Brandr said.

“Is that so, Sire?”

“Yes. I confessed my growing love for her just a few minutes ago,” Brandr said with a semi-sarcastic triumph. “She was rather less enthusiastic than I was, but I have yet to start controlling her, so difficulties like that will soon be eliminated.”

“I am sure that you will succeed,” Tariq murmured. “You should rest, Your Majesty.”

“There you go worrying about me, again,” Brandr yawned. “Though perhaps you are right.”

“Goodnight, Prince Brandr,” Captain Nejem said gently, removing the tray from his boss’s lap.

“Goodnight, Captain.”

It took irritatingly long for Kylara to make her way out of the castle the next morning. She would have liked to simply disguise herself as a commoner and exit through the servants’ gate, but the handmaidens her parents had assigned to her were also instructed to make sure that her wardrobe was held to a high standard.

In order to get out of the Royal Grounds, the princess was forced to exit the castle proper to the gardens and sneak her way to the south wall. The gravel of the paths came in handy whenever she needed a guard to look a particular direction. They were trained to investigate every little noise out of the ordinary and the small stones generally did not collide with the wrought iron lighting stands of their own accord.

Kylara was aiming for the small, deeply rusted gate in the wall that marked the border of the Royal Grounds. She had found the gate useful on several occasions, though she only used it sparingly to make sure that it was never found. The lock had been ground into orange powder years previously, and the hinges squealed every time they were used. She had tried on several occasions to oil them and make sure they made as little sound as possible, but she had access to neither the correct oil nor tools to do the job justice. By now she had figured out to wait for a breeze to shift the curtain of ivy that kept it secret so that the movement would not raise suspicion. If she timed it right, the guards would hear the screeching of the hinges, but they would arrive too late to pinpoint where the noise had come from. With the wind picking up, she didn’t have to wait long, though the gathering clouds gave her pause.

Once she was outside the gate, she had to go the long way around the city, heading south-west to avoid the drawbridge – and the guards who manned it – to reach the road that would lead her through the forest beyond the city’s pastureland. Once she was into the trees, she knew exactly where to turn to reach the Glade, where she had asked Marella to take their mysterious guest.

She arrived just as Marella was leading him into the small clearing around the house. Because he had been wearing a mask to cover the lower half of his face, the blindfold covering his eyes made his entire face shrouded in black fabric. Snow was already coating the ground and trees with a glistening layer of ice, and the snow was only falling harder with every passing minute.

“Take him inside and close the curtains,” Kylara murmured. “We can talk safely there.”

“Sure,” Marella said, nodding as she continued toward the house.

“I’ll be there in a minute. I’m just going to pull in some firewood. With this weather, it looks like we’ll need it,” she said, gesturing to the sky.

“What about him? Should I take off the blindfold?” Marella asked before she let him into the house.

“Not just yet... I’ll be there soon,” Kylara replied, already starting to load the basket that waited atop the woodpile.

“Alright,” Marella sighed, taking the man – fully dressed in black – inside the small, two-story house.

Only a few minutes later, the princess entered the house, taking some of her load and setting it alight under the stone mantel in the sitting room just around the corner from the front door. Once she’d started the fire and had it building strongly, she turned to the man sitting patiently in the armchair, his hands tied and folded casually in his lap.

“You tied his hands?” Kylara murmured as Marella came back into the room.

“He insisted. He even brought his own blindfold.”

“Okay…” Kylara muttered to herself, moving closer to their guest. “So you are TIN?”

“Yes, Highness,” he replied, stiffening slightly as if he felt that he should have been at attention.

“So who are you?” she asked.

“I doubt that you would believe me if I simply told you. Perhaps now would be a good time to remove the blindfold and mask?” he suggested.

“I suppose,” Kylara agreed, reaching over to unbind his hands. “If you would be so kind as to remove the rest yourself?”

“Of course.” He rubbed his wrists for a moment before removing the blindfold and pausing to let his eyes adjust. “I feel that I should warn you that you might have a difficult time understanding what I am doing given who I am, but I will do my best to explain,” he said. Kylara had only ever seen gray eyes once before, so it took her a few moments to realize that there was a connection here that she wasn’t quite making.

“Have… have I met you before?” Kylara’s breath caught in her throat, though she didn’t know why those gray eyes were so familiar. He carefully pulled his hood back from his forehead to reveal slightly curled, jet hair. Just as carefully, he pulled the thick mask from the lower half of his face over his head. Kylara gasped and scuttled backward in shock.

“But… but you-”

“Captain Tariq Nejem, at your service, Highness.” He got to his feet and bowed to her. “I did try to warn you.”

“What? You know each other?” Marella asked, catching Kylara as she tripped over her own feet.

“He… he works for Prince Brandr,” Kylara stammered.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Marella asked, glaring at Captain Nejem.

“If only it were,” He said gravely. He wet his lips, then sighed and continued, “Princess, you are in grave danger.”

Kylara met his gaze, “What makes you say that?”

“Prince Brandr,” he said simply. “He is dangerous.”

Kylara scoffed at his concerned, silver eyes, “I have spent the past several evenings with Brandr, if he were a danger to me—“

“—Princess, you have not even met Prince Brandr,” The captain said quietly.

Kylara paused, “How could I not have met him?”

Captain Nejem glanced down, shaking his head, “Because none of his wives ever did before their honeymoons. I suppose you have heard the tragic tales of his previous three wives’ deaths?”

“I—” Kylara blinked, gulped. “You mean…?" She couldn’t finish her thought out loud, but Captain Nejem had understood what she meant.

“Yes.”

Kylara steadied herself against the living room chair. If she let go, she feared her knees would give way.

“How?” It was Marella who spoke.

Captain Nejem was quiet, tapping his fingers on his chin. He looked from Kylara’s pale, scared face, to Marella’s determinedly brave one. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "It is difficult to explain. You see, every time Brandr makes a romantic conquest he tends to take on a disguise."

He paused a moment, glancing at Kylara. Her face was still pale, but she had looked up with confusion in her storm-cloud blue eyes. Marella gestured for him to continue. Her brows furrowed, contemplating. Nejem wondered if they would believe what he said next.

“Rahikmat has been trying to conquer its neighbors for over a century, and Prince Brandr is taking the slightly more peaceful route in order to do so. Instead of declaring war, he simply threatens it, then forms a sham of a peace treaty by offering to marry a princess and take control of at least part of the country that way. Once all of the legalities are dealt with, he kills his wife and moves on to the next country on his list.”

“That is barbaric,” Marella said with a shudder.

“And cunning,” Nejem murmured with a nod. “His conquest of Weland was expedited because he was hired to murder you, Your Highness.”

Kylara jumped slightly at the direct nature of his comment and realized what it meant. “Do you know who hired him?”

“Yes, Your Highness; it was your father, King Dian.”

It felt like Kylara had been punched in the chest. She had always known that her father wasn’t all that fond of her, but to know that he wanted her dead…

“Excuse me for a moment, will you?” Kylara said, pulling Marella back to the door.

“What now?” Marella whispered. “Can we trust him or not?”

“I-I’m not sure,” Kylara breathed. “I just need to be alone for a bit.”

“What are you doing?” Marella asked as Kylara pulled her cloak back on.

“I told you, I need to be alone. I’m going for a walk so I can think this over.”

“Kylara, it’s snowing and the weather’s only getting worse.”

“Marella, I’ll be fine, I just need to clear my head enough to wrap it around all of this,” the princess replied quietly as she unbolted the door.

“What about him? Should I take him back to the main road, or what?”

“No, just… please just keep an eye on him, okay? I want to be able to get more answers from him when I get back.”

“Fine, but I don’t like this and if you aren’t back in thirty minutes, then I’m coming out to find you. Got it?” Marella said firmly. “Actually make it twenty.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Kylara said, pulling the door open and closing it against a growing wind once she’d stepped outside.

Marella sighed heavily and returned to the living room where Captain Nejem stood exactly where the girls had left him.

“What is happening? I heard the door,” he asked quietly.

“Well, Kylara needs a little time to think over what you have told her on her own, so she has gone for a walk. If she has not returned in twenty minutes, I am going to go out and find her,” Marella explained.

“I thought the weather was too severe for a lady to be out on her own,” he pointed out. “Perhaps it would be better to fetch her back inside now? I had heard several people mention the possibility of a blizzard today.”

“She wants to go for a walk. She always thinks more clearly once she has had some form of exercise,” Marella replied.

“Still, I would hate for my attempt to save her to cause her death,” he sighed. Marella indicated that he should sit down, and he reluctantly did so, perched on the edge of the cushion and looking toward the front door.

Nearly ten minutes passed before either one of them spoke again.

“I do not believe I ever caught your name,” Captain Nejem pointed out.

Marella looked over at him appraisingly for a moment. “Marella Landvik.”

“No title?” the captain asked, somewhat confused.

“None.”

“If I might ask… how did you become friends with the princess if you are not of noble birth?”

She considered how much to tell him before she replied. “My mother works in the kitchens. I would go with her when I was a child because there was no one at home to watch over me. Kylara would come down with her mother for a snack, and we would get to know each other over a sandwich or something. At the time, Queen Aveline thought it was good for her to have a friend her own age of a modest class, though things seem to have changed over the past year,” Marella explained.

“I would not be surprised if that were the time frame,” he said. “That is about the time that King Dian contacted Prince Brandr.”

Marella nodded and they remained quiet for several moments. “Why now?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why are you trying to save Kylara? Why are you trying to change things, now?” she clarified. “What’s so special, now?”

The window behind the couch on which Marella was sitting rattled so hard she thought it might break. It seemed as though the blizzard Captain Nejem had mentioned was announcing its arrival with gusto.

“That sounds less than fortuitous,” Captain Nejem murmured darkly.

“Yeah… remember that blizzard you mentioned before?” Marella asked, peeking through the curtain.

“Can you see the princess?” he asked, already getting to his feet and heading for the door.

“No,” she replied, turning back to the empty room to find him gone. She jumped up and saw him swing his cloak around his shoulders. “What are you doing? Neither of us wants you to know where this place is.”

“It is a whiteout, Miss Landvik, so even if I somehow found my way back to the main road, I would not know it. I understand you wanting to keep this place secret, but someone has to find Princess Kylara before she freezes to death and as I am already trying to save her life, I see no reason why I should not go after her.”

Marella glared at him, more irritated that she had no counter-argument than anything else. “How do I know that I can trust you?”

He met her gaze and shook his head. “In all honesty, you will not know that you can trust me until I prove it to you. The sooner I earn your trust and hers, the better things will be in the long run. For now, every moment we waste, Princess Kylara is that much closer to being buried in snow for what little is left of her life.”

“I do not like this-”

“I am not asking you to,” he said as he fastened his cloak around his shoulders.

“I should be the one to go after her; I know the area better than you.”

“My visual memory is good enough to get me back here once I have found her. I promise you that I will bring her back here alive. Beyond that, I cannot guarantee her condition, but I do have some experience in battlefield medicine. If she is injured, I can help.” His gaze never wavered from hers, and he hoped that Marella understood that he had no intention of hurting her or her best friend.

“But if we both go, then-”

Tariq was already shaking his head. “No. If she comes back, I need you to be here for her and keep her safe until I get back.”

“Fine. Just be careful,” Marella finally said, unlatching the door for him.

For several minutes, Captain Nejem had to balance himself against the constant, powerful wind simply to cross the clearing around the house to the tree line. Once he reached the trees and was somewhat protected from the blizzard, he quickly looked around for any evidence of the princess. It wasn’t long before he was able to see vague impressions of footsteps wandering away from the cottage.

This pattern continued for nearly half an hour before he found a recently felled branch in a deep depression in the thickening snow. It had apparently been tossed judging by the skid marks. More concerning, however, was the second set of footprints that led to an uneven heap of snow, then wandered off into the trees. The first set of footprints stopped at the pile. Curiously, Captain Nejem moved closer, noting something sticking out of the pure white snow.

It was a shoe.

He cursed loudly and started digging into the snow to see who it was that had been buried there. Eventually he was able to turn the woman over. He found himself less than surprised that it turned out to be the very woman he had been searching for. The lengthy gash and deepening bruise across her forehead, on the other hand, were not what he expected.

Gently, he pulled her closer and checked her vitals. She was still breathing, but her pulse was somewhat weak. For a moment, he debated whether to tend her wound immediately or take her straight back to the house, but decided that Marella would appreciate knowing that the Princess was still alive as soon as possible. He carefully removed his cloak and wrapped it around her, happy to carry her back out if it meant she would be safe.

He retraced his steps and the house quickly hulked into view, hazy and distant. Captain Nejem stopped for a moment, noting how much stronger the wind was in the clearing. He took a deep breath, repositioning the princess in his arms before his mad dash to the door. The moment he left the relative safety of the trees, the wind buffeted him off his intended path and startled him enough to pull Princess Kylara even closer. She groaned and whimpered slightly, shifting to push away from him.

“You will be safe, soon, Your Highness, just hold on a little longer,” he said, keeping a firm, protective hold on her.

Soon enough, he reached the front door of the house and hammered on the door until Marella opened it.

“What happened to her?” she asked once she had managed to close the door again and spot the wound on Kylara’s head. “She’s bleeding!”

“I was not witness to it,” he replied, setting the princess down in front of the fire to warm more quickly. “Would you get me a medical kit?” he asked as he slipped a pillow from the couch under Kylara’s head.

“Yeah… of course, back in a moment,” Marella said, hastily turning back to the hallway.

“Princess,” Captain Nejem said, turning her face toward himself. “Princess Kylara, you need to wake up. Come on, open your eyes; look at me.”

Marella slipped back into the room and knelt beside him. “Any change?” she asked.

“Not as such,” he sighed tiredly. “What are the chances of getting some hot water? We have to clean this wound before anything else happens.”

“I-I made some tea while you were gone. There should be some water leftover, but it’s cold now-”

He heard the panic in her voice and gently took hold of her shoulders. “Miss Landvik, I need you to listen to me very, very carefully,” he said, looking her dead in the eye. “I know that you are scared, and that you just want your friend to be safe. She really needs your help right now, and to do that, you are going to need to be very calm. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Marella replied timidly.

“Alright. Go reheat that leftover water, and bring me some clean cloths. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes,” she repeated, nodding and moving to a door the Captain had not yet seen used.

He looked up for a moment to make sure that she was gone before locating whatever healing cream Marella had brought him. I shouldn’t be doing this… he thought as his hand started to glow.

“Alright, the kettle’s on,” Marella said, returning to the living room with a stack of clean towels.

He jumped, his hand clenching into a fist as it ceased glowing.

“It shouldn’t be long,” she added.

“With a storm like this I would say that we are stuck here, for the night. Is there food here? Extra blankets?”

“Yes, we have all of that,” Marella said quietly, glancing nervously at Kylara again. “I’m not really sure if we have enough firewood inside to last us the night, but there’s another woodpile just outside the kitchen door; it’s easier to reach in this kind of weather than the one in the front.”

“Miss Landvik-”

“It’s Marella.”

“Marella, I will do everything I can to make sure that Princess Kylara makes a full recovery. She will be alright.”

“How did this happen?” she whispered, tears threatening to spill over her cheeks.

“I do not know, but I believe she was attacked. Wounds like this do not happen on accident.”

“Someone did this on purpose?”

“I think so.”

“Captain Nejem… what if she doesn’t wake up?”

“She will, I promise. Why don’t you go wait for the water to finish heating? I will alert you should her condition change,” he said, gently putting a hand on Marella’s shoulder. “I want her to live just as much as you do.”

“I still don’t know if I can trust you,” she replied so quietly that he barely caught her words.

“Why not bring the kettle to warm over this fire, then?” he said. His voice demonstrated no malice or irritation at Marella’s caution.

“Sure,” she mumbled after a moment.

Even before Marella was through the door, Captain Nejem was opening the jar of healing cream he had found before. Before he could be interrupted again, he produced a bright floating speck and coaxed it into the jar. After re-closing it, he shook the jar violently, forcing the spark to mix with the rest of the ingredients.

“It looks like the water is already warm enough to get her cleaned up,” Marella said, bringing the cast iron kettle into the living room with her.

“Good,” he sighed as the heavy kettle was set on the hearth. “With any luck, she will wake up soon.”

“Do you need anything else?” Marella asked quietly.

“No, no I do not think so. Why do you not relax a little? Perhaps sit down for a while on the sofa?” Captain Nejem said comfortingly. “I can handle this.”

“Captain Nejem… thank you,” Marella replied.

“You are very welcome,” he smiled.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4