lørdag den 28. maj 2011

Chapter 4, part 5

The carriage rolled past a few buildings and finally stopped in what seemed to be a more secluded area. It was built like a street with tall buildings on both sides, each building looking as though it could easily house several families, and a long, well kept strip of flowers, bushes and trees down the middle, paved with stones for people to walk on.

“I usually have this wing to myself when I am home. I'm afraid you will find the place rather crowded now, but there should still be plenty of options for the two of us.”

She forced a smile and nodded politely, still taking in the size of the place. She could fit every single person she knew the names of into the wing he insisted was crowded, and they would still have larger homes then they had now.

She noticed too late that the prince had started walking and hurried after him in a stumble that, she realised, probably was not very ladylike. He entered a gated guarded by uniformed men and strode through a small, pretty yard before entering the building itself, which was apparently larger than it had appeared on the outside. They were alone in a short hallway decorated with tiny tables and chandeliers, but clearly only meant for walking through. The prince went through it purposefully and began climbing the stairs that were at the end of it. Catherine had a very hard time keeping up with him, especially in her large, heavy dress.

She was relieved that they did not meet anyone before entering a room that seemed to belong to the prince himself. The furniture was designed more for comfort than beauty, and there were books and parchment rolls everywhere, along with things that seemed out of place, like pieces of armour and strange weapons, paintings of landscapes and banners.

“Do excuse the mess, Catherine. I do not let anyone enter my chambers, and I did not expect to make an exception with you,” the prince said, as he crossed the floor and started opening the drawers in his large desk.

“There is a few things we will need to take care of in private. First of all, you should carry this.”

He handed her a tiny belt with a dangerous looking knife strapped onto it. Catherine opened it and pulled it to its full length. It would not be able to go around her, let alone her clothes. The prince looked up at her from his continued search through the desk and smiled.

“It goes around your leg, my dear. Anything else would be too obvious. Here, this one can be concealed in your sleeve. If you release the hatch on the handle, the blade will spring out. Do be careful with that, it is a lot sharper than it looks.”

The second knife looked very odd, and very little like a knife, but it was indeed easily concealed inside her sleeve. When the prince looked back down she quickly held up as much of her skirt as she could manage with one hand and fastened the strap around her leg with the other.

The prince gave up his search in the desk and went to a large trunk by the window. He pulled out boxes and papers in an endless stream before finally pulling out a very pretty jewellery box. Catherine imagined the woman who would have owned something like that, then found herself confused as to why the prince would own it. It turned out to contain what very much looked like women's jewellery, which only confused her more.

“It might not be a bad idea for you to take this entire thing with you,” the prince said, looking through it. “Except it would be awful if you confused them. Please come look at these”

She stepped closer to him. The leather on his chest and arms was creaking when he moved. The box was full of pretty stones in all colours, fastened to chains of precious metals, as far as she could tell.

“The stones in this compartment all contain a small but deadly dose of poison. You should not use them unless you really do not have a choice. If anyone here is killed, it will likely start a war, so keep that in mind, please.”

Catherine went pale and nodded, biting back all her protests. She felt very sure that she would never use a single one of them, and did her best to remember what they looked like. The most prominent feature about them now seemed to be the fact that they were a lot less pretty than before. They reminded her of insects.

“These all contain a slightly magical antidote that will cancel many of the most common poisons. If you are very lucky, you will notice the poison, have the time to take the antidote, and it will work. It is not a sure thing, so be very careful where your food comes from.

“I will introduce you to the servants who work here, and you should remember their faces. If anyone else tries to serve you, feel free to refuse. I am also considering hiring a few young ladies to look after you alone, but I will have to work on that later. For now I do have one in mind who will be able to help you out.

“The stones down here are all different. You will find the descriptions attached to them, there are a few other antidotes as well, they might be useful. Look at it later and we will talk about it tomorrow.”

The prince sat down and ran his hands through his hair. He looked tired.

“This is madness,” he mumbled. He pressed his palms against his brow for a moment, then looked up at her with apathy.

“You have completely ruined what seemed to be the perfect plan. Just by showing up,” he said in a dead voice.

“I'm really sorry, sir,” she said. “Your majesty.”

“Yes, yes. You are sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. But you are also a very young little peasant who is of no use at all.” Anger crept into his voice, increasing with each word. “You are nothing but trouble and I can not even kill you! If this plan goes wrong I might even have to marry you, and my kingdom will be lost!” He roared and smashed the chair he had been seated on into the fireplace. Pieces of it caught fire right away, other parts flew back into the room. The rest lay in the flames, causing a stinking, black smoke to flow into the room.



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