Beauty's Gift Page 2

  “You really should be grateful for it,” Mary told her, as Mary fluttered a few feet in front of her.

  “What? Why?” Rose faltered, taking a moment to glare at her small fairy friend.

  “Because,” Mary said, “now that you’ve come back, you have more power to control the outcome.”

  “For all the good it does me, dealing with my father,” Rose said, as she finally made it to the top of the princess tower.

  “From what Juana has told me, he’s been much better since you’ve come back,” Mary said, referring to her fairy cousin who tended to the queen.

  “Probably because it’s a good distraction for the kingdom,” Rose said.

  Mary giggled. “I did happen to find a couple of newsletters telling about some of your adventures,” she said. “There’s a rumor mill somewhere in town. Apparently one who wants to put you and Philip together.”

  “Great.” Rose shook her head. “Isra will love that.”

  “Your sister will be fine,” Mary said. “She was really grateful that you let her stay in Einish with the rest of our friends.”

  “Sophia and Ethan, along with Ronan and Fiona, are more than capable of keeping tabs on her,” Rose said. “I appreciate you coming with me, even though it was an early morning ride. I know how much you barely tolerate them.”

  “I have never felt comfortable leaving you alone,” Mary admitted quietly. “And after Theo left, I knew I would have to watch you.”

  Rose leaned down against a nearby windowsill. A long moment of silence passed between them, and Rose spent most of it hoping Mary would not press the issue, especially since Rose had been unable to admit to anyone else the real reason Theo left.

  She knew that did not mean that the others did not suspect something.

  In the days following their return to Rhone, Mary had asked several uncomfortable questions, and Rose had carefully answered each of them to avoid suspicion.

  “Rose?” Mary asked.

  No such luck. Rose grimaced. “What is it?”

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

  Rose bristled. “You know what’s bothering me,” she said. “I’ve complained about my father and the kingdom’s politics plenty, haven’t I?”

  “As detestable as I know you find them, I doubt politics would make you act the way you’ve been acting since we left Einish,” Mary said. “You barely eat. You have trouble sleeping. You’ve been training when you’re not otherwise occupied with something, but I’ve watched you enough to know you’re distracted.”

  “There’s still the matter of Magdalina’s curse,” Rose said. “We don’t have much longer, Mary. My birthday is less than two months away.”

  “I know that’s not what is bothering you,” Mary said. “Something has changed.”

  “What do you mean?” Rose asked. “I’m still the same person.”

  “Something happened, didn’t it?” Mary asked. “Between you and Theo.”

  Rose felt her face flush over. She looked away. “No,” she lied.

  “Rose.” The admonishment in Mary’s voice was soft, but Rose suddenly felt terrified.

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Mary.” She measured her words out carefully, keeping her tone light. “I told you, he had to go and take care of something for his grandfather. It was important.”

  “It was more than that.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Obviously, it does, or you wouldn’t be acting like this.” Mary came up beside her. “He told you that he loved you, didn’t he?”

  The blush on her cheeks burned hotter. “Please stop, Mary,” she said. “Isn’t it bad enough that he said it?”

  “But Rose, you love him, too.” Mary arched her brow at Rose’s silence. “Don’t you?”

  “Of course I do,” Rose snapped. “But he doesn’t deserve to be stuck with me and my curse. That’s why it’s better that he left.”

  “Oh, Rose.” Mary came up and leaned against her, stroking her hair in a motherly manner. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Rose tightened her grip on the windowsill as she repeated the same lie she had been telling herself. “It’s better that he left.”

  “But you’re not happy.” Mary shook her head. “Don’t pretend that you’re fine when you aren’t. I know you miss him.”

  Rose shrugged.

  Mary suddenly narrowed her eyes. “Oh, Rose. Don’t tell me he told you he was in love with you, and then you sent him away?”

  “He decided to leave of his own accord,” Rose insisted, blushing once more.

  “He told you he loved you and then he was going to leave you?” Mary frowned. “That doesn’t seem like Theo.”

  “He does have to take care of his family, from what Thad told me. He told me he was going to leave, and I ... I just didn’t stop him.”

  “Rose.” The disappointment in her voice was clear.

  “What, Mary? What else would you have me do?” Rose asked. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “I would have rather you told him you loved him, too.”

  “What about his family? His own plans for his life?”

  “You could have gone with him.”

  “And then what of my own family?” Rose asked. “I’ve been eager to get back here for so long, so I could help my mother.”

  “It doesn’t seem like you’ve been able to do anything about that anyway,” Mary pointed out. “Your mother is still being tended to in the dungeons, and the king is unwilling to move up her trial.”

  “Which keeps getting further moved back,” Rose admitted bitterly.

  “And your plans for attacking Darkwood have also been delayed,” Mary said. “I know we’re waiting to hear from King Derick.”

  “He said he would send aid,” Rose said, briefly wondering if her gyrfalcon, Virtue, was close to returning to Havilah. He would have the latest letter from Philip’s older brother, the King of Einish and Crystal Lake.

  “Your birthday is still weeks away,” Mary said.

  “It’s getting closer every day,” Rose said. “That’s why I want to go and attack Darkwood soon.”

  “You know that there are plenty of things that we need to plan for with that.”

  “I know, and I have done everything I can think of to do for it. I need Philip here to plan more,” Rose admitted. “He’ll be more familiar with his country’s soldiers than I am.”

  “So what would have really prevented you from going off with Theo to help him take care of his family’s business?”

  Rose frowned. Mary had managed to set her trap well, she realized. She tried to shrug it off. “I told you, I didn’t know what else to do,” she said. “And I’m not about to go after him. Not after I hurt him like that.”

  Mary sighed. “You’re only hurting yourself in the meantime.”

  “It’s better this way,” Rose insisted.

  “Rose, come on. That’s terrible to say,” Mary said. “You want to be the queen one day, right? What of mercy?”

  “I hurt him, Mary.” Rose gave up and looked at her. “I hurt him. He kissed me and told me he was in love with me, and I told him I didn’t want to love him, that I didn’t want him around.”

  “He kissed you?”

  “Yes.” The heat of his kiss washed through her again, as Rose looked down at her hands, where the rosary beads of her bracelet glittered.

  She thought of another time, when they had fallen asleep just outside the inn on Maltia. He had been telling her the stories of the different beads when she had fallen asleep, allowing herself to drift off to the sound of his voice. Rose thought about how he looked in the moonlight, remembering every twinkle in his eye, every line on his suntanned face, the shy stubble on his cheeks.

  Rose looked down at her hands, no longer wondering which finger would betray her to sleeping death, instead recalling the feeling of his hands in hers as he held her close to him.

  Before her mind could wonder further, Ma
ry sighed, breaking her concentration. “I have to admit,” Mary murmured, “I thought you were lovesick. I didn’t realize you were heartbroken.”

  “I didn’t want you to know,” Rose replied wearily, as she once more turned her attention out to the far-off distance. From her vantage point, she could see far out into the mountains and forests of Rhone. She glanced down toward the town, looking down at the road that led to the castle, wondering if Theo would come back soon. She shook her head, trying to brush aside that hope.

  “It’s better this way,” she repeated, more to herself than to Mary. “He’s probably doing much better without me there.”

  *3*

  ҉

  THE VILLAGE NEAR THE border between Aragon and Rhone was just up ahead. Despite the sun sinking down below the horizon, Theo could see the small outlines of houses and shops set around in blocks, all making up the bustling town.

  “Look, Bachas,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the small pixie who lounged on the back of their horse. “We’re here.”

  The small town of Urra was at the western edge of Rhone, close to the Aragonian border. It was the rumored home of his aunt, Annalora, who he was tasked with bringing home to his grandfather. Looking around, Theo was relieved to see that it would likely be easy to locate her. While the village was surrounded by farming land and tournament grounds, he could see the edge of another forest in the distance.

  “It took us long enough,” Bachas grumbled.

  “You should have known it would take this long,” Theo replied. “After all, you’re the one with the seeing crystal, not me.”

  Bachas grunted and began muttering under his breath, while Theo allowed himself to smile. Over the past weeks of riding, he had gotten to know the small pixie well enough to know he had very little sense of humor, unless he was the one who was making the joke—or, Theo thought with a grimace, he was watching someone else get hurt.

  He often let it go. He knew Bachas had his own pain. A human had tricked him into a life debt, separating him from his wife for many years and forcing him to work his magic in the Magdust trade. Bachas’ master died after attacking Theo and his company in the Wandering Caverns, while Bachas had not escaped without getting hurt. Theo knew it was because of how he and the others had helped nurse him back together that Bachas was with him at all.

  Well, that and my aunt is the one who has his wife, Theo added silently. For all Bachas was less than pleasant company, it was nice to have some company on the road.

  Traveling with Rose and her small troupe of guards, in addition to Mary, Sophia, Ethan, and Philip, Theo had gotten used to having other people to look after, and people who would help look after him. It had been a long time since he had to worry only about himself.

  Theo grimaced. It had not taken long to realize he did not like himself as much without his friends. He only thought of finding Annalora, taking his revenge upon Everon, and wondering what to do about Rose. Between the frustration with his family, the delay in his revenge, and the unrequited longing in his heart, he was beginning to wonder how he managed to think of himself so well for so long.

  It was probably Rose’s fault, he thought. When he was with her, he could see plenty of beauty in the world, and that allowed him to overlook the ugliness inside of him more easily.

  Thinking of Rose was still painful, he realized grimly. He shoved at his inner turmoil, trying, as he had the last several days, to forget about her.

  But there was no forgetting the fire in her fighting, the comfort in her calm, and the strength in her spirit. There was no hope for him, as he tried to remove all thought of the light in her eyes, the softness of her sunshine-colored hair, and the purity of her voice in those moments when she had wept and sung to him.

  There was no forgetting the taste of her lips under his.

  Theo groaned. I might as well tell myself to stop breathing or for time to stop moving forward.

  He knew he was not fooling himself; he knew it was still more painful not to think of her than it was to think of her and miss her.

  “Come on. Move it,” Bachas snapped. “We’re getting closer to Elva. I want to see her.”

  “I know,” Theo said impatiently.

  “I don’t know why you’re moving so slowly, now. The sooner we’re done getting your aunt, the sooner you can see your princess again.”

  Theo hastily tied his horse’s bridle to a nearby tree. “Maybe I’m just trying to get used to the ground again. You do realize that riding on a horse for nearly two weeks is uncomfortable, don’t you?”

  “Can’t be any easier for the horse.”

  “It’s certainly easier for the pixie riding behind the saddle.”

  “Hardly.” Bachas rolled his eyes as he peeked through a pack of bushes. “Come on, let’s go. Urra’s night life is starting to come out from the fields.”

  “Not yet,” Theo said. “We need to be careful.”

  “Why?” Bachas asked. “You do know I can use magic, right?”

  “I’m used to that,” Theo replied. “Remember? I traveled with a fairy before.”

  “You didn’t like me using my seeing crystal. And you really didn’t like me using magic to get information out of those other people from the last town.”

  “That’s because you were hurting them,” Theo retorted. “You didn’t need to hurt them just because they threatened us.”

  “They don’t remember anything,” Bachas said, a malicious glint in his eyes. “I made sure they didn’t.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better.”

  “Having my wife in a life debt with a whole country between us doesn’t make me feel any better,” Bachas reminded him.

  “We’ll get her when we find my aunt.” Theo studied the town further down the road.

  “That doesn’t make me feel any better, either,” Bachas muttered.

  Theo silently agreed. From what his grandfather had told him, his aunt, Annalora, was heavily involved with the Magdust trade. It was likely she was using Elva’s pixie magic to spin Magdust in her specially woven tapestries.

  “Why are we over here on the other side of town?” Bachas asked. “That solider at the inn last night said she lived on the far end of town.”

  “I don’t want her to find our horse,” Theo reminded him. “You might be able to use magic to get yourself into different places—”

  “And different realms,” Bachas said with pride.

  “But I do not have that skill,” Theo said tartly, irritated at his interruption. “Nor does Thunder here.”

  “I don’t know why you insisted on naming the horse that,” Bachas grumbled. “It’s silly.”

  Theo was getting annoyed with Bachas’ interruptions, but he had to admit, he was genuinely curious. “Why is it silly?”

  “The horse told me his name is Charlie.”

  “Fine. I’ll call him Charlie then. Either way, I don’t want my aunt to find him and hurt him or anything.”

  “I suppose that’s fair.”

  “I thought pixies were supposed to like nature and animals,” Theo grumbled, disturbed at Bachas’ apathy.

  “And I thought humans were all about asserting their power over others.” Bachas gave him a sour look. “We all have to realize there are exceptions, don’t we?”

  Theo sighed. “Never mind. I guess it will be dark enough to give us extra cover by the time we make it to the other side of town.”

  “Great.” Bachas rolled his eyes again.

  “I’d think you would like to walk through the woods,” Theo said, gesturing at all the trees around them. “Unless your leg is still bothering you some?”

  “My leg is fine, along with the rest of me. I don’t see why we can’t just use magic to get there.”

  “We need to be careful,” Theo said. “I don’t know what kind of magic Annalora has in place, and I don’t know if your magic would alert her to our presence at all. It’s best to be careful about things like that.”

  “Elva woul
d never turn me in.”

  “I thought it was part of the life-debt that she has to protect her mistress?”

  “What harm would her mistress expect from me?” Bachas asked, giving Theo as innocent of an expression as possible.

  “What harm indeed?” Theo shook his head.

  The two of them walked through the forest and headed toward the small town.

  “There sure are a lot of Aragonian soldiers here,” Bachas grumbled, as he crawled up onto Theo’s shoulder.

  “Worried?” Theo asked, grunting as Bachas’ legs dug into his back. “I’m trained as a knight.”

  “Trained as a priest, too, but I’m not saying my prayers.”

  “You are about to go into battle, not church. Doesn’t that make you feel somewhat better?”

  “Given your skill levels? No.”

  Theo frowned. “I grew up in the church, and I’ve been studying for years to be a knight.”

  “So?” Bachas stuck his tongue out at him. “You’re not really either one or the other, are you?”

  Anger rushed through him. Theo knew that Bachas had a point, but it was a sore one with him. “Never mind,” he said. “I don’t see why you’re so worried. I know my aunt is likely to be a problem, but you’re the one who insisted I would be able to handle her because we’re related.”

  As Bachas grumbled to himself again, Theo thought about that night in Einish, when his grandfather and brother had come to talk with him. Hearing that Annalora, his aunt, was still alive and part of the Magdust trade, he was more than ready to confront her.

  Especially, Theo thought, after he realized her tapestries were affecting the lives of his friends as much as his grandfather’s conscience.

  “Maybe I’m worried because there’s a general over there,” Bachas said, “and he seems to be preparing them for battle.”

  “What are you talking about?” Theo asked, before he saw the growing circle of soldiers near the town center. He watched as a solider on horseback called out to the crowd before him, calling for order while others called out questions.

  As they came closer, Theo was able to listen to part of the general’s answer.

  “We have our orders,” the general called. “We are to wait here until the witch is ready. And then we will march!”