Read the Room

Rose looked at the page, her hands shaking. It was a contract with both her and Prince Callum's names. Prince Callum had signed as had King Willric.

"Why would Callum agree to this? He doesn't know me at all." Rose muttered.

"Unfortunately royal marriages are often not for love. My grandparents did not meet until their wedding day." Rhodri remembered their reign from when he was a child. They were cordial--friendly even--but hardly affectionate.

His own parents had been a mixture of an arranged marriage and love match. They had been very lucky indeed. For his part, the king's elder brother had dismissed the notion of arranged marriages entirely, leaving Rhodri and the kingdom behind.

And Rhodri had never married at all. The king cleared his throat as he cleared his thoughts.

He pointed to the bottom of the page. The spaces for his and Princess's names were still blank.

"You didn't sign it," she said breathlessly. She had been so focused on what was there, that she had failed to notice what was missing.

"Of course not!" Rhodri seemed offended by the thought. "Sweet child, I would sooner see myself hanged than sign over your life like that. Willric's herald came marching in here in all his pomp, but I sent him packing just as quickly."

"Thank you." Rose stared at the paper blinking back tears. "Will your refusal cause any problems for our people?"

"You need not worry about them. That is my job," Rhodri avoided the question.

"It is my job too! Now tell me what this rejection will mean." Rose would not let her father keep her in the dark.

"If we accept, Willric will likely use the marriage to subjugate our kingdom under his own. Knowing the man, I cannot see that there is any way he is doing this as a goodwill gesture." Rhodri rubbed his face with his palm.

Being king would be much easier without a power hungry neighbor in Lakyle. Rhodri sighed.

"But if we refuse, the king can find a way to craft it as a declaration of war. The other countries will not come to our aid if they think the war is due to a lovers' squabble. I have sent word to Marek to make them aware of the issue. Hopefully they will believe the truth of the matter and warn Willric not to do anything foolish."

"And if they don't, then King Willric might declare war…" Rose was filled with a deep fear until Rhodri took her hand.

"I will not allow Willric to use you as his pawn in this game. The only reason I kept the contract at all was to buy time while we form a strategy. The herald wanted to stay while we decided, but that was never going to happen. He was obviously a spy."

Rose nodded. At least her father had not acted rashly. She still had quite a bit to learn in that regard.

"Thank you for telling me the truth." Rose wished her brother were there so she could give him the information. Somehow she believed it would be useful to him or even that he might have ways to help. "Would it be useful if I wrote to Prince Callum asking him for more time to consider?"

"I doubt the note will ever reach the prince, but Willric is sure to see it. I don't see any harm in such a message. At the very least it will force a response, which will take time. With how Lakyle has been testing our borders, I cannot help but feel this is merely a distraction." Rhodri had not shared that fear even with Borit.

Rose nodded. "That makes sense actually. If we agree, he has a foothold into the country, but even if we don't we will have spent energy on how to respond instead of focusing on other warning signs." Rose grew pensive.

"Why do I feel like there is something you are not telling me?" Rhodri looked at his daughter.

"Would I do that to you?" Rose batted her eyes at him innocently.

The king nodded. "You would. Is there another warning sign about which I should be aware?"

The princess hesitated and sighed. "Maybe."

"Because if so that would be wonderful. Perhaps I can finally convince Borit that I am not just being paranoid!" Rhodri was growing tired of the Commander always trying to make the king's worries seem unfounded.

Tensing, Rose chose her words carefully. "Why would Borit not take your concerns seriously? You are the king. Surely he gave you reasons as to why there is no reason to worry. Is he taking any precautions against Lakyle to prevent an attack?"

"In fact the errand he is on is to do just that. He asked to personally check on the vagrant issue and then do a sweep to check in on the nearest forts. I look forward to his report within the week."

A week without Borit sounded heavenly, but the princess could not help but worry that Borit had an ulterior motive for leaving. "I hope the results are satisfactory," she said at last.

Leaning forward and kissing his daughter's head, Rhodri smiled. "Now enough about all the unpleasantness. Tonight was an excellent meal. Did you not enjoy it? Minus the choking part, of course... How is your throat?"

"It still aches fully, but I will recover. As for dinner, it was quite an experience." Rose answered vaguely.

A new worry crossed the king's face. "I suppose I owe you an apology. I shall not spring Sir Ashton and Sir Ultrian on you like that again."

"I should hope not, but it is Sir Ethyn you should apologize to…" Rose could handle the things her father threw at her when it came to social situations. Ethyn had no such experience.

Rhodri rolled up the marriage contract and stowed it away back on a table. "I am glad to see your impression of Sir Samberg has improved. I do hope you aren't too angry with me for assigning him to protect you."

Although Rhodri's back was to the princess, Rose could still hear the pleasure in his voice. The hair on her arms stood on end.

"If it is your desire and it will keep an army of men from following me around, I shall suffer through it." Her eyes narrowed. When her father turned around, there was a quickly fading smile on his face. "Are you sure you want Sir Ethyn to be the one? I thought Sir Ashton was your first choice?"

Rhodri cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I do think things worked out for the best. I look forward to getting to know Sir Samberg better."

"Why do I think there is something you are not telling me?" Rose turned her father's question on himself.

"You are very suspicious, my love. Would I do such a thing?" Rhodri looked innocently at his daughter.

"You would. Do you know something about Sir Samberg that I do not?"

"Maybe," Rhodri chuckled, "But since you did not answer my question I shall not answer yours. It is probably nothing anyway. No need to worry."

For a moment Rose was worried that her father knew about Ethyn's and Silver's connection, but that would have made Rhodri suspicious and not nearly so relaxed. Whatever the king thought he knew, it was enough for him to want to get to know the young man better. And for him to place Ethyn near to Rose...The Princess's eyes opened wide.

'Wait!'

"This was your plan all along! You were aiming for Ethyn to be my personal knight before dinner even started." Rose gasped.

"Quite a theory you have there…" The king studied her face.

'I've been tricked....' Rose lamented, 'but I was also trying to trick him as well. Maybe we are related by blood after all.'

Blushing, the princess turned away. "Forgive me for the accusation. I am just tired."

"We both are. Give Sir Samberg my regards. He can have whatever room you choose." Rhodri stood, preparing to head to his own chambers.

"Oh no you don't! You select a place or he shall sleep in the hall. You will read too much into anywhere I pick."

A twinkle appeared in Rhodri's eyes at his daughter's spunk. "And what should I read into the fact that you refused my request?"

Rose snorted. "Nothing at all. Goodnight, father."

"Goodnight, my dear."