In the Name of the King (AU/CC/Mature) 7/19/12 COMPLETE

[Cardinal]

Chapter 31

Dressed to the Nines

The days had been getting noticeably cooler and shorter, but the leaves on the trees were still green as the entire household helped prepare the three Parker ladies for their debut in Krakovian high society. Not only did Maria and Tess need expensive dresses, too, but Michael and Max needed fancy clothes of their own.

To help keep up Max’s disguise, even though he was risking his identity by going out in public, he and Michael had decided to explain their military prowess by having them both wear the full-dress uniforms of officers in the army of the Duke of Borussia. Technically, Max is in that army, as its commander-in-chief, but for the dance he would claim a much lower rank. With Michael being more than ten years older, he would need to claim a somewhat higher rank, which would be perfectly legal because Max could give a position in his army to anyone he wanted.

On the last day before the ball, Lord Parker had had his servants pull his best carriage out and clean it from top to bottom, right down to the horses’ tack. Lastly, Max had given his and Michael’s boots the gleam of oil on steel with a pair of quick molecular rearrangements.

Finally, it was time.

Elizabeth had to be ready early because Prince Kyle had to pick her up and have them back to the palace before the first guests arrived, so he could be there in the reception line with his family.

The maids started on Elizabeth by spending a couple of hours working on her hair after lunch. It went from long and straight, to being swept up to the top of the back of her head, and then allowed to tumble down her back in a combination of heavy curls and ringlets. Next up for her was a lavender-scented bath. The maids scrubbed every inch of her flesh to a rosy pink before drying her and then getting her into her underclothes.

Wanting to be able to fit into her corset, she had eaten very little at lunch, and she knew she’d be ravenously hungry by the time the banquet portion of the evening’s festivities began. Even with her slender figure and not having eaten much, Elizabeth still had to suffer a bit as the maids laced her corset up the back. Her figure meant she didn’t require many whalebone stays in her corset, but the garment still restricted her breathing and movements quite seriously. Once her dress was pulled over her head and into place on top of several layers of underskirts, all that was left were her cosmetics. The maids went the full nine yards for this occasion, even using belladonna to dilate her pupils and make her eyes look larger and brighter.

Once ready, Elizabeth stayed upstairs until Kyle arrived in a massive gilded coach which was pulled by eight horses. Tess and Maria swallowed hard when they saw that coach sitting in front of the manor, as they’d never seen something so grand. Or maybe they were just looking at the grim-looking set of guards that accompanied it.

As Kyle entered the marble-floored entryway, Max walked up to keep him company as they waited for Elizabeth to make her grand entrance down the main staircase that ended right before their feet. Lord Parker had planned on joining them, but a last minute letter was keeping him in the library.

“Just another ball, eh, Kyle?” Max asked. His question was rhetorical, and both men knew it. While the girls were in for the biggest night of their lives, this was just another in a long line of social engagements for the two princes.

“So are you really going to try and get your parents to accept Lady Elizabeth as your bride?”

Max slowly nodded his head. “I am determined.”

“Good luck.” Kyle remembered the Evanses from his time in Alemannia, and he wasn’t especially fond of either one. “You are going to need it.”

Just then, Elizabeth made her appearance and all conversation between the men stopped as they watched her seem to float along the railing one floor above them. When she turned to start down the upper stairway and her entire outfit came into view, the two princes both uttered quiet murmurs of admiration. Wearing the most expensive dress she had ever owned, Elizabeth was moving much slower than usual, in an attempt at not falling and ruining such a creation.

“You are a lucky man,” Max breathed.

“That I am,” Kyle agreed, without moving his eyes from Elizabeth. “For one night anyway. Which of the other sisters are you escorting?”

“Lady Tess, the younger one. Michael is taking Lady Maria.”

“Ah yes…the fabled Black Knight. I am going to get to meet him, correct?”

“Besides the normal warm introduction in the reception line?” Kyle rolled his eyes, as both men knew that in the reception line you were doing good just to hear the name of the next couple coming in. Forget trying to really meet someone. “I will make sure of it. Remind me if I do not.”

Elizabeth kept her eyes on where she was walking to keep from falling, but when the stairway made a ninety degree turn to face the men who were waiting for her, she saw the twin, open-mouthed stares of two men who were unabashed in their appreciation of the female form…or at least, of her female form.

That caused an apprehensive Elizabeth to smile widely, and her smile pushed Max to say, “Remember. Touch her in a disrespectful way, and there will not be any place you can hide from me.”

Kyle’s mouth was bone dry, though whether from Elizabeth’s beauty or Max’s pleasant-sounding death threat, he wasn’t sure. “I will remember.”

Kyle was dressed in the red, silver, and black full-dress uniform of his father’s elite troops, the Household Guard. A short, stiff red collar edged in black with silver scrollwork climbed halfway up his neck, and there was silver braid running across his chest in parallel lines from button to button on the double-breasted coat. Cinching his coat at the waist was a black leather sword belt from which a scabbarded long sword depended. The cuffs and hem of the coat were also edged in black, which matched the color of his knee breeches and knee-high glossy black boots.

But as handsome as he looked, Elizabeth stole the show. Her dress was blue velvet, again with the currently in fashion deep, square neckline and puffed shoulders. As Max had predicted. Lord Parker had insisted on some of the baubles for the dress, the result of which was that the deep blue of her velvet was set off by the occasional sparkle from one of her diamond chips. Even she had to admit the combination of the two had an utterly eye-catching effect

Though her dress didn’t have sleeves, Elizabeth wore a pair of long white gloves that closely fit her arms and didn’t come to an end until they were midway between her elbows and shoulders. The dress’ waistline was just below her breasts, and the rest of the dress was allowed to drape itself naturally over her figure.

Between the glorious dress, her glossy, bouncing chocolate curls, and the enhanced beauty of her face and figure, Elizabeth was ready to be the belle of the ball, just as Max had hoped.

Both men bowed to her as she reached the floor, and were answered by her curtsey. Max knew it was time for him to bow out and let Kyle and Elizabeth get on with things, but as he rose from his bow, he stepped forward and said, “You look…magnificent. Spectacularly gorgeous.” He started to lean in as if to give her a kiss, but then looked back at Kyle who was, after all, her date.

“Go on, M…Zan,” Kyle said, as he caught himself just in time, “go on with it so Lady Elizabeth and I can leave.”

Max’s eyes just about leapt from his head when Kyle almost slipped up, but then he turned back to Elizabeth and just lightly brushed is lips against her cheek as he tried to avoid mussing her makeup. “I will see you at the ball, Milady. Maybe I will manage to steal you from him long enough for a dance or two tonight.”

“Maybe…but since you will not let me know what you are going to be wearing,” Elizabeth pouted, “how will I know who you are? There will be so many men there to sort through.”

Max leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Just look for the guy who loves you like no other. Some say it is in the kiss, but it is really not. With me, my eyes will let you know long before I touch you.”

As he stepped back from Elizabeth, Kyle said, quite amiably, “You two are the real thing, correct?”

“Oh yes, Your Highness,” Elizabeth said. “I could not possibly imagine anything better.”

As the doorman opened the door and Kyle led Elizabeth to the massive gilded coach, Max could just hear Kyle say, “Please, Lady Elizabeth, call me Kyle. It will look strange if we are together tonight and yet not on a first name basis.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth replied, “then by all means, please call me Elizabeth.”

Max stood in the entryway, watching through the a small side window as Kyle handed her up into the coach and then followed her inside. Not having been around a palace and its accoutrements for roughly three months now, Max wondered silently if the coaches his family used at their summer and winter palaces looked as overly extravagant as that. He searched his memory and concluded they might actually be worse.

He then raced for his rooms to begin his preparations. By now, Michael was done with his bath, and the servants were setting up the tub with fresh wash water in his room. The whole time he was being washed Max smiled, as he tried to imagine Michael submitting himself to the indignities of having servants wash you…everywhere.

Max did manage to wrestle his clothes away from the servants, however, as he wanted some time to himself to think. It was plain Kyle knew Elizabeth was off limits. Remembering what she had said about Tess, he wondered what he could do to let her know he was off limits, too. As he pulled on his military uniform, he looked down at the jacket and smiled. It was the uniform of an officer in his own army in Borussia, just like the ones in one of his closets back home, only much less ornate.

It was a green uniform coat, but that was where the similarities stopped. Instead of gold brocade twisting up his arms from his wrist to above his elbow, he had limited the tailor to a one-inch band on each cuff.

Instead of a mass of gold brocade that nearly covered his chest, the tailor had once again been held to a one-inch border along the hem, and then up the center where the two halves of the coat overlapped. And where the two halves pulled back and the wide coat lapels became evident, the lapels would normally be solid gold in color for him, but not for a simple lieutenant, so his were solid green with a thin rim of gold piping around the edges.

Like Kyle’s coat, Max’s had a short, stiff collar, but it was solid green with more gold piping and a lieutenant’s rank insignia embroidered inside in gold. On top of the shoulders were two gold-edged green shoulder boards with more golden rank insignias embroidered in the middle.

And finally, to show that he was a staff officer for the Duke of Borussia, which at his rank meant he was a gofer but one with a future ahead of him, Max had two loops of gold braid attached to his right shoulder in front, passing under his shoulder, and attached to his right shoulder in back. The uniform pants were white knee breeches and the molecularly altered boots were now a glossy black.

Michael wore the same uniform, except he had a higher rank. Max figured Michael’s greater age required a minimum rank of major, so his coat had three inches of gold brocade wherever Max’s had one and his lapels, collar, and shoulder boards had a little more gold than just a rim of piping. The only things exactly alike were the two loops of gold braid around the right shoulder.

“You know, Max, I am a knight, but my last official military rank was a captaincy in the Royal Mountaineers.”

“Well, my friend, welcome to the world of noble privilege. I can make you any rank I want in my own army, and I figure you are too old to support a captain’s rank, so that’s why you have a major’s insignia on your collar and shoulder boards.”

“When do I start getting paid what I am most obviously worth?” Michael teased.

“As soon as my treasurer back home tells me how much a major makes these days.” Max cracked another smile. “You are going to have a lot of back pay coming once we get home…unless you give me some lip and I bust you down to private.”

Just before the two men left their quarters to wait in the entryway for Maria and Tess, they strapped on their sword belts, which were white, the traditional color for a knight, and hung their scabbarded swords from them.

Max looked down at Michael’s elaborate Cipangan sword. He knew the blade was slightly curved with a single, razor-sharp edge, and he could see the hilt was wrapped with carefully knotted cords, but he couldn’t remember seeing Michael wear it since they’d come here to Krakovia.

When Max commented on that, Michael half smiled and replied, “Oh, I wore it once.”

“When?”

“Back when you scared the shit out of me and got yourself attacked on the road.” Michael felt his heart race just reliving that moment. “I knew it was a life or death situation when your guards left the instant the uninjured guard came back to raise the alarm.”

“You know,” Max replied, “I still do not feel anything for having killed those men. I keep thinking I ought to feel guilty or something, but I do not. Maybe it is because they either wanted to kill me or do something bad to Elizabeth, but it bothers me that I’m not more upset about killing that many men.”

Michael stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to face Max. “The fact that you’ve taken the time to stop and think about whether or not your actions were appropriate means you’ll be okay. Believe it or not, there are times when the wholesale slaughter of your enemies is the only course of action available to you.”

Max thought back to a few of the stories of the Black Knight he’d heard over the years. “So…what happened in the Rouchka Pass was…necessary?”

Michael grunted and restarted his way down the hall. “Zan, you don’t even know what really happened that day. Don’t make the mistake of judging me based on hearsay evidence.”

Once they reached the entryway, the two men took seats on a small bench that sat just inside the door. Being men, they were used to waiting for women who were intent on looking their best. Neither man was dumb enough to complain, especially given the results. The two sisters came out together, but they came down the stairway separately, with Maria coming down first.

The dressmakers apparently knew what Elizabeth didn’t, since the dresses the two girls wore both complimented the uniforms of their escorts very nicely. Maria wore a dress that was a warm brown in color and had a healthy dose golden embroidery along her neckline that paired nicely with Michael’s forest green coat. Maria marched down the stairs with loads of confidence, just daring either man to find her less than attractive. Both men had stood the moment the ladies appeared, with Max looking briefly at Maria to see how she was before turning his gaze to Michael to see his friend’s reaction.

Michael seemed to be entranced. Better you than me, Max thought, before wondering just how long it had been for Michael to have shown any kind of romantic interest. In any case, his problem with Maria is the exact opposite of my problem with Elizabeth. I have too much rank for Elizabeth, while he doesn’t have enough for Maria.

Tess was next to come down the stairs, and while Maria’s brown had gone together with Michael’s green to make an earthy combination, Tess’ dress color went for complimentary. Purple and yellow are complimentary, as are orange and blue, and green and red. Since Max’s coat was darker, a forest green, her dress was a lighter shade of red that was not quite pink.

Max had to admit to himself Tess was almost as lovely as Elizabeth, but she could’ve been more lovely than Elizabeth and it wouldn’t have mattered, since nothing about Tess caused him to feel that essential spark. He knew he needed to make sure she knew he was taken, but one look at her big, hopeful smile stopped any thoughts he might have had about raining on her parade now. It was her first big event; he couldn’t possibly be cruel enough to crush her feelings. He’d just have to be careful to not encourage her during the evening and then let her know later he was with Elizabeth.

As the men complimented their ladies on their appearance, linked arms with them, and led them out to Lord Parker’s carriage, both men checked their pockets to make sure they had their invitations on them, as they were positive they’d never get in the front door without them.

[Cardinal]

Chapter 32

The Harvest Ball

Kyle’s massive coach came to a stop at a private family entrance to the palace because it was much closer to where they were going. Elizabeth felt like she was in a dream of some sort as she was helped down from the coach by one of the footmen who had been standing on the back of the coach. She realized what kind of social circle she was moving into when she noticed the servants around her had on finer attire than many of the guests who had attended one of the smaller balls her father hosted back home.

After Kyle followed Elizabeth out of the coach, he offered her his arm and led her inside. Finding they had plenty of time before he had to be in the reception line, Kyle gave Elizabeth a quick tour of the public areas of the palace. She was in awe of the paintings, tapestries, and statuary that seemed to be strewn around the hallways like mere afterthoughts, things she was sure were just part of the everyday scenery to him.

When it was finally time for Kyle to make an appearance, he and Elizabeth headed for what he referred to as the reception room. She was picturing a cozy small-to-moderate-sized room, like back home in Roswell Castle, where her family greeted their guests.

Not so here.

Elizabeth was led into a large room with a high, coffered ceiling and a marble floor. As their feet clicked across the floor, she recognized a few of the people on the far side of the room from her previous visit, but ever the proper host, Kyle started telling her who the rest of them were before they got close enough for formal introductions.

“Of course you remember my parents, James and Sophia, and my sister Serena from the other day, but the rest of the people you see here are family members…cousins of one sort or another mostly. Father decided they were close enough relations to not be made to wait in line with everyone else.”

Elizabeth secretly marveled at knowing someone who could so blithely toss off the names of such powerful people without even worrying about using their titles. She had to remember it wasn’t just James, Sophia, and Serena, but Grand Duke James, Grand Duchess Sophia, and Princess Serena. Can’t go around insulting people. Definitely not the way to represent the House of Parker.

The grand duke saw his son and Elizabeth just before they reached his side. As he and his family turned to greet them, they saw her curtsey low and hold it, while his son bowed from the waist at a forty-five degree angle.

“Please rise,” James said.

As they did, Kyle made to introduce the new and non-mourning Lady Elizabeth. “Father, Mother, Serena, I take great pride in introducing my companion for the evening. You all saw her in the throne room a few weeks ago, but now is the time for you to meet the real Lady Elizabeth Parker.

“Elizabeth, this is my father, Grand Duke James, my mother, Grand Duchess Sophia, and my sister, Princess Serena.”

“That’s Crown Princess Serena to you, Kyle,” Serena said with an affectionate smile. She looked at Elizabeth, and said, “He just does not like to be reminded that I am the heir.” Serena looked Elizabeth over, and said, “You really are beautiful. Combining your beauty with that stunning dress will make Kyle have to fight off half the men in the palace just so he can dance with you.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. You are too kind,” Elizabeth said, blushing furiously at the compliment.

“No, I am not, just ask Kyle.” Kyle nodded in support of what his sister said. “I do not believe in sucking up to people because it is a form of lying. Luckily, I am in a position where I do not have to do too many things I do not wish to do.”

James looked at his daughter in a manner that told her her time for speaking was over. “I just wanted to say how much brighter and more beautiful you are today, Lady Elizabeth. And considering how I thought you looked in your rather severe black outfit, that is saying quite a lot.”

“You really are lovely, my dear,” Grand Duchess Sophia said. Her voice was quiet but clear, as if she knew any time she chose to speak, people would be straining to hear every word. The grand duchess had an elegance about her that Elizabeth admired and very much wished she could emulate. There’s a woman who will catch the eye of everyone in the room without having to wear a bejeweled dress, she thought, and she has such a commanding presence.

“Thank you, Your Majesties,” Elizabeth said, before Kyle took her to be introduced to his cousins. He knew she’d need someone familiar to stay with until he was finished with the reception line, or until her sisters and their escorts found her.

The reception line was well-formed and already moving into the reception room by the time the Parker carriage, with its team of four horses and a heavily armed escort, approached the palace.

The carriage traveled up to the palace grounds, with the encroaching darkness held off by large torches spaced intermittently along the sides of the winding cobblestone road. The straight, wide avenue through the palace’s parkland was similarly lit, with the torches turning benign trees into craggy monsters.

They finally reached Slonce Palace and waited in line for half a dozen other carriages and coaches to disgorge their elegantly attired passengers, before it was time for Maria, Tess, Michael, and Max to alight from their carriage.

More torches lit the perimeter of the palace, making the broad steps of the formal entrance bright enough for foot traffic. Michael offered his arm to Maria, and the two began to ascend the steps. Max and Tess stood still for a second, watching their elders go.

He half turned to her, and asked, “Do you think…?”

“My sister and your mentor?” Tess cocked her head to one side and considered the notion. “Maybe. But not unless he becomes a man of substance.” Then she eyed Max out of the corner of her eye. “Or unless Elizabeth or I contract a marriage first.”

“It could happen.” Max allowed, as he offered her his arm. She took it and they ascended the steps, just as the next carriage rolled up behind them.

Both men showed their invitations at the door, and each couple was admitted as if they were long time friends of the ruling Valenti family. To the servants, the only thing that mattered was that sheet of paper. Michael had felt like some kind of fraud while climbing the steps, and had half expected, even until the last second, to be booted out of the ball as an interloper.

Michael and Maria waited just inside the main doors for Max and Tess. When the younger pair came in, Michael noted how at home Max looked. He knew the prince had never been here in his life before this moment, and yet there were no nerves apparent as he looked over the entrance way. Of course, Michael thought, I have to remember I met him in a palace much larger than this one, and that was the place he called home.

Maria looked at her little sister. She saw how Tess’ eyes were moving from side to side, trying to drink in all the sights of her first night out. Elizabeth and I have always known she would shine once given the chance, Maria thought. Then, eyeing the way her sister looked up at Max and tightened her hold on his arm, she began to hope Tess didn’t have designs on him, because it had been increasingly clear over the past few days just how close Max and Elizabeth were becoming. And in any case, Maria added, we still don’t know if he’s marriage material or not.

The two couples walked down the hallway, following the lights and sounds to locate the reception room. What they found was a lengthy line of waiting guests which was slowly disappearing into a room on the left side of the wide hallway, halfway to the next corner.

“Looks like someone inside is in a hurry,” Max said.

“How can you tell?” Michael asked. “It looks like this line couldn’t move any slower.”

Both women agreed with Max, but stayed silent. “I have been in a number of these lines before, Michael, and it’s obvious the grand duke is not allowing people to stop and chat as he greets them. That sets the tone for the rest of his family, resulting in a decently fast line.”

“Huh.” If this is a quick moving line, Michael thought, may I never get stuck in a slow moving line at one of these things. I’d lose my mind.

It turned out that the line ended at the door. Immediately inside was a man whose job it was to collect the invitations, a last security provision against someone sneaking in. The next man asked the names of both people in the couple and then loudly and clearly announced them to the grand duke and his family, once the previous couple had cleared the line.

“Sir Michael Guerin and Lady Maria Parker!” The man had a voice made for this job. It made Michael feel somewhat more important just to be announced that way, as if he really belonged here. Having seen the couple before them, Michael knew to let Maria go first, which is what he would have done anyway, but it was nice to be sure.

Maria wasn’t too comfortable and relied on her long-ago social training to see her through. When Michael made it to the grand duke, the older man stopped him and asked, “Sir Michael Guerin. Why do I know that name?”

Michael wasn’t sure if he was supposed to answer, but was saved from having to guess when an aide stepped up and whispered into the grand duke’s ear.

“Oh yes. You are the young knight who single-handedly cut down an entire gang of smugglers in the mountains all those years ago.” The grand duke looked Michael over again. “Not so young now, though. And that sword at your side…I have not seen a Cipangan sword in more years than I would care to count.”

“I’d offer to show it to you, Your Grace,” Michael eyed the lethal-looking guards standing behind the grand duke, “but I suspect your men wouldn’t like that.”

“I suppose you’re right. Move along now.”

Michael continued on. The grand duchess greeted him with as much warmth as if he was a particularly bland piece of furniture. Serena enjoyed his obvious rugged good looks, and Kyle looked at him admiringly, hoping to speak with him in depth later.

Next up were Tess and Max. She floated down the line, handling her introductions with aplomb. Max was right behind her.

“Sir Zan. Another Alemanni knight.” Curious, the grand duke just had to ask. “What did you do to earn an invitation? Sir Michael is at least someone of whom I have heard.”

“I did nothing, Your Grace, except become friends with your son during his year in Alemannia.”

“Ah. Good.”

Max took that as a dismissal and moved down the line. While he was being greeted by the duchess mother, Serena got her first good look at him and felt her eyes just about bug out of her head. Whoever this knight was, he was more gorgeous than anything out of her best dreams. She’d heard him say he was Kyle’s friend, and that meant she was definitely going to get a more personal introduction later, if she had to twist Kyle’s ear to do it.

Serena flashed her most brilliant smile at the handsome knight and put as much warmth into her greeting as she could. She wasn’t sure how he was reacting until he caught sight of her cleavage. She saw his eyes open wide then, and was beginning to think he was just like any other male, when he said, “That is a rather remarkable necklace, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, Sir Zan,” Serena said as she looked down at her necklace and fiddled with it. The move made the emeralds glitter in the light, throwing little green sparks everywhere. Moving the necklace around also had the intended side effect of getting Max to look back down at her décolletage and the creamy expanse of skin just above it. “The necklace was a gift from an admirer. A little bit extravagant maybe, but much appreciated nonetheless.”

Max suddenly felt a knot form in his stomach as he realized it was very possible for him to be forced to marry this woman for the sake of the kingdom, no matter what he wanted. Wanting to get their relationship off on the right foot, just in case, he tried to force some warmth into his voice, as he said, “It is beautiful, Your Highness, but not nearly as beautiful as you.”

And Max readily admitted she was beautiful. With her looks, she was beautiful enough for most any man. Well, any man that hadn’t already fallen in love with Elizabeth Parker. After her, all other women just faded into the background.

Serena smiled widely and Max moved on to Kyle, who this time was careful to use the correct name. “Hi, Zan.”

Max grinned, and Kyle beamed after getting it right. “Hi, yourself, Kyle.” He looked around theatrically, and then added, “Nice place you have here.”

“Thanks.” Kyle almost responded by saying it was nice but nothing like Max’s residences back in Alemannia, but then he realized that would be as dangerous as calling him Max.

Once Max was done with Kyle, he reconnected with Tess and asked her if she would like a drink while they waited for everyone to file into the room.

“Yes. I would love that.”

“Stay here then. I will fight my way through the crowd and be right back with your drink.”

Tess stood with Maria and Michael, just drinking in the sights and sounds of her first ball. She’d heard stories, read books, and dreamed about this night for so long that she almost couldn’t believe it was finally here. And then there was her escort. Handsome, strong, kind…in the back of her mind, she knew Elizabeth was interested in him, at least a little bit, but she refused to admit the possibility of anything more between them. This night was her night, and Max was her man, and nothing was going to change that.

[Cardinal]

Well, look what a couple of days away will do for you. A nice long stint in front of the computer and some nice chapters to catch up on. I'm not going to lie and say that I would have liked to have been here to read because that would have taken me away from my visit with my grandsons, but honest, this was so nice to come home to. Great chapters Cardinal, fantastic!!!

Ginger

Grandsons > fic updates any day of the week. And you only missed the updates by a few days, while a missed meeting with grandsons can never be replaced.

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Chapter 33

Introductions

Max had no idea how well Tess handled alcohol, but he was sure he didn’t want to find out tonight. As her escort, he was determined to make her big night as enjoyable as he could, and one way of assuring that was making sure she didn’t make a fool of herself, so he looked for something safe for her to drink. The safest drink he could find was a goblet of well-watered wine.

Max got one for each of them, so she wouldn’t feel like he was treating her like a child. Knowing the way these kinds of things tended to go, he figured they were likely to have a different wine with every course of the meal, so she could still manage to get drunk, especially if she didn’t eat much. Weaving his way through the crowd on his way back to his tight knot of friends, he took a quick look around in an attempt at locating Elizabeth.

It didn’t take him long.

Max had every detail of her appearance etched into his mind. The first thing he saw were her bouncing, chocolate curls. That drew his attention long enough for him to catch a brief glimpse of the sparkling, sumptuous blue velvet dress before she was swallowed up again by the crowd.

All he could tell from his brief look was that she was surrounded by a small crowd of people. He hoped she was being received with kindness, but knew any number of the women here might see her as a threat if they thought she was a serious candidate to be Kyle’s wife. That could cause anything from cattiness to outright hatred. He thought Kyle was smart enough to have made provisions to protect Elizabeth from that kind of behavior, but he couldn’t be positive. Max was sure she could handle a few mean-spirited women, he just didn’t want her to have to.

Making it back to Tess and Maria, he allowed his date to choose her goblet and then took a sip of his before asking Maria where Michael had gone.

“He is getting drinks for us,” she said with a smirk. “I can tell he is new, or at least rusty, when it comes to gentlemanly behavior, but he is trying. It’s so adorable.”

Max nearly choked when heard the words ‘Michael’ and ‘adorable’ in the same sentence, and when he suggested Maria might not want to let Michael hear that assessment, she shut his mouth with a withering look that questioned his intelligence for even suggesting she might.

Tess was too excited to notice the watered-down wine, and she only sipped enough to wet her mouth anyway. The there of them waited for Michael, who came back with full-strength wine for himself and Maria. He figured she could handle the it, and would likely stomp on his foot if he brought back the other stuff.

Maria thanked him for her wine and noticed immediately that the grand duke was not pouring the cheap stuff tonight. He didn’t notice, nor did he really care; he preferred ale or porter to any wine at any time.

Looking to make conversation, and knowing what the rank insignia on Michael and Max’s uniforms meant, Maria asked them for the name of the military unit of which they were a part.

“The Duke of Borussia’s army, Lady Maria, hence the green and gold,” Michael said. “We’re here on half pay while Max gains some seasoning. But since he’s got his knighthood, which makes him an adult and makes his new rank official, we may be heading home sooner than anticipated.”

Max raised an eyebrow at that, mainly because they hadn’t spent much time discussing the possibility of going home yet. The idea had some merit though. Right now his lands and army were under the administrative control of his steward and would remain so until he returned to his capital to announce he’d reached his majority a little ahead of schedule.

Michael’s statement that he and Max were on half pay was all Maria needed to hear. Having wanted to be a soldier most of her life, she understood the concept, and it gave them the perfect cover. With her anyway.

Half pay meant Max and Michael were supposedly giving half their pay as officers in the duke’s army to other officers, who didn’t have positions of their own, who would perform their duties until they returned to reclaim their positions. It was a time-honored happening in the various military units all across Alemannia, and the two men thought nothing of it.

“I wish I knew a few people here besides Prince Kyle,” Max said, mostly for the ladies’ benefit. In truth, he was pleased with his anonymity. The four Alemanni subjects felt like a lonely island amidst a sea of Krakovians. And it stayed that way, until a distinguished elderly couple made their way through the crowd to make their acquaintances.

The girls recognized the Count and Countess of Ellsinore from the brief stopover they’d made at the ambassador’s residence on their way back home from their previous visit to the palace. Maria and Tess worked together to turn their escorts toward the ambassador and his wife, and then waited for either the count or the countess to speak.

“Lady Maria, Lady Tess,” Lord Pierzynski said, acknowledging the people he already knew. “You ladies look lovely tonight.”

“Always flirting with the young women, Eduard,” his wife Constance said. Her voice was light though, telling all who heard she did not fear a roving eye. “What ever am I to do with you?”

“Stay married to me?”

“As if I would ever leave you.”

Lady Pierzynski eyed the two officers who were escorting the Lang girls and wondered how they could have possibly gotten invitations to this event without first going through her husband. “Would you ladies be so kind as to introduce us to your handsome escorts?”

“Yes of course, Countess. Right away,” Maria said. Being eldest, she went first. “Count and Countess of Ellsinore, this is Sir Michael Guerin, who is currently a major in the Borussian army.”

Everyone in their little group clearly heard the countess hiss when she heard Michael’s name. He was used to that sort of reaction, and had long since tired of trying to explain what had happened in Rouchka Pass.

“The Black Knight,” Lord Pierzynski said. He knew, far better than his wife did, that rough men were needed to defend Alemannia.

“Yes, your Lordship. So I am called.”

“You do not flinch from that name.”

“No. I can’t stop people from using it, so, instead, I’ve embraced it. I find it gives me an advantage over most people I meet.” He chuckled and glanced at the countess. “They start backing up as soon as they hear my name.”

Lord Pierzynski turned to Max. “And who is this young man?”

“My escort is Sir Zan, and he is a lieutenant in the Borussian army.” Tess sounded as proud of Max as she would be if she was his mother.

Lord Pierzynski’s eyes opened wide as he looked at the young man who was reputed to have single-handedly stopped a rather vicious recent attack on Lord Parker’s carriage. He didn’t say anything, but he knew without a doubt this knight was not named Zan. Anyone who could butcher twenty-four soldiers in a second or two is obviously an Antarian and has a family name like de Laney, Rosenthal, or Evans. That last family name stuck in the count’s mind. The king has a son whom I have not seen in five years. Rumors from home say Prince Maximilian has disappeared. Could he have reappeared here? He looks to be the right age.

“So…are which family name do you claim, Sir Zan?” Lord Pierzynski asked. He was curious to hear what the young man might say. Both Maria and Tess perked up and listened closely.

“I cannot say, Milord,” Max replied. “You will understand that in these unsettled times, no one can know which family is mine.”

“To be sure.” While the boy’s reply was smooth and confident, the sound of his voice told Lord Pierzynski something that no one else in attendance would be likely to notice: whoever this ‘Sir Zan’ really was, he spoke with the accent of someone who had spent a lot of time in or near the Alemanni capital. “Should you require my assistance at any time during your stay, do not hesitate to come by the residence. Your lovely ladies can tell you the way.”

As the count and countess drifted off, the grand duke and duchess were about to lead the way into the State Dining Room for the dinner. Princess Serena was lined up behind them with a tall, handsome young lord at her side, and right behind them were Prince Kyle and Lady Elizabeth Parker.

The rest of the couples lined up behind the ducal family, in no particular order, and followed them to the door of the dining room. Once there, things became a bit complicated.

The dining room, which was floored with polished wood that gleamed in the candlelight, had rich red fabric covering the walls, and three giant gold and crystal chandeliers blazing away overhead. The room was lined with two immensely long tables that ran the length of the room. Places were set on both sides of each table, leaving enough room in between the tables and between the tables and the walls for the servants to rush food in and empty plates and bowls out.

Seating for this meal was not a matter of walking in with your escort and finding a name card. This was different. Each couple gave their names at the door and a senior servant looked down a list, finding a seat location for both people, each of whom followed a servant to his or her seat. All of the couples were split up, mostly to promote meeting new people and so that many a raconteur’s old stories would find a new audience.

Most of the nobles were seated by the time the four Alemanni reached the door. Michael was taken to the far end of the table on the left, while Maria was taken to the near end of the same table. Max could see Tess tighten up a bit at the idea of being abandoned by the few people she knew, but he just winked at her and said, “You have been dreaming of this since you knew what a ball was, Tess. Relax. Have fun. This is what you have waited for.”

Then it was their turn. Tess was led to a spot at the left hand table near the middle, not too far from where the grand duke was stationed, and Max was taken to the far end of the right hand table. A quick look around showed him the grand duke and his wife were each stationed at mid-table, with her at Max’s table and the grand duke at the other one.

Serena, Kyle, and their two escorts were each seated at one end of one of the tables. Serena was at the end of Max’s table, sitting right next to him, while Elizabeth was at the same end of the other table. Since he was on the outside of his table, Elizabeth and Max were a mere twenty feet away and could clearly see each other.

The meal was long, the food was delicious, and Princess Serena only ran her toe up the length of Max’s booted calf three times, while managing to keep her conversation bland. He was surprised by the princess’ blatant come-on, but he’d dealt with worse, like on his fourteenth birthday when Lady Elizabeth Rosenthal had snuck into his bed, hoping to make the young prince a man.

Gorgeous, blonde, blue-eyed, the twenty-two-year-old mother of four and the wife of the Duke of Stettinger, Lady Elizabeth had expected to teach a nervous teenager how to please a woman, but instead had been sent away. In no hurry to leave, despite her explicit dismissal, she had made getting dressed seem twice as erotic as most women could manage getting undressed, but Max had found himself pretending she was of no interest to him so she wouldn’t come back.

That had started some ‘Maximilian is gay’ rumors, which were immediately followed by counterclaims from women who claimed he had slept with them. All of those confusing claims and counterclaims had taken weeks to run down and quash. Compared to that hullaballoo, a little footsie with a princess was easy to deal with.

The dessert course was over soon enough, and the grand duke and his family led the way into the Grand Ballroom. Matching up partners was easy as the majordomo called out couples for the dance in strict order of rank once the grand duke and family had left. Once a called out couple was on their way to the door, the next couple was called, and so on. Michael and Maria were called just before Max and Tess, and thus the two couples entered the parquet-floored ballroom together.

Everyone was on the periphery of the dance floor, as Grand Duke James and his wife Sophia took position, with Princess Serena and her man on one side, and Prince Kyle and Lady Elizabeth on the other. Those three couples started off the dance, and Max watched with particular pride as Elizabeth glided over the dance floor in Kyle’s arms, making nary a misstep.

That first dance was a short one, in deference to the grand duke’s well-known dislike for dancing, and the end of that dance opened up the floor to all. Michael had memorized the list they’d received from the grand duke to know which dances he knew adequately and which ones he’d be better off sitting out. Both men turned to their ladies and asked if they’d like to dance. Receiving pleased assents, the men walked their ladies onto the floor and waited for the music from the small ensemble which was stationed in a balcony overhead.

“This is going to be so different dancing to actual music,” Tess said excitedly, “instead of having you call out the beat, Zan.”

“Yes. You are ready though. The music will just make it more fun.”

Max and Tess floated effortlessly through the first handful of dances. Just as he had said not too long ago, she hadn’t needed much of a refresher. While he was concentrating on her, he was wondering in the back of his mind what Elizabeth was doing. He desperately wanted a dance or two with her, but wasn’t sure how he was going to manage to get away from Tess without hurting her feelings…and as her escort, he owed it to her to stay with her.

Help for him came from an unexpected quarter, as someone who wanted a more personal meeting with him sent her younger brother to make it happen.

[Cardinal]

Sorry it's been a couple of days.

Work has been keeping me busier than I would have liked to be.

Cardinal, a question - The girls can't inherit Jeff's land but can their husbands? And how? Is it split in three? Does the oldest sister's husband inherit, or the oldest husband, or the first married? Can a grandson inherit? Or does all the land revert to the King once Jeff dies as he has no outright heir?

No. In this land, without a male heir, the title and associated lands and incomes revert to the crown. Any money Jeff already has saved would be split however he chooses in his will, minus any money already set aside for each girl's dowry.

Maria (or Elizabeth or Tess for that matter) wouldn't be protecting her sisters by saving the family land and title. Instead, by marrying well, Maria would be providing a place for her sisters to stay until they found suitable marriages of their own.

Plus, by marrying well, Maria would make it EASIER for her sisters to marry well by providing them with a new series of social connections that would make a match with either of them more desirable.

* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *



Chapter 34

Tradition

Elizabeth’s ball started off rather smoothly. While the grand duke and his family were in line receiving their guests, she was chatting pleasantly with Kyle’s cousins. They’d all heard how the match had been made, and were curious to know why she’d worn black to her formal introduction. She was careful in choosing what to tell them, letting them know it was a result of her and her father having a disagreement over the young man she was seeing. She just didn’t let them know who he was.

After that, a steady stream of young nobles came over to pay their respects to Kyle’s cousins, and Elizabeth was introduced to all of them, with a few of the males choosing to stay around long enough to make her acquaintance. After all, no one truly expected Kyle to marry the girl, but an attractive noblewoman such as her might be just right for a man of lesser stature.

When Kyle finally made his way through the crowd to claim Elizabeth’s hand and line up for dinner, he saw the small crowd around her and shook his head. “I am sorry you had to be subjected to that.”

“Oh, it was quite all right. Everyone was delightful. Your cousins were very helpful, making sure I was properly introduced to everyone who came by. I just hope I get a chance to thank them for their support later.”

“Good, I am glad things worked out.”

Dinner was long, and with her corset firmly cinched around her midsection, Elizabeth didn’t have room to eat much. Food really didn’t matter to her anyway, as she was far too excited to do more than nibble on anything put before her. Part of that excitement was because of the grandness of the occasion, and part was that she could see her man - looking resplendent in a green and gold uniform jacket - a mere twenty feet away, sitting next to Princess Serena.

After the meal, Kyle reclaimed her arm and they walked out of the State Dining Room and into the Grand Ballroom. As they danced the ceremonial first dance, Elizabeth felt like a princess from one of the books Tess fancied. It felt like everyone’s eyes were on her; she couldn’t remember feeling this beautiful in her life. Still, there was one thing missing, and that was Max. As nice as Kyle had been, the one thing that would’ve made this moment better, would’ve been to share it with her newly-minted knight.

The strange thing was: she could feel Max’s eyes on her like a touch as she danced that first dance. She couldn’t search for him, as her eyes were fixed on Kyle, but she would have sworn she could have reached out and point right to him. She tried to sneak a peek in his direction once the short dance was over, but the way was blocked by the other couples making their way onto the dance floor.

Elizabeth danced the next two full-length dances with Kyle, before one of the young men she’d been introduced to not so long ago - in this case the Count of Besancon’s son, Lord Michel Badeau - asked if she would like to dance. Kyle looked at her to see if she wanted to dance with the young man, and when she showed no objection, he allowed Michel to escort her to the dance floor.

Michel was a good dancer and a better gentleman, and the two dances Elizabeth shared with him were wonderful. She took a break after that, but soon she and Kyle were back on the dance floor for two more, and then he received a folded note from a servant. The note was read quickly, and caused Kyle to grimace slightly before asking her if she minded spending some time with her younger sister. Elizabeth didn’t mind at all, as she wanted to see if Tess’ big night was meeting up to her enormous expectations. And as for getting to see Max again? That was going to be the icing on the cake.

Elizabeth and Kyle spotted Max and Tess, and were almost up to where they were standing, before Tess spotted them in turn and nudged Max. Elizabeth loved the helpless smile that spread across his face as soon as he looked her way. She also loved how handsome he was in his stiff-collared coat of green and gold, white knee-breeches, and glossy black boots. The outfit looked martial, especially once she saw the sword belted at his side, but she couldn’t manage to place what unit it belonged to. Maybe Maria can tell me, but I will give Zan a chance to tell me first, Elizabeth thought. He should not mind, now that I have seen his uniform.

Tess didn’t notice Max’s smile at Elizabeth, however, as she was focused on Kyle. She knew enough to know he wasn’t going to be the next grand duke - not unless his sister died - but she assumed he’d still play an important role under Krakovia’s next ruler. He was likely to be a powerful man one day, a fact she felt could not be ignored.

Max, on the other hand, was so focused on Elizabeth, that Kyle could have been Khivar himself and not drawn a second glance. Her diamond chips sparkled with each bounce and twist of her dress, but they couldn’t hope to compete with the gleam in her eyes or the glow of her skin as she came to a stop just in front of him.

“Hello, Zan!” Elizabeth said.

Her smile was nothing short of electric; it let Max know she had been truly enjoying herself so far. “Hello, Elizabeth.” He tilted his head toward his host. “Hi, Kyle. What brings you over here? I thought you would either be schmoozing with the Krakovian elite, or dancing with Elizabeth.”

Kyle and Tess had already exchanged greetings, when Kyle said, “Actually, I am here to take your escort off your hands.”

Max raised an eyebrow at that. “Isn’t one Parker woman enough for you?”

“There is no such thing as ‘too many beautiful women,’ Zan. You should be old enough to know that by now.”

“I do not know about that, Kyle. What I do know, however, is that one woman can be more than enough, if you choose wisely.”

Max was talking to Kyle when he said that, but his eyes were locked on Elizabeth. She dipped her head and blushed as she did so, but Max saw the smile that crept across her face. He meant what he said: he had her now, he didn’t need anyone else. Whether his parents saw it the same way was another matter entirely.

“Seriously, Kyle, what is going on?” Max asked.

“I was not kidding about coming over here to escort Lady Tess. I have the ability to show her around and introduce her to any number of noble families. You all know the benefits of that, and while she is making the rounds with Elizabeth and me, you have an appointment to keep.”

“I do? Where? Who with?”

Kyle pointed to a narrow door that was guarded by two hulking soldiers. “Through there. The guards know to expect you.” Kyle followed Max just long enough to get away from the women. “Zan? Tell her the truth about you. Whatever your intentions are with Elizabeth, they may not happen. You may end up marrying my sister despite what you want. Do not start off your relationship by making her look like a fool.”

Max nodded thoughtfully before turning and making his way to the guarded door. The guards didn’t even flinch as Max walked by, but as soon as he passed through the door, they crossed their wicked looking halberds across the doorway.

The door Max walked through led into a darkened hallway. One room halfway down the hall was well lit, making it plain to he where he had to go. As he stepped into the puddle of light, he turned and looked inside. As expected, Princess Serena was waiting for him, and her cleavage was much more visible than it had been during the meal. It took him a second to realize that was because she’d taken off the necklace he’d bought for her. Max stood still and quiet, waiting to be recognized. It wasn’t long before she looked up and her gave him a small smile that barely bent her lips.

“Come in, and close the door behind you, please. No one will be allowed to approach us. Here we will be free to talk, as only my parents can get past those guards, and they have likely gone to bed by now.”

Not sure what was going on, but damn sure it wasn’t a seduction, Max shut the door and approached the princess. When he came to a stop several feet away from her, she closed the distance, grabbed his green coat by the lapels, and pulled him down for a kiss. Despite the kiss, Max was still sure she didn’t want him that way, at least not now, but he had been sure she had been interested during the meal.

“What was that for, Your Highness?”

Serena casually licked her lips as she looked up at Max. “I just wanted to see what kissing a prince would taste like.”

Max’s eyes widened and his face paled. “A prince? What do you mean?”

“Come on now, you know exactly what I mean. You are Maximilian, Crown Prince of Alemannia and Duke of Borussia.” She eyed his uniform coat. “Wearing your own colors was risky, though you are entitled to a lot more brocade on your coat and a higher insignia of rank.”

Deciding he’d better take Kyle’s advice, Max closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and when he opened them again, was back to his crown prince persona. More arrogant, more commanding, stronger. Even though his size hadn’t changed, he seemed to take up more space. Serena definitely noticed, as she took a step back before he spoke.

“I am Maximilian. How did you know?”

“I did not until after the dance started. During the meal, I was content to think of taking you into my bed for a night or two. But not now, not with you being…you.”

Max nearly choked, as he couldn’t imagine an unmarried noblewoman taking such a risk, especially one who had the succession of her grand duchy to worry about. “You would risk becoming pregnant with a bastard just to have some fun? Someone in your position?”

“Quit the sermonizing, it is not becoming.” Serena waved Max off. “A pregnancy is no risk, not for me anyway. We have an Antarian or two here in the palace. One has a way to use her powers to prevent pregnancies. Once I get married and have to come up with as many heirs as possible, things will change. But until them, I am quite free to sleep with whomever I please.

“Oh, as for how I knew who you were, Kyle told me a lot about you after he returned from his year in Alemannia. One thing that stood out was that he had gotten along with you quite well, and I realized during the dance that you were much too friendly with him in the reception line to be a common Alemanni knight who had just met a prince. I should have recognized that immediately, but I was too scatterbrained at the time from having to deal with so many people at once.”

“My mistake then.” Max grimaced. “I guess I will have to watch myself around him now.” He slapped himself on the thigh in irritation. “Damn, that was a stupid thing to do.”

“Hmmm…yes, you could have done better.”

After an uncomfortable silence, Max asked, “So…what do we do now?”

Serena gestured toward a comfortable looking stuffed chair, as she sat in one of her own. Max waited for her to sit before sitting himself. He then waited quietly, under an intense look from her as she tapped one arm of her chair with her manicured nails.

“Not going to beg me to keep your secret, huh?” she finally asked.

“What is the point? Either you will or you will not. You do not know me well enough to want to do a favor for me, and it is not important enough to me for me to leave here owing you anything.”

“Ooh, I like a strong man.” Serena studied Max some more. “You are not too keen on the idea of marrying me, are you?”

“Not really,” Max admitted. “If half of what Kyle, excuse me, Prince Kyle, says about you is true, then you would be a good queen…”

“Same here. You would be a pretty good Prince Consort here in Krakovia.”

“…but the discussions over where we would live, and how we would integrate our laws would be tough, with some of them maybe never getting resolved.”

“Until our child takes the throne,” Serena said. “Then she would have to make the decisions about all of that.”

“He,” Max said, “definitely a he.”

Serena shook her head in disbelief. “I cannot believe your father’s kingdom still has that idiotic law on the books.”

“What can I say? If we keep going the way we are, we will waste the talents of half of our nobility, but if we switch to your way of succession, there would be a revolution. Blood in the streets.”

“You already have a revolution, Maximilian.”

“No. What is going on now is nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what would happen in Alemannia if my father announced that from this day forth, the oldest child inherits all lands and titles upon the death of the current title holder.

“Older sisters would be murdered by younger brothers who had been counting on being the next baron, count, duke, etcetera. Older sisters might find champions who would murder younger brothers to protect them from having their new positions usurped. And who knows how many lords would gather their military might and march on the capital to demand a rollback of that decree? Not I.”

“So, Kyle was right. It is not just an outmoded tradition in your kingdom, women actually are not accorded the same level of respect as men.”

“No, they are not. A woman has to earn what virtually any man of rank gets just for being a man.” Max shrugged his shoulders. “I assume that comes from men being the ones who fight and die on the battlefield.”

“Yet women fight their battles in the birthing beds. How many women die on those battlefields in the struggle to give their lords one more child?”

“Exactly.” Max’s face was stony as he faced up to one of his society’s greatest failings. “Troubadours write great songs about men who try their hardest to kill each other, while women, who do naught but attempt to bring life, die unknown and unwept by any except those closest to them.

“We are not, I think, a loveable people,” Max mused. “Changing opinions will wither be the work of generations, or it will take a mighty example. I wonder that any woman would agree to marry me and take on either challenge.”

“Not me, Maximilian. Not unless my parents require it. I think only an Alemanni woman would be up to the task, since she is already stuck in your system.”

“I think I have just the woman in mind. But what can she possibly do to change the minds of so many hidebound traditionalists?”

[Cardinal]

Chapter 35

A Moment Like This

Prince Maximilian and Princess Serena split, with both agreeing to keep his identity away from her parents since neither one wanted Grand Duke James and Grand Duchess Sophia to get any ideas and start pairing them, just to see how well they looked together. Both shuddered at the thought as Serena thought she had more than enough to look forward to when it was her turn to rule Krakovia, without adding the political headache of trying to prove to the Alemanni nobility that women were equal to men in most every respect. And as for Max, he didn’t want anything happening that might make a marriage with Elizabeth more difficult to obtain.

Max was halfway out the door, when he thought of something he wanted. “Would you do something simple for me, Serena?”

“Sure.” She smiled slightly, and teased, “I suppose the man who bought me that huge necklace has a favor or two coming.”

“I did not buy you that necklace for favors.”

“I know you did not…which is why I am doing a favor for you.” Serena stepped back to a small side table and poured herself a stiff drink. “Would you like a drink?” she asked. When he said no, she took a sip of hers, “Okay, what would you like me to do?”

“The young woman I escorted here tonight, Lady Tess, is only fourteen and this is her very first major social engagement. She’s a good kid and has been looking forward to this night her whole life. If you would just pay her some special attention, it would make her night a complete success.”

Serena nodded her head thoughtfully. “I remember being that age. True, I had no worries about making the right connections, but it was the excitement of finally entering the wider world of adults that got me so excited. Beautiful dresses, splendid uniforms, dancing, music…everything. Yes, I will be happy to help make Lady Tess’ evening.”

Max went back to playing the role of Sir Zan, bowed low to the princess, and thanked her.

“What are you getting out of my kindness?” Serena asked. The question was shrewd, which was to be expected of the Krakovian heir to the throne.

Max smiled as he straightened up. “Just a dance or two…with this woman I have in mind.”

Serena instantly caught his not-so-veiled reference to his statement that he had ‘just the woman in mind.’

“She’s here? Tonight? Oh, I have to meet this woman. After all, if you get your wish, she could become an important connection for Krakovia.” Serena’s tone of voice clearly told him she wasn’t really interested in making a connection. She just wanted to see the woman he intended to marry.

“You have already met her, Serena.”

“Really? Who is she?”

“She’s Kyle’s escort for the evening, and also my intended, Lady Elizabeth Parker.”

“Oh wow!” Serena quirked an eyebrow at Max. “Does Kyle know?”

“Yeah. I told him that ‘getting friendly’ with Elizabeth was not the healthiest thing he could do.”

“You did not actually threaten to hurt my brother did you?”

“No, I swore to kill him.” Max shrugged one shoulder. “You know your brother a lot better than I do. He would not have taken me seriously otherwise.”

“Now I see why you two get along so well. You have the same rough sense of humor.”

I was not kidding, Max thought, but that is something I probably ought to keep to myself.

He followed Serena out of the room and closed the door behind them. Once back in the ballroom, he waited while she summoned a servant with instructions to find Lady Tess, who should still be with Prince Kyle and Lady Elizabeth.

Serena followed the servant at a distance, and Max followed her. When Kyle finally came into their sight, the servant had just reached him. Both girls with Kyle were easily visible then. Serena took a second look at Elizabeth before shifting her gaze to Tess. “Lovely women,” she breathed. “Both of them.”

“True.” Thinking how that was true of all the Parker women, Max said, “Their sister Maria is around here somewhere, and I promised Kyle…I mean, Prince Kyle, that I would introduce him to her escort sometime.”

The servant was bringing Kyle, Elizabeth, and Tess closer. Serena was watching them, mostly out of idle curiosity, at the moment when both girls realized they were headed toward Max. She could see both young women smile more widely, even as they drew in the deepest breaths their corsets would allow.

That was all Serena needed to see. She wasn’t close to Max; she couldn’t even claim to be friends with him yet, but he seemed to be a nice guy, and if things worked out for him, he was going to be the ruler of her largest and most powerful neighbor sometime in the future, so she thought she ought to do him another favor.

“Ma…Zan?” Like her brother earlier, Serena caught herself just in time.

“Hmm?” he answered absentmindedly, as he watched Elizabeth seem to float her way through the crowd.

“Look at me.” He did, albeit reluctantly. “You have a problem.”

“I have many. What new one do you have to add to the list?”

“Lady Elizabeth is not the only Parker woman who seems to have her heart set on you.”

“Maria does not li…oh. Tess?” Serena nodded firmly. “How do you know?”

“It is easy to see when you know what you are looking for, and as a woman, I know.”

Max shifted his view from Elizabeth to Tess, but could not manage to see what she was seeing. “I will take your word for it, Serena, thanks.” His eyes went back to Elizabeth, and his smile grew incrementally wider with each step she took. He stayed back though to give Serena time to separate Tess from Elizabeth.

“Kyle!” Serena said. Her voice was as bright as her hair, making him wonder what in the world was going on now.

“Hi, Serena, what can I do for you?”

“Sir Zan here has told me that his escort, Lady Tess I believe, is enjoying her first ball this evening.”

Kyle deferred to Tess so she could answer for herself. She quickly dipped a low curtsey, and then said, “That is correct, Your Highness. Both that it is my first ball, and that I am enjoying it immensely.”

Serena enjoyed Tess’ youthful enthusiasm. She gestured her forward and looped her arm through Tess’ once the girl came within reach. Without even looking back, Serena said, “Come along, Kyle,” and then turned her attention to Tess. “I can well remember my first ball, and once Sir Zan told me this was your first, I became quite determined to make yours the success mine was. So, I am going to introduce you all around.”

Tess’ eyes sparked with excitement as she and Serena moved around the periphery of the room, with Kyle trailing along behind. Serena worked the crowd with the political instincts of a born politician, making sure everyone got a chance to meet the girl by her side. It wasn’t lost on Tess that being introduced in this manner gave an implied recommendation of her to everyone they met. She could confidently expect social calls from a number of these people, and might even get some invitations to visit in return. This was the social breakthrough her family had been looking for. She was so happy to have been the one to make it, and reminded herself to thank Max later for making it possible.

Max and Elizabeth stood side by side and watched as Serena, Tess, and Kyle melted into the crowd. Once they disappeared from view, Max turned to Elizabeth, who looked up at him with shining eyes. The previous dance had just ended, and he wanted to claim a spot on the floor quickly, so he dove right in.

“May I have this dance, Milady?” Max asked. His question was formal, but his eyes danced with merriment as he spoke.

Elizabeth responded warmly, with a burbling laugh. “Why yes, kind Sir, you may.”

Max had offered her his arm as he made his request. She gladly curled her arm around his elbow when she accepted, and arm-in-arm, they headed for an open space on the parquet dance floor.

As they lined up across from each other, with Elizabeth in her diamond-accented blue dress and Max in his green and gold coat, white knee breeches, and black boots, it was plain on a superficial level that they were a spectacularly handsome couple. But anyone who stopped and looked more closely noticed something else. As the music started and the dance began, they moved as one. Part of that was due to their four-hour-long daily practices, but there was a fluidity, an ease to their movements - as if each was perfectly comfortable with the other - that extended well beyond the results of practicing.

Serena noticed both Max and Elizabeth on both levels. She happened to catch a glimpse of them just as the music started, and smiled to see how perfect they looked together, but when she saw them a minute later, after the dance had begun, she came to a stop and watched them, partially for herself, but also for well-being of the young woman at her side.

Serena was already taking a liking to Tess, but she knew the girl needed to learn the truth about Max’s interest in Elizabeth. Even from this distance, Serena could see the love those two shared. Their love was so palpable, that she swore she could almost feel it. Surely even a lovestruck girl like Tess will see it and understand she does not have a chance.

Serena chanced a glance at the blue-eyed blonde at her side and saw someone who was trying mightily to hold back tears. Serena pretended she hadn’t seen a thing and kept her attention on Max and Elizabeth. Someday I want to be loved like that, she thought. I want some man to need me, and not my title, so completely that all else is secondary to him spending one more moment with me.

The dance had started with Max and Elizabeth at the proper distance, with several inches in between their bodies, but by the halfway point, their bodies had molded together and the side of her face was pressed into his chest, as they took full advantage of the little time afforded them to be together.

Serena sighed in appreciation of the sight before her, while Tess continued her fight to keep from crying. She sniffled a few times, and when Serena took another peek, a lone tear was crawling down her cheek. Figuring the young girl had suffered enough, Serena took her by the arm and turned her away from the painful sight before her.

Elizabeth and Max were oblivious to the little side drama going on with Tess; all they had time for was each other. Elizabeth had been having fun most of the night so far, but nothing compared to this moment, and to this man. So big, so powerful, and yet so smooth in his movements, with a feather-light touch as he held her. She was in awe that he was hers and hers alone. While the possibility that he might be forced to marry someone else lurked in the back of her consciousness, she was thrilled beyond words over what she had here and now.

Elizabeth at least vaguely acknowledged the threat to her happiness posed by Max’s far off parents, he himself wasn’t allowing thoughts like that to even enter his mind. To him, he was dancing with his bride, his duchess, his princess, and for a fleeting moment, all was right with the world.

Some people took notice of the young couple and the elegance they demonstrated as they glided across the dance floor. Others noticed that Prince Kyle’s lovely escort was being swept off her feet by someone other than the prince. Everyone who saw them, however, recognized they belonged together.

“I am not supposed to be this happy, am I, Zan?” Elizabeth asked. She was almost giddy with joy at how things were turning out this evening.

“This happy and more,” Max replied archly. “My bride-to-be deserves nothing less.” He wiggled his eyebrows when she looked up at him, and she collapsed back against his chest in a fit of giggles. He calmed down and spoke in all earnestness. “At least, making you happy is my highest goal as a man.”

“Then you are succeeding, Zan, beyond your wildest dreams.”

Not content with just one dance, Max and Elizabeth spent the next dance together as well, before he took her by the hand and led her out onto the wide terrace just outside the room and down into the garden. As soon as they stepped into the thick grass pathways of the garden, she kicked off her velvet slippers, and he stooped to collect them for her.

“Ooooooh, that feels nice!” Elizabeth enthused. Just being barefoot was making her feet feel great, after hours in her confining shoes.

The weather outside was perfect for a nighttime stroll, as the heat of the day had long since dissipated and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The stars twinkled in the darkness, reminding Max of the way Elizabeth’s dress sparkled as she moved. Given how he was feeling, he was fairly sure everything would remind him of her in one way or another.

Looking about, they could see a tall hedge maze in one direction and a sharply-trimmed parterre garden in another, but Max led Elizabeth in another direction, toward a series of low, neat rows of plants. When they moved in close, both of them could smell the various aromas that clearly marked this as an herb garden.

“This is a beautiful night,” Elizabeth said, as she craned her neck a bit to take in the stars above.

Max’s eyes had been locked on the beauty of her face from the moment they stopped moving, and yet, he couldn’t agree more with what she had just said. “Yes…beautiful.”

There was a dreamy quality to his voice that made Elizabeth look at him, and when she saw how he was staring at her, she understood his meaning, dipped her head and blushed.

Placing a fingertip just under her chin, Max said, “I mean it, Elizabeth. Stable girl or not, lady or not, you take my breath away. You always have; you always will,” he whispered, just before he pressed his lips against hers. Soft as baby’s breath, exhilarating as an ice bath, and hot as the sun, the kiss seemed to go on and on. Neither of them wanted it to stop, in fact, they weren’t able to stop until she ran out of breath.

She collapsed against Max’s chest, and played with one of the brass buttons on his coat as she gulped in air with one shuddering breath after another. Elizabeth couldn’t think. Max had consumed every corner of her mind, just as he’d already taken over her heart, and at this moment, the whole of her being was focused on him.

Max had dropped the shoes and was holding Elizabeth close to him as he rocked her back and forth ever so slightly to the sounds of the distant ballroom. As with her, his mind was filled to overflowing with the sights, sounds, and scents of the person in his arms. For this one moment, nothing existed for him but her. She was his beginning and his end, and he held her that much closer in a vain attempt at making the moment last forever.

Their reverie was rudely interrupted by the sound of a drunken partier emptying his stomach into a nearby ornamental bush.

“Come on, Elizabeth,” Max said, with great reluctance, “let us get back inside before you are missed.”

“Do I have to go?” she pouted.

“No, you do not,” Max replied, as he turned her in his arms so they were both facing the terrace and the open doors beyond. “I will never make you do something you do not want to, but you are the official escort of the prince. And though he knows about us and our connection…”

Elizabeth reluctantly finished his thought. “…he does have a right to expect me to be by his side for most of the night.”

“Yes.” Max gave Elizabeth one good, tight squeeze. “Letting you go, even for the rest of the night, does hurt a bit…but I will get you back in the morning.”

“Mmm…I cannot wait.”

“Too bad. If I have to wait, so do you.” Max released Elizabeth from his arms and stepped around her to take her by the hand, as she stepped into her shoes. “Ready? Let us go.”

Putting her faith where her hand already was, she said, “Okay. Wherever you lead, I will follow.”

[Cardinal]

Chapter 36

The Irretrievable Word

Max and Elizabeth crossed the terrace, and were almost to the brightly lit doorway that led inside, when she saw Maria and Michael approach from the direction of the parterre garden. Elizabeth tugged on Max’s arm, bringing him to a stop. To Max’s eyes, Maria looked much the same as she had before leaving the manor. Elizabeth, who recognized the signal her older sister’s flushed cheeks were sending, merely raised both eyebrows at her in a very mild show of disapproval.

Max’s eyes quickly moved on to Michael, but he didn’t spot anything until the older couple moved past them and into the palace. Right on his elbows, and hard to spot because of the green color of his uniform coat, were a matched set of grass stains. That drew a slight frown, as he knew the number of polite ways Michael could have gotten grass stains on his elbows was extremely limited. Still, Maria didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get away from Michael, so he figured it was something better left alone…at least for the time being.

As Elizabeth watched Michael and Maria enter the palace, she wondered if her sister was truly interested in him, or if she was just having some mostly innocent fun. She’d been caught kissing boys a few times back home, but nothing had ever come of it. “Did you see what I just saw?” she asked.

Not wanting to do something to get Michael in trouble, Max played dumb, hoping Elizabeth was talking about something other than what he had just noticed. “What did you see?”

“I am not sure about Sir Michael,” Elizabeth said carefully, “but Maria looked like…” saying it out loud was making it sound improbable to her ears, and she didn’t want Max to know what she suspected, as it could only lower his opinion of her older sister. “Oh, nothing. I guess I was just seeing things.”

Relieved, Max limited himself to a simple, “Oh, okay.”

Knowing she had the responsibility to take her place at Kyle’s side for the rest of the night, Elizabeth took Max’s hand and they walked inside. It was time for her to find Kyle and for Max to find Tess. A bit of looking through the small knots of people standing around and talking found neither Kyle, Tess, nor Serena. They might never have found them, had they not stopped for a few moments to watch the dancing. Max’s extra half-foot of height was an advantage for him here, as he was first to spot Kyle and Tess gliding across the dance floor with twin smiles of delight on their faces.

Max nudged Elizabeth, and said, “You may not believe this, but Kyle and Tess are dancing together, and they seem to be enjoying themselves.”

“Really?” Elizabeth breathed. “This I have to see.”

Max and Elizabeth made their way through the crowd to find a better vantage point. The crowd had thinned out somewhat, as some had gone home early, and others were outside enjoying the gardens, the weather, or each other. When they drew close enough to where Tess and Kyle were dancing, Max gestured and Elizabeth looked on eagerly. “This is just what she has always wanted,” Elizabeth said. “I am so happy for her.”

“What? Dancing with Kyle?”

“No, Silly, dancing with a prince, in his own palace, and looking like she belongs. Our father’s somewhat remote barony has always kept us from this kind of life, and Tess thought we would never get to experience it.”

“Wait until you come to Königsberg after the revolution is over.”

“Hmm? You mean the fabled Winter Palace?”

“Oh yes. It is…” Max wasn’t quite sure how to describe the palace. There were some things he couldn’t mention without giving himself away, and others that defied description if you hadn’t already seen them. “It is something else. But exactly what it is, you will have to decide for yourself. I do not want to go overboard and then have you be disappointed once you see it for yourself.”

“I would like to see that, but I do not know if father will consent to make that long of a trip.”

“Oh…I think he will. And once you are there, it would be my privilege if you would allow me to have the first two dances on your dance card for the first ball you attend.”

“I am yours for as many dances as you wish,” Elizabeth said simply. “I hope by then you will have convinced your parents to allow us to marry.”

Thinking of how difficult that could end up being, Max was quiet and said, “I hope so, too.”

When the current dance ended, Elizabeth and Max hurried out onto the floor to meet Tess and Kyle, who were chatting animatedly as they walked off.

“Hi, Tess,” Elizabeth said. Her excitement was evident to everyone, and Tess returned it full force until she saw Max. That made her face fall just a little bit, but it also got her to squeeze Kyle’s arm just a little tighter, and somewhat possessively.

“Hi, Elizabeth,” Tess replied.

Max stood right behind Elizabeth, moping ever so slightly as he prepared to switch dance partners. It wasn’t that he had anything against Tess, the girl was lovely, sweet, and smart, but she just wasn’t Elizabeth.

“I see you two have been enjoying yourselves,” Max said to Kyle.

“Yes,” Kyle said. “I found you had run off with my escort, and turned to Tess to save me from being without a partner in my own palace. She has been a most excellent companion.”

At first, Max was sure Kyle was just being nice by helping him out so he could have some time alone with Elizabeth, but the look Kyle gave his new escort seemed genuine. Maybe he really did enjoy being with her. Who would have thought it?

“So, Your Highness,” Max said, “do you want to reclaim your official partner?”

Kyle looked at Elizabeth, who seemed to be quite comfortable with Max, and then looked down at the hopeful eyes of the young woman on his arm. Realizing she might be tired of coming in second tonight, Kyle smiled just for her and then told Max, without his eyes ever leaving Tess’, “No, I think I have the right woman.”

Serena had pulled him aside for a second or two earlier and filled him in on Tess’ attachment to Max before asking him to dance with her to help ease her disappointment, but once he’d gotten the youngest Parker on the dance floor, he’d found her enthusiasm to be infectious, and he’d been pleased to find a bright but respectful conversationalist in such a young woman. He truly had enjoyed his time with Tess more than he had his time with Elizabeth, so choosing her was in no way a sacrifice in his eyes. The fact that his choice pleased both Max and Elizabeth was nothing more than a secondary consideration.

“Just make sure she gets home safely, Kyle.” Max eyed his friend closely. “The same rules that applied to Elizabeth apply to Tess.” That was as close as Max could come to saying ‘no funny business’ with Tess. While Max was passing his message to Kyle, the two Parker girls hugged warmly before reclaiming their men and walking away.

Elizabeth and Max got in another pair of dances before they saw Michael and Maria again. Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks when she saw an inordinately pleased look on Maria’s face, while Max noticed the pleasantly dazed look on Michael’s face right behind her. Neither one trusted themselves enough to go talk to Maria and Michael without asking why they were so happy, so they watched from afar as the two ambled over to the refreshments and collected large goblets of wine.

By the time the two elder Parkers were ready to go home, both were footsore but blissfully happy. In the carriage, with their heavily-armed escort around the them in the slightly chill autumn air, Michael looked across at Max, and said, “It looks like you misplaced your escort.”

“Kyle and I found out our ladies were better off, and we were better off, if we switched. So Elizabeth’s coming home with me, and I saw Kyle leave the palace with Tess not too long ago.” Deciding he could afford to tease Michael, as long as he carefully avoided mentioning Maria, Max said, “I may have a new escort, but you seem to have collected a new pair of grass stains on your elbows, Michael. Good thing your sleeves are green.”

Michael was embarrassed, and so was Maria, but since the question was directed at him alone, he knew he had to come up with an excuse that officially protected her. He was sure Max already suspected what had gone on between him and Maria, and when he noticed Elizabeth’s lack of reaction to the comment about the grass stains, he knew she knew, too. Damn!

“Well, ummmmmm…I, uh, I tripped on a set of stone steps in the gardens and fell on the grass. I guess I didn’t notice the stains because they can only be seen from behind me.” He then made a big show of examining the stains, with Maria promising she’d get the household staff right on that first thing in the morning. Elizabeth’s eyes and mouth opened involuntarily when she saw her sister being solicitous over a man’s well-being like that.

Still, the mention of the uniforms Max and Michael were both wearing triggered something inside of Elizabeth. She’d wondered earlier what military unit they could be from and had thought to ask Maria, but now that the night was almost over, she thought she’d just go ahead and ask Max.

“Zan?”

“Hmm?”

“I know my father’s army wears purple and gold, and the royal family wears white and gold…but what Alemanni army wears green and gold?”

“The Duke of Borussia’s army. Crown Prince Maximilian’s own.”

“And you two men are both officers in that army?”

For some vague reason, Max didn’t like where this line of questioning was headed, but he couldn’t decide why.

“Yes…Michael is a major and, now that I’m finally an adult, I’m a lieutenant. We’re both here on half pay.” Max hated telling this lie to Elizabeth, but it was part and parcel of his disguise.

Elizabeth fell silent, and as Michael and Maria fell into a quiet conversation, Max studied his love as her hands balled into fists, her eyes stared at floorboards, and she stewed over what she’d just learned.

“Oh, Zan,” Michael said.

“Yes?”

“Maria introduced me to Prince Kyle near the end of the night. We didn’t have much time to talk, so he said he wanted to come over tomorrow and meet me properly.”

“Oooookay. Did he ask for me to be there or something?”

“Nope. I was just hoping you’d take over some of my swordsmanship classes tomorrow in case the prince is a talker.”

“I would be pleased to…and by the way, Kyle is a talker, but with you, he will mostly want to listen. I think he is more interested in the Black Knight than he is in Michael Guerin.”

“Great! Another idiot who either thinks I’m a hero or the prince of darkness, depending on what version of my story he’s heard.”

“And which do you think you are?” Max asked judiciously.

“Neither. I’m stuck in the middle somewhere. I was just a brash young knight who did as he was told.”

Elizabeth hadn’t listened to Michael, not at all, because she was still chewing on what she’d heard from Max. And despite the love she had for him, she’d come to one incredibly painful conclusion: the man she loved was an out-and-out coward who had abandoned his army, and his lord, when he was needed most.

“You two are both cowards,” Elizabeth said. Her words were so quiet that no one heard her clearly the first time she spoke, but the word ‘coward’ rang out as clear as a bell and shut up everyone but Elizabeth.

She spoke a little more loudly this time. “You two are both cowards.”

[Cardinal]

Chapter 37

A Matter of Honor

Max and Michael looked hard at each other, as if not quite believing what they were hearing, before turning to Elizabeth as one and joining Maria in a jaw-dropping, ‘are you out of your mind?’ staring competition. What they saw was Elizabeth’s face knotted with anger.

“Thousands of your fellow soldiers are fighting and dying to defend the royal family, and yet you two are here hundreds of miles away, wearing handsome dress uniforms, and dancing at a ball.” She shook her head as if what was happening was a nightmare she wanted to wake up from. “Cowards, absolute cowards!”

Michael was beginning to get angry, but quickly realized this wasn’t his place to talk. Now that Max was an adult he was the social superior, and thus the one who would determine their course of action. Right now, however, he looked to have been poleaxed by Elizabeth’s sudden assault and didn’t appear to be capable of speaking, much less of taking action.

“I love you, Zan, but I cannot spend another minute with you, not after this.” Elizabeth’s expression had changed from anger to extreme distress. Maria thought her sister was about to start crying. “I thought you were everything a woman could hope to want, but a coward is someone no woman wants.”

“But I jumped out into a small battle just to save you,” Max said. “Doesn’t that mean anything?”

“It should, but how many of your men might be alive today if you and your talents were where they should be? How many have died because you two chose to hide like spineless cowards? How can the king stay on his throne, when those who are true will not defend him?”

Max knew he was here by his father’s order. He knew he was doing what the king wanted, but Elizabeth didn’t know that, and if she didn’t know it, it just didn’t matter right now. Max was beyond stunned. What he was hearing from her sort of made sense in the back of his mind, because she didn’t know everything, but to hear the love of his life call him this most hurtful of words, and to do it over and over, was crushing his spirit, and moving his thoughts to a dark place where his basest instincts ruled.

Max quit listening, quit thinking, and moved to the far corner of the carriage. His posture was as straight and stiff as a sword, and just as inviting too. Elizabeth was equally as rigid on her side of their bench, and neither Maria nor Michael would say anything for fear of breaking the brittle peace in the carriage.

When the carriage pulled to a stop in front of the Parker manor house, Elizabeth was out the door as soon as the steps were in place and a footman had his hand up. Max waited with extreme impatience for Maria to alight from the carriage, and then he hopped down and bolted for the ten men of his bodyguard.

Knowing how angry at Elizabeth he himself was, Michael was running after Max to keep him from doing anything stupid…or at least aggressively so. The young prince had found his men and was already giving orders by the time Michael caught up.

“Have your men ready to leave after breakfast tomorrow morning. We will ride in reasonable stages, but Sir Michael and I have to spend some time tonight with Lord Parker and his maps to pick the best route.”

“We’re leaving?” Michael asked. “What the Hell happened to hiding here? You know, your father’s order?”

“His order no longer matters. There have been no rumors or sightings of him and my mother since the revolution began.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re dead.”

“No, but it does mean they are not out there leading their people, providing inspiration and direction to those who would follow. If Father is not out there, then I must be. Someone has to stand up and oppose Khivar, or he wins by default.”

Michael put his hand on Max’s shoulder and used it to whip him around.

“Remove…your…hand,” Max said, “or lose it.” His voice was thick with frost, not the burning anger that Michael was expecting, and he had no doubt Max was currently crazy enough to do it. Michael’s hand flew off of Max’s shoulder, and the hidden prince turned to his bodyguard and went back to work. “Make sure you have rations for two weeks at least. We will buy more on the road.”

Max marched into the manor house and headed for Lord Parker’s library, assuming the man would be there at this time of the night. As he suspected, Jeffrey was there, talking to Maria and Tess. It looked to him like Elizabeth had gone straight to bed, so while he waited in the hall for the girls to finish talking with their father, he headed to the kitchen to see if there was anything left from the evening meal.

Finding nothing, Max paced impatiently outside the library as he waited. Once the women left, and Lord Parker followed behind them, Max stopped him with a peremptory wave.

“Lord Parker.”

“Yes, Sir Zan?” Lewis half turned toward Max, wondering what he had done that had sent Elizabeth running to her room, crying all the way.

“I require your presence in your library, now, with all your best maps of Alemannia and Krakovia. You may want to order up a large pot of coffee, for we have much to do and likely will be up most of the night.”

Max’s mind was not working correctly, or else he would not have given such blunt, direct orders to a man who was supposed to be his superior, but all that mattered to him now was Elizabeth’s charge of cowardice and his overriding need to cleanse the stain from his honor.

Maria and Tess were both standing at the other end of the hallway, mouths agape, as they listened to the newly-minted knight run his mouth off at their father. What got them going even more was that their father barely hesitated before doing as he was told. Max headed into the library just as Michael came strolling up, and Jeffrey found a member of the night staff so he could order a large pot of the strongest coffee in the kitchen. The girls just stood there looking at each other and then at the open library doorway, until their father finally sent them to their rooms.

“Do you believe that?” Maria asked.

“Who is he?” Tess wondered.

“I oughta kick his ass.” Maria nodded her head, as if her suggestion was most reasonable.

“With what? You no longer have swords.”

“Umm…no clue.” Deflated, Maria headed for bed, but not before passing by Elizabeth’s room and hearing sniffles coming from inside. She wondered if she should try to explain to her about the half pay system and that Michael and Max’s positions with the army were covered by other officers. She didn’t think that was a nicety Elizabeth would consider to be relevant to her objection.

Tess had already turned into her room, and hadn’t hear Elizabeth’s sniffles at all. She didn’t know what had caused Elizabeth’s emotions because Maria had kept that part of the night to herself, figuring Elizabeth would say what she wanted Father to know in the morning.

The rest of the night was spent in making plans, once Max sealed off both ends of the library hallway to keep any eavesdroppers well away. The three men evaluated the terrain, the likely political situation in Alemannia, which border crossing would be safest for a man who was wanted, and his choice of destination, before coming up with the optimal route for Max, Michael, and Max’s bodyguard to follow.

Once the route was mapped out, Lord Parker wrote out an account of the events leading to Max’s knighthood and sealed the document with purple sealing wax and his signet ring. The document was then placed between two sheets of waxed paper and then in an oilskin pouch to protect it. This document was Max’s proof, along with Michael’s testimony, that he was an adult under the laws of Alemannia even though he was not yet twenty. This would be essential once they reached Borussia.

While Lord Parker was writing out that document, Max was writing out one of his own. It was for the Fuggieri bankers, and signed by him and sealed with his royal signet. It gave Lord Parker explicit permission to use Prince Maximilian’s bank plate to make purchases in his name.

Once Max handed the document and the bank plate over to Lord Parker, he explained that what he needed was for him to begin purchasing supplies for a large army, enough supplies to last an Alemanni winter. Since fall was already upon them, with no word of a major battle between the two sides, Max wanted Lord Parker to buy food, fuel for fires, warm blankets and tents, extra clothes, and plenty of medicines, as he thought it possible the loyalist army might actually survive until winter only to end up cut off from a friendly supply base. After Max made contact with the main loyalist army, he would send word as to when and where the supplies would be needed, so the wagons could get started and the supplies would be waiting.

Jeffrey began thinking of the warehouses he’d need to build on his estate and the wagons he’d need to buy. He made sure Max knew he’d have to send a rough estimate of the size of his combined army as soon as possible. That way, Jeffrey would have a better idea of how much to buy. Still, he was somewhat unsure of how much he’d actually be able to buy with the money from Max’s account, until he was told there should be plenty of money since his account had somewhere around 1.5 million gold pieces in it at last report. Jeffrey had been staggered to hear that amount and wanted to know how it was possible.

“Easy. My estates have been making a profit of roughly 50,000 golds a year forever. That profit has been going into a special Fuggieri account since the day my father took the throne, because he had to give up the duchy and its incomes to become king. That was four years before I was born. That money became mine once I was born, and it kept growing with each year’s addition from my estates, and with the small interest rate the Fuggieri pay me to let them loan my money out to other people.” Max then borrowed a couple of saddlebags of gold and silver from Lord Parker’s treasury to pay for the expenses of the twelve men and their fourteen horses as they tried to ride back home without getting caught.

The rest of the night was spent trying to decide where the king and queen were likely to be, and where the opposing armies were. The last thing Max wanted now was to stagger into Khivar’s men while trying to get home. Once they were done, Michael tried to take a catnap and then joined Max and his bodyguards for an early breakfast.

The twelve men were in the process of readying their horses for the trip, when the rest of the household began to eat. The three Parker women were surprised to see their father up and still wearing his clothes from the night before. Elizabeth was looking around the dining hall, not sure whether she wanted Max there or not. Her aching heart screamed yes, but her head defiantly said no.

Once they’d eaten, the girls were surprised a second time when their father insisted they line up in front of the manor house to give Sir Michael and Sir Zan a proper sendoff. So Lord Parker, his three daughters, and the senior members of the household staff waited out front, while the rest of the household staff went about their work.

The small troop of horsemen stopped when they saw their host, and then almost started again once Max saw Elizabeth. Giving in, albeit reluctantly, to his obligations to his host, the prince dismounted and motioned for Michael to do so also. Max led Michael down the line, starting with Jeffrey and ending with the least senior of the senior servants. Lord Parker got a quick bow and a firm handshake, Maria got a crooked smile and a more formal bow as she curtsied, while Elizabeth got Max’s coldest, most formal bow, which she answered with her deepest curtsey. Tess was next, and so on until the end of the line. Michael’s trip through the line was much different, with he and Maria almost hugging before settling for a bow and curtsey, while he and Elizabeth gave each other the shallowest, most hesitant of bows and curtsies.

Max had taken his leave and was about to remount, when he remembered something, changed his mind one more time, and came back to speak with Lord Parker.

“Milord,” Max said curtly, “may I have the honor of writing to your daughter, the Lady Elizabeth?”

“Why of course, Sir Zan. I would be pleased. Very pleased.”

Max bowed again, and Lord Parker replied in kind. Down at her spot in line, Elizabeth just smoldered. Max walked down and stood right in front of her, so close that his manly scent filled her nostrils with its heady fragrance.

“Hello, Elizabeth,” he said soberly, almost bitterly.

Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to talk with him, to make it all better, but she felt betrayed by what he had done just to be here. She felt her own honor was at stake in this matter and thus could not speak.

“You knew not what you spoke of, and yet you made a most serious accusation…an accusation that can only be disproved with blood, mine or someone else’s.”

Max looked her in the eyes then, hoping for some sort of reply. “No response then? Very well. One way of another, Elizabeth, you will see me again, I promise. I will either win back your trust, your respect, and your love, or I will die trying. You will either see a hero or a corpse.

“I will write you, as I have time, to tell you how the war progresses, and how my heart progresses also. As the army will be on the move, you need not trouble yourself about writing me back. But as you have tainted me with the broad brush of cowardice,” an almost instant hiss came from Tess, and Lord Parker looked at his middle daughter like she’d lost her mind, “it is likely you would not want to write me back anyway.”

Elizabeth realized something was wrong here. Max wasn’t acting like a man in the wrong, and she knew she didn’t know everything about him, but what other explanation was there? It finally motivated her to speak.

“Zan, if there’s something else going on here, something to do with the secrets you have not told me yet, then tell me now. Please! I love you, but I need an explanation.”

“I am not here to apologize, Elizabeth, and I sure as Hell do not feel compelled to explain myself to you now. You and your sisters have been kept from learning any number of things about me for your safety, and my security. Those reasons still hold. I will not sacrifice you, or your sisters, just to make my life easier.

“As for your charge, coward is a word that cannot be unsaid, Milady. The only way to clear my name now is through deeds, not words.” He smiled slightly, sadly, and added, “I do love you, Elizabeth, and hope to prove my worth as a man to you, I just hope my eyes are open the next time we meet.”

And then, Max reached into his traveler’s belt and fished out the heavier of the two rings. He took Elizabeth’s right hand in his left one, and once she opened it, he placed the ring in her palm and folded her fingers over it so no one else could see it.

“Would you please hold onto this for me?” Max asked. His voice was tired, as if his long night had suddenly caught up with him. “It is something for you to remember me by.”

With that, he turned on one heel and strode to his horse. Elizabeth caught the meaning of his statement about open eyes, and the idea that he might die, that this might be her last time to see him alive, broke her. As he mounted his horse, she was crying, wanting both to apologize for what just had to be a horrible mistake on her part, and yet somehow hold on tightly to her honor and make him prove himself.

Still angry with her for her half-informed insult, Max just managed to resist her tears, which were twin to the unshed ones he harbored inside, and led his men out the gate, toward the war, and out of Elizabeth’s life.

She ran to the gate of the property and watched the twelve man party until they rode out of sight. Then she chose to look at whatever it was Max had placed into her hand. As soon as she saw gold, she whipped her head around to make sure no one was close enough to see, then looked at the gold more carefully.

A man’s ring, she thought. Probably a signet, given what we suspect about him. She turned the ring in her hand to get a look at the device on the ring’s front. At least this will tell us what family he’s from, though I will likely have to ask Maria to identify to which family the beast belongs. Then she got her first look at the signet, and her heart nearly stopped. There was one heraldic beast known to every child in the kingdom; it was on every royal banner and the splendid uniforms of the King’s Legion.

The dragon.

Only four people in the kingdom owned dragon signet rings: the king, queen, crown prince, and princess, and there was no doubt which of those four had just handed this to her. Her beloved Sir Zan was in reality Crown Prince Maximilian. He wanted her to be the next queen. And she dared not tell a soul.

[Cardinal]

Chapter 38

On the Road Again

Upon waking up, Elizabeth been sure Max was hiding from his responsibilities, earning himself the name of ‘coward’ and damaging her honor in the process, but now she knew just the opposite, and she needed to sort out her thoughts. She safely tucked away the gold ring and went in search of her father. She figured he was the one person she was allowed to talk about “Zan” and his secret identity.

Once she showed Jeffrey the signet ring and told him of her easy-to-reach conclusions, he admitted that her Sir Zan was really Maximilian Evans, Crown Prince of Alemannia and Duke of Borussia. He wouldn’t, however, discuss Max’s plans with her. When she pressed him, he said, “Be satisfied with the mess you have already made of things, and pray that your suitor comes through this little war unscathed.”

Maria wasn’t as distraught as Elizabeth was over the disappearance of Michael and Max. Even though she and Michael had spent a wonderful evening together at the ball, she had always known he had little more than his martial skills and reputation as a knight to recommend him as a marriage prospect, so she hadn’t allowed her hopes to get out of hand. And after hearing of Tess’ triumph at the ball, she knew her marriage prospects had just gotten measurably better.

As for Tess, she suffered the least of the three Parker girls from the sudden departure of Max and Michael. Her greatest suffering had been at the Harvest Ball, and by the time she had left there, her nascent connection with Prince Kyle had eased the shock and hurt of seeing Max and Elizabeth’s strong tie.

True to their pre-ball wishes, the Parker family was now being included in the social whirl of the Krakovian capital. When callers came to visit, Maria and Tess threw themselves into their duties as hostesses, while Elizabeth forced herself to it, nevertheless carrying off her duties with grace and aplomb.

Female callers were readily welcome and enjoyed by all, but when male callers came, strange things happened: Maria found herself to be strangely disinterested though she tried her best, Elizabeth carefully deflected any interest shown in her, and Tess was uniformly cheerful, even though she had eyes for only one man.

And that one man paid her a couple of private visits, which was more than enough to draw the notice of both her sisters and her father. Jeffrey and Maria both warned her against getting her hopes up because Prince Kyle was too great a prize for a daughter of a baron to hope to catch. Lord Parker, however, was having problems saying that. Elizabeth merely contented herself with being there to support Tess in any way she could. All three of them, however, feared what he might be after. Consequently, they kept a close watch over his visits.

The Parker women resumed their normal studies, now that the Harvest Ball was over, with Jeffrey finding and hiring a dancing instructor personally recommended by the grand duke’s own instructor.

Other, smaller balls and similar entertainments came and went, and the Parker women went to them all, with the exception of any given by the Duke of Alfaro and his extended family. From that quarter there were no social calls and the Parkers would not have accepted them had there been. The two families weren’t in a state of war, but they were barely cordial to each other whenever they met. Only the presence of the grand duke had prevented any sort of unpleasantness at the Harvest Ball.

Besides working on her studies, Elizabeth spent her time collecting any and all information she could on the revolution back home. Every merchant who stopped at their manor on the way into Varshova was grilled for any little detail. Any Alemanni visitor who earned a place at her father’s table likewise found his or her brain sifted for any new piece of information.

She then took every rumor and so-called fact and put them together before trying to evaluate them to better decide which were likely true, which were possibly true, and which were almost certainly false.

Lord Parker watched with amazement and quiet pride as his middle daughter was becoming a self-taught intelligence officer right in front of his eyes. She made a few incorrect assumptions about Alemanni politics, which he stepped in and corrected, but for the most part, he thought she was doing fine.

And when Elizabeth didn’t have any visitors to hassle, she waited, seemingly in vain, for the first of Max’s promised letters. More than a month had gone by without word from him, when a merchant train stopped at the gate to the Parker manor. The merchant sold coal, which he had behind him in each of his twenty wagons, and he was headed for the capital to sell to people who were eager to be ready for the first cold snap of the season.

He told the gate guards he normally wouldn’t have stopped at a manor house, but this day was different as he had a letter in his possession that he had been paid to deliver into the hand of Lady Elizabeth Parker. One guard sprinted for the main house, and told the doorman, who stepped inside to tell a housemaid, which resulted in Elizabeth scurrying out of the house a minute later, with her dress held up high enough to keep her from tripping.

The merchant had already been handsomely paid by Max, but Elizabeth was so excited that she readily doubled the man’s pay from her own purse before snatching the letter from him and slowly walking back to the house.

Part of her wanted to rip open the letter on the spot, and devour its contents instantly. But the other part of her was a bit afraid after the way they’d parted. What if he’s found someone else? What if the anger remained and the love faded away? Then came the worst thought, the one that drove her to seek out a private place to read: What if this is a letter telling me he’s dead?

Elizabeth wanted to take her horse and a picnic lunch and ride to a far corner of their estate so she could take all the time she needed to read over this letter, but reasoned someone might think she needed an escort, so she nixed that idea. She settled on going to the same interior courtyard where she and Max had already shared so much.

Feeling her throat going dry, Elizabeth asked a servant to bring her a pitcher of well-watered wine and a goblet. Once she had her refreshment at hand, she sat on the coping of the fountain, nervously turning the carefully folded paper over and over in her hands.

She examined the address, and admired the elegant script with which it had been written. Then she flipped the letter over and looked at the large blob of red sealing wax that was unmarred by any sort of identifying mark. No signet ring. At least, none he’s willing to let anyone see accidentally.

Finally, Elizabeth took a large, fortifying drink of the watered wine and then used her brass letter opener, which she had collected from her own room while the servants readied her wine, to slide under the wax seal and open the letter without damaging the paper.

She closed her eyes and uttered a brief prayer before flipping over the letter and beginning to read. The funny thing, had anyone been watching her at the time, was that she was only able to make herself read the beginning of the letter with one eye open and the other firmly shut.


Dearest Elizabeth,

I love you.


She sighed and opened her second eye. He still loves me.


I know it may not have seemed that way when last we spoke, but an ancient philosopher once said your heart cannot be stolen from you, nor can you choose to give it away, instead, your heart, all on its own, surrenders itself. My heart surrendered itself to you some time ago, so as long as you hold on to it, I’m yours. Since there is no way I can stop loving you, all I can do is endeavor to prove myself to you so we can be together again.

I love you.

I wonder if you love sunsets the way I do. Up here in the hills, I have a wonderful vantage point and just saw the most glorious sunset filled with golds, purples, and pinks. It was breathtaking, but not nearly as good as it would have been with you by my side to share it with.

I miss you more with each passing day, and look forward to the moment I see you again, with my name cleared and the shine returned to your eyes. I cannot wait until I can claim those first two dances with you at the first dance after the revolution. Everyone will be so jealous of me.

I love you.

And because I love you, I am trying something new. In my education, poetry was never emphasized, but Michael recently introduced me to a poetry form he learned during his martial training in Cipango. It is called a Haiku, and I hope you will find it as charming and refined as I do.

Brilliant, beautiful
Most graceful Elizabeth
Dearly beloved


Elizabeth read the short, three line poem and wondered at its simplicity of form. Then she read it again and started to cry. Za…Maximilian is not just saying he loves me, she thought, he is showing it.


I do love you, Elizabeth. If you believe nothing else I ever tell you, please believe that.

And now for some boring details.

We’ve been gone from you for two weeks as I write this and tomorrow we will begin to ascend the mountain pass in front of us to re-enter Alemannia. The road has been mostly empty the past several days, and the men have been suffering the effects of the last heat of autumn. The road dust has been thick, especially after we left the stone-paved coast highway and took a dirt track into the hills three days ago.

It will be good to be on home soil once more, but that is when our danger begins to increase. Even though Michael used to be in the Royal Mountaineers and claims to have many friends there, we have to try and avoid them, because we have no idea which one of them may be secretly working for Khivar.

I am writing this letter by firelight, and the flames have almost guttered out, so I will close this brief missive with my wish to be remembered in your thoughts and prayers, as the road in front of us is fraught with danger.


Forever yours,

Zan


PS Michael says to please tell Maria that she is in his thoughts, as you are in mine.



Elizabeth’s first act was to reread the letter in its entirety, twice. She savored each mention of his love for her, especially the short poem he called a Haiku, and only then did she realize it had been five weeks since he had left, so the letter had taken three weeks in making its way back to her. Thinking back to what she remembered of the geography of the areas involved, that meant he had to be deep inside Alemannia by now, either close to his goal, whatever it was, or stopped and being held prisoner somewhere.

Please, God, let it not be the latter.

When Elizabeth finally composed herself, folded up her tear-stained letter, and left the comfortable quiet of the courtyard, she found both of her sisters waiting for her, while trying to look like they weren’t really waiting for her.

“Someone said you got a letter today, Elizabeth,” Maria said nonchalantly. “Who was it from?”

Elizabeth’s first impulse was to tell her it was none of her business, as she had no interest in sharing even the least part of her love letter with anyone. But then she remembered the line from Michael, and relented just enough to tell that.

“The letter is from Zan, and at the end, it says to tell you that…” Elizabeth looked back into the letter to make sure she got this right, “…Michael says you are in his thoughts.”

“Really?” Maria asked, as she maneuvered to try and get a peek at the letter.

Knowing she’d lose a wrestling match with Maria, Elizabeth finally folded the letter so that only the bottom line showed. Maria saw the writing and sighed as she slumped against a wall with a huge smile on her face. Elizabeth and Tess were so shocked by seeing such a girlish reaction from their older sister, that they both stood stock still with their mouths hanging open.

Maria finally noticed, and returned to her normal self quite quickly. “What? You would think you two knuckleheads had never seen a woman in lust before.” She stomped off then, without giving her sisters a chance to respond. Both were wondering if there was more to Maria’s feelings for Michael than just lust, but neither one was stupid enough to say so until Maria was long gone.

“Is our sister getting serious about Michael?” Elizabeth asked.

“It sure seems like it,” Tess giggled. “I have not seen a glare from her like that in some time.”

“I think if Michael had a noble title, she might have allowed herself to say ‘love.’”

“Mmm…maybe,” Tess said. “If that is true, then either you or I can ease her situation by getting married first.”

“But will Father allow either of us to marry while Maria is still unwed?”

“Arrrggghhh! You are right. We may all end up as old maids at this rate.”

While the Parker women discussed marriage prospects, Max was well into Alemannia, with his ten-man bodyguard and Michael. Each night they made a compact campsite well away from any road, and then the bodyguards took turns guarding them in two hour shifts.

So far in Alemannia, they’d seen nothing beyond small patrols by the local noble’s army. Nothing to indicate the presence of Khivar’s troops. In the few taverns they’d stopped in, the only consistent war rumor they’d heard was of Khivar’s forces storming south some time back before turning about and heading away at a more leisurely pace. What made that story interesting to Max was that Khivar had supposedly left behind a large enough force to lay siege to the Duke of Salzerei’s castle.

There’s no point in laying siege to that castle, Max thought, not unless he believes either my parents or my sister is holed up there.

He thought that was good information to have, but right now that information meant he had to avoid Salzerei entirely to avoid being captured. That meant taking a circuitous route that went west and then north that would add days to his trip home. But with no indications yet that Khivar had ever set foot in Borussia, home is exactly where he intended to go.

[Cardinal]

Chapter 39

On the Verge

Max was headed for his seat of power in Borussia, not only because he needed to take control there to make use of his army, but because it was the best place for him to learn what was really going on in the kingdom. During their journey so far, all he and his party had heard were various rumors, none of which had a hope of being confirmed or refuted while they were on the road.

As for what they saw with their own eyes, Max and Michael hadn’t run into much in the way of military patrols, other than regular ones by the local lords. The sentiment in the various towns and villages they passed through seemed to be that their lords weren’t keen on sticking their necks out to support either side.

“Humph,” Michael said, after they’d heard another version of the same story for the third village in a row. “Sounds like the small lords are too busy protecting what they’ve got to actually follow through on their obligations.”

“They might not be lords at all once this is over,” Max said. His voice was tightly controlled and full of dark promise. “At the very least any lord that failed to join his rightful king in battle will be heavily fined, paying for his part of the war with his treasury, instead of his troops.”

Max’s mood was dark for the rest of the day, until the dozen men made their way into a broad, shallow valley that Lord Parker’s maps said led right to the capital city of Max’s duchy.

“We ought to be only a few hours away,” Michael said. “This would seem to be a good time and place to make camp.”

“Yes, okay,” Max replied. “Just choose a spot and start making camp. I will be there shortly.”

While the men were gathering fuel for a cook fire, and arranging a picket line for the horses, Max’s mind was filled with vague memories of marble spires, colonnaded walkways, and lush gardens. Though the ducal palace had been his since the day he was born, he’d never spent much time there and hadn’t really cared to, but now that he was an adult and knew he was going to be living here once the war was over, he was thinking differently.

Everything was ready before Michael called Max back to camp. The tents were staked, the cook fire had been started, and a pot of water was being set into place over the crackling fire to be heated so they could make a serviceable stew out of dried beef, dried beans, and various herbs and spices. As Max waited to eat, happy that it wasn’t his turn to cook, he dug into both of his saddlebags and pulled out his precious supply of paper and ink.

The sheets of paper were kept between two thin sheets of wood which were slightly longer and wider than the paper. The two pieces of wood were then bound together to keep the paper secured. As for the ink, Max kept a decent-sized supply in two well stoppered bottles. That way, if one was damaged somehow, he’d still be able to write. As an added safety measure, he kept the ink and the paper in opposite bags just in case an ink bottle did break.

Michael watched with thinly disguised envy, not so much that Max had the tools for writing, but that his penmanship was exquisite. He’d seen a portion of the very first letter Max had written to Elizabeth, and had thought the elegant script by itself should have been enough to make the girl swoon.

As for himself, he could write, and knew he was lucky to have that skill, but his penmanship looked angular and cramped. It was nothing with which to impress a lady. And then he wondered why he should even worry about impressing a lady. He was a knight of humble birth and mean reputation. To top it off, he had no prospects for elevation to the kind of rank and wealth that might make his suit palatable to both his lady and her father.

Still, seeing his next king sitting there, struggling to find something meaningful to say to Elizabeth after a long, boring day in the saddle, when a man of his position had no need to woo a woman at all, made Michael wonder if he should at least make the effort. I wonder if Maria would be the type to like a letter?

When dinner was called, Max set his letter aside, ate quickly before washing his hands and returning to his writing.

Elizabeth was home that very day, as she was most days, and between her tutoring sessions and her obsessive search for any scrap of news from back home, she was mostly able to deal with Max’s extended absence. But when she couldn’t hold back her feelings any longer, she disappeared into her room, locked the door behind her, and pulled Max’s letters out of their special resting place: an expensive black lacquerware box she had inherited from her mother. The box normally did nothing but sit on her writing desk and look pretty, but now that she was receiving letters, and love letters at that, her box was beginning to fill, sheet by sheet.

Once she had her prized letters in hand, Elizabeth climbed into bed wearing nothing but a shift, snuggled under the covers, and then read and reread each part of both letters she had received to this point. She had no doubt that more letters were on their way, but right now the two she had were would do. She pored over them, savored every word, and continued committing them to memory.

After Max’s impromptu assignment of Lord Parker as the quartermaster of the loyalist forces, he had thrown himself into the job with a passion. Workmen had already erected a series of warehouses on the back of the property, and they were already being filled with durable goods like blankets and such. Food would come later, but contracts for various foodstuffs were already being signed in anticipation of the need.

But Jeffrey already had a need that had to be filled, and soon. This base that he was building up was only the beginning. He needed to start construction of a more substantial supply base in Alemannia so the supplies would be much closer to the army once Prince Maximilian called for them. The new supply base would likely be in Roswell itself so his own small army could guard it, but he needed to send someone trustworthy to oversee construction and take charge of the base.

Jeffrey already knew he was going to choose one of his girls. He’d seen to it that they had the needed education, and he’d given them chances to prove themselves along the way, so he had confidence they could get the job done. First, he eliminated Tess from consideration, as he just wasn’t sure she had developed the strength of character needed to stand up to unruly teamsters, especially not at the tender age of fourteen.

He was sure Maria could do the job, but her method of getting cooperation when things got tough was to bludgeon everyone in her path until they did as she wished; that made for hard feelings all around, and future trouble with her workers.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, used smiles and soft words, until the people she was dealing with found themselves eagerly doing her bidding, and only later wondering how it had happened.

Jeffrey knew which way would work better over the long run, so he summoned Elizabeth into the library one morning, and gave her the assignment. Thrilled to know she had been chosen for such an important duty, she immediately went to her room and directed her maids in the packing of her belongings, as she fully intended to be on her way after the next morning’s breakfast.

The one item she packed herself was the lacquerware box that contained her most precious possessions. Even though the box was made out of hard wood and had been covered with layers of lacquer to form a protective coating, Elizabeth wrapped the box further in an old shawl, after checking to make sure her letters were safely tucked inside, and then placed the bundle in one of her saddlebags.

She left the next morning with a few maids and an escort of fifty armored horsemen, which were fully half of Lord Parker’s available men. Elizabeth chose to ride her own horse, but she and her people were accompanied by several wagons of supplies for the trip, one of which contained a large chest of gold for the start of the construction of the new supply base.

In her saddlebags were letters to the captain-general of Lord Parker’s army, his castellan, and his steward. The letters effectively put all three men under Elizabeth’s direct command, until such time as Lord Parker himself arrived on the scene. Both Jeffrey and Elizabeth knew that would not be until after the war was over, but if thinking he was coming sometime soon soothed male egos so they would work with her, then Jeffrey didn’t mind implying it.

Elizabeth knew that a new wagon train of supplies would be sent to her every few days, once she’d had a couple of weeks to get a few buildings built, which meant she needed to get the local sawmill going and secure a supply of logs for the mill to cut into planks.

All day as she rode, she went over various contingencies in her mind, until she decided she could make use of the men her father had placed under her command. She realized it would be stupid to try and do everything herself, so she’d assign some of her tasks to the people working under her. Having realized she wasn’t going to be doing this alone, Elizabeth relaxed a bit and made smaller plans, figuring she’d wait to talk to her people before trying to do anything specific.

It was only when her evening meal was complete each day that she allowed her thoughts to settle on Max. She wondered where he was and what he was doing. Was he safe, or at least as safe as a knight could be during a war? Only when she had thoroughly cleaned her hands, and was snug in her tent, did she dare to open her letter box. This was the one part of this assignment she did not like: any new letters from Max would have to travel all the way south to the outskirts of Varshova before her father packaged them up with any instructions he had for her, and sent them back north to her in Roswell. She wished she could somehow tell Max she was moving closer to him, both in the hope of getting her letters faster…and in the very slight hope he might be able to visit her.

While Elizabeth was headed toward her old home, Max was about to enter his new one. On the day she was leaving the manor on the outskirts of Varshova, he was leading his eleven men into the city. To anyone who looked, they looked like just another troop of road-weary mercenaries looking for a job guarding a merchant’s wagon train. Each man sat ramrod straight in his saddle, but they were covered with a little sweat and a lot of road dust, and their horses looked to need a serious grooming.

Of the twelve men, only Michael looked like anything out of the ordinary, as he had pulled on his full battle armor for the first time since they had left the Summer Palace all those months ago. It was Cipangan samurai armor, all in black, and Max thought it would tend to bolster Michael’s claim to being the Black Knight, should such be necessary. Privately, Max also thought the armor would make it more likely for Michael to survive the throne room if things went really wrong in there today.

So it was that the few townspeople who saw the dozen men ride into town early that morning were surprised to see them head through town and toward the ducal palace, instead of heading for the merchant’s square to try to get hired.

The palace was located miles out of town, and people were prohibited from building any closer to the palace for reasons of aesthetics and security. Max had a plan, and had discussed it with Michael and his guards. Once they cleared the city and were covering the last miles before the palace, Max dug into his traveler’s belt for the ducal signet ring and placed it on his hand.

As they approached the open gate to the expansive palace grounds and began a slow trot up the gravel path, between a double line of towering cedar trees, Max looked around, truly seeing the grounds for the first time, and wondered what it would be like to go for a ride in these woods, or take a walk in the gardens. In his mind’s eye, there was only one hand holding his as they walked. Only one person allowed to ride by his side as they rode through the verdant parkland. Only one person who could be his duchess and princess.

Only Elizabeth.

He wondered if that would be something good to include in his next letter to her, that he’d had a waking dream, and it had been of her, of them, and that he’d wanted it more than he knew how to express.

Max found his thoughts jarred back to the present as he reached the foot of the broad stairway that led to the massive iron-bound oak front doors. All twelve men dismounted, and Max headed up the steps with Michael at his side and the other ten spread out behind him.

“Well,” Michael said, “we’ve made it this far.”

“True, but the hard part is just coming up.”

[Cardinal]

Chapter 40

A New Home

Max left his ten man bodyguard at the bottom of the steps to watch the horses, and to keep from freaking out the two armed guards who were flanking the massive oak doors at the top of the steps. Max and Michael had almost reached the guards, when Max remembered he needed the documents from his saddlebags. It only took a minute for him to retrieve the documents and return to where Michael was waiting.

“Oops. Almost forget something important back there?” Michael asked knowingly.

“Yes. Just my sworn statement from Lord Parker that he knighted me.” Max looked up at the doors, and the soldiers, each wearing a green tabard embroidered with a golden eagle. He took a deep breath, and said quietly, “There is one thing I have not really told you yet.”

“Hmm?”

“Even though I am the crown prince, here in Borussia things are different. This is where my family started in this world. We ruled here first, long before we took the throne of Alemannia, so while Borussians are proud their duke will one day be the king, they are fierce in their determination to have him as their duke, not their crown prince, until that time.”

“Sooooo…I need to call you Duke Maximilian, and not Crown Prince Maximilian?” Michael ventured.

“Correct.” Max said, as he held up his ring hand, showing Michael the glittering ducal signet. “When I am here, I am only the duke.”

“And the correct style for a duke is…?”

“Your Grace.”

“Got it.” Michael turned and gestured toward the doors looming at the top of the steps. “So, Your Grace, shall we go on then?”

“Yes, it is time for me to become Maximilian once more.” Max looked a bit pensive for just a moment, and then said very quietly, “I hope Elizabeth likes him when she meets him for the first time.” Then, a transformation took place in Max’s demeanor as he drew his years of training onto him like a suit of armor. This was who he was supposed to be. This was where he truly belonged, and today was the first day he was going to put his training to use.

“Come on, Sir Michael,” Max said, “we have a steward that needs to meet us.”

Only when Max and Michael approached the doors did the guards move from their statue-like stances. The guards had been watching the men since they’d dismounted and both were surprised to see the shorter, more plainly armored take the lead position instead of the elaborately armored knight. Once the two men drew close, the soldiers crossed their halberds, meaning to block the way, and uttered their challenge.

“Halt! Stand and be recognized.”

“My companion in the black is Sir Michael Guerin,” Max said. “While that may not mean much to you, he is known far and wide as the Black Knight.” Max was satisfied with the way the two guards’ eyes opened wide as they involuntarily looked at Michael once more. But as stunned as the men were to be facing a living legend, Max drew their attention back to himself with what he said next. “As for myself, I make no claim to any special fame. I have just come home to see what the steward has done with my palace while I have been away.”

Both guards looked at Max like he’d fallen out of the top of the stupid tree and hit his head on every single branch on his way to the ground. Michael chose that moment to speak up. “What he means to say is that his name is Maximilian Evans. He’s the Duke of Borussia, and he would very much like it if you let him into his own house.”

The guards exchanged looks that plainly said they were way in over their heads, a feeling that only multiplied when they looked back at Max - who looked almost bored with the proceedings - to find him holding up his left hand. The guards could see the signet ring, but had no idea what any particular one looked like. That decided it for them, it was time to get an officer out here.

One of the guards opened a door behind them and turned halfway to bellow for their officer to come support them. The officer was just a runt in their eyes, the third or fourth son of some unimportant lord, but he was supposed to know what to do in situations like this, and besides, if the runt made the decision, they couldn’t be blamed for it.

The two guards were soon joined by the officer, denoted as such by the gold scrollwork on the edges of his tabard, and the rank insignia on each shoulder, and by the short green horsehair crest on his helmet.

“What seems to be the problem this time, Perkins?” the officer asked with asperity. “Some old villager insisting the steward buy her goats? Hmm?”

That was the last thing the officer had time to say before getting his first look at Max and Michael. He stopped speaking and his eyes narrowed, especially when he saw Michael’s distinctive armor, but then he caught sight of the gold signet ring and stepped closer for a better look.

The young officer, a lieutenant by rank, blanched when he recognized the eagle that decorated the ring as being the same as the ones on the tabards of every soldier in the duke’s service. Not quite sure yet if this man was who he claimed to be, but very afraid to act otherwise, the officer backed up a step, bowed as low as he could and held it, while muttering at the muttonheads behind him to do the same.

“Rise,” Max said.

All three soldiers rose, with the lieutenant giving a terse command for the two guards to remain in place, while he guided the duke and his guest inside.

“Your Grace,” the lieutenant said, “I am at your service. What is your will?”

“Your name.”

“Arthur Fraser, your Grace.”

“Well, Lieutenant Fraser,” Max said, “where might I find my steward at this time of day?”

Holding out one hand as if intending to point the way, the lieutenant said, “He is undoubtedly in the throne room, Milord. He is known to handle your business before the noon meal so he can enjoy his afternoons.”

“Sounds like a sensible man,” Michael said.

“Yes,” Max replied, “let us hope he remains sensible when we meet him.” Max turned to the lieutenant. “Send someone to find the chamberlain. I have a few desires he can attend to while I go see the steward.”

The chamberlain took his own sweet time in coming, thinking he was being summoned by one of the self-important officers of the guard to handle something that a lesser member of the staff could handle. His first sight of Max was from across the room, a fairly long distance, so even though he had seen the young duke in the last couple of years, he didn’t recognize him at first. Only when he made his way across the room to where the two young visitors were standing did the chamberlain get a good look at Max’s face.

The chamberlain stopped on the spot and swept into a low, elegant bow. Max nodded his head in reply and asked the chamberlain to stand. He could see the questions piling up behind the older man’s eyes, but those would have to wait for some other time.

“Lord Chamberlain,” Max began, as the man stood once more, “I have ten men and fourteen horses outside. I need for the horses to be seen to as soon as possible, so my men can join me inside.”

“Very good, Your Grace.”

“As for Sir Michael,” Max pointed to the darkly armored knight standing behind him like a wraith, “prepare a suite for him immediately next to my rooms. My other men will require housing with the household knights. Once I am done establishing my credentials with the steward, we will want to clean up and eat.”

“As you command,” the chamberlain said, as he bowed his way out of his duke’s presence and began to fulfill his duties, pointing at a loitering page, and saying, “You, Boy!! Go to the stables and let them know they have work to do. Fourteen horses, and among them are horses belonging to the duke himself.” He then summoned a passing housemaid. “Whatever you are doing can wait, Girl. Right now, I need you to bring your mistress down here immediately. Once she is here, I will have more for you to do…now go!”

The rest of the chamberlain’s preparations happened out of Max’s hearing, as he motioned for the lieutenant to guide him and Michael to the throne room. As they walked down the grand gallery, the three men passed another pair of burly guards every fifty feet or so, until they reached the ornate, brass-bound doors to the throne room.

At the lieutenant’s approach, the guards opened the doors and the three men walked into an expansive anteroom with liberal seating along the walls for people who were waiting their turn to enter the throne room. There appeared to be a few petitioners waiting their time with the steward, but Max ignored them and headed straight for a clerk, who had a standing desk in front of the inner doors that led into the throne room itself.

Not wanting word of his arrival to somehow reach the steward before he himself did, Max stood directly in front of the clerk and didn’t say a word, choosing instead to wave his signet ring under the man’s nose.

That got him instant attention.

“I believe I am next on your list,” Max said casually.

“Uhhhh….y-y-yes, Sire. I mean, yes, Your Grace. In fact, I can show you in now, if you would prefer.”

“Thank you for the offer, but Sir Michael and I will wait until the current petitioner is finished.” Max stepped back and told Michael to move a few feet away from him. Once they were a decent distance apart, Max cast a shimmering green shield around each of them, and then tweaked the shields so they became transparent. He knew something of the security provisions in the throne room and figured if he and Michael were to have problems, this would be the place.

“Make sure your katana is loose in its scabbard,” Max said, as he checked his sword just to be safe.

Michael did as he was told, even though he was somewhat surprised after how easily things had gone so far. “Why the sudden worry?”

“In the throne room, there are four hidden niches at various points. There are expert archers in each. Their view ports are constructed in such a way that they can all see and shoot at the area where the petitioners stand, but none can see or shoot at the dais itself.

“Those are just the security provisions I remember. There may be some I have forgotten, and some may have been added since the last time I was briefed. Just be wary. The steward may not want to give up his position of power just yet.” Max then lowered his voice so that Michael could barely hear him. “My biggest fear is that Khivar has gotten to the steward and offered him something if he keeps my army out of the rebellion.

“Maybe the guy is just a big coward,” Michael said, pausing as Max bristled at that word, and then saying, “Or, the inactivity of your army could be the fault of your captain-general.”

Max’s ten-man bodyguard caught up to them then and Max assigned half of them to prevent anyone else from entering the throne room once he entered it; the other five men were to come along with him and Michael.

Their wait wasn’t long, and soon, the clerk was showing Max and Michael into the throne room itself. Michael looked around in awe at the ornate room. The floor consisted of alternating squares of white and black marble, and the path from the doors to the dais was covered with an intricately embroidered silk carpet that covered the entire width of the path. Flanking the carpet were widely spaced fluted columns with Corinthian capitals that were gilded with gold leaf. The walls were somewhat distant, but now that Michael had been alerted about what to look for, he was able to spot six of the hidden niches and supposed there could be more he hadn’t seen. Max was right…they have added some security provisions since he was last here.

When the two men reached the point for petitioners to stop, which was indicated by the two burly halberd-wielding guards who stepped into their way, the steward looked up from his schedule and peered down at the two seemingly mismatched men. “You do not appear to be the representatives from the local blacksmithing guild.” The steward paused. “A large knight wearing black armor that matches every description I have ever heard of that worn by Cipangan samurai, and younger man who is more simply arrayed in chain mail and leather.” He directed his look at the man who obviously looked to be in charge, namely Michael. “Please introduce yourselves and tell me what you wish from me, Sir Knight.”

Michael smiled grimly. “My name is Sir Michael Guerin, and I am the bodyguard of and companion to the recently knighted man standing here with me. His name is Sir Maximilian Evans…” Michael heard a hissing intake of breath from the steward, “…but you likely know him better as Duke Maximilian.”

Max chose that moment to remove his helmet and its attached chain camail from around his head and neck. That was enough to get the steward to nod. The hair is much shorter now, the steward thought, and he is filthy like I have never seen a member of the House of Evans be before, but it is definitely the duke.

The steward rose instantly from his chair, which was on the dais, but set in front of the throne so no one would think he was usurping the duke’s position. He stepped down off the dais and approached Max, who started to raise his signet ring for the steward’s inspection. The steward didn’t wait for the ring, however, and bowed low before his duke.

“I do not need to see the ring, Your Grace, for I remember your face.”

“Then rise, my steward, and tell me your name.” The man’s name was Robert Schmidt, and it turned out his family had a long history of service with the Dukes of Borussia. Once he introduced himself, Steward Schmidt remembered Michael’s introduction of Max as including the declaration that he was a knight. He believed them, but as the steward, he needed proof before handing over control of the duchy. Otherwise, the king might have his head.

Max handed over the paperwork from Lord Parker, and after a careful perusal of it, the steward found everything to be in order and loudly proclaimed to everyone in attendance that the Duke of Borussia had come home to take up the rule of his people.

Just as Max started to turn to face the small crowd of courtiers in attendance, all of them dropped in low bows. At that moment, four arrows raced out from some of the hidden guard niches and headed for Max’s chest.