Don't Forget to Dream (19 page)

As the second day after the courier had arrived drew to a close
,
Rhyla felt close to tears. She had known that Callum, Prince Callum as she forced herself to th
ink of him, would one day marry.
She
had been constantly surrounded by the possibility and seen the proposed brides. But Prince Callum had shown no more than courtesy to the Ladies Madeline and Sarah, and Queen Aletta had not encouraged either as potential matches. Princess Annabel was a completely different consideration. No longer was it just the marriage of a Prince but a
political consideration as well.
It
was not unheard of for such a marriage to be arranged without the couple having ever met.

That evening Rhyla was pleased that Lady Emelia requested their meal be brought to her chambers so she would not have to listen to further speculation in the Great Hall or the women
’
s hall. Lady Emelia was very astute in her assessment as to the cause of Rhyla
’
s altered behaviour. While Elsie was collecting their meal from the kitchen she only spoke briefly of the potential marriage.

“
All this talk of marriage is ridiculously premature for my liking. The girl is at least two years from marriageable age. I think we shall spend our days in the sunroom or the gardens for a while. Any further ill-informed speculation will truly irritate me.
”

“
Yes my lady,
”
was all Rhyla could say. She spoke only briefly during the meal and picked half-heartedly at her food.

Retiring early while Elsie completed her evening chores, Rhyla knew as she lay down she had no desire to sleep but neither did she wish to s
tay awake with a heart wrenched with
pain
.  Nausea overwhelmed
her every time she thought of Prin
cess Annabel; a girl not yet a woman
but
still someone who could cause
a dagger to
pierce
her heart
,
even in her innocence.
There
was no possibility that she could love Prince Callum yet she would likely be
his wife. As her thoughts wandered to Prince Callum she wished that her feelings
towards him
woul
d vanish.  S
he
wished she could rip
out
these feelings
and throw them in the fire to be reduced to ashes. 
She
had finally start
ed to close the door on those
recently discovered emotions.
Why were they rising to the surface again?
When Elsie finally crept into the room attempting not to wake Rhyla, who she assumed was sleeping, Rhyla still had no answers as to how she was going to stop loving the first man she had ever cared for, and could never have.

The following morning Rhyla rose from a restless sleep with a grim determination to focus on her tasks at hand. She would not be able to avoid hearing the talk of Princess Annabel but Lady Emelia would keep them away from the women
’
s hall as much as possible, which would help. While Prince Callum was still out of the Palace she had an opportunity to lean on that door and seal away her desires. Later that morning Martin suffered as the o
utlet for her pent up hostility. N
ot only was he the only physical opponent she had but he was Callum
’
s best friend and attacking him was in some way a corporal representation of slamming her emotional door. Martin took the somet
imes wild blows with good grace.
He
too had heard the rumours and was not blind to Rhyla
’
s and his friend
’
s feelings.

Over the following days Rhyla made an effort to control her emotions. It was not Martin
’
s fault that Prince Callum had to marry and neither was it his fault that she had had the stupidity to fall in love with a Prince. Her sessions took on a more focused air as she used them to clear her thoughts and burn away her emotions with physical exertion and precise action. She was thankful to have the time every day where all she had to think about was the next movement of her arm and blade, of where to place her feet and how to p
arry the next blow.
T
houghts
of
her
past
, simple
life on the farm gave her a strange source of comfort which she so sorely needed at this time.

It was another four days before Prince Callum and his men returned to the Palace of Lestran. News of their return reached Lady Emelia and Rhyla as they were concentrating on correspondences from Master Stephen. Rhyla had accumulated quite a file of letters from him and had taken to recording the finances and estates information in an ongoing ledger so they could tally the accounts themselves rather than rely purely on Master Stephen
’
s reports and their own recall.

They were nearing the end of their work and were considering stopping for their noon meal when Elsie burst excitedly into the sunroom to announce Kyle
’
s long awaited return.

“
Have you heard
,
my lady?
”
she nearly sang as she closed the door behind her.

“
Heard what Elsie?
”
Lady Emelia asked despite the general increase in noise coming from all around the Palace
. It could only mean
the arrival of a large troop of men.

“
Prince Callum and Kyle are back,
”
Elsie announced practically dancing.

Lady Emelia smiled at her excitement,
“
And you want to have time to see Kyle this afternoon,
”
she said half laughing.

Elsie had the grace to blush and looked down
,
fidgeting with her skirt.
“
Yes my lady.
”

“
You can have the afternoon with him and return before supper,
”
Lady Emelia said sharing a broad smile with her ladies maid before turning to Rhyla.
“
I think we shall spend the afternoon by the little lake in the gardens. It is too lovely a day to remain inside.
”
Seeing Elsie standing restlessly by the
doo
r,
Lady Emelia dismissed her to fetch their lunch from the kitchens so they could dine in the sun room.

Rhyla
’
s thoughts wandered constantly during their meal. Knowing Prince Callum was back in the Palace made it all the more difficult to keep him locked away in her imaginary room. She found herself wanting to see him
, just to make sure he was well.
She
tried to convince her conscious thoughts. Deep down she knew she was looking for any excuse to see him again.

Once they had finished their noon meal Lady Emelia dismissed Elsie who fled from the sunroom. If anyone had been on the other side of the door they may well have thought her running from some misdemeanour or
escaping from a scolding for
her lack of decorum. Lady Emelia merely laughed softly and muttered briefly about youthful love.

Collecting the novel that they were currently reading and a blanket to sit upon with one arm, Rhyla assisted Lady Emelia from her chair with the other. They slowly made their way through the halls to the main entrance before proceeding down the great stairway to the
courtyard that
was now only a little busier than normal, and into the Palace Garden. Rhyla had only been there a handful of times since the very first day she had entered the Palace looking for her rescuer. As with every other time, when she entered the small gateway and walked down the path on which she had
walked when she
returned Prince Callum
’
s ring, and learned exactly who he was, Rhyla sighed and thought of that moment when she placed the ring back in his hand. It was no doubt only a token to him but to Rhyla it had come to be not just a very pretty bauble but a reminder of
the evening he had defended her - the
evening that had changed her life completely. Warring with her emotions for the Prince had c
aused her to regret returning the ring.
But
if she still had it, would things have worked out the same way. She concluded that having a gift from him would only make it that much more difficult to reign in her emotions, as if the Palace did not provide her enough reason to think of him several times a day.

If Lady Emelia had noticed a change or hesitation in her as they entered the garden she showed no sign of it. They proceeded slowly down the path
and into the heart of the garden. From their vantage point the garden sloped down to a small pond that was flanked by reeds on the far side with a small coppice beyond that. The slope and ground around the left of the pond was mostly grass with beautiful flower beds flanking a meandering path. At the base of the slope, between the path and pond stood a
large willow tree, beneath which
was a wooden bench. It was to this bench that Rhyla guided her mistress.

Rhyla dropped a blanket and the book under the tree before settling her Lady comfortably on the bench in the dappled shade of the willow tree. She then arranged her blanket upon the ground and made herself comfortable with her legs tu
cked under her skirt.
They shared a moment of silence looking out over the beautiful garden, at the blue sky reflecting off the water and relishing the warmth of early summer.

“
Would you like me to pick up where we stopped yesterday my lady?
”
Rhyla asked softly after they had been sitting in silence for several minutes.

Lady Emelia smiled contentedly,
“
Yes my dear, please do.
”

Rhyla opened the book and turned to the page she had marked with a short length of pale blue ribbon she had found in the scrapes pi
l
e in the women
’
s hall. She found her spot and started reading at the measured pace Lady Emelia enjoyed.

For a time th
ey lost themselves in the
tale unfolding before the
m;
a story of bravery, comradery
and dedication. It soon had
Rhyla
’
s emotions su
rging and tumbling along with that of the
historical characters.

The afternoon was half spent before their solitude was interrupted by a man c
learing his throat a little way
back up the path. Rhyla instantly stopped reading and swung around nervously to look up the slope. For a long minute she held her breath and felt her
heart skip a beat. She paled
as the intruder resumed his approach
. S
he felt a rush of colour return as her heart sped forward. To hide her blushes she placed her book down and started to rise.

“
No Rhyla, don
’
t get up,
”
Prince Callum said as he saw her movement.

Meeting his eyes, his warm blue eyes that instantly threw open the door she had closed on her troubling emotions and made her legs so weak
,
she
doubted she could have stood up.
She
nodded to break the spell.

“
Good afternoon Prince Callum,
”
she said formally as she sat back down, a little more stiffly than before.

“
Good afternoon Rhyla,
”
he said appearing a little uncomfortable before stepping to his grandmother
’
s side and kissing her gently on the cheek.
“
Good afternoon Grandmamma.
”

“
Callum my boy,
”
Lady Emelia said reaching out to clutch his hand.
“
It is so good to see you. We were told you had returned but feared we wouldn
’
t see you till supper.
”
Rhyla didn
’
t miss her inclusion in her mistress
’
s remarks.
She
busied herself finding and placing her bookmark while Lady Emelia continued.
“
You were gone so long
. W
e missed you. Did those lords cause you grief?
”

“
No Grandmamma, no more than usual in these matters. Lord Gareth insists he has fishing rights on the Altan River upstream from his dun. Where the river runs across his lands is shallow and boggy so they can
’
t catch much there. The disputed stretch of water runs through a section of Lord Dunlin
’
s hunting reserve. It seems some deer have been illegally hunted there and Lord Gareth
’
s men were seen nearby. It all got out of hand and some of the men eventually came to blows. There was no evidence Lord Gareth
’
s men had anything to do with the poaching. So after many days of listening to both parties I ruled the old fishing rights remained and both duns had to cooperate to increase patrols in the region to guard against further poaching,
”
Prince
Callum concluded his surmise of the situation so quickly that Rhyla sat looking at him with her mouth slightly open. That he could take such actions and decisions so calmly truly impressed her, but then he was a Prince with training she could never understand. As she mused on his duties Callum turned to look across the pond.
“
Father has had his report so I thought to relax a little in the garden for a time.
”
He turned back to his grandmother smiling warmly and gave her hand a quick squeeze.
“
And to my surprise I find the most beautiful lady in the Palace already here.
”
He may have been directing his words to his grandmother but his eyes flickered briefly to Rhyla who flushed once again but couldn
’
t suppress the upward curve of her lips quickly enough. Prince Callum smiled more broadly as Rhyla ducked her face away to examine the cover of the book
lying
in her lap.