Duke Reginald and Lady Margaret had planned to go back to
Denville Castle when they left Walsken, but Duke Reginald suddenly
became very weak. Alexander talked them into coming back to Winslow.
In Duke Reginald's absence, there was no one to rule Bernodia. Thus, the
assignment fell to Alexander. Alexander would make the trip up to
Denville every couple of months to take care of things there, spending a few
weeks on each trip. He always took Marie and a few of the Royal guard
with him. Marie was seven by then, and as good a horse rider as any man.
Traveling light, they could make the trip in just over a week. He
spent much of his time visiting the villages. The people of Bernodia loved
the young princess, as they did her father. Alexander always made sure he
took her the week of the Esconodian market. They always came back with
something new, and Marie would spend hours in the gardens with him
testing the new plants. Many of the new foods Alexander had introduced
into their country had grown and done well. He helped to open up markets
in the south for the Bernodians sell their products.
Strawberries had become a luxury in the south, and there was a big
market for them. Corn was also something that sold well. Some
Bernodians even made a business selling honey candy. As Alexander
started ruling Bernodia, he used what tax money was collected to help build
roads and bridges to further develop the trade.
Increased revenues in Bernodia made increased money in the
treasury, and Alexander used that for the education of his people. There
was a new invention, a machine called a "printing press", that made it quick
and easy to print books. Alexander had no sooner heard of it than he
purchased one for Denville Castle and was spreading books through
Bernodia and then into the south. He hired tutors that would travel through
the land, spending six months at a time in a village, teaching those who
wanted to learn how to read. The people of Bernodia began to gain more
wealth and prestige in the kingdom.
Louise missed Alexander and Marie during the times they were
gone, but she knew he had to do the work. After Alexander had been
shouldering his father's duties for about six months, Duke Reginald took a
turn for the worse.
Louise sent Captain Jason Richins to Bernodia to bring Alexander
and Marie back, not knowing how long Duke Reginald would live. By the
time Alexander and Marie arrived, Duke Reginald could hardly speak. One
of the last things he did was to make Alexander and Louise promise not to
forget the people of Bernodia. He expressed his love to each of them. He
took Louise's hand, thanking her for being part of his life.
Duke Reginald, just like his son, was always gracious and kind. She
felt it was she who should be thanking him. He had raised a son that was
such a great man, and Duke Reginald had been like a father to her.
Duke Reginald died, and they buried him near Denville castle, in a
little cemetery that was on a rise overlooking the lake. Louise hurt to see
Alexander's sorrow at the loss of his father. As far as she knew, Alexander
had never been at odds with his parents as she had with hers. He had
always been close to them.
Alexander tried to stay strong for their mothers, for Louise, and for
Marie. Yet there were times he would go out in the gardens to be alone, and
Louise knew he was crying. Since he had come to Winslow, he had started
his own large gardens outside the palace walls. There were quite a few
servants that worked with him, but he had things he alone worked on. He
almost always took Marie with him, but after his father died, there were lots
of times he went alone.
Alexander was always a pillar of strength for everyone else, never
expecting anything in return. Sometimes it seemed no one was there for
Alexander like he was there for everyone else. Louise tried, but she felt so
inadequate. When Duke Reginald died, Marie wasn't yet eight. There were
times she would miss her grandfathers and would run to her father and sob
in his arms. She would want to know where they were, and Alexander
would know just the right things to say. Soon she would be comforted and
would go back to her activities, until the next time she needed some
consolation.
Lady Margaret and Queen Ellen relied a lot on Alexander's strength
as well. He was always there to brighten the day for them. Everyone relied
on Alexander. He took on duties within the palace too, to help Louise, like
presenting the medals at the dueling tournaments and other contests. She
could still remember how proud Alexander was when a Bernodian, Captain
Richins's young son, Jacob, won the national dueling tournament at the
unbelievably young age of sixteen.
Alexander still traveled as far and wide as possible, taking Marie
with him. Though he was now governing Bernodia and sustaining Louise
as she ruled as queen, he wanted to meet as many people as he could. It
would not be uncommon for Louise to hear a report of Alexander coming
upon some elderly person, a child, a pregnant woman, or someone else in
need walking down the road, only to put them on his own horse or in his
own carriage.
She always wondered what she would ever do without Alexander.
Every summer Alexander and Louise would take their mothers and Marie to
Walsken. Those vacations were always such a wonderful time for all of
them.
Louise had only traveled north to Denville Castle twice after Duke
Reginald's funeral. The first was almost two years later. Alexander asked
her to accompany Marie and himself to the Escondian Market. At first she
thought she was too busy, but at the last minute, she changed her mind and
went. She didn't even know what made her change her mind, but she was
glad she did.
She left everything in the care of Lord High Chamberlain. It was so
fun walking through the market again - a walk down memory lane.
Everyone bowed and curtsied to her and called her "Your Majesty". She
would have preferred to be there like the time when they were younger
when she was not queen. They just called Alexander "Alexander" and not
"Prince Alexander" or "Duke Alexander" or "Your Lordship" or anything.
She envied him for that.
Gareg was still there, albeit he was getting older, saying he would
continue to come until he couldn't make the trek anymore. He had some
seeds from a plant he called a sunflower. He said that Princess Marie would
love it. Louise laughed as Marie bought the sunflower seeds from Gareg at
full price. Alexander let her bargain on her own, and she was no better than
he was. She would bargain for beautiful necklaces and intricately carved
jewelry boxes, but she always gave in to Gareg just like her father had.
Marie was nine years old - almost ten - and had her father's love for
plants and people. She was already growing into a beautiful, young lady,
with shimmering long, ebony hair of her mother, but she had Alexander's
pleasant smile. Louise felt that Marie was going to be the most beautiful
girl in the whole kingdom.
Since this was her first time back in many years, Louise had hoped
to go to the mountain village. She wondered how Nell was doing. She
would be a grown woman and probably have a family of her own. She may
not even be in the mountain village anymore. Her grandmother was
probably long gone. Louise wondered if Alexander knew what had become
of Nell, but she never remembered to ask him.
Louise also recalled the second time to Denville. It started with a
dreadful day later in the summer. Alexander and Marie, now barely ten, had
left two days earlier, heading to Bernodia. Louise was in court when
Captain Jason Richins, exhausted and dirty, came bolting into the throne
room unannounced and said there had been an accident. It had been a dry
year, and they had come upon a small hamlet in the path of a forest fire.
Some of the small homes were burning. The royal party rushed to be of
assistance.
A frantic mother screamed that her little girl was in the fire.
Alexander had rushed in after her. He had gotten the child out, but was
horribly burned. They had taken him to Walsken, which was not too far
away from the village.
Louise immediately left for Walsken. Captain Richins, though
exhausted from riding straight back to Winslow, insisted on going with her,
as did Lord High Chamberlain. They rode the rest of the day and all
through the night, arriving at Walsken late the next day. She found
Alexander burned and bandaged, unable to speak. Marie was there, tears
pouring down her face.
Louise knelt by his side, and all she could say was, "Oh Alexander!"
as she started to sob. He reached his bandaged hand out and gently touched
her face. He took her hand in his and touched it to his lips to tell her he
loved her. He reached out to Marie, who fell at his bedside sobbing. He
touched his lips with his fingers and then he put them to Marie's face.
They buried him by his father in the cemetery near Denville Castle.
Chapter 14
The Change In Marie and the Terrible Foreboding
The whole kingdom mourned the loss of Alexander. Flowers poured
in to Winslow, Denville, and Walsken. It seemed everyone in the whole
kingdom knew and loved Alexander. Other things came in, too. There was
honey candy, strawberries, potatoes, corn, books, and everything else that
Alexander had so lovingly brought to his people.
The gifts far surpassed their ability to store them. When Louise
asked Lady Margaret what Alexander would have done, the answer seemed
obvious; they distributed the items to the poor.
Even though she still had Marie, her mother, and Lady Margaret, the
loss of Alexander created an emptiness that was impossible to fill. Lord
High Chamberlain, who was just slightly younger than her own father,
became her greatest friend and confidant. It was he who helped her recover
from her grief.
It was not uncommon for her to be right in the middle of court when
something would trigger a memory, forcing her to excuse herself, overcome
with emotion. Lord High Chamberlain was quick to cover for her.
She was concerned about Bernodia. The rightful ruler was Marie,
but Marie was only ten. She knew she, herself, couldn't cover both
responsibilities. She made a decision. Ever since her coronation there had
been bad feelings from her cousin, Tobias. He wanted some kind of
appointment, and she thought this might be the perfect opportunity. He
could govern Bernodia until Marie both reached her eighteenth birthday and
was married.
He accepted it readily. She hoped the people of Bernodia would
accept him. They were always suspicious of outsiders, but they had
accepted her. She knew a lot of that was because of Alexander. She hoped,
since Tobias was her cousin, the people would respond well to him. He
became Duke Elnard, using his more formal second name.
For some reason, Matthew was much more restrained in his support
of Tobias, and, in fact, advised against it, but she appointed him anyway.
She just figured that during the time they were in the Royal Guard together,
their personalities just hadn't meshed well.
She was glad to have that worry off of her mind, because she had
more immediate concerns. Not long after Alexander's death, Marie began
to change. It started with the gardens. She went out and pulled up all of her
sunflowers. They were beautiful, and she and her father had been proud of
them. They were taller than anything in the gardens, even though they
hadn't even had a full season.
Louise knew Marie was just exhibiting anger at the loss of her father
and thought she would eventually get over it. Louise tried to speak to Marie
- to comfort her - but Marie refused to be comforted. She would say she
was fine, but in the next instant she would strike out at people. Though she
rode other horses, she refused to ride Yadee anymore, but beat a pageboy
until he was bloody for an unintentional remark he made about her horse.
She even refused to dress the part of a princess. It started out
gradually but got worse and worse. She refused to wear her beautiful
dresses, but wore simple ones that made her look like a servant. Her
grandmothers would love her and encourage her, but even they didn't seem
to have enough influence. Soon she wouldn't wear a dress at all, dressing
instead like the pageboys.
Once, Louise had tried to stop this by having all of the boys' clothes
taken from Marie's room. She refused to change out of the one set of
clothes she had on, and threw the dresses in the rubbish pile. She kicked the
servants until they begged Louise to allow them to give her the clothes she
wanted.
Louise, at a loss as what to do, felt she had to give in. Within a few
years, Marie would strike at anyone and everyone. Louise wondered what
had happened to her beautiful, sweet little girl. She found herself giving in
more and more to Marie's selfish desires. Marie seemed to fight anything
that reminded her of her time with her father.
She refused to read. She would hit any tutor that tried to tutor her.
She would wrestle with the pageboys, who didn't dare defend themselves
for fear of reprisal for inappropriate action toward the princess. They would
take a real beating at her hands and were afraid of her.