The queen interrupted her. "We have just been discussing his
guardianship over Bernodia and the fact that you will rule there after you are
married, since you are now eighteen."
"That's nice, Mother. Have you seen Jacob?"
"
Who?"
Marie was sure her mother knew who she meant, but she didn't have
time for games. "Captain Richins."
"Not for some time. Why do you want him?"
Marie could sense an air of false innocence, and her anxiety level
was rising rapidly again as the music continued on. "It's the last dance!"
The queen raised her eyebrows. "Yes?"
Marie could contain herself no longer. "I saved the last dance for
him!" she blurted out.
The queen sat back calmly. "I'm afraid that will be quite
impossible."
"Why?"
The queen leaned forward and looked directly at her. "He has left
for the frontier."
Marie felt her heart almost choke her as she gasped for breath and
anger filled her heart. "You assigned him to the frontier?"
The queen shook her head and answered calmly. "No. He asked to
be sent there."
Suddenly, the shock of it took its toll on her, and Marie collapsed
onto the step, sure she was going to sob. "But he said he'd always be here
for me! Why would he choose to go there?"
Again the queen answered calmly, so calmly that it almost angered
Marie. "Think about it, Dear. Why would he?"
Marie couldn't think of anything. She turned to her mother. "Was it
because of me?"
The queen ambiguously rolled her head back and forth, not really
nodding, but not really shaking it. "Well, yes, I suppose it was."
Marie could feel the tears filling her eyes now. "Did I upset him?"
The queen shook her head. "I would say just the opposite."
Lord High Chamberlain could stand it no longer. "Oh, for cryin' out
loud. Just tell her that he is madly in love with her. Why do you women
have to make everything so complicated?"
The queen turned to him. "I was getting there, Matthew."
He took a deep breath and tried to quickly regain his composure.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Marie felt confused. "But why would that make him leave?"
The queen looked up at Lord High Chamberlain. "Would you like
to continue, Matthew?"
Lord High Chamberlain had an exasperated look on his face, but his
voice had a false calmness. "By all means, Your Majesty, you should be the
one to explain it."
Marie felt she could take little more of this. "Somebody better
explain it and soon!"
The queen turned back to Marie, "You see, Marie, you are the
princess; someday you'll be queen. He is a common soldier. By tradition, a
common soldier cannot marry a princess."
Marie had known this was tradition, but she had flagrantly
disregarded many traditions before. As the music came to an end, and the
dance was ended, her anger boiled over. "That is the stupidest thing I have
ever heard!"
The queen gasped at her outburst. "Excuse me?"
Marie stood up, yelling at the top of her lungs. She didn't care if
anyone heard her or not. She was well aware of the scene she was making
and that everyone was staring at her, but she didn't care. "Then let
somebody else be queen!"
The queen still remained calm. "You would give up being queen for
this man?"
"You can count on it!" Marie ripped the long white gloves from her
hands and tossed them to the floor.
"
You can have the fluffy dresses and
the ridiculous pomp! I can't believe I danced all night with so many self-centered, arrogant fools, only to have Jacob walk out on me! I want him
back."
The queen smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear."
Marie stopped. "What?"
The queen looked at Duke Elnard, who was scowling his
disapproval. She seemed to want to make a point to him at least as much as
to Marie. "There is no law that says you can't marry a soldier and still be
queen. I think you will make a wonderful queen, and he will make a
wonderful husband for you. I will send to the frontier to have him sent
back."
Marie turned to leave. "No!"
The queen called after her. "Where are you going?"
Marie hardly slackened her pace as she called back across the hall
full of staring people. "Where do you think? I'm going after him and bring
him back myself. He's got another thing coming if he thinks he can just go
walking out on me like this!"
As Marie disappeared out the door, the queen laughed. "Yay,
Marie!"
Lord High Chamberlain raised his eyebrows at her remark, but he
chuckled. Duke Elnard simply scowled. He turned to the queen. "I must
also excuse myself, for it is a long way home."
"You are not going to stay the night?" the queen asked.
Duke Elnard looked in the direction the princess had gone as he
answered. "I'm afraid I have some important business to attend to."
The queen nodded, and Duke Elnard bowed and left the hall. Lord
High Chamberlain watched Duke Elnard leave, and he, too, became very
serious. He turned to the queen. "With Your Majesty's permission, I will
accompany the Royal Guard to escort the princess."
The queen frowned. She could sense something in his tone of voice.
"What is it, Matthew?"
He smiled falsely but said, in as reassuring a way as possible. "Oh,
nothing. I'd just like to be there when she finds Captain Richins."
The queen smiled. "So would I. So would I. Yes, you may go."
He bowed and excused himself. The queen knew him well enough
to know there was more to it. She shook her head and spoke to herself.
"Something is bothering you, Matthew. I wish I knew what it was."
Chapter 30
Going After Jacob
Lord High Chamberlain strode into the clearing in the forest. He
could see immediately, by the look on Lieutenant Hashner's face, that
something was wrong. "Don't tell me she's gone again!"
Lieutenant Hashner saluted. "I'm sorry, Your Lordship. We no
sooner come to a halt, than she's dashing off through the forest to find him."
"Well, get her found!"
Lieutenant Hashner saluted and ordered the men of the Royal Guard
to spread out to find the princess.
Matthew could feel the anger and fear building in him. If his hunch
was right, the princess was in great danger. He swore to himself that he was
going to tie the brash young lady to her horse for her own protection.
They had searched for Jacob along miles and miles of the frontier.
They had proceeded far enough north that they were now in Bernodia, along
the Esconodian frontier, and his concern for the princess made him tremble.
He was leading this contingent and knew he was responsible for her safety.
But how does one protect someone that keeps running off?
He did have to admire her unconquerable spirit, however. She
didn't seem to fear anything. She had insisted on dressing as a man for the
journey, and he was grateful for that. It made her less conspicuous, but
nonetheless, she was not easily mistaken for a man.
Her search for Jacob reminded him of a previous trip, when he had
been in the contingent that had gone with Louise in search of Alexander.
But it wasn't as easy this time. They weren't sure what battalion he had
joined. Their search kept leading them farther and farther north, and if his
suspicions were right, they were in dangerous territory.
They had asked at each camp about word of new volunteers. They
had followed two other leads, but both times it was the wrong man. At the
last camp, when they caught word of a new recruit's sword fighting skills,
he was sure they were narrowing in on Jacob, but he couldn't shake the
feeling that danger lurked behind every tree in this area.
All indications were that the man they were now trying to find was a
captain. But why had he asked to man this small outpost alone? This
bothered Matthew. Jacob was a very sociable person, and he couldn't figure
out why he would want to camp off by himself. Jacob would know it was
dangerous. A lone man would be extremely vulnerable to attack.
But Matthew realized that Jacob was so in love with the princess it
might be that he almost wished to be killed so he wouldn't have to face
seeing her marry someone else. Matthew just hoped they could find Jacob
in time to save all of them.
Matthew smelled something. He sniffed carefully. Yes, it was the
smell of smoke, probably a campfire. He checked the direction the wind
was blowing. He looked at the direction Lieutenant Hashner had taken his
men. He had taken them too far east. They needed to turn their direction
farther north. Something told him he needed to get them and head to the
campfire, and do it quickly. He headed off through the woods in the
darkening dusk as fast as he could go. He thought to himself that he was
really getting way too old for this.
--------------------------------
Jacob sat alone by the campfire. He was quite a distance from the
main camp. He had joined this regiment in the north, inside the borders of
Bernodia, for many reasons. He himself was Bernodian. He was not raised
there, since his father was in the Royal Guard, but his grandparents lived
there, and he had many wonderful memories of Bernodia. He also had the
misconception that, by going a great distance away, he could run from his
pain.
Nothing could be further from the truth. He could not run away
from his heart no matter where he went. He found himself worrying about
the princess. Was she safe without him to protect her? Had he made a
mistake in leaving her? He tried to tell himself that John and the other
Guardsmen would protect her. But he was so far away from her, and his
worry for her was driving him crazy.
Being under command of someone else was wearing on him as well.
He had to bite his tongue when harassed by those who outranked him. The
coarseness of the regular military ate at him, too. For the most part they
were well trained, but the profanity and crudeness bothered him. In the
palace a man was expected to not only be a good soldier but to present
himself with dignity around the nobility. Why did some of these men have
to degrade themselves to feel they were good soldiers?
Of course, as in any group of men, one of the first things he had to
do was to prove himself, especially as it was known he had been Captain of
the Royal Guard. He hadn't been in the company an hour when he was
challenged to a sword fight. The challenger may have been a good soldier,
but he was no swordsman. Jacob had disarmed him in minutes. There had
been challenge after challenge, and Jacob was growing tired of it. They
weren't doing it to better their skills, but for bragging rights. One had to
watch constantly not to be blindsided by an opponent's friends trying to
cheat for him.
On top of all of that, the fact that he was a captain, and not nobility,
irked many of his superior officers. They felt only nobility should have
rank. He had earned his rank through his skill and hard work; they had
theirs bestowed upon them at birth. They felt they were better than he was
and tried to degrade him to convince themselves of the truthfulness of that
false assumption. Finally, with his blonde hair, it was obvious that he was
Bernodian, and most of them, even some of the common soldiers, felt
themselves superior to anyone from Bernodia. He had finally sought the
solitude of having his own campfire and small camp. When he had
requested it, using the excuse that he was volunteering to be a lookout, his
superior officer just laughed. "It's your neck."
He knew that it was foolish, but he couldn't stand the taunting
anymore, and in some ways, he almost didn't care if he were killed. He
would be the first to admit he was homesick, but he could never go back.
As hard as it was here, it would be worse to watch what he knew must be
going on there. As he added another stick to the fire, he thought of his love
for Marie. He could almost imagine her kicking her suitors. He smiled. At
least he could relish that thought. Keeping jealousy at bay, he hoped that
whomever Marie had chosen would be good to her, understand her, and love
her as he did.
---------------------------------
At the main camp they were told of a man who seemed to fit Jacob's
description: a captain, with the blonde hair of a Bernodian, who had taken
up a camp of his own as a sentinel. No one could remember his name, but
Marie was sure it had to be Jacob. Still, she didn't want to get her hopes up
too high. Twice, already, they thought they had found him only to find it
was the wrong man.
She was discouraged, but she refused to give up. She
would
find
him and she would be the first to do so. She was angry that he had left her.
He had promised not to, and yet, first thing he did was up and leave. She
knew he would come up with some flimsy excuse about her not needing
him, but that's all it was - an excuse. She vacillated about what she would
do when she found him. Sometimes she would picture herself running to
him and throwing her arms around his neck, yet in the next instant, she
wanted to slap him for leading them on this wild chase.
One thing she did know was that he was going to come home or
else. She had thought long and hard about the "what else" and had ideas on
how she was going to get him home. The farther north they searched, the
more foreboding it felt. Lord High Chamberlain kept such a tight watch on
her she felt smothered.
The minute they stopped, she had taken off through the woods to
find Jacob. She knew Lord High Chamberlain would be frantic, but she
wanted to be first to find Jacob, and she was tired of being told what to do.
Though he was in charge of this contingency, she chafed under his
command.