Mercy's Prince (26 page)

Vendors
hawking all manner of food and drink, clothing, and household items lined the
perimeter of the village square. Large torches stuck in the ground at regular
intervals provided ample light in the early evening. Merry’s senses were
assaulted by hundreds of villagers eating, drinking, laughing, singing, and
dancing to a lively tune played on drum and pipe and some kind of stringed
instrument. It was similar to the Brethren’s celebrations but on a much larger
and louder scale.

A
big dog ran past, jostling Merry’s basket. It carried a hunk of meat in its
mouth. A young girl ran after it, shouting for the thief to stop. Then a man
approached wearing a strange garment around his neck. As he came closer, Merry
gasped. A small reptile sat on his shoulder with its long tail wrapped around
his throat. Merry pulled on Valerian’s arm to get his attention.

“That’s
a burrowing dragon,” Valerian said. “They’re similar to the tree dragon you
saw, but they live in the ground.”

Merry
watched the little dragon until the press of taller people hid him from her sight.
She imagined a dragon riding on
her
shoulder. Maybe someday she would see
one up close and even touch it. She met Valerian’s gaze.

Can
you hear me tonight?

“Yes,
surprisingly.” When he smiled, the torch light reflected in his dark eyes.

“Merry,”
Shannon said. “I see the booth to enter the competition.”

While
Shannon dragged her away, Ruddy said, “And I spy an empty bench where I shall
plant myself.”

Merry
stood behind Shannon in a line of women. After a few minutes, Shannon explained
to someone about her embroidered picture, and then brought Merry forward.

“This
is Merry, and she wants to enter her bread.”

An
older man with a neatly trimmed gray beard sat at a small table writing symbols
on a piece of parchment. He peered into Merry’s basket at the two loaves.

“Hmm,
I’ve never seen anything like it.” He brought his nose closer and inhaled,
smiling. “Does this bread have a name?”

Merry
turned to Shannon for help, but Ruddy’s wife had already moved on to a nearby
booth where the vendor was selling colorful scarves. The man wrote something
else on the parchment.

“I’ll
call your entry ‘braided loaf’ if that’s all right with you,” he said.

Merry
waited until he glanced up again and nodded. Fortunately, he moved on to the
next person so Merry searched for Shannon, but the woman had blended in with
the crowd. Fear knotted Merry’s stomach, but she scolded herself and tried to
retrace her steps.

“Merry!”
Valerian and Kieran stood nearby, waving, and she hurried to join them.

“Where
is Shannon?” Ruddy sat on a bench just behind Kieran. He frowned at Merry, and
she shrugged. “Never mind, it is nae your fault, lass. The woman tends to
wander away, distracted like.”

Then
the music changed, growing louder. Kieran’s face brightened.

“Ach,
Sire, the music is calling to me feet.”

“Go
on,” Valerian said. “Show everyone how it should be done.”

But
Kieran turned to Merry.

“May
I have this dance?”

Startled,
Merry stared at Valerian.

Please
tell him I don’t know how.

“Merry
doesn’t know how to dance,” he told the squire.

Kieran
appeared shocked.

“How
can that be? Would ye like to learn?”

Merry’s
first thought was to refuse him, but she
had
always wanted to try,
especially after Michael told her he had seen people dancing when he went to
the trading post with his father. Her throat tightened. What would Papa have
said? She swallowed and let out the breath she’d been holding. Papa was no
longer here. She could dance if she wanted to.

Merry
nodded. Kieran grinned and held out his hand. She let him take hers, and he
pulled her into an open area where several couples were already stepping
together. While Merry watched them, her chest tightened and she caught her
breath, almost running away. But reason returned. She
wanted
to learn
this.

Kieran
kept holding her hand as he turned to face her, waiting for some cue in the
music. Just as the other couples stopped to face one another, he spoke up.

“All
right, Merry. Now I bow and you curtsy.” They did so, and Merry forgot about
the others while she concentrated on Kieran’s words and her feet.

He
patiently led her through the dance steps, and Merry began to see the pattern. It
wasn’t as difficult as she feared it would be. By the third verse, she could
follow the steps exactly. Now she could enjoy the music and the flow of smiling
people together. The joy in Kieran’s face lifted her spirits as much as the
happy music.

On
the song’s final note, she curtsied one last time to Kieran, and he kissed her
hand. Delight shone in his eyes.

“You
learn quickly, Merry. Are ye sure you’ve never danced before?”

She
mouthed the words
thank you
, hoping he would understand. Then the
musicians began a faster tune, and Kieran led her back to Valerian.

“I
dinna think you’re ready for this one, Merry, so just watch me.”

Kieran
bounded back to the empty space, since the former couples had drifted into the
crowd. Apparently no one else was willing to try the fast dance.

With
his fists on his hips, Kieran began a series of complicated foot moves. Merry
was sure he would trip, but he never missed a beat. Soon he was spinning his
whole body to the back, to the front, while continuing to move his feet, and
Merry didn’t understand how he kept upright. She would have become hopelessly
dizzy.

While
the music gradually played faster and faster, Kieran added leaps and even spins
in the air. Merry glanced at Valerian. He was as entranced as she was. The
crowd around the circle grew, and many clapped along with the music,
encouraging Kieran’s amazing footwork.

The
song ended on a triumphant note as Kieran did a back flip and landed on his
feet, lifting his arms in exultation. He grinned, accepting the wild applause
and cheering.

“What
a show-off!” Valerian shouted into Merry’s ear. But his face revealed his pride
in Kieran’s abilities.

After
that exhibition, Merry wouldn’t have been able to dance with Kieran again even
if she wished it. He was surrounded by several young women, all full of
admiration, who monopolized him for the rest of the dances.

Merry
would have been content just to watch, but when another slower song began,
Valerian turned to her.

“I
am nothing to Kieran, but this is a simple dance that I know well and can teach
you, if it be your pleasure to stand up with me.”

Merry
met his eyes and nodded.

I
would like that very much.

Valerian
led her to the dance area. Kieran was partnered with a pretty dark-haired girl.

“This
is different from the one you did with Kieran. The count is by threes and I am
supposed to hold you at the waist.”

If
you lead, I will follow.

The
music changed, and Valerian bowed while Merry curtsied. Then he put his left
hand on her waist and held his right palm up.

“Put
your hand in mine.” She did so. “Now, right--two--three, left--two--three, turn
around.”

Once
Merry understood the simple pattern, she could let go and enjoy the carefree
moment of the music and the dance. It was a different peace than she was used
to feeling, but the steady rhythm calmed her soul.

Then
Merry blushed when she suddenly realized she was
dancing
with the
prince, though apparently no one in the village recognized him. How could they
not notice he was someone special? And yet, even though he was the prince, the
son of the king of all Levathia, Merry was comfortable with him, as if she’d
known him always. When she peered up at Valerian, he was lost in his thoughts,
so she did not intrude with hers.

***

It
pleased Valerian that Merry was so willing to try new things. She quickly
caught on to both dances. Even this simple one had taken him months to learn
well. Of course, at the time he had been a page and much more interested in
reading history and philosophy. During that time, he’d been assigned to Lord
Reed for a summer and had first met his daughter.

While
Valerian continued to lead Merry through the verses of the dance, he couldn’t
help but compare her with Hanalah. While Merry had not Hanalah’s bold beauty,
she possessed a tranquil spirit and a quick, eager mind coupled with an amazing
depth of character and maturity, considering how sheltered her life had been. He
had to admit he was growing quite fond of her company, and he rued the day he
would have to marry Hanalah and give up his friendship with Merry. By then he
hoped she would be settled in her new life, though he knew he would always feel
responsible for her.

Valerian
gazed down at Merry as the dance came to the final notes. “Now we stop, and now
one more bow and curtsy.” The music ended, and she smiled.

Thank
you for teaching me this lovely dance.

“It
was my pleasure.” He smiled at her blush, and on impulse kissed her hand.

They
walked back to Ruddy and found that Shannon had joined him on the bench.

“I
miss our days of dancing, Ruddy and me,” Shannon said wistfully.

“Let
me get used to this wooden leg, woman, and perhaps we will dance yet again.”
Ruddy grimaced. “’Twill have to be a slow one, nae one of those beastly frolics
young MacLachlan prefers.”

There
were just a few more dances, and then someone announced that the winners of the
competition were to be displayed on trestle tables. Shannon jumped up.

“Come
Merry,” she said. “Let’s see how we fared.”

Merry
glanced at Valerian but didn’t get a chance to speak to him, for Shannon pulled
her into the crowd. Valerian sat beside Ruddy on the bench, watching until the
two women were swallowed by the crowd.

“Tell
me about your court tomorrow,” he asked the knight. “Do you have many cases?”

“Thankfully,
no. Two instances of thievery, one claim of false weights, and one assault.” Ruddy
grimaced. “The assault case is a charge by a wife against her husband. It
proves tae be potentially challenging.”

“Does
each village have its own magistrate?” Valerian’s gaze drifted to three men
having a heated discussion beside the wine seller’s booth.

“The
king told me that every village of more than one hundred people has its own,”
Ruddy said. “But two wee villages nearby have no magistrate. King Orland gave me
jurisdiction over them as well. ’Tis from one of these that the assault case
comes.” He sighed. “Because I dinna know these people personally, I’ve had tae
call witnesses from their village.”

“Count
on me, Ruddy, to help in any way I possibly can.” Valerian stood and scanned
the crowd, searching for Merry and Shannon. Briefly, he met the eyes of a tall,
rough-looking man who was missing an ear. In contrast to the laughing people
around him, the man did not appear to be enjoying himself. Then Valerian became
aware the laughter of some of the people had changed to the loud braying that
accompanied drunkenness. He’d heard it often enough at the Keep.

“Ruddy,
I’m going to find Merry and your wife. Some in the crowd have had a little too
much to drink.”

“I
thank ye, Val. I’ve had about as much o’ this celebration as I can handle.”

Valerian
took off in the direction of the trestle tables where he spotted the stout form
of Lady MacNeil and the smaller Merry beside her. The man with one ear stood
nearby, watching them also, but at Valerian’s approach, he vanished into the
crowd. Merry stared up at Valerian.

My
bread won first prize.
He
Saw
her mixed pleasure and embarrassment.

“You
certainly deserved to win. I’ve never tasted bread so delicious.” Valerian
smiled when Merry ducked her head. Then she met his gaze again.

Shannon’s
needlework won third. I think she is disappointed.

Valerian
searched the table for the needlework entries. He compared the first and second
place winners to Shannon’s.

“I
understand why she’s disappointed. Hers is far superior.”

Shannon
must have heard him.

“Thank
you, Sire,” she said. “Perhaps the judges thought a knight battling a dragon not
a fit subject for needlework. But I did it for Ruddy.”

Valerian
inclined his head to her. Though not a pretty woman, Lady MacNeil was fiercely
loyal to Ruddy, and he would always appreciate her for that. Then his thoughts
were interrupted by more drunken laughter nearby, so Valerian urged Merry and
Shannon to come with him.