“Come, Aethelbald,” Felix prompted. “Let’s hear your story.”
Aethelbald set down his knife and fork and placed his hands flat on either side of his plate. “It is no fit tale for such company,” he said and rose from his chair. “Nor do I wish to tell it.” He nodded to the king. “If you’ll excuse me?” Bowing to those present, he exited the hall. Servants hastened to clear his place.
“I like him,” Gervais declared and lifted his glass to salute the door through which Aethelbald had just disappeared. “Humility is a rare quality in a man, and one I respect.” He drank to this little toast and smiled again at Una, his smile only a touch sardonic.
7
She dreamed again that night.
Nurse firmly closed the windows, and Una climbed under the covers, believing there could be no chance of sleep for her. Her imagination was lost in a romantic whirl, dancing and twirling faster than any music the court musicians could play. “Good night, Miss Princess,” Nurse said as she left the room, but Una did not bother to answer.
Prince Gervais was so handsome! Prince Gervais was so charming! Prince Gervais was come to pay his respects!
Two princes in two days! Who would have thought?
Not that she cared about Aethelbald’s suit, of course. Nor would she concern herself with the sorrowful look he had given her just before leaving the banquet. What cared she for somber eyes, no matter how kind, when Prince Gervais was present and so attentive?
Thus Una’s thoughts continued, and she tossed fitfully as the light of her fire dulled and dimmed. She plumped her pillows so many times that Monster gave an irate squawk and stalked to the foot of the bed, curling up like a chipmunk with his tail wrapped over his nose.
Then the heat came.
It began the same as it had the night before, and with it came sudden remembrance of the dream she had forgotten. The two faces – one black, one white, one ice, and one fire. She remembered the clattering dice, and her heart began to race. The desire to leap from her bed and flee the room filled her, but once more her limbs were like stone and she could not so much as blink. Her mother’s ring on her finger tightened, and her hands throbbed with burning.
The two faces in her mind blended together into one enormous face surrounded by fire, and Una sank into her dream.
There is nothing but fire, and within the fire, a voice.
“Where are you?
“Five years I have searched. Five years I have wasted.
“Beloved of my Enemy, I played for you, didn’t I? I played for you and won! Are you not the one I seek?
“Where are you?”
–––––––
Una woke early the next morning to a dreadful prickling against her cheeks.
Opening one eye, she found herself gazing up Monster’s pink nose.
Though he could not see her, he sensed she was awake and immediately said, “Meeeaa!” in no uncertain terms, placing a velveted paw on her nose.
Una tossed her pet aside and climbed out of bed. Without knowing why, she glanced at her mother’s ring. The clustered opals, when tilted to the light, glowed deep within their centers. Twisting the ring about with her thumb, Una opened the palm of her other hand, not certain what she looked for. Some memory of a burn tugged at her mind. Had not Prince Aethelbald said something about one?
Well, she certainly wasn’t going to think about Aethelbald on a morning like this! She closed both hands into fists. Prince Gervais was come to Oriana Palace, and she must prepare herself for more respects-paying at once.
Deciding to dress herself before Nurse came and determined her wardrobe for her, Una put on a simple, nonconstricting gown, tied her hair in a braid down her back, and slipped her little journal into her pocket.
“I need some air,” she told Monster, who twined himself about her ankles, purring madly. “Ask the maid to feed you when she comes. I’m going for a walk.”
She felt a bit wicked as she slipped from her room and down the hall. Nurse disapproved of princesses going anywhere unattended – or making any independent decisions at all, for that matter. But servants and footmen abounded in every passage and around each corner, and Una hardly felt unattended even as she slipped out into the gardens. Gardeners were already busy pruning bushes and caring for various beds of seedlings. They bowed to her as she passed by, and she nodded.