Chapter 14: Princess on the Mammoth
Yisreal was not a starer, but Princess Lorien seemed to be one. Yet somehow, she was avoiding the stare coming diagonally from Yisreal.
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Places mentioned:
Castle Katella
A self-sufficient, city-like castle where the King and the Queen and the unmarried Valrinos live.
Tyrannoson:
One of the three kingdoms on the Central Continent, ruled by the Valrino family.
Spring
The capital city of Tyrannoson.
Linsaidea:
One of the three kingdoms on the Central Continent, northwest of Tyrannoson, across a narrow sea, the Rustless Sea, to Mandia. A nomadic, rather savage people that tame mammoths.
Mandia:
An island nation, northwest of the Central Continent, cut off by the narrow Rustles Sea. It was conquered by Tyrannoson three years ago when the narrative begins.
Dovewing
Queen Evelyn and Princess Irene came from this nation that is northeast of the Central Continent.
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Creatures (that can speak and have names) mentioned:
Leopoldo Valrino
The King of Tyrannoson, and the sixth monarch of the Valrino family.
Queen Evelyn
Leopold'o’s wife. Her brother is the King of Dovewing.
Yisreal Valrino
A son of the King. Leopoldo met the young Yisreal in the woods while hunting. Then the King brought him back to Castle Katella and announced him to be his son.
Chester Valrino
The first-born son of King Leopoldo and Queen Evelyn.
Princess Irene
Leopoldo’s daughter-in-law, married to Prince Chester. She’s also a princess of Dovewing and Queen Evelyn’s niece.
Sean Valrino
The second son of the Queen.
Leslie Valrino
The third son of the Queen. When Leopoldo first brought Yisreal back from hunting, the Queen was pregnant with Leslie.
Nicholas Valrino
The youngest son of the Queen.
Carwen Valrino
The youngest child and the only daughter of King Leopoldo and Queen Evelyn.
Meredith
A mysterious murderess—presumably a mermaid—entrusted to Ivan’s custody by Yisreal, who was supposed to execute her.
Mr. Galorde
Ivan’s grandfather’s apprentice, having served both his grandfather and father as their assistant.
Princess Lorien
The daughter of the King of Linsaidea. She arrives in Tyrannoson to fulfill a marriage promise between the two nations, a condition for the Tyrannoson army to pass through the Mammoth Plain and invade Mandia.
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14
“From childhood,” she said, “I always dreamed of a place covered with bluebells.”
“Interesting,” I said ironically.
“I want to go to a place full of bluebells,” Carwen said. “I’m bored to death here.”
“Why don’t you ask your father?” Meredith said.
“He won’t. It’s not my birthday every day.”
Meredith looked down, yet her eyes were shifting. To prevent her from contaminating Carwen, I said, “You could ask the Queen.”
“Forget about it,” Carwen said, shaking her head. “I would have gone to Kent with you last time if it weren’t for her.”
Speaking of Kent, I glanced at Meredith, but she avoided me by leaning over to Carwen, who was fumbling. Meredith took over the handkerchief and finished the tricky stitches.
“Do you think Yisreal would like bluebells?” Carwen murmured, unsure whether she was addressing Meredith or me. “Maybe lotus fits him better.”
Meredith thought for a second and said, “Let me add something different.”
“We need to be quick,” Carwen said. “I heard he should be back in three days.”
Meredith fished a paper and a pencil from the basket and started drawing. Now their activity edged me out, and Carwen no longer acknowledged that I was there.
Carwen was different, though nothing had changed physically—she was still that child, with the delicate, smooth face of an infant and a body that only vaguely resembled a woman’s. Yet it was as if she’d ripened overnight, rustling on the high branches, not sweet yet but refreshing and juicy, in its season to be picked.
When I perceived that her demeanor was not her own but Meredith’s—and they interacted in harmony like twin sisters, one soul in two bodies—I backed off. My head kept buzzing from the sudden shift from the glaring sun to the shade of the palace. Not just Carwen, but even Meredith now behaved more like a woman. It was only the second day since her last sacrifice, and Yisreal would be back in three days, which brought me some peace. Still, I wondered if the sacrifice had to be a man’s heart, and what if she had chosen Carwen to be her next victim—
Anyway, that would be Yisreal’s fault.
Since Meredith had found herself a better place, I moved my stuff back to the workplace and shut myself in the Medical Tower to study medicine and magic. I needed a real mentor—a true master of Nature who knew the secret of Creation, as the Queen had urged me again regarding Irene’s infertility: I must present her with a solution after the Princess of Linsaidea left.
“To find a wizard, you have to leave Tyrannoson, even the Central Continent,” Galorde said.
“I heard there are witch doctors in Dovewing.”
Galorde was alert at my information.
“The Queen knows us,” I suppressed my voice. “She knew I saved Yisreal with magic.”
“Witch doctors are different,” Galorde said. “They are mortals; you are not.”
“You mean they are mortals who practice magic?”
Galorde nodded. “Like me.”
“Or like the Queen—come on, you must have perceived something after all these years.”
“She’s certainly knowledgeable,” Galorde pondered. “But knowledge is not equal to power. She can know all the magic in the world and still not be able to wield the supernatural.”
“And I’m the opposite.”
“I’m glad you know,” he said, giving me a look. “But I don’t think you realize how quickly you’ve mastered what you learned.”
What he said was by no means flattering, as my talent was forbidden, and the Queen, who had perceived this secret about me and my family, seemed like a beast lurking beneath the tree I was holding onto, waiting for me to fall.
“The King knew that Dovewing allows witchcraft, didn’t he?”
Galorde took a deep breath as he looked away. “A princess’s dowry is either an army or a truce. Dovewing gave Leopoldo armies to overthrow his brother Lerwick.”
“What about Princess Irene? What dowry did she bring?”
“What do you think?” Galorde turned to me with one of his messy brows raised.
“But if we know, then the King surely knows.”
“Doesn’t mean he minds.”
If Leopoldo intended to give the throne to Yisreal, why would he have allowed Chester to marry Irene? Had he planned for a stronger ally for Yisreal—or rather, did he never want Yisreal to be king?
My pastoral upbringing did not cultivate a brain for politics. I paused my pondering right there and decided to focus on my own business.
“Did my father ever try creating new life?” I asked.
Galorde shook his head. “Not even on animals. And when your father was around, Chester and Irene had just married. They probably still believed in the natural way.”
“What would happen,” I swallowed, “if I did it?”
“Like I told you, there will be a price; magic can’t create things out of nothing.”
“And who would pay for it?”
He stared at me. I stared back.
“I don’t know,” he said sternly.
“Would Irene die?”