She hadn"t seen any children in the great hall, and she assumed the king didn"t allow them to eat with the adults. But now here were a couple of them, racing through the gardens.
She didn"t want to alarm them, or really call attention to herself way high up above, but she didn"t have much of a choice if she wanted to get down from here sooner than later. She could only see down one maze lane or crawling gingerly across the top, then looking over to the other side, that maze lane also, but nothing else. She was afraid to move along the top of the maze hedge in case some of the shrubs couldn"t carry her weight and she fell through. It wouldn"t do to break her arm again. Or the other. Or her neck. There was no fixing a broken neck. Not even for a fae with their curative powers.
“Hello!” she called out.
The running footfalls and children"s merry laughter instantly died.
But they weren"t moving away from where she was. They weren"t moving any closer either.
“Hello! Where are you?” she asked in her sweetest voice, aimed at disarming the children.
She thought she heard the nearly silent retreat as the children backed away as quietly as they could. Then when they thought they were far enough away, they took off running.
She let out her breath and tried to get comfortable on the prickly maze top. She imagined the children would quickly tell an adult, the adult would come to see if the children had lied, and then find her, and then hurry off to get someone to bring a ladder and the king.
But no one came. She frowned. Why didn"t anyone do as she expected them to do? She lay down on the top of the hedge maze, tired of trying to think or plan or do anything, but closed her eyes and fell asleep.
***
King Tiernan was tired from the long journey home and trying to eat a meal he didn"t want to eat. All he cared about was what had become of his princess. Lord Srenton had not returned and it had been at least an hour. A young scullery maid, who shouldn"t have come into the great hall during the feasting, caught his eye.
Wringing her hands, shifting from one foot to the other, she looked horribly distraught and though he should have let one of his people see to her, he couldn"t help himself. She was standing half in the doorway to the great hall and half out, trying to avoid being seen, but her gaze met his, and he was certain she had to have some news of the princess.
“We have not finished the meal. Remain seated and I will return shortly,” King Tiernan told his assembled court. If he was making a mistake as far as he thought concerning the maid, he didn"t want his whole court knowing it.
She quickly hid outside the hall as the king stalked out of it and met her. She was teary eyed, and he feared the worst.
“What has happened?”
“Please,” she beseeched him, “do not punish my lads, my lord. They mean right and—”
“Jenine, what has happened?” he asked again, pulling her away from the great hall.
“They were running through the hedge maze. They know they"re not allowed. But they heard a woman cry out. And they knew the place was haunted, to pay them back for doing what they ought not.”
“Where?” he asked, moving her to the inner bailey.
“I would not know, my lord. I"ve never been inside. „Tis forbidden for the servants.”
“Where are your boys?”
“You will not punish…” She hesitated. “I"ll fetch them, my lord.”
He figured she didn"t want to be punished also should she be in trouble for not sending her lads to him. In short order, she had both in hand, dragging them by the arms, and handing them off. “Please…,” she pleaded one more time.
Tiernan said to the boys, “Show me the place where you heard the lady yelling.”
“She"s a ghost,” the one boy said, his eyes wide, his face as white as the fluffy clouds drifting overhead. “She was calling out in such a sweet voice we knew she meant to eat us. For going into the forbidden maze.”
Tiernan glanced at the other boy to see his take on the matter. The other boy bobbed his head up and down, face just as pale, eyes just as saucer-sized.
“Show me where she is, and I"ll let you play in the hedge maze while the courtiers take their meals.”
Both boys shook their heads, fear evident in their pale faces.
He"d tried to be nice, but he had to know that if it was the princess, she had not been injured. He took hold of both boys" arms and said, “Show me or you"ll both be spending the night in the dungeon and it is for sure haunted.”
At that, the boys both, albeit reluctantly, led the way.
Tiernan had never been in the hedge maze before and if he"d had to discover the location of a missing person, let alone even find his way out, he would have had a time of it, without the use of fae travel.
But after a good twenty minutes when they drew near the place where the boys said they"d heard the voice, he called out, and no one answered. “Princess Ritasia,” he shouted again.
Then he looked at the boys. “The maze is bewildering. Are you sure this is where you heard the lady?”
“Aye,” they both said.
Tiernan feared the princess had become lost in the hedge maze and was searching for the exit without success. If he moved one way, she could be moving another. He would have to get her knights. He assumed they were dark fae trackers and could at least follow her faery dust trail.
Before they left, one boy called out, “Are ye a ghost, me lady?”
Tiernan waited to hear a reply.
The other boy seemed to gather his courage and shouted, “The king is here with us and so he said it was all right if we play in the hedge maze!”
No answer.
And then Tiernan swore he heard a faint rustling in the shrubs a short distance off.
Both boys visibly gulped and looked as though they were ready to run away.
“Hello?” a feminine voice said, sounding sleepy, disoriented.
Sweet goddess it was the princess. “Ritasia, where are you?”
He stalked toward the sound of her voice.
“Do not be angry with me,” she said.
Angry? He was relieved no harm had come to her. He hurried to where she was, but he saw no sign of her. “Ritasia?”
“Here!”
He frowned. Hell, she was on the other side of the hedge maze. He glanced back to speak to the boys and have them guide him out of here and to whatever path would take him on the other side of the hedge, but the boys had vanished like will o" wisps, a blink of light, and then gone.
“Damnation!” Now what could he do? He had no idea how to reach her or even how to leave the maze to get help.
“Ritasia, as soon as I can get help, we"ll find you and get you out of here.”
“No, Tiernan, do not leave me.”
Her voice sounded so pleading, his heart went out to her.
He heard more rustling, and he swore she was trying to claw her way through the hedge maze, but that would have been impossible without a good set of hedge trimmers.
Then he looked up and saw her peering over the edge at him, her dark eyes wide, half of her long hair hung loose from the jeweled combs that had kept them in place, while she was way up on top of the hedge maze, and his heart nearly stopped.
Chapter 10
Ritasia couldn"t have been happier to see anyone in her life than she was to see a very concerned King Tiernan, no longer angry in the least. “Jump to me,” he called out, wearing a very smug smile.
“What? Fairies do not fly!”
“I"ll catch you. Hurry, Ritasia. I do not know how long it will take before I can find my own way out and come back for you. I may not remember how to return here. Jump and I"ll catch you.”
She was sure she looked her usual obstinate self when she was of a different mind than him. “Fine,” she finally said. “If I kill you or if this kills me, it will be on your head.”
His smile broadened and she thought he had the loveliest smile of any man she"d ever known—part smug superior male, part
relieved to see her being herself.
“About the ring and medallion…”
“We will take care of it together,” he agreed.
She would have to remember to shake him up more whenever he thought to dictate to her. It made him much more agreeable.
But his saying so about the jewelry earned her smile, and then she frowned. “Catch me, and do not drop me.”
“I am the king, my lady. A hawk fae king does not drop a lady in need of rescuing.”
“Yeah, well, remember that when I fall from this height.”
With a deep breath, she jumped, hoping she didn"t kill the man who still might be her husband. She wasn"t sure about that prospect though, even if he was certain she would be his bride.
He caught her as her breath whooshed out in surprise, and she was at once relieved to be down from the top of the hedge and even more so that the king was the only one who knew of her having been up there.
“Light as a feather,” he said, smiling down at her, hugging her tight.
She gave a ladylike snort. “You do not have to lie to me. Thank you for coming for me.
But you know, if the hedge maze wasn"t warded against fae travel, I would have been able to get myself down.”
Shaking his head, King Tiernan began to carry her through the maze.
“You can put me down now. I can walk.”
“Nay, I prefer it this way.”
She got the distinct impression he felt he"d lost her and now he had her under his thumb again, but really in more of a loving way. “I thought you said you didn"t know the way out of the maze.”
“I haven"t a clue. We will walk until we get somewhere, or until someone else comes to rescue us.”
“I would have thought you would have played in the maze when you were a boy and knew all the paths,” she said. “If it had been me, I would have.”
He looked at her, studying her, then nodded. “I can see that you would have. I did not live here as a boy,” he said, and his voice sounded rather melancholy.
She looked up at him. “Why not? Did you live in another castle?”
“Aye, I did.”
“Oh, then your father wasn"t king at first?” she guessed.
“He was king.” He let out his breath. “There is much you need to know about the history of our people and how I will be different. First, my father and his father and for generations back, were known as tyrant kings.”
“Oh.” She"d overheard Duke Tully speaking to Tiernan and saying such a thing, but hadn"t known if it was the truth or just myth.
“But I am not.”
She smiled. Sometimes he was.
He looked down at her and frowned. “Not always. At least I try not to be.”
“All right. What else?”
“The son was always exiled.”
“Truly? Why?” She couldn"t imagine her mother doing that to Deveron when he was born.
“Because the son always killed his father to gain the crown.”
She stared at Tiernan in disbelief. He had recently come into power. That"s what her brother had said.
“I did not kill my father. I wasn"t living in the castle. I only moved in once my father had died, and I was needed to rule.”
She didn"t say anything for a while. She thought she heard the splashing of water beyond one of the hedges and looked that way but couldn"t see anything but greenery and more greenery.
“I did not kill him, Ritasia. I never even really knew him. And I was happy to manage the castle where I lived and fight wars with the island kingdom.”
“The island kingdom?”
“Aye, off our southern shores.”
“All right. What else?”
He didn"t speak for some time, and she knew he was deliberating on how to put the next news to her, and she assumed it would not be good.
“My people believe that if the wife of the hawk fae king has more than one child, that child could eventually cause a civil war, fighting the rightful sibling for the throne.”
She couldn"t help the anxiety she felt now. “If…if your wife had a second child, they"d put the child to death?”
He didn"t say anything for the longest time, and her skin chilled with fresh concern. “Put me down…my lord.”
He wouldn"t. Softly, he said, “In the past, an assassin would kill the queen to ensure the king had no more children by her.”
“Someone murdered your mother?” she choked out. She couldn"t believe any fae kind could be so barbaric. Not of the seelie courts. Unseelie, yes.
“I would not let any harm come to you, Ritasia, believe me.”
She didn"t think it would be very long before the boys told someone the king was fighting with a ghost in the hedge maze, but when no one came for them, and the king seemed hopelessly lost, he backtracked to where a small hidden garden sat. Inside, water poured out of a sea serpent"s mouth in a large copper fountain. That was the delightful sound she"d heard earlier behind the hedge maze.
A wrought iron gazebo sat nearby with a covered roof and a bench for two was situated on the raised wooden floor. He carried her up the steps to the gazebo.
But now she wanted to leave this kingdom far behind. She cared for Tiernan. Truly she did. But she wasn"t about to give him a child, then worry some assassin would murder her to keep the royal house in order. And she wouldn"t allow a child of hers to be exiled, but if she didn"t live beyond its birth, she really wouldn"t have any say in the child"s upbringing anyway.
“Put…me…down!”
He did this time, setting her on the bench in the gazebo, then crouched before her and took her hands in his, his touch tender. “I swear to you, Ritasia, I will keep you safe. I have already rewritten the laws concerning the banishment of any children I have, and that if I have a hundred, it will not be enough.”
She pulled her hands free and folded her arms across her chest. “Speak for yourself, your lordship.”
He smiled, took her hand in his, and kissed it. “I have further decreed that if anyone should attempt to murder my queen, the assassin and his entire family will die.”
She frowned. “The assassin, certainly, but his family?”
“If he frets about his family, he will not risk the attempt on your life. In the past, it was the way of doing business, and any assassin felt obligated to do the job.”
“By the king"s orders?” Ritasia asked, aghast.
“I do not know for certain. All I can do is state what I will and will not allow while I rule.”
“Is that the reason you came in search of a bride far from your home?” she asked. “I saw the way the women of your court wouldn"t meet your eyes. How they seemed afraid of getting to know me.”
“I want to change the rules of the kingdom. If it meant finding you in another kingdom far away, the effort was worth it. This place,” he said, motioning toward the grounds, “would not be a home. Not without you here to share it with me. It has never been my home.”
“Can you show me where you lived as a boy?”
“Aye. Tomorrow. But today, I must get you out of the hedge maze and have someone make a map of it for me if I ever venture here with you again.”
“Nay, the adventure is discovering the paths ourselves.”
He seemed pleased she would say so. Something they would do together in the future.
“But what of the ring and medallion?”
“We"ll get rid of the power as soon as we"re discovered. As to Romero…”
“I"m sorry about what I said concerning him, given the circumstances of his being here.”
“Aye, but what I wished you to know is that he is a good fellow, has been loyal to me since I was exiled, and though he appears to be a young man, he is not. He also was gifted, which is why a fae brought him to live among us in the first place.”
“Gifted? In what way?”
“He can read minds. No one, but the fae who brought him here and I, knows of this. Not even my advisor. Romero keeps his gift a secret for good rea
son, but he liked me, despite my being a tyrant prince…”
Ritasia smiled.
Tiernan gave her a quick smile in return and continued, “Mayhap because he was exiled with me at my birth. He was shunned as a human once the fae who brought him here died. And so he shared with me his secret so that I could use his services. He is a means by which I can know the truth in people"s thoughts. He will inform us if anyone is even thinking of harming you.”
“But he cannot read all minds at once, can he?”
“Nay. But he will monitor thoughts as he serves you.”
She considered Tiernan"s sincerity. He had been truthful when he could have hidden all that concerned her until she was wed to him and then? It would have been too late.
“You will be my bride, you know.”
“You have so many beautiful women in your court who would be at your beck and call,”
she reminded him, throwing his words back at him from the earlier conversation they"d had at her castle during the meal.
He smiled. “In tears and fearful. Not like you.”
Ritasia choked on a laugh. “Whereas with me, you get this.” She motioned to the gardens.
“Aye, and the exploration of dangerous ancient ruins. And trips to the unseelie plane of existence.”
“You really don"t mind?”
His voice and expression darkened. “It seems I don"t have much of a choice.”
She raised her brows.
“I"m hopelessly in love with you.” He shrugged as if it was an affliction he couldn"t overcome.
“I will stay a month,” she said, “or less if I feel I cannot live by your rules.”
“I challenge you to make your home here with us…with me and help me to change the way my people view its rulers.” And with that declaration, he bent his head and for the second time, he pressed his mouth against hers, lightly at first, a whisper of a kiss, seeking her participation. She kissed him back this time, more sure of herself than last time, more sure of him, feeling a smile against her mouth, knowing she had pleased him.
“Not a month,” he mouthed against her lips, the heat spiraling through her veins. “I couldn"t live that long without saying the vows.”