“I adore Lulath,” Celie said. “As you said, how could I not? Lulath is funny and kind and everything is exciting to him, which makes him exciting to be around. I’m very happy that he and Lilah are going to get married.” But she didn’t sound like she was. She heard it, and Bran did, too.
“Why don’t you want Lilah to get married?” Bran gazed at her. “You’re not jealous, are you?” His gaze sharpened. “How much do you adore Lulath?”
“What? No!” Celie glared at him. “And also: ew. I adore Lulath like a brother.”
“Then why don’t you want to go to Grath?” Bran asked. “I can’t wait, personally, because I want to see how many cats, dogs, parrots, pygmy deer, and fancy rats his family can fit into one palace.” He chuckled.
Lulath, with his four dogs and one griffin, was by no means the odd man out in his family. He had regaled them with stories about all his family’s pets over the last year, including sharing the family secret that one of his sisters preferred cats to dogs. This appeared to be the greatest scandal that had happened in the Grathian royal family in many generations. Grath did sound like a happy and interesting place to visit.
To visit.
“I want to go to Grath . . . someday,” Celie said slowly. “And I know that Lilah wants to go, too. I guess I didn’t realize that she wanted to go so badly, because of Lulath . . .” She took a deep breath, and felt tears pricking her eyes. “And I didn’t think she’d want to stay!”
“Stay?” Bran looked astonished. “You don’t think she wants to stay there forever, do you? Does Father know? That’s certainly going to make the marriage contracts more complicated! When did she tell you this?”
“Wait . . . what?”
“In here,” Ethan said, and led a troop of manservants into the room.
“Celie, we need to talk,” Bran said. Then he turned to the men. “Sorry to be a bother, but we really do need these crates carried down to the . . . well, not the throne room,” he said.
“The Heart of the Castle,” Celie put in. “What we used to call the holiday feasting hall.”
They had started using it last spring to collect all the stories, tapestries, and maps they could find that related to griffins, before they learned that it had been the original throne room. Celie’s father preferred the newer throne room, but the Heart had become a sort of all-purpose room for the royal family.
“Yes, that’s an excellent idea,” Bran said. “But this large fellow needs to be very carefully taken to the throne room.” He rubbed his hand fondly over the griffin’s beak. “My father will want to see it right away.”
As the men got busy with the crates, Celie slipped out. She was sure that Bran wouldn’t even notice. She was sure, too, that although she would get the credit for discovering the figurehead, it wouldn’t matter. Her father and Bran would do what they wanted with it, without asking her. They always did. And they would just apologize later if they found out she was upset.
Assuming they took the time to even find out how she felt.
Chapter
5
It was exactly as Celie predicted.
Her parents complimented her on her cleverness at finding the hidden storeroom, and then everyone began discussing what to do next, without bothering to see if Celie had any ideas. Pogue and Ethan were tasked with unpacking the crates and seeing what was inside. Bran was to arrange the figurehead in the corner of the throne room, and use magic to make sure that it wouldn’t accidentally fall over. It was not as sturdy on its base as it had appeared when propped in the corner of the storeroom, and the king didn’t want it to topple forward and hurt someone, or be damaged.
“Just make sure you don’t stick it to the wall permanently,” the king said, a smile stretching across his face. He looked over at Lilah and Lulath, who were holding hands. They were always holding hands now. “I believe that it might make a very fine wedding gift . . . provided we can reattach it to a ship.”
“Oh, Father!” Lilah dropped Lulath’s hand and ran to hug King Glower. “A ship? For us?”
“Now what fineness is this?” Lulath also embraced the king. “What magnificence! A gift of a king for sureness!”
The court erupted into chatter and even some cheers. The Glower family all rushed to congratulate Lilah and Lulath on their good fortune in getting a ship as a gift. All of them, except Celie.
“Breathe, Celie, breathe,” someone whispered in her ear.
She felt a warm, calloused hand take hold of one of her clenched fists and gently unbend her fingers. She managed to unclench her other fist and put her hand on Rufus’s back to steady herself.
“It’s not fair, Pogue,” she whispered.
“I know,” he whispered back.
“I found the figurehead, and the crates, and now my father is just giving them away without asking,” she said.
“I know.”
“And they’re going to go away to Grath and never come back!” To her embarrassment, tears burst from her eyes as she said it.
“Oh, oh, no, they’re not,” Pogue said gently. “They’ll come back.”
“They will?” Celie looked up at him in surprise.
“No one’s even bothered to tell you, have they?” Pogue said, still talking in a near whisper. “They’ll go to Grath once a year for a state visit. And sail in their ship around the bay while they’re there, I suppose.”
He sounded faintly bitter, and Celie remembered that, until about six months ago, Pogue had been flirting outrageously with Lilah at every opportunity—something that Lilah had definitely enjoyed. And now that Pogue had been knighted and was Bran’s assistant, rather than his father’s apprentice at their blacksmith shop in the village, he had probably hoped to be taken more seriously by Lilah. But instead she’d turned her affections to Lulath.
Celie realized that Pogue was still holding her hand, and gave his hand a comforting squeeze.
“They’ll live here?” She felt more tears prickle her eyes, but this time, tears of relief.
“I can’t believe no one’s told you,” Pogue muttered. “Of course they will! Lilah is third in line to the throne, behind Rolf and then you, you knew that, right?”
Celie nodded. Rolf was the heir to the throne of Sleyne, and had briefly been crowned King Glower the Eightieth last year, when Prince Khelsh of Vhervhine had tried to take over the Castle. After they’d gotten rid of Khelsh, Celie’s father had written an exact list of succession, putting Celie next after Rolf, and Lilah after Celie. Bran, as a wizard, was not allowed to inherit a throne, so Celie supposed that one of their cousins on their father’s side would be after Lilah, if it came to that. Of course, after Rolf married and had children, the succession would change to include them.
“Lilah’s third in line for the throne of Sleyne, but Lulath is twelfth in line for the throne of Grath,” Pogue went on. “Plus: two of his older brothers’ wives are expecting babies. That means that Lilah outranks him. It’s more important for them to be part of the court here than there.”
“Oh,” Celie said, feeling warmth spread through her body. “Oh. They’re coming back.”
“I can’t believe no one told you,” Pogue said again.
“Well, I may have been hiding,” Celie admitted.
Pogue laughed out loud.
The family heard, and Lilah turned around.
“What’s so funny?” She was radiant with happiness, but then she saw Celie and her face clouded. “Where on earth have you been? You’ve missed two fittings for your new gowns!”
Half the court turned to look at Celie.
“If I’d been at the fittings, I wouldn’t have found the figurehead for your ship,” Celie retorted.
“Celie!” Queen Celina chided her. “Manners!”
Celie opened her mouth, realized that she was still very close to crying, and closed it again. She couldn’t even summon an apology for Lilah: and why did she need to apologize? Lilah had just scolded her in front of the entire court for missing a stupid g
own fitting, and no one had even bothered to thank her for the generous gift of the figurehead for what would be her very own ship!
Pogue let go of her hand, but only so he could put it on her shoulder. “Your Majesty,” he said politely to Queen Celina. “I think this has been a very . . . exciting . . . few days for everyone. Perhaps you and your daughters should have some private time to talk?”
“Pogue Parry, are you trying to tell my mother what to do?” Lilah demanded, but Queen Celina shushed her, looking thoughtful.
“What a fine idea, Sir Pogue,” the queen said. “It’s nearly dinner, but I haven’t even had lunch yet. Celie, why don’t you and Lilah come to my solar and we’ll have something to eat and we can rest and talk?”
“Lulath, why don’t you come with us?” Lilah said, smiling up at him.
But Lulath, despite all his exuberance and extravagant clothes, was no fool. “Now, my Lilah, I am thinking that this is being the time to talk to your mother and your Celie with only the three of you.” He smiled. “And I am thinking this is the time to be seeing what other joys of shipbuilding our Celie is finding!”
He put both arms around Celie and gave her a rib-cracking hug. Celie’s resolution not to cry completely crumbled, and she bawled all over Lulath’s silk-covered shoulder.
Chapter
6
Celie did her best to explain that she loved Lulath, and was happy for him and for Lilah, but she couldn’t stop crying.
“We just got back to the Castle,” she sobbed, while a wide-eyed maid set tea and scones on the table in the queen’s solar, a beautiful room with wide windows that overlooked the gardens. “I don’t want to leave again! What if something bad happens? And you know that we’ll never find Arkwright—with all the things for the wedding, how can we even pretend we’re trying to find him?”
She didn’t mention that she had wanted to keep the figurehead to herself. She knew that it was a selfish wish, but sometimes she just wanted to have something for herself. A secret. A gift from the Castle. Rufus had been a gift from the Castle, one that was just for her, but Bran had known about him only an hour after Rufus had hatched, and Pogue had found out a few weeks later. Now there were dozens of griffins at court, and most people couldn’t even tell them apart.
“So you’re not happy for me?” Now Lilah looked like she might cry. “I don’t understand, Celie. Why are you doing this?”
“Lilah,” the queen said patiently. “Calm yourself. I know exactly what Celie is saying.” Queen Celina put a hand on Celie’s arm and one on Lilah’s. “Not everyone loves excitement and change as much as you do, Lilah. Not everyone is bored by life in the Castle.”
“I’m not bored,” Lilah protested, then stopped short. “Well, all right, I am. But it wasn’t boring to go Hatheland, and I didn’t exactly love that little adventure!”
“Exactly,” their mother said. “In the past year you’ve thought that Daddy, Bran, and I were dead, thought that awful Khelsh had killed the Castle, found out that griffins are real, and traveled to another world. That’s a lot to take in, especially for someone as young as Celie.”
Celie, whose tears had been drying as she heard her mother’s words, scowled. She thought her mother understood, but no, she just thought Celie was being childish.
There was a faint scratching sound coming from the wooden paneling, and Celie looked around, momentarily distracted. Her mother saw her looking, and shrugged.
“I thought there’d be fewer mice, with so many griffins in residence,” the queen said. “Nothing to worry about, though.”
“I suppose you think I need a nap,” Celie grumbled.
Queen Celina sighed. “No, that’s not what I meant at all. I think we all need a rest. We all need some boring time. But it’s just not going to happen.”
Now Lilah’s tears started in earnest. “I knew it! You think I’m too young to be married! You’re going to make me wait until I’m old and gray and Lulath doesn’t love me anymore!”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” The queen threw up her hands. “I don’t think either of you is listening to me! I’m just trying to explain why all our emotions are very close to the surface. Even mine, and your father’s! A lot is going on, and we haven’t had a great deal of time to cope, and we’re all reacting in different ways. Celie is hiding from her fittings; you, Lilah, are being very dramatic; and your father wants to build a ship despite knowing nothing about ships or the ocean!”
Celie looked curiously at her mother. “How about you? How are you . . . coping?” It had just occurred to her that she hadn’t seen much of her mother lately, and she wondered where the queen had been and what she’d been doing.
“I’ve been studying our griffin friends,” the queen said lightly. She smiled over at Lady Griffin, Rufus’s mother, who was lying near one of the tall windows, soaking the sun into her golden hide.
“She’s so beautiful.” Lilah sighed. “I’m sure that Juliet will look just like her when she’s grown. I wonder if they’re related.”
“It’s very likely,” the queen agreed.
Celie thought that her mother looked relieved to have had the attention diverted from her to the griffin. She wondered if that was all her mother was doing. Queen Celina was the daughter of the old Royal Wizard, and she had enough talent to have been accepted by the College of Wizardry but had decided not to go. Lately their mother had shown herself to be increasingly aware of the magic around them, and seemed to spend most of her time in the oldest parts of the Castle library, or alone in her solar.
The queen caught Celie studying her and smiled again, disarmingly. “Are you feeling better now, Celie darling?”
“I suppose,” Celie said. It did feel good to cry for a bit. But it didn’t really change the fact that the ship was still going to be built in Grath, the figurehead taken away from her, and she was going to be wearing a lot of uncomfortable new clothes very soon.
“Well, I’m not feeling any better,” Lilah declared.
Celie and Queen Celina both turned to her. She’d been cooing happily at Juliet and Lady Griffin, her tears dried on an elegantly embroidered handkerchief. But now she did look unhappy.
“What’s the matter?” the queen asked.
“I thought Celie would want to be with me on this new adventure,” Lilah said.
“Getting married?” the queen said, puzzled, before Celie had a chance to say the same thing. “I would imagine that you’d want Lulath with you on this particular adventure, not Celie. And Lulath is with you body and soul.” The queen smiled.
“I mean the ship,” Lilah said, waving a hand in front of her face to toss aside the queen’s rather lighthearted remark. “It’s really the ship that’s gotten to you, Celie, isn’t it?”
Celie nodded.
“I’ve talked about this with Celie several times since we returned from Hatheland,” Lilah declared. “And I thought Celie would support me, help me win over Father and Lulath’s family. That’s why I was really upset when Celie started . . . crying . . . over that chunk of wood.”
“It’s not just a chunk of wood,” Celie protested. “It’s a piece of the Castle.”
“It’s a piece of the Castle that could help us find the unicorns,” Lilah retorted. “Unless you don’t want to help me look for them anymore?”
“I do,” Celie said slowly. “I just . . . didn’t think that we would go right away. I didn’t think that we’d be going as part of you getting married and maybe living in Grath . . . I didn’t think that . . . I don’t know, I just don’t . . .”
“Yes, Lilah, I’m with Celie,” the queen said, frowning. “You want to do what now?”
“Find the unicorns,” Lilah said. It was the only thing she cared as much about as her engagement, and Celie did feel a little bad about not being as enthusiastic. “We know that there must be unicorns, because the stories all end with them being chased off by the griffins. And the stories about the griffins are true; therefore, the unicorns are real. And we ca
n assume that they really have been exiled to Larien. I want to find them!”
“But we can hardly bring them back,” Celie argued. “Since there are griffins here again, and they ate the unicorns last time. If you bring unicorns back here, the griffins will just attack them!”
“Yes, Lilah, what is your intention? I’m not really sure adding more animals to our growing menagerie is a good idea. I’m half-afraid one of Lulath’s dogs is going to disappear some night,” Queen Celina said, shaking her head.
“We’ve been training the griffins very carefully,” Lilah said. “You’ve seen Lorcan and Juliet playing with the girls! They get along just fine now!”
Celie wondered when Lilah had started calling Lulath’s dogs “the girls.” Perhaps if Celie had paid attention to such things, Lilah and Lulath’s engagement would not have come as quite so much of a shock.
“And besides,” Lilah continued, “I hadn’t actually thought about bringing one of them back. I just want to make sure they’re all right.” But she wore a sly expression.
“Delilah,” their mother said in a warning voice, clearly also seeing that look.
“All right, I want one,” she admitted. “One. Lulath has four dogs, and is talking about getting another, and he has a griffin, too! Why can’t I have a griffin and a unicorn?”
“Because one would eat the other?” Celie suggested.
“Because this isn’t a competition,” the queen responded almost at the same time. “You shouldn’t feel the need to compete with your husband in the matter of pets, or anything else!”
“Oh, really? And who always has to beat Daddy at the midsummer games every year?” Lilah demanded.
“That’s all in good fun,” the queen protested. “And no one is in danger of being eaten!” The queen shook her head. “I can’t believe you were thinking of doing something like that . . . when were you going to tell us?”
“I was going to have Celie help me win you over,” Lilah said, giving Celie a reproachful look. “She told me she wanted to go, too, and I knew you’d let her do anything she wanted. She always gets what she wants,” Lilah grumbled.