Chapter Thirteen: Palace Intrigue
Esmerel was well aware that she was considered temperamental. It was something which she learned to use to her advantage. It was soon after learning that people considered her to be like this that she stopped allowing her emotions to get the better of her, internally. However, on the outside she kept up the flighty, highly strung and wilful façade. She found it very useful for all sorts of things, which mainly involved getting her own way. Those who opposed her would often roll their eyes and concede any given matter within a few moments of the Princess unleashing her shrill tones.
For times when shrillness did not work there was the other approach, the doleful pout, the soft lilting voice, the tilt of the head and the sad sorrowful eyes which she practised in the mirror on a regular basis. So it was when her father had confined her and her slightly elder brothers to the Palace of Fenngaard, Esmerel had used her temperamental façade to push the limits of her confinement to breaking point.
Her mousekarl, Trillian, was frequently victim to her manipulations. The old mouse was now well and truly broken and offered little resistance when his Princess demanded her own way. Sadly, her current confinement was by decree of the King, however, and Trillian did not have the authority or the ability to overcome his fear of him. Being his daughter, Esmerel’s fear of defying her father was considerably lessened, which made sense considering that if she went against his wishes she was unlikely to be thrown in the Howling Cavern or the endless chasm between the pillars.
The Princess did not try and use her abilities directly against her father. Of all the dreams she knew he was the only one who was totally immune to both the shrill screeching Esmerel and the sad doleful Esmerel. She'd tried both of course, almost the first thing she'd done before even unpacking her bags in the Palace of Fenngaard was to go to her father and beg to be allowed to return to the Palace of Princesses. But he was adamant, like steel and stone, and would not be moved.
Her rooms in the Palace of Fenngaard were nicely furnished with wall hangings and a chess table with pieces which came to life when they moved. The ladies’ quarters of Fenngaard had been decorated by her mother when she still lived and as such most of the carpets and bed spreads were lilac white with purple trim, the colours of the Lyrilian rose, emblem of her mother’s household.
The rooms had been cleaned and flowers and fresh fruit were laid out. But they were in no way as spacious or elegant as her rooms in the Palace of Princesses. There she had the Knight’s Maze where she could play with her ladies-in-waiting; there she had her calo piano; there she had her ilka lizard, Tomis. She could take none of these things with her. Tomis was kept in his own special fire-proof quarters in the Palace of Princesses. She imagined neither her mother nor anyone else would be particularly impressed to find her new lovely lilac surroundings scorched black by a playful ilka lizard.
So in the wake of boredom she'd gone in search of a friendly party who might grant her access to the outside dream. She tried the Magister Elementis, who smiled and shook his head causing all of his chins to vibrate. She tried a couple of the silver claw guarding the huge doors to the palace who just stared at her with those cold red eyes. She tried Hidriss, her father’s mousekarl, but he proved to be as unmovable as her father on the matter of her effective imprisonment.
But then, as she sat sulking in her room, there came a knock at the door. Her salvation had arrived.
“Good morning Princess”, said Evessa Tremaine as she waltzed into the room.
“Evessa”, squealed Esmerel, leaping to her feet from the thick rug on which she lay to hug the Witch-Maker. A member of the Silent Council and the head of the Witches’ Guild, Evessa Tremaine had also helped deliver Esmerel and they had been fast friends ever since.
“Where have you been?” the bubbly Esmerel asked her friend, pulling her towards two deep comfy chairs next to a wide window.
“Following the King’s orders”, said Evessa mysteriously in a way that indicated the Princess was not going to get any more information out of her about that. “I trust you are settling in well?”
Esmerel pulled a face. “This may be the centre of power but it is the edge of everything else, I am so bored Evessa!”
“You mean you have not been bowled over by the delights of the office of dream registry? Or the ministry of arbiters?” said the Witch-Maker with a smile.
“Magister Elementis said that there is a vault on the far side of the hall which contains a list of all the bridges in Fenn. He offered me a candle and a chair if I wanted to sit and read it. The worst thing is that I don't even think he was being sarcastic!” said a glum Esmerel.
“Sadly the Palace of Fenngaard was not designed with the entertainment of Princesses in mind”, said Evessa with a sympathetic smile, her purple eyes glittering. Trillian came in and poured them both some peppermint tea. After he'd gone Esmerel leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “I've been trying to escape.”
“I know”, replied Evessa. “People talk”, she added in response to the Princess’s crestfallen look, “it's not safe you know.”
“Oh please”, snorted the Princess, “this is the first pillar. We are surrounded by an army of silver claws. I know that there are dangers beyond the palaces, but inside them, surely not? This is a prime example of Father’s paranoia and over-protectiveness”, she pouted.
“It is better to be safe than sorry”, said Evessa, sipping the tea from her thin china cup with a raven emblazoned on the side.
“A play at the Smith House, a brief unicorn ride around the lower gardens, maybe some kite flying from the Windtower. All this could be done on the first pillar, all are perfectly safe.”
“That is all you really wish to do, see a play, ride a unicorn, fly a kite?” asked Evessa over her teacup.
“Truly”, said Esmerel, leaning forward again and taking the Witch-Makers smooth hand in hers. “Will you help me?” she asked meekly.
“Esmerel Geddon, you are asking me to defy my King!” said Evessa with feigned shock.
“I am asking you to help prevent me going mad with boredom”, whimpered Esmerel with her most puppy-dog-eyed expression.
“You know that doesn't work on me either don't you?” said Evessa with a direct stare.
“I'm certain I don't know what you mean”, said the Princess. There was a short silence whilst both of them sipped their tea and looked out at the leaden sky above Fenn. These apartments were on the east side of the Hall of Providence, despite the vastness of the hall there were still hundreds of rooms in the circular walls around it. Not all of them were plush royal apartments with windows though, many were windowless offices where the bureaucracy hunched over documents in the candlelight.
“A glamour”, said Evessa eventually.
“A glamour?” said the Princess.
“Yes”, said the Witch-Maker nodding, “you will be you, but you will not look like you, and thus will you be subject to much less scrutiny then a raven-haired princess.”
“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” said the Princess, almost leaping to her feet as she hugged Evessa.
“But”, said the Witch-Maker lifting a finger and pushing the excited Princess back towards her chair, “you must take Rekulen with you and never leave his sight.”
The Princess hesitated. Rekulen was one of the Witch-Maker’s wards from Kagairn, he was fearsome-looking and had a reputation for violence, not that the Princess had ever seen any evidence of such. “Okay”, she nodded.
“Excellent”, said Evessa, “go and dress. Wear something discreet, inconspicuous.”
The Princess jumped to her feet and ran to her dresser room. The Witch-Maker sat and gazed out of the window; her purple eyes were emotionless, they were old and they were knowing.