You may not believe this, but a person can spend their entire life in the castle and in close service to the royal family and still go unnoticed.
Granted, I was only seventeen, so the 'entire life' part was limited. Even so, you would think one of them would make note of the young man who ran messages through the castle and into town. It was a position of trust.
My trust was never tested until Princess Dela began writing notes to the pirate's son. The king had Captain Vic as a guest that week. The pirate captain had been a powerful local lord until barbarians overran his lands. So, the possibility of an alliance with the pirate, gaining the man's help in protecting our coast, and probably gaining some gold and jewels, as well. It looked promising.
We wouldn't be the first country to make such a deal.
When Dela handed me the perfumed and sealed note and told me who exactly to give it to, I knew we were in trouble. I should have gone straight to the King.
I went to the Queen instead.
Queen Woda lives mostly in seclusion in the North Tower. It is not punishment. She just doesn't much care for people.
She also had more than a touch of 'sight,' which made her very powerful and dangerous when she was mad.
Queen Woda was not in the best mood when I climbed in the window, my usual way of not being seen.
"I warned him!" she shouted, shaking a dead plant at me. I sneezed. "Let me have it."
I didn't have to explain anything to her. That helped. She took the note and glared at it momentarily before handing it back to me.
"At least her grammar has improved."
Then she shook the dead plant, and I sneezed again. I waited patiently as she made several circuits of the tower's interior.
She shook the plant every time she passed me, and I sneezed. I was starting to take it personally.
Then she stopped and stared at me. "Never become a parent."
I nodded vigorously in agreement. This was the point where you agreed to anything.
"If Dela finds out I know about her affection for this boy, she'll be embarrassed and mistrusting for years. You are going to have to deliver this note and then find a way to stop her from meeting the boy."
"How do I --"
"Out, out, out." She shoved the plant at me and then the note. "Go do your work."
"This is not --" I began. Her gray eyes narrowed. The plant rose over my head. "Not the window I should go out."
I scrambled out one -- I didn't care which -- and scurried down the outer wall. The king and his guards were waiting for me.
"Note from your daughter to the pirate's son," I explained.
"Excellent. That should give his father something more to consider. Why were you visiting my wife?"
"Because no one let me in on the plan." I dusted my hands and held out the paper. "Do I deliver this or not?"
"What does she want?" He asked with a kick at the tower.
"As far as I can tell, a good marriage for her daughter and pirate loot."
"Amazing. For the first time in our entire marriage we actually agree. What do you think of the pirate's son?"
I had not expected that question but I had a quick answer. "He seems quiet and polite, but I get the feeling there's more of his father in him than he shows."
"Good."
"It might help if we knew his name," I suggested.
"Yes, get right on that one."
He went away. I took the note to the young man, who handed it back without opening it.
"Don't make this any harder." I shoved the note back into his hand. "Open it, read it, and agree because that is exactly what I am going to tell the King, Queen, and Princess you did. Then, when you don't show up, they'll all think you are a coward."
"I should care?"
"Why do you think your father brought you along?"
He snarled, but I had made my point.
"What am I supposed to do now?" he demanded.
"Answer the note. Have a nice walk in the garden tonight, but keep in mind that there is a guard behind every tree trunk, and the queen will be watching from her tower. What is your name?"
"Wintonweorth."
"What is your nickname?"
"Dan."
"Okay, Dan. This is how it is going to work."
At least I had a plan to share.
I spent hours sitting by my window but not looking into the garden. I heard movement and quiet words. Some laughter. Movement, talk, laughter: repeated again and again until I thought I would go mad. It was not what I expected to hear.
I fell asleep in my chair and didn't wake up until dawn. Nothing sounded out of place. I grabbed something to eat and headed into the garden.
I found Dan and Dela on my favorite bench with the snake in a basket between them. I watched as they took turns offering it delicate morsels of food.
So, they bonded over the snake, just not in the way I had imagined.
"What did you expect?" Dela demanded as she looked at me. "That I would faint into his arms?"
"Actually, I had hoped for the opposite. No matter. It worked, right?"
"Mother was already here discussing wedding plans. I do wish she would stop jumping ahead in the timeline."
It turned out that Dan collected flora and fauna from everywhere he went. His father was more than happy to settle him and his collection on land.
And now all I had to worry about was Princess Nina and finding her the right husband. I just had to wait for the right message.
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