32

"Father, we must discuss my sisters," Jza added after a poignant pause. She was incredibly unready to peruse her thoughts about Lord Tarquin's declaration. She had known in the back of her mind she had his attentions. The threat of committing a fatal misstep that compromised her beliefs had terrorised her so fully it lingered even after her father had given his approval.

"I had my sources there was something wrong with their dealings. Their correspondence was being hidden but I just didn't know the extent of their dissatisfaction or deception. They wrote to you?" King Samuel asked his former enemy.

Tarquin nodded. He looked so uncharacteristically frazzled that he took a seat without being prompted. Did he regret voicing what his heart contained Jza wondered.

"Did you reply back?" The Goridian King asked grimly.

"Yes, although it was my advisors doing the writing. I needed to know what kind of ambush I was walking into," The Somerlian Lord replied with a stony look.

"Ambush?" Jza asked with surprise.

"Why in the name of all things holy would these women start writing to me all of a sudden if it were not a trap," The younger man asked as if it were not the most obvious answer to his predicament.

"Of course," King Samuel sighed with drooping shoulders, "I am aware of the reason. They saw a painting of you. The new painter showed us his older works and one of those portraits was yours. It certainly caused a frenzy in the royal apartments."

"And where was I?" Jza asked with an abrupt laugh. Did all this ridiculousness start because of a mere painting.

"You had barricaded yourself in the library from what I remember."

"Ah, the dead frog incident. Nothing could induce me to stay in the same room as my sisters," Jza answered. It was not as if they would have shared a handsome King's painting with her anyway.

"Nothing could prevail you to stay after that either. I know who owns this farm," King Samuel looked even more defeated. He gazed skywards at the newly patched roof of the barn.

"Yes, I bought this farm from my uncle when I wrote to him about the impending war. I was always meant to move here. I could not abide by the royal behaviour any longer," Jza answered with determination lacing her voice making it clear she could not be persuaded otherwise.

"I did wonder why you were saving your allowance rather than spending it on pretty baubles and clothes but I had my answer when you used it to buy out your uncle. I knew I had failed you that day. It's a pity the war started when it did and I could not devote time to the matter," The girl's father gave her a troubled look.

"It was not your failure," The Princess placed a hand on her father's shoulder hoping to placate him.

"How ones children behave does reflect on the parent. You needn't banish yourself any longer. Your sisters will not be returning to the castle for now. All of them. I have decided the decision to send them to exhile needs to be taken," The King's face reddened with burgeoning fury. It seemed he was resolute like his daughter about his decisions.

"They will be devastated. Even Goridian castle lacked the social life they desired," The Princess answered with a worried expression. Her stepmothers would be furious being separated from their children.

"The time for their whims and games is over. I know what you're thinking," The King addressed Tarquin who was watching them with flinty eyes, "I am soft. Perhaps I am. My daughters betrayed me and I take the easy way out but I find sending them away to be appropriate for now."

"No beheadings across the board. Princess Jza's sacrifices were in vain I suppose," The injured man answered looking petulant. He glared at his nails finding it inappropriate to show his ire to the other occupants of the room even though he dearly wished to.

"Never. Although you should be grateful since my forgiving nature is the reason my daughter survived the vow breaking. I admit my wrath thundered as I read the traitorous letters but I could not in fact kill my daughters even though it is the law passed down from Galios. They were not in true danger even though my vision saw red," The King answered, "Besides, it would be best not to set the precedent of spilling royal blood. Otherwise my succession will be much like Somerlians. All blood and gore."

"Where will you send them?" Jza asked.

"I have twelve holdings all over the land in my provinces. They will be sent away so they can meddle in the courts no longer. Their allowances cut, their activities reduced and they will no longer be allowed to travel as they wish."

"Not all of them wrote those letters," The Princess stated quietly. It seemed unfair to punish those who were not the culprits.

"This is a character building exercise. I have indulged them far too long. They need to know the suffering of their people if they are to serve. Besides, they are the ones that caused you to think about leaving my side. Why should they live any better than the life you want to give yourself in this farm?" The middle aged King replied vehemently. He gave his surroundings a very disdainful glare.

"It will be easier to explain why all the Princesses disappeared at the same time if I stay here. You could tell the court you sent them away for their protection before the war," The girl said knowing she could not give her father what he wanted. He wished for her to return to the castle a victor but she had no such goals. She just wished to remain out of sight and out of mind in her little farm. Her father was silent as he realised he would be losing her as well if he pressed the issue.

"Do you not wish to meet them? They are right here. With me," His daughter pointed at herself. She pulled out her locket from under her overly large clothes borrowed from her aunt's leftovers and revealed it to him.

"I fear facing them," King Samuel replied quietly and Tarquin knew he must vacate the premises. He was no family member allowed to see the Goridian King this vulnerable.

"I hope they haven't killed each other," Jza also ignored her father's statement knowing his vanity would suffer terribly as he remembered his words later on.

"A very real possibility," The King replied, his brown eyes fixed on the gleaming chain, "If the terms of exhile are not acceptable I need to look at a tougher punishment. They can choose the locket or the real world."

Tarquin watched the girl's hair web around her fingers as she pulled the necklace out as if it were deadly. The soft brown hair delicately caressed her pale face as it shifted with her movements. He lost his breath at the vision before him.

"I shall leave," Tarquin stood abruptly and with a ceremonial bow left the room. He could never say whether it was basic manners or Jza who compelled him to take his leave.

......................

That night there was a modest feast attended by all the men available. The King and his daughter had emerged from the barn an hour later startling Tarquin. Unlike the other men, who were pretending to do their chores, he had been expecting further company. The Princesses either had declined to step out to the real world or were kept to their confinement. Perhaps it was logistically convenient to pull them out at the castle.

The feast, prepared by the King's personal cook under Hyacinth's watchful eye, was a rambunctious affair. Perhaps knowing the war had truly ended made the men more open in their glee. The sedateness of the dinner had been lost mere moments after it began and people were laughing over tired and abysmal jokes. Jza had a smile on her face that eclipsed the moon shining upon them.

While the farm had managed to adequately provide them with long term resources there were few indulgences to be found in the state it was in. Her father had brought stocks of meat, grain and jams for Jza to fill up her pantry.

Tarquin sat at the edge of the long table, appropriated from the great hall, surrounded by Goridian soldiers. He had never thought it possible and looked uncomfortable as if expecting an attack. The King had made no announcements regarding his identity. He did not reveal his true nature and neither did he shun him. He allowed the Somerlian to sit on the same table as him and that was enough of an endorsement for the Goridians.

The group sang many a song in old Goridian glorifying Galios. Lord Tarquin clenched his fists under the table feeling helpless. Galios' army had stolen land from his people, killed a vast population, made the survivors homeless. King Samuel's generous nature to his people did not mean the blood on his ancestor's past could be cleaned up at his whim. The atrocities committed in that time still had repercussions to this day. His existence was one of them.

The former Lord stood as soon as it was civilised, unable to keep a straight face any longer. The men had started dancing around a fire and his absence should not be noticed. He walked away into the orchard and wandered until he reached the farm's grain mill. A small stream ran through the room sized mill used for churning out flour although it was currently under dire need of repair. The man heard the soft footsteps before the brown head bent down to get in.

"I need to see your injuries. I hope you have not neglected them while you were avoiding me," Jza asked. She carefully sat on a stone bench beside her prisoner minding her newly altered clothes. She was in the process of repurposing the female clothing left behind and this was her newest piece. He hated the sight of the tatty little thing.

"Not at all, with a mirror I can clean all of them. They're healing nicely. Your needlework is impeccable," Tarquin patted at his shoulder which only twinged mariginally.

"You should thank Hyacinth for inducing such skills in my uncultured hands," Jza said with a nostalgic smile.

Without ceremony the Princess leaned forward and started pulling at the laces of his shirt. The environment was quiet beyond the brook bubbling beneath their feet as she meddled with the finicky threads. Slowly and steadily patches of bandages and bare skin began to reveal themselves.

"I wished I could be the lash that caressed the curve of your cheek," Tarquin proclaimed, speaking without warning.

Jza's hands paused her work but she did not look up. A quiver in her fingers was the only sign she had heard him. She exhaled with a resigned sort of sigh and continued her ministrations

"I wished I could win your favour and you would look at me like I was meant to sit on the throne," The man said. His voice was low and soothing to the ear.

"My good opinion has never been so sought after," Jza said, pleasantly, "Is this conversation appropriate as I undress you?"

"Maybe the sight of you undressing me reduces my mental faculties," Tarquin replied, with faint amusement, "And they were worthless."

"Who?"

"The people who never fought for your opinion."

She gave him a brief glance upwards before lowering her gaze to her task. His throat worked as her fingers ghosted over his bare skin. He barely contained the shivers everytime her fingers grazed over her handiwork. The necklace containing his mother glinted in the moonlight coming in from the bare window.

"They've spent more time with me. Maybe they know my worth better than you," The brown eyed girl said tartly.

"Never. No one could know your worth better than me," Tarquin was adamant. He studied the line her lips made with his words.

"Proximity in tense times creates a bond," Jza uttered, remembering Oliver's words from their first day of escape. She wondered if this was the case and he was mistaking their companionship for something further.

"Then I should have fallen in love with Sofiya," Tarquin snorted derisively, "But there is no one for me besides you."

Her ears heated up to hear the words he was uttering. It was so difficult to pretend she was not affected by his presence, his words.

"I will always be yours," He said, leaning so close his breath fluttered her hair. His hands gripped her forearms in a touch that was barely there.

Jza wondered what would happen if she walked into his embrace and let him glide his hands over her. She knew his touch was not the teasing kind he used when she had danced with him in the ballroom and nor were they hot as the blazing looks he had sent her. It was gentler, more measured. Revealing his secrets had calmed the frenzy that burned within him.

"I did not mean to make things uncomfortable but I could not contain my feelings no longer. You were impervious to all hints I sent your way," Tarquin said, mistaking her silence. He watched as she quietly redid the ties until he was clothed completely.

"I had an inkling. I was unsure of your intentions," she answered, breaking away from his hands.

"You made me feel small. I could have sat atop a mountain and proclaim myself god and I would still feel small in front of you," Their conversation was almost incoherent but she knew the dam had burst and he was revealing all that he could in their silent unchaperoned time away from everyone.

The Princess glanced up and down with a measuring look as if noting how tall he was. He grinned as he observed the faint smile lacing her lips.

"My physical attributes are not in question."

"Of course," She answered, magnanimously, "But I do not believe I have done anything to gain such regard. I have never conquered kingdoms nor fought wars. In the grand scheme of things my mark on this world is limited. After I die who will even remember my name being just another Princess among another dozen. You put too much importance on a nobody."

"You are the reason the war ended, Jza," Tarquin uttered her name tenderly. She could not deny the delicate feelings he spoke of he poured in his speech.

"So, you only stopped the war to win my favour," The Princess asked with an edge to her voice.

"I wished to be worthy. I wished to be your friend rather than foe. Perhaps it only highlights me as a shallow sort of fool but it is my truth," The amber eyes pleaded towards her.

The twosome remained seated on the smooth stone bench in silence.

"Are your sisters not coming out from whereever that is," The man asked with a wave of the hand. He still could not believe a trinket could be so powerful.

"Father has been reticent about what happened in there. I could not go in because I was the key keeper. One person must remain outside the key if they do not wish to lose the ability to come out forever," The Princess explained leaning against the stone wall.

"And you did not ask?"

"I do not wish to see them ever again or hear about their antics although it is not possible in the long run. My feelings mark me as vengeful but I care not," Jza tried to sound uncaring but the hurt bubbled through her speech.

"And yet you stayed outside as the key keeper when we raided the castle even though you should have gone in with them. Now, I understand why your loving father left you the responsibility. He did not know you would sacrifice your well-being for your sisters," The Lord looked grim as the piece of the puzzle righted itself.

"Correct, Raymond was to hold the keys but you can see why I could not allow that," The brown haired girl answered with a dull sigh.

"I have a favour to ask you," Tarquin asked, making Jza sit up straight, "I wish to see my mother."

"Of course. It is an honour," The Princess answered and watched the Lord pull out the glinting chain she had hidden beneath his clothing.