01
Faces People Know.
---
Let's weave them together. Your fate and mine.
The words echoed in her mind. She was dreaming. The same dream she'd been having for a while now. The same voice she'd been hearing for a while now. The same puzzle she'd been trying to solve for a while now.
And she woke up, the same expression on her face as she'd had for a while now. Eyes deep in thought, a mouth firmly set in a line, she faced each sunrise as she sat up in bed and looked out her window.
It was the same face she used at the archery range, drawing her bow and letting the arrow fly. She never took those eyes off the target, just as she never let her mind wander from her thoughts.
Today was the same. She could tell, sitting in her bedroom. Might as well start it up, she thought, jumping out of the bedclothes and getting ready for the day.
---
"Good morning, Lynn," sang out a cheerful voice.
"Morning, Ambrosia," Lynn replied, her voice the same low-pitched near-monotone as usual.
"Oh, Lynn, you're the only who calls me by full first name," she said, giggling. "I keep telling you, 'Amber' is just fine."
"Right," Lynn said, laughing a little. "Sorry about that, Ambrosia," she said, sitting down at the wooden table in the middle of the yard that served as their dining table.
"Really, Lynn," Amber said, with a jestful huff. "You're so formal about things. We're all friends now. Now eat your breakfast before it gets cold."
Amber -- or the Queen of the Kitchen, as she liked to call herself sometimes -- set down a bowl of porridge in front of Lynn.
"And you're always so early. If only everyone else were as punctual as you," Amber said, sitting down across from her. "Then they would all enjoy a hot meal all the time."
"Perhaps," Lynn said, continuing to eat her porridge.
"And you have such wonderful table manners. Unlike that Colton," she continued, giving an involuntary shudder at the thought. "He slurps all the time, and chews with his mouth open. It's disgusting watching him eat. It would be much more pleasant if everyone were as refined as you are."
"Possibly," Lynn said, putting down her spoon.
"And that Kipp!" she said, banging her fist on the table. "That fool never knows when to close his mouth. And he keeps stealing from my kitchen, too! If he were as disciplined as you, I'd only have to do half the cooking I do now."
" Maybe," Lynn said, after drinking water from her cup.
Amber stopped for a while, her chin resting in her hands, she watched Lynn wipe her mouth with her handkerchief.
"You know, you would have made a wonderful lady-in-waiting to Princess Gledae," she said, thoughtfully, her head tilted to one side.
"Probab--," she said, pausing, her handkerchief midway from her mouth to her lap. She suddenly knitted her brow, opened her mouth, raised one hand, and then finally shook her head. "No," she said.
"No? Not even 'Possibly so'?" Amber asked, head tilted further to the side.
"No. It's a 'Definitely no'," Lynn said, folding her handkerchief and putting it in her pocket.
"But you are a wonderfully refined lady," Amber insisted. "Why did you not remain a lady-in-waiting?"
"A lady-in-waiting, possibly so," she said, folding her arms on the table. Plucking a fallen strand of hair from her tunic's long sleeve, she continued, "But not in this castle."
"Won't you tell me why?"
"I --," Lynn began, but was cut short by the high-pitched voice she recognized all too well.
"Good morning, dear subjects," the voice cried out. "I am happy to see my castle folk are doing well this fine morning. How is your breakfast, dear kitchen maid?"
"I have eaten well, milady," Amber said, standing up and curtsying gracefully to the princess. "I presently await here the others to partake of their breakfast."
"It is good to hear that," she said, head erect and eyes off to one side. "And you, dear squire?"
"Just finished, Princess Gledae. Alright, I suppo--," she said, standing up and bowing.
"Good, good," the princess cut her off mid-sentence and mid-bow. "Now tell me, has Squire Landen come down to breakfast yet?"
Amber answered quickly. "He has not yet, milady. Is there something you needed of him?"
"Well, actually, I had something to give to him," she said, calling to her handmaiden.
Lynn gritted her teeth as she saw the lady-in-waiting quickly shuffle forward, carrying a small basket. Opening the lid, she bowed slightly as she offered it to the princess.
The princess withdrew a small plate, on top of it a small cake. "I'd meant to let him have this cake. It is a little pastry I brought back with me from yesterday's visit to my uncle, the Duke in my mother's hometown. Will he be here soon?"
Lynn took a deep breath, straightened up, and putting her hands together at waist level, smiled as best she could at the princess. "I am sure he'll be here soon. He is never late for mealtime, you know. Why, most of the time he comes straight here after he cleans out the stables. Famished after a whole dawn of shoveling out horse-dung, you see."
"Horse-dung --? Ah, well," Princess Gledae said, clearing her throat. "I see he has a lot of duties to perform. Well, I mustn't trouble him then, I'll be on my way. But could you see to it that he receives this?" she said, handing the plate to Lynn.
"Certainly, milady," Lynn said, "I will make sure it gets to him safe and sound."
"Thank you, dear squire," the princess said, smiling her beaming smile. "May I know what your name is, again?"
"Lynn," she answered. "My name is Lynn."
"Lynn," Princess Gledae repeated. "Thank you, squire Lynn. I bid you farewell this morning, then."
The princess waved as Amber curtsied, and Lynn dipped her head ever the slightest. The lady-in-waiting gave a small curtsy as she hurried after her princess.
Lynn waited until they were out of sight, and set the plate down on the table, forcefully. Discarding her smile, she walked a few steps away, kicked a barrel hoop, and then walked back to the table and sat down, folding her arms on the table and resting her head in them.
"That, my friend," she said, banging her fist on the table next to the cake. "Is why I refuse to be a lady-in-waiting in this castle."
"That pastry is why you chose to be a squire?" came a deep, clear voice from the edge of the courtyard.
Lynn held her breath as she heard the voice, recognizing it at once. She heard the footsteps of the metallic boots as they made their way over to the breakfast table. She saw the shadow looming over her, and closed her eyes momentarily, sighing, knowing who it was.
"Landen, here you are," Amber said, cheerfully, quickly standing up. "Wait while I get your breakfast," she said, hurrying into the kitchen.
"And here you are, oh lady-in-waiting-would-be," Landen said to Lynn, who hadn't moved her position.
"You just missed her," Lynn said, in a low voice.
"Her? Missed who? Amber?" the squire asked, in a quizzical voice.
"Missed her, you fool," Lynn said, her voice lower still. "The princess. She was looking for you. Again."
"Oh, Princess Gledae. Oh well, maybe I'll see her next time," Landen said, shrugging his shoulders and sitting down next to Lynn.
Lynn moved to make space for him, her head still resting in her arms, facing away from Landen. She shoved the plate towards him.
"Here. She left this for you."
"Ah," Landen said, eyeing the cake. "The 'reason why you are not a lady-in-waiting', I presume? What an interesting thing to influence your decision for life."
"Just take it," Lynn said, sitting upright. "It's from the princess. Be grateful. Nobody else gets such special attention from royalty. You should thank her. And be extra nice to her."
"Don't tell me what to do," he said, in a comical voice. "I make my own decisions in life. I don't let cakes decide for me."
Lynn gave a quick chuckle as she stood up. "I'll be going ahead then. I'll get started on those horse stables."
"No need," Landen said abruptly, pulling the plate towards him.
"No need?" Lynn said, stopping in her tracks.
"To clean out the horse stables. Already did that," he said, intently observing the cake.
"Really? This morning?"
"Just a while ago. Rather quick, too, since all the knight's horses are away," he said, poking it with his finger. "Came straight here after I cleaned out the stables. Famished after a whole dawn of shoveling horse-dung, you see?"
"What? You heard that --?" Lynn said, recognizing her own words to the princess. "Why, you," she said, creeping up on his back.
"Here's your porridge, Landen," Amber shouted cheerfully, emerging from the kitchen.
Lynn turned right around and started walking off.
"Where are you headed, Lynn?" she heard Amber shout after her.
"To find something to do," she shouted back, waving her hand.
"Really," Amber said, setting down Landen's porridge, and putting her hand on her hip. "I'll never know how that girl thinks."
"With any luck, nobody will have to," Landen said, sipping a spoonful of porridge.