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Chapter 11

"Sir Alisdair!" I was half running in my gown, trying to catch up with him as he was coming out of the Men's Parlour and heading for the stairs. He stopped and turned around. "Um, did I say your name correctly?"

He smiled. "You did, Your Highness"

"Rosaline." I looked at him pointedly. How long still would I have to tell them that?

"Right. Rosaline."

I smiled mischievously. "Sir, you promised me some music, remember?"

He chuckled. "You're right, I did. Would you like me to play for you this afternoon?"

"I'd very much like to, if you don't mind."

"Absolutely not. But on one condition, though." I saw mischievous sparks in his blue-green eyes.

"And what would that be?" I said, putting my hands on my hips, pretending to be offended.

He leaned a little bit closer and whispered: "You have to dance."

I burst our laughing. "Ha! We'll see about that..."

"Fair enough. I'll go get my fiddle."

"Do you mind if I come with you?"

He shook his head. "Not at all." He gave me his arm and I took it. He led us to his room. I stayed in the doorframe, though. I didn't want to intrude too much in this personnal space – I wouldn't want to have one of the boys too soon in my room, either. He got down to his knees and pulled a fiddle case from under his bed. "All right, here we go. Where do you want me to play for you?" he said, standing up.

"I think the music room would be a good place to start." I walked down the hall and down the stairs with Alisdair on my heels. The music room was in the opposite Wing from the Men's Parlour and Women's Room, so we wouldn't be disturbed. We weren't really musicians, in my family. Neither one of my parents had the musical side, and so didn't pass it down to their daughters. But I was always impressed and amazed at what others could do.

"Wow. You have a real Grand Piano. It's beautiful." he said, taking in the room.

"You play the piano, too?"

"Oh, no. I'm more of a strings musician. Fiddle, mandolin, mandola and guitar."

"All that? I'm speechless. I can't play anything."

"Maybe not, but you can dance." he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Let's see first how you play." I sat comfortably on a couch and watched as he tuned his fiddle, and warmed his fingers and wrists.

"Ok. What would you like to hear first?"

"I don't know. What is it you usually play?"

"Scottish and Irish tunes, My Lady. I mean, Rosaline."

I shook my head with an amused smile. "All right. Play your favourite tunes, then."

He nodded, swallowed and placed his bow on the strings, closing his eyes for a few seconds, letting concentration and music take hold of him. Then, out of nowhere, his bow danced across the strings and an incredible catchy tune filled the room. I was immediately enthralled and my foot beat the rhythm without me noticing it. He played for a few minutes, before his feet danced, carried away by his music. It was incredible! I started clapping my hands and laughing at this amazing musician who could play the fiddle and dance at the same time.

When that first tune ended, he laughed and looked at me.

"That was incredible! How do you do that?

"Do what?"

"Play and dance at the same time."

"Well, Irish and Scottish dances have this special thing where you don't need your arms to dance, but only your feet. So since I'm already using my arms, I can dance with my feet." He grinned.

"I didn't know that. Are those steps easy?"

He eyed me suspiciously. "You want me to teach you some steps?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"All right." He put his fiddle back in its case for the moment. He extended his hands to me. "All right, stand up." I took his hands and stood. "Stand next to me, and follow what I do. I'll be going real slow."

I was wearing a floor length gown with a belt, so I grabbed the bottom of my dress and kind of stuffed the extra fabric in the belt so we could see what my feet were doing. He blushed a little when he saw what I was doing, but composed himself fast.

"All right, follow my lead."

I obeyed. The first step he showed me was quite easy, but as the minutes wore on, the steps became more and more complex. But I had some sense of rhythm and a good sense of observation, so I managed pretty well to do what he did.

"That's good! Now let's put some music to that. I'll dance, too, so you just follow, like we did until now." I nodded. I was quite nervous, but I couldn't let him see that. He put his bow on the strings again, but played a slower tune than the first one he played. And as I mastered the slow steps, he played faster and faster and faster and we were both laughing so hard, and I was mixing up everything, confusing right and left. He ended the tune, and we were both out of breath, laughing, and fell on one of the couches.

I totally forgot about my dress stuffed in my belt, and my legs were bare to my mid thighs. I saw him blush a little.

"What is it?"

"Uhm... your dress." he mumbled.

I looked down at it and burst out laughing. "Ooops." I stood and fixed it. "So, tell me Alisdair, how did you learn to play like that?"

"Well, my dad taught me to play all four instruments, when my mum died. I grew up playing at Ceilidhs, so-"

"What's that?"

"Ceilidhs? They're Irish or Scottish parties were music and dance have the first place."

"Oh. I'd like to see one of those!"

"Yeah, you'd like them. People dance solo or couple dances, and it rarely finishes before dawn."

"Sounds exciting! I'm sorry about your mother. What happened next?"

"I grew up in the Highlands in Scotland, and after a fall in profits, my father and I moved to Illéa. I was fifteen, and that's when I started performing on my own. My two older sisters are successful musicians in Edinburgh."

"Your father was brave to come all the way here with you. It must have been hard to adjust to our culture and the Castes and all."

"It was. But it was also easy to fit in the Fives, since we were musicians."

"Are there Ceilidhs here in Illéa?"

He shook his head and scratched his dark brown stand-uppy hair. "Not that I know of."

"Okay. Well, that's my first project when I'm Queen, then!"

He chuckled. "Is that even a queenly project?"

"Of course. Anything is a queenly project if I say it is. I'm sure there are a lot of Scots and Irish people in Illéa, and they would be glad to have something from home, don't you think? And I would be the first one on the list to go."

He smiled and shook his head in dismay. "You know, I had a completely different image of you from the Reports than how I see you here."

I sighed and my shoulders slumped a little. "That doesn't surprise me at all. I wish I could be truer to myself on TV, but I'm afraid that the people won't take me seriously. We're Royals, remember? And Royals are supposed to be all shiny and perfect. Even if-"

"Even if you're normal people." he finished for me.

I smiled sadly. "Yeah. You see my problem? I'm at a dead-end." Why was I telling him all this? But then again, one of them would be my husband and they needed to know who I truly was, right? But I didn't think I would open up this fast and this easily. But Alisdair was kind and true, too. Why shouldn't I be?

He reclined on the couch cushions and sighed. "I see your problem. But it's not a dead-end. Just climb over the wall and show who you are."

I let my head fall on the cushion behind me. "I don't know. They'll think I'm acting or something. It won't be seen as genuine."

"We'll find a way, don't worry."

"We?"

"We, as in you, me, the other boys. They see you, too, just like me. And I heard them talking."

I straightened in my seat. "Saying what?"

He looked at me. "What I just told you. That you were different here than from the times we saw you on TV: A snob."

I snorted. "That's exactly what I try to look like. At least I'm a good actress, right?"

He burst out laughing. "I guess you can say that."

I checked the time on the old clock hanging on the wall. It was almost 4 o'clock.

"Well, Sir Alisdair, thank you very much for the dancing lesson and the great music. And the talk. I'll have to think about climbing over that wall, one day. Before I ascend the Throne, though. But I'm afraid I can't stay any longer. The Report starts in an hour, and I have to get ready and talk with Everset Layden."

"Of course. And it was really fun teaching you an Irish dance. If I have an idea for that wall, I'll let you know."

"Please do." I said standing. He stood, too, and kissed the back of my hand. I left the music room and headed for my room. I took a quick shower – when was the last time I took a long relaxing bath? It felt like ages ago – and slipped in my most beautiful dress. Tonight was the first Report with the Selected, and I had to look perfect. But I had to be myself, too.

I didn't want to climb that wall. I would take down the bricks, one after the other, even if it took me years to have the people accept who I really was. And as their future Queen, they had the right to know who I was.