On the way back to the princesses' apartments she bumped into Allen - quite literally. He was striding along the hallway with a look of grim determination on his face.
'Oh, excuse me, miss!' he said distractedly, then exclaimed,'Why, Miss Fassa! I am sorry, I didn't recognise you for a moment.' He made an elegant bow. 'You're looking rather pale, are you all right?'
'Just a little tired,' she lied. 'Millerna has me running errands all over the palace.'
'Millerna!' he exclaimed, slapping his forehead. 'Oh no, I said I'd escort her to the bazaar. Please, Miss Fassa, would you take her an apology from me?'
'Of course.'
Allen pulled a small notebook and a stub of pencil out of his uniform pocket, scribbled something on a page and ripped it out. She politely folded the note in half without looking at it. He smiled sheepishly.
'The princesses and I seem to be making a habit of using you as our go-between. Now, if you will excuse me, I am needed urgently elsewhere.'
He snapped another, more formal bow and strode off down the hallway. Carenza watched him go, then slowly made her way up the wide staircase. After a brief struggle with her conscience she unfolded the note and read it.
Your Highness,
Please accept my heartfelt apologies, but I am called away on urgent business. I am afraid you will have to go to the bazaar without me.
Your humble servant,
Allen C. Schezar VIII
It was a perfectly innocent note, but its very courtesy sent a shiver up Carenza's spine. She remembered how he had been with Marlene, unable to refuse her even though she was engaged to another man - and here he was with Millerna doing exactly the same thing. And this time it was Carenza's own brother who was going to get hurt. She was sorely tempted to rip the note up and pass the message on by mouth, which would be much less intimate than a letter, but Millerna would eventually find out. And if Carenza were to have any chance of nipping this relationship in the bud, she had to earn the princess's trust. Helping Millerna's guests to avoid Folken would make a good start.
' "Go to the bazaar without me" ? Why do men always go back on their promises? Well, I'm not going to wait for him.' Millerna turned to Hitomi. 'Are you coming?''
'O-Okay.'
Van rolled his eyes at the prospect of traipsing round the bazaar with a bunch of women. Whilst Millerna decided which cloak to wear, Carenza drew him aside.
'I think you should go with them,' she murmured. 'Allen looked worried when he gave me the note. If you're not here in the palace when King Aston sends for you, so much the better.'
He looked at her appraisingly, and seemed about to ask her something, but Millerna called for help with her veil. The princess was unaccustomed to wearing the more sombre attire of a respectable Asturian woman, but had agreed with Carenza that they would be much less conspicuous this way. With a last glance at Carenza, Van picked up Hitomi's bag and thrust it into the surprised girl's arms.
'Take it with you, you might need it,' he said.
The market was busy, and Van stalked at Millerna's side, his eyes scanning the crowd suspiciously. He turned round to look for Hitomi, who was gaping at a dolphin man carrying a string of fish.
'What are you doing?' he snapped. 'You're getting left behind.'
Carenza fell back a little; the last thing they needed was for Hitomi or Merle to get lost in the crowd. She spotted Hitomi staring at something on a stall of jewellery and trinkets. Carenza started to move towards her, then froze at a cry from Millerna.
'What's wrong? Van!'
She turned to see Van haring off through the crowd towards a nearby bridge. On the far side of the canal, a familiar tall figure was disappearing into an alley.
'Folken,' she whispered.
She stood there, frozen. What should she do? Try to stop Van, she supposed, but she had never been much good at running. Knowing her she'd just twist an ankle on the cobblestones, which wouldn't help anyone. Dammit, nothing she did at the moment seemed to go right; by encouraging Van to stay out of King Aston's way she had merely brought him to where he would see Folken. Besides, if Van wasn't afraid to go after the brother who had tried to take him prisoner once already, who was she to interfere? Best to leave them to it. It felt like a coward's decision, though.
'Van!' Hitomi's cry split the air, and passersby stopped to stare at her.
'What's the matter, Hitomi?' asked Millerna. 'You don't look so good.'
'Van...Where's Van?'
'He ran off towards the harbour-'
Hitomi took off after Van in a ground-covering sprint.
'Hey, what's the matter?' Merle cried, and hurried after her.
'Strange girls...' Millerna murmured.
Carenza sighed. The wrong decision again, she supposed. Today was not turning out well at all.
Whilst she and Millerna were debating whether to go and look for Van and his friends, they were passed by a squad of palace guards. Carenza's heart sank. If Folken didn't get Van now, the young king would surely find himself a 'guest' of King Aston very soon.
There was a scream from several women in the crowd, and Carenza looked up to see a flash of light in the sky. A seagull plummeted down towards the market stalls, one wing severed.
'What in heaven's name-!'
A silver thread, like a bolt of lightning turned to steel, stabbed down towards a spot in the direction Van had gone. Towards Folken? Carenza felt bile rising in her throat and turned away from Millerna, a hand pressed to her mouth. She wanted to run to him, make certain that he had not been hit, but her legs felt like jelly. Instead she bought a cup of mint tea from a nearby stall, and stood sipping it until she had stopped shaking. Love him or hate him, she could never be indifferent to Folken's fate.
'There they are!' cried Millerna.
Carenza looked up to see the palace guards escorting Van, Hitomi and Merle across the bridge. The young king looked angry and disappointed, but certainly not like one who has just seen his brother cut down in front of his eyes. She breathed a sign of relief, and followed Millerna back to the palace.
That evening aboard the Vione, Folken was keeping an eye on Dilandau. Not only did it help take his mind off his own misery, but it was becoming increasingly necessary. The boy was now totally obsessed with getting revenge against Van - for the defeat of his Dragonslayers, for the damage to his Alceides, and most of all for the cut on his face. He lounged in a chair, scratching mechanically at a wine carafe with the tip of his dagger. Just as Folken was about to tell him to stop, Dilandau hurled the knife at the carafe, and it smashed to the deck. A viscid red pool spread across the stone floor.
'Folken, I hate waiting!' he screamed.
'There's no hurry - we know where the dragon is,' Folken replied.
'Why don't you capture it now?' Dilandau smiled, an eager glint in his eye. 'Emperor Dornkirk would appreciate that.'
Just then the door hissed open. A Dragonslayer was silhouetted against the bluish light from the corridor. Gatti, by the look of it.
'May I come in, sir?'
'What is it?' snapped Dilandau.
'Sir, His Excellency General Adelphus has sent a message.'
Dilandau got out of his chair, suddenly all attention.
'From Lord Adelphus? Read it.'
'Yes, sir.' He unrolled a large scroll. ' "We have orders to occupy Freid. We will head for Asturia with my army".'
Folken stepped forward from his place in the shadows.
'One of the Four Generals himself? So, the location of the power spot has been found...'
Dilandau moved towards Gatti.
'Then, what Lord Dornkirk's been looking for was finally...'
' "The Destiny Prognostication Engine has detected the dragon's shadow",' Gatti read. ' "Capture it before the operation begins".'
'Yes!' The silver-haired boy crowed.
' "P. S. Don't get carried away." That-'
Dilandau struck Gatti across the face. The Dragonslayer staggered but kept his feet.
'That was all,' he murmured.
Folken frowned. Trust Dilandau to take offence at a reprimand from his superior. He decided it was time to assert his own authority over the mission.
'Our army has to use Asturia's port as a staging ground for the advance into Freid. He's advising you not to upset Asturia with your careless actions.'
'Why don't we simply occupy the harbour?' Dilandau sneered. 'I just want my revenge on Van.'
Humour him, Folken thought. In this mood, he'd kill Van just to spite me. If he thinks I care little about Van, it might take the edge off his bloodlust.
'You can have your revenge after you bring him to me,' Folken sighed.
'What, you're going to give me your little brother? You don't care about him?'
'I am the man who destroyed my homeland,' he said coolly.
He walked away, enjoying Dilandau's stunned silence.
That same evening, the princesses and their guests attended a dinner in Van's honour. Carenza was left alone to wander her room aimlessly, picking up a book and putting it down without even looking at the cover. After about an hour she decided that what she needed was some fresh air.
She made her way down to the courtyard and then up a zigzag flight of steps to the wallwalk. It was cool up here, the wind teasing at her hair and wrapping her skirts about her legs. Scents of grilled meat and woodsmoke drifted up, mingling with the ever-present smell of the sea. Looking inland she could make out the dark bulk of the Vione. Anchor cables like strands of spider silk held the massive fortress earthbound. As the night sky darkened she could see that the fortress was banded with lights. Did Folken stand at one of those windows, looking seawards to the palace?
Her reverie was disturbed by the scrape of boot on stone. Looking around she saw a slender figure silhouetted against the night sky. He paced back and forth, sweeping his katana in a series of graceful arcs-
Memories came flooding back of another Fanelian prince at sword practice, of him smiling down at her, giving her his ring- With a sob she half-ran, half-fell down the stairs to the courtyard. She tore past the windblown fountain, oblivious to its spray, and somehow made it back to her room without meeting anyone. There she flung herself on her bed and wept, until at last she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
She was woken a few hours later by the slamming of doors and shouting from the corridor.
'What's going on?' she mumbled to the empty room.
The red light of dawn seeped in through the open window, and with it came the smell of burning. Carenza scrambled out of bed. That wasn't the dawn; it was still night, and the red glow came from burning buildings. With a cry of alarm she grabbed her robe from the end of the bed and dashed out into the corridor.
It was empty, and on trying the doors further along she discovered that Hitomi's and Van's rooms were also unoccupied. She hurried downstairs to find the lower hall milling with servants and guards. She grabbed a passing page.
'What's happening?' she shouted over the din.
'Zaibach attack!' the boy replied. 'They've kidnapped the King of Fanelia's companion. Now there are guymelefs fighting in the streets - half the Artisans' Quarter is afire.'
Sweet Jeture, thought Carenza, what have I done? If I hadn't confronted Folken when I did, he might have been in a gentler mood when he met Van this afternoon, and might not now be resorting to desperate measures to recruit his little brother.
She headed back upstairs to dress, but as she turned the corner to go up the second half-flight her way was blocked by Princess Millerna. Her normally gentle features were set in a mask of cold fury.
'Where do you think you're going, Carenza Fassa?'
'I...to get dressed, your highness. Why, what's wrong?'
Millerna thrust her face close to Carenza's, looking into her eyes.
'Heading off to rendezvous with your lover? I'm surprised you're not already there with him, watching Palas burn from his floating fortress.'
'Folken and I are not-'
'Don't lie to me! Eries has told me everything.'
'But-'
'Just get out. I'll find myself another lady-in-waiting, one who knows where her loyalties lie. Pack your things and go.'
This wasn't fair; no matter with whom she sided, someone was going to take offence. For Dryden's sake she made one last effort at explanation.
'Your highness, please, you have to listen to me. I made a mistake-'
'That's right. A big mistake. So just go. Now.'
Millerna stepped aside to let Carenza pass. She made her way slowly up to her room, pulled out a trunk from the dressing room, and moving in a daze began to pack her clothes and books and jewellery.
Dawn found her in a carriage heading west towards Ezgardia. She just hoped Dryden would still be there.