Chapter 5: Consequences
Lianne trudged down the long corridors of the palace in silence, anticipating nothing but the worst possible outcome. It was the early hours of the morning following the spidren incident, and she had been summoned to see her father in his meeting room. King Jonathon would certainly know of her exploits in the forest. The whole palace knew, in fact, for many palace servants had been awake just before dawn and were witnesses to three pages and a princess riding out of the woods, smeared with spidren's blood. But although Lianne knew her father would be angry with her, she feared more for her friends than for herself.
All too soon Lianne found herself standing at the foot of a large heavy door patterned with an interesting weave of gold and silver. She unknowingly lifted one hand to trace the designs as the inwardly worked to prepare herself for the battle to come. It would be similar to every other battle she fought with her father, a war of words often ending in another lecture of how, as a princess she was honor bound to uphold her duty to Tortall. Father and daughter always infuriated one another in these ways. Lianne turned her face sideways to make eye contact with the herald standing to the side of the door. She gave him a small nod, indicating that he was to announce her. He swung the door open and disappeared behind it, reappearing a moment later. He held the door open and motioned Lianne through with a graceful sweep of his arm.
"The king will see you now," he said in a polite tone. Lianne merely nodded in acknowledgement. She entered the room with precise steps, her face masking nervous thoughts. King Jonathon stood with his back to her, his gaze directed out a window that overlooked the royal gardens.
She dipped in a graceful, practiced curtsy. "Father? You wished to speak with me?" Her voice was one of complete innocence.
The king turned then, his blue eyes moving as if measuring up an opponent. Those eyes spoke of anger and some other emotion. Perhaps it was disappointment. He let fall a soft sigh but said nothing, waiting patiently until Lianne felt obliged to speak again, if only to break the silence.
"You can't be surprised that I rebel sometimes," she started, dropping her naïve air. "It's your own fault, bottling me up like you do. If you had let me train as a page, or even learn to fight at all, I wouldn't be forced to resort to searching for adventures in the dead of night."
"You could have been killed!" said her father with conviction. "Don't you understand, especially now, that fighting is not a game. You were gambling with your life last night. Did you even stop and think what might have happened if your friends hadn't rescued you, or if there had been more than one spidren?"
"If I were able to fight I could have saved myself," retorted Lianne.
The king was growing visibly angrier. "Your sister never fought me like this. She accepted my word as final. If you were only to stop throwing these childish tantrums you too could see the wisdom in my decision. A princess does not go running through the forest looking for fights. A princess does not drag her friends into life threatening situations!"
"My friends!" exclaimed Lianne, interrupting her father's rant. "What will happen to them?"
Her father looked at her strangely. "I suspect Sir Arnoc will be dealing with them. It is not of my concern the severity of their punishment." Lianne cringed, thinking of what her friends might be put through, possibly at that very moment. She had seen enough of their training master, even from a distance, to know that he was not a man to be messed with. Payton's words were buzzing in her head: 'It doesn't matter to you if you get your friends in trouble as long as you are having fun.' She clinched her teeth, determined to prove him wrong.
"But what if I said it was my fault?" she asked suddenly.
"What?" Her father was clearly startled.
"You are always encouraging me as a princess of Tortall to take responsibility for my actions," she continued. "Well, you can be happy, for I am taking responsibility here. The trip into the forest was my idea – I told them to come. Sir Arnoc cannot punish them now, for I made them do it." In her heart she knew that only her father could save her friends from punishment, but she hoped this confession would be enough to convince him to do so.
King Jonathon thought the suggestion over. "Then you are willing to receive their punishments for them?"
Lianne swallowed, and then nodded decisively. Although she was frustrated at having lost the battle with her father and being forced to act the 'good princess,' she was glad to have done something to help her friends. After all, she owed them for the many nights they had crept out of their rooms and down to the practice courts to teach her staff fighting.
"Then I suppose the next order of business is what exactly your punishment shall be," he started, but was cut off. At that moment the door swung open and the herald stepped through.
"Sire, the High Prince Kalir of Galla wishes an audience with you."
The king turned briefly to his daughter. "Lianne, we will finish this conversation at a later date." He then returned his attention to the herald saying, "Very well. You may send him in."
Lianne hurried out of the room, smiling at the good fortune that had temporarily saved her from punishment. As she passed through the doorway on her way out, she nearly ran into Kalir as he was entering. He was gone as quickly as he had appeared, but she could have sworn that he had winked at her. Had he meant to rescue me from my father? Lianne's head was swimming as she raced down the hallway back toward her rooms.
Several nights later the four friends met in Aideen's room to work on studying for their classes. Although Lianne did not take classes with the pages, she did have lessons of her own and provided help wherever she could. In the days following their midnight ride, the pages questioned Lianne relentlessly as to why they had received no punishments. Lianne kept her mouth shut concerning the deal she had made with her father, and she told her friends only that they should be happy with their luck.
The four were situated on the floor with papers and books spread chaotically about, when two girls of about sixteen poked their heads through the doorway. One was tall and thin, with curly brown hair similar to Aideen's. Lianne had seen her on several previous occasions and knew her as Cassi, Aideen's sister. She had never seen the Cassi's companion before though, but she assumed that she was another young lady who had studied at the convent, preparing to be presented at court. Aideen had often expressed disgust at her sister's wish to be a proper lady, to raise children with a good husband. Both newcomers threw themselves onto Aideen's bed, giggling uncontrollably.
"You would never believe who we just passed in the hall," started Cassi with an enthusiastic grin.
"Prince Kalir!" exclaimed the second girl joyously. She was of medium height with long lashes and straight blond hair.
Aideen leaned over to whisper in Lianne's ear. "That's Erinn, my sister's friend."
Cassi squealed. "Isn't he the most amazing man? And to think, he's only seventeen." At this point Payton and Bryn were gathering their books and heading toward the door, obviously frightened by the squealing girls.
"You're very lucky, you know," said Erinn, turning to Lianne as the door slammed behind the boys. "I'm sure as the princess you get to spend plenty of time with him!"
Lianne had to admit that she, too, was feeling slightly uncomfortable. She had never understood the ladies at court and how they swooned at the very sight of an unmarried man. Although she had to admit he was very handsome. What's happening to me? Lianne thought. Next thing you know I could start giggling along with them! She blinked rapidly to try and clear her mind. She never answered Erinn as to how much time she got to spend with Prince Kalir. Instead, she excused herself with the utmost politeness and followed the boys from the room. As she was leaving Lianne saw Aideen shoot her a look that begged her not to leave her alone with the ladies, but she did not turn back.