He sat alone in his chambers, awkward and nervous. Today was to be one of the most important days of his life: the day when he would meet his bride-to-be. He had seen her before, of course, but not for a long time.
The last time he had seen the Princess Lily, in fact, had been when they were both no more than children. Their fathers, the respective kings of their countries, had been meeting to discuss various matters of state and diplomacy. Edgar, always shy, had just wanted to sit in the corner and read. However, the small girl with the brown ringlets, determined chin and dazzling smile was clearly not used to being ignored and she had made that very well known to him. She had strolled back and forth in front of him, she had tried to start conversations about her ponies, and she had batted those outrageously long eyelashes for all they were worth, but the bookish prince had just buried his nose deeper and deeper into his book.
Finally, in an act of extreme frustration, she had planted a quick kiss on his cheek. That had gotten his attention, all right. He blushed furiously and wouldn't say anything, but she had definitely gotten him to look up from his book.
Then she had started prattling about this and that; he hadn't really particularly cared about anything she said, but he was finding himself more and more entertained by this skinny girl.
By the time she and her father left to return to their castle, two days later, Lily not only had him talking back to her, but had him totally smitten.
Even though it had been close to eight years since then, Prince Edgar hadn't ever forgotten her. He'd always thought of her as a friend, and upon hearing reports of her growing beauty over the years, had decided that he could think of no one he would rather have by his side.
So when his father had drawn him aside and told him that as sole heir to the crown, it was time to arrange a marriage with a lovely and suitable young lady, Edgar had told his father with characteristic firmness that he would have no one but Princess Lily. Though his father had hemmed and hawed and said that he could not be sure that the Princess would want to marry him, not having seen her in years, and that Princess Florie was not only quite wealthy and heir to some of the best lands available, but that she was also quite attracted to him, Edgar was unyielding. He had informed his father that either he would wed Princess Lily or he would wed no one.
Faced with a son of far more strength of character than he possessed, King Warren had backed down and sent a message to King Clarence, who, wonder of wonders! had been amenable and sent back a message not only approving the betrothal, but informing them that he would send Princess Lily to wed Edgar within the week.
Ever since then, Edgar had been walking on air; he hadn't wanted to tell his father, but even had Lily not been in the picture, he would rather have drowned himself than wed the piggish, priggish Princess Florie, whose beady eyes followed him predatorily whenever he was in her sight. The thought of waking up to that face every morning for the rest of his life sickened him no less than the thought of her selfishness, reputation for depravity, and sheer coarseness. Now, however, he was to wed the girl of his dreams, and surely great happiness would follow.
Today was the day she was to arrive, and Edgar had nervously dressed himself in his nicest clothes. He was wearing the black velvet doublet, shot through with silver threads, that everybody said set off his pale skin and dark hair beautifully. His hair had been washed and cleansed until it shone, and was pulled back into a short braid. However, despite his best efforts, his cheeks had been flushed nervously; he didn't want to greet Lily looking like a ruddy-cheeked youth, but nothing was helping him relax.
There was a knock at the door. Edgar jumped to his feet and smoothed his tunic.
"Prince Edgar!" a voice floated through the door. "A procession is approaching!"
He took a deep breath. Right. I need to look suave. Calm. Manly. "I un--" Edgar's voice squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I understand. Thank you for informing me."
With quick steps, he left his room and climbed to the nearest tower. Emerging into the sunlight on the turret, he found that his father was there before him.
"Father," Edgar said, "can you see them?"
His father squinted. "Yes, I see them, but..." his voice trailed off.
"But what?" Edgar asked.
When his father seemed disinclined to respond, Edgar decided to look for himself. Shading his eyes from the glare, he gazed at the procession emerging from the forest. He frowned. Granted, he hadn't seen many bridal processions before, but something seemed...off, somehow.
"Father?" he asked. "Is there something strange about this procession?"
"I should say so." His father pursed his lips. "It's customary to send several soldiers to protect the princess, but this appears to be almost entirely composed of soldiers. I see King Clarence at the head of the procession, but—"
"But Princess Lily is not with them," Edgar said slowly.
"Nor do I see any dowry wagons." The King grunted. "I don't like the look of this."
Edgar's mind was immediately filled with the direst of possibilities: perhaps something horrible had happened to Lily. Or if something hadn't happened to her, why wasn't she in the procession? It definitely didn't seem that this procession was prepared for a royal wedding. It was more like this procession was prepared for...
King Warren's mind had apparently also gone in the same direction. He leaned over the turret and bellowed down to the guards, "Close the gate and raise the drawbridge! Now!"
Soon the creak of the heavy chains and metal bars echoed through the morning air. Edgar stood stock still on the turret. Something had gone wrong, horribly wrong, and he knew it would ruin his hopes for happiness.
His father clapped a soothing arm on his shoulder. "We'll get this figured out, son."
"What's to figure out?" Edgar asked bleakly. "Either something has happened to Princess Lily...or her father is ready to go to war with us for some reason. It seems fairly obvious to me."
The King looked at his son grimly. "Yes, that is how it seems. It's possible that there's another way to interpret this that we just haven't figured out yet, but not likely. When an army shows up at your door, there are just not that many ways to construe it."
"I'm sorry, Father," Edgar replied. "This is my fault."
"Of course it's not your fault. King Clarence agreed to give us his daughter with his blessing. If he has changed his mind, it is not through any fault of ours." He looked at his son with an iron will. "If they think that we will just crumble to pieces at a mere show of force, we will show them what true strength is."
Edgar only groaned. At this point, he didn't even know what to hope for. Should Princess Lily be injured or worse, it would avert disaster for their countries, but Edgar's life would be utterly destroyed.
"Come, Edgar. I'm going to call an emergency council, and now that you're old enough, you should attend with me and see how we deal with such matters."
He had no choice. "Yes, Father..."
Later that afternoon, Edgar collapsed onto his bed. The council had been, at least in his opinion, ridiculous and boring. Either the ancient, dodder-headed advisors were droning on about matters of rules of etiquette and diplomacy, or the hot-headed councilors were all shouting that they shouldn't wait for King Clarence to attack them, but that they, themselves, should attack preemptively. Edgar would have spoken up, but his father had told him quite definitely before entering the meeting that he was not to speak; if he were to be observed disagreeing with his father, the cunning and untrustworthy would attempt to take advantage of that. And his father had done absolutely nothing, which was the most frustrating of all. He had sat there, stroking his beard and nodding contemplatively. He had taken no sides and made no pronouncements. When the meeting was finally over, Edgar had been left with the feeling that they were no better off than they had been when they entered the room. In fact, he definitely felt less intelligent than he had been before, and they had wasted at least two hours to achieve that less-than-desired result.
As for the procession that now seemed to be setting up a camp right on the other side of the castle gates, there had been no real communication. There had been insults flung, but nothing of any substance. King Clarence hadn't been seen since his lavish tent had been erected. And of Princess Lily, there had been nothing.
Scowling, he rolled to his feet again. He wanted to get out of the castle, to go for a ride, to escape the pitying eyes. He could almost imagine the servants' whispers: "Oh, the poor prince! I heard that the princess was so terrified at the thought of marrying him that she convinced her father to declare war!" or "I'll bet she jumped off of the highest tower to avoid marrying our arrogant little princeling." Edgar began to pace, hands clasped behind his back. He couldn't leave the castle, not with the forces encamped outside. He couldn't leave this room unless he felt able to show a stoic face to the world. He was trapped.
Suddenly, all of the fury drained from him. He sank into his chair, feeling as though his legs might no longer support him. What if Princess Lily really had been disgusted at the thought of marrying him? He hadn't wanted to seriously consider that possibility, but it was definitely there. He heard in his mind's eye a female voice saying, "Edgar? That idiotic boy? I would sooner drink poison than wed and bed that ugly fool!" Abject, Edgar hung his head. Ever since he was ten years old, he had hinged all his hopes on having her at his side. Whenever he had done something praiseworthy, he had always imagined her brown eyes dancing in delight at his cleverness. Whenever he had needed comforting, he had summoned an image of her to his brain. It had never really seriously entered his mind that she might, perhaps, not feel the same way about him. Though he had been nervous when his father sent the proposal of betrothal to King Clarence, and couldn't bear the wait for the response, he'd always had the feeling deep down that it would all come right.
He'd never told anyone about his feelings for her. He'd always been a handsome boy who had matured into a handsome young man. Girls were supposed to moon and swoon over him, not the other way around! What would his squires think of him if they knew that he spent his free time dreamily composing poems that were never written down and creating paintings that only ever saw the gallery inside his head? They would have laughed at him and mocked him. For heaven's sake, he had mocked himself, knowing how foolish he was being. Still, he could never banish the feeling that in those two days he had known her, they had touched souls, and he could never be truly without her.
Edgar slumped over until his forehead was resting on the cool wood of the table. I'm pathetic.
Gradually, he emerged from his unhappy reverie to realize that someone was pounding on his door.
"Who's there?" he croaked, trying not to sound too startled.
"Prince Edgar, sir! King Warren sends word that you're to meet with him immediately!"
"Oh?" Edgar snorted. "Well, you can tell him that I'd rather be alone."
"Highness, he said that it's urgent, and that I'm not to return without you."
Edgar heaved a sigh. "Fine. If it's really that much of a life-and-death situation, I suppose I have no choice." I never do, do I?
Unlocking his door, he couldn't help but be grimly amused at the servant's reaction to his appearance. Prince Edgar was known throughout the kingdom for being elegant and gentlemanly. Edgar had the feeling that at this moment, he looked less than an exemplary example of either of those qualities. In fact, if he looked as mean and miserable as he felt, he couldn't blame the servant for recoiling slightly before schooling his long face into a blank expression.
"This way, Highness."
Ignoring the servant, Edgar stormed down the stairs. He knew where his father would be. Whenever he had something important to tell to Edgar, he would always be in his solar; not only did it feel like a more neutral place than the King's chambers, but it was also a quiet and private place, ideally suited to contemplations and reflections.
"Highness!" the man hurried after him. "Prince Edgar, where are you going?"
"The solar. I assume that's where my father is. You can leave me now; I do know my way around the castle."
"The King is not in the solar, my Prince. Please, if you will follow me..."
Not in the solar? This was extremely unusual, but then, Edgar had to admit to himself, nothing about this day had been extremely usual in and of itself. Slightly intrigued despite himself, he nodded. "Very well. Take me where my father is."
Following the servant down a twisting path of corridors and grand halls, Edgar grudgingly admitted to himself that he had no idea where they were going. There was absolutely nothing special in this part of the castle: spare rooms, storage rooms, and varied miscellany. He couldn't imagine why his father would want to meet with him in any of these strange places or what he could possibly want to tell him.
"Highness?"
Edgar paused and looked behind him. With a jolt of embarrassment, he realized that the servant had stopped walking several feet back, but he, lost in his thoughts, had kept blindly walking. Not only had he not noticed that the servant had paused, but he had nearly walked right into a wall.
He blinked and cleared his throat before self-consciously smoothing his hair back and quickly moving back to where the servant was standing with a slightly amused expression on his face.
"Well?" Edgar snapped, trying to cover his inner turmoil. "Why have you stopped here?"
"Please be patient for a moment, Prince Edgar." The servant peered closely at the stone wall. Edgar waited, more confused than he wanted to admit. Finally, with a small sound of discovery, the servant hooked his finger into a crevice between two stones and pulled.
Nothing happened.
"Are you trying to break my castle?" Edgar asked whimsically.
The servant merely grimaced wearily and pulled again. This time, there was a loud click; as Edgar watched in slack-jawed amazement, the wall swung open to reveal a dark passage behind.
"A...secret passage?" Edgar breathed. "I had no idea anything like this was here!"
"Your father is in a room down that passage, Highness. Please go right ahead."
"Is it...safe?"
"Of course it's safe. You're my prince. Should you find yourself in any danger while under my care, my life would be forfeit. Please." The man gestured that Edgar should step into the passage, which, holding his breath, he did.
Edgar turned to face the servant, still standing outside of the passage. "It's astounding!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing down the damp corridor. "Why didn't my father ever show me this before?"
"It's not my place to know something like that." The man bowed to Edgar and said again, "Your father is that way."
"Of course." Edgar turned to face the darkness and released a long, slightly shaky breath. "Could I have a torch?" he asked, swinging around to face the entrance again.
It was too late, though. The door was already swinging closed. Before Edgar had a chance to do anything other than yelp in alarm, he found himself in utter darkness.
He banged his fists on the wall that, seconds before, had been an entrance. "Hello?" he called. "Can you hear me? Let me out!"
There was no response. He licked his lips, trying to calm his mounting panic. The servant might be some sort of traitor...or perhaps he simply couldn't hear Edgar through the thick stone of the wall, which would definitely muffle his calls and banging.
What's happening? Am I trapped? Am I about to die, cut down by an assassin I can't even see?
As had become his custom over the years, he imagined Lily whispering in his ear. "Courage, Edgar. You are a prince. Whatever happens now, you must meet it as a prince and a man."
Edgar nodded to himself. With a quick, whispered prayer, he turned around and started groping his way forward through the darkness with outstretched hands.
The next several moments were the most terrifying of his life thus far. He had no idea if he was about to crash headlong into a wall, to fall to his death in a deep crevasse, or to meet his doom in some other grisly, wholly unimaginable way. Though his instinct was to shuffle forward slowly, feeling the ground ahead of him with his toes, he forced himself to stride forward through the darkness with a feigned confidence. Whatever is to happen, you will meet it as a man.
Suddenly, he blinked and rubbed his eyes. That couldn't be a light he saw ahead, could it? Though he convinced himself that it couldn't be, his breathing quickened even more and his right hand dropped to his sword belt before he realized that he had left his sword in his room. He cursed under his breath.
However, there was really nothing to be done but to keep moving forward. After another moment, he could no longer deny that it was a light. It was not, as he had first hoped, daylight. Rather, it was the flickering of firelight upon the rough walls of the passage.
Finally, he turned a corner, and to his utter surprise, found himself in a well-furnished room with a merrily crackling fire in the fireplace, plush chairs, bookcases overflowing with books and scrolls, and three men sitting in the chairs, talking quietly.
After a moment, one of them, his father, seemed to notice his presence. "Well, Edgar, it certainly took you long enough to join us."
The relief pulsing through Edgar's veins at the fact that he was not about to die in some horrible, painful way was momentarily eclipsed by anger. "Well, father," he responded frostily, "I would have been here sooner had I not been afraid for my life. Was it really necessary to send me through that cave without a light?"
His father shrugged. "I have more important things to worry about at the moment then whether my son stubs his toe or not. Please, sit down."
Edgar sighed, irritated, but nonetheless, took a seat in the fourth chair and scooted it towards the table. Looking at the other men for the first time, he realized that one of them was Lord Arfon, his father's most trusted councilor. And the third man, who was currently covered in a layer of dirt, grime, and exhaustion, was none other than Lily's father, King Clarence.
"Father, what is going on here?"
His father waved an arm grandly to encompass the room. "Welcome to the only room in this castle where real decisions are made, Edgar."
"The only room...?"
"Of course. I wouldn't possibly be stupid enough to do anything important while surrounded by schemers and incompetents."
"But your solar..?"
"Easily spied upon. Edgar, this room is a complete secret, and one of your best assets in this castle. Keep its existence sacred."
Edgar nodded slowly, a new respect for his father slowly kindling itself inside him. He'd always seen his father as a weak and fairly ineffective king who didn't have the strength to make grand proclamations. But now, he admitted to himself that perhaps he had been mistaken. Maybe his father did have the strength, but he was just wily enough to keep it hidden from the public.
"I understand, Father," Edgar said. "Now, can you please tell me what on earth is happening? What is King Clarence doing here?"
"A little respect, if you please, boy," King Clarence responded. "I've spent the last two hours crawling through dirty tunnels so that I could meet with your father privately, with no one the wiser as to my absence."
"But why?" Edgar asked. "Why are you even here? Where's... where's Lily?"
"Clarence," his father said, "why don't you tell him what you've told me?"
King Clarence nodded. "Of course, Warren. Edgar, contrary to what you may think, we are not here to make war on you."
"Well, that's good to know," Edgar replied with a trace of sarcasm. "You certainly fooled me."
"I understand your attitude," King Clarence said sternly, "but there is no call for it. Hear me out. Lily is gone."
"Gone?" Edgar said with a sickening lurch in his stomach. "What do you mean, 'gone'?"
The older man shrugged. "Gone. Disappeared. Kidnapped, or ran away, or...something else that I cannot even envision."
"Gone..." Edgar breathed, unable to comprehend the finality of that word. Gone. She's gone. "Can we rescue her?" he asked.
King Clarence coughed painfully. "That would require some sort of knowledge of where she's gone and why. If she were abducted, I would expect some sort of contact to be made and a ransom to be demanded, but there has been nothing."
"So...she's run away?"
"I don't know, Edgar. I've had my troops combing the forest for days, but they've found nothing of note yet."
"Why would she do something like that?" Edgar asked, terrified that his nightmare might be coming true. "I would sooner drink poison than wed and bed that ugly fool!" echoed in his head.
Clarence rubbed his eyes, and for the first time, Edgar noticed the lines of exhaustion and stress in his face. "I don't know that either, Edgar. She had been acting oddly... having nightmares and the such, but..." his voice trailed off.
For the first time, Lord Arfon spoke up. "King Clarence, forgive my presumption, but I believe that there is something you are not telling us."
"Of course there isn't!"
"I understand your desire to protect your daughter at all costs," Lord Arfon continued smoothly, "but in order to be of any use in this situation, we need to know everything."
Clarence looked distinctly uncomfortable, but sighed and said, "Very well. I distinctly got the impression that... no offense to you, Prince Edgar, but that she was not entirely happy about the prospect of the marriage."
"So she ran away in order to avoid marrying me," Edgar said flatly. It was not a question.
"We don't know that, Edgar."
"Is there anything else, King Clarence?" sharp-eyed Lord Arfon asked.
"Nothing that has any bearing upon what we do here," Clarence said sharply, but even Edgar, lost in misery, noticed how his eye twitched and how his cheeks were lightly stained with color.
"Very well," Lord Arfon responded, apparently deciding to save the toughest battles for later. "Then, King Clarence, if you will, enlighten me as to why you brought an army with you to inform us of this sad development, and why you couldn't meet with us openly?"
"Perhaps you haven't been paying attention to political developments lately, Lord Arfon," King Clarence replied harshly, "but you may have noticed that my country and the kingdom of Granlen are only a step and a hop away from war over this marriage."
"I noticed, indeed, Highness."
"Arfon," Edgar's father interjected, "please allow King Clarence to speak without interruption."
"Certainly, Lord. My apologies, King Clarence," Lord Arfon said with a small bow towards the two kings. He then sat back.
"At this juncture, it would not do for my country to be seen as weak in any way. Were I to come riding up and inform you in broad daylight of the disappearance of my daughter, King Stefan would hear of it. I give you my word on that. He would take advantage of this sad situation in order to both force his daughter, the Princess Florie, on Prince Edgar, and to attack my kingdom while my forces are divided and distracted in the search for my daughter." With a sidelong glance at Edgar, Clarence added, "I was definitely under the conception that Prince Edgar would definitely not consider Princess Florie as an eligible match, but should Stefan learn that my daughter is nowhere to be found and Prince Edgar still will not marry Florie, he may very well go to war against Ethril too, in order to avenge the insult done to his daughter. However, as long as our two countries appear to be on the brink of war for some unknown reason, King Stefan will stay his hand, both out of curiosity and because he still would wish for his daughter to wed Prince Edgar." With that King Clarence leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers over his stomach.
Edgar's head was spinning. "That was ingenious. You are brilliant, King Clarence."
"Nonsense," King Clarence said briefly. "It's simple strategy, Edgar, though I thank you for the compliment. In any case, we must decide what is best to be done. Edgar, what are your feelings in this situation?"
"I... I love Lily," Edgar said quietly. "I've dreamed of her since we were children, and I will wed no one else. If she cannot be found—"
"Don't be ridiculous," King Warren snapped. "We will do our best to find Princess Lily, of course, but if she cannot be found, you will still be wed. You are the heir to this kingdom, and you must someday produce an heir of your own."
"I will not wed Florie," Edgar said stubbornly.
"So," Clarence said simply, "it seems that it would be best for the status quo to continue: we pretend to be ready to go to war with each other. We will throw insults and make impossible demands, and every word will be reported to King Stefan by spies."
"Meanwhile," Warren continued, "you will continue to search for your daughter. If she is found, she will come straight here and wed Edgar. If she is not..." He trailed off.
"If she is not," Lord Arfon spoke up quietly, "then it would be best for the Princess Florie to meet with an unpleasant accident."
"What?" Edgar gasped. "Are you mad? You're suggesting murdering Princess Florie!"
King Warren looked at his son grimly. "It may come down to either that or marrying her. Despite what I may have said outside this room, I have no desire to see that shrill, grasping harpy as either my daughter-in-law or the future queen of this country."
"But..." Edgar struggled to put together a coherent sentence, "killing is wrong! And she's... I don't like her, but I don't want her to die."
"Prince Edgar," Lord Arfon said in as gentle a voice as Edgar had ever heard from him, "being king is not an easy job. Oftentimes, kings are forced to make decisions that no man should ever have to make. Choosing life and death should be left to the divine, but unfortunately, no god will help a man who does not help himself. It is a hard lesson to learn, but one you should learn soon and learn well. If Florie becomes queen of this kingdom, would she be an effective and loving queen?"
"No..." Edgar said slowly. "From what I know of her, she will raid the royal treasury for clothing and jewelry."
"How would the people fare with such a queen?" Lord Arfon held up a hand to forestall Edgar's response. "Edgar, do not underestimate the amount of power a queen can wield, right under the nose of even the best king. So, how would the people fare?"
"Not well."
"In such a situation, there are two options: let your innocent subjects die needlessly... or remove the source of the problem."
Edgar's face clouded. "I think I understand.... but I don't see why we're discussing this! We will find Lily, and I will convince her to be my queen. I cannot imagine my life otherwise."
"We will do our best, of course," King Warren said.
"Of course you will," Edgar said, "because I'm going after her."
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Author's Note: To anyone who might be a tad annoyed that they didn't get to read about Lily and her male troubles this chapter, my apologies! I do so love political scheming, however, and I also do love Edgar, despite his naiveté.
As always, thanks for reading!