A faint reminder of him clung to her senses, driving away the worst of the nightmares. At least she didn't awake shivering and crying as she usually did.
Today Elaine awoke with a purpose.
Rising from her linen twisted bed, she pulled her hair neatly into a bun at the nape of her neck, and walked briskly over to the dresser on the opposite side of the room. Opening the very bottom drawer and reaching into the very back of it, she pulled out a wrinkled pair of men's britches. Rummaging through a mass of hanging blouses supplied a crisp white long sleeved shirt that opened at the top, its laces dangling untied. She moved to change into her new ensemble, but on second thought, turned back to the closet and pulled a very worn, but serviceable, drab brown skirt from the very back. Satisfied with the decision, she moved behind the changing screen.
The man eyed her movements carefully and quietly.
After a time, Elaine emerged fully dressed in shirt and skirt, pants hidden safely under the skirt. Placing her hands on her hips, she stared at the old man.
"Damian, are you going to wish me good morning?" she asked.
"I'm merely pondering your choice of clothing my dear."
"Well, I can hardly travel alone and undercover in silks, velvets, and ribbons," she replied, sitting on the edge of her bed to pull on a stout pair of boots.
"Travel?" one eyebrow shot up. "Then I take it you were successful?"
"To a point," was her cryptic remark. She pulled a knapsack from a dark intricately carved trunk at the end of her bed and began scanning the room, weighing each item mentally and either accepting or discarding it.
"Could you elaborate?" asked Damian.
"I met him. I was right. My sister the Princess Rene has taken our prince and a dangerous soldier, and switched them, enchanting us and those that know this soldier into thinking that they are each other. The man you believe to be Prince Jon, is not Prince Jon. I ask you to describe the prince, and you say he is portly, soft, and has blond hair and blue eyes. But I know that the real prince does not fit this description."
"Why would Rene do such a thing? How can she do such a thing?" asked Damian.
Elaine told him about the sleeping maiden in Castle Wellington's watchtower, and Jon's new mission to free her from her enchanted sleep.
"Did you know that Rene had such powers?"
Elaine blushed, slowly realizing that maybe she should have told the old magician about her sister's own powers. "Yes… I did know. But she told me that she used her powers only to control her mother. I sensed that she had great magic potential, but I had no idea that she could yet use it. And… and she promised not to hurt me or Prince Jon."
"Well, technically… she's kept her promise," admitted Damian. Elaine only frowned.
"But Jon is in a precarious position. The man here, his real name is Cassius, is a dangerous man, a trusted guard for the Duke of Wellington. That is why she switched Jon with him. She needed Jon's nobility and bravery, and his ability to wake sleeping maidens, but she also needed the Duke to trust him. And Cassius is the only man the Duke truly trusts."
"Therefore… if the Duke thinks that Jon is Cassius, then he trusts Jon."
"Yes."
"And I assume that you are headed toward Castle Wellington. Do you know where this castle is Elaine?" Damian eyed the young woman warily.
"No. But I know it's somewhere close to a small town: Cliff Village. I shall find it," she said, determination dripping from every word.
"But what is the need Princess? Prince Jon will kiss the maiden, awaken her, and then Rene's enchantment will be over. Just sit it out and be patient."
"That's what Jon told me. But I won't. I can't. I refuse to sit here and watch that sniveling pretender enjoy my husband's life. And what if something happens. Surely it can't be all that simple. Something could go wrong. And if it does, then I'll be there to help him. Besides, do you expect a newly married woman to stay so long away from her husband?" Standing from the bed, she threw a couple items from her room into her bag and walked towards the door, as if the matter was settled. For her, it was. She was going and that was that.
"I cannot stop you. Obviously," spoke Damian quite grudgingly. "But if you must go, then you won't go alone. I cannot go with you. If what you say about the Duke of Wellington is true, then our kingdom could be in danger. He is an ambitious man, and your sister is power hungry. Something must be done here to ensure that their starving gazes do not turn this way, and if they do, then we must be ready to defend ourselves."
Elaine nodded in agreement, but spoke quickly. "I do not need anyone to come with me. I'd rather go alone thank you. I'll take Wilson."
"No, you do not even know how to get there. You will take Wilson, but you'll take the pretender as well. You are right. It is not wise to have this Cassius fellow taking advantage of the royal perks of the Prince's life. Nor is it wise to have him take advantage of the women here who consider themselves royal perks. We do not wish to sully your husband's reputation, nor do we wish to get any young girl into trouble."
"Do you think Cassius would do such a thing?" asked Elaine, quite scandalized.
"Yes, I do. He will go with you."
"I do not wish to travel with him! I don't want to be within a hundred yards of him Damian! He's not a good man. You could not choose a dastardlier traveling companion for me. Besides, he will not readily give up his newfound "perks" as you call them."
"Yes he will," menaced Damian, rising from his relaxed sitting position and taking quick strides toward the door, encircling Elaine's wrist with his hearty fingers and pulling him behind her.
"Damian! What are you doing? I do not want to take him with me!" Damian would not reply; he simply kept his eye fixated on the end of the long white stone hallway. Elaine stopped arguing with the silent man and matched her reluctant steps to his hurried ones as they rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and started storming down another. At the end of that one, they reached a staircase. Damian pulled her up the stairs and down another hallway before throwing open the double doors at the hallway's end.
"Cassius!" he bellowed, glancing fiercely from side to side. When there was no reply, he pushed open the door at the end of the Prince's sitting room and entered the bedroom.
This room was not empty. In fact, there was one more person than Damian cared for. Cassius lay amongst the silken covers, a declothed courtier in his pudgy arms. His yellow hair hung limply over his eyes and the girl yelped in surprise.
"Out," Damian demanded coldly of the girl.
"Wait, wait, who are you old man to come barging into my room at such an hour. I believe it is my right to a bit of privacy. Leave this room at once," ordered the fake prince.
Damian would have none of it. And the girl in the bed was too afraid of the old magician to question him let alone defy his orders. Clutching a sheet to her body, she bent to pick up her clothes from the floor and left the room as quickly as she could. Not, however, before she tossed a victorious look at Elaine.
Elaine could not image how she might have felt had it truly been her husband in that bed with that woman. Enraged, betrayed, yes, betrayed. As it was now, she wanted to throttle the woman senseless, beat her to within an inch of her life for even thinking of sleeping with a man married to her. It didn't matter that the man the woman had lain with was not truly Elaine's love and husband, but it was the principle of the matter.
Elaine watched as Damian threw a pair of discarded pants at the affronted man in the bed. "If you truly were Prince Jon, you would not have been in bed with that wench. If you truly were the man I taught and respected, you would not question any order I give you. I've come to believe, Prince Jon," said Damian with mockery in his voice, "that you are not the Prince after all."
"You've been listening to that woman's mad ramblings have you?" smirked Cassius. "You're just as mad as she is. This whole castle, including the king, my father, will testify that I am the Prince of Caraway."
"Do not think you hold something above my head boy," spoke Damian calmly. "Now put on those pants. I've got a mind of what to do with you."
"No! I will not!" refused Cassius, but before the last word could leave his lips, his body moved of its own accord, taking the pants the old man had thrown at him and pulling them onto his legs under the covers. "What are you doing old man? How do you do this?" A note of panic lingered in his voice. "Magic… magic… not magic." Cassius was scared now. Though why he was scared of magic was a mystery to Elaine. She looked on questioningly and curiously.
"And that shirt," ordered Damian pointing toward the discarded garment on the floor.
Cassius left the bed and bent to pick it up and slide it over his head against his free will as Damian look on smugly. "Now boy, do you wish to do as I ask, or will you have me control you? The choice is yours of course."
Cassius took the matter into heavy consideration before finally replying, "I… I'll do as you say. Just take your curse off me."
Damian smiled. "I thought you'd come to that conclusion. And a good thing too. Now, follow me. Or will I have to keep you pinned to my side as I have the princess here?"
Cassius realized that the old magician held Princess Elaine's wrist in a tight grip. She did not look happy. Cassius shook his head, and agreeing to follow Damian to the last word, trailed him and Elaine out of the prince's chamber of rooms and walked silently down the hall.
They went straight for the King's library. Damian hoped the man would be there, as he usually was at this hour. And his hope was not in vain, for there at the simple mahogany desk, plainly dressed was Prince Jon's father. The King was quite startled when his most trusted advisor barged into the room trailing his son and daughter in law, both of which looked quite upset, behind him.
"King Jacob, I've an important matter to speak of with you." Damian locked the door behind him as Cassius took a seat near a shelf of books and Elaine scowled fiercely. The king simply looked confused.
"What is so dire that you must rile us all so early Damian?" he asked, looking from one of the intruders to the other.
"Are you comfortable Jacob? Because it is a complicated and shocking story which I have to relate. To start, the man sitting in that chair is not your son. King Jacob, meet Cassius, Guard Zero for the Duke of Wellington." Damian's face could not have been any more serious.
"What do you mean man? Of course he is!"
"No, he is not. Think Jacob, your first instinct may be to accept this man before you as your flesh and blood, but isn't that instinct a little too pushy? Surely you must feel something out of place here. I do, though I admit I wasn't looking for it, and I didn't feel it at first. It was the princess that knew it. I assure you, she is not insane." Damian told the king of how Elaine had used the dreaming potion to confirm her suspicions about Cassius and the Prince.
The King stood and walked slowly toward the man sitting in the chair. All of his senses told him that this was his son. But the lazy way that the young man sat in that chair didn't seem right, nor did the insolent way his eyes met the king's.
"Is this true? Tell me the truth of it now boy, for if I think you are lying even the least bit, I'll show you how a king deals with those participating in treason," the king warned, not sure weather he wanted Damian's story to be true or not, but knowing that he would hold to his promise to the would be imposter.
Cassius heaved a sigh. "I suppose the gig is up. I mean, if you know my name, then I suppose you have met with your prince." This last he said to Elaine. "But surely you must know that for all intensive purposes, I am the Prince now. For some wonderful reason, fate has chosen to be kind to a poor soldier. The only downfall to my situation is that I'm married to that hag."
Elaine wanted to throw herself at his neck and squeeze until those cold blue eyes of his popped from his skull, but found herself constricted by both Damian and her father in law. Apparently, she had leapt to do just as she desired to the walking, talking pile of horse droppings she considered this imposter to be. Too bad the other two men had been quick to catch her, she thought, enjoying the mental image of beating him viciously.
"Calm down Elaine, please, calm down," insisted King Jacob. Damian pulled her down to sit on a couch across the room, but she never took her narrowed eyes from Cassius. Who, she noticed, did not look the least bit alarmed or frightened by her show of temper. He still lounged lazily in his silken chair, eyeing her with a bemused expression.
"So what do we do?" asked the king over Elaine's head.
"Elaine is going to Castle Wellington, to be with Jon. I propose that we send Cassius with her as a guide. Surely he knows how to get to his home, and surely he can provide even some protection for her."
"I don't know. They don't seem to like one another," replied Jacob warily. "If he doesn't leave her somewhere to die, then she'll tear him to peaces while he sleeps." The two men shared a look of understanding and then Damian spoke.
"King Jacob, will you follow me into the adjoining study. I think there are some matters we should discuss privately." The king nodded and moved toward the door of the study, only pausing to listen to Damian's instructions to Cassius and Elaine. "Neither of you are to leave this room. Do you hear me? Matter of fact…" Damian walked over to the library door and placed his hands on the doorknobs. Closing his eyes, he mumbled a series of unintelligible words and the doors took on a red glow. Opening his eyes, he informed the two young people, "If you touch these doors, you will be burned. They are not only locked by magic, but are protected by a fire charm. You'll be going nowhere until we let you. And believe me, you will be going… together. So you'd better talk, get to know each other, perhaps become friends." With a patronizing quirk of a smile, Damian followed the king into the study, closed the door, then performed a block charm on it reassuring that all sound would be blocked in, and the two in the library would not be able to eavesdrop.
Elaine ripped her gaze from Cassius, turning her head to look in front of her sullenly. She would not speak to this man.
And Cassius had no intentions of speaking to her either. So he took to studying her. She was tall for a woman, with a strong frame and dark features. She was traditionally beautiful with golden hair, delicate grace, sapphire blue eyes and all that, but there was something to her. It was unexplainable to Cassius, who had never been attracted to, or seen really, a beautiful or noble spirit. He did not prefer women with stubborn chins or piercing eyes. He did not believe in intelligent women, to him there was nothing so disgusting as a woman with brains. And he did not trust magic. And she had that about her, and yes, it unnerved him.
Thought became bothersome for the guard turned prince. "How did you know that I wasn't Prince Jon when no one else did?"
"I do not wish to talk to you," Elaine shot back at him.
"Fine. I don't particularly wish to talk to you either, but you are the only one about. Surely you can bring yourself to answer me."
"I'm a storyteller."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Cassius asked incredulously.
"Storytellers know truth. They know magic. And they can tell the two apart. It comes from knowing story after story about both." Elaine thought for a second more before adding, "And I know Jon. I know my husband. And though some sort of magic might have been working on me, screaming that you were he, I knew you were not. You are not like him at all."
"Not that I'm interested, but for the sake of conversation, what is he like?" asked Cassius lazily.
"Not that I want to tell you, but for the sake of conversation, I'll tell you. He… he is vexing," she spat out, remembering the way he had ordered her to stay put in the dream last night. "But he is caring," remembering the way he had held her during the nightmare. "He is noble, and teasing, and adventurous. His soul matches mine. That's why I could tell. The enchantment must not reach that far. For your soul is as different from my husbands as night is from day."
"Ha! Dark and light huh, good and evil. Do you think I'm evil then?"
"Maybe. You are certainly mercenary. And you most likely have no passion for anything. That's another thing Jon is, he's passionate. And he loves me. And when you go to bed with a man who loves you, and wake up with a man who doesn't, it's quite shocking."
"Imagine if that man who didn't love you was the man you loved you when you went to sleep. Would that not be even more shocking?"
Elaine thought about it, amazed that this infuriating imposter had had such a deep thought. She replied slowly, "Yes, I suppose it would."
Cassius smiled. She wasn't as smart as he, he knew it, and it pleased him.
Their conversation could go nowhere else for at that moment Damian and King Jacob opened the study doors and bustled in. Both Cassius and Elaine looked toward the men expectantly.
"We've come to a decision. Cassius will guide Princess Elaina to Castle Wellington. Since everyone seems to believe that Cassius is the prince, then it is the most sensible idea. For everyone knows that when Elaine goes, her prince follows. Not to do so would be to give your charade away Cassius." This announcement came from King Jacob, looking smug and satisfied.
Damian spoke next. "And since you two are not even remotely fond of each other, I'll provide incentive. Cassius, if you are a good and accommodating guide, taking care to keep your traveling companion safe from brutish physical threat, then we will compensate you handsomely. How does five thousand gold comts now and five thousand upon the safe return of our princess sound?"
A greedy light lit up Cassius' eyes and a small smile formed on his thin lips. "I say for a total of ten thousand gold comts I could very well learn to love your princess. That is more than the Duke pays me in two years!"
"Good," spoke King Jacob, "And as for you Elaine… we simply beg your good reason. You do not know how to get to Wellington. This mercenary soldier turned guide will show you the way. And… if he does anything dishonorable, I give you full permission to flail him!"
Elaine's face was a mass of emotion and indecision. She wished to leave this very instant. To think that her prince might at any moment kiss another sleeping maiden made her scowl terribly. Perhaps if she accepted the offer and the odious guide, they would let her leave. "Can I leave now, this very instant, if I accept Cassius as my guide?"
Both older men nodded their heads in agreement.
"Then I accept."