Chapter One
Princess Cecelia of Sleyne hadn't decided if she wanted another adventure. After all, she already had had so many. There was the very first; if she could rate that one, it certainly wouldn't have been the highest. They all almost died, she had been trapped in a cold stone room for awhile, the Castle had been put to sleep, and Rufus hadn't existed. Her second adventure was better, though not great. Rufus had been born which was a very pleasant memory, of course. Hatheland was still very awful besides gaining Lorcan, Juliet, Arrow, Lord and Lady Griffin and by default Dagger. The other two adventures had been her favorite; and she really hadn't decided which one she liked better. But she had decided the trip to Grath was her last adventure. It had been too much. They had the griffins, Kalys, and now unicorns. What else could they need?
The Glower family had fallen into a routine since they got back. It was both similar and different to their old one. Crown Prince Rolf had more duties than ever, the King shifting a lot of the boring stuff to him. Lilah had begun working out the details for her wedding that would take place in nine months. She had, of course, some of it planned since the day she got engaged, but this was serious wedding planning now. Nothing was really new for the King and Queen, just their typical duties. Celie thought that must be rather boring, never really a change in duties. Bran's jobs were more interesting and he had been including Celie in much more of it. Research on unicorns and griffins and the Castle were all up Celie's ally and she was happy to help. She was almost fourteen now, and had passed through most of her academics with the tutor, Master Humphries. It was unbelievably nice. It had been two months since they had arrived home, and everything seemed Glower family of course had help. Lulath, and Pogue were almost like family to them. Sir Pogue Parry was basically Bran's assistant, his secret out now to the public. Lulath, of course, was Lilah's betrothed, and though he didn't have a specific job, he really just helped when needed. Kalys, the young woman they had brought with them from the Found had a very special job. She had almost immediately been put in charge of the care of the griffins (a job she shared with Ethan) and the unicorns. Her knowledge surpassed the Arish boy she worked with, and she also held the title of unofficial educator. She was invaluable.
The routine had lulled Celie, along with the hope of no more adventures, and so she was not expecting the Castle to really do anything of much importance. This Tuesday in particular she was pouting. Bran had ordered a shipment of golden apples to test a theory of Kalys's. But Celie wasn't allowed to help until her lessons were done. She was done by lunch now, but she still wanted to help, and they were starting this morning. The apples had been created by some wizard in Bendswe, and Bran had ordered a few, though they were apparently very pricey. Yet, here she was trudging up the stone stairs to her lessons. When she realized she'd forgotten her history textbook, she ran back down the stairs, annoyed. Master Humphries got very grumpy with tardiness, and she couldn't afford to be late today. But when she reached the bottom of the stairs, it was the last thought on her mind.
Though the Castle was in full and no longer moved or added, it still gave them messages on Tuesdays. That ranged from Castle Glower telling them that it strongly disliked King Glower's high maintenance cousin, to letting Celie and Kalys know it was high time to spoil the griffins. So Celie wasn't surprised that something like this happened on Tuesday.
The hallway was very crowded, it seemed with servants and guards, and Celie followed it down until she heard her mother's voice. Queen Celina stood at the doors to the throne room. She was pounding on the door, trying to push it open. Celie watched as many guards tried, but with no luck.
"Rolf? Can you hear me?" The queen called, and Celie thought she sounded rather panicked and frazzled.
A muffled voice was heard, but Celie couldn't make out what her brother was saying. She looked up at her mother, about to ask what was going on when Lilah stepped between them. With a confidence Celie wished she possessed she shooed away the guards and servants, sending some with messages for the King and Bran.
"What's going on?" Lilah asked and Queen Celina sighed.
"Rolf and Kalys went in there to get the golden apples for Bran. You know how he insisted they be kept in there for protection. Anyway, they went in, apparently no one else was in there and now they are stuck inside."
Celie smirked when Lilah opened her mouth. All three of them knew what that meant. And for a moment, just a teeny-tiny moment, Celie didn't mind it.
Celie sighed as she wiped apple juices from her chin. She set the fruit down, patting Rufus on the rump. She rested her head against the door of the throne room. She'd been there since after lunch. As usual, she felt very strongly about being right in the midst of the action, though this couldn't really be considered exciting. She was just sitting, Rufus on one side of her, and Dagger on the other. After about ten minutes of trying to talk to her brother from outside the door, she had grabbed her pencils to begin to sketch. Every so often, Bran or Pogue or her father would come to check to the door, but the answers were muffled, and the door remained locked.
Celie had tried a few more times to talk to her brother, but it just wasn't worth it. Dagger squirmed against the door, and she sighed. The griffin was annoyingly attached to his rider, something that was just making this time more worse than it had to be. At the beginning, even Rufus had tried to calm his brother down, but nothing had soothed him. He continued to squawk and to whine, and to cry. He would scratch at the door and hiss for his rider, but Rolf had stopped responding to his crying griffin after awhile.
Though she had heard muffled conversations for awhile, all was silent behind the door. Celie had first intended to eavesdrop, mostly because Lilah was busy, and she had promised Celie some pocket money to listen to see if their brother was planning his wedding. She had given up listening when she really couldn't hear anything but murmurs. Now she was here to be the first one there when the doors opened. It seemed noble enough to her. Besides, she liked being there when the Castle made its decisions, and she was annoyed that she hadn't been a part of this one.
She let out a sigh when Rufus laid his head in her lap, pushing her hand to draw a horrible, ugly line across her sketch. She was sketching a blobby picture from a Hathelock book that Kalys had lent to her. It was of a griffin and its rider. There were not many great artists in some of those books, Celie had come to realize, so she, though she did not consider herself a great artist by any means, had taken on the task of re-sketching some of the drawings. The wing she had been outlining had been going very well until Rufus had decided to be needy. She grunted as she erased the unwanted line.
"Dinner time, Celia-Delia."
Celie looked up at her father whose eyes were fixated distantly on the door. He shook the handle, trying in vain to open it, but it would not budge. She gave him a grim smile and he defeatedly shrugged his shoulders, watching her as she neatly stacked her sketches, laying them beside a finally sleeping Dagger.
Her father was silent as they walked to the private dining room, his face letting her know he was thinking very hard. With his jaw set, eyebrows knit, Celie could see the heavy resemblance between him and Rolf, something that left her with a heavy heart, considering the situation at hand.
Celie swallowed as she took her spot beside Lilah. Her sister looked both thoughtful and confused, and perhaps a touch frightened. Queen Celina looked a bit frazzled, which was uncommon, even in the most serious political situations. Then again, this regarded her son, so it was more personal. Even Lulath looked serious, his normal jovial presence seeming eerily silent. Bran looked very much like Lilah in expression. Pogue, who usually attended dinner with them, looked emotionless.
"Celie-darling, do you have any idea when the Castle is going to let them out?" Queen Celina set down her fork, and chewed her lip, looking expectantly at Celie.
Pogue raised his eyebrows at her, this sort of question an annoyance of Celie's known to him. Really, she should be asking King Glower. He was the one with the crown and rings, the only things that made Celie sort of want to be queen. But she supposed that had already been asked with no reply.
Celie shook her head at her mother. She was a bit annoyed that the Castle wasn't giving her the slightest hint of what it was doing. It usually did, but apparently not today, despite it being Tuesday. Of course, there was the obvious notion that this was to be the official betrothal of Rolf and Kalys. It was bound to happen sooner or later, though surely not when the crown prince was sixteen. Then again, he had been crowned at fourteen. Young marriages were common in villages, and Celie had to admit, though she would never tell her sister, Rolf's maturity on such matters far outranked Lilah's at that age. It was probably due to the fact that Rolf had had heavy duties on his shoulders since he turned ten. And being king while dodging a foreign prince's assassination attempts would probably push one more towards growing up.
"Owen?" Queen Celina squeaked, and Celie knew the question had been asked multiple times. She looked hopefully at her husband, though he just shook his head disappointedly.
"I'm sure they'll be out soon, Mother," Bran told her, patting her arm. He looked rather interested in contrast to the queen's frightened face. Celie knew the Castle wouldn't put them in any danger; what really could happen when two were locked in a throne room? The queen herself had been in that position to jumpstart her betrothal, so Celie didn't really understand all the fear. They would probably be out in a few hours.
Celie certainly hoped so.
The window in the throne room had gone dark hours ago. Rolf swallowed, leaning back against the throne. He let out a sigh, eyes wondering to his prison mate, as it seemed, who was sitting calmly running both hands over her braids. She had been much less frantic than he had, leaving Rolf with the thought that she really would make an excellent queen if this was the meaning of the Castle rather rudely locking them in here together.
Rolf was still a bit annoyed with the lack of sleeping things the Castle had left them with. He had slept on stone before, but that didn't mean he was inclined to do it again. There was a rug, but he was princely enough to let Kalys use it. She might not be a princess, but she was still a girl. Besides, that, a human Rolf had grown to respect a lot.
They had tried conversation, but the reality looming over both of their heads had made things a tad awkward. He'd grown up with the knowledge that if he was ever locked in a room with a girl it was probably because the Castle wanted them to marry, but he was expecting it to be so soon. Was he expecting it to be this girl? Perhaps, but that was beside the point.
"So this means we are betrothed?" Kalys's voice was smooth, showing no hint of how she felt on the matter, though her eyes were lidded in a despairish sort of way.
Rolf shrugged. "Unless there's another sign from the Castle, that is the assumption. Really though, long engagements are quite common; Lilah's was two years long."
Kalys popped her lips, and turned to look out the high window. The moon was bright, and the stars cast a silvery light into the room. Rolf noticed that her curls were beginning to pop out of her braids, and her blue eyes were starting to droop. It had to be hours past midnight, and he himself was ready to drop.
"The rug is all yours," he told her, preparing himself for the stone floor.
She shrugged. "If you stay at the far side I don't mind. If this is truly what you say it means, we'll have to get used to it."
Rolf was much too tired to argue with that logic. Really, he didn't want to argue with it, it was perfectly acceptable to him. It was more comfortable than the floor. He felt his back pop when he laid flat, eyes fixed on the high, dark ceiling. It was a bit breezy for early August. It had stormed all day, the rain cooling the summer day.
"You know, if I do have to marry you, it's not nearly as bad as the other Arkish man," Kalys murmured, and Rolf turned on his side to look at her.
"Thank you," he whispered back. "You know, this is my worst fear come to life."
He winced as soon as the words came out of his mouth. He could blame the late hour for such untactful words. Really, it was a touch out of character, though he had never been quite as smooth as when he was around Kalys.
To his relief she just grinned. "Hathelock royalty was much like this. Really, the Castle almost always had something to do with the first wife."
Rolf chuckled. "The other wives were not arranged by a dwelling place?"
The Hathelocke rolled her eyes. "Why? Are you coming up with a list?"
He blushed. "I don't think any of our line had more than one wife. Glower the Seventieth's council wrote some pretty binding marriage laws. One wife, no divorce, and the wife needs not to be of royal blood, for she will be so bound to her husband that blood doesn't matter."
"Good to know what we're getting into," Kalys whispered back, and the words felt like a punch in the gut.
Their conversation died out slowly after that, though Rolf was awake long after that. He knew this would happen, he should've known it was coming in the next few years. But it was happening, now. They'd returned from Grath two months ago, met Kalys really only five months ago, and now he was next to betrothed to her. It really was one of his worst nightmares coming to life.
But somehow, it wasn't nearly as bitter as he thought it would be. A spark of excitement struck him. He didn't know where it had come from, or where it would go, but it was there. Perhaps it was the thrill of riding off an adventure high for the past two years. Or it was simply time. Surely, the Castle knew what it was doing.
Celie was granted her wish of being the first to burst through the doors of the throne room the next morning. Sunlight poured in through the high windows, and she grinned as she pushed the heavy oak open. She could feel her mother's breath on her neck as she caught a breath when they realized it was actually opening.
They were both asleep, only an inch away from touching each other. The rug didn't look very comfortable, but better than the stone floor. Perhaps it was a scandal for the unmarried to be that close when sleeping, though Celie didn't really think anything of it. Lilah did, and began whispering to their mother, and kept raising her eyebrows at Celie. For all the kissing Lulath and Lilah did, Celie didn't really think she had much room to talk, but things had been rather boring compared to the Grath trip.
"This could be a royal scandal if too many servants catch eye," Lilah whispered, and Celie rolled her eyes as she saw a long, manicured hand fly to her sister's lips.
"Be reasonable, Delilah," the queen whispered back, though Celie couldn't say she looked too pleased either. "They're fully clothed and not even touching each other."
"If Kalys ends up p-" Lilah warned, though she was cut off by Rolf sitting up.
His hair was a bit mussed as he rubbed his eyes. He looked around at them, before arching his back. Blinking, he laid a hand on Kalys's shoulder, though she was already stirring.
"Oh, hello," he greeted. "How have you been watching us sleep?"
"Not long," Celie answered him, and he smiled at her.
She was about to add that she thought nothing of it, considering the flush on both of their cheeks as Lilah started speaking and shut the doors on wondering servants. But Dagger beat her.
He'd pushed through Lilah's door-shutting strength to meet his rider. He nearly tackled Rolf, considering his size, and Rolf laughed and ran both hands down his feathers over and over again. The griffin cooed and butted, and clucked at his rider, probably scolding him for being apart with him for so long. After a thorough butting and sniffing, the griffin curled up in his lap, sighing. It was a rather comical sight considering how big Dagger was growing as of the recent few weeks.
Kalys stood up, smoothing her clothes and braids though it was rather pointless. Her dark curls were halfway out from sleep, and her skirt was pretty mussed. Her hair had darkened over the past months, the sun not being nearly as harsh as the Found's. And she was spending a lot more time inside with the griffins. Her skin had lightened to a deep caramel, contrasting with her large blue-green eyes. She was only a little taller than Celie, and while Lilah and Queen Celina were very slender and somewhat petite, Kalys was curvier and soft. Though Celie had also witnessed that though she appeared feminine and demure, she was quite strong.
She apologized to Lilah awkwardly, though both Celie and Rolf assured her it wasn't her fault, and Rolf sent a pointed look to both his mother and sister. Kalys was already a bit awkward around Lilah because she had been rather stubborn when it came to shoes. Apparently, Kalys hated shoes and stockings, and Lilah had thought it was simply an issue of culture. That had been something Celie had run far away from.
"Really, Delilah, calm down," Rolf was saying, a bit curtly. Celie supposed it had been a rather long night, and Lilah making a big deal about the whole situation could be a touch irritating.
Before Lilah had a chance to retort, however, Pogue and Bran burst through the doors looking rather flushed and wild. Celie's heart thrummed, and her mind leaped, hoping it was to be something really exciting. They certainly looked it.
"I think you're going to want to come to the Heart."
Only Celie, Queen Celina, and Rolf followed them. Kalys excused herself to her chambers, and Lilah had pulled Lulath back to tell him something. Celie didn't care. She was just following Rolf, who was walking a bit slow for Celie's taste. She kicked at his heels twice hoping to inspire him, which she was met with a perplexed look and even more exaggerated steps.
Finally, finally, they made it, and Celie was rather disappointed. The Heart of the Castle looked as it always did, and Bran had made it out like it had entirely recreated itself. He had refused to tell them anything until they had arrived, which had only made Celie's imagination run more wild. Now she was met with the difference of dusty crates.
While Rolf voiced their shared disappointment, Celie stalked over to the crates. They were full of formerly written letters. The one she pulled out was addressed to one of her father's cousins. Interestingly enough, it wasn't addressed to anyone, making Celie think this was the Castle's doing. The thought made her jumpy with excitement as she picked at the seal.
"Queen Celina." Kalys rushed in, her cheeks flushing. "I think your wedding gown is in my bedchambers."
"That would make sense," Celie said, flourishing the piece of parchment in her hand. Everyone looked up at her like she was crazy, and she grinned. "Considering these are invitations to Rolf and Kalys's wedding."