Nixiesocean: Hi! I'm back from a painful day of genealogy research after being shanghaied into by my dad. (sigh) you don't even want to know. By the way, there are always bumps on the road to true love, so don't expect this to be an "Oh! I love you!" :: "No way! I love you too! Let's get married" type of story line between Mercy and Renold.
I hate those kinds of stories.
Respones:
Piratess of Summer: I think of both of them needing to get out of mindset each of them had. Renold has to stop thinking of her as the little eight-year-old princess he met her as, and Mercy needs to stop thinking of him as a shadow before they can think of getting together.
FeatherXLightXFeatherXBright: It was pretty obvious, at least to me, that it was going to happen. I'm happy that you think I wrote it well.
Wanna know something weird? My thought trails sometimes follow that of Mercy's. Where you jump around, thinking of someone romantically, and it creeps me out, since afterwards, I think how did I come up with that? I only hope it doesn't mean that I'm in love with that guy, 'cuz that would be really awkward.
Oh, and Piratess of Summer, I hope you like the court musicians even more now. Here's another song.
Chapter 13: Missing?!
The luncheon was rather boring, Mercy decided. At least it kept her from thinking of her ever-present shadow. The ladies at her side, Megara and Marita (twin sisters) were twittering on about dress fashions – the very latest being trimmed in any sort of furs – and who was courting whom.
It was all rather tiring.
"Your Highness," A voice whispered in her ear. She knew it to be Renold. "Your father wants to see you at the High Table."
She gratefully excused herself from the twins and made her way up to where her father, mother and the royal advisors sat. When she was wed, she would be allowed up there.
"Mother, Father." She curtsied.
"My daughter," King Jonas greeted. "Which song would you like to be played first while we await the arrival of Prince Marcus and Princess Hannah?"
She nodded. "I would enjoy Homyn's Peak."
"A fine ballad!" Her father exclaimed. "Bard, sing the song."
Mercy was allowed to sit next to her father, with her shadow behind her again.
Homyn's Peak was a mighty high place,
With battlements all around,
But the once mighty nation,
Soon fell to greed,
And virtuous Homyn's Peak was no more.
Ancients of long past,
Foes now forgotten,
Homyn's Peak was
Beset by them,
And soon the battle raged.
Homyn's Peak was a mighty strong place,
With generals in abundance,
But the once tricky ones,
Soon fell to idiocy,
And infallible Homyn's Peak was no more.
Ancients of long past,
Foes now forgotten,
Homyn's Peak was
Beset by them,
And soon the battle was on.
Homyn's Peak was a mighty rich place,
With gold and jewels in excess,
But the once hidden gems,
Soon fell to commoners,
And wealthy Homyn's Peak was no more.
But! Arise!
At the last moments,
Before Homyn's fall,
A boy arose,
To fend off the invaders,
And save his country.
But! Arise!
Thrice the king refused,
To grant this boy's wish,
To defend his homeland,
And be its savior.
Late one night,
After all were asleep,
The princess of Homyn's Peak,
Thwarted her father's wishes,
And granted this boy's wish.
In another tale,
The battle will be told,
But this boy,
A youth untried,
Saved the Peak,
And won the battle.
Merely by
A princess' kindness,
And a small sword,
Did this boy,
This youth untried,
Save the day,
And win the princess' heart.
Mercy smiled at the end. As a child, she had always loved "And win the princess' heart." She had dreamt would fall in love with someone just like in Homyn's Peak, but, now, eighteen going on nineteen, she knew it would never happen. So, she had resigned herself to her parents' wishes, which at the moment, weren't demanding.
"A fine song!" Someone shouted. "Sing us-"
The door to the informal dining hall (which was still fairly large) banged open. A man came into the dining hall at a full sprint. He was breathless, red, and his eyes held terror beyond even Mercy's vocabulary. He didn't stop to bow, but came over to the king and knelt, shaking, before him mumbling.
"Kill me!" The guard cried hysterically. "They're gone! Their Highnesses have vanished!" He was frantic, and spoke little sense. His words did nothing to ease the apprehension in the room. He babbled endlessly.
"Quiet!" King Jonas' voice boomed over the gathered crowd, who were now worriedly chattering. "Guardsman Thomas, come with me." The king, his wife, and his daughter left.
The king's High Advisor and cousin, Baron David Isaac, spoke instead. "We will leave, and none of this is to be spoken of aloud. Should I hear rumors about it, the rumor-whisperer and the person in the rumor will be brought before me, and there will be a trial! Dismissed!"
The crowd left and Baron David went into the side room to speak with the guard.
No man could weep as much as this guardsman. He had been trained since eight to be elite, disciplined and everything that made the King's Guard the best in the nation.
And he was crying. Mercy's world was crashing down around her head.
"We follow Their Highnesses into the forest. Once, they passed a bend. We came around it, expecting them to be there, but they weren't. Gone. Vanished." He reported through tears. "Then, a monster – something unholy – jumped out and killed Finny right before my eyes. It ripped out–" He stopped; realizing ladies were in the room and probably shouldn't give the king the gruesome details now.
"How did Finny die?" His Majesty persisted. "My wife and daughter can handle the truth, true ladies can."
"Yes, Sire." Thomas replied meekly. "The monster ripped out Finny's throat. There – There was a lot blood, some of it still covers me." For the first time, Mercy noticed the blood splatters covering his chest plate. He gulped and continued onward with his tale. "I saw a specter of some sort also, chasing me out of the woods. I tried to find Their Highnesses, but they didn't respond to calls, and I heard no calls for help."
"Why was Hannah hunting with Marcus?" The king hissed. "Did not it occur to you that maybe, just maybe, the princess of Bavar was worth more than a measly hunt?"
"Yes, Sire, but, Sire, Marcus would hear naught of it. He insisted one hunt with his fiancée would do them both some good, so Finny and I left with them, like normal."
Queen Anna pressed a hand on the fuming king's back. "My lord, I think that maybe we should send out a large group – a platoon is it? – to search for them."
Mercy stood and left. Renold followed silently.
Why had they left her? She would have gone! She would have helped them elope!
- - - - - - - - -
Renold and Mercy were back in her parlor, the one of the few times the guard had been allowed in it. She was pacing back and forth.
"Why did they leave?" She asked her guard. "Mother and Father would have let them be wed. Hannah is still new here." Renold didn't know if he should speak, so he kept silent. "This is all too much!" She shouted, flinging her hands wide. Her hands brushed a stack of drawings she had recently pulled out of her drawers. The force scattered the delicate papers everywhere.
She scowled; Renold immediately began picking them up. There was a very old one that the commoner found. It was dated ten years ago, almost exactly. "Your Highness?" He asked, holding it out to her.
She glanced at it. "Oh my God," was her response.
Marcus and Hannah were on the parchment, with charcoal. It was slightly smudged with age, but the picture was still clear. The two – far younger – people were both looking dazed. Marcus' golden hair framed his face like a lion's mane, and Hannah's seemed smoother and, maybe, coated with film.
She shivered. "They disappeared in that forest, didn't they?"
"They did, Your Highness." Renold added. He handed her the rest of the papers.
"Would it make sense if I said I think something terrible happened?"
"Yes, Your Highness, it would."
Mercy's calm snapped, the pressure of Marcus missing, Hannah gone and now Renold being so formal although they'd been together for ten years was starting to annoy her. "Stop calling me that! I'm sick of it. You know me well enough to call me 'Mercy' once in a while! And if you're so worried about propriety called me 'Mercy Anna', but for God's sake drop the damn title!"
Renold blinked. "Yes, Mercy Anna." He replied meekly, knowing he'd made a mistake somewhere along the line. He shivered under the light chain he wore. Mercy made no comment.
His brain was telling him to keep repeating it, take this chance to use her name, rather than the far more distant title. His heart was telling him to take this chance, to get closer.
He closed his eyes and forced the emotions away.
- - - - - - - - -
I can't believe it. Mercy told herself. I just yelled at Renold. He never did anything wrong. Why do I always – as the commoners say – blow up at him when it's never his fault? Renold was still kneeling, his eyes closed.
"Um," Mercy started, "I am – I'm sorry I yelled at you, Renold. It wasn't your fault."
His eyes opened and flicked up to her. "It is fine."
Mercy black-haired head shook. "It's not fine. I yelled at you, when it wasn't your fault."
His light eyes reminded her of Marcus; he also had the blonde hair of the native northerners. She didn't. To her fellow Hanorans, she was exotic. Her mother was a descendent of Unuquat, thus the darker hair and brighter eyes.
He nodded.
Mercy sighed. "I am being foolish, am I not?" Renold said nothing. He probably thinks I'm testing him. "I am, be free to say it." Still the guard said nothing; he was still kneeling on the ground. "Oh, stand up." She muttered turning away to look out the window at Mont vei Frka'ohna ae Lynka, the one Hannah had asked about so long ago.
"Of course, Mercy Anna."
Mercy sighed, knowing he'd probably never call her by her first name. "You can transfer if you would like. The job never says 'get yelled at by the princess', you know."
Please don't. She whispered inside herself. Don't transfer.
"I am content here. I have been here for ten years, I like it."
He likes getting yelled at by me? She nodded and smiled. "Thank you."