The Princess and the Bard (Royals of the Realms #1)

Chapter Twelve: 'I am the Shieldmaker.'

"We'll be sending a small contingent of bards with you to assist the patrollers and shieldmage at the border. It's standard protocol under the current conditions." Tomso reached across his desk and plucked one of the quill pens from its holder, along with the adjacent inkpot. The Ville-Tokkian bard handed him a long, curled parchment, which he flattened on the desk and began to scrawl upon. "I'm in agreement with the marchioness. This situation should be handled with discretion, rather than panic. We'll send a missive ahead with Dahlen. He will advise those at the breach of our impending arrival."

"But–" Alori started to protest, but the words died on her lips when Taelan's palm alighted on her shoulder.

"It's not a bad idea." His haunted gaze searched the hardened planes of her face, as if he were looking into a mirror at a likeness of his former self and noticing all the cracks in the glass for the first time. "Given everything that's happened already this morning, taking a few minutes to eat and clear our heads, may help."

But she and Taelan weren't the same person, and Alori wouldn't give in so easily, even if agreeing with him might have endeared her to him.

"You don't know that."

"You're right. I don't." The pads of his fingers gently squeezed her through her shawl. "Sometimes all we can do is use what we do know to make an informed decision. Aren't you hungry? You were heading toward the dining hall when I found you."

Alori threw up her hands. She didn't care if she appeared petulant. Taelan hadn't lived in her shoes. When he played an instrument, people listened. He wasn't holed up in a tower, forced to practice in silence and never show anyone what he was capable of.

He didn't know what her life had been like, none of them did.

"No. I'm sick of sitting around. I came here to choose a husband, and..." Would Taelan still have her? She couldn't look at him as she spoke. "I thought I'd be granted more freedom than this. Am I not taking this seriously enough for you all? What else do you want from me?" If she hadn't been so angry, she might have cried. "I am the Shieldmaker, whether you all think I'm worthy of the title or not. I'm the only one who can fix this." She stiffened her spine, envisioning her mother's calm, imperial silhouette. 

Whatever appetite she'd had when she woke up, was now gone. "I command my carriage to be prepared for departure, immediately."

♪♫♪

Taelan followed her out of Tomso's office, leaving several steps of distance between them. The halls felt as if they were closing in on her again, but this time, instead of being consumed by her fear, Alori pushed against it, beating back the claustrophobia.

Magic roiled beneath her skin, waiting just under the surface as it did whenever she was provoked or preparing for a test. But this was no test. The shield in Ville-Tokki had been breached, and she would fix it.

Then she would find out what went wrong and ensure it never happened again.

Her throat constricted as they passed the spot where Thelix accosted her. Snippets of conversation from over the last day played through her mind. Yesterday morning, when they'd run into Thelix in Ville-Tokki– or, rather, when he'd found them at the inn– had it truly been a coincidence?

She stopped before the corridor crossed with another, whirling on Taelan as a new thought occurred to her. He stopped short, rocking in his boots to avoid colliding with her.

"Did Thelix tell you he was in Ville-Tokki to deliver sheet music, or did you just assume that he was?"

"Umm..." Taelan blinked away whatever had been on his mind before she'd almost trampled him. "As I recall, he told me that's why he was there. Once a week or so, Tomso calls on one of us to make deliveries to the nearby villages."