Remnant of Power

Chapter Thirty

Yavenna

Yavenna cracked her knuckles under the table. Aunt Breanna had made her play cards the whole afternoon - she'd felt like stabbing the woman by the time it was announced that dinner was ready, and now she was dining in one of the castle's many small salons with Lady Rassten as they finalised the choice of desserts for the wedding.

What she wanted to do was to creep around the castle until she found Mal. According to the guard, Mal thought he should be the King. Surely that must be why Ulric had captured him? She was desperate to find out. She had to find him and ask him why he was here, and then she'd help him get free. She'd decided. Somehow, she'd have to find a way for him to escape, because if Mal was King, and if they could defeat Ulric with Mal's army, there'd be hope for a new future for everyone in the country.

And while Lady Rassten ran through the list of pudding possibilities with the Chief Steward, Yavenna ran through another conversation in her head. She thought back to the conversation she'd eavesdropped on outside the King's study. Why were troops being sent to Tarhasta? She still didn't know, despite asking Sharva to see if she could find something out from the below-stairs gossip. Yavenna hadn't been on her own with her maid once during the past two days. Before they came here they'd been almost like friends, but the maid seemed to have changed since they'd been in Arvad. The only time the Princess had been in her suite with Sharva recently, the maid had rushed off to see her fiancé Torrehon.

Thinking about the King's study, Yavenna had a sudden memory of the blue glow shining out of the drawer. As she thought about it, trying to remember exactly what colour the light was, a strange sort of hankering to see it again took hold of her; if she was going to escape, perhaps she could take it with her.

Yavenna rubbed her temples. Too many things to think about. She needed to run, urgently. That would help her sort out her thoughts. She clenched her jaw as she thought about how long it had been since she'd ran. Oh, she craved the feel of the wind brushing her face as she ran through it.

Smiling at Lady Rassten, she agreed that yes, strawberries and lemons would be a good mix of flavours for the desserts, and of course treacle tart would be completely divine. Peeling the end of a nail off under the table as she thought about Mal, Yavenna felt the tiniest crumb of comfort knowing there was someone else in the castle who probably hated the King as much as she did.

Once the dessert menu was finalized, Lady Rassten went back to the great hall to listen to a violin quintet, but Yavenna said she had a headache and walked back up to her suite.

Pulling off her blue silk gown over her head, she dropped it on the floor in a heap - she knew Sharva would pick it up later, the maid liked to pick things up even when there was nothing to pick up. The Princess changed into a plain grey shift and wrapped a matching scarf over her hair. As she put her hand up to open the door she suddenly twisted around and ran back to the huge wardrobes. Unlocking one of her trunks she fumbled in it till she found a dagger in a sheath. She straightened up and thrust it down the top of her gown, then opened the door of her suite and stood in the corridor, listening to the noise of the huge castle. Night had fallen, and music and conversation wafted up from two floors below.

Before common sense could slow her down she bolted down the corridor in the direction the soldiers had taken Mal. She reached the end and hurried up the staircase. As she tiptoed into the dark passage that it led onto, she stiffened and stopped abruptly. A guard was walking slowly up the corridor towards her, which was lit by candles shedding pockets of light.

Squeezing herself against the wall she pulled the scarf down over her face and hair, heart thudding in her chest. The guard paced grimly towards her. Surely he could hear the noise of her heart beat! But two strides away from her he stopped, sniffed, looked around, and then turned back. Yavenna released her breath as slowly as she could, then stepped out into the corridor as lightly as a harvest fly. The guard didn't turn around.