CHAPTER IV
For Althera, the morning was pleasant. And cold.
She snuggled further into the fur coat she had brought with her outside, peering timidly over her shoulder at the guard who was ordered to follow her. Althera gained her freedom quickly in the castle, and it might have had something to do with the apparently unexpected arrival of Rhaye. Soon enough, she was allowed to roam the palace and spend time out of her rooms, though she still had to be under the constant surveillance of a minimum of one royal guard, much to her distress. It was difficult to move around comfortably with observant eyes bearing threateningly into the back of her head.
They passed a row of blossom trees that looked to have bloomed only days ago. Wiry branches billowed in the breeze, caressing the light pink petals of the flowers which name was unknown to Althera. Involuntarily, her arm lifted from inside her cloak and her fingertips glided across the rough twigs. Somehow, it felt like the first time she had seen anything so transfixing.
It was then in the span of half a second that three things happened at once. A gust of wind raked through Althera's long hair and she shuddered, the hood of her cloak dropping back. Her hands pulled back to tug it back over her head. But then the guard was on her in a blink of an eye, sword unsheathed, the blade glistening gruesomely under the light of the sun. His eyes were as hard as steel.
She let out a strangled cry of alarm.
~
Dasher knew he shouldn't have acted as he did, but something had told him she was not as innocent and harmless as she had led him to believe for the past half an hour.
Her throat was just centimeters away from the end of his word as she turned, eyes widening in fear. With one jab of the wrist, her blood would be spilling out onto his gloved hands. Dasher had felt a rush of adrenaline when she reached back for her hood, afraid she was secretly taking out a weapon that would be the end of them all.
The king had spoken to him last night, warning him of what this girl might be capable of. She was lethal, he had said. Dasher had been alerted the whole morning, wondering the entire time if she was going to make her move on him. And when she did, he would be ready and waiting.
Her fright and questioning look was all there to deceive him - to make him put down his sword and let her go.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Lower your sword, Captain." He recognized the drawling voice.
But he didn't move, each and every muscle in his body impenetrably stiff. The girl's eyes held an impatient that confused him deeply, though he composed himself, never letting his gaze travel elsewhere.
She was dangerous, and it was his duty to watch over her in case she did anything that would make him thoroughly regret not keeping an even closer eye on her.
"Captain," the king's unbearably conceited cousin - Dasher refused to call him by his name - said through gritted teeth.
"I think it's best that you stay back, Your Highness," he replied in an unflinching tone.
The young man had the same agonizingly calm expression that Dasher loathed written on the lines of his face. It was a challenge, he noticed bitterly, and he happily accepted.
"The girl is harmless, Captain," the prince assured, "you needn't worry."
"His Majesty has given me the task of overlooking her activities during the day," Dasher answered. "It is my duty, and an order from the king. I believe we both know not to question his authority, isn't that right, Your Highness?" The prince's eyes snapped up to look at him at the very mention of the king, flashing in resentment. Dasher resisted the urge to smirk in triumph. He had struck home.
Then, to his humiliation, the young man only chuckled, the corners of his lips slanting upward in a grin. The girl he had at the tip of his sword looked at the prince in baffled amazement.
"Very well, Captain." His smile was deadly. "I do hope you don't mind accompanying us on a walk?" He slid past Dasher with effortless grace, taking the perplexed girl by the arm.
Dasher could only grunt out his disgust for the prince's decision and follow the pair through the rest of the garden.
~
Althera forced herself not to squirm as she walked side by side with Rhaye, desperately trying to ignore the unwanted attention she was receiving from the well-dressed ladies hidden behind colorful fans. Their heads bent together in conversation, and there was no uncertainty that they were speaking about her.
They eyed her spitefully as she passed them. It seemed she had done something terrible to offend them - but then she realized she had.
She was with Rhaye, and that was enough of an insult to them.
He looked unbothered by their jealousy and merely waved in response to their eye contact and giggling. Of course they swooned all over again at his unquestionably dashing smile and sunset eyes, but he cast them aside soon enough and blanked out the whispered complaints as he led her past the unexplored parts of the garden, pointing out each plant and reciting their names from memory. She was too distracted by him - his face, lips, hair, everything - to be able to remember any of them clearly.
The guard - or Captain - followed them the whole time, and she knew he was keeping a watch over her. She had glimpsed only a flicker of movement when he streaked through the garden and angled his sword at her throat. It was particularly hard to understand the reason for his behavior, and it bewildered her.
Althera did feel much safer with Rhaye by her side, but the fierce, dangerous look she had seen in the eyes of the guard still terrified her.
~
With a scowl, Valentine slammed down the book in his hands. He rubbed the area between his eyes, breathing heavily. The impassive-faced guards standing by the doors exchanged a look, and another muffled groan of fury escaped his throat.
How he had ended up in this mess, Valentine did not know, but that wasn't even the slightest reason for his shaking anger. He'd seen his cousin take the girl's hand gently, and it annoyed him more than it should have.
Hadn't he told him she was dangerous? Hadn't he warned that spoiled little prince of what power the girl wielded?
But Rhaye didn't care. He never did.
He should stay well away from her if he knew what was best for him.
Valentine barked a command at his stony guards and they retreated from his office without a word. He needed some time to himself. Ever since his cousin decided to enter the palace early just a day ago, he felt his life crumbling to pieces. Rhaye was always the boy who received praises from his father, despite Valentine trying so hard to please everyone.
And he wasn't sure why Rhaye envied him so much, even though he had everything he could ever ask for. With just a simple smile he would be able to have all the ladies swarming about him, and now Althera. Yet whenever Valentine was around, every one of them would flee in what seemed to him like fear.
He snuck another glance over his shoulder at the window. The sun was still high and mighty in the sky, and he glowered at it, his temper flaring. He was secretly glad Dasher was supervising her. If Rhaye made one single move of whatever he did when he courted ladies to Althera, he knew for sure that the Captain of the Guard would have his head. And the girl's, if he was as loyal to his kingdom as he had proclaimed when he was given the position.
Valentine turned away from the window, not wanting to waste any more of his precious time on useless gawking at his haughty cousin. He still had many things to do, including that dreaded meeting he had foolishly called for.
The rebels were growing, and it was only a matter of time before they charged at the capital. His father had spent years trying to suppress the evolving opposing force and it had cost him his life. Valentine's mother had disappeared without a trace when he was only a child, and his father never spoke of her to him. She had been described as a woman who always put on a brave face, but Valentine never got the chance to see for himself. Her portraits were burned instantly after she vanished from the kingdom's eyes.
He shrugged on his coat and trudged through the office doors. The halls were empty, for all the guards had rotated their scheduled shifts and were to move to surround the meeting place. Several of the most famous dukes and generals would be there to discuss the rising matter at hand, and Valentine couldn't risk anyone getting hurt. They were easy targets in an unprotected room.
The clock tower in the distance tolled, and Valentine knew it was time.
Without another look behind him, the king strode off.