Flame Thrower (16 page)

“Of course. I’m sorry. I find it hard to behave when you are near. Why don’t we just go to dinner and then we can talk more later?” With that, Ryan detached from her body and held out a hand which she readily claimed. He frowned slightly when he felt how it trembled but he decided to let it go for the moment. “Now, there will be a few people at dinner tonight, so if you get uncomfortable, please let me know. We can leave at any time.”

Tillian swallowed her fear and nodded, subtly smoothing out her gown even though it didn’t need it.

Tucking her hand in the crook of his arm, he led her towards the large ornate doors that June and Wallace had recently passed through. Each one must have weighed more than four men could carry and were hand carved with runes and designs Tillian had never seen before. She tried to take a closer look as she passed, but he was moving with purpose and they passed by too quickly for her to make our any detail.

They emerged into a gigantic hall with a vaulted ceiling that was capped in grandiose stained glass window. This cast fantastic colors in a kaleidoscope of light throughout the room. She skidded to a halt while she stared straight up.

Ryan just chuckled at her reaction. “Breathe.”

Tillian released the breath she didn’t even realize she’d held. Her gaze darted to his face and her eyes were filled with wonder.

Ryan nodded towards the window. “My mother commissioned that before I was born. She felt the hall was too drab and wanted the place more cheery for her first child. I’m glad you enjoy it. I know I do.”

“It’s incredible,” she said letting her gaze drift back to the ceiling. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before. How was it made?”

“Magic.” He cocked his head to the side, watching her reaction to this. “It is created with spells and protective wards to hold it in place. I’m not surprised you’ve never seen its kind before with you being from Folkyn.” He nudged her in jest. “See? Not all magic is evil.”

She released a sigh and looked at him with eyes filled with wonder. “No, I guess not.”

Ryan laughed tugging her forward towards her next wave of wonder. Globes of light lit the room and freely in the air. They hovered above large round tables filled with people talking happily amongst themselves. “What…are those?” She pointed at the glowing balls.

“I got tired of slipping on melted wax from the large candles we used to have in here. I also got tired of the servant’s complaints on how the walls became blackened with the smoke from torches, so I created these.” Ryan watched her closely to make sure this wasn’t going to push her too far. When he was sure she could handle this, he tugged her forward again.

“It’s amazing,” she said in a small voice thick with awe. They walked under one of the globes and her head swiveled to track it, trying to make sense of this new wonder. They got closer to the large gathering of nobles and all heads turned in their direction. A silence settled over the hall when everyone stopped to see the woman their King had brought home.

Seeing their attention, Tillian felt twinges of anxiety flutter in her stomach. “Ryan, I don’t know if I can do this.” There were men watching her with interest and that constant panic she felt when men were near surfaced.

He felt her body stiffen and slowed his steps to look down her in concern. “We can go if you like. I could have dinner sent to my study?” He already flagged a servant who rushed over. The faraway look in her eyes alerted him that she was about to panic and that decided him. “Please set a table in my study and have our meal brought there. Ask Wallace and his wife to join us there.”

Hearing him say they could escape was enough. She hated the fact that she was this broken, this weak, but when she looked at the faces staring at her, she knew she couldn’t handle this right now. She felt her cheek twitch and gripped his arm tighter trying to curb the growing unease.

“Let’s just walk through to make an appearance, and then we can depart,” he said with a straight face, trying not to let his worry show.

Tillian cringed but couldn’t resist a question. “To what purpose?”

He couldn’t help the smile that lit up his face. “To show you off, of course.” When he saw the frown on her face, he faltered. “We can do that another time, Tillian.”

“Incorrigible, that’s what you are. I would greatly appreciate another time though. This is too much.”

As they were talking, both missed an older man, elegantly dressed, approach. “Your Highness.” He bowed before them. Tillian nearly fled but Ryan held her firmly in place.

“Lord Williams, how nice to see you in the palace after such a long absence. How is your wife?” Ryan inquired.

“Well, thank you for asking. Mary is recovering from that long illness thanks to you. That healer you sent made all the difference and we both are in your debt for that act,” Lord Williams replied full of sincerity. Then his eyes darted to Tillian and the unspoken request for an introduction was clear.

“Lord Williams, may I introduce Princess Tillian of Folkyn?”

She felt as if she were going to pass out. This was too much too soon. She forgot all her manners and just stared at this older man before her. She felt a little better when he softened the moment with a smile of encouragement.

“A pleasure my dear. I hope your stay with us is enjoyable.” He bowed to Ryan again, “My king, I just wanted to express my gratitude for your generosity.” After a nod from Ryan and another compassionate smile to Tillian, he made his way back to the table.

“Please, can we go?” Tillian pleaded.

“Immediately. I feel I keep apologizing to you. I had not meant for this to be an ordeal.” He walked them back through the doors and into the study where servants had already set up a table with a lovely lace covering and were in the process of laying out place settings.

Wallace and June arrived shortly thereafter with questioning looks on their faces, but they had the good sense not to ask once they got one look at Tillian. She appeared pale and had that look of a frightened rabbit about to bolt.

“Thank you for joining us here. It was a mistake to push her like that. Please, if you won’t mind dining in here with us, we’d enjoy your company without all those eyes watching,” Ryan offered.

“Of course,” June replied and slowly approached. Her outstretched hand begged Tillian to take it. “Princess, why don’t you come with me near the fire while the table is arranged?” She watched Tillian war with some internal battle to be courageous and won. When she nodded in reply and accepted her hand, June smile with reassurance.

June guided them to a sofa near the fire and sat down, arranging her flowing gown around her. She tugged Tillian to sit next to her when she noticed the Princess had not yet sat down. “You must have been through a horrific ordeal to be frightened of them,” June indicated the nobles in the adjoining room with her thumb.

Tillian inwardly cringed at that statement. It made her feel weak and broken. That thought kept her distracted, but June wouldn’t allow her to drift. Her voice pulled Tillian from the edge and talked her back down to reality.

“They’re harmless, the lot of them really. I am glad for this respite, however, for they can be loud,” she added.

Tillian felt the relief as well. “Yes, appears I can’t manage being around people right now.”

June cast a glance to Ryan and then continued, “No one is forcing you to.”

“I know.” Her head tilted in June’s direction and she looked at the woman closely. She looked different from women in her homeland and it only made this entire situation more foreign. Her face was wide with large green eyes that sparkled in the firelight. She wore her red hair free flowing in a controlled mass of curls that framed her face and cascaded down below her shoulders. The only adornment was a thin colored ribbon holding the mass off her face. Tillian absently touched her own head lightly, realizing her choice of the tight pleat to be severe.

“You do realize you couldn’t be in safer hands than King Ryan’s. It was fate that led him to you.” June couldn’t resist.

“Fate?” Tillian snorted. “I’m not sure I believe in that. It was luck,” she replied in a soft-spoken voice.

“Now you sound like Ryan,” June chuckled. “I’ve been harping at him for years on fate and that one day he’d meet his true love and it would be love at first sight. He’d know when it happened, and...” She paused with a glance in her king’s direction, she found him watching Tillian carefully and that made June smile. “I think he knows.”

Tillian tilted her head slightly. “You know this how?”

“He’s one of my closest friends, more of a brother really. I can see it in his eyes, Princess. He’s in love with you.”

Tillian huffed. “Well, that doesn’t exactly mean it was love at first sight.”

“What else could it be?”

“Luck. Maybe my amazing charm? I don’t know. But fate? I think not,” she joked, surprised that she suddenly felt comfortable enough to do so with a stranger.

“If that makes you feel better about falling in love, all right. I chalk it up to fate.” June smiled and leaned her back into the cushions, feeling the warmth of the flames while she watched Ryan prowling the far side of the room. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this enamored before. I’m rather amused by his reaction right now. Look at him, Tillian. He’s frantic about your wellbeing. That gives you some peace, does it not?”

Tillian followed her advice and found Ryan watching her. When their gazes met, she smiled. “You have no idea. I know this is very foolish of me, but I do not feel safe unless he is near.”

“Not foolish considering what you’ve endured. He has the largest heart of any man I know, so it is understandable that you feel this way. Again, you couldn’t be in better hands.”

Tillian’s eyes had not broken from Ryan’s worried stare. “I really hate being this weak. Before this happened, I was strong-willed and stubborn. Now I’m terrified of my own shadow.”

June’s compassion swelled while she watched Tillian sinking into despair. “Princess, you’ve been tortured for two months. Your mind just needs time to accept that you are no longer in any danger. Let Ryan love you and help you heal. Let his heart show you the way.”

Tillian finally broke her eye contact with Ryan only to look at June with wide eyes. “It’s not Ryan I’m terrified of, June. It’s everyone else.”

“That, too, will pass. I can help you there. While you’re here, I would dearly love your company for tea. My door is open whenever you need a friend and I could even teach you a little of my craft.”

Wallace heard that from across the room and choked. He couldn’t believe June just offered this to a Princess from Folkyn. He shouted, “No, you won’t.”

June laughed, waving him off and focused on Tillian again. “Ignore him. He tolerates my beliefs but I wouldn’t say he accepts them. I also think he’s a little worried because you’ve been raised away from magic. I’m a Hedge Witch, you see. I have no village to support, so I tend to provide my skills and service to those I care for or who are curious enough to visit me here in the palace.”

Tillian flinched back. She was taught Hedge Witches were the work of pure evil. They were unrestrained, eccentric and on the wild side. In a sense, unstable. This woman wasn’t unstable in the least bit, but she was definitely eccentric. Tillian had a hard time reconciling what she saw before her with what she’d been taught and failed.

“Ah, I see your Folkyn beliefs are preying on your mind. Here in Yorath, my training is quite normal. We are normally found in villages as the healers or birth wives. You know, Edda is one, so is Girdie. Were they evil or unkind?”

“N-n-no,” she stammered.

“We are just a little different. I tend to read stones and remind anyone who will listen that ‘Life is Magic and Magic is Life,’” she smiled. “Fate plays a very large part of that belief. All things happen for a reason, dear. Ryan was meant to find you, because you were meant to find Ryan. It’s that simple.”

“Huh, well I’ll think on that offer.”

“Please, I would be honored.”

It was then that the food arrived and all were beckoned to the table. The moment they were seated, Ryan snaked his hand under the table and clasped Tillian’s in a gentle but firm hold. He felt her trembling but it wasn’t anything compared to the pure terror she showed outside in the hall. The choice to come here was a wise one.

The evening progressed after that with June luring Tillian out of her shell with her nonsense about fate and magic. Tillian relaxed enough to enjoy the company enough to laugh.

Ryan felt a twinge of jealousy at that. On one level, he cheered that she felt comfortable enough to let down her guard enough to laugh. Yet on the other, he wanted to selfishly guard that smile as only his. Tillian really had no idea how breathtaking she was when that inner beauty came through in her smile.

At one point, June leaned in close. “So, how did he get you to stay?”

Tillian replied with a very straight face, “He promised to cook for me.”

June laughed hard and nearly spilled her wine. “Oh, Ryan, you are going to give Gretta a heart attack! She hates people working in her kitchen.”

He released Tillian’s hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder instead. “I know, but I was willing do just about anything to get her to stay, June.”

“I’m sure. Tillian, I think he got the better end of the bargain though. Have you really eaten his cooking?” June winked at Tillian then leaned back while the servers cleared the plates away.