Princess without a Palace: A King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale (13 page)

And then there was the matter of Maria.
Something was obviously amiss between the two young women, but he was clueless
about what could have happened or what he could do about it. He knew Maria sometimes
had a difficult disposition, but her grumpiness couldn’t explain the trace of
fear he had detected on Liesel’s face when she had looked over at his sister
tonight. What had Maria done to the poor girl?

He turned over in the straw bed, and
nodded to the wall. He would have to have a talk with his sister the next
morning. He wasn’t sure what he would say, but he couldn’t very well have her
terrorizing their guest. Especially if he had to leave them alone together for
the next few days.

He groaned. How was he going to convince
Liesel to stay when he had to leave her? The timing of his summons from the
castle was most unfortunate. If Liesel wished to escape Maria, she wasn’t
likely to be thrilled about being left alone with her.

He punched the straw down again, and
tried once more to settle comfortably into his bed. He had to think of a
solution. After all, there was always a solution. He just needed to think of
it.

As he tugged on his blanket, his arm
smacked against something hard and the object fell over with a hollow thump.
Propping himself on an elbow, he looked over at the toppled piece of pottery. A
jug was lying on its side surrounded by several cups and vases. He had
forgotten about the spare pieces he had piled there in the barn. Finding them
again gave him an idea, and he glanced over the pottery with renewed interest.
He counted the pieces. Disappointment swept through him when he only counted
about thirty items in the collection. It wasn’t much, but he prayed it would be
enough.

Liesel was relieved when she awoke before
Maria began stirring the next morning. Eager to avoid a confrontation, she
tiptoed to the fireplace in absolute silence and donned her drenched dress. The
clingy, cold fabric sent chills through her frame all the way down to her
curled toes. She frantically rubbed her arms and urged the dress to dry faster.
The first chills of autumn were biting in the air, and she had no wish to have
her escape thwarted by catching a cold.

After slipping on her shoes, she didn’t
waste any time in idleness before she began scouring the room silently for a
map. Water squirted out the sides of her shoes with every step, but she paid
the soaked shoes no heed. Wet shoes were the least of her worries right now. 

She rifled through the books stacked
along the shelves on the wall. Surely Maria must have a map somewhere. She
desperately needed one if she was going to devise a viable plan before her talk
with Roderick this morning.

She snapped the last book shut in
frustration just as Roderick entered the room.

“You’re up early,” he greeted.

“So are you.”  

He nodded toward the book in her hand.
“Have you been up all night reading?”

She set the book back on the shelf with
an irritated sigh. “No, I was looking for a map.”

“I gather you didn’t find one.”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“Then you still intend to leave?”

“I don’t
intend
to leave. I
am
leaving,” she insisted as she returned the rest of the books on the table to
their previous places on the shelf.

Roderick walked forward to stand at her
side. “Please stay, Liesel,” he urged quietly.

“Why? I thought you would be delighted
to be free of me.”

“Have I ever made you feel unwelcome?”

She turned to face him. “No,
you
haven’t.”

“Has Maria?”

She shook her head and walked to her
corner of the room. “Such things do not matter anymore.”

“I can talk to her.”

A bark of a laugh escaped Liesel before
she could suppress it. “Your lack of experience with the workings of women is
quite evident,” she observed as she neatly folded her old peasant clothes
beside the straw on the ground.

“You cannot leave like this. We hardly
have any money saved. If you leave now, you’ll starve before the month is
through.”

“I’ll find some way to make do.”

“Liesel, let’s discuss this. I can’t let
you walk out the door to your death. Especially with winter coming.”

He crouched beside her and waited for
her to look up at him. After she reluctantly met his gaze, he went on, “I found
a few more pieces of pottery in the barn. I stored them there when they didn’t
fit on the handcart that first day you went to the market. If you will stay and
sell those pieces, you can take all of the profits when you leave.”

She shook her head. “That wouldn’t be
fair …”

“You’ll need the money far more than me.”

Liesel was stunned by his generosity. “Why
would you do such a thing? The pottery is yours.”

“I can’t let you leave until I’m sure
you’ll be well-cared for. The extra money won’t solve all your problems, but
you have to admit it would help.”

Liesel thought it over, but then turned
away from him. “I can’t stay. Please don’t ask any questions, but I simply
cannot stay in this hut with Maria any longer.”

“Would you consider sleeping in the
barn?”

“Of course not!” she exclaimed, clearly
horrified. “We are only betrothed, not married!”

He shook his head. “No, I won’t be
there. It would be perfectly proper. I’ve been summoned to the castle and will
be staying there for the next few days.”

“The king wants you to play for him?”

“You are clearly surprised.”

“No, I know you are talented. I’ve seen
you perform, as you should remember very well. It’s just unexpected. I didn’t
realize you’d have to stay at the castle when your home is so near.”

Roderick nodded. “I have to stay there
so I can be available at any hour to perform for the court whenever the king
desires.”

“That’s wonderful for you … I wish you
the very best with it … But now I have absolutely
no
desire to stay. If
you leave, I will be alone with Maria on this farm, and sleeping with the rats
in the barn. Hmmm … it’s a tempting prospect, but I think I’d rather fend for
myself in the forest.”

“You couldn’t even endure remaining here
for a few more days if you had the promise of my earnings from the castle too?”
he challenged.

Liesel’s jaw dropped. “I cannot ask that
of you.”

“I would never make you ask. If you
stay, sell the pottery, and take what the castle gives me, you will easily have
enough money when I return to set off wherever your heart wishes to take you.”
He leaned sideways and nudged her shoulder. “You may even have enough time
while I’m gone to find that map you were searching for.”

Liesel bit her lip as she thought
everything over. “It feels wrong to take all your money.”

“Until you leave, we are betrothed, and
I consider it ‘our’ money.”

“But we have no intention of following
through with the betrothal, so that argument is wholly without merit.”

“Then take it as a favor.”

“How is that?” she questioned
incredulously.

“If your father ever seeks me out and
discovers I broke my promise to him, I better be able to tell him I didn’t
release you penniless and defenseless from my home or he would quickly make me
pay for such a crime. And I doubt he would show any mercy.”

“You would be dead by the end of such a
conversation,” Liesel grimly acknowledged.

“Then preserve my life and take my
money,” he begged with a hint of a smile.

Liesel couldn’t help but laugh, and she
knew her resolve was crumbling.

“Oh Roderick,” she replied, suddenly
overcome with emotion. “You treat me better than I deserve.” She searched his
eyes for a long moment and then quietly added, “I’m confident my father could
not have entrusted my care to a person with a more noble heart than yours.”

“All of the other princes who attempted
to court you would probably disagree,” Roderick countered lightly.

“But it wouldn’t make it any less true,”
Liesel replied in earnest, impulsively taking his hand. “I’m beginning to see
that nobility is deeper than just owning a title.”

His hand gave hers a squeeze, and her gaze
dropped to their clasped hands. Something within her stirred at the sight, and
instantly her heart began to pound. She felt a frantic worry swell inside. What
had she done? This was no way to act when she was about to leave!

When he didn’t release her hand or break
the silence, her eyes eventually gravitated back to meet his. Immediately, she
wished she hadn’t. The intensity of his look and the feelings it evoked within
her was unsettling.

He was a peasant. And she was trying to
leave him to find a better life for herself. She needed to let go. She needed
to be able to think clearly. And she obviously couldn’t do that while holding
his hand.

She moved to pull away, but Roderick
didn’t let go.

“Roderick?” she whispered, trying to
break the spell, but saying his name only plunged her deeper into it.

“Liesel, I …” Roderick answered, pulling
her forward. “I …”

His voice merely trailed off as his gaze
dropped to her lips.

Her heart rang like thunder in her ears
as her mind registered what was happening. He was going to kiss her! She was
sure of it. She was, of course, surprised by that fact, but what was more
surprising to her was that she suddenly didn’t want to pull away anymore.

Just as she closed her eyes and moved to
lean forward to meet him, the door to the adjacent room swung open.

Liesel jumped back at the startling
sound and Roderick immediately released her. Folding her arms, she spun around
and walked to the fire, eager to quickly put as much space as possible between
them.

“Roderick!” Maria practically screeched
at her brother. “What are you doing here so early?”

Roderick ran a hand through his hair.
“Calm down, Maria. I needed to tell Liesel that I’ll be staying at the castle
for the next few days. You know that. I have to leave within the hour.”

“It didn’t seem like much was being
said,” Maria countered. “Next time, I’d be more than happy to deliver a note
for you.”

“Thank you, but I very much prefer
delivering my own messages,” he answered firmly.

Liesel turned away again from the
brother and sister and focused all of her energy on watching the dancing flames
of the fire as she tried to think of a way to gracefully excuse herself. She
closed her eyes and wished she could simply disappear. She could feel Maria’s
seething eyes burning into her back, and the speed of her racing heart was
proof that Roderick’s presence was still affecting her.

Maria started slamming bowls around as
she began her breakfast preparations and Liesel wondered when Roderick would
leave. She began to offer a silent prayer that he would just do so to alleviate
some of the tension in the room, but she stopped herself before she was
through. Perhaps it would be in her best interest if he did stay a little
longer … at least long enough to keep Maria from poisoning her breakfast. The
woman looked quite capable of such a thing this morning.

That thought made her realize that she
probably ought to start making her own meals while Roderick was gone. In the
least, it would be a good practice for her before she set out on her own.

After she had finally managed to collect
herself, Liesel cleared her throat and turned back to face Roderick and Maria.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Liesel addressed
the siblings. “I believe I should go to the barn now and take inventory of my
pottery so I can see what I’ll be selling this week.”

Roderick nodded his approval. Her
declaration let him know that he had won their argument and his satisfaction
was obvious. She would stay a few days more.

But only until he returned
,
she silently swore. The sooner she left, the better.

As she stepped outside into the crisp
morning air, her wet dress made her feel as though she were encased in ice. A
violent shudder wracked her frame and she wished she could simply return to her
place by the fire. But that wish only lasted a moment. There was absolutely no
way she was going to go back inside that hut just yet.