The Reign of Trees (5 page)

Chapter Four

Illianah hated how Prince Henrick had referred to her like she was an animal that needed tending to. But he had relented and she did get her walk; her objective seemed like it would be easily obtained. Henrick was in the courtyard with his hundred captains. First, she walked through the market in hopes that her intentions would not be obvious. Then, she began to make slow passes through the inner courtyard. She felt eyes on her frequently, but it was not Henrick who was looking at her. It was the captains, like Henrick had predicted. He kept his focus on the leaders of the Deltegran army. The more Henrick ignored her, the more fascinated she became with him. She had never taken him for a man of war, yet here he was commanding countless men. More than just taking his role seriously, he seemed to have this fierceness upon his face. He had yelled at his troops several times, and each time it would cause Illianah to jump. How he got such volume out of his small frame seemed to be a contradiction of character. In fact, after Henrick had left Burchess two years ago, carrying with him a remnant of Illianah’s heart, her father had declared that Henrick was not man enough to ever be a king. King Gregory called Henrick delicate and feminine. She wondered if that was why her father had gone so far in the opposite direction and chosen the region’s most strapping prince for her husband.

It was said that Leif’s physique made women across the land swoon. He was, certainly, dashing. But he knew it. Illianah had always thought that the biggest part of Leif was his ego, causing his other features to diminish in size. Leif may have been the ideal prince for thousands of other women, but not Illianah. She preferred men who were more understated. Like Prince Henrick.

Back when her father had taken to constantly berating Prince Henrick, Illianah had felt King Gregory was judging harshly. Henrick was only sixteen then, and she felt that in time, he would grow in stature. He had not. He was shorter than most of the men in his regiment, and shorter than Capitan Montague by a foot. It almost made her laugh to think of how small Henrick would look next to Leif, but she hoped that would never happen. To have those two men at the same place, at the same time, could only result in disaster. And the disaster would likely befall Henrick.

That thought brought pain to her heart. She took a deep breath and returned her gaze to Henrick. Why did he captivate her so? So much more than her own husband? She felt shame in that private acknowledgement. But what was it about Henrick? His face?

Yes, she quickly determined. He was beautiful. Enchanting. She understood why her father had said that Henrick was too feminine, as he had features that often graced the most comely women’s faces: his face was narrow, his cheekbones high. There was nothing really remarkable about the shape of his eyes: it was the color that transfixed her. His eyes were so black that it was hard to distinguish his pupil from his iris. It made him look like he was constantly deep in thought, like there was nothing that passed through his vision without first becoming engraved in his mind.

And his chin: Illianah had to look away before her cheeks flushed from thinking of her fondness for his chin. The dimple on his chin signified that he was, indeed, masculine. His skin had been bare the last time they had met and she had found herself all too often staring at that deep, distinguished ridge. Thankfully, his beard now covered the dimple somewhat, but that beard added another troublesome feature. He looked older. More poised. Commanding. That was something she never would have imagined adding to his allure, yet it did.

She reached the corner exactly diagonal from his position, and she found herself staring at him, yet again. This time he caught her gaze. His dark eyes locked with hers. Her cheeks grew warm, but she would not give him the satisfaction of looking away. There was no crime in letting her eyes fall where they may. She tilted her head back, just slightly, and drew in a deep breath. She intended to hold her breath, making her waist smaller and her chest larger, but he would not look away. He kept his eyes on her, looking at her inquisitively, yet almost critically. She had to exhale before she turned blue and fell to the ground—although she did wonder: if she were to faint, how quickly would Henrick come to her aid? She might have to consider using that ploy another time.

Since she was getting nowhere in her attempts to gain Henrick’s favor, she climbed the stairs to the castle’s curtain wall. Her maids stayed close by, though Illianah wished she could be entirely alone. She went to edge of the wall and leaned against the
merlon
. Instantly, a breeze hit her face and swept her hair behind her. With the breeze came a gasp from within her chest. Green—as far as the eye could see. She had heard tales of the great forests of Deltegra, but she had never imagined the vast expanse of trees. A rugged blue mountain range loomed in the distance. It was no wonder the Deltegrans valued their land more than any other treasure: its beauty was unrivaled.

“I’m glad you found something else to cast your keen eyes upon. You were making my captains nervous,” a voice said from behind. She turned and found Prince Henrick standing just feet behind her. Her maids had stepped back several yards, leaving her alone. With the prince. Her heart felt as if she had just leapt off the castle wall.

“Making them nervous? Me?” Illianah acted as if this were entirely preposterous.

“Yes. They thought you were … spying.” Henrick did not look severe as he said this: he looked amused.

“Spying?” she asked, now offended. “I would not know the first thing about spying.”

“Tell me; when they march out with their troops tomorrow to give support to our border, which direction will they be going?”

“I assume the border you speak of would be the border you share with the great kingdom of Burchess.” Illianah meant this as an attempt to prove her inattentiveness, although she was fully aware of which border the troops needed to defend.

“Of course.”

“Then they will be heading east.” She was not a fool. Even the laymen knew Burchess lay to the east of Deltegra.

“And east is …?” he asked.

Illianah knew she must have looked like he had just scolded her. She blinked at him and then turned her head to the horizon. This should be simple. That mountain range must be the one that separated Deltegra from Vieve, which would mean that direction was south. East would be to her left, where Henrick was standing. She turned to face him and pointed past his shoulder. “East,” she said smugly.

“If that is east, then the sun does not light your bedchamber until midday, correct?”

No, that was not right. She always awoke with the sun in her eye, causing her to curse at the window’s placement. She looked up at the tower which housed her quarters and found her window. Her window would face east. She looked in that direction. “That is east?” she asked.

“Yes, and this,” he said, pointing to the mountains, “Is west. That is our border with Ticugua.”

“And the mountains of Vieve?”

He strained his eyes to the south. “They are cloud-covered today. But believe me, they are far more majestic than the mountains of Ticugua.”

“Well, as you can see, I am not spying on you, for I would send the troops to the wrong country.”

Henrick smiled. “Yes, I told the men you are entirely harmless.” His eyes hardened. “At least in that manner.”

She turned her head away from him and studied the forest, as if that held her interest, but she was really trying to hide her smile of satisfaction.

“Pray tell me, what are you at then?” Henrick stepped closer and turned so his back rested against the wall. There was no escaping his vision now.

“I am forlorn. Hopelessly, miserably forlorn.”

“You are not here under normal circumstances. This is hardly the time for entertaining.”

“You do realize that if we were under ‘normal circumstances,’ I would not be here at all?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. His face looked subdued. “But of course. I’m certain it would be a cold day in hell before Her Royal Highness, Princess Illianah, descended from on high to visit Deltegra.”

At first, his words ignited a hatred within her chest, but then the more she studied his solemn eyes, she felt shame at her own haughtiness. “There was a time, Prince Henrick, when a visit to your castle would have been desired.”

He nodded, ever so slightly, yet her words did not appear to bring him any comfort. In fact, it looked as if it brought him even greater pain.

Against her wishes, her throat tightened and her eyes filled with tears. She would not let him know that thoughts of what once may have been brought her such sadness. She knew she must hide these thoughts from him, but realizing that brought her even more pain. All her emotions had to be stifled while at the castle of Andoradda. She had no one to confide in. No one here cared one whit about her. “I miss my home,” she whispered. “I am … so lonely.”

His face softened. “Yes, I should have given that greater consideration. You have been rather isolated here. I hope you will find comfort in writing to your family.”

“Some,” she said. Really, it brought her no satisfaction filling those parchments with empty words, but she hoped her heart would lift once she heard back from Burchess.

“I can only imagine the pain it brings you to be separated from your husband.”

Illianah hoped that the happiness she felt in her heart at that moment was not reflected on her face. No, being separated from Leif brought her no pain. In fact, every morning as she woke to an empty bed, she felt elated she had escaped the drudgery of loving Leif. She debated on what to say next, and then decided her words were better left unsaid. She could not speak ill of Leif to anyone, let alone to her captor and her husband’s rival. Words finally came that would neither paint her as unfeeling nor give Henrick room in her heart. “I would be more concerned about the pain you have caused
him
. I do worry about the retribution that will befall you.”

Henrick smiled dismally and said, “As do I.”

He turned and put his forearms on the top of the wall, keeping his eyes on the forest.

Illianah broke a long, awkward silence by saying, “The beauty of Deltegra amazes me.” Henrick did not acknowledge her. “I do wonder why the castle was not built to face this direction though; it is a much better view.” The view from her window offered her only the courtyard and a vast green field with a few clusters of aspen.

“Again, you prove your ignorance as a spy,” he said. At first, she was offended by his comment, but she saw the wry smile upon his lips and she realized he was teasing her. “It is strategic, Illianah. The castle faces east, toward …”

“Burchess,” she interrupted as the castle’s placement dawned on her.

“Right. Enemies then, when King
Polard
built the castle. And enemies still.”

“So the castle is always watching for attack from your eastern border.”

“Precisely. A wide meadow gives no allowance for cover if soldiers were to approach from the east.”

“But from the south and west, you are rather vulnerable, are you not?” The forest began just a stone’s throw away from the rear of the castle. Thousands of soldiers could find cover there.

“So it may seem. However, within the forest lies the River of
Dungess
. It is three times wider than the streets of our marketplace and it moves as swift as a team of four horses. Crossing it is nearly impossible.”

“There is no bridge?”

“Ah, there is a bridge. Yet it is heavily guarded. The troops stationed there have strict orders to destroy the bridge if ever under attack.”

“And the river does not freeze?”

Henrick smiled, but it was not his widest smile. However, it was wide enough to make Illianah’s heart race. “Perhaps I need to reconsider my assessment of your surreptitious mind.”

“I mean you no harm, My Lord. Just making certain your defenses are adequate.”

He smiled again; this time he appeared to bite down on the inside of his lip to keep his smile from growing too large. “It does freeze, but only where it is slow and shallow. If one wanted to attack us from the south, it would be best done in the winter.” His eyes bore into hers. He had just offered her a valuable piece of military information. He knew exactly what he was doing; he was giving her his trust.

“I shall keep that in mind if I ever decided to lead an attack against you with my armies of thousands.”

“Now that would be a sight to behold,” he said with a playful look upon his face.

He righted himself, taking his forearms off the wall; he turned to the now-empty courtyard. “It looks like they moved-out without me. You have already proven to be dangerous.”

She smiled at his flattery and said, “You came up here of your own free will.”

“Speaking for the entire male race, I would say that there is no such thing as free will when Princess Illianah is involved.”

Her face fell, along with her heart. “Then this world is ridiculously ironic, as Princess Illianah has neither freedom nor a will that belongs to her and her alone.”

Her words produced the same appearance in Henrick: his face looked solemn. She did not intend to say he had taken away her freedom, although that interpretation was fitting as well.

Once the air around them had long since grown uncomfortably silent, he said, “Perhaps I have something that will help you pass the time.”