Valaria sobered quickly. “Not if I can help it. Besides, I know you think I’m exaggerating, so come to the feast and stay for the ball and see for yourself.”
Arion actually considered it. “When?”
Valaria relaxed and smiled for the first time all day. “It’s on the next full moon.”
“That is my birthday,” he whispered.
“Then I shall save you an extra piece of cake to celebrate.”
Chapter 8
Arion and Valaria walked the forest and countryside finding very few untreated unicorns. They talked and laughed as they passed the time. It surprised them both how well they got along.
“The sun is high in the sky. We aren’t far from the castle. Do you want to stop in for lunch before we continue?” Valaria asked.
“I’ve never been in the castle,” Arion confessed.
“Well it’s about time you did. Come on,” Valaria said leading the way.
Arion felt out of place as they entered the castle. Valaria was wearing pants and a tunic, having given up on dresses and returned to her preferred attire, not much different from his own clothing. Beyond the castle walls they’d felt much like equals, but the moment they stepped inside it was like the air around her changed.
Several people did a double take as they passed and a few older ladies grimaced at her appearance behind her back. Arion hadn’t missed it though. People stop and bowed, curtsied, or at least nodded in acknowledgement everywhere they went.
For the first time Arion it dawned on Arion just how important the princess really was, and he started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” she asked nudging him in the gut with her elbow.
“It’s just, wow. I mean Zallon doesn’t even bow to your father when he visits, It never once occurred to me that I should be showing you that kind of respect. I mean look at you,” he whispered jokingly earning himself a harder elbow this time.
“I’m just me, Arion,” she said seriously. She liked that he didn’t adhere to the pomp and circumstance that came with being a princess. Since the first moment they met he had always treated her like any other person he encountered, unaffected and unimpressed by her title.
“Oh, I’m aware,” he teased. “Your highness,” he added with an exaggerated bow.
Valaria rolled her eyes. “Please don’t ever do that again. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
At the royal kitchen, Valaria commanded the room from the moment she walked in. She ordered what sounded like a large amount of food to Arion and told them they would be taking it in her private quarters.
“Come along, Arion,” she said in a voice he had never heard and didn’t like. He gritted his teeth and followed anyway.
Once back in the hallway she sighed and morphed back into her normal self.
“What was that all about?” Arion asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean who were you back there? It was weird.”
She rolled her eyes. “That was Princess Valaria commanding her servants.”
“Well, I like plain Valaria much better,” he said.
“You can’t say stuff like that,” she challenged.
“Why? It’s the truth.”
She rolled her eyes. “People don’t always care about the truth, Arion. It’s all about appearances and perceptions. I don’t like treating people like they are beneath me, but that’s the expectation.”
He frowned as they continued walking the large stone halls of the castle. “You say it’s all about appearances and perceptions. So what appearances do you think you’re showing when you tell them you’re entertaining a man in your private quarters?”
They had just reached her room and her hand stilled on the decorative doorknob. She turned and glared at him. “I’m not entertaining a man in my private quarters, I’m having lunch with you,” she huffed.
As she opened the door and walked in, Arion followed cautiously behind her. He knew that had come out harsher than he’d meant it to, but he also couldn’t help wonder how often she had other men in her private quarters, and he hated that the mere thought of it made him sick to his stomach.
Inside the room was well lit, not at all dark like the stone hallways. The table was already adorned with a full spread of food prepared exactly to Valaria’s specification. It felt like magic that all of this could have been done in the time it had taken them to walk upstairs.
Arion had a million questions he wanted to ask, like how had they beat them up there without passing them in the hall?
He also quickly realized they were not alone, nor would they be, making him feel even worse about the insinuation he’d made. There were two ladies in waiting standing against the wall ready to address the princess’s needs.
There was also a man present.
“Hello Taneth,” Valaria said cordially. “I was wondering which one of you father would be sending. I’m very happy to see you.”
The man smiled. “I’m relieved to hear that because I’ve been assigned to you until the issues with the unicorns is resolved and I do hope you will play nice and not give me too much trouble for once.”
She grinned evilly. “We shall see about that. Arion, this is Taneth. He’s my father’s noblest knight and will apparently be joining us on our adventure this afternoon.”
“She’s buttering me up. No good ever comes from that. I shall be ever vigilant now.” Taneth sat down at the table set for three and began filling his plate signaling for Arion to join him.
“Ignore him,” Valaria told Arion. “I do.”
“So Arion, any word from Zallon on the cause behind the unicorns’ ailments? I’ve heard nothing but good things regarding the work you are doing to sustain them.”
“Thank you, sir,” Arion said, joining him at the table. He had never met a knight before and was a little overawed in his presence.
It didn’t take long for the men to relax and enjoy talking over lunch. Valaria pouted feeling a little left out.
After lunch, Valaria pulled Taneth aside. “Arion can protect me. You don’t have to come with us,” she tried to reason.
Taneth looked the boy over and tried to hold back his grin.
“The day Arion can best me with that sword, is the day I’ll trust him with your safety.” Then he turned to Arion. “Arion, that’s a nice sword you have there.”
“Uh, thanks. Zallon gave it to me just today,” he confessed.
“Have you had much training with it?” Taneth asked.
“No, none,” he admitted.
Taneth gave Valaria a look that said, “I told you so.”
“And what is this adventure the two of you have planned for today?”
“We’re searching for unicorns that have not received the potion that will help them eat. They are becoming harder to locate and Zallon wishes for us to extend the parameter and head towards Kilrest in search.” It wasn’t entirely true. Zallon asked Arion to do this with no mention of the princess tagging along, but Arion refrained from mentioning that.
Taneth stiffened. Since the fall of the unicorns there had been numerous reports of problems arising in Kilrest. There was no way he could let the princess go without protection.