The Royal Thief

Chapter Four: All This Trouble for One Ambassador

We swam until noon, when we left the cavern and ate lunch in the sun, drying off in the mid-Summer heat. Nemia had hardly said a word since her announcement about the princess, but Cara couldn't shut up. 

"You think she'll want hand-to-hand lessons, too? Can you imagine her rolling around on the ground?" She adapted a slightly squeaky, confused little voice which was surprisingly close to the princess's actual voice. "What do you mean, I can't wear silk? I have to actually touch the ground? But my dress will get dirty!"

I laughed. It was a little mean, but anyone who had seen or heard the princess talking would agree that was what she would sound like. "I wonder what she'll come to practice in. I'm sure she doesn't have anything other than pretty dresses."

Twisting a piece of hair around her finger, Cara seemed to consider the question. "I guess they'll tell her what to wear. Oh--" She giggled. "I bet she'll get special silk training clothes, and boots with gold heels and jewel clips to hold her ridiculous hair back."

Nemia laughed softly with us. Cara's prediction seemed spot on when compared to the princess's usual wardrobe of embroidered gowns and sparkling clips which she used to keep her wild, curly, apricot-colored hair in place.

"Is she getting riding lessons, too?" I asked.

Nemia shook her head. "She knows how to ride. You've seen her, in parades and such."

"I guess." I lay back and closed my eyes against the glare of the sun. "I wonder why she wants lessons now. She could have asked for them any time, really, whether the King and Queen told her to pick a gift or not."

Cara stretched out next to me. "I bet it's to impress some boy. Oh Lord- I bet it's to impress Lord Luca!" Both of us laughed. Just a few days ago, the princess had been walking down the castle steps, surrounded by her ladies, when she tripped on the hem of her gown and fell right into Lord Luca's arms as he was walking up the stairs. He could hardly dump a royal princess on her butt, so he'd been forced to carry her down the stairs as she blushed so hard her whole face turned red. I'd been standing at the foot of the stairs with Sam and Nick as it happened. All three of us had doubled over, trying not to laugh. Nick had dubbed it "The Best Thing That Happened All Week", although my fight with Joshua had probably taken its place.

"Yeah, she goes all red when she sees him. She must have the biggest crush."

"Well, don't we all," Cara sighed. I disagreed with that. I rarely got crushes, and even then, I never considered them serious. Crushes were for giggling over for a week or two, then forgetting about. I didn't understand girls who would fight with each other over a boy. If you had a crush on a boy, then obviously your friend did too. That was why you were friends, after all- you liked the same things. 

"We should head back," Nemia said. The sun was still high, but having a day off didn't mean we could slack on training. And technically, it was only Cara's day off. We left the castle with her, but since we weren't guards, we didn't have set work days and rest days.

The horses, especially Pitch, were reluctant to leave behind the shady forest and thick grass for the dusty trail back to the castle. Even as we rode up the gently sloping path, they moved sluggishly. If they had moved faster, perhaps we wouldn't have been on the road when the messenger galloped past, brushing our mounts as he sped on ahead. We looked at his retreating back in surprise. Messengers usually came from the direction of the city, which was south of the castle, not through the forest, which was at its back. Where could he have been coming from? There were few major lordships in north Solangia, and even fewer who would have had need to send a royal messenger to the king. If the messenger had been coming from the kingdom of Englescroft he might come from that direction. Curious, I pressed Saffron faster.