The Princess, the Pea and the Night of Passion

Chapter 3

Dinner with the royal family — the king, the queen and the prince — started off well. The royal men were kind to Adara. Richard asked about her home, about how she'd come to speak the language so well. She told him her mother loved studying languages and had taught her three. Adara enjoyed being fluent in multiple tongues, as it made diplomatic visits such as this one easier. Richard was easy to talk to, had a jovial laugh, and made her feel at ease.

The queen was another story. While polite enough, the queen seemed to dislike Adara.

"And you decided to abandon your carriage because of a little rain?" the queen asked, her voice dripping with incredulity.

Adara smiled. "Yes, Your Majesty," she replied. "The carriage rooftop collapsed and small ice pellets were falling from the sky. I thought for sure we'd freeze to death if we didn't find better shelter."

The queen laughed. "Oh dear," she said, as if the idea of freezing to death were ludicrous. "You're just used to the warm climate of your homeland. It's not so cold really. We get rains like this all the time. I'm sure you wouldn't have frozen."

Adara nodded, as it was rude to disagree with her host, but she wanted to throttle the woman, with her graying hair in a bun, thin nose and angular face. She felt sorry that the king and prince had to live with such an unpleasant shrew.

"You did the right thing, Adara," Richard said. "It was far too cold for you to be out and alone in your carriage."

The queen cleared her throat and said, "At any rate, I'm sending a messenger to find your party and let them know that you're here and well taken care of."

Adara felt the color drain from her face. She couldn't let the queen do that. She couldn't let them contact her father's delegation. She forced a smile back on her face, and turned politely to the queen. "Your Majesty, I would not want your citizens to risk such brutal weather for me," she said, trying to inject benevolence and humility into her voice. "Please don't trouble your citizens so unduly on my behalf. In the morning, Nasiha and I will go advise them ourselves."

The queen smiled, and Adara realized the queen must've noticed her initial panic at the suggestion of a messenger being sent. The queen smiled like a shark ready to take its prey. "Don't be silly, dear," the queen said. "It's no trouble. You said the delegation had gone into town. I'll dispense a messenger to ask around at the local inns until we find your party. There can't be that many delegations from Bastalia roaming our kingdom," the queen said, chuckling at the thought. "We wouldn't want your party to think you'd perished in the weather. I'll send someone tonight, and they'll just go the one way. They can rest at an inn, once they've delivered the message."

Adara tried to smile, not to look panicked, but she felt pure terror. She and Nassi would be caught. She would be returned to her father. She tried to concentrate on dinner, on the conversation, but her mind was gone to being dragged home and forced to marry the sultan. Or worse — being dragged home and then stoned to death for leaving in the first place. The prince excused himself at one point during dinner, but returned shortly. Adara pretended to listen, but that's all it was. Her voice was speaking words, her head nodding, her mouth forcing polite smiles. But her mind was crying. The queen had just sealed her and Nassi's fate.

No, Adara had sealed their fate when she told them the truth. Nassi hadbeen right. She should have kept her mouth shut. The dinner ended soon enough.The queen ordered Lionel to give Adara a short tour of the castle and then showher to her sleeping quarters.: