The Rugged Edge

Chapter 6: A Meeting in the Dark

I hoped my hope would come someday,
a light that came and dazzled.
I hoped life wouldn't always be
a dark, foreboding castle.
But who could guess I'd really meet
that hope in darkest shadow?

. . . . .

I spent the next few days pondering the conversation I had heard in the woods that night. What did Geraint have to do with this? Had they meant the Geraint who had burned Act CXII? And Bessy knew something, I was sure, but I had so little to go on that I decided not to confront her. It also bothered me that the one man, Curtis, had spoken of Bessy being too close to the princess - to me - to be trusted. But of course, I thought, no one really knew me, did they? So why shouldn't they be suspicious?

I didn't go back to the forest for a week for fear of discovery. I felt like those men had intruded into my privacy. I had felt safe and alone all those years in the dark, training for who knows what. The place had turned into my life escape route, but now it felt like my comfort had betrayed me.

But by the end of a week I'd decided it was foolish to feel loss for something I hadn't really lost; it was a place, and of course it couldn't be moved. Besides, if need be, I could train someplace else.

So with a tiny shiver I got out of bed one night, dressed in the trusty black riding suit, and carefully closed my bedroom door so that it wouldn't creak. I began to take my regular route through the gloomy stone corridors, but just outside the library I heard whispered voices. My heart began to pound so that I was sure it could be heard. I turned the corner.

I stopped in my tracks. There were two people looking directly at me: a man and a woman. All I could see were their faces because my eyes were frozen along with my heart and my feet; frozen with dread. They stared at me and I at them. Then I took a deep breath and spoke.

"Who are you?" I whispered. "What do you mean by this? Are you thieves?"

They looked at each other. The man wore a forest green cloak and had a bow and quiver slung over his shoulder, along with a short wooden sword in his hand. He was big and scruffy-looking, and his hair was a tangled brown mess. The woman wore a man's brown riding outfit and had a knife at an easy grab on her belt. A drab scarf covered her hair so that I couldn't see its color.

"Who are you," said the man, "sneaking around in the night, when little girls ought to be in bed?"

"You're part of that rebellion, in the forest, aren't you?" I whispered without hesitation. "And you are here to spy on us in the night."

The man grabbed my arm and held his wooden sword at the ready. I thought I could be quick and grab it, but my other arm was caught and pulled around to my back by the woman.

"Who told you we were here?" whispered the woman in my ear.

I swallowed my easy and truthful reply and hissed instead, "Am I to be terrified by a wooden sword?"

"You're the princess, aren't you?" said the man. "I always knew not to trust you. Why are you sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night, dressed so silly?"

"I thought I was the only one to wear riding garments to sneak around," I replied.

"You will answer us, princess!" said the man, and the woman shushed him. He quieted his voice and said, "Tell us where your beloved father is, for we are here to be rid of him."

"Kill him if you like," I whispered. "But he posts men outside his bedroom door through the night."

The man squeezed my arm so hard it hurt. "And why on earth should we believe you?"

"Because," I said. "I tried night after night to get in there, and not to give him a goodnight kiss."

"What for, then, silly child?" breathed the woman.

"To steal something," I said, truthfully. "And I never could find those men asleep, so I went in the day."

Curiosity seemed to light the man's face. "Why would you steal from him?"

I hesitated, struggling slightly with the tight grip on my wrist. How much should I tell them? Though I tried to keep my voice from shaking, I could not hide it. I didn't speak.

"We will kill you, traitor," said the man. "Tell us."

"Kill me?" I struggled to laugh. "Why would you kill an innocent girl?" Besides, I really couldn't see how they could kill me with a wooden sword.

"You're not innocent, you're a thief and a traitor!"

"Shh, we'll be heard," I said. "I never did steal anything and how can I be a traitor when I have done nothing to the king yet? You mean to kill him; aren't you the traitors?"

"You are a traitor to the kingdom, silly prin-"

"Have not done anything to the king yet?" interrupted the woman. "Why would you do anything to him?"

I glanced around, then whispered, "We will be heard soon if we stay here." I turned my head towards the library and the two spies hesitated, then let go of me. I went to the library door and pushed it open carefully so that it wouldn't creak.

Dusty shelves ran around the small but high-ceilinged room, lined with aged books. A long-unlit chandelier hung down from the center of the ceiling, meant to light the filthy center table and chairs around it.

I sat in a chair and the spies hesitantly followed suit.

I hesitated, but only for a moment. When I look back, I realize it could have been a mistake to speak at all. But I was so desperate for some sort of light - for any sort of light.

"I meant to steal a document from the king," I said under my breath. "One that said when I will be of age and when I can be queen."

"Documents don't belong in a bedroom!" exclaimed the man.

"They don't," I said. "Bessy the cook had heard the king telling a guard to steal it and burn it. I searched first in the hall of records so as to save it, but the page had been torn out. I looked everywhere, but I never did steal it. I never found it."

The rebels glanced at each other. I could tell they didn't trust me.

"Why are you so desperate to be queen?" asked the woman.

I was quiet for only a second or two. "Why else? To be rid of this dreadful poverty." My full reasons, my vengeance and dreams, seemed foolish right then.

"And are you still trying to steal the act," asked the man. "Seeing as you're still sneaking around?"

"No," I whispered. "Now I train, every night, in the forest. I... meant to overtake Collum myself." As the words escaped my lips, I realized how absurd they sounded. How could I possibly achieve such a goal?

"I see..." said the woman. She sat quietly for a minute before saying decidedly, "Well, you have good motives and ideas with potential. You also know things and people, and you can easily get on the inside, seeing as you're already there. You could serve us well." The woman paused, investigating me. "I can tell you're still keeping some things quiet, but I don't think they're so treacherous. Tomorrow night, meet us in the woods - you said you train there? - and we can talk."

I positively gaped at the rebel. Not only was I not having my throat slit right now, but they actually wanted me helping them! "Yes. I'll be there," I declared softly.

So that's where I was the next night as the moon was reaching its high point in the sky.