Betrothed

Chapter Sixteen: Meeting Horatio

The next morning, Audrianna felt rather foolish with herself for allowing Henry to beguile her the way he did. It dawned on her throughout the night that had the ghost of Horatio been a true story, more people would be talking about it. Moreover, neither the king, nor the prince seemed inclined to eat turnips—ever—and the king didn't see any value in them. If anybody had a reason to be afraid of a vengeful ghost, Audrianna reasoned, it would most likely be Henry.

Now, having eaten only two turnips the night before, the princess was ravenous. As breakfast was served, Audrianna dove into the food like she had just walked out of a desert after being lost for the past two weeks. She ate so aggressively that the king dared not interrupt her, lest she might turn on him and bite his hand.

"Feeling better, my dear?" the king asked little Audrianna as her rapid consumption began to taper off to a subtle nibbling.

"Yes, Papa," Audrianna answered. "I was rather hungry after last night's meal. It was difficult to last through the night having eaten only two turnips."

"Tell me again why you chose to eat turnips rather than the meal that was already prepared," the king inquired. Audrianna decided to lay everything out on the table, even if it meant looking foolish in front of the king.

"I'm afraid of the ghost of grandpa Horatio," the princess answered.

"Grandpa who?" the king responded. 

"Grr!" Audrianna grunted. "Henry told me there was a ghost haunting the castle, and that it was the departed spirit of his grandfather, king Horatio, who built this castle sixty years ago and was tragically killed by a falling stone which causes him to haunt the castle looking for the person responsible for his death." Audrianna took a deep breath and sighed. Malcolm sat back, taking in everything that the princess told him. A smile shot across his face, and he let out a chuckle.

"Well, now," the king answered. "Let me help clear up this tangled mess by saying you should have known better than to trust Henry to give you a straight answer." Audrianna turned up the corner of her mouth and rolled her eyes.

"My father's name was Albert, not Horatio. He was not a castle-builder as much as he was a womanizer."

"A what?" 

"Also, King Albert did not build this castle, it was given to him as a wedding gift from the Andjety king, Xandju, who wanted to create an alliance with Nadeau after the Andjety liberation war. And Albert was not killed by a falling stone, he was killed by a flung dagger."

"Who threw the dagger at poor grandfather Albert?"

"Poor grandmother Agnus, my mother, in a jealous rage," Malcolm explained.

"What?!" Audrianna asked surprised.

"Yep," Malcolm replied. "Caught him with a couple of chamber maids, doing extra chamber activities. I was already the king by then."

"So, who is Horatio?" Audrianna asked.

"Don't know," Malcolm admitted. "I don't have anyone in my family by that name. Best ask your husband." Audrianna shook her head in disbelief that she allowed herself to be taken in by such trickery and superstition.

As the princess and her Ladies began walking back to the room to change for sword practice, Henry came bounding down the grand staircase in the opposite direction. As he locked eyes on the princess, he realized by the look on Audrianna's face that she had figured out his elaborate scheme. He quickly turned around to bound back up the stairs to his room. As he turned, the princess called after him.

"Hold, there, young man!" the princess cried out.

"Young man?" Henry responded. "I am two and a half times your age, little girl."