Maude said, “We have confidence in you, Prin. You will be an excellent queen because you try to help people. With your skills, Wren will be better with you there. But it is time for you to make your own choices and not rely on us.”
“Thank you all for your help,” Prin managed.
“Oh, we’re not done, yet. Not even close,” Sara said. “We still have much to prepare.”
“But I have to leave quickly.”
Sara took her by her shoulders and said, “You are special. You have both the skills of a mage and a sorceress. What that will mean in the future, none of us knows, but to have those skills and also to be a queen? I cannot imagine the future you hold.”
Maude raised her tea cup, a signal she wished to speak again. “We’ve all discussed this day’s arrival. And all but one of us has spoken.”
Everyone turned to Brice.
He blushed, then drew his shoulders back and stood straighter while looking at Prin, “I’m going with you.”
Prin said, “You don’t have to do that. It’s going to be dangerous, and I’m not asking you.”
“Do you believe I wish to be a sailor for my life’s work? Or, a better question would be to ask, what would have happened if you had not found me at the waterfront that day? Sara would have rightly passed by, but not you. Nothing against Sara, she was doing what was in your best interest, but you took a risk and rescued me.”
“You’re welcome. Go have a good life, Brice,” Prin said. “You don’t have to be a sailor. You were just doing that to be a messenger and carry the news to me. Now you can be whatever you wish.”
Instead of turning away, his eyes flicked to the combat master, who nodded slightly. It was evident they had spoken in private. Brice fell to his knee and looked up at Prin. “As the Rightful Heir to the Kingdom of Wren, you have the power to choose your own knight.”
The combat master pulled his sword, and with a blur of twirling movement, held it horizontally across his two open palms. “I would be honored if you use mine.”
“I-I’m not a Queen.”
Maude said, “You are the Rightful Heir. Do you think we didn’t see this coming? We researched the laws, and we spoke to Brice more than two years ago. It is the law of Wren, and you do have the power. But it is your choice.”
Prin looked from one to the other in fear, confusion, and awe. They waited. She gingerly reached for the sword—and paused. She said, “I don’t know how.”
Maude said, “Nonsense. A Queen chooses her words, but I have read that she usually dubs thee, while touching each shoulder of the intended knight with the side of the bare blade and then proclaims his new title and proper name.”
“Dubs thee?” Prin asked.
“As in, I bestow on you. She then refers to him as Sir. The ceremony is that simple, and binding.” Maude’s eyes went to the sword, still held extended for Prin to use.
Prin carefully accepted the sword, pointed the tip at the ceiling and then slowly brought it down to Brice’s left shoulder. Her voice sounded choked and weak. “I dub thee, Sir Brice, Knight of the Realm of Wren, and my personal protector.” She tapped each shoulder.
Brice remained on his knees. “I vow to protect you until my last day.”
“You may stand, Sir Brice.” Prin wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug that threatened to snap ribs.
Maude smiled and emitted a shower of blue sparkles from the tips of her fingers as she tossed them high into the air. The sparkles settled gently over the room with a tinkling of joyous music, giving the room a pleasing sound and a festive appearance.
She poured tea for all. “Prin, you performed the ceremony with grace and pomp, in a manner any royalty would envy. I believe you were born to rule.”
“We’ll see,” Prin muttered too softly for any to hear. Brice read her lips.
CHAPTER THREE
Maude hugged Prin and Brice after the ceremony, laughing and telling them their choice of words were better than those in any of the books she’d studied. Her mood matched the tinkling of the sparkles still decorating the air.
Prin said while realizing her words were tumbling over each other, “What if I die and no one ever finds out I knighted you? I didn’t even know if a princess is allowed to knight someone—but if I can, you’re mine.”
Brice said, “The five of us know. When we arrive in Wren, you can make an official announcement to the kingdom, and perhaps even King Willard will re-knight me if he is alive. I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, I’m your knight as long as I live.”
Prin turned to Maude, “What plans do you have for me before I leave? Any special spells you’ve concocted?”
“Plans and more plans. Sara will accompany you on the voyage because there is still so much for you to learn, but she will come back by return ship. This will allow you to depart as soon as you determine a destination and book passage on a fast ship. I suggest you do both of those things before the end of this day. Brice might take care of that chore for you while you’re otherwise occupied.”
Again, the abrupt timing was a surprise to Prin, but she also understood the increased danger delaying her return put on the life of King Willard. Each day put more pressure on her enemies to kill him, and Prin remembered he was around eighty when she had fled the kingdom five years earlier.
Time had suddenly become critical—which seemed a contradiction to her casual way of life for the last five years. Prin now felt the constraint of time as if giant strong fingers with long claws wrapped around her chest and squeezed. Maude must have planned for this day a long time ago because nobody could account for all she had done today without preparation. That was just like her.
Prin turned to the combat instructor. “Did you mention you know something of Wren?”
“I know what’s important for you to know. Fetch me parchment, ink, and a quill with a sharp nib.”
A few moments later, he sketched a sweeping curve along the left side of the paper. “Pay close attention. This is better than any map because it will only contain what you need to know. The first line is the far shore of the Blue Ocean, and here is the port of Indore, where you departed for Gallium.” He drew several parallel squiggles and said, “These are the mountains and the mountain pass you crossed, and the Kingdom of Wren lies beyond.”
He dipped the pen and drew several more times without speaking, but across the mountains in what Prin assumed was Wren, he also printed the names of Ezra, Tagore, and Barotseland, all cities Prin had heard of. Next, he placed a meandering line down to the sea. All three cities lay along that line, with Indore near the end where it joined the ocean.
“The River Indo eventually flows into the city of Indore, but with a new name there, as I recall. However, people in Wren still call it Indo. There are numerous other small towns and villages along the river and more away from the river, but these are the central features of Wren. On the other side of the valley, which is shaped like a long, crooked finger, is a parallel mountain range with no way across, and beyond them is the kingdom of Peermont.”
Prin pointed and said, “Which city holds the King’s Palace?”
“None.” He used the quill to follow the river past the three large cities and to the edge of the mountains he’d drawn. He made a dot. Then, he seemed to hesitate as if reluctant to indicate her destination, and then wrote ‘Palace Wren’ beside it, and beyond it, he made another dot and labeled it the Earl’s Castle.