“I just looked. His Majesty isn’t at the party, and I can’t find Bernie or Mal, who were assigned to him.”
“He did say he was tired. Had a headache or something, I think. Mentioned he would be going to bed.”
“Were Mal and Bernie with him?”
“I … ah … I think so.”
Reuben’s father scowled and turned to Grisham, who nodded. Apparently his son’s account needed corroboration.
His father looked puzzled and stood thinking for a moment. As he did, Reuben noticed the stain on his right sleeve was blood. Not a lot, and it didn’t appear to have come from a wound; the sleeve wasn’t torn or damaged. Finally his father spoke. “The queen retired early, too, along with the princess.”
“There you have it,” Grisham said with a grin. “Wine and that silver dress has put the king in an amorous mood. So they put the kiddies to bed and left the party to the guests.”
Reuben’s father nodded. “So to your knowledge no one in the royal family has left the castle, right?”
“That’s right,” Reuben said, and Grisham nodded.
Reuben’s father looked up at the castle towers for a moment.
“Did anything happen while taking Rose home?” Reuben asked.
His father saw him staring at his sleeve. “No,” he said, and abruptly turned and walked back to the castle, where he disappeared inside.
“Your old da seems a bit stressed this evening. I wonder what thistle got jammed in his codpiece? You might want to keep that helmet on when you go to the barracks tonight, just in case he decides to bounce your head off that door again, eh?”
Guests began leaving. Those with young children went first, cradling sleeping bundles who raised their eyelids just long enough to give the world an insulted look. Grisham waved and a carriage would peel away from the line and roll in to pick them up. The woman would climb in and the husband would pass the child over before slipping in beside her. After the steward closed the door, the coach would circle the courtyard and ride back out, stopping just long enough for Reuben to wave them through. The process was repeated over and over, and Reuben was grateful to finally have something to do.
Later the celebrants came mostly in pairs, younger couples arm in arm and older ones barely acknowledging each other. Most talked loudly and often walked crooked even though they had walked straight going in. There was a lot more laughter and even a bit of singing. One very heavy woman broke into song on the castle steps and was joined by three men in doublets with their cloaks absently left over the crux of their arms. They refused to enter the carriage until they had completed the tune, and Reuben, who had developed a bone-deep chill, wondered how they could endure the frigid night in just their thin doublets and hose.
By the time the quartet exited the gate, the bulk of the guests were filing into the courtyard. The carriages knew the routine. They lined up at the bridge and rolled in, swallowing up their passengers and moving through with practiced efficiency, but the line could only move one at a time and a crowd of fur-lined nobles remained in the courtyard waiting for their carriages.
It was then that Reuben heard the first screams.
People did stupid things when they were drunk. They laughed louder than normal, shouted, and cried. Screams or squealing weren’t unthinkable, but this carried a note of panic. Reuben and Grisham glanced toward the cries, which was in the direction of the castle, but neither gave it much thought. Then a flood of remaining partygoers rushed out the main doors into the courtyard. More yelling and some shoving. An elderly man was pushed to the ground and took his wife with him. He shouted in complaint, but few noticed him; everyone’s eyes were trained on the castle. This was strange but not alarming. It wasn’t until the bell began ringing that Reuben knew something was wrong.
He looked across at Grisham and saw the same concern reflected back.
A moment later they heard someone say the word fire.
By then even the servants were filing out and several of the guards.
“What’s going on?” Grisham shouted as Vince made his way through those gathered in the courtyard to the castle gate.
“There’s a”-he was having a coughing fit-“a fire in the castle. All that straw-”
“Is everyone out?” Reuben asked. “Did the princess escape?” He looked around desperately, but it was impossible to find anyone in the swirling crowd.
Vince was shaking his head as he coughed again. “We can’t get up the stairs.”
Up the stairs…
The queen retired early, too, along with the princess.
The crowd below squealed as a loud crash sent flames out one high window.
“Who’s getting them out?” Reuben asked.
“No one,” Vince replied. “The chancellor ordered everyone to the courtyard. He’s organizing a bucket brigade. All that straw and hay-the place is an inferno.”
“Reuben!” he heard Grisham shout as he ran for the castle. “Damn it! You can’t leave your post!”
Reuben dodged the crowd and sprinted up the front steps. The open doors of the castle seethed a thick black smoke. He took a deep breath and ran in. The last few servants, holding sleeves and skirts to their faces, rushed past him on their way out. Everything was smoky, hard to see, but he saw no flames and felt no heat.
Reuben found the stairs and started up when he met his father coming down.
“Reuben! What are you doing? Why are you off your post? I told you to stay out of the castle.”
“The fire … they said the royal family was trapped and I-”
“Your duty is to stand at the front gate! You’re a soldier now, not a child. You’ll be whipped for desertion-likely discharged. You could even be executed. And don’t expect me to help you. You’re a man now. You’ll accept responsibility for your actions. Now get out of here.”
“But the princess…”
“The princess! You left your post for-” He paused, too furious to finish. “You get back to the front gate right now, boy! That’s an order!”
“But what’s being done to-”
“Nothing. No one can get up there. The royal family is going to die.”
Die?
Reuben couldn’t believe it. He stood dazed, as if his father had hit him again, only this hurt worse and frightened him more.
“No,” Reuben muttered at first. He looked up the steps. He saw no fire, not even much smoke. Something snapped. “No!” he shouted, and tried to get past his father.
Richard shoved him back. “I gave you an order!”
Reuben charged the steps again, only this time he ducked when his father tried to stop him and he ran by.
“Don’t go up there!”
Reuben cleared the steps three at a time. Just as with the squires, years of running errands while Richard Hilfred had stood behind chairs gave him the advantage. When he reached the door to the royal residence, his father was several steps below. He yanked on the big iron rings, but it didn’t open … resistance. It took a moment before noticing the chain.
Why would the doors be chained shut … from the outside?
Reuben was still trying to process that when his father caught up and shoved him across the corridor. “You stupid fool! You just couldn’t listen to your father, could you. I had you posted to the gate to keep you out of this, but you’re as bent on killing yourself as your mother was. That’s fine. I’m done with you. I did my job. You’re a man now-not my responsibility anymore.”
“You … you did this?” Reuben looked back and forth between the door and his father. “You chained the doors. You sealed them in!” His eyes went wide as the realization dawned. “You set the fire! But it’s your job to protect them … Why in Maribor’s name would you do this?”
“I told you not to get attached to them. They’re evil. You can sacrifice your life to protect them, but if you ask one small favor in return, they can’t be bothered. I threw myself in front of swords for him. All the king needed to do was tell the chamberlain that your mother could stay on as a maid. Or he could have let me marry her and we could have lived nearby in any abandoned shack in the city. But no-Amrath couldn’t make exceptions. If he did it for me, he’d have to do it for others. So I had to face your mother and tell her … tell her I had failed. The king killed her, but I had to face her.”