man that comes up with the best solution really will be the best one for Eltaria. And I don't mind at all keeping them here indefinitely....' She reached out her hand to the mirror and pressed it there. A moment later, Jimson's hand appeared on the other side of the glass. She smiled, a little wanly. 'In fact, just to be fair, I will announce that the solution cannot be 'marry me,' since that is not so much an answer as an obvious case of not thinking far enough into the future, and the solution must hold well past when Rosa and her consort are long dead. You are a genius.'
'Just desperate to stay your tears, my love,' Jimson said tenderly. 'Now, let us work together on the best way to phrase this announcement. We will want something that not even our worst enemies can take exception to. You can tell them all at afternoon Court tomorrow. Even the laziest will be awake by then.'
There was silence for a moment after the announcement, which seemed to take the Princess as much by surprise as everyone else, then the chatter began. 'Well, that's certainly an interesting and appropriate challenge,' said Leopold after a while. He sighed. 'I think I will go find the gaming tables.'
Siegfried blinked. 'Shouldn't we be thinking of — '
Leopold interrupted him. 'Siegfried, we should not be doing anything. It's obvious that this is the last trial. You go think of your way to answer the challenge, and I'll think of mine, and may the best man win.'
Siegfried was taken aback for a moment, but Leopold had not lost his slight smile. Whether or not he actually intended to compete at this, Siegfried couldn't tell. Maybe going to the gaming tables was his way of thinking about it. But he was right. Now it was every man for himself.
He nodded, and clapped Leopold on the shoulder. 'Don't forget your promise,' he said. 'When you win Rosamund, you help me find a woman who will break my Fate.'
Leopold laughed and punched Siegfried's bicep, swiftly reverting to his usual cheer. 'Siegfried, some of the women I've met down in the city would setthemselves on fire for enough money, provided they didn't get hurt doing it. So don't worry. One way or another, we'll break your Fate for you.'
Feeling a little more cheerful, Siegfried headed back into the Palace for Rosa's next training session. This one should be...interesting.
He met her at the door of one of the guest rooms, recently vacated by one of the candidates for her hand, which the servants would be cleaning thoroughly when he and she were done. All of the breakable ornaments and furniture had been removed and replaced with things that didn't matter, or were already broken.
'Are you ready?' he asked. She nodded and went inside. He gave her a moment to orient herself, and then flung open the door.
And had to duck immediately as a huge, and incredibly ugly, vase came flying at his head. From that point, it was sheer mayhem.
This was the test of what he had told her to practice over the last few days; to enter a room with an eye to what might become a weapon, and prepare to use everything that came to her hand.
That was exactly what she was doing. While he tried to catch her, anything that could be thrown at him, was, and with great accuracy. He wasn't going to trust this test to anyone else. Anyone else might get hurt; his reflexes were superb, possibly the best here, for he had certainly won the tournamentand the archery contest. He was having a hard time dodging what she threw, too. She was good.
Her eyes sparkled with mischief and excitement as she aimed directly for his head with small objects he had only a glimpse of while he was dodging them. Her cheeks were very pink, and she grinned like a mad thing as she raced around the room, grabbing and throwing. It sounded as if there was a fight going on in this room, and he hoped there was no one nearby, other than her guards, to hear it, or a full-scale rescue party might come crashing through the door in spite of her guards.
Meanwhile he chased her, and she ran. They made three circuits of the room, and each time she passed the door she touched it quickly, as the mark that she knew it was there and if this had not been a test, she would have been out of it. She did the same at the window. He had taught her how to jump out of one without getting hurt a few days ago.
When she ran out of things to throw, she began finding things to turn over in his path, or knock over and kick at him. She picked up a shard of the vase to use as a knife. She picked up pieces of things still big enough to throw and threw them at him. Finally, when they had sped around the room too many times for him to count, she was getting out of breath, and he called a halt to the proceedings.
She put a hand to her side, laughing. 'Oh the poor servants are going to hate me!' she gasped, and collapsed on an ancient sofa in the middle of the room, the only thing still standing. He plopped down beside her.
She was still laughing. 'You looked so funny! It was like a scene out of a farce!'
He chuckled. 'Leopold took me to a farce, so at least I know what you mean. Like the scene where the angry girl throws plates at the clown?'
'Exactly! Or her faithless lover.' She patted his head. 'Poor Siegfried! I hope you do not have too many lumps now!'
'Not too many.' He grinned sheepishly.
Rosa's side hurt — and the corners of her mouth hurt from smiling so much. She knew this was supposed to be a serious exercise, but how could she be serious when Siegfried looked so funny, dodging all the horrible little ornamental things that people had bequeathed on the monarchs of Eltaria for the last hundred years or so?
She didn't think he'd been hit — the man had the dodging ability of ten cats! — but she patted his head to make sure. That shaggy blond pelt was softer than it looked, much to her surprise. She didn't feel any lumps.
But suddenly, she was seized with an impulse to — to —
Her hand seemed to snake to the back of his head without any conscious thought on her part, to pull it forward. His eyes went startled.
Then her lips met his.
