None of this impressed itself on Aedan, however, for he was worried to the point of panic over the young prince, who had been his responsibility. After being confronted by the archduke himself and informing him what happened, he had been dismissed with a rather ominous, “I shall deal with you later.” Then Lord Arwyn had personally taken Michael from his arms and carried him upstairs.
Had Aedan been a few years older and somewhat wiser in the ways of Imperial Court politics, he might have had second thoughts about turning Michael over to the man who stood to gain the most if anything should happen to him; but fortunately, Aedan’s father was on the scene, having been alerted by all the commotion, and did not leave Michael’s side even for one instant.
The fact that his father had not said a word to him made Aedan still more miserable, certain it was contempt that silenced him. However, that was not the
case at all. The lord high chamberlain knew perfectly well that Arwyn was within one twist of his powerful wrists from possibly becoming next in line to assume the throne, not that Lord Tieran suspected the archduke of treachery. He simply had a healthy respect for the foibles of humanity and so would make sure Lord Arwyn was not unduly tempted.
Under such circumstances, he could not spare any thought at all for his own son.
Fortunately for everyone, except perhaps Lord Arwyn, Michael’s injuries were no more severe than a mild concussion and nasty bruise on his forehead.
The physicians bled him just a bit and ordered bed rest for a couple of days. Meanwhile the archduke took out his frustrations first on young Viscount Corwin, whom he ordered confined to the dungeons, and then on Aedan, whom he would also have thrown into the dungeons save for the fact that he did not wish to antagonize the lord high chamberlain, who was closer to the old emperor than any other man. He was therefore forced to satisfy himself with mercilessly browbeating Aedan until he ran out of breath, then dispatching him to clean the stables.
It was there that Lady Ariel found him, several hours later, shoveling manure and cursing his existence.
“Aedan?”
He looked up and saw her standing there, looking nothing like the screaming, armored banshee who had knocked him senseless earlier that day. She had changed into a simple, dark green velvet gown that fell to her feet, which were shod with dainty black slippers. She was bareheaded, her long blonde pigtails hanging down on either side of her chest. She looked like a perfectly normal little girl rather than the roughhousing tomboy that she was.
Aedan grimaced as he scraped horse droppings off the dirt floor and shoveled them into a wooden wheelbarrow. “What is it, A-riel?”
“Aedan, I just. . .” She hesitated. “I just came to say I am sorry.”
He merely grunted and resumed his work. “Well, think nothing of it.”
“I know that it was all my fault,” she said in a small voice. “What Corwin did, I mean. If I hadn’t struck you down, perhaps you could have stopped it.”
“It was my own fault,” said Aedan. ‘It serves me right for allowing a mere slip of a girl to knock me down. I should have been paying more attention.
Frankly, I’d just as soon you didn’t mention it to anyone.”
“Well, I just thought that if I told your father what I did, he would know it was all my fault and wouldn’t blame you.”
Aedan froze, bent over his shovel. He glanced up at her with disbelief.
“You told him?”
She nodded. “I did not wish to see you get in trouble. I went to him and said it was I who was to blame, and I would take whatever punishment was meted out, and he should not fault you for something you could not possibly have prevented because you were lying senseless on the ground when it occurred.”
Aedan shut his eyes and groaned inwardly. “Wonderful,” he said.
Ariel did not quite catch his sarcasm. She smiled and said, “I thought you would be pleased. And
your father was very understanding. He said I was a brave girl for coming forward and telling him about it, and told me not to worry about being punished since no real harm was done. He also spoke with Lord Arwyn, and Corwin’s been released from the dungeons. So, you see?
Everything’s turned out all right.”
“Just great,” said Aedan with a sigh of resignation.
“I only hope you’re not too angry with me for knocking you down,” said Ariel.
“No, Ariel, I’m not angry.”
“I never meant to hurt you.”
“You didn’t hurt me, Ariel. I’m fine.”
“Because I would never wish to hurt you, Aedan.
I’m afraid I got a bit carried away. Sometimes, I just don’t know what gets into me.”
“Can we please forget about it, Ariel?”
“So then you’re not angry with me?”
“No, I’m not angry with you!” he shouted in frustration.
She flinched and took a step back. “You are angry.”
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m not angry, Ariel.
Honestly. I just don’t want to talk about it anymore, all right? I have a lot of work to do, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to get on with it.”
“I only wanted to say I was sorry.”
Aedan closed his eyes in silent suffering. He counted ten, then said,
“Very well. You’ve said it. It’s over and done with now. We shall speak no more of it. Agreed?”
She brightened. “Agreed. Well then, I shall leave you to your work.”
“Thank you.”
She turned and started to leave, then paused. “Oh, and your father said he wanted to see you as soon as you
