Princess Almeda
Copyright © 2003
Cinna Schmidt and Andrea Herr

Cover design by Cinna Schmidt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise - without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either ficticious or are used ficticiously.

Published by Secret of Hogwarts Publishing Company

Index of People and Places
Chapter One

     "What?!" I stared at my father in shock. "You cannot be serious."
     "Hush, Almeda. I have already sent word to Duke Morathi that you would come. Come now, child, you would not disappoint him?" I did not respond, so he continued, "He expects your arrival at the next moon."
     "I won't go."
     My father's eyes narrowed. "You will. What else am I to do with you?" He rose abruptly from his chair. "Don't you think I have thought through every possibility, every opportunity, to keep you near me? Nothing would work! I cannot take care of you. Problems are arising in the south with Lederia, and besides, a man is no fit mentor for a young princess. If your mother was here..." He sighed and ran a hand through his dark ruffled hair. "I just want what's best for you."
     I looked down at my shoes. I knew it was disrespectful to defy my father, but I could not help it. I despised this Duke Morathi, although I hadn't met him as yet. I had heard terrible tales of his doings, but my father insisted that they were all lies. I wasn't so certain. I sighed and continued to avoid eye contact with my father. "As you wish, Father. I shall go to Maurig."
     My father smiled at me. "I knew you would understand, Almeda. I shall call Leana, and she will help you prepare for your journey." I nodded, and turned to leave the throne room. I couldn't believe how everything was changing. My mother, Queen Adena, had died of the fever two weeks ago. I was devastated. I had loved my mother, although we hadn't known each other very well. The queen was always off doing the diplomatic duties required of her, while I spent most of my time in the castle gardens or in the lesson rooms with my nurse, Leana.
     The gardens. I would miss them so, when I left. They were my refuge, where I went to escape from every day life. "Sit up straight, Almeda." "Don't bounce when you walk, Almeda." "Almeda, do try to act like a lady." Oh, the endless reprimands! The endless pleas to act like a princess. I didn't want to act like a princess! Couldn't they see that? And yet, I was afraid to stand up to them. I, the princess of the realm, was frightened of mere servants. I often tried to get myself to stand up for myself; they would probably listen to me, if I found the courage. But I was frightened of what my mother, when she was alive, and what my father would say.
     "Almeda?"
     I turned and found myself facing Leana, my nurse and governess. Her dress and hair were neat and prim, as usual: her hair was pinned up tightly into a bun, her dress had every fold starched stiffly into place. "I suppose my father has spoken to you already?"
     Leana shook her head. "I'm on my way to see him; he sent for me. What is happening?"
     I felt tears welling up in my eyes and I ran to her side. "Oh, Leana! He wants to send me away, to Maurig, to stay with Duke Morathi! Why? Please don't make me go!"
     Leana's eyes widened and she fanned herself with her handkerchief. "But, child, I can't argue with the king. If your father wants to send you away, I'm afraid it will happen."
     "You will come with me, won't you?" I asked her, suddenly dreading the thought of going to such a strange place without a friendly face. The presence of a servant, especially one I was fond of, would be a relief.
     "Well, I expect I will," Leana replied. "I'll speak with your father. He's probably waiting for me. Go up to your lesson room, Almeda. I'll be up in a moment."
     I nodded and, lifting my skirts a bit, ran up the steps to the upper corridor.
     "No running!" I heard Leana call after me, and slowed to a walk as I reached the tiny room where I spent a good part of the day sewing and learning to be a lady. I already couldn't wait until I was allowed to be in the gardens, alone with my plants and my solitude.

     The castle, my home as long as I could remember, grew smaller and smaller and finally disappeared into the distance. I stared back through the window of the coach long after it was no longer visible.
     "Almeda."
     I started at the voice of Leana, who was sitting across from me. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
     "We must start another lesson. Just because we are going to a new place, does not mean your lessons become nonexistent. And staring after the castle like it was a dear friend will not bring it back."
     I sighed. "I suppose so." I sneaked another glance out the window: all I saw was the barren plain, stretching into the distance, the road like a ribbon streaking through it. I turned my attention back to Leana. "What is today's lesson?"
     "Well, I was thinking of another lesson in the Old Tongue."
     I groaned. The language was beautiful, but exhaustingly complicated. However, it was necessary for any royal of the land to learn. Many of the citizens, the ones who camped out in the hills and never really made towns, didn't speak the new language of Talath, and a ruler who could not speak his subjects' tongue could not rule at all.
     Leana patted my hand. "Come now, let's try to get your mind off whatever's troubling you, shall we?"
     I gave Leana a small, sad smile. "I could try."
     Leana sighed. "Do cheer up, child. After all, it's not the end of the world. You may come to love Duke Morathi's castle and country." I raised my eyebrows, but remained silent, suddenly recalling a conversation I overheard in the kitchens the other afternoon between two of the cooks, Nemar and a lady whose name I did not know.
     "I heard King Barom is going to send Princess Almeda off to stay with Duke Morathi," the strange cook had said.
     Nemar shuddered. "Yes, awful man, the duke of Maurig. I used to work at his castle before coming here to serve. I don't pity the poor girl."
     "I heard the king thinks he can't properly raise the princess without Queen Adena to help him. Perhaps he thinks the Duchess Senirva will do better."
     "Ha!" Nemar spat. "Not her. As prickly as a thorn, that one. The princess would do good to keep out of her way."
     A noise behind me had startled me then, and I had turned guiltily to see Leana, who promptly told me I was late for tea.
     "Come now, Almeda."
     The voice of my nurse and friend pulled me back to the present.
     "Here," said Leana, handing me my grammar of the Old Tongue. "Let's begin."
     I soon became restless as we practiced the Old Tongue. My father had told me that Duke Morathi's castle was many miles away across the country, and that it would be a week long journey. After practicing simple conversations with Leana for about half an hour I leaned back and sighed. "Leana, it's such a bother!"
     "I've told you time and time again, Almeda. It's not that difficult to learn the Old Tongue if you pay attention. "
     I sighed again. "I know, but it's so... frustrating! How am I ever going to rule and fill my duties as well as my father does? And how my mother... did?"
     Leana reached across the coach to stroke my dark hair. "You will learn, sweet one. I promise you will learn everything you need to know."
     I smiled grimly. "That's partly what I'm afraid of. When do we stop for lunch?" I abruptly changed the subject.
     Leana raised her eyebrows, then laughed. "We will eat dinner in the coach, Almeda. Then at dusk we will stop to rest and eat supper. If we stop at every meal it would take much longer to get to Maurig."
     I rested my chin in the palm of my hand, sighing. This was going to be a long journey.

     "Almeda? Almeda, wake up!" the voice pushed its way into my dream as I slept, a week after I had left my home. I stirred, but I didn't want to wake up. It had been such a lovely dream, and the details were slipping through my mind like water through fingers.
     "Almeda!"
     I opened my eyes and found myself looking into Leana's brown eyes. I yawned. "What is the matter, Leana?" I asked sleepily.
     "Cover your mouth when you yawn, Almeda," Leana scolded. But almost instantly, though, her scowl vanished. "We're drawing near to our destination. Look out the window, you can see the Duke's castle." Leana waved her hand in the general direction that the castle was located.
     I lifted the hanging that obscured my view to peek out into the barren landscape. No country I had ever heard of was as desolate as Talath. Indeed, the word talath meant plain or flat land in the Old Tongue. The only place I had ever seen a tree was in the castle gardens, where the royal gardeners had planted them. I had read in books about lands covered in trees and forests, and the thought nearly overwhelmed me. I longed to see a forest. In Talath, they could almost have been regarded as legend.
     I had never traveled far from the castle, but I had heard that around the rivers that flowed through Talath, the trees grew in abundance. It was rather like a mini forest running along the banks of the river.
     I sighed. I would probably never see something so magnificent as hundreds of trees growing naturally. All I could see in any direction was miles of plain. I leaned out of the carriage window to gaze in the direction Leana had indicated. In the distance, and one could see far over the endless sea of grass, I caught a glimpse of a castle, toy-sized in the distance.
     Finally, our journey was nearly over! "Ooh, good. How much longer until we arrive?"
     "A few hours is all, I should say," Leana guessed.
     For the next few hours I could hardly sit still. Not, however, because I was anxious to meet the one about whom such awful stories were told, but more because I was stir-crazy from a week of sitting in a carriage, with nothing to do but study.
     When we finally pulled up near the entrance of the castle, a man dressed in a crisp uniform was waiting, presumably one of Morathi's manservants.
     He stepped forward to open the door of the coach, and offered his arm as I stepped down. "Thank you," I murmured politely as I remembered what I had been taught, not knowing why I wanted to make a good impression in this new place.
     "The duke is awaiting you in the north parlor," the manservant said when he had handed out Leana as well. "Your bags, princess, will be taken to a guest room overlooking our plain."
     Was there any room that didn't look over the plain? If a room had a window, there surely wasn't anything else for it to look over. But he was speaking again, and I directed my attention back to his speech.
     "Your lady-in-waiting's bag will be taken to a room in the servant's quarters. Please, follow me. Duke Morathi does not like to be kept waiting."
     Leana and I fell in step behind the manservant as he led us through the massive front doors. I clasped my sweaty hands behind my back, growing nervous about meeting my host. Would he be cruel to me? Would he simply ignore me? Of the two, I thought I would prefer neglect. There was always Leana to keep me company.
     "Here we are." The manservant bowed us into an elaborate parlor. The walls were draped with intricate wall-hangings; the over-stuffed couches and lounging chairs were covered with expensive cloth, and pillows were laid neatly on the cushions. This, however, was nothing to the man standing among them. The Duke of Maurig wore a robe encrusted with so many jewels I wondered that the man could move at all. More jewels were braided into his long hair and hung around his neck. Each finger boasted a gold ring, each embedded with a different precious stone. His slippers peeked out from under his long robe; they, too, were sprinkled with gems. The duke smiled at me, and my thoughts disappeared. It was a cold smile, one that said the duke thought himself superior to any who came before him, even the princess.
     "Princess Almeda, Your Highness, how kind of you to come," he said, bowing, his voice revealing none of the contempt I saw in his smile. "I am Morathi, Duke of Maurig. Welcome to my humble home."
     I fought against raising my eyebrows skeptically; I forced a smile and curtsied. "Thank you, but Almeda would be just fine. I was never one for formalities."
     Leana shot me a look, but the Duke just chuckled.
     "As you wish - Almeda." He turned to Leana. "And you must be Almeda's nurse, Leana. The king wrote and told me you would be coming along."
     Leana nodded and also curtsied. "I am honored to accompany Her Highness, sir." Leana always refused to call me by my given name when others were present, insisting it wasn't proper.
     "I hope you will greatly enjoy and benefit from your stay here. Ennyn!"
     A servant quickly stepped inside the door and curtsied. "Yes, Your Grace?"
     Duke Morathi's voice became cold and sharp as he turned to address the maidservant. "Escort Princess Almeda to her chambers and help her settle in. Then show Leana where her quarters are located."
     "Yes, Your Grace," she said again. "Princess, if you would follow me." The servant curtsied once more to the duke, and lead us out into the dizzying expanse of the castle.

     Duke Morathi was talking to another grand and well-dressed lord as we entered the grand hall for the dinner that evening. A fake smile was pasted on his face, and no doubt his words were masked with friendliness. The duke noticed us as soon as Leana and I walked into the expansive hall, excused himself, and walked over to us.
     "Princess Almeda! So glad you could join me for dinner!"
     I put on a smile equally fake as his and curtsied politely. "It's my honor, Your Grace."
     The duke took hold of my elbow and drew me toward the table, where a dark-haired young man was sitting. The seat next to him, the seat for his dinner partner, was empty. Most of the grandly-dressed people in the hall were still standing, conversing with their fellows nobles; his dinner partner was probably among them.
     But the duke was making introductions. The dark-haired young man had noticed our approach and stood up, a rather uncomfortable smile on his face. He obviously wasn't as talented at fake hospitality as the duke was.
     "My dear Devorah, this is the Princess Almeda."
     The dark-haired young man bowed politely; I frowned, trying to remember where I had heard that name before. Devorah... it sounded so familiar. I would think about it later; the duke hadn't finished yet.
     "Almeda, may I introduce you to your dinner partner, Prince Devorah of Lederia."
     My jaw dropped and I had a quick flash of memory; I quickly closed my mouth and curtsied. The prince of Lederia? Father had always told me that he was going to arrange a meeting between us, but the event had never happened. I had looked forward to making the acquaintance of the prince of our neighboring land; from what my father had told me, he was only a year older than I was. Did the duke assume that we already knew each other? Is that why we had been placed as dinner partners?
     I couldn't guess as I sank into the adjoining chair to the prince's; Duke Morathi smiled at us, then went off to greet new guests. Prince Devorah sat down in his chair, still looking slightly uncomfortable.
     "Looks like we're the only young people here." I looked up, startled, at his obvious attempt to break the ice. I glanced quickly around the enormous hall, and saw that his assessment was correct. I had to make some sort of intelligent reply, unless he think me simple.
     "I suppose that's why His Grace has placed us as dinner partners." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized they made sense. Of course. It would be uncomfortable for both involved to have a dinner partner significantly older or younger than oneself.
     "Perhaps," agreed the prince. "Princess Almeda, isn't it?"
     "Yes," I said quietly. I looked up from gazing at the intricately embroidered table cloth; my eyes had wandered down again. "But I'm not really one for formalities. I'd rather go by Almeda."
     Prince Devorah smiled, a real smile this time, the hint of discomfort gone. "Likewise. 'Your Highness' never allows for comfortable feelings. You can never get close to anyone when you remain formal."
     I nodded and smiled too. "So let's start over. I'm Almeda, with no titles whatsoever." I stuck out my hand for him to shake.
     He laughed and took it. "Devorah. Pleased to make your lowly acquaintance."
     I chuckled. "And pleased to make yours."
     The people around us were settling into their seats now. They were seating in couples, as we were. I scanned the faces for Leana, but I didn't see her.
     "Who are you looking for?" asked Devorah curiously. "I didn't know you knew the people here any more than I do."
     I turned my gaze back to my new acquaintance. "Just my governess, Leana. My father sent her with me, so I could continue with my lessons."
     "I see."
     "So you don't know anyone, either? Have you just arrived as well?"
     Devorah nodded. "In a manner of speaking. I arrived here a few days ago. I haven't really met anyone yet. This is the first really big dinner the duke has had. I mean, every meal is attended by high and mighty people, though not as many as tonight. I was introduced to all of them, but I don't claim to know them."
     "I know what you mean. Every time my father has a banquet I must met at least ten new people. I couldn't begin to remember them all."
     Devorah grinned. "And of course they always remember you."
     I grinned in reply. "That's a given."
     Our conversation was interrupted as servers emerged as if from the air to lay dishes in front of us and fill our cups with wine. I took a sip of wine and grimaced. It was overly sweet and would no doubt give me a horrid headache if I drank too much.
     Devorah was ignoring his wine, sawing into his meat with a knife instead. "I never did care for wine," he remarked. "It tastes awful and only makes you feel awful later as well."
     "Precisely." I picked up my knife and fork, examining the food on my plate. It was filled with delicacies not often served, even at the castle. Obviously Duke Morathi wished to impress - or intimidate - his guests.
     "So, what brings you here?" Devorah asked as he finished with his mouthful of food and began to cut another.
     "My father. My mother - died a few weeks ago. My father, King Barom, felt he couldn't take care of me. He thought that perhaps Duchess Senirva might do a better job."
     The prince shuddered. "Not her. She's as - "
     "Prickly as a thorn?" I said, grinning wryly and making Devorah laugh.
     "Exactly right. You're rather lucky that she's sick in bed at the moment. You'll have time to get your bearings to meet her. An advantage I didn't have, as she fell ill only this morning."
     "I should probably feel grateful. I just can't feel grateful about anything, in this place. It's so - uptight and rather overbearing. It's hard to feel anything but cowed."
     "Exactly like the duke himself. He lives to have people fear him."
     "Is it so obvious? Haven't you only known him for a few days?"
     Devorah shook his head. "The duke has been friend to my father for years. Duke Morathi came often to visit, but this is the first time I've ever been here."
     "Why are you here?"
     "As I said, my father and Duke Morathi are friends. And my father feels that traveling is good, because I meet the people I will one day rule, and the people of a neighboring land. Father always says it doesn't do not to know your neighbors."
     "I would have just as soon stayed at home. I miss it..." I turned away from him, embarrassed.
     "It's okay. It's only natural to be homesick."
     I met his eyes. "Do you ever get homesick? Maybe you get used to it, leaving so often..."
     "I get homesick. I only go on journeys once a year, and Lederia is my home. It will always be in my heart. I get homesick every time I leave."
     "This is the first time I've ever left the castle... Mother always insisted I was too young, and I never saw Father much. He was always busy dealing with the country."