“We’ll be back in the evening. If we’re late, Keir’s sticking around. He can feed you and Dinah,” said Alison.
“Keir isn’t coming?” asked Gwenla.
Alison explained to Gwenla what had happened with Charlotte as they made their way from the stables.
“It’s wonderful,” said Gwenla. “I have half a mind to say forget about the royals; our sweet Charlotte has come home!”
“Let’s give them a bit of time together,” said Alison. “They have a lot to make up for.”
“Of course you’re right,” said Gwenla. “But I can’t wait to see her again. She was so mischievous, so wild, so clever. I can’t believe she’s been right down the road all this time.”
The stables at Fossholm were entirely full, so Alison and Gwenla were forced to leave their horses at a new hitching post in the high street. It seemed the entire population of the Hill Country had come to greet the royal family, and most of the nobles had already arrived or were arriving. The streets were full of well-dressed elves and humans, many of them wearing red to honor the king.
Gwenla and Alison followed the crowd to the lawns of Weldan House. Some filtered in behind the barricades lining the drive, while others headed to the stands that had been erected on the hillside. Down by the river, a white tent had been raised for the court. Alison had not been invited to join them for this occasion, not that she would have in Keir’s absence anyway.
Gwenla spotted a group from Herot’s Hollow in the stands, and she and Alison went over to join them.
It was most of the town aside from Keir and Weyland: Lady Sibba, Duncan Corbett, Nigel Smalls, Strelka, Brytak, and even Alison’s fairy neighbor Aras and his adult children, Mezec and Lydiach.
“I met your friend Rinka yesterday,” said Lydiach. “Sorry, I mean the Lady Rinka of Paistos.”
The fairy was a tailor, and she explained that she had been brought in to make a dozen new dresses and outfits for Rinka within the week. “The tailor in Fossholm was overwhelmed with making an entire new wardrobe for the prince. Apparently, they lost all of their things in the pirate attack on the ferry.”
“Yes, I heard about that,” said Alison. She didn’t mention that Rinka’s trunk had already made its way to her cottage in case someone were to overhear her. “They were very fortunate to survive.”
Lydiach winked a tiny eye at Alison, who nodded her appreciation for her discretion.
A set of trumpets began to sound from somewhere in the distance.
The crowd hushed. There were voices shouting military orders from up the drive in Fossholm, the tinny sounds of a band playing from far away and the clearer sounds of drums reaching them long before they could see the procession that had begun.
The parade that followed was as elaborate as any Alison had seen in Arcas Dyrne. There were marching bands and military regiments, their officers riding behind on horseback; troupes of dancers and choirs of elves; dwarves arriving in horse-drawn carriages with geometric filigree; and, at the very end, a single motor carriage, the first that most in Wilderise had ever seen.
“It’s the duke,” someone in the crowd said. “Our Lord Ainsley arriving in style!”
Alison snorted. Trust the duke to arrive in the most expensive and impractical fashion he could manage. How would he even begin to maintain such a vehicle in this part of the world?
The procession looped along the drive and returned to march up the river as the crowd cheered.
“Lords and ladies, gentlemen and gentlewomen, people of the Hill Country and beyond. Rise for the arrival of your king,” yelled a man in a red uniform who stood between the stands and the tent.
No one had been seated, at least not in the stands with the commoners. The nobles began to file out of their tent as those from the procession joined them. Alison spotted Rinka with Idris at the very front of the crowd.
They were holding hands.
“Aww,” said Gwenla. “Aren’t they sweet together?”
“Shh,” said Alison. “We’re not supposed to know her.”
The trumpets flared again. Alison watched as Rinka pointed into the distance. Strelka and Brytak, both orcs themselves, pointed too. “There they are!” said Strelka.
The royal family had arrived.
Chapter Twenty-One
THE ROYAL ARRIVAL
Rinka
