Chapter 9
“Iwant my name to be Meena for Silverfest,” Meena chattered happily as she followed Ian through the dining hall.
“Your nameisMeena,” Ian responded to his little shadow.
“No, it’s Philomena. I don’t like Philomena. I want Mum and Father to give me a new name for Silverfest. Meena.”
Ian didn’t have the heart to tell his baby sister to stop following him. Both Onric and Aden had already kicked her out of their rooms, and the king and queen were meeting with visiting councilors from the neighboring kingdom of Chendas. Meena had multiple nursemaids, but Ian knew she worshipped all four of her older brothers. “Isn’t there something else you want for Silverfest?” he asked. “Maybe a wooden horse?”
“No. I probably won’t get anything fun.” Meena shrugged her shoulders in a way that seemed far too mature for a six-year-old.
“What do you mean, you won’t get anything fun? Of course you will. This is Silverfest! It’s the most special day of the year. Remember, Mum said it was special family time.”
“But Onric said this Silverfest is going to be as stinky as horse turds.” She wrinkled her nose. “That doesn’t sound fun.”
Ian made a mental note to beat Onric especially hard during their afternoon spar. “But don’t you remember last year? When you got the new doll?”
Meena shrugged again. “Onric was talking about this Silverfest, not last year. That was so long ago I can’t even remember it. And Onric is usually more right than Mum.”
“Well, Onric isn’t always right.”
Meena did not look convinced.
“It doesn’t really matter. I just want Father to declare that I am not Philomena, only Meena. He can do that, right, since he’s king?”
“That’s not exactly how it works... but I’ll call you Meena. I promise. I’ll never call you Philomena. Unless you do something especially bad.”
With a small growl, Ian reached down and tickled his little sister under her chin and armpits.
She squealed. “Stop! I wasn’t even being bad!”
Chapter 10
Tending the geese seemed to be an easy enough task. All Robin had to do was scatter some discarded grain for them twice daily and herd them to and from the pond behind the castle walls. It also provided a nice moment of privacy for her to run coal dust through her hair, hiding its fair color.
The pond was adjacent to a long stretch of meadow that slowly transformed into a forest at the base of a mountain range. That very mountain range continued north up through Iseldis, where it towered majestically over her own Lockwood forest.
She missed Lockwood.
Sitting on a large rock near the pond, Robin tucked her feet under her, cocooning herself in her thick new woolen cloak.
She was still quite frustrated with the way Lind had turned her away. More than frustrated, Robin was mildly alarmed. She had never officially approved Lind’s plan to dismiss her as a lady’s maid. Was she purposely making it difficult for Robin to be in contact with her?
Even if Lind had never been someone Robin had chosen to confide in, she had always been a lighthearted and honest companion. She had never seemed duplicitous or even envious. Robin thought back on what she knew of her lady’s maid.
Lind had been the daughter of one of the more prominent farmers on her father’s holding. The only thing that consistently annoyed Robin—other than the somewhat constant chatting—was that Lind frequently boasted about how she was so successful compared to her siblings who had remained on the farm. Robin’s father had always praised Lind’s family for managing to produce the best crops despite consistent frosts. In Robin’s opinion, Lind’s siblings were nothing to scoff at. Lind just liked to feel that she had done well for herself.
A series of loud honks came from the geese at the pond, and Robin stood up quickly.
Her task hadseemedsimple enough, but Lockwood had never had geese. Robin soon decided they had been better for it. Despite their large size, the waterfowl seemed to have very small minds. At the moment, the largest gander was nipping angrily at the smallest.
“Hey! Small-minded ruffian!” she yelled out at the gander, not sparing her righteous anger over his completely unnecessary bullying. “Stop that immediately, or I’ll have a long talk with the palace butcher about which one of you should be gracing the king’s table for Silverfest!”
She was aware that the Lockwood ducks had always had a vicious pecking order, and she hated it.
“Please don’t turn me into a meat pie!” a now-familiar male voice said from behind her.
Robin nearly rolled her eyes as she turned to face Prince Ian. “I wasn’t speaking to you, Your Highness. I was letting that old gander know exactly what’s in his future if he can’t learn to behave himself.”
