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With a pointed glance at the prince the lead rider looks slightly nervous. “He didn’t give any one reason, my Queen, rather I feel his concern was borne by a number of things.”

“Well, as you can see, I and the Emissary are quite well,” I reply in a calm voice that belies the anger I feel towards the Grand Master. This is a new level of intrusion he has perpetrated upon me today.

The lead rider bows his head. “Yes, Majesty, I can see that. I apologise for any intrusion. Do you wish for myself and my men to accompany you and the Emissary back to the castle or would you like us to ride ahead?”

“You may leave now,” I instruct him, “the Emissary and I were just getting ready to return to the castle and shall follow you presently.”

He bows his head again. “As you wish, Majesty,” he replies before turning his horse around and commanding the rest of his men to follow him.

“Your Grand Master is either an overly caring sort of fellow or overly suspicious. Which is it?” the prince asks as he watches the soldiers ride away.

“My Grand Master is a greasy, conniving, controlling, underhanded thorn in my side ever since I became queen,” I reply.

“He’s had his suspicions from the day you arrived in Ardvalla and is most annoyed he isn’t privy to our discussions.

At the last Harvesting I suspected he tried to cheat the process on behalf of his nephew.

I have no doubt he still harbours some machinations to make the odious fellow my king and is most nervous regarding your continued presence here. ”

We mount our horses and he looks thoughtful. “Perhaps we should employ an increased measure of discretion when conducting our relationship,” he suggests.

“Perhaps we should,” I agree, as I reach for his hand and pull him towards me. I press my lips to his and caress his cheek with my hand. “Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can declare our betrothal and I can make you my King.”

He kisses me and smiles. “Hopefully.”

***

On my return to the castle I find Kes waiting for me in my chamber and she looks slightly tense.

“Kes, what’s the matter?” I ask.

“There's nothing really the matter, my Queen,” she replies, “only the other Ellerban soldier is conscious and has requested an audience with you.”

“With me?”

“Yes.”

“Has he said why?”

“No, only that he must speak with you as soon as possible.”

“All right, I suppose I can go and see him presently. However, I sense you're not entirely happy. So, tell me what's bothering you?”

She shakes her head. “It's not something I can put my finger on exactly, but something about this other Ellerban soldier bothers me.

He is greatly healed today, the extent of which I've never seen anything like before.

It's almost as if there's an unseen force at work, helping him to heal, and it unsettles me. Plus, when he awoke, he knew exactly where he was and requested to see you. I don’t know how he knew where he was or that you are the queen and when I look into his eyes, I feel he is looking into my soul.”

I'm surprised by her words and even more so her demeanour, as I've never seen her so rattled before.

“Is that such a bad thing?” I ask.

She pauses for a moment before replying. “There are worse things, I suppose, like not being seen at all. However, I feel he sees everything, even the things I might not wish him to see.”

Suddenly, I understand. Something in this Ellerban soldier has made her feel vulnerable and Kes doesn't do vulnerable. I place my hand on her arm. “The prince speaks very highly of him,” I assure her. “I'm certain you don't have anything to fear from him.”

She places her hand on mine and nods but remains silent, letting me know she doesn't wish to discuss the matter any further. So, I decide to push on with other business.

“I shall accompany you back to the Khaleeni camp and see what this soldier has to say. However, there are two matters we need to discuss and one of them needs to be addressed urgently.” I signal for her to join me beside the fire, where I pour us each a glass of wine.

“The first matter is the procurement of some pennyweed.”

Her eyes go wide and a broad smile breaks out over her face. “Am I to presume things are developing with the prince?” she asks.

I take a sip of my wine and return her smile. “Yes, you can presume things are developing with the prince and I have agreed to his condition to be the one to harvest him.”

She chuckles and raises her glass. “Well good for you and good for the prince. I take it you will be needing the pennyweed sooner rather than later?”

“Yes, as soon as possible. I have agreed to wait until his soldiers have sufficiently recovered before we wed so they may stand for him at the wedding. Considering they’re recovering faster than anyone could have anticipated, I envisage the wedding can take place sooner rather than later.”

She takes a sip of wine and nods. “I'll get on to it immediately. The sooner you are safely wed to the prince and the threat from Greythorne is neutralised, the better.”

“Agreed,” I reply, as I tip my glass against hers.

“And the other matter?” she asks.

“As you know, the Grand Master has had some suspicions about the presence of the prince since we returned from Ellerban, and today he sent riders after us when we were having some personal time together. I wish for a close eye to be kept upon him to see who he is consorting with. I suspect he still harbours a plan to make his nephew king. If he is plotting with others to this end, then I want to know about it.”

“Consider it done,” Kes declares in a low voice.

“In addition, I wish for Ailish to return to Ellerban to see what is happening there in the prince’s absence and to see if she can discover anything more about Prince Mikil.”

Kes finishes her wine. “Done. I’ll send her on the morrow.”

“Finally, we need a spy in Greythorne’s castle. I fear he has more allies than we know of.”

She smiles. “It’s already done, my Queen. I’ve been working on this ever since the Harvesting and seeing the alliances he had already forged.”

I smile broadly as I rise from my seat and place a grateful hand on her shoulder. “I thank the gods for the day I found you in that ditch, my friend. Now, come, let us see what this Ellerban soldier has to say.”

***

A single candle on a small wooden table beside his bed illuminates the room, and at first I’m not sure if he is awake and if I should proceed inside. However, mere moments after I have this thought, a deep voice sounds, “Please, Queen Elinor, come in.”

I walk over to the bed and as I do so his head slowly turns and I stop in my tracks at the sight of him. His cuts and bruises are almost healed, which in itself is enough of a shock, but that isn’t what stops me. No. It’s the sheer beauty of his face that causes me to pause and catch my breath.

His hair is the colour of the sunrise on a summer’s morning, a luminous white-gold, and his cheekbones are high and strong as if hewn from invisible granite.

His jaw is well defined with a small dimple at its centre and is accentuated by a pair of generous lips.

Above them sits a straight nose which leads to the most mesmerising feature of all – his eyes.

They’re ice blue in colour, but it’s as if they’re made up of tiny crystals where the colour refracts upon itself, giving the impression of two ice blue diamonds.

I can see now why Kes was so disturbed by him.

I too have the impression he is seeing into me rather than looking at me.

He attempts to raise himself up in the bed and I put out my hand to stay him. “Please, don’t move yourself on my account, I know how severe your injuries are.”

He stops moving but has raised himself up enough that his torso is visible above the sheets.

The lower part, where he sustained the worst wounds, is still bandaged but the upper part is bare.

His skin is a light honey colour and is stretched taut over the hard muscles of his chest and broad shoulders.

Angry looking welts score his flesh and, despite the salve Myreena has obviously put on them, I wince at the pain they must be causing him.

“Apologies for my state of undress, your Majesty,” he says in a quiet voice. “I would not normally present myself in such a manner…”

I shake my head and cut him off. “Please, do not concern yourself with such things. I would not wish you to dress on my account and cause yourself more pain.”

He gives a small smile. “It seems the kindness and compassion you are known for is real.”

I incline my head a little, slightly confused by his words. How does he know anything about me?

“Kes tells me you are aware of where you are and how you got here. Is that correct?”

“Yes, and I will forever be in your debt for what you have done for me and Barra, and your care of the prince also.”

I can’t help the slight rise of my eyebrows at his mention of the prince.

Barra wasn’t even sure if the prince was here, and the man before me is not only aware the prince is here but thanking me for the care I have taken of him.

This would not be so strange only for the fact he has been in a much greater state of unconsciousness than Barra.

“Forgive me, Queen Elinor, I speak ahead of myself. I requested to see you as soon as I was able because I need to tell you something.”

I’m incapable of hiding my surprise and confusion at his words and wonder if he has sustained damage to his mind. “You need to tell me something? I’m sorry, but what is it you need to tell me?”