Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 119

Chapter 119: Tea parties are fun
Trace frowned as he escorted the princess away from her chambers. Anaisa was still inside. Alone. Unprotected.

Not that anyone should have any sort of reason to harm her. Oakdown was already blackmailing and controlling him. There was no one else Trace knew of evil enough to harm women to get something from him. Surely there could only be so much plotting in the palace at a time. Right?

Sapphira reached the tea room and straightened her posture, and glanced over her shoulder at Trace. He tried to give her a bolstering smile. It didn’t feel helpful at all. She turned away, morose.

That was just as well; she couldn’t depend on him for aid. If anything, he would find himself having to reinforce the plot instead of undermining it.

Maybe he should try to remove himself after all… but then, Oakdown would just find someone else to pull into his schemes.

That was the whole pickle of this situation, and he hated it. Why did it have to be so difficult?

As the princess regally entered the space, the men all stood. The queen was nowhere to be seen, and Trace stood off to one side with the guards. The king didn’t order him to leave now that he had delivered his charge, but instead focused on welcoming his daughter.

Oakdown smiled at Trace, but the farmer-turned-bodyguard tried not to react.

Denholm, as he had learned the younger man’s name was, looked him up and down with an assessing stare.

“Your Highness,” He bowed over Sapphira’s hand, pressing his lips briefly to it, with a glance over to Trace.

The bodyguard almost laughed. If the upstart was checking for a jealous reaction for kissing the princess’s hand, he was going to be sorely disappointed. It seemed Denholm had no idea that this was a completely different woman than he’d held in his arms the night before.

Of course, she hadn’t spoken yet.

“Welcome,” She said with a polite smile and took her seat. The men followed suit, even the king deferring to her since the tea was in her honor.

“It is a delight to have the pleasure of seeing you again so soon after our first meeting,” Denholm began the conversation, “and you seem completely healed! Truly, I am most gratified by the knowledge that you are not suffering from that unfortunate fall.”

“Our doctor does excellent work,” Sapphira’s tone was not quite dismissive, but it wasn’t warm. Denholm frowned slightly.

Oakdown took over the conversation to save his son from the awkwardness.

“What a blessing for His Majesty,” He put in. “One day when you are a parent you will know what a burden it is on our hearts when we see our child injured or endangered.”

King Harold’s eyes tightened slightly, and he nodded. “Indeed, it is good to have adequate medical aid to assure Sapphira’s safety and well being.”

Trace suddenly wondered how the queen and baby were doing, but Oakdown spoke again, distracting him from his thoughts.

“It pained me to learn at the Advisory meaning that you had been poisoned, Your Highness,” He said to Sapphira, “I have not heard any news that the culprit was captured. That must alarm you, I imagine.”

“I am brave enough,” Sapphira took a sip of her tea, but Trace could tell she was not as calm as she pretended.

“Even so, I will personally feel so relieved when you are settled down in marriage. The future of the kingdom rests on many grandchildren for His Majesty, I’m sure.” Oakdown offered.

“Yet, it would be foolish to choose a mate in haste,” Sapphira put down her cup of tea and looked at her father with a mildly displeased expression.

“Of course we won’t rush such a decision,” King Harold put in, and Trace saw Oakdown pause slightly with a stilted smile. “In fact, I’ve decided to invite a different eligible bachelor of the kingdom to dinner each day for the next weeks so that Sapphira can get to know the nobles better, and perhaps we can make progress towards that goal.”

Trace tried not to react too strongly. This was wonderful news, if the king meant it! Oakdown’s plan might not succeed, and the princess might get to choose a good man to marry.

“An excellent plan, Your Majesty,” Oakdown complimented when Denholm’s face fell. “I wonder, with a different unknown entering the palace in such a setting each day, how will you secure the princess’s safety? With her being your only public heir at this time, there will be a lot of attention on who she will be with.”

“Her bodyguard will continue to make sure her life is secure.” The king waved the concern away. “You need not worry yourself. The poisoning incident happened when he was not with Her Highness, and I will not make the mistake of letting that happen again.”

Trace darted a look at the king. Did that mean he was never going to be allowed to leave the princess’s side until she was married off? It didn’t sound like a pleasant existence with no days off and no breaks. At least he would have nights with Anaisa in their dreams.

“Capital plan, Your Majesty,” Oakdown’s compliments were grating on Trace, and not just because the man had power over him. “Princess, I trust you will take care to fall in love with a man who will be good for the whole kingdom. The husband of a princess will need to support the king well and remove some of the burden from him. We on the Advisory do what we can, but of course, familial bonds are vital to the framework of our nation.”

“I will trust you not to try to pry into the details of a young woman’s heart,” Sapphira quirked an eyebrow. “But since you mentioned it, I intend to marry, under my father’s guidance, a man who will love me, not simply any wealth and title a marriage to me would provide him.”

Denholm choked on his tea, but Oakdown chuckled warmly at her boldness and applauded.

“Well said, Your Highness! Well said indeed.”