Her hazel eyes welled with frightened tears, and I was terrified that she was hurt.
Rough arms seized me, pulling me from the princess, and I was flung out of the way as the guards surrounded her. A circle of bright yellow and silver uniforms blocked my view, and King Leonel rushed to tend to his daughter.
Amaryllis knelt by my side, her quick hands feeling along my hip, searching for the wound.
“You’ll be fine. You just need a few stitches,” she concluded.
“How is the princess?” I asked. “What’s going to happen?”
Her face was pale; lips pinched together with worry as her terrified eyes flicked toward her husband. “I don’t know.”
Bravado, as the leader of the troupe was imprisoned, two guards stood on either side of him, holding his upper arms in place.
“Your parade endangered the princess,” the captain of the guards yelled into Bravado’s face. “You will be punished severely.”
“No!” a voice called out from within the circle of the guards. “It wasn’t their fault.” A princess with almost black hair pushed her way between the guards and moved to stand in front of Bravado, her hands held wide as she turned to address her father. “It was an accident. Grace slipped and fell. Nothing more.”
“Isn’t that right?” The oldest princess cast a pleading look toward Grace.
There was the barest flicker of accusation from Princess Grace toward a younger blonde sister with a knowing smirk. As if she didn’t truly believe it was an accident, and the young sister who played innocent knew it. Grace nodded her head. “It was an accident. Please, don’t punish them.” Her pure voice and angelic eyes were almost impossible to ignore as she pleaded with her father. King Leonel’s face crumpled beneath the magic of her innocence.
“You’re right. It was not as if they planned to endanger you.” King Leonel waved toward the guards, and they released Bravado.
I heard Amaryllis’s quick intake of breath as she tried to hold back her sobs of relief. The once merry moment was gone as the troupe stood in the courtyard surrounded by guards, unsure of their welcome and whether we would be allowed to continue with their show.
I hadn’t moved from my spot on the ground, my hand covering the wound on my hip.
King Leonel walked toward me, and I stared up at the most intimidating man I’d ever met. He had long black hair and piercing dark eyes; his stony expression made more daunting by his intricately styled and angled beard. He was dressed in cream-colored robes, with a red garnet stone on his crown.
“Are you well?” He glanced at my wound.
“Nothing serious. I’ll be fine,” I assured him and proved it by getting to my feet. My hip was sore, but I knew I would recover. The bleeding had already stopped, and I knew my body healed faster than normal.
“Good.” He turned to Bravado, ignoring me completely.
Bravado bowed, getting low to the ground, his face touching the stone. “I am sorry, Your Majesty. It was not our intention to put the princess in harm's way. Please accept our most gracious apologies.”
The king stared at Bravado’s prone back, and I feared he had changed his mind about punishing us.
“Up,” he commanded, and Bravado raised but still bowed. “You may have unintentionally put my daughter at risk, but at the same time, a member of your troupe saved her at the cost of her own safety. I thank you, and look forward to your shows. This time, I expect any dangerous acts to be performed without audience participation.”
Amaryllis had grabbed my elbow for support during the king’s speech with her husband, and I could feel her tremble. When he turned to head back inside, she went weak-kneed and I had to grab her to hold her up.
“It’s fine. He’s safe. We all are,” I said.
She was still shaking. “Thanks to you.” She grabbed my arms. “If it wasn’t for you, Bravado would’ve been killed. We might all have paid the consequence for the death of his daughter. But you saved her . . . and us.”
I didn't realize how deep-rooted the terror of the moment had been. As I looked down the line of performers, Amaryllis’s relief was mirrored on everyone’s faces.
We were given orders to continue on and set up within the palace grounds. Like worker ants scattering, everyone quickly jumped into the wagons. Within seconds, they were moving . . . except Madame Ogress. She sat on her wagon behind her eight oxen and with narrowed eyes, watched the youngest princess as she joined her sisters and headed back into the palace.
“Ogress, we need to move,” I said. She was blocking the path and stalling the wagons behind her.
Madam De La Cour shook her head and leaned down toward me. “That was no accident,” she whispered.
I gasped. “What do you mean?”
“She didn’t slip. She was pushed.”
“Why would someone try to kill the princess?”
“Why indeed?” She gripped the reins of her oxen. “That is the question, isn’t it?” Madam De La Cour suddenly stilled. Her eyes narrowed again, and I heard a slight growl from her throat. I followed her line of sight to the flurry of pastel dresses heading up the steps and into the palace hall where Princesses Grace and Lisbelle were speaking.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Let me,” I demanded of Amaryllis, who was attempting to thread a needle to stitch my wound. Her hands were still trembling as she struggled to find the eye. I sat on the back of a flatbed wagon while everyone else had started setting up the tents. In the main gardens, a giant tent was being constructed with all of the magical animals. Most of the acts would be inside the palace, but the rest of us would be confined outside the palace itself, unless we were performing.
She passed the needle, and I found the eye and measured out the thread. When I leaned back in an attempt to stitch myself, she spoke up.
“We should wait for Bravado.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“It’s not that bad. It has already stopped bleeding. I can do it,” I said. With a few quick motions, I had stitched the wound closed. I was thankful that it was just skin. No muscles were injured, so it would be quick to heal. I was more bruised than anything.
Bravado raced to us while clutching a round tin. “Here is the numbing ointment.”
“We’re done,” Amaryllis said.
Bravado looked confused. “You didn’t wait for the salve?”
Amaryllis shrugged. “Honor was impatient.”
If I had known there was a numbing agent, I would’ve waited. Instead, I played it off. “It was only a few stitches.”
“Still, I don’t think you should perform tonight.” Bravado placed the tin on the wagon bed.
“I can bandage the wound. It won’t tear.” I slid off the back of the wagon and raised my arm to show full motion and how secure the stitches were.
“No, there will be plenty of performances over the next week. But tonight, you will rest here and get better. That’s an order.” He rested his arms on the side of the wagon bed.
“But that means I can’t get into the palace or snoop around.”
“Exactly,” Bravado said. “Everyone knows you’re the one who saved the princess. If you show up, all eyes will be watching you. You have made yourself a hero. There will be no sneaking around for you. Let the gossip die down.”