Bargain price

CHAPTER 2

T WO DAYS into their return trek through Outerwilderbeastia, King Nolan and his men urged their spirit-danes at a gallop along a narrow mountain ridge. Four-legged creatures with bodies that looked vaguely bulldoggish from the front and tapered to a thin, tail-less rear end, spirit-danes had flat faces with slow, blinking eyes, fist-sized nostrils, and a quizzical mouth. They were not the fastest means of getting around Wonderland, but they proved the most efficient mode of travel to and from Boarderland-being the only creatures capable of carrying a man, as well as gifts of wine and crystal, while making decent time over the irregular terrain of Outerwilderbeastia.

This had not been a journey King Nolan desired to make. He had done it for the good of the queendom. A last-minute negotiation with King Arch of Boarderland to establish an alliance between their two nations against Redd. It was of course Genevieve’s rightful place to conduct all negotiations, but she had thought it prudent to send her husband in her stead: Boarderland was a kingdom; King Arch didn’t believe in queendoms. The seat of power, he often proclaimed, was no place for a female.

King Arch greeted Nolan as if the mere sight of him brought on fatigue. “Why should I form an alliance?”

he asked after Nolan had just explained the reasons. “Redd doesn’t dare attack Boarderland.”

“Because we’re neighbors, Arch. If Redd does take control of Wonderland, she’s likely to grow more ambitious and look to Boarderland as her next target.”

“Oh, I think I can defend myself against any female, even without an alliance.” Arch snapped his fingers and a shapely courtesan emerged from behind a glittering curtain to massage his shoulders. “Besides, it

rather goes against my principles-partnering with a queendom. I don’t want the peculiar ways of your nation influencing Boarderland’s female population. The last thing I need is the seeds of some so-called greater purpose being planted in their feminine heads, as if they should ‘do more with their lives’ than is required for their marital administrations.”

“I’d be more concerned about the influence a Redd-controlled Wonderland would have on your entire population,” said King Nolan.

King Arch made a sound deep within his throat, a doubtful grunt. “Frankly, Nolan, I don’t have the highest regard for you, letting yourself be bossed around by your wife as you do.”

King Nolan did not feel-nor had he ever felt-bossed around by Genevieve. He loved his wife, in part, because of her strength, her estimable handling of the very responsibilities that Arch thought should fall only on a man’s shoulders. To Nolan, nothing could compare to the love of his kind, strong-willed queen.

“So,” Arch said, “you’d receive military support to help defend against your enemies and what would I get? What benefits would the people of Boarderland be able to expect as a result of this proposed nation-coupling?”

“I am prepared to offer you crystal-mining rights within our borders, twice-yearly payments of a million howlite gemstones, and the use of our military should the need for it ever arise.”

King Arch stood; the meeting was over. “I’ll consider it and send word of my decision in the next week or so.”

Eager to arrive back at Heart Palace in time for Alyss’ birthday, Nolan made a race of the journey with his men, riding at full speed without stopping for rest or food. They were still half a day’s ride away. The mountain ridge was far behind them now and they galloped across a dusty plain. At the crest of a hill, with Heart Palace visible on the horizon, Nolan reined in his spirit-dane. A gust of wind carried with it-or so he imagined, for he was quite a distance from the palace-the sounds of revelry, music, and laughter. His men came to a stop beside him.

“What is it, my lord?”

“She’ll never forgive me for missing the party.”

“I think the queen would forgive you anything, my lord.” “Not the queen. The princess.”

“Oh. With her you’ll have trouble.”

The men laughed. With Alyss, King Nolan would indeed have trouble, but it would be a pleasant sort of trouble. Even in her pouts, he thought his daughter a delightful creature.

“Hi-yah!” With a refreshed sense of urgency, the king prodded his spirit-dane onward, toward home and family.