Seeds of Discovery Page 12

  “Shall we?” Thomas asked from beside her, holding out his hand.

  “What, and fall flat on my face in these heels?”

  “You won’t fall. Not with me leading,” as he spoke, he took her arm and led her toward the dancing, giving her no choice but to follow.

  Quinn was still nervous, but Thomas was right; she wasn’t going to fall with him leading her. His arms were strong and sure; she only had to allow herself to follow him, and suddenly she was dancing! It wasn’t the elaborate sweeping and twirling that she saw the other couples around the floor doing, but it was certainly more than she’d thought possible. She actually found herself smiling. Thomas grinned in return.

  When the song ended, Linnea found her, “Having fun yet, Quinn?”

  “Surprisingly, yes.”

  A new song started, this one with a much faster tempo. Linnea grinned excitedly, “Come on, Quinn; time to learn how to dance Eirentheos-style!”

  William and Thomas followed as Linnea led Quinn to a spot near the center of the dance floor, and she soon found herself trying to follow them along in some kind of complicated group dance. It reminded Quinn of learning to square-dance in elementary school gym class as the four of them weaved around each other, and Quinn was passed back and forth between William and Thomas. She struggled to keep up with the siblings, but none of them seemed to mind; even William reached to steady her a couple of times, and to show her where to stand. By the end of the dance, all of them were flushed and laughing. Quinn was almost disappointed when the music changed to a mellower tune.

  Linnea was just reaching to take Thomas’ arm for the next dance when a man’s voice interrupted them.

  “Lady Linnea, how delightful it is to watch to you dancing out there. You put the rest of these poor girls to shame.” Quinn spun around to see that the words came from the man in the green cape - Tolliver, she thought they had said. “Would you grant me the honor of a dance with a lovely princess?”

  Quinn watched as Linnea shot an undecipherable look at Thomas before answering, “Of course, my lord,” and allowing Tolliver to lead her away.

  She was left standing there, in the middle of the dance floor, with Thomas and William. Noting Quinn’s sudden discomfort, Thomas ushered them quickly off to the side of the crowd.

  “Who was that?” she wondered.

  “Tolliver Bowden,” Thomas answered. “His father, Hector, is the prince regent of Philotheum.”

  “Is that supposed to mean something?”

  This time, it was William who smiled. “His father is the current ruler of a kingdom about two days’ travel from here.”

  “But he’s not the king?” Quinn was puzzled.

  “No. King Jonathan died many years ago, and the queen remarried. Tolliver is the firstborn son from Queen Sophia’s second marriage.”

  “So Tolliver will be the next king?”

  “He thinks he will,” Thomas jumped back in to the conversation, his eyebrows furrowed, and his expression dark. “It’s a little bit trickier than that, but he’s so certain it will happen that he’s wearing that heir’s crown.”

  “Huh?”

  “See, on his head? The small crown that’s just a ring?”

  Quinn nodded.

  “Those are worn by the next direct heir to the throne of a kingdom.”

  “Okay.”

  “Look over there,” Thomas said, pointing across the room.

  Quinn followed his gesture. On the other side of the room was a tall, young-looking man. It was hard to tell exactly what he looked like from this distance, but he was dressed in the same cape as Thomas and William, but instead of a beret, she could see a thin, silver circle atop his head.

  “That’s our oldest brother, Simon. He is the heir to our father’s throne, so he wears the heir’s crown of our kingdom.”

  “Oh,” Quinn was interested in what she was learning, and she could tell by William and Thomas’ carefully-worded answers that there was more going on here than they were telling her. Further talk was clearly going to have to wait until later, though, because the dance had ended, and Linnea was walking toward them, with Tolliver.

  “Evening, William, Thomas,” Tolliver greeted them. “Nice party.”

  “Good evening, Tolliver, thank you,” William’s response was formal.

  “No. Thank you, for allowing me the privilege of borrowing your enchanting sister.”

  “Certainly, Tolliver. Our family appreciates your traveling so far to celebrate with us.”

  “Of course. And who is your pretty, young ... companion?” Tolliver asked, his eyes on Quinn. He was smiling, but there was something in his expression that made Quinn uneasy. She felt Thomas bristle beside her.

  “This is Quinn, a dear family friend,” Thomas answered him.

  “Is she, indeed? Well, she’s looking charming on your arm tonight, Thomas. Dance with me again, Linnea?”

  Quinn watched as Tolliver escorted Linnea back to the dance floor, a renewed sense of exactly how far outside of her own world she was running through her.

  “Would you like a turn, William?” Thomas asked.

  “At?” William’s look was quizzical.

  “Dancing with Quinn, of course.”

  “Oh, ah … certainly. Quinn?”

  “Um, sure.” Quinn was flabbergasted by the difference in William’s behavior tonight. He had always been so distant, uninvolved in anything in Bristlecone. Last night, when she had first crossed the bridge and entered his world, he had been so... annoyed with her. This was something entirely new.

  Dancing with William was different than dancing with Thomas. He was just as good at leading; his arms directed her body in all the right ways, sure and strong. Unlike Thomas, though, he would stop, showing Quinn how to do a particular step, or where to put her hands. By the time the song ended, Quinn was beginning to understand some of the moves.

  The next song began, and Quinn’s eyes widened in familiarity. She looked up at William, and was surprised to see him grinning sheepishly at her.

  “This is a song Will brought back from your world when he was younger,” Thomas said, coming up behind them and taking Quinn’s hand as the crowd thinned into a circle.

  “Yeah, well, I liked the Hokey Pokey when I learned it at school,” William shrugged.

  Quinn laughed. “Me too,” she said … “When I was younger. Now my little brother and sister love it.”

  A moment later, they were joined by Linnea, with Emma and Alice in tow. Quinn noticed that Tolliver was not on the dance floor; she caught a glimpse of him far to the side of the room, accepting a glass of wine from one of the servants. For a moment, she was curious about this, but then she got lost in the music and laughter of dancing.

  12. Horseback Ride

  Quinn’s second day in Eirentheos had dawned hot and bright. It clearly wasn’t winter here the way it was in Bristlecone. Emma and Alice had awakened her this morning, standing by her bed and shushing each other while they giggled. It reminded her of Annie on weekend mornings at home.

  After Quinn had bathed and dressed, Linnea had come to drag her downstairs to join the family for breakfast. Linnea had been speaking the truth last night; not all meals in the castle were formal occasions. Breakfast was in a much smaller room, the table able to accommodate only about twenty people - on the small side for a family whose immediate members alone numbered fifteen, Quinn thought.

  She was becoming familiar with the members of the household, even the ones she hadn’t been formally introduced to. William’s oldest brother, Simon, and his sister Rebecca, who she had met last night, were not there at breakfast, but Linnea introduced Quinn to Maxwell, the second-born son. He was just as friendly as the rest of the family, though he seemed preoccupied about something.

  After Thomas and Linnea came two boys, Joshua and Daniel, both pre-teens. Quinn had trouble remembering which one was which.

  Then there was Emma and her twin brother, Alex, the two tiny girls, Alice and Sarah, and fina
lly, the new baby. Number thirteen. It was disconcerting to Quinn that the baby didn’t have a name yet – such a different tradition than in her own world.

  Breakfast was a chaotic affair, with people coming in and out of the room, and children who spent much more time running around, playing, and asking Quinn questions than they did eating. Quinn had enjoyed it thoroughly.

  After breakfast, she’d found herself spending time again with William, Linnea, and Thomas. It seemed that William and Thomas were an inseparable pair whenever William was at home. Linnea was enjoying having another girl around to “even things up,” she said.

  They took Quinn on a tour of parts of the castle and grounds that she hadn’t gotten to see yesterday. Quinn was excited when Thomas led her into the stables and introduced her to his horse, Storm, William’s mare, Skittles, and to Linnea’s white mare, Snow.

  Quinn had loved horses for as long as she could remember, and had started taking horseback riding lessons when she was six, though looking back she wasn’t quite sure how her mother could have afforded something like that before she’d married Jeff. For the past two summers, she had worked weekends at a local mountain resort, helping to lead tourists on horseback trail rides through the nearby national forest.

  Linnea watched with interest as Quinn approached Snow, stroking her flank and looking her in the eye. “Do you ride?”

  “Yes; I love horses,” she answered, chuckling as Snow pushed her nose against her hand, obviously looking for a treat.

  “Want to go for a ride?” Thomas asked, tossing her an apple he’d grabbed from somewhere so she could give it to Snow.

  “What? Really? … I would love to.” Quinn smiled.

  The next thing she knew, Quinn was riding on a beautiful, brown horse, appropriately named Chestnut. The three siblings led her first along a wide riding trail near the castle, but when they realized that she was, indeed, a skilled rider, they ventured further -- taking her into the nearby forest and down toward the river.

  Quinn relished the sunshine and the warm air of the summer day, grateful for this strange reprieve from the bitter mountain winter at home. It was beautiful here, in Eirentheos. When they reached the river, they all dismounted, letting the horses get a drink, and sitting down by the water to soak in the fresh air.

  “I’ve never heard a bird call like that before,” Quinn commented, listening to the unfamiliar sound that drifted through the trees.

  “We have many different kinds of birds here than you have in your world,” William told her, a strange smile on his face.

  “Really?”

  “Indeed.” William let out a long, low whistle and then paused, seemingly waiting for something.

  Suddenly, a large bird flew into their little group from somewhere across the river, so close to Quinn’s head that she could feel her hair move. The bird flew straight to William’s side, landing and tucking in its wings. Quinn was stunned.

  “Quinn, this is Aelwyn, my gray seeker,” William said, rubbing the bird’s head lightly with one finger.

  The bird was beautiful; the feathers on her head were a pure alabaster in color. The rest of her body was a shimmery gray, almost silver, all the way to the tips of her wings, where the feathers turned a smoky black. Obviously a raptor of some sort, Aelwyn’s talons were sharp and dangerous-looking. Quinn had never been this close to an animal like this before.

  “She’s amazing,” she breathed softly, afraid of startling the bird. “She’s a … pet?”

  “Sort of,” Thomas answered for his brother. “Seekers have long been bred as companion birds, though they live in the wild and fend for themselves as adults. Once they are trained, they are fully loyal only to one master, and they will never stray out of hearing range of their master’s call.”

  Quinn thought her eyes might pop out of her head.

  “More a friend than a pet,” William said.

  Thomas and Linnea both let out whistles of their own, and a moment later, they were joined at the river by two more seekers, Thomas’ bird Sirian, and Zylia, who was Linnea’s. Quinn watched; she was fascinated at the way the birds responded, to both their owners and each other.

  “We suspect Sirian and Aelwyn may have become a mating pair,” Thomas told her, as they watched the birds strut near each other, touching the crowns of their heads together. “We haven’t found any nesting sites yet, though.”

  After a few moments, the birds seemed to realize they weren’t needed for any specific purpose, and almost simultaneously disappeared into the trees again.

  “I suppose we should be heading back before too long. It seems unfair to leave Simon and Max to baby-sit Tolliver the whole day,” Thomas said, standing and brushing dirt and leaves from his pants.

  “I’m sure you’re right,” William replied, as he stood, “I have no idea what to do with him though; we can only take him on so many tours of the garden and stables.”

  “How about a game? We haven’t played crumple in a while, and with Uriah and Cabel arriving this morning we have enough for a proper four-on-four game.”

  “Well that would certainly be better than trying to make small talk with him. “

  “Yeah, I’d prefer tackling him into the dirt any day.” The retort came from Linnea and the group turned to look at her in mock horror before breaking out into laughter.

  “What exactly is ‘crumple’?” Quinn asked.

  William grinned. “It’s the great Eirenthean sport. Nothing like it in Bristlecone.”

  “Sweaty boys in shorts pounding each other into the ground.” Linnea smiled. “Plenty of fun to watch -- when you’re not related to all of them.”

  Quinn couldn’t quite suppress her giggle.

  13. Crumple

  After lunch, Linnea led Quinn through the grounds until they reached some kind of sports field. Lines of white paint marked the playing area. Stands of white, wooden bleachers lined either side of the field.

  “So... crumple is a pretty big deal here?” she asked Linnea, noting the formal setup.

  “Sometimes,” Linnea smiled. “We do play more than just crumple here.”

  “What is crumple, exactly?”

  “It’s pretty simple. I’ll explain as they play, but you’ll pick it up really fast.”

  Quinn studied the field. Set up at each end were what looked like two goals. One was about the size of a hockey goal; the other was smaller. The two sides were set up opposite each other, a small goal directly across from a large one.

  Thomas and William arrived then, climbing the bleachers to greet the girls. They were wearing white t-shirts and long, white athletic-type shorts. Quinn sucked in her breath at the sight of them; suddenly sure that watching the game was going to be as fun as Linnea had promised.

  “Let’s see some action,” Linnea teased.

  “As you wish, my lady,” Thomas grinned back.

  More players were starting to arrive on the field. Quinn recognized the two oldest Rose brothers, Simon and Maxwell, and Tolliver. Another was familiar; she had seen him talking to Tolliver last night, but couldn’t remember his name, although she was sure someone had said it. “Who are the two walking onto the field now?” she asked.

  Thomas turned and looked, “Cabel and Uriah. They’re cousins of ours, brothers. Looks like everyone’s here, actually.” As he spoke, Quinn could see Rebecca and her husband, Howard arriving. “Guess we should get started.”

  Quinn watched with interest as they spent a few minutes deciding teams, distributing red and blue arm bands. Thomas teamed with Simon, Cabel, and the one whose name she couldn’t remember on the red team. William was on the blue team with Maxwell, Tolliver, and Uriah. Howard volunteered to referee.

  “They try to keep it friendly,” Linnea explained, “and make the teams as even as possible.”

  After a few minutes of discussion on the field, Maxwell went to stand in front of the larger goal on one end of the field. Cabel did the same on the other end. “They’ll be the goal-keepers,” Linnea to
ld her.

  “What’re the smaller goals for?” Quinn wondered.

  “Putting the ball in the smaller goal is worth two points, because they are unguarded. Getting it in the larger goal scores ten.”

  The rest of the players lined up at the center line, facing each other. Howard stood off to one side, holding the ball. The ball was made of brown leather, and probably a little smaller than a soccer ball, Quinn thought. Howard blew a whistle and threw the ball into the middle of the players. There was a mad scramble, and then Quinn saw the ball in Thomas’ hands. He quickly threw it to Simon, who had run down the field.

  “Who’s the other one on Thomas’ team?” she asked.

  “Gavin. He’s another cousin of ours,” Linnea wrinkled her nose.

  “You don’t like him?” Quinn guessed.

  “We’ve had our issues.”

  Quinn watched as Simon attempted to throw the ball to Gavin, but William jumped in front of him and caught it, throwing it the other way down the field to Uriah.

  “So what are the rules?”

  “There aren’t many. You basically have to throw or kick the ball; you can’t run with it, except for the goal-keepers who can run five steps and throw it if they catch it. And you have to keep the ball inside the boundaries. If it goes out, it has to be thrown back in, and it’s fair game for either team.”

  At that moment, Tolliver threw the ball toward the smaller goal, but missed getting it in. “Thomas was in my way,” he complained, as he walked to retrieve it and throw it back in.

  Linnea rolled her eyes. “Being in the way is kind of the point,” she muttered.

  It was fun to watch, if tricky to keep up. The ball moved constantly between the two teams. Simon scored the first goal, an impressive toss right over Maxwell’s shoulder, scoring ten points for the red team. That was quickly followed by William and Uriah managing to keep the ball in their zone long enough to make three 2-point goals for the blue. They passed the ball to Tolliver next; he threw the ball with enormous force right at Cabel’s head, but Cabel still managed to make the save.