A Fairy Tale for Big Girls – 30. chapter

Mark returned to his bedchamber a few hours later. Lili was sitting on the window ledge. When he entered, she gave him an indifferent glance.

“I want you to come with me,” he said and unfastened the anklet from the chain. He sounded and moved calmly, perhaps even resignedly. Without resistance, she rose slowly, and when Mark opened the door, she passed through it almost at once.

As they walked past the guest chamber, the guards stationed before the door could not be missed.

“Is Philip still here?” she asked, turning to Mark.

“Yes,” Mark nodded. “Martin is arranging the escort.”

Lili gave a slight nod and walked on.

“And afterward, you will be free to leave as well,” Mark added more quietly.

In a detached tone, as though the thought surprised her not at all, she asked,

“How do you know I will not go after him?”

“I don’t know. But you will be free to choose. Right now, you would leave only out of fear, and I will not allow that. Even though I know you are angry with me for it.”

He did not look anywhere near as confident as he usually did. He seemed resigned instead.

He stopped before a closed door that Lili had no idea where it led, and when he set his hand upon the handle, she spoke.

“I thought you would keep me here longer.”

He met her eyes.

“I have no right to do that, no matter how much I want to.”

She said nothing and studied his face closely. The sorrow there could not be missed, and he knew it, so he lowered his head.

“If you were anything less than a queen, I would force you to stay. Yes, I know how much that angers you and that it is pathetic of me, but I would do it. As it is, I cannot.”

He opened the door and stepped aside.

“Go,” he ordered.

She swept him with her gaze once more and entered the chamber.

An old man in rich clothing, with a kindly face, sat at the table. He lifted his head, and a smile spread across his face as he rose with care. Lili stopped only for a heartbeat before rushing forward with a joyful cry.

“Uncle!”

Mark watched as the tall old man, clearly once a broad, powerful man, staggered when the fair-haired girl threw her arms around his neck.

“Are you well? Are you hurt? Sit down, you must be tired,” Lili said, one concerned sentence tumbling after another.

“I am well, child,” came the soothing reply. “I am very glad to see you again. I feared I might not live to see this day.”

“Don’t say such things,” Lili chided him. 

Mark could not see her face, but he heard the frown in her voice. He smiled to himself and stepped closer as she helped her uncle sit.

“I will leave you for a while. I shall bring some food and drink.”

“Don’t trouble yourself, Your Majesty! You have already done more than enough!” the old man protested.

“I have not seen your niece eat in a few days, my lord,” Mark insisted.

Lili cast him a brief glance.

“I am not hungr…” She faltered, then looked at him longer. After a few seconds, she nodded slightly. “…I could eat something.”

Mark could not keep from smiling. He knew she agreed only to please him, and that could not help but get to him. He dipped his head in a hint of a bow and left.

He did not try very hard to hurry. When he returned, he set the tray full of food upon the table and silently began pouring the wine. He felt Lili watching him and stilled, meeting her gaze. He wanted so badly to find love there, gratitude, or at least forgiveness. Perhaps some of it was there. What he saw more clearly was uncertainty and hesitation.

He sat down without a word, and Lili asked,

“When did you send men for my uncle?”

“Right after breakfast, when Philip said he had him. Did you know it then?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “By then, yes. I did not know in the garden. He told me before the first supper that he had basically taken him prisoner.”

Mark recalled how incomprehensible her suddenly calm behavior at the meal had seemed to him, when only hours earlier she had challenged Philip with such confidence.

“And now?” Lili asked.

“My soldiers will escort Philip and all his men all the way to our shared border. After that, it will be safe for you to leave this castle. Though I would very much like you to stay.” He looked at her. Lili turned away at once, while her uncle studied Mark intently.

“I will, of course, provide an escort,” Mark continued, preferring to go on, “though you will need more attendants than soldiers. Both of my neighboring rulers have already pledged military support should Philip attack. The other two realms that border yours and complete the circle around Philip have not yet signed the agreement, but I am informed that they will. Together with your own army, he is fully encircled. Only a madman would begin a conflict under such conditions. Still, given that Philip is a madman, it would be a lightning war. Probably without losses.”

As he spoke, Lili watched him more and more closely, fascinated. After a moment of silence, she asked in disbelief,

“Was it truly that easy?”

Mark shook his head.

“I would not say that…” He stopped himself. He did not want to emphasize his own part in her safety. He cleared his throat and continued.

“In essence, it was. None of them is doing it for me personally, nor for you. Since Philip announced your marriage, they have all been uneasy. With his own army alone, he is dangerous because of his stupidity and malice. Had you added yours to his, he truly would have become the strongest ruler in the whole region. That would have been a problem for everyone.”

Lili did not answer, so Mark rose and refilled the wine. He glanced at the untouched food but forced himself to show nothing and sat again. He was all the more surprised when Lili took a piece of chicken. Though she did so as if absent-mindedly while speaking with her uncle, he knew this, too, was for him. He suppressed a smile and said,

“I will leave you. You surely have much to say to one another. Please don’t leave the castle without guards. We have not yet gathered all of Philip’s men in one place.”

He was already standing when the old man spoke.

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes?”

“It is impossible not to see how you look at Lili. Should I expect a request for her hand?”

The question took Mark so much by surprise that he opened his mouth and said nothing. He waited for Lili to retort, but she remained silent. She left him to it.

He drew a breath and let it out.

“There is nothing in this world I desire more. But at this moment, I don’t even have her consent.”

And I am not certain I ever will, he kept to himself.

Before any reply could come, he bowed and left.

Later, lying on his bed with his hands beneath his head, he stared at the ceiling and thought he hated it as much as the whole room when he was interrupted by a knock. Resigned to another round of Martin’s reproaches and good advice, he invited the visitor in.

When Lili opened the door, he sprang to his feet at once.