Quest & Crown by Marie Seltenrych

Author:Marie Seltenrych
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Quest & Crown, A Queen shall be crowned, first must she be found., Garty the knight in broken armour, Knight is looking for a queen, but who is seeking him?
Publisher: Runaway Princesses Books Australia
Published: 2022-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

“YES, ALMOST, -” GARTY said.

He continues sketching the brown bird. Now flown away.

“Like a rum, old boy.”

Jazzon pushes Garty’s arm. His pencil drew a line across the page.

Garty pauses and sucks in a dark breath. Jazzon raises his brows; does not apologize.

“No, thank you Jazzon,” Garty said.

“I was about to go to my room...” he says, packing up.

Jazzon calls Sack to join him for a rum. The innkeeper was busy tending Jazzon’s horses. The lazy man.

The man stirred an uneasy spirit inside Garty’s soul. He was not afraid of Jazzon, but he was worried about Joanne.

At lunch, Garty did not see Joanne or her brother. Also, at the evening meal, they were absent.

He called to Madam Etty.

“Are the Weasley siblings joining me this evening?”

“They are tired after their long journey.”

Etty gives this trite reason.

“I see. Very well. I shall dine alone this evening.”

“Yes.”

Etty places a dish of vegetable on his table.

I hate turnips! Garty takes a sharp breath and begins his meal.

“Etty, I shall settle my account after dinner.”

She looks up.

“I shall pay forward as well, in case I must depart?”

“As you wish.”

She removes extra plates from the adjoining table and heads to her hot kitchen.

So, they should be here! His forehead creases.

Garty sits up late into the night, burning the oil lamps, checking out bits of paper with scraps of information he desired to collate. He looks through the sketches he made, and compared them to the picture of the queen. None seemed a match at this stage.

As he checked the file he had borrowed from the orphanage, he notes all the detail. He read the illegible entry using his magnifier. This file can give him some clue. A scrap of cloth is in the fold. He picks it up with a tool he had made. He examines its fibers, scarlet with some golden threads. It disintegrates easily. Made by gypsies. A clue to the truth. The princess exists.

Finding a jug of ale and a glass in the kitchen, Garty returns to his quarters, vowing to pay for this extra sustenance on the morrow.

Being careful, he places the tiny piece into a small envelope. He will clarify its details in the morning light.

Someone around here may recognize its origin?

Pleased with himself, he undresses and dons his night shirt and underpants, although it was not a chilly night. However, if he desired to go in haste, it would save him time, he reckons.

He is turning down the oil lamp when he gets a soft tap on his door. Garty grabs his pistol.

“Who’s there?” He asks as quietly as possible. If Brill has a problem, it will be the innkeeper. But, he reasons, it is late, after 11:00 PM. They have retired to their own quarters. They rise early.

Garty cracks the door open. Joanne. The knight whisks her inside. She wears a blue nightdress, carrying a bottle. Her hair tumbles over her bare neck and onto her shoulders. Garty is taken aback. He stares in shock.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Joanne says, sauntering into his domain.

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