Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Author:Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780764207822
Publisher: Bethany House
Published: 2010-12-31T05:00:00+00:00

Though the Baron of Middlecrescent protested more vehemently than did his daughter, Lionheart was still Prince of Southlands. He was outfitted to ride before the day was out. The baron refused to give Lionheart his blessing, but at least he rode with wishes for good luck.

Middlecrescent and Daylily agreed to ride with Lionheart as far as the nearest bridge, where they both secretly believed the prince would be forced to stop. It was engulfed in a blaze of heat, though the bridge itself did not burn. Sometimes, the baron thought, young men who refuse to hear the advice of their elders simply need to find out for themselves the hard way. So be it.

Before mounting, Lionheart asked for Rose Red to be brought to him. The servant girl approached her prince, trembling, and went down on her knees before him as though to receive a benediction.

“Rosie,” he said, surprised, “why do you kneel? You’ve never been so formal before me!”

“My prince,” she said so softly that it was difficult to hear. “My good master, I must ask a boon of you.”

Lionheart smiled a little, though his heart was heavy. In Rose Red’s bowed figure he saw the comfort of familiarity. He found himself longing suddenly for the friendship that had once existed between them.

His voice was heavy when he spoke. “You have always been loyal to me, Rosie. More than a servant, as you well know. How can I refuse anything you ask?”

With her head still low, she said, “I ask only that you give me a cart and a goat to pull it. And I ask that you would command this good baron, your servant, to let me return to the Eldest’s House.”

Lionheart blinked, and the baron, standing near, after taking a moment to decipher what he thought he had heard, swore under his breath. “Rose Red,” Lionheart said, “you should not return to the House.”

“But if my master’s family is indeed still held inside, they must be told of your plan. They must have something to hope for, or they’ll . . . they’ll die.”

Lionheart thought of the dragon fumes to which he had nearly succumbed, the awful, heavy despair as he had watched the dearest-held dreams of his life slain before his eyes again and again. And he thought of his parents and Foxbrush and the others imprisoned with them, surrounded night and day by that poison. Could they have survived even this long?

He went down on one knee and took hold of Rose Red’s hands. She tried to pull back, but he held them even so. “Such a favor is too great,” he said, speaking in a whisper so that the others nearby might not hear. “I would never ask it of you. No one should be burdened with such a task.”

“But you ain’t askin’ me, Leo,” she said. Through the slit in her veil, her eyes sought his. He thought he glimpsed them shining, though it was difficult to see through the folds of fabric. “You ain’t askin’ me.

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