Page 61 of Songs and Spun Gold
Drat. He hadn’t given her anything useful.
Blocking him out, she returned her focus to the wheel. Even with the curious enhancement of his magic that allowed her to spin more quickly, it was going to take the whole night to finish. Because she was going to finish, no matter what the stranger had planned for her afterward.
She desperately hoped she wouldn’t regret it.
~
Katy stumbled down the hall next to her guide, struggling to keep her eyes open. It felt like she had barely watched the last bit of straw turn to gold when the knock came at her door. After staying up for three nights in a row, she was starting to feel it. Not the best state when preparing to face the king, but he hadn’t given her the choice.
Thoughts of the stranger’s claims filled her head. Her only consolation was that she had never met the prince. Regardless of what the stranger said, she was certain that even in her rashest moment, she would never have agreed to any deal, let alone one relinquishing her ownchild, to marry someone she didn’t know. She had never been interested in rank. And if the stranger was lying, his “magical bargain” couldn’t force her to give up her child.
She wrapped her cousin’s cloak tighter as she trudged through the throne room doors. The exercise of walking there had warmed her up a little, but she was still cold.
King Steffan and Queen Carina were already on their thrones this time, making her wonder if it was later than she had realized. A bit of daylight streaming through the tall windows supported the notion. Behind and to one side of the king’s throne stood a short, rotund man with limp, brown hair that brushed his shoulders.
For one moment, Katy was terrified that the prince had deigned to appear at last. Not because he was unhandsome – although he was – but because his grey eyes felt menacing as he fixed them upon her. The only thing worse than marrying a stranger and turning her first child over to a madman would be discovering her husband-to-be was cruel. Despite the king’s behavior, she’d held onto a tiny hope that his son would prove to be a better man.
Then her weary brain caught up and noticed that the man was at least the same age as the king, if not older.
It didn’t prove anything regarding Prince Axel’s character, but at least this man wasn’t him.
“Well?” the king demanded. He sat tall on his throne with a stern expression. “Have you spun the straw into gold?”
“I have, Your Majesty,” she replied with a curtsy. It should have been deeper, but she swayed on her feet as it was.
The king directed a questioning look at her companion. The guard gave a sharp nod. “It is as she says, Your Majesty.”
“I hope you’re satisfied,” King Steffan growled in an undertone to the man behind his chair. The man rubbed his hands together and hunched his shoulders, but Katy thought the action smacked more of eagerness than nerves.
“It was unforeseen, certainly, Your Majesty,” the man replied in oily tones. “But is it undesirable to have a daughter-in-law who can spin gold?”
“She can’t continue,” the king snapped. “It would upset the economy of the entire continent.”
The other man crept forward a step, still rubbing his hands. “But that does not change her value, certainly?”
Turning away from him, the king settled his chin on his right fist and glared at Katy. “Congratulations,” he ground out. “You succeeded.”
“Thank you.” She bowed her head and dipped in another curtsy. “May I speak?”
He rolled his left hand in a motion that she took to mean, “Go ahead.”
She cleared her throat and fought the urge to wring her hands, holding them still at her sides instead. “I am glad that gentleman brought up the gold I have spun for you. It must have enriched your treasury significantly; could it not be considered payment for my father’s debts?”
“What?” He straightened on his throne.
Hoping to come across as humble rather than ungrateful,she bobbed her head again. “As I have mentioned before, I do not wish to marry your son; I am…not worthy of such an honor. However, I did not spin so that my family could lose everything after all. Would you be willing to accept the gold for my father’s debts and let me go home?”
The king scowled at her. The queen, Katy noticed, sat up a little straighter, lips curving upward and eyes brightening. Perhaps she would have two allies. She might yet escape the stranger’s price.
“No,” he said at last, eyes flicking toward the man behind him. Katy felt her mouth turn down in a frown. “The arrangement was that you, Katrin of Flussendorf, would marry the prince if you spun the gold. I will not go back on it.”
“But I don’t want to!” she protested. Waving an arm at the dais, she added, “And clearly the prince doesn’t want to marry me, either, since hestillhasn’t seen fit to meet me.”
“On the contrary.”
Katy jumped when a smooth baritone spoke behind her, nearing as the speaker continued. How had she missed his footfalls in this resonant space? More importantly, she thought, corralling her lumbering mental pathways, his voice sounded familiar. But why wouldhebe—
“While I confess to being of the same mind as the young lady as recently as two minutes ago, now that I see her, I find that I cannot wish for anything other than our union. And I can only hope that she will feel the same now that I have remedied my error and presented myself before her at last.”
