Erak's Ransom Read Free

not,' she said glumly and he nodded, seeing that the lesson had been learned.

'Then I want you to stop these dangerous games of yours.' Again she went to protest but he rode on over her. 'If you must practise, let Geldon work out a proper plan for you. I'm sure he'd be willing to help and it might be harder to slip by him than a few sleepy sentries.'

Cassandra's face widened in a smile as she realised that far from confiscating her sling, her father had just given his permission for her to continue her weapons practice.

'Thanks, Dad,' she said, the eagerness obvious in her voice. 'I'll get started with him later today.'

But Duncan was already shaking his head.

'There's time for that later. Today I need your help planning a trip — an official trip. I want you to decide who should accompany us. And you'll probably need to have new clothes made as well — proper travelling outfits and formal gowns, not that tunic and tights you're wearing. You say you want to help, so here's your chance. You organise everything.'

She nodded, frowning slightly as she thought over the preparations she'd have to make, the details she'd have to arrange. An official royal trip took a lot of planning and involved a lot of people. She was in for a busy couple of weeks, she realised. But she was glad that his attention had been diverted from his order for her to hand over the sling.

'When are we going?' she asked. 'And where to?' She'd need to know how far they were travelling so she could organise their overnight stops along the way.

'In three weeks time,' the King told her. 'We've been invited to a wedding at Castle Redmont on the fourteenth of next month.'

'Redmont?' she repeated, her interest obviously piqued by the name. 'Who's getting married at Redmont?'

 
    Chapter 3

    Halt ran his fingers through his shaggy hair as he studied the list of names.

'Gorlog's beard!' he said, using a Skandian oath he had become quite fond of. 'How many people are here?'

Lady Pauline watched him serenely. 'Two hundred and three,' she said calmly.

He looked up from the list, appalled. 'Two hundred and three?' he repeated and she nodded. He shook his head and dropped the sheet of parchment on her desk.

'Well, we're going to have to pare it down,' he said.

Pauline frowned slightly in concentration as she considered his statement.'We could possibly get rid of the three,' she said. 'I'm not sure that I really need the Iberian ambassador and his two idiot daughters at my wedding.'

She took a quill and scored out the last three names on the list, then looked up at him and smiled brightly.

'There. All done. Wasn't that easy?'

Halt shook his head distractedly, taking the list again and scanning through it. 'But ... two hundred people? Do we really
need
two hundred people to get married?'

'They're not getting married, dear. We are,' she said, deliberately misunderstanding him. He scowled at her. Normally, Halt's scowl was a fearsome thing. But it held no terrors for Lady Pauline. She raised one eyebrow at him and he realised he might as well drop the scowl. He went back to the list, jabbing his forefinger at one section.

'I mean ... I suppose the King has to come,' he began.

'Of course he does. You are one of his oldest advisers,' she pointed out.

'And Evanlyn — well, Cassandra. She's a friend. But who are all these others? There must be fifteen in the royal party!'

'Seventeen,' Lady Pauline said. 'After all, the King can't travel without his retinue. He and Cassandra can't just hop on their horses and turn up one day saying, "We're here for the wedding. Where do we sit?" There's a certain amount of protocol involved.'

'Protocol!' Halt snorted derisively. 'What a load of rubbish!'

'Halt,' said the elegant diplomat, 'when you asked me to marry you, did you think we could just sneak off to a glade in the woods with a few close friends and get it done?'

Halt hesitated. 'Well, no ... of course not.'

As a matter of fact, that was exactly what