Horse Charmer by Angelia Almos Read Free Book Online Page B

pinned into her mother's dress. She was of the impression it would have been easier to start from scratch as her mother was about a foot and half taller and had much larger breasts.
    The breast area seemed to be what caused the most trouble for the seamstress, but with a sound of encouragement she announced she would be able to make the bodice fit Cassia nicely without the alterations being obvious. She pulled the dress off once again and Madame Celeste began working almost fanatically on it.
    Cassia decided that this was the perfect opportunity to escape for a bit. She was going stir crazy. First, she'd sat cooped up in the carriage, and now, she stood in this room for several hours without a single break.
    "I have some other things I need to do if you can spare me, Madame Celeste," Cassia said.
    Celeste glanced at her in alarm and jumped up. "Oh, of course, Your Highness, I have quite a bit of work to do before I'll need you again."
    Cassia shook her head at the dress Yaffa held up. "Something simpler."
    "This is it," Yaffa said quietly.
    Cassia sighed as Yaffa and Ula tied her into the yellow gown.
    "You go, Yaffa," Ula said. "I'll stay with Madame Celeste and see to anything she needs."
    "What?" Cassia stopped as she was about to dart out the door.
    Ula and Yaffa shared an uneasy look.
    "Queen Sarahann's orders," Ula said. "No one's to wander alone."
    Cassia frowned at them. The "no one" really referred to her. She shrugged. It wasn't like she was sneaking out. She just needed a break and wanted to explore a bit. Maybe talk to some people. Of course, who was she kidding? If the royal guards hadn't found out any information, it wasn't likely she'd be able to.
    The door silently opened at Cassia's tug. The Karahan guards had their backs to her.
    "It's got to be Julyan," Nolan said. "We haven't found any trace of Talent Westleigh."
    "I thought Westleigh was loyal," Maconahay said, "but people closer than him have killed kings. It would be easier for everyone concerned if Westleigh did it on his own."
    "What do you mean?" said Guard Sanford, barely eighteen and freshly added to the royal guard.
    "We need Julyan and his Talents," Maconahay said. "If he's behind this I can't imagine what would happen if Karah went to war with the Guild."
    "Who says we'd have to go to war with the Guild?" Nolan said. "Just take Julyan out."
    Maconahay laughed. "Like you could get close enough to him. Julyan didn't rise to power without a drop of royal blood because he's a nice man."
    "I still don't like it," Sanford said.
    Maconahay sighed. "She's got to marry him. There's no way around it."
    "We don't know that Vespera wasn't involved," Sanford said stubbornly.
    "Trust me," Maconahay said. "If there was any hint they were involved in assassinating our king, Princess Cassia would not be marrying a Vesperan prince."
    Nolan rolled his eyes and shifted so he was staring directly at Cassia. He snapped to attention. "Your Highness."
    Maconahay and Samson spun around to look at her, aghast.
    "Please continue," Cassia said, and she meant it. She wanted to know what they knew and not what her mother decided she should know.
    Maconahay looked sharply at both men. "What can we do for you, Princess?"
    She sighed. They wouldn't continue with her present. "I need a walk."
    "I'd be happy to escort you," Maconahay said.
    She raised an eyebrow in challenge. "No unescorted walks."
    "I'm afraid not, Your Highness," he answered.
    "The Vesperans are our allies." She pointed out to see what he would say.
    Maconahay shrugged. "Where would you like to go, Princess?"
    Cassia looked around the hallway and noticed for the first time there were only the three of them. "Where are the rest of the guards, Captain?"
    "Various duties. I sent the other three assigned here down to the kitchen to get something to eat."
    "That sounds like a plan, Captain," she said.
    Maconahay nodded and led the way down the hallway and through the maze until they'd reached the kitchen on the