2 The LADY-Lord and The Librarian

  Not long after Mistress Carmarthen began teaching Sara, Lady Lord Mashal always had a servant present. Sara didn’t always understand what adults were thinking, but she knew that the Lady Lord didn’t trust the librarian to teach Sara what she thought was important.

  Lady Lord Mashal assigned all of Sara’s others tutors whether it was for math, etiquette and most recently dance. Lady Lord Mashal was one of two lords on the Counsel of Nobles who were women. Sara remembered that her mother didn’t like her, but she had always been kind to Sara, even sneaking her treats when no one was watching.

  Lady Lord Mashal had told Sara she didn’t have to go to the lessons Mistress Carmarthen taught but Sara continued to go even though more of the books Mistress Carmarthen had her reading pointed out the flaws in some of the previous rulers of Rishona most of whom were Sara’s ancestors.

  Sara wondered if Mistress Carmarthen was trying to show her that her family wasn’t always good or if there was another reason. Sara was convinced of one thing; Mistress Carmarthen loved Rishona and its people. It was seen in the books Sara saw her reading and even in the ones which criticized some of the rulers. All of them focused on improving the country, never on destroying it.

  When Sara reached the library, she heard Lady Lord Mashal yelling at Mistress Carmarthen. Sara moved up close to the door and listened. She was surprised that the two women were discussing the subject she had been thinking about.

  “What are you doing having her read these books?” Lady Lord Mashal shrieked.

  “They are the history of Rishona, something that even you would do good to know.” Mistress Carmarthen said in a tone that though not loud would have caused most people including Sara to flinch.

  “These books undermine the nobility and have no place in the child’s education. This land belongs to us. I will not allow her to be corrupted by them. Books like these should be burned.” The lady lord continued to yell.

  “I have been authorized by the council to teach history and language as I see fit. Until I am removed, I will teach her the truth.”

  “That is only because that old fool Lord Odom sits on the council, but he won’t be there forever.”

  “Neither will you, Princess Sara will be queen someday and she will be her mother’s daughter not your puppet.” Mistress Carmarthen said plainly.

  “Sara’s becoming a strong queen and that’s because of me.”

  Sara heard someone pick up some books. Sara was sure it had to be Lady Lord Mashal because Mistress Carmarthen always picked up books with care and not with the banging sound Sara heard now. That is when Sara heard something that sent a chill down her back.

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  “You had better be taking those books to read, because Jeza, if one page in any of those books is damaged.” It was Mistress Carmarthen’s voice, but it could have been a dragon speaking to someone preparing to do evil. There was no spoken threat, only a name. There was no fear of nobility in the words, only a promise. Sara heard the books drop to the table; she understood that as strong as Lady Lord Mashal may have been she feared Mistress Carmarthen for some reason.

  A second later the door to the library opened and the Lady Lord stepped out. On seeing Sara she said, “Follow me, you won’t be having lessons with that librarian today.” And with that she stomped away. Sara understood that Lady Lord Mashal referred to Mistress Carmarthen as that librarian to say that being a librarian was a job for lesser people, but Sara heard their conversation, and it sounded to her that for some reason she feared “that librarian.”

  Sara waited for just a second and then turned to follow the angry woman. After hearing Lady Lord Mashal’s fearful retreat, she didn’t want to see the look on Mistress Carmarthen’s face, so she thought it would be safer to not visit the library today.

  Sara followed Lady Lord Mashal up the stairs and out to the parapets of Castle Degal. They walked to the edge where the Lady Lord waved her hand out across the land.

  “This land and everyone in it will all be yours, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, Princess.” Lady Lord Mashal said with conviction that Sara often heard when she spoke of the nobility and their rights.

  Sara looked out on the road coming toward the castle and saw a man on a cart pulling on the reigns. When the horse turned away from the road the man grabbed his whip and after a quick snap the horse moved back towards the road and added a little more speed.

  Lady Lord Mashal began speaking again and Sara turned and looked at her.

  “You are nobility, you know better than these people. You deserve anything you can take. You have to rule with a firm hand, or else others take it from you, but you are better than them. You are a princess and someday queen.”

  Sara had heard most of the lords speak like this. Sara often wondered who was correct, these lords or Mistress Carmarthen. Both claimed that her parents ruled the way they thought, but Sara couldn’t remember.

  Sara looked back across the road. The farmer on the cart reached back to use the whip again but this time the horse kicked back. The action of the horse caused the man to lose his whip and then while trying to grab the whip, lost the reigns. The man yelled but with a second kick the horse broke free of the cart and was away.

  Lady Lord Mashal was speaking again, so Sara turned back and looked at the lord. Lady Lord Mashal had turned and was now staring back inside the castle courtyard.

  Sara forgot the farmer and focused intently on Lady Lord Mashal. The words she spoke chilled her soul.

  “If you’re weak. You could lose everything. There are people who will take from you the second they see any weakness. Weakness could cost your life.”

  Sara had heard it hinted that it was her parents’ weakness was what took them from her. Her father, the king, had told her she recovered because she was strong. She wouldn’t be weak. Any doubt that Lady Lord Mashal or Lord Lazzaro could be wrong were erased. Lady Lord Mashal’s conviction that Sara had to be strong filled her heart and mind. She wouldn’t die like her parents; she would be strong. Like she had heard Lord Haman talk, she would be ruthless. She looked into the eyes of Lady Lord Mashal and saw a gleam in them.

  Lady Lord Mashal smiled, took a step back, and bowed slightly “Your Majesty, if I may depart? I am, of course, yours to command.”

  Sara smiled. The thought that she could command a woman like this had never entered her mind, but now she saw otherwise. I’m the princess, she thought, I’m going to be queen.

  When Sara noticed that Lady Lord Mashal hadn’t moved, she smiled and said, “Of course, you are dismissed.”