Plans and Dreams

Muld struggles with his growing love of Syndi.

12.

Plans and Dreams

 

Despite his late arrival, Muld enjoyed the banquet immensely.   With the rest of his guild present, he felt more at ease and he was secretly glad that Syndi sat with them rather than at the king’s table, where her parents, siblings, and Derych dined.

In the middle of the entertainment, a wizard rushed in holding a crystal ball, which he took to the king.    King Eleazar had contacted them and wished to speak to him, and this eventually led to Muld relating to Marksylvania’s king, via the scrying device, the events that had transpired.    Eleazar promised to contribute to the formation of an aerial navy that would find and destroy Hobnail’s pirates.

Muld was promised funding and material which removed a huge burden from his mind.

When the conversation with King Eleazar ended, the entertainment resumed, though Muld was mentally distracted with plans and ideas that he would have to write down so he would remember.

He was sketching an idea for an improvement on the design of a cannon on some parchment that he’d pulled from his ever-present bag of holding, when he heard the court musicians begin to play what sounded like dance music.

After several minutes finishing his sketch, Muld looked up from his distraction to see if Syndi had been approached to dance.   He was surprised to find her glancing at him.

Blushing, he tried to act as if he was just glancing around the table, but to his surprise, it was empty.

“They’re all dancing, Muld,” Syndi said as if understanding what he was thinking.

“All of them?   Even Mutt and Tadd?”

She laughed and pointed out on the dance floor.

A pretty Halfling girl who looked to be one of the royal maids (though he had not known of any of the little people working in the palace) was dancing with Tadd, who seemed quite comfortable on the floor.   Near them, another Halfling girl, also rather pretty, was - amazingly- dancing with Mutt, who looked scared to death.   The goblin was completely focused on his feet, trying desperately not to step on his partner’s toes.    The Halfling youth dancing with him seemed charmed by his nervousness and manners and laughed in delight as they danced.

“Halflings?”   Muld asked the Losasidhe princess.

“Oh yes, we have a large Halfling family that has worked as servants here for many generations.    The Humbertorts; they are quite charming and are well loved by all.    Those two girls are the twins: Ivy - dancing with Tadd-  and Holly -dancing with Mutt.    I’m sure they are delighted to have dancing partners that aren’t members of their own family or some of the elven children.    They’re the only non-elven servants in the kingdom.”

“Mutt certainly looks uneasy,”    Muld chuckled as he watched the goblin.

“I’m glad to see that they like him.    Halflings and goblins are old enemies, you know.”

He nodded, spotting Jevon and Rick dancing with some of the queen’s young ladies in waiting.   Both men were smiling from ear to ear.

“Why aren’t you out there?”   Muld asked her.

“I haven’t been asked to dance,”   She replied with a twinkle in her lovely green eyes that made him forget to breathe for a moment.

“Uh-“ He stammered, but before he could finish, she was on her feet and taking his hand.

“I accept!”  She said, pulling him out of his chair.

“But I was sketching-“

“Now you’re dancing,”  She said with a giggle.    She wore a much simpler dress tonight, cut much as the one from the night before, but lacking the jewels and flourishes.    It was deep blue and gold, and she was as beautiful in it as she had been wearing the fancier dress on the prior night.

The dance was a lively elven minuet and it was so wonderful watching her graceful form flowing in front of him, he didn’t even try to hide his knowledge and proficiency at the dance.   

She seemed to almost glow from joy as she moved.   The whole world shrank down to simply the girl at the end of his hand.   Muld felt a feverish rush come over him as he looked at her.   His heart pounded wildly and his hands sweated, while his mouth was bone dry.    He wondered if he’d been poisoned, but something in the back of his head told him that it was something far, far worse than that.

Muld lost all track of time - he didn’t know how many minuets they danced, but he jumped slightly when the music changed to a slow waltz.

He only had time to take a breath before she swooped in close to him for the dance and he felt himself slip his arms around her.    She was breathing heavy from the minuets and he frantically tried to think of anything to say to her, as she was so extremely close to him at that moment.   He smelt her light perfume and felt her chest against his, which sent a slight shiver down his spine.

He had to look at her.   Only inches away was her painfully gorgeous face with her hypnotic green eyes that were pulling him in, closer and closer to her.   

“What are you doing?”  She whispered, dispelling the trance.  He pulled his head back, alarmed, off-guard, blushing and stammering.    “N-nothing!   I wasn’t… nothing!”

“Calm down, Muld, for Heaven’s sake, what has rattled you so?”   Syndi was staring into his eyes with amused concern, waiting for him to say something, but he could not think of anything sensible to say.     Muld just swallowed loudly, opened and closed his mouth several times and looked completely helpless.

“Muld, what on earth is wrong with you?” She asked again, puzzled at his goofy expression.

“Nothing… nothing’s wrong,”   He finally managed to say.

“Well, alright… I thought you were about to have a fit or something.”    She resumed embracing him closely to continue the dance and he just numbly took her hand as she pressed against him, leaning in close to whisper in his ear, “I’m hoping this will so frustrate Derych that he will lose any interest in me.”

“What?” 

“Our dancing; I’m hoping it will frustrate Derych enough to leave me alone.” She said so close to his ear that he could feel her warm breath which sent a shiver up his body.

“So that’s why you’re dancing with me?”

“Of course, Muld; I know you hate dancing.”

“Um… yeah, that’s right,”   He agreed without any heart.

“It’s irritating mother as well.   She’s glaring at us.”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea; she is your mother, Syndi.”

“Yes…you know, you’re right.”    She stopped dancing to Muld’s surprise and he found a mischievous grin on her face.   

“What-“  He started to ask, but she smirked, shot a quick glance to make sure that her mother was watching, winked at him, and then suddenly grabbed him passionately by the back of the neck, quickly leaned in and kissed him eagerly on the lips.

He knew of course what she was doing, but even though it was just a ruse to upset an unwanted suitor and her mother, the intensity of the kiss and the full warmth of her lips against his own completely overwhelmed him.

Muld didn’t know if he kissed her back or stood there looking like someone who had just been stabbed in the heart with a dagger.     The kiss went on a few heavenly moments and when she broke it, she was almost laughing - probably at his thunderstruck expression or the horror she had caused her parents.    

“Close your mouth, Muld, its over,”   She whispered to him, leading him by the hand toward the front entrance.

He wanted to ask her where they were going, but he just allowed her to pull him after her like a trained dog.   Muld imagined this was just to further drive the queen and Derych crazy.

Yet his lips were still tingling and he had completely forgotten how to speak for the moment.    He shot a glance back into the room, and to his surprise, he found most of the room staring in amazement at them.

  He almost walked into the side of one of the doors as he looked back at the people glancing at him, but Syndi corrected his path and they exited into the hallway, the doors closed behind them by a pair of servants who were trying to not show any emotion at the youngest princess’ display.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, Syndi burst into laughter, squeezing his hand.    “Oh, that REALLY got them!   Oh the scandal of it all!   Did you see mother?!   I think she was ready to faint!   Oh, I love it, Muld!”

She pulled him down the hallway and out of the main entrance into the night air, still laughing at the joke she’d played on her mother, Derych and the court.    With a deep satisfied sigh, she seated herself on the stone railing of the stairs leading to the palace entrance and looked up at the stars with a satisfied smile.   

 Muld stood there perplexed at what it all meant, what he should do or say, or even how to feel.

“Aren’t the stars beautiful tonight, Muld?”   Syndi said happily.

“Syndi… I don’t know if it was proper to antagonize your father like that.”

“Father?   Oh, he knows what I was doing, I’m sure!  I’ll speak to him tomorrow before we leave.”   She dismissed Muld’s concern with a wave of her hand.

“I just don’t want him to share your mother’s opinion of me.”

“He seldom shares mother’s opinion.    Besides, he was too eager at first to reacquaint me with Derych.   I hate being manipulated, Muld, by anyone… even the father I love dearly.”

Muld sighed, “I don’t want your reputation to be tainted by any sort of gossip about me.”

“Oh, Muld will you quit worrying.    You stood there like a block of ice the whole time; everyone saw your surprise.   They’ll know it was just me.”

“Well, I was quite surprised,” Muld admitted, touching his lips absentmindedly.  

“It showed, believe me.     I’ve never seen someone more surprised and scared.”

“Scared?”

“Scared, Muld!    You didn’t know what to do when I kissed you.”

“I was just surprised.”

“Well, everyone will know it was a ruse and why I did it.   They’ll know I didn’t really mean it.”

“Yeah… good.”

She looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes, “I wouldn’t lower myself to your status, you know; I am a princess!”

She was jesting, hoping to get him to playfully joke and mock insult each other as friends do.   But to her dismay, Muld took the comment at face value, nodding gravely.

“I should hope not, Syndi.     You need to know your worth and status, that is why I was concerned about your relationship with Derych, and he is a handsome young nobleman.     You’re worth more than that, you know.”

His tone shocked her and she slid off the railing to find him now seated on the steps, his knees to his chin and a distant, stoic expression on his face.

“Hey… come on, I was just joking, you know.  Alleania told us that sorceresses should not hesitate to try to generate Qi, even with male friends and acquaintances.    I wasn’t only just trying to upset mother and Derych; I was testing to see if you could help me generate Feminine Qi, so if I needed to cast a spell sometime, I could use you as a power source.”   She regretted the word ‘use’ as soon as she said it.

Muld didn’t look at her, but stared blankly ahead and said, “Well, your experiment was a success, I can tell you that.”

Syndi sat down next to him.    “Muld, I didn’t mean it that way at all.”

“You don’t have to explain, Syndi, I understand about sorceresses.”

“Yes, but you don’t understand women at all.”

“I may understand better than you think.”

She touched his shoulder gently, “Muld, I know you are attracted to me.”

He smiled slightly.   “What man isn’t, Syndi?   You’re beautiful as a sunset in autumn.     You’ll generate enough Qi to do just about anything.”

She squeezed his shoulder and he felt her head rest against it.     Why was she doing this to him, he wondered.

“Muld, let me tell you something about women, okay?”

“Go ahead.”

“All women want to feel beautiful and have men admire them for their beauty.     But some men’s admiration is more important to them than others… do you understand?”

“No, not really.    Isn’t admiration of any type just as good?”

Syndi groaned, “No, you really don’t understand women at all, Muld.”

Muld shrugged, “Perhaps not.”

She squeezed his arm again, “Muld, I was flattered when you were jealous of me, and when you told me how pretty that I looked.    Good heavens, you have such a way with words, you are almost a poet.”

“I was just being honest, Syndi.   You need to have your self-esteem built up.”

“Yes, and I really love having you build it up.    When you are attracted to me, it makes me feel better about myself.”

He looked at her, “Why in the world wouldn’t you feel good about yourself regardless of me?    Surely you can see how everyone looks at you.”

“Well, it is different when it is someone you… admire.”   She blushed prettily and closed her eyes to keep from meeting his gaze.

“So what are you saying, Syndi?”   He finally asked after considering the conversation for a moment.

“Muld, I’m struggling to become a Sorceress and at the same time a Practical Magician.    As a Practical Magician, with you as my teacher, I need your approval and encouragement.    But as a Sorceress, I need an outlet to practice generating Qi and I don’t feel safe trying it out in public… yet.     So I need you to be attracted to me, so I can know that I’m generating Qi like Alleania has taught.”

Muld chuckled, “So I’m your test subject?”

“Yes,” She opened her glorious green eyes and stared at him with such intensity that his face felt flushed, “You don’t mind, do you?”

“I don’t mind,”   He replied honestly, though somewhere in the back of his mind he felt foolish admitting that.    But just to have her look at him like that was so wonderful that he would happily be her slave.    He knew it was ridiculously pathetic, but how could he refuse?

“Good,” she whispered, close to him, “I need to learn with someone that I feel safe, Muld.”

“How do you know you’re safe with me?”   He mumbled, but she heard him.

She just smiled somewhat mysteriously and shrugged and he was so flustered by her response that he blushed again.

Syndi laughed, “That is how I know, Muld!”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, squeezed his shoulder again and stood up, offering her hand to him.

“Where are we going?”  He asked, still rattled.

“I thought I’d show you around the island that was my home for over 70 years.    This will give everyone at the banquet time to think of all sorts of possibilities of what we are doing.     That will help me generate Qi, Muld.”

“Yes, but it won’t help your reputation as a princess,”   He replied, taking her hand as he stood up.

“Ah, who cares, really?    Every royal court has scandals and intrigue.    This will give them something to talk about after we’ve left, and maybe it will keep mother from trying to think of suitors for me.   If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to get me pregnant, you know.”

“WHAT?!”

Syndi doubled over in laughter, “Oh, Muld, you are so easily flustered!”

After she regained her composure, she spent several hours giving him a tour of the Losasidhe capital.

It was nearly dawn when they returned to the palace.

“Well, that is enough for tonight,”   She told him as they climbed the stairs to the palace doors.

“Will they be locked?”

“Oh no, but mother and perhaps a guard will be waiting.    You don’t mind spending the rest of the night in a dungeon, do you?”

“You are kidding, aren’t you?”

“I hope so.    If not, I’ll talk to daddy and he’ll set you free.”

“Or have me executed.”

“No, he needs the airships and cannons… besides, he likes you, Muld.”

“The feeling is mutual.   If only your mother would share the feeling.”

“She’ll come around… in time.”    As she was reaching for the door handle, the door opened and the baneful face of Queen Synthaeia popped through.

“Synthaeia!”   She simply said with a hiss, pulling her into the palace.    Muld hesitated to follow and the queen glared at him.

“You go to your quarters and leave my daughter alone!”

Muld nodded, not wanting to antagonize the Losasidhe queen further.    She was pulling Syndi down the hallway, their loud whispers hinting at the heated exchange they were having.

He watched them disappear into the royal suite and with a deep sigh, he trudged on to his room, but it was past dawn before he was able to fall asleep.