The Passionate Princess Page 3

  They had always fascinated Thea and she often went and talked to them and they taught her a little of their Romany tongue.

  One of the young girls had once shown her a necklace of cherry stones.

  “This, Your Royal Highness,” she had said, “is magic.”

  “In what way?” Thea had asked her.

  “When a gypsy girl sees a man who she wants to fall in love with her,” the gypsy had answered, “she collects as many cherry stones as the years of her age. She then drills a hole through one stone each night beginning with the night of the new moon.”

  “What happens then?” Thea enquired.

  “She continues drilling for three full moons and then she sleeps for thirteen nights with the necklace wound around her left knee.”

  Thea was listening intently to the gypsy who went on,

  “When the necklace has won her a proposal of marriage from the man she loves, she keeps it for the rest of her life.”

  She looked at Thea as she said,

  “I won the man whom I loved and he loves me. You keep this necklace, Your Royal Highness, and it will show you how to make magic when you really need it.”

  Thea thanked her and she had taken the necklace home and put it in her cabinet with her other treasures.

  Now she took it out and held it in her hands.

  ‘Help me to find a man I can love and who will love me,’ she prayed.

  Then she put it back in the case.

  Now she picked out ten of the gold coins and put them in her pocket.

  She was certain that ten of the most recent years would be easy to replace, but the eight earlier ones, which bore her grandfather’s head, might be more difficult.

  Anyway she now had some money and that was essential for her plan.

  She went back into her bedroom and packed all that she intended to take with her and she would have to carry everything in a roll attached to the back of Mercury’s saddle.

  So it would have to be light and she chose one of the muslin gowns and thought that she would change into it in the evenings.

  She added a clean white blouse, a blue nightgown and a few small things that were to her indispensable.

  She packed it all in a large woollen shawl which would be warm enough to cover her shoulders if she was cold and it would also have to act as a dressing gown.

  A pair of satin slippers would, she knew, go into the pocket of the saddle along with her hairbrush and comb.

  Then there was a small bag containing her soap, her toothbrush, a sponge and a flannel and she wrapped all these in a chiffon scarf.

  She next tried to think if there was anything else that she may require.

  Then, leaving everything ready on a chair, she climbed into bed.

  She did not expect to sleep, but she was tired and slept dreamlessly almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

  *

  Thea awoke with a start.

  It flashed through her mind that she had overslept and it would spoil her plan of escape.

  Then she remembered that she had been gazing at the stars when she had climbed into bed and had left the curtains drawn back.

  It had been the dawn that had awakened her and the first pale fingers of light were now creeping up the sky.

  For the moment the stars were still shining brightly overhead and then Thea could see that they would soon begin to fade.

  But before they did so she wished to be on her way as she glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and saw that it was just after four o’clock in the morning.

  It took her only a few minutes to dress. She had put on one of her prettiest habits, which actually matched the green of her eyes.

  Her mother had refused to be interested in the new, tight-fitting riding habits that had just come into modern fashion, having been introduced by Elizabeth the Empress of Austria, who was also Queen of Hungary.

  Thea’s habit was very becoming. It had a full skirt and she wore with it a thin muslin blouse under a tight-fitting jacket and under her skirt were two white petticoats edged with lace.

  Her riding boots reached only to her knees and with the habit went a riding hat that had a high crown and was encircled with a thin gauze veil that floated out behind her when she galloped.

  This morning, however, Thea was not in the least interested in her appearance.

  She dressed quickly, sweeping her long red hair round her head and she fixed it in place with hairpins.

  She looked at her hat and then decided not to take it with her.

  When she rode alone in the Park at The Palace, she always went hatless and occasionally her mother would warn her,

  “Do be careful, dearest, of the sun. It would be very unbecoming if you had brown skin with your coloured hair.”

  But Thea was fortunate. The Fairies at her Christening had given her a white skin that was impervious to the sun.

  “Your skin is like magnolia,” somebody had remarked to her once and she realised that it was the truth.

  There was also something translucent about her skin that made her glow like a pearl.

  However there was nobody in The Palace who would dare to compliment her and so in consequence she had no idea of how lovely she looked.

  Because she was excited, her eyes were shining and she typified the joy of spring.

  She put a clean handkerchief into her pocket and remembered to pack two more in her luggage.

  Pausing for a moment she wondered if she should write a letter to her father.

  Then she decided that it would be a mistake.

  It would be best for her to just disappear.

  That she had done so would gradually percolate through The Palace as the servants could not be stopped talking and their gossiping would inevitably become exaggerated and then spread throughout the country.

  When Martha found that she was not in her bedroom, she would automatically assume that she had gone riding.

  When she did not come back for breakfast, she doubted if anyone would actually notice.

  Her father was used to her being late in the morning and it was the only meal when the servants did not wait as the family would always help themselves.

  They would most probably think that she had come and gone.

  Much later in the morning, her mother, who always rose late, might be told that she was not in The Palace.

  The Queen would not be perturbed, thinking that as usual she was out riding on Mercury.

  It might easily be as late as luncheontime before anyone would seriously question her whereabouts.

  ‘And by that time,’ Thea mused with some considerable satisfaction, ‘I shall be miles and miles away!’

  Holding her two bundles tightly in her hands she peeped out through the door into the passage outside.

  There appeared to be no one about.

  On tiptoe she hurried to a back staircase that led to the door into the garden.

  It was the one that she and Georgi always used when they had no wish to be seen or encounter either of their parents. If they did, they were more than likely to be given a task that they did not want.

  Thea reached the garden door and unlocked it.

  As she stepped out, the air was fresh, clean and fragrant with the scent of flowers. She slipped silently through the garden like a ghost.

  When she reached the stables, there was a groom on duty. He was a young lad and was asleep on a bundle of hay.

  Thea woke him by touching his arm.

  “Sorry, Your Royal Highness, I just dozed off, I did!”

  “That is all right,” Thea smiled. “I am early as I could not sleep. Please saddle Mercury for me.”

  “Right you are, Your Royal Highness,” the boy replied and hurried to the stall where Mercury was stabled.

  As soon as the horse saw Thea, he nuzzled her and she made a fuss of him and stroked him all the time he was being saddled.

  The stable boy led him out into the yard and Thea climbed onto the mounting block. She
had trained Mercury to stand steady while she seated herself in the saddle.

  As she did so, she said to the stable boy as he handed her the reins,

  “Will you fix this onto Mercury’s saddle for me?”

  She gave him her shawl and he attached the ribbons that she had bound it with to the saddle loops.

  Then Thea quickly put the other small bundle into the pocket of the saddle.

  She knew that the stable boy would not think it strange that she should carry something at the back and, if it rained or was cold, she often took a coat with her.

  He was not very intelligent, but he might, however, think it unusual that she was taking so much with her.

  She waited until the boy had finished as Mercury showed his impatience by twitching his ears and tossing his head.

  Then, when the stable boy smiled at her, Thea said,

  “Thank you very much.”

  “Have a nice ride then, Your Royal Highness.” the stable boy replied and touched his forelock.

  She rode off, deliberately not hurrying and only when she was in the Park and out of sight of The Palace did she make Mercury start moving quickly.

  There was just one way that she could leave The Palace grounds without passing through a gate that was guarded by sentries.

  All the main entrances had soldiers on duty, although Thea suspected that they did not exert themselves unduly at any of them.

  There was, however, one very minor gate, which was used only by farm carts and the animals that came in to graze from the Home Farm.

  Because it was of no importance there was nobody on guard at this gate.

  Although it was supposed to be securely locked at night, Thea doubted if this always happened.

  She, however, had no intention of dismounting to find out.

  The gate was quite a low one and the ground around it dry and sandy.

  Mercury brilliantly cleared it with at least a foot to spare.

  Now Thea found herself outside the Royal fence that had hedged her in ever since she could remember.

  She had often ridden down to the valley, but had never been allowed to do so alone.

  If nothing else, she thought, this was indeed a new experience.

  She settled down to ride quickly but carefully as she must not encounter anyone who would recognise her.

  This meant that she had to be as far away as possible from The Palace before it was light.

  The dawn was now forcing back the sable of the sky and the stars were fading one by one and soon the sun would come up.

  What she had to do was to cross the river before other people were doing the same.

  She knew already that numbers of peasants always came in early in the morning from the country to Gyula, the Capital of Kostas.

  Some of them would be in carts loaded with vegetables for the market and others would be carrying what they intended to sell on their backs.

  Then there would be the women who came in from the country every day to work in the City and Thea had often seen them and thought how colourful they looked.

  They were in National costume, which, as in all the Balkan countries, had traditionally a red skirt, a prettily embroidered blouse and a black velvet corset that was laced down the front.

  The Kostasians were a happy and outward people. They would be laughing and singing as they walked along the road.

  When they saw either Thea or Georgi, they would wave excitedly and call out greetings in their musical voices.

  Thea then reached the bridge and found to her considerable relief that there was no one crossing on it.

  It was also far too early for anyone to be out working in the fields or to be driving their animals over the open land beyond that stretched to the foot of the mountains.

  The mountains were for the moment her main objective.

  She needed to cross over the plain in front of her to reach them and it was very like the Steppes of Hungary and covered with thick grass filled with wild flowers and humming bees.

  It was a perfect place for Mercury to stretch his legs in a wild gallop.

  He did not have to be told what to do and Thea thought that she had never moved so quickly on his back.

  By the time she had ridden for a mile or two the sun had risen over the horizon and its rays, warm and golden, lit the world.

  The butterflies, white and colourful, were hovering over the wild flowers. The birds were singing and the mist had risen from the river.

  To Thea it was all the beauty that she had ever sought in her life and it was the beauty of her dreams.

  She did not know where she was going.

  She believed that last night the stars had told her to escape and now she would be guided by the sun.

  ‘I am – free! I am – free!’ she told herself happily

  Mercury then slowed down from a gallop to an easy trot.

  She looked back and she had come even further than she had expected.

  There was no sign of Gyula and nothing to be seen of The Palace that rose higher than the City.

  ‘I am free!’ she murmured to herself again and wondered where she should go now.

  She rode on until she realised that she was in a part of the country where she had never been before. Now there was no sign of the river nor were there any cultivated fields.

  There were just the flowers and the butterflies and to her right and straight ahead were the looming mountains.

  She knew, however, that there were many passes through them and some were regularly utilised and some were not.

  She had never had a chance to explore them.

  When she went riding outside The Palace grounds, either with her father or Georgi, there always had come the moment when they said,

  “We should be going back or we will be late for luncheon.”

  Then again if they rode in the afternoon, they had to return in plenty of time for dinner, which was always a very formal meal.

  Thea rode on for an hour or so before she thought that she was beginning to feel hungry.

  She remembered that later in the day she would have to find somewhere to stay the night.

  She knew that there were small lodging houses or hotels where visitors to Kostas stayed, especially those who enjoyed climbing.

  It was something that Georgi had attempted and he only gave it up after he had fallen and broken his arm.

  There were also sportsmen who came to Kostas to shoot the chamois and others stalked the stags, the wild goats and the wolves.

  Her father always talked about them rather scathingly, but there were woven fur rugs and stag horns in The Palace that proclaimed his prowess with a rifle when he was younger.

  ‘There must be a small hotel around here,’ Thea told herself.

  For the moment there was no hurry and after riding on for a few miles she drew a little nearer to the mountains.

  Then she saw a pass rising higher than the land that she was riding on and there was a rough track leading up to it.

  Because she felt that it would be a good place to hide, she rode Mercury up the track.

  Nearer the top with the rocks rising on either side of her, she turned to look back.

  She realised at once that she had come a very long way from The Palace.

  If her father sent out soldiers to look for her, it would take days for them to search in the mountains.

  She rode on up the pass, which could only be negotiated on horseback or on foot, but the track was narrow and not very long.

  As it ended, she then found herself in a forest of fir trees, which were so thick that the sunshine could hardly percolate through them.

  Thea loved the woods feeling that they were mysterious and filled with dragons and elves.

  She had read everything she could find about Sylvanus, the Roman God of the Trees and she had often thought of him when she rode in the wood behind The Palace.

  But that was very different from the trees that she was riding through now, which were thick dark
fir trees that had grown very tall because they were reaching towards the light.

  They were strange and, Thea thought, definitely part of her Fairy story.

  Suddenly there was an opening in the trees and she saw to her surprise a small lake with oak trees lining each side of it and the sunshine glittered dazzlingly on the water.

  And she was entranced because, as she drew Mercury to a halt, she could see the snow-topped mountains above her.

  At the same time she saw a profusion of yellow irises growing on the sides of the lake and it was so lovely that she would not have been in the least surprised if she had seen a water nymph swimming in the water.

  She was sure that Mercury would be thirsty now, so she rode him down to the water’s edge and then dismounted.

  Before she did so, she knotted his reins and then, leaving him to drink as much as he wanted she walked on, gazing at the lake, the flowers and the trees.

  She felt as if she had stumbled into a strange world.

  Everything was different from anything that she had ever seen before.

  She was so intent on what she was seeing that she was not looking ahead and suddenly she realised that she had almost fallen over a man who was sitting on a low stool.

  In front of him was an easel on which stood a canvas.

  He was obviously painting the lake and concentrating intently on his work so that he was not aware of her presence.

  She glanced at his canvas and thought that as a painter he was obviously very talented and she noted to herself that he was the first person she had seen since leaving The Palace so early this morning

  She hoped that he might be able to tell her what she wished to know.

  “Excuse me, mein herr,” she began politely, “can you tell me where – ?”

  Before she could finish the sentence, the artist exclaimed,

  “Go away! Leave me alone! I am busy!”

  He spoke so angrily that Thea was astonished.

  Apart from her father nobody had ever spoken to her in such a way.

  For a moment she did not move and then, as if he was intending to order her to obey him, the artist turned his head.

  He looked at Thea and was then astonished into silence.

  He just sat on his wooden staring at her.