Chapter 123 - Weaving

Ulrich and Johannes had come with some men from the castle to look for the couple, and the presence of the miller's daughter was greeted with silence by the residents of Tanbury. They said nothing, nor did Magnus's men question him in public. But they were happy that the Princess had found Romeo. Alexa wondered how much Johannes and Ulrich knew about Romeo, but that could only confirm when she was alone with Magnus again.

Upon arrival at the castle, everyone expressed concern about the couple's prolonged absence, and Lady Alexa's health. Magnus exchanged a look with the Princess before leaving her with the women. Alexa noticed that Mildred was shaking like a leaf, but she was silent. The castle's personnel pretended not to care or even notice that she was there, but when Alexa pretended not to be aware, she noticed the worried looks turned on the two.

To rid Mildred of this sticky situation, after eating Alexa took her to their bedroom, and told the girl that they would think of a solution. "Just stay calm and avoid walking alone for now. Just go out with one of us."

Alexa called Romeo and putting him on her shoulder, left with him looking for the Lady of the Castle.

"Did you think of something to tell Mildred?" she whispered when she realized they couldn't be heard. "I suppose she thinks you're a page or something, since we rarely speak to you."

~ I believe it too. In fact, to justify why I couldn't help her earlier, I said I had broken arms from the shipwreck, so I could only guide her," he explained.

"Why, that was smart."

~ I don't know how she can hear me, though. ~

"Your brother asked himself the same thing. He said he thought you and I had a special bond, but it's obviously silly."

~ But we have some special ties, Alexa. I dream about you for many years. Now we share much more literally the same flesh… ~ Alexander spoke, after being silent for a few minutes.

Alexa had a lot to talk to Alexander about, but it would take a lot more time and privacy. She murmured,

"We are just going to work a way out of this situation without further losses. But I advise you not to speak in front of unknown people, as we still don't know why it happened."

~ Yes, Milady! ~ Alexander agreed, mockingly.

Finally she arrived where Lady Gwen was, among other women and girls. They were involved in some weaving work that the princess only knew about in theory.

"Ahhh," said Lady Gwen when Alexa bowed in greeting, "I was so worried! So this is your stray singing bird, Lady Alexa?"

"Yes, this is Romeo. He's trained, and during the shipwreck, I kept him in my coat ... It's surprising that he survived. A miracle, indeed. I couldn't simply leave it after that," Alexa explained. "And the most interesting thing is that he was with a local girl. The miller's daughter. Do you know her?"

Someone found a place for the foreigner to sit, and little Jennifer came running up to her, to see Alexa and the bird as well. At the moment, she and Romeo were the focus of attention, but when she commented on Mildred, their eyes shifted and they all made confused expressions.

"Ah, the miller's daughter. I hope you didn't have a poor impression, I was told that you and Lord von Wuttenfal were found in some horrible ruins..."

"Ah, we just took shelter from the rain while we were back. What was that place?" she replied promptly, while looking at everything Jennifer brought her, colored threads, needles, etc. The girl seemed intent on impressing her. Meanwhile, Alexa felt the Red Lady's gaze on her.

"For a moment we even thought the Lord just wanted to take a stroll with his young wife ..."

"Well, he usually fears that something will happen to me. And he understood that I was sad looking for Romeo," she stroked the nightingale's head which, in turn, rubbed its beak gently on her shoulder. Everyone was delighted and Jennifer asked, with bright eyes.

"Is your bird really trained? What he does?"

"Oh, well ... lots of tricks," Alexa stated feeling pressured. The women turned to her expectantly, and the maiden swallowed. "Well, see, my beautiful bird can fly at me if I call it, and it also does some stunts. Romeo also sings with some commands and pretends to be asleep. Anyway, lots of tricks. But Romeo must be tired and…"

"PLEASE! Let me see the tricks!" the girl insisted, extending her little hands to catch Romeo. For Alexa, Jennifer would insist until she succeeded, due to her childish curiosity and her fascination with the visitor.

Alexa took Romeo in her hand?, and heard the murmur in her mind,

~ Now am I a circus attraction?!! ~

"Romeo, come to this hand, yes?" she smiled and held out a hand. Romeo inspected her hand, and then went on with the farce, landing gracefully in her palm. And the nightingale did other tricks, passing through her arms in an arc, singing at her command among other games that delighted the audience.

"I didn't know it was easy to train nightingales," the girl's mother commented.

"Well, it isn't, really. A very special person trained this bird. In fact, a young prince gave me this bird as a wedding gift. It was he who trained it so perfectly," she said, leaving Romeo on the windowsill where Lady Gwen's daughter did not reach him. "Well, since Romeo is such a valuable and highly esteemed gift, I was happy that he was with the miller's daughter."

The heavy footsteps echoed near the room where they were weaving, and the princess knew immediately that it was Magnus making noise. She already recognized his way of stumping, when he wanted to make an announced entry. 'Ah, he's so arrogant!'

The women looked at each other in excitement, and one of them was to bring the visitor. Magnus stopped at the door, pretending to be embarrassed to be in a strictly feminine place.

And those women all looked like chickens in a chicken coop with very straight backs and all very aware of his intrusion, Alexa concluded. And she also realized that he was very aware of that, too. Taking a deep breath, she gave him a sweet smile, like that of a shy young wife.

"Ah, well, I was told you were here. Lady Gwendolyn, I would like your opinion..."

"Well, why don't we walk a little? If Lady Alexa wants to rest after the morning adventure, she can stay. You seemed so delighted with the weaving…"

'Is this woman really trying to get me off the subject? I'm quite aware that she loves to chat alone with Magnus,' Alexa stood up, saying,

"Ah, your opinion is very important to us. There are many things we need to know to make our stay here as inconvenient as possible," she quickly stood by her 'husband'. Romeo flew to her shoulder and Magnus put his hand on her back, slightly, while keeping an enigmatic look at the lady of the castle. 'Is he flirting with her? In front of me, his fake wife? '

The Prince's stance was unprecedented until then, and she didn't know what to think.

Lady Gwendolyn accompanied them to a courtyard from which they could see the northern landscape, with mountains in the distance,

"What could I be useful for?" she asked, after walking a little.

"My wife insists on interfering in relation to a girl from the village. The girl is the miller's daughter, and by some accident she's blind. Whether or not temporarily, we wouldn't be able to say. But," he paused to look at Alexa, who was surprised by the blunt way Magnus brought it up, "I've been thinking and I think it's better to find out what happened, rather than causing a bigger problem, maybe. Would Milady know, by any chance, what this girl is going through?"

"Lady Alexa is really too delicate to ask, even though I realized her intention to do that earlier," Gwendolyn looked at Alexa with a condescending smile, but explained, "or maybe I'm too used to the rigors of dealing with inhospitable land and the rudeness of men, and has lost the grace of youth a long time ago."

Etiquette forced Alexa to disagree about lady Gwen's comment on her beauty and youth, which was in fact true. Magnus smirked,

"As my father would say, intelligent and assertive women are the best."

Alexa shivered, but her fake husband continued, "but then, my lady, tell us if it's not too inconvenient, what happened to this girl and what can we do to help. Alexa really wants to reward you. Her delicate heart cannot bear to witness suffering. From a stray little sheep to a blind girl, if she could she'd help them all."

Gwendolyn's eyes gleamed as she looked at Alexa again,

"Your kindness rivals your beauty, milady. But look ... I don't know exactly what happened. Just rumors and I don't know if I could listen to such things. The sheriff certainly knows more. What I heard is that she did serious damage and someone took revenge. But it was all so recent! It is a pity that they are getting involved..."

Alexa knew she could not be friends with this woman who was so condescending to her. The Red Lady treated her as if she were some fragile chinaware, or a child. But Magnus was helping to create that illusion.

But Alexa decided that she wouldn't deny the farce, as she thought she would need it. Lady Gwen was leaving the necessary tips to be questioned later by Magnus, when the 'innocent creature', that is, Alexa, was not around.

She had no doubt that Magnus intended to do this interrogation.

After all, that was his style. She remembered it well.

But Lady Gwendolyn surprised her, after some thoughtful time,

"This girl may have done something wrong, but no one wants her dead. If Lady Alexa really wants to help, maybe I have an idea."