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Taken off guard, Marissa blinked rapidly, as if trying to process what had just occurred. The Prince had an edge of offense in his words, but certainly it was nothing she had done. She straightened slowly, and drew in a deep breath, back straight to present her figure in the most enticing way she could manage.
"Your Majesty, I assure you that I... that we can tend to your every need." She let her voice drop to a sultry, inviting tone that had worked so well on so many men before, and her hand lifted to rest over her heart, her long nailed fingers rested just at the edge of her neckline.
Cantrol rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you'd love that. It's not you, though, girl. Your father is little better than a scheming brigand for sending you here. Now take your message home."
She was being rejected. Before she even had a chance to show what she could do, before she could even work her wiles upon him, she had been shut down. Panic began to grip at her mind. "Please, Prince, at least let me keep you company this-"
"I said," The Prince's tone betrayed a loss of patience that proved he indeed had a temper, "be gone, back to your father."
At his tone, the bearded bodyguard broke off his conversation with Garn and Hafred, and rose. Those dark eyes fixed upon Marissa, and she cringed back.
What had gone wrong?
It was Jenrea, of all people, who came to her rescue. "Please, Your Majesty, everyone knows Squire George is a mean old man. Please don't take it out on her daughter." The innkeeper's daughter took one of Marissa's arms in her hand, and though the noble woman would have ordinarily snatched her limb back from the peasant's grasp, she was still reeling from the turn of events.
It seemed, however, that Jenrea's words had their intended effect, for he offered a smile to Jenrea that much resembled the sun peeking from a storm cloud. "Of course, Lady Jenrea, forgive me. It isn't her fault who her father may be. Still, I should like it very much if she was on her way."
Marissa had been saved from a rough escort out at the hands of the Prince's bodyguard, but she seethed inwardly at just who had done the saving.
Jenrea giggled, light and high. "Oh silly, you know I'm no Lady. It's just Jenrea." She smiled to the Prince, and it earned a blush from him.
"It is easy to forget, speaking with one as fair as you."
The innkeeper's daughter giggled, and began to lead Marissa toward the door, but then cast another smile over her shoulder to the Prince. "All is forgiven. I think my friend Hafred was speaking to your man Rufus about a position, though. Perhaps you could talk to him about it while I help Lady Marissa home? I know he could lead you to Mister Lumi too!" A bit of infectious excitement bubbled up in her tone.
The young noblewoman gawked at Jenrea's daring. She spoke with such familiarity with the prince, and yet was not rebuked for it. If anything, Prince Cantrol seemed to defer to her wishes. As if only then noticing the smith's apprentice, he turned and approached the other men.
Rufus, for his part, watched Marissa with some suspicion.
It wasn't until they were outside and out of sight that she yanked her arm back from Jenrea's grasp. On seeing the raven haired girl's face fall, she moderated her tone, speaking softly, "Thank you, Jenrea. You always seem to get your way, don't you? It must be nice."
The sweet barmaid frowned thoughtfully at those words. "I don't know? Lady Marissa, you're rich and you're beautiful. I wish I could be half the woman you are. I'm sure you just caught Prince Cantrol at a bad time." She certainly tried to be reassuring with her tone.
Rejected three times in a short week, and now pitied by a lowly commoner. It was more than she could take. She felt if she but had the power she would smite them all with a word, and not feel a hint of remorse. With a sigh, Marissa rubbed her temples, then began to stalk down the dirt street without a word.
Jenrea stood by the Tepid Toad's front door, and watched her go. She made no move to follow her, as if sensing that ill mood. Only when Marissa was some distance away did Jenrea duck back into the warm and safe interior of the inn.
Marissa was certainly not looking forward to telling her father she had failed.
