The Proud Princess

CHAPTER ONE 1872-1

CHAPTER ONE

1872Ilona glanced back over her shoulder as she galloped wildly through the trees.

They thinned out until she saw the broad open steppe with its brilliant green grass richly interspersed with flowers.

It was very beautiful fading away to an indeterminate horizon beneath the wooded slopes which rose higher and higher until they touched the snow-peaked mountains.

But Ilona realised that once she was in the open country she would be in full view of those who were following her. “Could anything,” she asked herself, “be more frustrating than to go riding accompanied by two elderly Army officers and two grooms?”

She had looked incredulously at her escort when she walked down the steps of the Palace!

Then as they set off, moving at what she thought of as an almost funereal pace, she knew she had no intention of riding for long in such a pompous manner.

The one thing she had looked forward to on her journey home was the horses.

She had been only ten when she left Dabrozka, but she had never forgotten the thrill of riding over its grassy steppes and the unique magnificence of its fiery steeds.

Bred on the equivalent of the great Hortobágy Puszia, which was the most famous and largest of its kind in Hungary, the Dabrozkan horses were reared in the same utter wildness as the Hungarian colts which were world famous.

In fact, like the people, the horses of Dabrozka had more Hungarian blood in them than those of any other country in the Balkans. Magyar, Roman, Hungarian and Greek, all were in their blood and in the age old history of the Dabrozkans, but Ilona preferred to remember only their Greek and Hungarian ancestry.

She felt that these contributed more to her own looks, character and personality than any of the others.

It was the Hungarian in her now that made her determined to escape and enjoy the freedom of the wind on her cheeks and the enchanting beauty of her surroundings.

She realised as she guided her horse through almost the last of the trees, that on her left lay the river which divided the valley like a silver ribbon.

On an impulse she turned her horse’s head and descended the steep bank, aware that she was moving too fast for safety, but being certain that the Dabrozkan animal was sure-footed enough not to throw her.

Reaching the edge of the river she glanced back and saw there was as yet no sign of her four chaperons following her through the trees.

As she had expected at this time of the year, the river was low and in another month would be no more than a shallow stream.

It was at the moment flowing silver over its stony bed, but the water was clear and it was easy to see the bottom.

Giving her horse just a touch of the whip, to which he responded immediately, Ilona guided him into the river and found she was right in her assumption that it was not too deep for them to cross.

In fact the water did not reach her stirrup and they climbed out the other side, disappearing into the thickness of a pine-wood while there was still no chance of being seen.

Ilona bent forward to pat her horse’s neck.

“We have done it, boy!” she said in her soft voice, “and now we can enjoy ourselves.”

She could not help thinking as she spoke that her father would be very annoyed, but just for once she was not afraid of him.

He would take her to task, there was no doubt about that, if the men escorting her were unwise to report that they had failed in their duty.

Ilona had the idea that when it came to the point, as long as they could bring her back to the Palace intact, they were unlikely to court trouble.

The pine-trees smelt delicious in the warmth of the sun, and since there was now no hurry she proceeded through them looking about her.

She was hoping for a sight of the wild animals which had fascinated her as a child.

In Dabrozka there were chamois, bear, wolf, lynx, stag and wild boar.

She would never forget the tiny baby bear-cubs which had been brought for her inspection when she was a little girl, and which the gypsies tamed and took with them to the Fairs in the countryside.

She had learnt that it was impossible to tame or teach an old bear, but the cubs, if they were taken from their mother early enough, were very amenable and were seldom savage as they were in their wild state.

There was however no sign of any bears in this forest but only a profusion of birds which flew away at her approach, some of them protesting volubly at her intrusion.

The shafts of sunshine coming through the branches of the pine-trees seemed to give the place a magic which Ilona had never forgotten.

It was all part of the legends and fairy-stories of her childhood.

She remembered now how she had always believed there were dragons living in the depths of the pine-woods, goblins burrowing under the hills, and mystic, ethereal beings like the Greek gods living among the snow-covered peaks.

Ilona was humming a little tune to herself, a peasant song which came from the past, when suddenly she heard voices.

Instinctively she reined in her horse and listened.

There were a number of people speaking and she thought that was strange because usually there was no-one in the woods at this time of the day.

The peasants would be in the fields, cultivating the fertile acres under the strict supervision of an over-seer.

Then she thought perhaps it was the wood-cutters she heard.

She tried to remember if this was the time of the year when the trees were felled and the great logs were carried down the valley by the river.

But she told herself there was not enough water in the river to float logs, and anyway there seemed to be too many voices for wood-cutters.

Because she was curious she moved in the direction of the sound.

Twisting in and out of the pine-trees, her horse’s hooves made very little sound on the soft moss and sand beneath them.

Then unexpectedly she could see through the trees a large clearing and in it were a number of men, perhaps fifty or more.

Ilona looked at them with interest.

They were wearing white baggy trousers and embroidered white coats which hung Huzzar fashion from one shoulder.

On their heads they wore black round felt hats sporting a single large feather, which gave them a dashing air that was characteristic of the Dabrozkans.

Ilona looked to see if there were any women in the gathering, but they were all men. Strangely enough they did not look like the poorest peasant labourers that she might have expected to find in the wood.

She was so intent on what she was seeing that without her realising it her horse had moved on through the trees, and now she was in sight of the men in the clearing.

They were all talking very quickly and passionately, gesticulating with their arms, and as far as Ilona could understand they were proclaiming violently against something or somebody.

She realised as she listened that the years she had been away had made it difficult for her to understand the peasants’ language as she had been able to do before she left home.

With her mother she had always talked in Hungarian or French, but Dabrozkan was a language of many inflections and many different accents.

The ordinary people spoke a mixed language derived from the countries which bordered their own.

Besides Hungarian there were many words which were Rumanian or Russian.

But Ilona was sure of two words she heard. One was ‘fight’ and the other was ‘injustice’.

Then a man who was speaking furiously and undoubtedly sincerely, declaiming almost like an orator, saw Ilona.

The words appeared to die on his lips and she thought there was a ludicrous expression on his face as he stared at her, suddenly speechless.

The majority of the other men had their backs to her and now they turned and stared too.

There was a silence which seemed all the more impressive because of the noise they had been making.

Then the man who had been speaking pointed at Ilona and shouted,

“Who is she? What does she want? We have been betrayed!”

There was a sudden murmur from the men sitting on the ground on fallen logs, and they rose to their feet.

For the first time Ilona felt a tremor of fear.

Apart from rising to their feet they had not moved towards her. Yet she had the impression of danger, of something she did not understand, and it was menacing.

From the far end of the crowd a man who had not risen with the others now got to his feet.

He walked towards her and she saw he was very tall and that he gave the impression of being better dressed than the rest.

He reached her side and she saw that he was in fact extremely good-looking with straight, almost classical features which she had always attributed to their Greek antecedents.

But surprisingly, though his hair was very dark, his eyes were vividly blue.

There were Hungarians with that particular colouring, and occasionally it appeared amongst the Dabrozkans, but Ilona had never seen a man look quite so arresting or so attractive.

“What do you want?” he asked.

She realised as he spoke that his voice was cultured and he was speaking in the pure, upper-class Dabrozkan language that was almost Hungarian.

“As you can see,” she replied. “I am riding.”

She thought there was a faint smile on his lips as he replied,

“I am aware of that. You are not wise to be in this part of the wood.”

“Why not?” Ilona asked in astonishment.

As her father’s daughter she knew she could ride anywhere she wished in Dabrozka, and no land whoever it belonged to, could be closed to the King or his family.

“Are you alone?” the man asked.

“I should have thought any answer to that question was quite unnecessary,” Ilona retorted.

She came to the conclusion that he was being impertinent.

He might not realize who she was, but at the same time there was a note in his voice which she resented and he asked his questions in an authoritative manner to which she was sure he had no right.

He glanced down at her horse’s legs and saw they were wet.

“You have crossed the river!” he said and it was an accusation. “Let me suggest, young woman, that you return the way you came.”

“I will return when I am ready to do so, and not a moment before!”

Ilona did not know why she felt so truculent.

Ordinarily she would have been perfectly amenable and willing to do anything that anyone asked of her, but now she felt defiant and her chin went up as she said,

“I cannot imagine what is going on here, unless you are taking part in some secret and subversive activity of which you are ashamed.”

She spoke clearly and the men on the outskirts of the crowd who were nearest to her must have understood what she had said.

There was a sudden movement and they started to speak in low voices to each other.

The man with the blue eyes put his hand on the bridle of her horse and started to lead her back into the woods through which she had come.

“Kindly take your hand off my bridle!” Ilona ordered.

“Do not be a little fool!” the man answered contemptuously. “If you know what is good for you, you will go away and forget anything you may have seen or heard.”

“And why should I do that?”

“Because, as I have already said,” he answered, “it would be dangerous for you to do otherwise.”

“Dangerous? Dangerous for whom?”

He did not answer but went on leading her horse between the trees.

Ilona pulled the bridle sharply so that the horse came to a standstill.

“I do not like your attitude!” she said. “I will not be ordered about by you or anyone else!”

The man looked at her for a moment, then said,

“Now listen to me, and listen carefully.”