by Robin Roseau
I offered a little laugh and then said, “And you’re happy to possess my arm?”
He paused then said, “I think I’m making a muddle. Are you offended?”
“No. But I think you should complete your explanation.”
“I wasn’t going to come because I don’t particularly enjoy it when she turns her eye on me, but it’s even harder to see her with Talith. Aunt Castia enjoys matchmaking, but she tends to be particularly bad at it.”
“Oh, you’re definitely making a muddle of it,” I declared.
“I don’t mean you!” he said quickly. “I just mean…”
“Yes?”
“Now you’re offended.”
“My offended sensibilities are enjoying watching you explain this,” I replied. “Keep going, Garnier.”
He gestured. “Thiebaut is the youngest potential suitor Talith has met in months. The last one was twice her age.”
“Oh, dear,” I said.
“I think it was three men ago, if I have the count right, that the gentleman in question had no right to that particular title.”
“Oh, my.”
“As I already knew his reputation, I kept myself close, and it was a good thing, too.”
“You’re a good cousin,” I said.
He laughed. “She’d be in prison now if I hadn’t been there.”
“You’re teasing.”
“I’m not, actually. She was reaching for a table knife. I moved it out of reach and then moved her out of reach.”
“You’re a good cousin,” I said again. “And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Who has she introduced to you?”
“The last was fourteen.”
“You’re not serious.”
“She might have been sixteen.”
“What’s the truth?”
“She looked and acted fourteen,” he said. “But is probably sixteen.”
I eyed him. “You’re older than I am.”
“Twenty-one,” he provided. “Last week.”
“Happy birthday,” I said automatically. “I take it you didn’t like her?”
“I liked her fine,” he said. “For a child.” He sighed. “The one before that had expensive tastes I couldn’t possibly have satisfied. The two prior to that disliked me on sight.”
“There’s a solution,” I said.
“Yes. Don’t accept Aunt Castia’s invitations.”
“Or bring a date.”
“Aunt Castia doesn’t invite me to do so,” he said.
“You came tonight.”
“I didn’t know she would put me on your arm,” he replied. “But I wanted to meet you. The entire town does.”
“Now that you’ve met me, you’re under no obligation to entertain me.”
“You don’t enjoy my company?” he asked.
I looked him in the eye. He was taller than me, but not horribly so. “From the way you’re talking, I had the impression you didn’t care for your aunt’s matchmaking.”
“Would you like to play a game?”
“What sort of game?” I asked.
“It’s a game with Aunt Castia,” he said. “It is very simple. We each go our separate ways, and we see how long it takes before she pushes us back together.”
I offered a little laugh. “Have you played this game before?”
“Talith and I both play,” he said. “She’s already offering a wager to me.”
“A wager?”
“Yes. We both extricate ourselves and see who gets returned to the chosen partner first.”
“And you win the wager if she is first?”
“Quite so.”
“And are there stakes to this game?”
“The next mutual bar tab,” he replied.
“How can you tell she’s making the wager?”
“A secret signal,” he said. Just then, Talith turned and looked directly at us, giving a very pointed look to her cousin. He laughed. “Oh, she doesn’t like him at all. Perhaps you would like to trade.”
“That’s an excellent suggestion. What am I offered if I manage to avoid your aunt’s scheming longer than Talith does?”
“Ooh,” he said. “What would you like? Perhaps you’d like to join Talith and me for a night on the town?”
“That would be lovely, but my guards would be quite displeased with me. Let me ask differently; what do you want of me if I fail to avoid your aunt longer than Talith does?”
“Dinner for Talith and me at the embassy.”
“Agreed,” I said immediately. “An evening at the embassy. And so, an evening for an evening. I don’t know if or when I’ll use it, but if you win this wager, then you’ll owe me a similar amount of time at some unspecified future.”
“Agreed,” he said. “Shall we trade?”
“Definitely.” I pulled him forward, and we crossed the room. Talith turned and saw us coming. We reached them, and I pulled my arm from Garnier. “Talith, there is a Ressaline custom I want to teach you. Or maybe you already know it.” Then I drew her to me and offered the Ressaline greeting.
She did, indeed, know it, and when my mouth was near her ear, I whispered to her, “I offered to trade partners, but I didn’t specify which trade.”
Then I took her arm, wished Garnier well, and drew his cousin away. I felt eyes on the back of my neck, and I laughed. But I didn’t release Talith’s arm.
But then she steered us from the room, my guards traveling with us. We both ignored them, and we walked slowly to another room. “This is Father’s study,” she said. She drew me to the window, and we stood together.
“I should tell you: your cousin and I made a wager over which of us would avoid your mother’s scheming longest. Was this her plan when you arrived at the embassy?”
“If so, she hid it well,” Talith replied. “Are you offended?”
“Amused,” I replied. “I take it you didn’t care for the gentleman in question?”
“I keep telling Mother to stop doing this,” she said. “It’s to the point I have to beg to get Garnier to come, and Mother doesn’t realize how many times I’m ‘stuck at the Ministry’ rather than attend one of her dinners. I’m so tired of it, anyone Mother introduces to me automatically lands on my bad side.” She paused. “How much of that do you get?”
“I’m barely eighteen and have been living in Charth,” I said. “I imagine if I were home, my mother would have begun introducing me to prospective boys.” I smiled. “How long do you think we can hide out?”
“Not very long,” she replied. “Could I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Would you really have left that day?”
“I have been learning from several people,” I replied. “First, of course, Mother. After that, probably not equally, Father and my older sister, Ahlianna. But for the last three years, I have taken my lessons from Ambassador Cuprite and Lady Olivia. And from nearly all of them, I’ve learned a variety of lessons.”
“And there’s one in particular you are about to reference.”
“Never bluff.” I smiled again. “Of course, someone who bluffs all the time probably would say she never bluffs.”
“I suppose she would.”
“We were packed,” I said. “It wasn’t simply a show. I was sure the power games weren’t over, and I don’t think they’re over now, either. My turn. Am I here on behalf of anyone in your government?”
“You’re here because Mother is being opportunistic.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I’m here as my mother’s daughter, not as a very junior member of Minister Silmarion’s staff. It is possible someone in the government knows you’re here, and very likely they’ll all know by mid-morning tomorrow, as it will be all over town. But I didn’t say anything at work.”
“Should you have?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I imagine there are people who would have sought to take advantage
of the situation,” I said.
“And?”
“And, by not saying anything, you have denied them opportunity. That might vex some people.”
“I’m just a woman,” she said. “What do I know about politics? No one has ever asked me to discuss Mother’s dinner parties in the past.”
“Right,” I replied.
“I’m not naïve, Darfelsa,” she said. “I’ll be passed over for the same promotions I wouldn’t receive, anyway.”
“Because you’re a woman.”
“Yes. Is it different in Flarvor?”
“Perhaps only in degree.”
“I asked the question I asked because I was curious, not because I intend to report back to anyone.”
I nodded. “I would have answered, anyway,” I said. But I gave her arm a squeeze. She hadn’t done anything to extricate herself from me, and I hadn’t done anything to release her. I wondered how long we would stand together like this. “You have a lovely home,” I observed, changing the subject.
“Thank you,” she said. “Mother is very proud. I can’t always tell if she is proud of the home, proud of Father, or proud of being proven right when so many people told her she was being a fool to marry him.”
“Perhaps all of them. He seems like a good man.”
“He is,” she replied. “And he’s been good for Garnier as well.”
“I didn’t meet your uncle.”
“You were a toddler when he died,” Talith said.
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded acceptance. “They lived with us for several years. It’s part of the reason Garnier and I are so close.”
We talked for a few more minutes, and then there were footsteps in the corridor. “Quick,” she said. “Hide!”
I laughed. We didn’t hide, but instead we turned to find Castia in the doorway, Talith’s gentleman for the evening on her arm. “Here they are,” Castia said. “Talith, Thiebaut hoped for a tour of the garden. Be a dear.”
“Perhaps he’d like to spend time with the princess,” Talith replied. “She was commenting upon what an attractive man he is.”
Something flashed in Castia’s eyes. I actually thought it was a pretty good deflection. For his part, I thought Thiebaut wouldn’t care which of us he spent the evening with.
For my part, I thought quickly, feeling a flash of competitive nature. I smiled. “The two of you were made for each other,” I told Talith. “But I was hoping your cousin would find us. I found him quite charming.” Talith turned to me. I gave her a grin. I knew I wasn’t going to escape being returned to Garnier, not after encouraging Castia so blatantly, but she was going to lose first, and at the moment, that was what mattered. I released her arm. “I’m sure we’ll be able to continue our conversation another time.”
I couldn’t read her expression, but she momentarily turned her back to her mother and waved a finger at me. “I’ll get you back,” she whispered. But then Castia managed a handoff, giving Talith to Thiebaut before taking my arm.
The two stepped from the room, and I said, “They do look quite good together.”
“Let us go find Garnier,” she replied.
* * * *
“Did I win?” he asked, once Castia was out of hearing range.
“It depends upon your definition of winning. Talith is showing the gardens to Thiebaut. How many times in one evening do you play this game with your cousin?”
“It varies,” he said. “Perhaps I should surrender for the evening.”
“Let us join one of these other conversations,” I said.
“Do you require fresh wine?”
“No, thank you.”
And so, we joined the nearest conversation, and it wasn’t long before half of Castia’s guests migrated in our direction. I found myself answering fairly simple questions, some about Flarvor, more some form of, “What is it like to be a princess?”
Castia eventually called for dinner, and the party filed to the dining room. She organized seating arrangements, and I found myself around the corner from her place, with Garnier beside me. It was a pleasant meal with easy conversation. I remained out of it until someone said, “I understand you have been in Charthan.”
“For three years,” I said. “Although the people there avoid that term. It is the name of the duchy now, but either they say Ressaline, or they refer to the town, Charth. As I understand it, the culture is now entirely Ressaline.”
“Is it true they keep slaves?” asked Mealonniah.
“Yes,” I said. “Although it’s somewhat more complicated than that. I’m sure Talith can explain.”
“I barely visited,” Talith replied. “Darfelsa lived there.”
“I’m just a cossetted princess,” I said. “I don’t know anything. How long were you in Charth, Talith?”
“Two nights,” she replied. “We had hoped for proper negotiations, but Lady Olivia told us we would need to undergo that horrible tradition before she could talk to us about anything else.” She stared at me.
I smiled sweetly. I didn’t want to lie, nor did I want to make things more difficult for the Ressalines, but I wasn’t going to encourage competition, either. That wasn’t remotely in Flarvor’s best interests, after all. But I didn’t want to say that, either, because, of course, the implication is that there was something worth protecting. “It seems like you learned everything you needed to know,” I said finally. I paused. “Lady Olivia has become a friend. I don’t want to say anything that might make things more difficult for her. If you’re curious about life in Ressaline, I’d rather you asked elsewhere. I’m happy to talk about Barrish, though.”
“But you lived in Charth,” Garnier said. “For three years.” He looked at me then diagonally to his cousin, then back to me. “So, you must have undergone this horrible tradition.” He turned back to his cousin. “What horrible tradition?”
“They don’t let any men into their country,” Talith said. “Any men found are drugged and sent back.”
“Perhaps you haven’t noticed,” Garnier said with a playful tone in his voice, “But you’re not a man.”
“Women who wish to do business in Ressaline must offer themselves as slaves for two months,” she said.
“What?” people asked from several corners. They all began talking at once. Talith answered a few questions, and then Castia said, “Princess Darfelsa, you let yourself be a slave for two months?”
“Talith isn’t telling you everything,” I said. “You aren’t just a slave. You’re probably a very particular type of slave, but it’s a topic that’s more than a little sensitive for a mixed audience.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Castia said.
“Let’s put it this way. I was fifteen when I arrived and was given special dispensation due to my age.”
“You’re eighteen now.”
“Yes, and you’ll notice I’ve been recalled from Ressaline and sent here. But I’ve had three years of foreign service experience, which is actually far more than my older sister, our future queen. What is this dish called?” I gestured. “I’ve never had it before. It’s quite flavorful.”
* * * *
I managed to avoid any other uncomfortable conversations. Garnier was gracious. Talith seemed less pleased with Thiebaut, but I decided she was simply vexed that her mother had forced him upon her.
Eventually I declared it was time for good little princesses to head home. Talith offered to walk me to the door, and once we were clear of Castia and her guests, she asked me, “Why didn’t you want to talk about Ressaline?”
“Because I’m not here as a representative of the Ressaline government. I also didn’t want to talk about their habit of making people be sex slaves for two months, especially not in a room half filled with men, your cousin seated beside me.”
“Are you upset with me?”
“No, and the questions were probably inevitable,” I replied. “Does this offend you?” I offered a Ressaline departure, brushing cheeks and kissi
ng the near corner of her ear.
“No,” she said, a whisper.
“Good. It is up to you if you would like to pursue a personal friendship.” Then I slipped away with a final, “Good night.”
Ministers
I was ready to give it a week from when Mr. Gremish left before I’d next raise a stink. The Minister of Commerce, Mr. Silmarion, beat my deadline by a day. Not that he knew there was a deadline, but he beat it, and I received an invitation to visit with him to discuss “issues of interest for both our countries.” The meeting itself wasn’t for two more days, but we had something on the books.
We arrived at the capitol. I had a full honor guard as well as Mr. Epseen and Ms. Pelonden, Blendost, and Sarlenda. I’d actually tried to go with fewer guards, but Sergeant Felist insisted, and I didn’t argue with her.
We were quite the troop as we marched up the capitol building steps.
Just inside, Talith was waiting for us. I offered a hand clasp. “Good morning, Ms. Leyviel.”
“Good morning, Your Highness,” she replied. “I trust you are well.”
“Quite well, thank you.”
She gestured, and we walked together through the corridors. “How are you getting along in Dennaholst?”
“Fine, thank you. It is a lovely city.”
We kept things formal and innocuous for the walk. And then she gestured us into a large conference room, where six men were waiting for us. I recognized Minister Silmarion, and one other had been in his office the day I’d burst in.
No one rose when we stepped in. I thought that was rude, but I simply sat down in the seat opposite the minister with my immediate staff in the seats beside me. Talith took a seat in back, behind everyone else. “Thank you for inviting me, Minister Silmarion,” I said. “Did you have specific items you wished to discuss? I have my own list.”
“I thought we’d start with a few questions. First, how long will you be in our city?”
“I imagine until Father recalls me,” I replied. “Is that a problem, Minister?”
“Not at all,” he said. “We were fond of Lord Marlish.”
“I imagine you were,” I said. “Father has been trying to find someone suitable. I’m sorry you’ll have to make do with me until such time.”