Tiara- Part One

by Robin Roseau

  “I can’t believe you’re talking me into dating another woman.”

  “She’s not a threat to me.” She offered another laugh. “Her mother could be, though.” I joined her laugh and thought that could be true.

  * * * *

  It was the following morning that I received two letters. Well, I received more than that, but two I’ll discuss, one each from mother and daughter.

  Salle invited me to an event in three days. I considered then wrote an acceptance.

  Alexi asked permission to call on me shortly after the lunch hour or asking for another time if that didn’t work. I accepted that as well.

  The day was not as pleasant as the previous day, but it was nice enough, and so I took lunch in the garden and then worked from there until Ms. Sessen escorted Alexi to me. Alexi closed the distance and greeted me in the Ressaline style. And then I gestured, and we took seats. I complimented her appearance, assured her I had thoroughly enjoyed my evening at Bashful, and poured tea.

  We made small talk for a few minutes and then she said, “Princess Darfelsa, how long will you remain in Dennaholst?”

  “That is unclear. I am resolving an immediate dispute, but if negotiations stall, I may be forced to vacate. Otherwise, I will be here until my father recalls me. It was understood that won’t be until he finds a permanent ambassador.”

  “And so you are not the ambassador.”

  “Only the king’s envoy,” I said. “This is not a permanent post, but it could last some time.”

  “Several months?”

  “Most likely. Perhaps a year. I hope not longer than that.”

  “You don’t like it here?”

  “Honestly? I didn’t at first. That has been improving.”

  “You are taking to social life here.” She paused. “No, you are generating a social life here, and have been quite the buzz. Even better.” I inclined my head. “You probably wonder why I am here.”

  “I’m pleased to receive you, Alexi.”

  “I treated you gently.”

  “You did,” I said. “Thank you for that.”

  “I am being somewhat self-serving in coming here.”

  “I can defend myself,” I said. “It’s fine.”

  “I am here to invite you to visit Bashful, as often as you choose. I can reserve the same box for you for the duration of your stay. And I can personally guarantee the safety of any food or drink delivered to your box.”

  “For that part, you talk to Sergeant Felist.”

  “Understood,” she said. “I ask in return you let me advertise when you will attend.”

  “Why do you need to reserve the box if there will be advance planning?”

  “I only need two hours of warning.”

  She didn’t have to explain, but I took it an additional step. “Two hours is sufficient to plan how to be less gentle?”

  She laughed. “Oh, darling, I don’t need any time at all for that. I have been doing this for a very long time. But I have never made an enemy.”

  “I have a certain amount of dignity to maintain.”

  “You didn’t struggle with me, Princess,” she said. “You played, but you didn’t struggle. Why is that?”

  “It wasn’t because I thought you were going to go easy on me,” I said.

  “Are you suggesting you will accept my invitation only with such a promise?”

  “I have every intention of accepting,” I said. “I’m not even negotiating.”

  She smiled broadly. “Why didn’t you struggle?”

  “One doesn’t attend a club such as yours and expect to get away without receiving some amount of attention. I could have extracted myself if it was necessary.”

  “Not if I didn’t want to let you.”

  “I don’t want to turn that into a challenge,” I said. “I may not have been able to be gracious about it, though. That wouldn’t be good for either of us, which is why you didn’t push harder than you did.”

  “And why you trusted me.”

  “I suppose it is. However, I am also fairly sure you won’t go as easily the next time?”

  “That is almost certainly true.”

  I had them waiting, two envelopes, one far more ornate than the other. “These are for you.” I handed them to her. “The first is an invitation to afternoon tea. It is an open invitation for every Thursday, but we ask that you warn us when you will accept. I thought afternoon might fit your schedule better.”

  She laughed. “I couldn’t arrive for morning tea?”

  “You operate a club, and your hours are late. But perhaps you must arrive at the club sooner than this invitation allows.”

  “I will happily attend. Am I to understand I may attend as frequently as I desire?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many other people have similar invitations?”

  “Not many.”

  “Flame Githien?”

  “Her entire family. Others have a similar invitation for morning tea on Tuesday.” I gestured. “You are encouraged but not obligated to bring a date.”

  “And the other?”

  “A far more formal event. I understand it may conflict with your duties.”

  “Pshaw. That is what employees are for. We rotate hosts. Expect a positive response.”

  “Excellent. The others went out via the messengers this morning, but as I knew I would see you, I kept this one.”

  She watched me for a minute. “You’re up to something.”

  “As you said: I am making a social life and accepting offers subject to Sergeant Felist’s approval.”

  She tapped the invitations against her leg. I wondered if it was a deliberate attempt to capture my attention, or simply a nervous habit. I smiled. “Just ask, Alexi.”

  “What should I call you?”

  “In private, by my name. In public, you may wish to be more formal, but I won’t be offended, as long as others don’t grow too intimate.”

  “You are offering intimacy?”

  “Ask whatever you really want to ask.”

  “I want to know what you’re doing. You’re going to accept my offer without negotiation?”

  I smiled and said nothing. She offered a disgusted sound and stood. I thought she was about to flee, but she simply turned away and began pacing. I sat quietly. Finally she turned to me. “This is an uncomfortable feeling.”

  “My apologies. What feeling?”

  “I have no idea what you’re doing. I can usually read people far better than this, especially people your age.”

  “It’s the tiara. It puts everyone off.”

  “It’s not the tiara,” she said. “Did you even bring it with you?”

  “Of course not.”

  She sat back down but turned her chair to more fully face me. “Are you going to tell me or not?”

  I smiled again. “Do you suspect some underhanded motive? I’m secretly an advance guard for the Flarvorian military, and we’re going to annex your country?”

  “More likely the Ressaline military,” she said. She waved a finger at me. “This isn’t what it seems.”

  “What does it seem like?”

  “It seems like a princess being a princess.”

  “That is exactly what it is. People seem to find me charming, but you seem put off.”

  “You are charming,” she said. “But that’s not what this is.”

  “Did you just accuse me of lying?”

  “I accused you of playing word games.”

  “Maybe I’m pitting my wit against yours.”

  “That’s fine here, in your garden, but a very, very bad idea in my club. I think you recognize that.”

  “When my father tours Flarvor, he occasionally calls it ‘showing the flag’.”

  “And you are here, showing the Flarvorian flag?”

  I made a decision. “How aware are you of the relationship between our countries?”

  “More aware than most.”

  “You hear things.”

&
nbsp; “I most definitely hear things,” she agreed.

  “How aware is the city that I was packing the embassy.”

  “It looks quite settled now.”

  “How aware?”

  “I wouldn’t say it was common talk, but I think people were aware.”

  “I arrived to a diplomatic mess, and your Minister of Commerce actively provoked war.”

  “That buffoon!”

  “Your Prime Minister has made certain promises to me. He has not yet delivered on those promises, but he has his entire family devoted to calming me down. I have chosen to let them, for now. We can always resume packing. It will take less time, as we have the packing materials in a storeroom downstairs.” I paused. “I would rather it not go around that I’m making fresh threats.”

  “I can be very discreet,” she replied. “Everyone tells me his secrets, and no one has ever received them secondhand from me.”

  I nodded. And then I said nothing further. It took a minute, but she began laughing. “You’re building public support.”

  “If Prime Minister Githien fails to deliver on his promises, I intend the city to know why we’re leaving.”

  “Eroding his support.” She shook her head. “And yet, you feign friendship with his family?”

  “Let’s come back to that. Do you believe my actions are helping to ensure he fulfills his promises?”

  “If he figures out what you’re doing.”

  “Well, I hope he figures it out, as it was his idea, and his wife and the twins are both helping me.”

  Her eyes widened, and she began laughing again. “He knows he can deliver.” She sobered. This time, the envelopes brushed her lips while she thought. She released what she was doing and set them aside, then gazed at me before she began to smile. “I would like to help.”

  I returned her smile. “And that, Alexi, is why I’m not negotiating with you.”

  “He’s going to get that buffoon tossed out of office, finally. Finally!”

  “You don’t care for the man?”

  “He’s horrible,” she said. “No, I do not care for him at all.”

  “Good, because I think you should run for his seat.”

  She sat back, her mouth open. “Princess?”

  I shook my head. “Darfelsa. And I am not going to get into the middle of those politics. But I think I could work with you. I think I would adore working with you.”

  “Oh, please. I’d eat you alive.”

  “That’s a challenge I accept.”

  “Now you’re trying to goad me.”

  “I think you should think about it,” I said. “But I know almost nothing about your local politics. I don’t know if you even can run for his seat.”

  “I can, actually. I can’t be guaranteed his ministry, but I keep a home in his district, and I’ve never run for office. I can run in any district in which I own property, but once I choose a district, it requires approval of the council and the courts before I could run in another.”

  “Interesting,” I said.

  “It’s not quite that simple. I have to have owned the property for some period of time. I can’t buy a piece of property and then run for office. Nor can it be rental property. In this case, it is a summer home I use infrequently. I offer it to guests, but that’s fine.”

  “So, I haven’t suggested the impossible.”

  “No, you haven’t.” She picked up the envelopes and tapped them against her leg again. I found it amusing. “I want to help.”

  “So you said.” I gestured. “You’ll accept those invitations.”

  “Definitely. You’ll attend my club.”

  “Definitely. You won’t ask that question again.”

  I didn’t have to explain which question. “Has the answer changed?”

  “No, but I don’t want to address that question in public, or any other versions of it.”

  “Is anything else off limits?”

  “If I squirm out of an answer, maybe you’ll let me.”

  “Maybe I will,” she said. “And if I engage you in other games?”

  “I bet I blush.”

  “I promise you’ll blush,” she confirmed. She resumed the tapping. “Why does it feel like we haven’t concluded this conversation?”

  “You tell me.”

  “You are a vixen.”

  “I’ve been called far worse.”

  She smiled broadly. “Have dinner with me.”

  “I’d love to. When?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “If I were to invite you to an event?”

  “Yes.”

  “I think we’re getting somewhere,” she observed.

  “I won’t be accepting invitations to your bed.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Don’t be offended when I successfully rebuff you.”

  “Who said I was inviting?” The question was rhetorical. She nodded. “Not dinner. I should have brought my social calendar. I’ll send you a few choices. Let me know which ones fit your schedule.”

  “I will.”

  “My daughter seemed enamored with you.”

  “If given my choice of being seen with the mother or the daughter, I’ll take the mother.”

  “What if the mother chooses to step aside?”

  “I’d much rather she didn’t.”

  She nodded. “Salle will be disappointed.”

  “Good,” I said with a smile.

  I leaned forward and captured one of Alexi’s hands. She looked down for a moment then smiled. “When considering the possible invitations, understand that I love to dance, but the formal events here will all include dancing, so it is your choice whether our other activities include more such opportunities.”

  “I rather doubt I am attending this event as your special guest.”

  “You’re not.”

  “All right.” She stood, drawing me with her. I hooked her arm, and we began walking slowly from the garden. At the embassy foyer, we turned to me. She initiated the brushing of cheeks, but then she set her fingers against my cheek and provided a small kiss.

  It was sweet, and I watched after her as she departed.

  Renishta stepped to my side. I hadn’t realized she was there. I looked over at her. “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I had a nice time with her, but that’s all it was.”

  “Renishta,” I said gently.

  But she set her hand on my arm then laid her head against my shoulder. “I’m figuring things out, Darfelsa. One thing I’m figuring out is don’t lie. I wouldn’t have told you not to worry and lie about it. The only bad part about this is no one notices anyone else when you’re in the room.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about that, either.” She lifted her head, and we turned to each other. “I’m good. I had a nice time, but I went into it knowing what it was.”

  “I want you and the others to feel free to invite your own guests to our events, but perhaps rotate. We can get our friends to help provide introductions.”

  She nodded. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “I think I will, then.”

  “Good.”

  * * * *

  I accepted an invitation from Liri. She took me to dinner and the theater. We sat together, holding hands, and had a lovely time. Later, in the carriage, I let her kiss me. It was a very nice kiss, but then she pulled away and sat beside me, staring ahead. Eventually I took her hand and asked, “What is wrong?”

  “You are half my age.”

  “And?”

  “And, I’m an old lady throwing herself at an 18-year-old. You’re barely a woman.”

  “Trust me,” I said. “I am more than barely a woman.”

  “I meant no offense.”

  “I know you didn’t. Is it only the age difference that has you flustered?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, I’ve spent a lot of time in Ressaline. You are far from the oldest woman I have kissed. It was jus
t a kiss.”

  “We both know it was more than just a kiss.”

  “No. But kisses are almost always more than kisses,” I said. “They are messages. Do you want to know what this kiss meant to me?”

  “I think I would.”

  “It meant you are pleased to be here with me. It meant I enjoyed seeing the show with you. It meant, to some extent, a little sadness the evening will eventually draw to a close. But it also meant I hope for more such evenings. It meant I hope you will accept the invitations to tea and other events, and that I hope you invite me to more shows, or to dancing, or find other opportunities. And it means I hope there are more kisses, more kisses tonight, and more kisses in the future.”

  “One kiss said so much?”

  “To me,” I said. “Yes.” She looked over at me. “I’m not here with a lover. Maybe you hoped, but that isn’t our future. But company, and kisses. I’m here for those.” And then I lifted her hand and caressed my own face with it. She didn’t need more encouragement and took over. And then, somewhat slowly, she climbed back atop me.

  We were still kissing when we reached the embassy. “Darfelsa,” she whispered.

  I hugged her tightly. “I had a lovely time. Please accept my future invitations and issue your own. I’ll accept, subject to my other commitments. There will be more kisses, and more holding of hands, and sweet touches.”

  “I think I understand,” she whispered. “Yes. I’d like that.”

  “When you come to tea, bring someone with you,” I added. “At least some of the time.”

  “I will.”

  “Good.” I pulled her head down for one more kiss, and then she climbed from me, and I climbed from the carriage.

  * * * *

  People came to tea. I met their friends. I was sweet and charming. I accepted invitations as I could. Excepting Flame and my closest, new friends, I was as egalitarian as I could be.

  Blaze invited me to a few sporting events. I treated him like a brother. He introduced me to some of his friends, and twice, I accepted invitations.

  And everywhere I went, I was sweet and charming, and entirely the princess.

  Well, almost everywhere.

  * * * *

  Blaze sat down beside me, still clad in his fencing gear. He’d been beaten, and fairly handily, by a tall, arrogant man. I bumped shoulders with Blaze. “You’re too aggressive to lunge,” I told him.