All of this drew everyone's attention, and Ursula, who had known the Protocol Mistress her whole life, suspected Lady Whillamina did everything to make sure the others knew how important she was.
"I'm ready, Your Majesty," she said when she was settled and her assistants were perched on a bench behind her.
"Thank you, Lady Whillamina," Mariana said. "Shall we begin?"
The Protocol Mistress unrolled a scroll and read, "Treaty between the Sovereign Kingdom of Heyton and the Sovereign Kingdom of Valborough. First item for discussion, the allowing of students in one kingdom to attend a university in the other without penalty."
"I see no reason to disagree," Prince Gideon said.
One of Mariana's advisors leaned over and whispered in the Queen's ear. "We would like a possible exception to be made for the Sensitivity Academy in Redbreeze Crossing. It includes our military college and therefore, we would prefer to keep it closed to non-citizens."
Prince Gideon sighed. "I'm afraid if that's the case, then there are several schools in Heyton that will not be admitting students from Valborough."
His companion, Lord Dashiell, laid an unrolled scroll in front of him, and the Prince read off a list of schools.
At this point, Ursula's mind began to wander. She'd known the negotiations would not start with a discussion of the prisoners, but she hadn't anticipated this kind of debate on minute details.
With a sigh, she resigned herself to a long morning.
Chapter 7
"I'm afraid we can't agree to that." Traren dropped the stack of papers onto the table, stood and stretched.
Ursula sympathized with the strain evident on his face. The people involved in the talks, twelve in total, had been there since before the breakfast dishes had been cleared away nearly a half a candle ago. The negotiations still had not reached the discussion of the prisoners or King Killian's interest in marrying her.
The sun coming through the windows showed that the kitchen staff would be hovering around soon wondering when they should serve the mid-day meal, but the negotiations had gotten stalled on the issue of use of the Clearlea port.
Mariana sighed and rubbed her swollen abdomen. "That port has been a sticking point between our two kingdoms since before my grandfather's time on the throne. You'd think we'd be able to come up with some kind of compromise that would make both nations happy."
"That's the problem with compromise, Your Majesty," Traren said. "No one is really happy. The best we can do is make both sides equally miserable. The problem here is Heyton refuses to compromise on any of the issues on the table."
"I don't think that's a fair assessment," Gideon replied.
"No?" Traren was still standing as he used his index finger to push a sheet of parchment forward.
"A discussion of trade with the Edeandra miners. Will you allow our caravans into the region?"
"No," Gideon admitted.
Traren slid another parchment toward the Heyton side of the table. "Will Heyton open the passage through the Blackcrystal mountains to connect our Eastern Lake Region with the Wyvernhurst Farming District?"
"No," Gideon said with a sigh.
Traren shook his head. "Now, this is what I don't understand. That proposal seems to be a simple one. It would open fishing opportunities to Heyton in the region while allowing our people to get grain and produce from your farmers without having to pay for the transport around the mountains." He looked at Gideon. "You refuse to even consider opening this pass, so our people are still forced to pay exorbitant fees."
Gideon sighed but didn't respond to any of this. Ursula felt his frustration as though it were tangible waves flowing off him. Why didn't he give Valborough something in all this?
"Prince Gideon," Queen Mariana said, her voice tinged with fatigue and irritation, "Pir Traren has a point. We've given you several concessions you've asked for." She considered a similar stack of parchment in front of her.
"We're offering favorable trade arrangements for our artisan silk and linen exports as well as more than generous border considerations as far as the Southern Blackcrystals and spa and resort areas."
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Gideon said, finally. "My uncle was quite adamant about what he expected from these negotiations." He swallowed. "I do hate to mention it, but Valborough did, in fact, lose the last war, and as victor, Heyton does have the right to demand such considerations without maintaining trade equality."
Grand Prince Orlando stood, but his wife laid a hand on his arm. His face softened. After a deep breath, he returned his attention to Gideon.
"Your Highness," he said in a controlled tone. "I don't believe either one of us wants to waste our time listing and reliving the horrors of a war best left in the past. Mistakes were made on both sides, and regret and apologies have been offered. Perhaps you could send a messenger, a raven or crow, to King Killian, requesting some discretion to make your own decisions about the best way to proceed."
Now Gideon stood. Ursula noticed he didn't seem to have any trouble this time.
"Grand Prince Orlando, I appreciate your advice, but at this point, I think a better course of action for both sides would be to step away from this table before words are said that would set back whatever progress we've already made." He bowed to the Queen. "If you'll excuse me?"
Mariana sighed, but she nodded, waving her hand toward him. He left the conference room, his valet hurrying after.
Ursula stared after him. What was he doing? She'd told him about the prisoners. Why hadn't he brought it up? For that matter, why hadn't anyone?
She turned to Orlando and Mariana. "What are you doing?"
"Us?" Orlando asked, his eyes wide. "What did we do?"
"Nothing." Ursula stood and shook her head. "I thought your biggest concern about all this was to get the prisoners home. Isn't that why you were fighting my father?" She picked up some of the parchment sheets.
"Guest workers, student exchanges, sport competitions?" She tossed the papers at Orlando and Traren. "What does any of that matter when there are men, hundreds of them, maybe dying while we discuss trade agreements and fight over compromises?" With a huff of frustration, she stomped out of the room.
It wasn't too difficult to follow Gideon, and Ursula caught up with him standing on one of the big balconies on the front of the palace. This one was where all the monarchs stood after their coronations, with most of the capital city's residents standing in the courtyard below.
He wasn't looking at her, but he must have heard her coming because before she reached him, he said, "I know. I shouldn't yell at the Grand Prince like that. It's probably not good for the babies or something, all that yelling."
"It probably isn't, but that's not why I came to find you," Ursula said.
He winked at her. "Have you succumbed to my charms?"
She didn't acknowledge the gesture. "You didn't mention the prisoners. Not once in a whole morning of talks. I would have thought they would have been the first thing, the only thing that needed to be discussed. Men being held in the Elements know what kind of conditions, and here is your chance to do the right thing."
Gideon sighed. "I don't have the authority to agree to release them. I'm not the King."
"But you have messengers, right? Ways to get information back and forth? Send him a message. Tell him the welfare of these men are of primary importance to the success of this relationship."
She stared at him and saw his face fall. He looked at the floor and sighed again.
"I talked to him last night." His voice was so soft she wasn't sure she'd heard correctly.
"What?"
He took a resigned deep breath and raised his eyes to hers. "I have a way of communicating through a bowl of water."
This was a joke to him. All their connection in the library had been a joke. Ursula shook her head.
"I don't know what kind of silly, stupid women you're used to dealing with but I am the Royal Princess of Valborough and I won't stand here and let
you mock me or treat me like a fool. If you won't do something about those prisoners, I will." She left him.
He called after her but she ignored him, marching straight to the Queen's office.
Mariana wasn't there. Probably she, Orlando, and Traren were having their mid-day meal in the dining room. It didn't matter. In fact, it might be better that Ursula was alone.
This room had not been her father's office. When Mariana took the throne, she'd turned his office into a sitting room, saying she wanted to start fresh with no shadows of the past hanging over her as she worked.
This had once been a receiving room for local nobles. It was part of the palace that had been added to the original structure in the time of their grandfather. The space jutted out so three sides were marked by high, wide windows that looked out over the massive gardens.
The desk sat at an angle so the Queen could look at the view and still be aware should anyone enter unannounced. As Ursula sat, she thought her sister had made an excellent choice for her office.
However, she wasn't here to enjoy the flowers or watch the Flora Sensitive gardeners work. She opened drawers until she found parchment and a pen.
She didn't know how to address a letter to King Killian in regard to the prisoners. How did one tell the King of another land he needed to do the honorable thing and send those men back to their families?
"Princess?"
She saw Lorenzo, Mariana's personal secretary, standing by the door. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I'll help her." Gideon entered the office, brushing past Lorenzo, who sputtered and gasped at this horrible breach of etiquette.
"What are you doing here?" Ursula stood. "This is the Queen's private office."
"You hurried away so fast, you didn't let me explain."
She waved Lorenzo away. He hesitated, clearly wanting to protest, but she waved her hand again. "It will be fine, Lorenzo. I will speak to the Prince."
When the secretary left, closing the door behind him, Ursula turned to Gideon. "You wanted to explain some fairy tale about being able to speak to King Killian through a bowl of water? I can't imagine why I wouldn't want to hear such a thing."
"I know it sounds crazy, but I'm a Water Sensitive. It's something I can do."
Ursula sighed, tilted her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm a Water Sensitive, too, as was my mother. I've never heard of anything like that."
"I know." Gideon nodded. "I'm the only one I know of who can do it. I don't know why."
The Princess studied his face. He met her gaze with a steady one of his own, never flinching or darting his eyes to the side. Standing straight and still, he didn't fidget under her consideration.
Rarely was Ursula able to tell if someone was lying based solely on what she felt through her Abilities, but her mother had sometimes spoken of sensing a person's integrity or character. What Ursula felt from Gideon was openness. She didn't feel any shifting or hiding, nor did she sense he was nervous or frightened.
With a single nod of her head, she said, "How does this skill work?" She sat down again and invited him, with a gesture, to take the seat on the other side of the desk.
"I don't know if I can explain it," he said. "I just concentrate on the water in the bowl, and if things are right, I connect to whoever is on the other side."
"The bowl? Is this a special bowl? Maybe one that has been enchanted somehow?"
Prince Gideon shook his head. "I don't know about any enchantments. The bowl was a gift from a neighboring King when I was born and my Abilities were known."
"I see." She cocked her head to the side. "You speak with those who have passed?"
Now he blinked. "Those who have passed? You mean the dead? No. Why would you think that?"
"You said you speak with those on the other side."
Gideon chuckled. "Not that other side. The other side or other end of the..." He faltered. "It's like a rope or something. I'm at one end, and there's another end." He gestured with his hands, mimicking a rope tied between two points. "I think about this end of the rope, and sometimes, I can...see the room and talk to the person who is there. Usually my uncle."
Ursula frowned in thought. "Such a thing could be useful."
He let out a loud huff. "Yes. Useful. That's what my uncle thinks, and it's the only reason I was chosen for this mission. He wants to be able to monitor what's going on here."
The bitterness from the library was back, and Ursula wanted to pursue it, but now was not the time.
"So, you said you talked to him last night. About the prisoners?"
Prince Gideon nodded. "He admitted we have them, but he also said your father refused to discuss ransom or reparations."
Ursula sighed. "That's true, but not relevant now. All the rest of the treaty talks are useless if we don't get those men home. What do we need to do to make that happen?"
The Prince studied her face, and she wondered what he was thinking. She could feel sympathy as well as a touch of embarrassment emanating from him. Why would he feel those things?
"King Killian says he will release the prisoners once you and he are wed in body as well as in name."
"Prince Gideon has a way for us to get the prisoners back," Ursula said when she returned to the conference room. "King Killian will release them as soon as our marriage is consummated."
"What?" Orlando stood so quickly he knocked his chair backward. A waiting servant hurried over to set it upright. "It's out of the question."
Mariana paled, and she covered her mouth with her hand. She stared at Gideon and then back at Ursula. "Surely, there has been some misunderstanding. The King can not expect to force my sister into his bed."
"I told you when I arrived that King Killian was asking for Princess Ursula's hand in marriage. Obviously, children, and presumably, an heir would eventually follow."
"Eventually," Orlando said, "but you never told us the lives of hundreds of men would hang on how soon she would conceive."
Gideon sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Conception is not required for the men to be released; merely consummation of the marriage. After all, the wedding will be done by proxy, so he has a right to expect the marriage to be truly finalized."
"Proxy?" Ursula stared at him. "King Killian will then expect this consummation to happen as soon as I arrive at his palace."
"I'm sure it won't have to be instantly." He was trying to lessen the tension in the room, but Ursula didn't smile. It might be a joke to him, but this was her life.
"When you first presented the marriage proposal," Mariana asked, "why weren't the prisoners mentioned then?" She ran her hand over the bulge of her abdomen, a gesture Ursula had come to recognize as a way for the Queen to calm her own emotions.
Orlando saw it, too, for he put his hand on his wife's shoulder as he stood behind her.
Gideon responded to the question. "When I first arrived, Your Majesty, I didn't know there were still prisoners in our cells."
"What changed?" the Queen asked.
Gideon hesitated. He turned in Ursula's direction, but she kept her eyes lowered, staring at her hands which were clasped on the table as she spoke.
"I talked to the King last night about the prisoners."
"You talked to him?" Mariana asked. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Did King Killian come with you in disguise? Is he somewhere in my palace?"
"No, Your Majesty." Gideon shook his head.
"Then enlighten me on how you were able to 'talk' to your uncle," the Queen said. "The Sapphire Palace is a two day carriage ride from here."
"Three days, Your Majesty." The Prince took a deep breath, but when he released it, he remained silent.
"So, you expect us to believe you somehow magically spoke to the King of Heyton last night from here?"
"Actually, Mari, he did."
Everyone in the room turned to look at Ursula.
"What?" Mariana asked. "Did you see this miracle?"
"No, Your Majesty, but
we discussed it. Prince Gideon is a Water Sensitive and is able to use that Element to speak to people far away."
Now Mariana and Orlando frowned at the Prince. "This is outrageous," the Queen said. "You come to my kingdom and use whatever charms you think you have to convince my sister you can do this ridiculous trick."
"Mariana, perhaps you should calm down." Orlando took hold of her hand. "Think of the babies."
"It is a trick, Your Majesty," Gideon said, "but it's also true. The main reason my uncle sent me here instead of his heir or some other royal advisor is because I can keep him informed more quickly about the situation."
Mariana looked at him for several long moments. Ursula felt a crackling of Chaos magic race up her spine and tease the roots of her hair. Every magic user in the room had to feel the same thing, but to his credit, Gideon never flinched under Mariana's scrutiny, nor did he even shift in his seat.
"You believe what you say," the Queen stated as she relaxed against the back of her chair.
"Because it's true, Your Majesty." Gideon sighed. "Ever since I was a child, I've been able to use my Water Sensitivity and a set of Speaking Bowls to communicate over long distances."
"Speaking Bowls?" Orlando asked. "Forgive me, Mari...Your Majesty."
"No. I'm curious as well."
Briefly, Gideon told Mariana and Orlando what he'd told Ursula about this Ability.
"Fascinating," Mariana said when he had finished. "Such a skill would be invaluable in a diplomatic mission. I can see why your uncle holds you in such esteem."
"I don't know that he sees it the same way," Gideon responded, shrugging one shoulder.
"All of this is interesting," Orlando said, "but we're getting off the subject. King Killian is holding our people hostage to get Princess Ursula into his bed." The Grand Prince paced several steps back and forth on the other side of the table. "The idea is out of the question."
"So you said, dear." The Queen glanced over her shoulder at him. "Please sit down. Let's talk about this."
"Talk about what?" Her husband stared at her. "You can't honestly say you're considering this." He waved his hand toward Gideon. "You would consider selling Ursula to an old man?"
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