by Robin Roseau
Juleena
We were almost done for the day. Ralalta spoke for a few minutes then asked if anyone else had business befitting the day. There was silence until Juleena stood.
She was holding a rolled parchment. I hadn't seen it before, but I wasn't surprised by it. I began to smile.
"Well, well," Ralalta said. "Daughter. What do you have?"
Juleena said not a word. But she crossed the dais and came to a stop before me. Then she knelt and held the parchment to me, her head bowed.
The room broke out in an uproar.
Juleena didn't move. I set my hand on the parchment, but didn't take it from her. Instead, I looked at Ralalta. She looked at me, then held up her hand for the crowd. "Really," she said. "We've talked about this!"
They quieted, and then Ralalta said, "Princess Juleena, have you lost your tongue?"
"Your Majesty," she said in a stammer. I'd never seen her looking so nervous before. "I request permission to court Lady Yallameenara. If my petition is accepted, I would be her only suitor."
"Well, well," said Ralalta. "And this is why you kneel to her."
"It is." Then Juleena looked up at me. "Lady Yallameenara, would you allow me to court you?"
The room grew still, absolutely still. I took the parchment from her and made a point of opening and reading it. Then I rolled it back up and held it towards the queen. "Your Majesty, I hope you will accept Princess Juleena's petition."
Ralalta slowly accepted the petition, read it herself, then rolled it back up and tapped it against her knee several times. "Conditionally," she said finally.
"Conditionally?" Juleena said.
"The two of you will be properly chaperoned at all times," the queen declared.
"Chaperoned?" I asked.
"I do not believe you have engaged in anything untoward, have you?" she asked.
"Of course not," said Juleena.
"Then yes, you will be chaperoned." She looked around the room. "By..." She paused, and then I followed her gaze. "I believe two priestesses of the Goddess will do."
"Don't ask them to do it," I said in quiet Arrlottan. "They'll be offering advice on the multitude of paths to joy."
"No, I do not believe they well." She gestured. "You two. Step forward."
Larien had to nudge Terél, and the two moved into the space before the dais.
"If these two consummate their relationship prior to a wedding, you and your fellow priestesses will be permanently evicted from my country," Ralalta declared. Then she smiled. "Am I clear?"
They both bobbed a curtsey. "You are clear, Your Majesty," Larien said for them.
Ralalta turned to me with a grin. "I can't imagine better chaperones. I accept this petition."
The room broke out in applause.
* * * *
Juleena didn’t waste time, although she was quite formal at the same time. It was quite strange. I had barely returned to my new quarters, my household in tow, when there was a knock at the door. The maids paused in pulling the gown from me, and Naddí moved to the outer room. A moment later she poked her nose back in. “There’s a page with a message for you, High Priestess.” I glanced in her direction, and she was holding a gilt-edged envelope.
“So formal,” I said.
“The page is awaiting a response,” she added.
I gestured, and Naddí crossed the room to me, holding out the envelope. My name was carefully written across the front: Lady Yallameenara, Duchess Havenshade. I recognized Juleena’s hand. I flipped it over to see the wax seal, confirming the provenance.
“Well,” I said, gesturing to my name. “At least she didn’t use all my titles.”
“Send it back,” Larien said, trying to snatch the letter from my fingers.
“Hey!” I complained.
I flipped the envelope over, broke the seal, and withdrew a single sheet of fine paper, folded once. I held it up, the members of my household clustering over my shoulders to read with me. I immediately began shaking my head. “Ridiculous.”
“What was that about all your titles?” Larien asked.
“What is a Companion of Honor?” Naddí added.
“You’ll have to ask the queen,” I replied. I read the note. It was quite brief, a simple request to call on me in a half hour’s time. From over my shoulder, Naddí translated into Altearan for Féla and Terél.
“She has more titles than you do, High Priestess,” Larien said. Juleena had signed her note with her full list of titles.
I just shook my head. “Ridiculous,” I muttered again.
“The page is waiting,” Naddí reminded me.
I sighed. “I suppose I have to reply in writing.” I started to get up, but Larien set a hand on my shoulder, holding me in the seat.
“Your chaperones will reply on your behalf,” Larien explained. “Will the library be available?”
“She’s coming here.”
“Did you and I meet in your private chambers for our first engagement?”
“I’ve known Juleena for years,” I complained.
“And the queen was clear,” Larien countered. “You will be properly courted and properly chaperoned. Naddí and Féla, button all that back up.” She made a gesture to my gown.
“I want my leathers.”
“Tough.”
“I’m not meeting Juleena in the library wearing a gown!”
“So you wish us to decline on your behalf?” Terél asked.
“No, I do not wish you to decline on my behalf,” I snapped.
“Yalla,” Terél said. “Think.”
No one said anything for a minute. Finally I sighed. “A dress,” I said. “It’s afternoon. A gown is inappropriate.” I shook my head. “Ridiculous. We’ve known each other since I was ten and three.”
“You’re meeting the Crown Princess of Framara,” Larien said. “That calls for a gown.”
“Fine, I’ll wear the leather,” I countered.
“Come on, Terél,” Larien said. “We need to draft apologies.”
“You are not drafting apologies!” I ducked away from Larien’s hand and rose to my feet. I headed for the door, but Larien and Terél got there before I did and firmly blocked the route, crossing their arms in a show of resolution.
“Ridiculous!”
“You’re fond of that word,” Larien said. “You’ll meet her in the library wearing a gown or not at all.”
“Fine. I’ll meet her in the library, but I’m not wearing this gown.”
“Then you can wear another,” Terél offered. “She’s seen that one, anyway.”
“She’s seen everything I own.”
“She hasn’t seen all your Altearan clothing,” Larien suggested.
“And she won’t be seeing any of it today, as I’ll be wearing my Framaran leather.”
“A gown.”
“Leather.”
“Gown!”
“A dress is appropriate,” Féla said from behind me. “A gown is entirely the wrong message.”
Larien and Terél looked past me at the maids then returned their gaze to me. “Queen Ralalta assigned us as your chaperones,” Terél pointed out. “That means she also gave us authority over how you are to be courted. Do you deny this?”
“Do you know the first thing about being a chaperone?” I asked. “Who guided you when you were here, Larien? You fooled everyone into believing you were a lady, the sister to an important diplomat, but you were a child when you became a priestess.”
“My language tutor is a lady in waiting to Queen Mesenorié,” Larien asked. “She was assigned to the embassy here while I was here.”
“I bet neither of you know any of the protocols,” I said, moving a hand to my hip.
“I know enough,” Larien said, although she didn’t sound like she was convinced. Then she smiled and gestured to the maids. “But I bet they know how to dress a lady about to meet a fresh suitor.”
I glanced over my shoulder then back at my vexing chaperones. “What do
you recommend?”
Terél began to join Larien in a smile. “Dress in whatever they pick,” she said. “And agree not to fight about it in the future.”
I sighed again and wished Mellara were here. “Fine,” I muttered. “Fine.”
“Good,” Larien declared. “We’ll compose a nice reply for you.”
* * * *
Twenty minutes later, wearing a dress and flanked by my chaperones, I made my way to the main library on the first floor of the palace. Juleena was already there, standing near the windows with a book in her hand. As I entered, she turned to me with a smile, closing the book.
She was in leather and looked great. I muttered under my breath. In Arrlottan. Larien and Terél snickered quietly.
But it was Larien who stepped ahead of me, holding her hand out towards me in a “stop” gesture. And then she announced me, complete with all my titles.
“Seriously?” I asked her in Altearan. I tried to step past her, and Juleena took two steps towards me, but that was when Terél slipped past both Larien and me and held her own “stop” hand to Juleena. “Now what?” I complained.
“Both of you,” Larien said. “Terél and I don’t want this responsibility, and we don’t know why the queen assigned it to us. But she must have her reasons, and we intend to take them seriously.”
“I’m not about to ravage her on the floor of the library,” Juleena snapped.
“Of course you aren’t, Princess,” Larien said. “But the queen assigned chaperones for two people who clearly don’t need them. She must have reasons. And you, Princess, offered an exceedingly formal invitation, which suggests you intend to court Lady Yallameenara properly. Terélmarestra and I only wish to make obvious what everyone in this room knows, but perhaps hasn’t fully acknowledged.” She looked back and forth between Juleena and me, her gaze settling on Juleena. “You will court Yallameenara properly,” she said. She turned to me. “The queen wants this done formally. Which means you aren’t two close friends who have shared every breakfast for eight years.” She pointed a finger at me. “You are receiving a suitor, Yallameenara.”
I didn’t really understand what she was trying to say, but Juleena appeared to. “Mother wants this done a certain way,” she said. “Yalla, she wants us seen doing this as formally as can be done. Do you understand?”
“I suppose,” I muttered.
“More importantly, she doesn’t want us seen doing it casually,” Juleena added.
“No more breakfasts,” I said.
“And you didn’t come back to be my assistant anymore, either.” She paused only a moment. “As much as I hate to admit it, Larien is right.” She smiled. “You’re going to get the entire experience, Lady Yallameenara.”
“Why can’t we just be ourselves?”
“Mother refused to offer any explanations,” Juleena answered. “Tell our chaperones you won’t fight with them.”
“Fine,” I muttered. “I won’t fight with you.” I said it in Arrlottan.
“Funny,” Juleena said. “Yallameenara...”
“Fine,” I said again this time in Altearan. “I won’t fight with you two. About this.”
“Excellent,” Larien said. And then the two of them moved from our path.
Juleena and I stepped forward. She took my hands and smiled. “Good afternoon, Lady Yallameenara.”
“You aren’t really going to call me that, are you?”
“Maybe once we get to know each other a little better, you’ll offer a more intimate name,” she suggested with a smile. “Come. There is tea.”
I let her draw me to an intimate seating arrangement of two chairs and a small coffee table, the three pieces arranged in a triangle. We sat, and I watched Juleena pour for us before handing me my tea. We each sipped from our tea and then turned to each other.
“Juleena-“
But she interrupted me with a raised finger.
“Lady Yallameenara,” she said formally. “I have never courted someone before. I’ve had offers to be courted, but I have declined them all. And I don’t expect to ever court anyone else after you. Do you see my point?”
I considered for a moment, then said carefully, “I believe I might, Princess Juleena, but perhaps you should finish saying what you’re going to say.”
“I want to do this right,” she declared. “Not only should you receive the full experience, but I find that I want to as well.”
I thought about that and realized she was right. I offered my own smile. “Of course, Princess Juleena. I can do that.” My smile broadened. “Did you just tell me I have more experience at this than you do?”
“I believe you might,” she agreed. She took my hands in hers, and we sat, staring at each other for a minute.
I hadn’t really thought about everything. So much had changed, and those changes had been lost inside other changes. I don’t know if I should really have considered myself a woman when last I had seen Juleena, nearly three years previous. Larien had arrived in Marport. Juleena had kissed me and disappeared, and I hadn’t seen her again until she had invaded the Heart of the Goddess.
Since then, everything had been a swirl, and we hadn’t any opportunity to simply sit and look at each other.
But so much had changed. I was no longer the young girl she’d brought from The Hippa. I was fully a woman now, and a woman of substance besides. I was a high priestess, claimed by a goddess, and suddenly today a duchess as well. And, of course, I’d gotten that experience Juleena had said I needed.
And so I realized I didn’t have a good idea what I was anymore, or who we were, I suppose I should say.
But as I looked into Juleena’s eyes, I was seeing the woman I’d known for years, but I knew she was seeing someone she’d never really seen before. And we were also looking at each other as something new in our lives, and that also changed everything as well.
But I’d wanted this. I’d wanted this for years, and now that it was here, I intended to enjoy it.
If only I could figure out what we were supposed to do.
“So,” I said. “Now what?”
“Well, what did you do before, when your suitor called on you the first time?”
“I didn’t know any of them. Well, that’s not true. I knew Malta, but I didn’t know anything personal about her. We used the time to get to know each other, I guess. But you and I couldn’t know each other better than we already do.”
“That’s probably not entirely true,” she countered. “But it’s a fair point. And you don’t know what I’ve been doing for the last two years.”
“Almost three,” I said.
“Yes. Almost three. And I don’t know what you’ve been doing, either.”
I lowered my eyes. “There are parts I shouldn’t tell to you.”
“The parts from that first letter to Mother,” she said gently.
“Yeah,” I agreed. I looked up. “It’s been better since.”
“You know you can tell me anything, Yalla.”
“Yes, except right now, I’m Lady Yallameenara, and you’re Princess Juleena. None of which was my idea, I will add.”
She laughed. “I forgot quickly, didn’t I? How about you tell me the good parts version, then?”
“All right, but you left Marport far earlier than I did. Where did you go?”
* * * *
They only let us talk for an hour. Then they began making noise, which we ignored. But it became difficult to ignore when Larien moved to stand over my left shoulder, and Terél stood over my right.
“Drat,” I complained. “It’s the chaperones.”
“The queen has invited you to dinner, Lady Yallameenara,” Larien said. “You have a choice. You may attend as you are dressed, and we can give you fifteen more minutes. Or if you intend to change, then we must leave now.”
I looked down at what I was wearing. It wasn’t anything I’d care to wear if I were going to spill. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, Juleena.”
“Actually,�
�� she replied. “You won’t. You’re sitting with Mother tonight. I’m with her tomorrow.”
My eyes grew wide, realizing the implications.
“And we’re not having breakfasts together anymore, either, are we?”
“From the way Mother put it during court today,” Juleena said, “I believe there will be a wedding first.”
“Well, that’s just not right. Do I have to wait days just to see you again?”
“How about a ride tomorrow, and lunch?”
“Oh, a woman after my own heart,” I said with a smile. We may have just returned from a long journey, but I would always be ready for a ride.
Juleena stood then helped me to my own feet. She gave a pointed look to my chaperones, who stepped towards the door, offering their backs and the illusion of privacy.
Then Juleena stepped a little closer, still holding my hands. I looked up into her eyes. She lifted a hand to my hair. “I’m still getting used to this.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “You better intend to kiss me.”
She smiled, and the hand stroking my hair cupped the back of my neck. I lifted my lips; she lowered hers.
And we met.
It was actually a restrained kiss, nearly chaste, even. We’d had far more amorous kisses. But if we were doing this right, then that would now be inappropriate. What a bother that was.
But it was a nice kiss nevertheless, and after it ended, I stood there, my eyes closed. I didn’t open them until I heard the library door open and close. When finally I looked, Larien and Terél were both watching me. I blinked at them a few times, not really quite sure what to think.
“It didn’t look like a good enough kiss to leave her stupid,” Larien said. “We’ve had to work a lot harder than that in the past.”
“I’ve never kissed a princess,” Terél said. “Maybe their kisses are especially potent.”
“You’ve kissed me, and I’m almost a princess,” I said. “And I don’t think my kisses are any more potent than anyone else’s.”
“Ah, she’s back with us,” Terél observed to Larien. She turned back to me. “But you weren’t born a princess. Maybe that’s the difference.”
“Maybe it is,” I agreed.
* * * *
Ralalta and I were quiet over dinner, but we stared at each other and smiled stupidly a lot. It until wasn’t the meal was over that she laughed while shaking her head. “I wanted to talk to you.”