For King and Country

An Update on the Court

Chapter 17

"My lady," My head snapped around to see Tessa, one of my new Royal Ladies, running towards me with a large bundle of white roses, "what do you think of the white roses with the pink and orange hydrangeas?" I smiled at her.

"As long as those blue ones I liked are in there, I could not care less about the giant arrangement you decide one. I leave the center pieces in your capable hands." She smiled, and I walked away, Marie and Lily drifting behind me.

"So, we need to seat Lady Harriet and her family close enough to the royal table so we don't anger her, but we must keep her a suitable distance away too."

"Please keep her well away from Mother," Lily snapped with her thick accent. "She cries every time she sees that wretched family."

"Sit her near Elijah, that should appease her." I said, trailing my hand along a panel of soft netting a servant offered to me, nodding my approval.

"That would drive him further away from her. Good idea, Av." Lily laughed, nudging my arm, her ruley red hair free. "It's obvious he's already yours, so you might as well spend time with your beloved." I rolled my eyes and turned to face her, my mouth set angrily.

"I don't love him." I said, trying to convince her, "He's not mine."

"As much as you hate to admit it, Elijah wants you, in spite of the fact you'll force him to be your king. And I think you want him to, judging by your blush now and how much it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself you don't love him." She smirked, her dark eyes twinkling. "You could chain that hunk of man to your bed and force him to be your bed slave. I think I heard once that they had those in Rashold. I think that's more fun."

I shook my head with a laugh, "You're ridiculous." Marie looked scandalized, but went back to chirping about seating arrangements.

They were all so different, the ladies I had picked. They were called Tessa, Willow, Helena, Lily, and Marie. Tessa was smart in her own way; there was music in her words. She liked to tell stories, about her family, her parents, anything really. She was pretty in a plain way, nothing necessarily special about her features but she had sunshine in her smiles. She was one of the most sought after ladies in the kingdom, from what I could gather, but she said she loved someone she could never have. Helena was the most intelligent, she seemed to know everything. Her hair was a light brown, and always tied in a little knot. Helena was beautiful, but most men were scared off by how smart she was. It was in the tilt of her chin, the set of her mouth, the slightly distressed look she always wore with her half raised eye brows and the wrinkle in between her delicate eyebrows. She was the most motherly, in that she always knew what we should wear or do with our hair, and she got us places on time. Willow was always happy, and always knew what to say to make you feel better. She was the one that could flit across a ballroom and gather information before anyone had realized she had come and gone. She had a knack for spying, which was the only thing that got Lily and I through most events, because she had the most insane theories about who was seeing who and why people acted as they did. Of the three theories she had shared, I knew one to be true. It made me nervous about what else she had guessed about the court. But Marie and Lily were my favorites. Lily was like the devil on my shoulder, the girl I could tell anything too. She was the only one who knew about Elijah, about what had transpired in the picture gallery. She had enlightened me on every detail, going into her own experience, making me blush and giggle. Marie, I was trusting more and more every day. She had told me the second day while lacing my stays, "You're going to be a great queen, you will not fail." I'd asked why, and she'd replied that when I picked her to be my lady, she became tied to my rule for the rest of her life, and she did not associate with failures. Some how, I believed her. She was gorgeous, and I wondered how long I had with her before she married some poor twit who would not expect the commanding controlling girl that came with it.

The sixth position was to remain vacant, much to Josephine's anger. She wanted me to fill it with the Lady Harriet or one of the ladies who were so much like her. I told her I would not fill the position with a vile snake. She'd yelled for a solid hour about how I was incompetent, and politics would never be my strong suit. She only stopped when Henry entered for our Lunch. 

"So, I was thinking, we should put you into a simple hair style and dress as not to distract from Lady Elizabeth. It would help to earn you her favor surely." Helena said, flitting over to me with two sketches of dresses, Marie had disappeared to another side of the room. One was with a full skirt and a low cut busom, but the other was tight around the waist, with a high neck and long sleeves.

"How long is the train?" I asked pointing to the second.

"Long enough for a Princess," Helena snapped. "And it's a gorgeous blush pink, almost white. I'll send for it immediately," Making the decision for me.

"She knows I hate pink right?" I asked Lily, who rolled her eyes and snorted. She cocked her head to the side, looking up a ladder to where a servant teetered precariously as he attempted to hang mesh netting.

"I wonder if he's part bird. I mean look at that nose..." She trailed off, not listening to me at all. 

"Your horrible." I snapped, laughing slightly, before turning to table setting, pretending to be interested. 

Five days ago, when the boy found Elijah and I at the ramparts, Henry delivered the news that the Rasholdian King was dead. Spies reported that the crown prince would assume the thrown any day now. I wanted to reach out to him, to make peace. He must have been like me, a boy who wanted no part in a war his parents had started. I had the message half-way written when Henry had taken the quill away. I'd never been angrier at him. He told me that I was acting on emotion, and if I was to be a ruler, an adept one, I could not make rash decisions. I'd screamed like Lord Byron at that. Elijah and I hadn't spoken to each other since that argument, he'd sided with Henry and told me again I was spoiled little girl. I'd told him he was a noble, and that he would never see the damage his war did to the peasants. 

Three days later, I'd apologized to Henry, as reports of a brutal attack came from near Mythos. Henry had sent for the soldiers who had witnessed it. He said their testimonies would help us determine what really happened, and how we would react. I said it could be just a rouge attack, but Henry pointed out it could be a statement from their king-a statement that he would be as brutal as his father. 

"Princess," Marie said snapping me out of my thoughts, "it's time for you to get ready." I nodded. 

"Is Henry escorting you?" Willow asked as we headed back to my chambers. "Or Elijah?" 

"No, I think I'll escort myself." I said, "Who needs a man to do a Queen's job." I laughed lacing my arms through Willow's and Lily's. "They should've let women rule ages ago." Willow giggled and Marie rolled her eyes, a slight smile through her face. 

"Five beautiful ladies," Lily said, "ready to take over the world with the help of the most powerful Monarch since Olar the Great." I laughed loudly at that, but Marie snorted. 

"Lets start with the ball," She said, her sarcastic tone even making Helena smile. "Then we'll move on to the court."