The King's Gift

I made a point of taking my time changing clothes. Only then would I have the leisure to mull over my decision regarding Count Kolkos.

Spilling the water, bringing Mackerie in, even the time it took to change — I had calculated and prepared every piece of it.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

By now it should be safe to go back in.

Eager to see how the mood had shifted, I opened the door to the council chamber.

The moment I stepped inside, everyone scrambled halfway to their feet. Their eyes told me exactly how they saw me, and a hollow laugh burst out of me before I could stop it.

Young or not, this treatment is pathetic.

I now understood precisely where I stood in this family. Winning their respect would be my second assignment, I thought, and pressed on with the meeting.

"Now then, shall we pick up where we left off? Let me share my thoughts on the guardianship matter first. I would like to postpone the appointment of a guardian."

The room fell silent, as though my answer had been expected.

"And postpone it until when? The statutory deadline draws steadily nearer. You may expect pressure from the crown over the appointment as well. Our vassals wish to see House Ehrenberg set right again as soon as possible."

Count Kolkos nodded along at every word.

I had assumed the recess would change the mood, and finding it unchanged was a disappointment. I wondered what they were actually thinking, and decided to observe a little longer.

"So?"

Silence swallowed the chamber once more.

I waited for an answer until I had counted to a hundred in my head.

So a guardian must be appointed, but they won't push Count Kolkos for the post.

That was exactly the level I had aimed for. All that remained was to persuade Karman before the next council convened ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and secure his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blessing for the marriage.

"Come now, all of you, speak up. Surely you have candidates in mind."

Count Kolkos pressed them in a fever, feet trembling, lips working constantly. He could hardly be more anxious.

Yet no one opened their mouth.

They were all thinking the same thing.

The stories about Count Kolkos that Noanda had brought to light and spread everywhere — and then Mackerie.

The unease, the distrust: the knowledge that any of them could be discarded next.

With trust broken, their choice was obvious. Better to sit back and watch than run the risk of forcing Count Kolkos's name forward.

"If the guardianship is dragged out over one trifling thing after another, what becomes of our subsidies? Do you have a solution, Princess?"

Ermas, whose territory was in the most desperate straits, could hold back no longer and raised his hand.

Perhaps I should set aside separate funds just for the Ermas territory.

But if I kept slipping them money one by one like this, there would be no end to it.

How was I to resolve this?

That was when it happened.

A knock sounded at the door.

During a vassal council, the unwritten rule was that no one disturbed the proceedings unless the matter was urgent.

For Matthew to enter regardless meant it had to be something very important indeed.

"My lady, a letter has arrived from the palace."

Just as I thought — urgent business.

On an antique silver tray lay a letter rolled into a tight scroll. The moment I saw the sealing wax stamped with the unmistakable royal seal, I knew at once.

A gift from His Majesty Karman!

Whatever it was, reading it immediately could do no harm.

"A l-letter from His Majesty?"

Count Kolkos stammered out the question. I had been startled; he was plainly more so.

"Yes, a letter addressed to Lady Diana. His Majesty insisted that it be placed in her hands directly."

Through the wide-open door past Matthew's shoulder, the royal messenger was visible. The man stood in the full formal dress worn for delivering the king's correspondence, his gaze nailed to me as though to confirm the letter had reached its recipient.

By protocol, a royal letter was to be delivered by the royal messenger in person; it had been entrusted to Matthew out of consideration for the Ehrenberg council in session.

To think Karman would extend such courtesy. I understood now that his regard for House Ehrenberg was of an entirely different order.

"Since it comes from His Majesty, I had best read it first."

Everyone wore the look of people dying to know what possible connection I had with Karman.

Where in the world was it common to receive a letter written by the king's own hand? And for a girl who was not yet head of Ehrenberg, merely its heir?

"It has barely been any time since I was received by His Majesty, and already a letter. I wonder what this could be."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠murmured it loudly enough for every ear, then moved my hands with deliberate slowness.

I lifted the letter where it lay so neatly on the silver tray, undid the red ribbon, and broke the firmly pressed wax.

Having come this far drawing things out, I would have liked to read the letter slowly as well — but I could not.

My own curiosity about Karman's gift was burning far too fiercely.

Karman's letter did not contain a single one of the usual flourishes. It was all business, every word of it.

"Ha!"

The moment I finished reading, I clapped both hands over my mouth and bowed my head low.

"What is it? What did His Majesty say?"

Count Kolkos crowded close. He was so desperate over the contents that he strained to catch even a single line of the letter in my hand.

With shaking hands, I passed the letter to Count Kolkos. He snatched it away as if it were being stolen from him.

My shoulders heaved. I wrapped my arms around myself, as if to quiet my trembling body.

"Are you quite well, my lady?"

My reaction must have looked grave, for Matthew eyed me with concern. Beneath my bowed head, his handkerchief suddenly appeared.

He thought I was crying.

"Wh... an engagement? What does this mean, Diana? You are to be betrothed to Prince Cassion?"

Count Kolkos shot to his feet, his voice quivering.

"Engaged? The Princess, betrothed to the Prince?"

The vassals surged in around me.

In all of Ehrenberg's history, no tie had ever been formed with the royal house. The crown had feared Ehrenberg growing too powerful, and Ehrenberg had feared the crown chaining its ankles.

And yet, deep down, the vassals had always longed for the two houses to join.

For if those two powers ever took hands, the authority they would command would stop for nothing.

They grasped it instinctively — that the family would flourish through my marriage into the royal line, and that a share of the spoils would fall to them.

"Princess, might I read the letter?"

Count Junas picked up the royal letter Count Kolkos had dropped and asked with perfect courtesy.

A far cry from the man who had once lectured me, point by laborious point, on the necessity of a guardian.

Watching Count Junas's entire manner change over a single letter granting permission to marry, I knew my choice had been the right one.

I waved my hand: read it and be welcome.

"Good heavens! Princess, if this letter says what it says, then today's entire discussion was never necessary at all!"

Junas laid the letter respectfully back on the silver tray as he spoke.

"This is unbearable. Please, say something, Princess!"

Pfft — mmph.

I could barely contain the laughter boiling up inside me. In the end, I simply let it out.

Then I rose to my feet and announced:

"I am to be married. To His Highness Cassion. Which means a guardian is no longer necessary. I will end today's meeting here. Is there any further business?"

As if there could be. These were people gathered for one purpose only: to pressure me into appointing a guardian.

Clutching Karman's letter, I ran from the chamber.

"Your Highness! Prince Cassion!"

The outer gardens blazed as bright as midday. On a night so black you could not see a hand before your face, Cassion's palace shone like broad daylight!

The change in how Cassion was treated could not have been plainer.

"You have come, Princess."

Liam greeted me as I leapt down from the carriage. I gave him a quick bow of the head and went flying up the stairs.

There were knights standing guard over Cassion's palace, and attendants besides, yet not one of them moved to stop me.

Whew — too many stairs!

There was a time I had liked Cassion's palace simply for being enormous; sprinting up it now, gasping for breath, I could only curse its size.

Without pausing once, I arrived at Cassion's room.

"Oh — my lady? Your hair, um... you ran all the way up here?"

I collided with Flac just outside Cassion's door. If even Flac, a man of few words, was staring wide-eyed and stammering, I must have looked an absolute wreck.

Still gulping air, I tucked my disheveled hair behind my ears and smoothed it into place.

I could have gone straight in, but tidy was better — might as well.

"Where is His Highness?"

My heart was still hammering like mad, but my voice came out just barely composed.

Flac stepped one pace aside.

I flung the door open and darted inside. Cassion, gripping the window frame and gazing out, turned at the sound to look at me.

I ran straight to him and threw my arms around him in a fierce hug.

"Your Highness! We're engaged! His Majesty gave us his blessing. And now I'm the Acting Family Head! Is there anything you want, Your Highness? Oh — I'll find you a personal chef first thing. And your own detachment of guard knights, and—"

I rattled on, giddy.

All this while I had held back for want of any pretext to help Cassion; now everything was mine to do. How could I not be beside myself with joy?

No longer did I have to leave this adorable fiancé of mine to his loneliness!

"...So where shall we hold the engagement ceremony? His Majesty would like it held in the season when the Lipricians bloom. Anywhere would suit me, but somewhere they flower in profusion, don't you think? ...Cassion?"

Still chattering away to myself, I sensed something wrong and shut my mouth.

The Cassion in my arms was rigid as a wooden post. I had brought him wonderful news, and still he barely reacted.

Slowly, I released him from my embrace.

"Cassion?"

Something about his reaction was wrong.