In The Name of Love

Kai leans against a wall in the Great Hall, hoping that if he stands very, very still, no one will notice him or ask him to dance. Now that the Royal Family has withdrawn for the elder Aethyrozian princess to make her final selection, the temptation to sneak away is stronger than ever. Only morbid curiosity about Princess Wilhelmina’s choice and the thought that sleeping in a bed might be more comfortable than sleeping under the stars keep him here.

He wishes he’d gotten another chance to dance with Fifi, but other competitors were bolder than he was and sought her out more assertively. Maybe they wanted to get information about her sister from her, or maybe they’re hoping for a leg up on the competition when her Quest for Favor comes, he muses. At least one of the suitors must have learned something to sway his intentions during the Ball; Kai did not miss how Prince Didier paid his respects to King Ansgar and departed in haste at the conclusion of the formal dancing. Was it Princess Wilhelmina, or Fifi, or someone else who convinced him to leave?

He suspects he’ll never know, but he doubts Fifi had anything to do with it. I don’t think she’s enjoying this any more than I am. On the dance floor, she’s acted the perfect princess, at least in his observations, but he also saw how she avoided interacting with anyone during the break in the dancing. He’d thought to go talk to her then, but he would have had to walk past the Princes of Syazonia to do so, and he would rather wrestle a bear than interact with some of them. Even now he’s staying as far from them as possible. Why Princess Wilhelmina has kept certain princes in the competition, he still doesn’t know, even after asking her when he danced with her. She simply said she had her reasons and went back to asking him about Lyrnola and his interests and why he hasn’t spent much time at court.

And then she said she thinks I have a lot in common with her sister, Kai recalls. She even suggested that we could be friends, if I’d come to Court more often. He’s not sure it would be worth it. He wouldn’t mind spending more time with Fifi, but he hasn’t enjoyed much of what he’s seen at Court, other than establishing friendly acquaintanceships with Karl and Ingemar. He’d far rather return to Lyrnola and spend his days in the woods with Sigurd. There’s still so much to do out there…. Much as she’d seemed to enjoy the courtyard where he first met her, Kai has no doubt that Fifi would love the woods surrounding his father’s manor. But he knows she would never be allowed to travel with him to see it. There’s a decent chance, as far as he knows, that even if he did spend more time at Court, the two of them wouldn’t be allowed to interact much. Ingemar told him the two princesses spend most of their time together, rather than socializing with the nobility, and speculated that this is by their father’s edict, to keep them from developing attachments to courtiers before their Quests for Favor.

A hush falls over the Great Hall and the Royal Orchestra abruptly stops playing, attracting Kai’s attention. King Ansgar emerges from the room where he and his family have been conferring about Princess Wilhelmina’s decision. Queen Ingrid, Princess Wilhelmina, Prince Emrik, and Fifi follow, and they all arrange themselves at the end of the room, facing the suitors and the nobles in the galleries. Everyone present waits in silence for the long-anticipated announcement.

“Once again, I would like to thank all of you for coming and competing in my Quest for Favor,” Princess Wilhelmina begins, her voice steady and clear as a bell. She looks every inch the fairytale princess, the type of beauty men have fought wars over. Kai wonders if King Ansgar has taken that into account; his daughter may take only one husband, and at least some suitors she passes over will likely be bitterly disappointed.

“You have not made my decision easy. All of you are here because you have demonstrated certain admirable qualities, and I am grateful to Chuezoh for providing me with so many excellent candidates in this competition,” the elder princess continues. “I respect you too much to keep you long in suspense by continuing this discourse much further. You have all performed wonderfully, and I bear no ill will towards any of you, but the winner of my Quest for Favor and our honored guest for supper tonight is….Prince Adalberto of Syazonia.”

The other suitors and the nobles present applaud politely. Kai even joins in for a few moments, if only because watching Princes Casimiro and Emiliano struggle to contain their outrage and disappointment brings him joy.

Then his eyes wander to Fifi again, who happens to be looking straight at him. She’s doing her best to look like she’s happy for her sister, but her lower lip trembles slightly, and her eyes are filled with acute distress. She doesn’t agree with her sister’s choice, Kai guesses.

Prince Adalberto, for his part, seems stunned by Princess Wilhelmina’s announcement.

“You’re certain, Your Highness?” he asks, barely loud enough to hear.

“Yes,” Princess Wilhelmina replies without hesitation. She extends a hand to him once again, and he joins her and her family with stiff trepidation. I’d be nervous, too, if I had to have supper with King Ansgar, Kai thinks.

“Again, thank you to all of you who competed,” King Ansgar takes over. “As all of you are finalists, we invite you to spend the night in your current accommodations in Adelhyod before returning home. Supper will be provided for you in this room tonight, and breakfast will also be offered here in the morning. We bid you all good night.”

With that, the Royal Family of Aethyrozia and Prince Adalberto of Syazonia depart, presumably to a separate dining area. Exclamations of protest and fury erupt from Princes Casimiro and Emiliano as soon as the doors close behind them. Kai cannot help observing that the sons of nobility who were also finalists are accepting disappointment with far more royal grace than those two supposed princes.

“How?! How is it possible? There’s no way she thinks he’s handsomer than me!” Casimiro laments.

“Adalberto always gets everything,” Emiliano grumbles. “He’s even been married once before, and somehow he’s still her choice.”

“Stop it,” Prince Lisandro snaps. Of all the rejected finalists, to Kai’s eyes he seems the most genuinely disappointed. “I’d bet you a hundred gold durgen that it’s your attitudes that made her decide not to choose you.”

“Watch it, runt,” Casimiro retorts. “You lost, too.”

“At least, this one,” Emiliano amends. “I suppose we’ll all get another chance at victory when the other one turns nineteen. She’s prettier, anyway. And a better dancer.”

“You remember Adalberto said—” Ramiro starts, but Kai’s lost interest in listening to the brothers quarrel. He can’t imagine a worse fate than what Fifi might face, having met and danced with Emiliano and Casimiro during her sister’s Quest for Favor and then having them come to compete for her.

Like a bird, trapped in a cage, he observes. And as close as she is with her sister, she’s likely to be very lonely once Princess Wilhelmina goes away to Syazonia. If he were in her place, he’d want a way out, no question.

And maybe I can help her find one. Father certainly won’t be upset if I volunteer to spend more time at Court.

Sigurd and the woods will just have to do without him for a while longer.