Tiara- Part Two Read online

  “You wouldn’t dare,” she hissed, but she smiled as she said it, recognizing the teasing for what it was.

  “I might,” I said. “I need fortification. Where’s the wine?”

  * * * *

  It took a few minutes to find them. We had opened the main floor of the palace, and the six of them were roaming, which was fine. They were in the ballroom, examining some of the paintings together. I stepped in. They heard my footsteps and all turned.

  “Ahlianna said we could look about,” Renishta said.

  “Of course,” I replied. “Do you have just a moment, Renishta?” I gestured with my head, and then met her in the corner furthest from them.”

  “Who is he?” she asked me quietly. “And what do you want us to do with him?”

  “My grandmother has been after my mother,” I said. “Some distant acquaintance, or something. Mother was quite imprecise. How is he?”

  “Clueless, but he’s clearly trying.” She smiled. “Your mother tried to give you to him, and you rubbed him off on us.”

  “Yes,” I said. “I told Mother if he wasn’t making some sort of romantic headway with one of you, I’d take him back.”

  “Tess doesn’t know what’s going on, but the rest of us figured out she’d dumped him on you. We can keep him busy.”

  “Is there romantic interest?”

  “Not from me, and someone clearly told him he has a chance with you. Frankly, I wouldn’t trust his attention, assuming it was just to get closer to you. Sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” I said.

  “We can pretend.”

  “No,” I said. “It’s fine. Finish the mini tour, then if no one else wants him, hand him back to me.”

  “He wouldn’t know what hit him, if you want us to spin him around a dozen times.”

  I laughed. “You’d do that for me, wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course, we would.”

  “New subject. Why did all of you look so nervous?”

  “We’re in the palace and don’t know how to behave.” She smiled. “You gave us something to focus on.”

  “I did,” I confessed. “You’re sure Tess-”

  “Tess has her embassy smile on. She’s not ready for this. I’ll take any of your castoff girls, though. Alexi taught me a few tricks.”

  “I bet she did,” I said. “All right.” I gave her a mini hug. She went one way, I went the other.

  Mother frowned when she saw me, but I moved her way and said simply, “Trust me.” So she nodded and left it alone.

  It was ten minutes later, just when it was time to sit for dinner, that Renishta arrived at my side, Alluin at hers. “Here she is,” she said. And she transferred him to my arm. I decided to let him keep it, but I wasn’t really in the mood.

  “Did you enjoy the little tour?” I asked

  “This is my first time in the palace,” he replied.

  I cocked my head. “Alluin, that was a real question.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m a little nervous.”

  “Afraid you’ll use the wrong fork?”

  “No. Afraid I’ll say the wrong thing. I know what fork to use. It’s the one with the little scoop on the end.”

  It took me a moment to figure out the joke. I smiled and patted his hand. “Did you enjoy the little tour?”

  “It’s…” He paused but looked around. “There’s so much. I didn’t know what to pay the most attention to.”

  “Not the five rather lovely ladies I handed you to?”

  “Well, that was part of it, and I was worried I’d…”

  “Alluin, really. I’m sure you’re capable of complete sentences. You can’t possibly be this afraid of me.”

  “I was afraid I’d somehow offended you, and you were getting rid of me.”

  “Well, I was, long enough to ask Mother why she’d given you to me my first night back. Then I asked my staff to give you back unless one of them really wanted to keep you.”

  “You did?”

  That was when Mother began ringing the little dinner bell. I got Alluin moving to my customary spot, but Mother indicated her end of the table. “The returning daughter shall take the seat of honor,” Mother declared. And so I took one end. Then Father moved Mother into his place, and he took mine, to her left, and the two spent much of the dinner holding hands.

  I moved to my place and indicated where Alluin was to sit. We were barely seated before father stood back up. Alluin would have also stood, but I set a hand on his arm, stopping him. “We have a full room tonight,” he said. “But this is a family dinner, a welcome home for our younger daughter, and we shall stand on little ceremony. Darfelsa, we love you, and we are deeply pleased to welcome you home.”

  They drank to my health, and then Father sat down. I waited until the servants delivered the first course then stood, again setting a hand on Alluin’s arm. “I personally should publicly thank nearly everyone in this room. If I did so, we’d never eat, and frankly, I’m starving.” They laughed. “So I’m going to be brief. Father. Sister. Thank you. Mother, the skills you’ve spent my life teaching me sealed the deal in Dennaholst. Thank you. Mariya, and all your guards, you gave me confidence and kept me safe. Your duty and sacrifice is appreciated. To my staff, I couldn’t have had a better group of women to depend on, and I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am you have come home with me. And to friends and family, thank you for this welcome. And please, please, please, can this be the last toast.”

  “To the last toast!” Father called out.

  I laughed, drank, and took my place.

  * * * *

  Mother eventually took Alluin off my hands, handing him into the care of a servant to boot from the palace. “That wasn’t so bad.”

  I turned to her, looked her into the eye, smiled when I realized I was taller than her, and then sobered. “I neglected my staff and my responsibilities to them.”

  “No. You saw to the duty I assigned you, and I saw to your staff.”

  “Would you have if I hadn’t said something earlier?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Warn me. That’s all I’m saying. I’d rather you would ask rather than just dump them on me, but you can at least warn me. And you know, you could trust me.”

  “You would have gotten rid of him for good.”

  “Yes, but only because I didn’t want uncomfortable responsibilities tonight. Try trusting me. Give me the damned list, and I’ll manage it.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I see.” I turned on my heel and walked away from her. She didn’t try following me.

  * * * *

  I checked on my staff. They were settled. So I found a bottle and took it to my room. Ahlianna was already there, and she also had a bottle, a glass already poured for me. I set my bottle aside, turned my back to her, and said not a word. She stepped to me and set to work on the buttons, helping me from the gown. She hung it up and even dressed me for bed. Then we each grabbed our glasses and climbed into the bed, leaning against the head. We tapped glasses and drank.

  “So. Had a fight with Mother.”

  “Apparently.” I sipped the wine, then lifted it and sighed. “I’ve had too much already tonight. I’m going to have a headache in the morning.”

  “I’ll fetch water for us in a bit. I’ve heard Mother’s side. Time to hear yours.”

  “Do I have to?”

  “Yes.”

  I sighed, sipped, and set the glass aside. I decided it was a bad idea to finish it. At least I hadn’t opened the other one. “First night back. I go from having a good cry to needing to be charming. That was bad enough. But then she told me she doesn’t trust me.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Instead of seeing to the comfort of my staff, I was entertaining someone who I’d really rather never have met.”

  “He’s a very nice man.”

  “Yes, but now instead of ever having a chance of even friendship, he’s going to be associated wit
h being waylaid with him at just about the worst possible time. And that’s not his fault. It’s Mother’s.” I sighed. “And I probably have to apologize to her.”

  “Not as far as I’m concerned.”

  I looked over at her. She was watching me. “No?”

  “She was kicking herself and asked me to intercede for her.”

  “Was I out of line?”

  “A little, but she should have known better. I think Grandmother has been after her, and you know how she gets.”

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “Has it been like this for you, too?”

  “Yeah. Grandmother is a pain in the ass.”

  “I think you and I should pay her a visit.”

  She looked me in the eye. “And say what?”

  “To back off, or neither of us will make great-grandbabies until after she’s in the grave.”

  Ahlianna smiled. “I could go with that message.”

  “Where is she?”

  “At home on the coast.”

  “Tell me we’re not joining them.”

  “No.”

  “All right. We’ll make a day trip on the way.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  “I should go apologize to Mother.”

  “You should stay here and make her come to you.”

  “I don’t want to go to bed with this between us.”

  “Perhaps you should trust your sister.” She gestured? “Going to drink that?”

  “No.”

  “I’ll get us some water.”

  * * * *

  It wasn’t Ahlianna who came back with water; it was Mother. She handed me a glass and climbed onto the bed to sit next to me. She had her own. We sat quietly for a minute, but I leaned against her and put my head on her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Forgiven. I am, too.”

  “You were right, though.” She paused. “Were you serious when you asked to manage the list?”

  “Frankly, I don’t want to choose who makes the list, because you know I’d say ‘no’ to nearly everyone. But I’m perfectly capable of managing my social calendar.”

  “I want to be clear. You just asked your mother to take care of the first half of that.”

  “Yes, but you’ll say ‘yes’ to every woman who asks. I don’t imagine there will be very many.”

  “Probably not, but yes.”

  “And you’ll say ‘no’ to anyone you couldn’t stand as a son-in-law.”

  “Agreed.”

  “And you know I have no intention of marrying one of them, anyway.”

  “Appearances.”

  “Appearances,” I agreed.

  “Send them to that protocol witch you subjected Ahlianna and me to.”

  “She’s not a witch!”

  “Mother, he kissed my hand.”

  “Your father kisses mine, and I recall you once said it was very romantic.”

  “He kissed my hand the second you introduced us. It was highly presumptuous.”

  “Would you have complained if it were a woman?” That shut me up. When I looked over, Mother was smiling.

  “It was still presumptuous, and he did it not because he’s that arrogant, but because he didn’t know what he was doing.”

  “Fair,” she agreed. “Are you really going to be that…”

  I’m not sure what she wanted to say, but I thought maybe, ‘that much of a bitch’ might have done it. I took her hand. We didn’t speak for a while, but we held hands. Finally, I asked, “Was I being judgmental?”

  “Yes, but that’s my fault.”

  “We can share blame.” Then I grinned at her. “Do you know? I’m the best fencer in Dennaholst.”

  “That’s an interesting segue.”

  “I was thinking about appropriate behavior, and wondering whether I had to worry about that, then remembered Sergeant Felist will be right there, so no, I didn’t need to worry, but then I thought about dealing with it myself, and then I thought about the terrible lout I beat up in Dennaholst.”

  “You’re serious.”

  I told her the story. She sat quietly. “I don’t know if I should have done it, but I gained far more friends than the one I lost. I don’t think he learned any humility.”

  “That kind rarely does,” she said. “Does your father know about it?”

  “Only if he learned it some other way.”

  “You should tell him.”

  “You should know that Sergeant Felist encouraged me. I wasn’t defying her.”

  “Good.”

  “Mother, the things you’ve taught me…” I shook my head.

  “I know a thing or two.”

  “The social niceties can pave a lot of rough roads.”

  “That they can,” she agreed. “So, this Alexi Chante woman.”

  “Yes?”

  “Is this the same Alexi Chante who owns an establishment called Bashful?”

  “One and the same.”

  “Were you going to mention that?”

  “I wasn’t going to go out of my way to do so. I don’t recall you ever mentioning travels to Dennaholst.”

  “Word gets around,” she replied. “You admire the woman.”

  “Deeply, and she was instrumental in my success.”

  “You took the entire city by storm.”

  “I certainly did.”

  “Good.” We looked at each other. “You’re taller than I am now.”

  “I noticed that, too. Taller than Ahlianna, too. She’s not happy about it.”

  “No, she wouldn’t be,” Mother agreed. “I missed watching you grow up. You’re a woman now, and I didn’t get to watch it. That was the worst part of letting you go.”

  “I’m sorry about that part.”

  “You needed that time away from me,” she said. “I would have kept you eight years old.”

  “Mother, I love you so much.” I turned and burrowed into her. We cuddled like we would have when I was much younger.

  South

  We shopped. And then we left the city. My staff went with us.

  We didn’t travel hard. Instead, we might rise early and travel until early afternoon, but then we would stop somewhere, usually at one of Father’s properties. We would settle in, and then Father collected Ahlianna and me for meetings.

  By the third day, we were including Renishta as our secretary. And two days after that, my entire staff, as we talked about the status of the country. At the end of that meeting, Father looked at them and said, “I am not necessarily easy on my staff. I’m certainly not easy on my children. If you’re worthy of sitting in on these meetings, I have expectations.”

  “What expectations, Father?” I asked.

  “Only that they are ready to participate. I have no complaints, but they are your closest advisors.”

  “No one is going to disappoint you,” I assured him.

  “Good. All of you keep your eyes and ears open. Did anyone notice the fields today?”

  I had, but I knew he wasn’t asking me. Finally, it was Tess who raised her hand. Father settled his gaze, but asked, “They raise their hands for you, Daughter?”

  “No, but she’s being careful, and I’m not going to fault her for it.”

  “Speak up, Tess. What did you notice?”

  “There was flooding this spring.”

  “Did you receive reports?”

  “No, Your Majesty. The corn is low. All the crops are behind schedule. That means they planted late. I shouldn’t have assumed flooding, but I don’t think it was snow.”

  “It wasn’t, not this far south. Did you notice the same two days ago?”

  “I didn’t notice,” she said. “But I wasn’t looking. I’m sorry.”

  “Are you a farmer’s daughter?”

  “No, not exactly. My family is from the southwest.”

  “Citrus orchards.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty. But there are farms, too. I know more about the orchards, though. How widespread was the flooding?
”

  “Regional,” he replied. “But it’s worse further south.”

  “They’ll have a longer season.”

  “True. What are the implications?”

  “The fields were planted, but the danger is that they forced the planting. There could be rot, at least in the places that drained especially poorly.”

  “What else?”

  “A late harvest, and most likely average, at best.”

  “Will anyone starve?”

  “It may hurt some farmers financially, but I wouldn’t expect starving. Should I?”

  “I wouldn’t expect starving, either, but if it were more widespread, there would be shortages.”

  “How was it further west?”

  “You know how fruit trees love water.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “It was wet, but not as bad.” He looked around to the others. “This is what we do. We observe. We listen. We learn. We use what we learn to anticipate problems. If we had trade agreements, we might have to worry.” His gaze landed on me. “Tell me about your plan to sell citrus to Ressaline.”

  I did. He said little. I apologized I didn’t have my maps. “We’ll go over it in more detail. Ms. Sessen, you were involved?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Darfelsa, we’ll have a nice summer. When we get back, we’re going to get serious with your plan.”

  Talith shifted in her seat. Father’s eyes snapped to her. “Yes, Ms. Leyviel?”

  “Nothing, Your Majesty.”

  “Darfelsa,” Father said.

  “Talith,” I said. “Spit it out.”

  “Your Highness.”

  “Spit it out,” I said.

  She nodded, gulped, and then practically swallowed her words, but she said, “I thought you had patched things up with Gandeet.”

  I turned to Father. He looked at me, but then he nodded. “Ms. Leyviel, is your loyalty to your old country first, or to my daughter first?”

  “Your daughter, Your Majesty.”

  “You cannot do your job to her if you don’t keep up with the conversation. You won’t keep up if you have questions like that and don’t state them. At least three of us immediately knew what you were thinking.”

  “How?”

  “Your body language indicated you were suddenly uncomfortable. The rest is logic. Learn to speak up or go home.”