Royal DutiesA Chapter by Eddie Davis Arianelle tries to avoid a meeting with the Hutcaiah Prince. 2. Royal Duties “Arianelle, for Yesh’s sake, quit complaining! It isn’t that big of a deal, you know. You are behaving like a spoiled child and I will not put up with this childishness today, young lady!” Snoe glared at her only child, finding a copy of her own red eyes glaring back at her. The Sylvan queen still marveled at how much her daughter resembled her. It was the drow albinism, of course. Such dumb luck that she would have inherited it, but it was the nature of the disorder that it was passed down completely when a child inherited it. So though Arianelle was only slightly more than one quarter drow, she appeared (as Snoe did) as a typical drow albino. “Alright,” The youth finally said after the glaring match ended, “But I don’t want anything to do with that Hutcaiah prince.” Her face contorted in disgust, an emotion which many in Marksylvania shared toward the oriental race of elves. Who could blame them, after almost 80 years of war? They’d hoped that the war-like empire would be prevented from entering into warfare with Marksylvania or Tarmard due to the conditions of the geis that Hutcaiah Emperor Saret-Buyue-Serdi had made in order to get revenge for the death of his son by Duke Aaron of Helios’ Valley. But somehow the conditions of the geis had been neutralized, and ten years after the death of Saret-Buyue-Serdi, the Hutcaiah Empire went to war with Marksylvania and the Sylvan Kingdom of Tarmard. It was a wearisome war, a mixture of battles and long periods of truce only to be broken by treachery of the Hutcaiah. The most horrible incident was 57 years ago, when Arianelle was only a little girl. It had been a time of truce, and the new Hutcaiah Emperor, Hiote-Chi-Anak had surprised everyone by asking to learn more of the Yeshian religion. Though King Eleazar had been extremely suspicious, Reverend Mother Zeatt was determined to bring the light of the true God to the western empire. Zeatt, her husband Baron Alvis, their daughter Allea as well as Zeatt’s oldest daughter Sophia, her husband Khord, Zeatt’s sister Alleania and her husband Archmage Drake all volunteered to go on a diplomatic / missionary journey to bring the light of Yesh to them. The plan was for the seven of them to stay in the Hutcaiah capital city, Lu-Wadj, for six months teaching the Hutcaiah nobles about Yesh, then to return. But upon reaching Lu-Wadj, the Hutcaiah wizards used a powerful arcane relic ‘Harvest Moon’ which created a huge Sphere of Annihilation that they brought down upon the Airship Snow Owl as they arrived in the Imperial city. The mages aboard the Snow Owl tried to stop the sphere, but failed, and the airship was annihilated, along with a fourth of the Imperial City below it. But it was a terrible blow to Marksylvania and Tarmard, and hostilities intensified immediately. The loss of the seven (as well as the crew of the Snow Owl) devastated the royal families of Marksylvania and Tarmard. Khord and Sophia’s young twin daughters were orphans, but Queen Aurei took them in as her own. Arianelle, though just a small child of 17 years, took the loss of her Great Aunt Zeatt and Uncle Alvis, her Great Grandmother Alleania and all of her cousins extremely hard. A deep hatred boiled within her for the Hutcaiah that only intensified as she grew older. She insisted on being trained in weapon usage, practicing constantly until she had mastered most types of the sword, dagger and knife. Her skill at arms surpassed most in both kingdoms by the time she reached 70 years old. Still she honed her skills with an obsessed determination to protect her family and (if possible) get revenge on the ‘wicked Hutcaiah devils’. Seldom did she speak of her hatred for the race, but everyone sensed it in the grim determination that she gave to perfecting her skill at arms. When yet another truce was reached last year, Arianelle was skeptical. Even when a peace treaty was signed in the early spring, the girl remained dubious of it all. Now with a seeming advantage, Eleazar was about to receive in fosterage in his royal court, one of the sons of the same emperor responsible for the deaths of the missionary team, 57 years ago. Lee-Anke-Shinn was the second oldest son of the emperor and said to be extremely handsome and charming. King Eleazar had ordered a fancy reception for the Hutcaiah prince. All of the Marksylvania and Tarmard royal family was to attend out of respect of the peace treaty. Arianelle had reacted most defiantly at the news, causing the Sylvan king and queen great frustration at her determination to avoid the reception. Now, on the very eve of it, the battle with their adolescent daughter continued. “Sweetheart, there will be hundreds of people there, so you won’t have to have much to do with him. All your father and I ask of you is to just be polite during the introductions. He will be introduced to everyone, so he won’t be around you.” “Well… I’m sure he isn’t coming here alone, is he? He’ll have a large entourage with him, and they’ll all be Hutcaiah.” “They’ll be attending him, so you’ll be left alone,” Snoe explained. The princess crossed her arms with a sigh. “I just want to get it over with.” “Explain something to me, child. If you are so disgusted by the Hutcaiah, why in the world do you want to stay in Westmark with your grandparents? He’ll be the highlight of the royal court, you know, beginning tomorrow. If you stay here, you’ll certainly be annoyed by his presence.” The girl’s eyes betrayed her concern about that, but she set her jaw. “Still, I want to stay here, mother. Only for six months… you and father promised.” “Yes, and if you promise to be polite tonight, we’ll keep that promise and let you stay here for half a year. But if you can’t stand to be around the Hutcaiah prince this evening, it would be foolish for us to think you could stand being around him for six months. So consider this your trial run. Act civil tonight and we’ll agree to let you stay on at the royal court. Act hateful and ugly toward him and you are most certainly coming home with us. I won’t have you embarrass us and your grandparents when they are trying their best to end this horrible war.” Arianelle sneered. “The war will never really end, mom. Not until they are destroyed or they destroy us.” “You are too pessimistic, child. You do not completely understand the nature of people. War cannot be maintained indefinitely.” “The Hutcaiah have managed to do it for 80 years. They love war.” “Maybe not as much as you think, sweetheart. There may be change in the air.” Arianelle shrugged. “We’ll see.” “Now get your dress on and put those swords away. I want you to look like the princess that you are tonight, not a swordsman.” With a slight frown, Arianelle nodded and almost reverently wound her sword belt around the scabbards of the long swords and gently sat them on the bed. “And no knives or daggers strapped to your legs either!” Snoe added as she left through the connecting door to her suite. The princess sighed and began to unbuckle the dagger strapped to her thigh, but with a rebellious smile, hesitated and let it remain. What you don’t know won’t hurt you. She said silently to her mother as she crossed the room to her dress.
***
It was one of those very beautiful, carefully planned royal events that so many members of the royal court so dearly loved. Arianelle hated them. She wasn’t against dressing up, banquets, or even dancing, but she was quickly annoyed by the usual fake niceties of the nobles of the royal court. Her family wasn’t like that, but so many of the barons, duchesses, daughters and wives of knights or minor lords and other nobles all loved intrigue and gossip and Arianelle could not stomach that. Thankfully there wasn’t much of that in the Sylvan royal court, but here at her grandfather’s court it was rampant. She purposely took as long as she could getting ready, but with servants assisting, she couldn’t draw things out very much. She walked behind her parents as they were escorted in regal fashion down the staircase from the royal quarters in the palace to the huge grand ballroom, where the feast and dance honoring Hutcaiah prince Lee-Anke-Shinn would be held. How she wished she could have entered the hall by any other entrance, for the royal staircase was the grandest way to enter the room. She wore a beautiful ball gown of Sylvan green, gold and silver which her mother had insisted upon. Though it would be a few years until her ‘coming out’ ball, her mother seemed to want to let everyone know that she had a daughter rapidly approaching young adulthood. It was a fact that Arianelle would just as soon have kept hidden. She cringed when, as they appeared at the top of the last landing leading down into the ballroom, the Marksylvania heralds blew a loud flourish on their trumpets and the master herald loudly announced their arrival, as if the trumpet had not done it well enough. “Their Majesties, Aedric the First and Queen Snoe of Tarmard and Princess Arianelle!” They descended the staircase to applause from those in attendance. Arianelle tried her best to stay behind her parents until they were on the ballroom floor. As soon as they were off the steps, her mother turned to her and pointed across the hall close to the thrones, where a long line stretched to the main entrance. Standing at the head of the line was a tall, dark-haired elf wearing a very regal blue tunic and pants and surrounded by people who were all eager to greet him. “Arianelle, that is Prince Lee-Anke-Shinn,” Snoe told her daughter. “Whoopee.” “You are to go and meet him.” “Aren’t you and father coming with me?” she asked in alarm. “We’ve met him; this reception is for those whom he has not met.” “So I have to wait in that line to shake hands with a Hutcaiah prince that looks down his nose at everyone?” Snoe frowned. “Arianelle…” “Alright, mother, I told you I’d behave.” She sighed and started across the room toward the end of the receiving line. As she went, several people bowed or curtsied to her and she just nodded slightly in response. She did not want to be here.
The line ended just inside the double door entrance into the room. Most in the line were young ladies of the court, eager to meet the handsome and charming (but aloof) Hutcaiah prince. Seeing the tiara on her brow that her mother had insisted that she wear, many in line quickly bowed respectfully. Two young men whom she did not recognize stepped back from their place in line. “Your Royal Highness, please step in front of us!” One politely offered. Arianelle gave her best smile, “Thank you, but I am in no hurry, I think I’d prefer to just be at the end.” Of course they had to comply with her wishes and with another bow they turned away from her so they wouldn’t have to try to think of something to say while they waited. That was exactly what she had hoped they would do. Slowly, the line shortened and when she had made it halfway to the prince, Arianelle scanned the room and found her parents at the other end, speaking to her grandparents. Quickly she got out of line and hurried back to the end, which now wound out of the ballroom into the corridor. At the end of the line now were minor nobles, and they were quite surprised and a bit uneasy when she came to stand behind them. “Your Highness?” one of the men said to her timidly. “Hi, I’m fond of being at the end of lines.” Her explanation seemed ridiculous, but no one questioned it and like before, they all awkwardly turned from her, to her delight. She hoped that the dinner would begin before she reached the Hutcaiah prince and then she’d have an excuse to not have to meet him. Arianelle knew that sooner or later she would be introduced, but she was determined that it would be as late as she could make it. The line kept shortening and she fretted, for she noticed that the Hutcaiah prince had seemed to notice her in line and kept looking down the line at her. As she got nearer and nearer to the front, Arianelle became increasingly anxious, constantly watching for servants to begin bringing the courses of the feast into the tables.
Finally, with only about ten people in between her and the prince, they began to appear and immediately the heralds blew the trumpet call that announced that the feast would begin. Those in front of her seemed genuinely frustrated that they could not meet the prince before the meal. As everyone began to head over to their assigned seating area, Arianelle could see out of the corner of her eye, Lee-Anke-Shinn stepping out of line and staring her way. Immediately she turned away from him and rushed toward the front entrance. Her parents would wonder where she had gone off to, but she’d wait until the Hutcaiah Prince was seated at the head table and then slip in to eat. She thought she heard someone call to her from the prince’s direction, but she didn’t dare turn to see. As soon as she was through the double doors, she lifted up her skirt enough so she could run and then sprinted down the long hallway as if a dragon was behind her. At the end were some stairs leading up to the royal apartments and down to the servant’s level. She figured down was the safest bet and so she sailed downward, sending servants leaping out of her way as she rushed past. Arianelle thought she heard running footsteps behind her. Surely he wasn’t chasing her! She wouldn’t dare turn around to look. As quick as lightning she ran out of the front entrance, alarming the door guards, who called after her to see if everything was alright. She merely lifted her hand above her head and waved, and just kept running. The front palace gate was open and out this entrance she raced. She couldn’t hear anyone behind her, but she didn’t want to take any chances, so the girl ran across to the old ducal keep which was now residences for many of the members of the royal court. She avoided the front entrance and ran around the side to the training ground for the guards. It was a very familiar place for her, for she had spent many long hours learning various styles of sword play here when her parents would visit the king and queen. She went over to the practice field bleachers, climbed halfway up and then plopped down on the wood. Her ball gown resisted casual sitting on the bench, but she leaned back and stared at the setting sun in the west for several minutes. The first stars were coming out when to her horror she saw the Hutcaiah Prince slowly walking toward the ducal keep. For a moment she hoped he wouldn’t see her, but his vision was quite keen at night. He stopped in his tracks for an instant, leaning forward slightly, unsure if he truly was seeing her in the twilight. Perhaps her white skin made her seem like a restless ghost. Arianelle knew that she had to bolt for it while he was unsure. She leaped to her feet, raced to the edge of the bleacher and jumped to the ground, her ball gown comically ballooning out as she jumped. Gracefully she landed and was off running toward the side entrance. She heard the prince call to her and he was desperately trying to intercept her. But she knew the building well and rushed into the side door and halfway down the hallway to a suit of plate armor on display against the wall. Quickly she moved the shield attached to the armor and there was a click of a secret passage behind the armor. It was one of the royal escape routes in case of an attack on the ducal hall. She rushed in and pulled the door closed. It clicked into place seconds before Lee-Anke-Shinn burst into the hallway. Though the passageway was dark and partially covered with cobwebs from years of disuse, she ran down the stone tunnel without hesitation, for she knew where it led. Up a flight of dusty stairs she hurried until she reached a stone door. The princess put her ear to the door and did not hear anyone on the other side. Softly she pulled the latch upward and swung the door slightly open. On the other side was a connecting hallway to the main hallway where the grand ballroom was located. Arianelle slipped through the doorway and quickly closed it. Dusting off her clothing and slowing her breathing, she calmly walked down the hallway and through a servant entrance into the grand ballroom. The guests were all mumbling and talking, some standing and looking around, others sitting with somewhat annoyed expressions on their faces. With a casual air, Arianelle walked across the room, looking around with fake puzzlement at what was troubling everyone.
As she neared her parent’s table (thankfully far to the right of the prince’s table) both of her parents jumped to their feet with looks that were a mixture of relief and annoyance on their faces. “Arianelle, where in Yesh’s name have you been!” her father asked as she demurely sat down next to her mother. “I went to the bathroom,” she lied, “It was somewhat of an emergency.” “Is that why you bolted out of the room?” her mother demanded, scrutinizing her closely. “Yes, I stayed in line to meet the prince, but when we broke for dinner… it was nearly an emergency.” She gave her mom her most innocent look, “Why? What’s going on, anyway?” “Prince Lee-Anke-Shinn saw you rush out of here and went after you,” her father told her, “Did you see him?” “Well, he didn’t come into the room where I was.” “I mean in the hallway " you didn’t see him, did you? We are waiting for him, for he is the guest of honor.” “Surely he can find his way back.” King Aedric frowned slightly, sensing his daughter’s defiant streak flaring up. Arianelle maintained her charade and just calmly unfolded the napkin and placed it in her lap like any proper lady, smiling serenely. “This had best not be one of your childish stunts, young lady,” the king whispered to her. She met his gaze with a slight arch of her eyebrows and a shrug as if she had no idea why he’d think such a terrible thing.
*** For five minutes everyone waited for the prince to return, and then Eleazar ordered that dinner be served, while he dispatched servants to locate their missing guest of honor. Some time later he returned, to a slight round of applause from the star-struck young women of the court. Arianelle didn’t even turn and look as he entered the room, but instead she intently ate her salad. She could sense that he was staring at her as he crossed the room, probably puzzled and frustrated that she had given him the slip. Arianelle held her breath, fearful that he would come to their table and speak to her, but to her relief, he took his place across the room from her and apologized to King Eleazar and Queen Aurei. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod her way while talking to the King as if he was explaining what he had done. Arianelle just ate her dinner, trying to appear oblivious to the disruption that she had caused, but more than a bit pleased with her success. © 2017 Eddie DavisReviews
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Eddie DavisSpringfield, MOAboutI'm a fantasy and science-fiction writer that enjoys sharing my tales with everyone. Three trilogies are offered here, all taking place in the same fantasy world of Synomenia. Other books and stor.. more..Writing
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