Chương 5: Chapter 5
The hall fell silent as she entered, and only Penli knew how nervous such things made her. When everyone else in the castle was afraid to get too close for fear of making an enemy of her stepfather, Penli had become her friend. He'd faithfully served her mother as an elite soldier, and though he was long-retired from military life, he had sworn that same fealty to her. Every bit of mischief and heartache was shared between themincluding his loathing for his looming wedding and general mistrust of marriage, and the fact she was petrified of having only two weeks to pick someone to marry who could stand with her against Mercen.
Her eyes wandered the hall, lingering nowhereexcept perhaps a breath too long on Kallaar, who kept his head bowed respectfully the whole time, whereas others glanced up in the hope of catching her eye and coaxing some reaction that would allow them to boast of favor.
Finally reaching the royal table, Shanna bowed her head to her stepfather, and they took their seats. The rest of the hall resumed their places, and the servants at last served dinner. The first course was a fragrant, spicy fish soupone of Mercen's favorites, of course. Shanna would have preferred a heartier chowder, something warm and filling to help ward off the chill of the enormous hall, but she was long used to the kitchens deferring to Mercen's desires.
"You should have been here some time ago, not mucking about in the stables all day. You're as bad as your mother."
Shanna took several judicious sips of dark, dry wine as her food was set before her, smiling in thanks at the young woman who served as she finished. "It's good for clearing the head and settling nerves, and reminds me that nobody is too good to do even the simplest of jobs. Mother believed the same."
"Yes, I know," Mercen said with a sigh.
Mercen was the youngest son of an old family two steps away from being history. But he was smart, good with numbers, and had been a widower himself. Shanna's mother had said those qualities made him a suitable match to become a second husband. She either hadn't known, or hadn't considered it a problem, that he was also an ambitious bastard not terribly upset his second wife was as dead as the first. As consort, he was meant to rule until Shanna came of age, then act as her advisor.
Instead, he and his council cronies found reason after reason to lock Shanna out of everything she should be doing as queen-in-waiting. First, she'd been forced to take the full six months of mourning. Then they insisted she concentrate on her private studies. Then one too many arguments with Mercen had let him declare her unstable still and therefore unfit. She couldn't attend council meetings and court sessions; she rarely even got to attend visitors unless Mercen couldn't contrive a believable excuse. And he certainly did not let her leave the castle to attend all the fairs and festivals and ceremonies her mother had loved. So far, they'd had no cause to remove her entirely, and murder was out of the question, given the suspicions already surrounding her mother's death, but it was only a matter of time before they figured out something.
Though they'd have to figure it out quickly, since once she married, her consort would outrank Mercen.
Shanna had no desire to find out what Mercen would do when pushed to desperate measures, but she would soon all the same. There was no avoiding it. She had to pick a consort, and could only hope she'd pick a good one. Someone smart, and more importantly clevereven crafty. Someone who wouldn't be intimidated by Mercen and had the ability to stand against him. Definitely someone who was not going to turn into another Mercen and try to keep her off the throne or relegate her to a ceremonial position. But she also had no desire to rule alone, or be alone when the ruling was done for the day.
A servant refreshed her wine as another took away the soup and a third set out the second course: civet of hare, a whole roe deer bedecked with greens and sugar plums to give the impression of a deer sleeping in a glade. Behind its magnificent presentation came still more food: ten chickens, the same in pigeons, each filled with a stuffing of minced loin of veal, hardboiled eggs, and fat, seasoned with saffron and cloves.
New wines were poured, and the feasting began in earnest. The chatter through the hall picked up as the wine began to take effect. From time to time, the various suitors would look her way, some smiling, some nodding, some looking hastily or shyly away again. Shanna acknowledged all of them, but paid no one special favoror tried not to, at least, but she'd never been very good at resisting Kallaar's smiles.
The third course brought even more food. Stacked on tables were enormous pies filled with rabbit, capons, gosling, the heavy crusts silvered around the edges.
The fourth course was wine, preserves, and pastries, and the music came to an end as the herald took up his position at the far edge of the dais to formally present all the suitors.
Most of them, Shanna nodded and spoke to briefly but politely. Her primary interests, she conversed with for a few extra minutes. Princess Hanna was promising because she came from a strong kingdom and large family. The chance to be a consort, rather than lost amongst her many older siblings, was a strong motivation to stand with Shannaand she was used to the sorts of tactics and methods Mercen employed, so she wouldn't be intimidated by them.
Prince Berryn was from a kingdom currently torn by inner strife and on the brink of civil war. The alliance would do much to help his homeland and, like Hanna, he was used to the likes of Mercen.
The other threeKorth, Tuluna, and Cerrithiwere from smaller kingdoms, but all came from politically strong families and had good relations with the rest of the world. Angering any of them wouldn't be smart, as they had plenty of weight to bring to bear.
If she could choose any one of them without Mercen somehow preventing it, she would finally have an ally with power, someone who could help her face Mercen and last long enough to claim her throne.
But as logical as all those suitors were, her heartthe traitorous bastardsped up as the last suitor was presented: Prince Kallaar.
Beside her, Mercen swore, soft and sharp and full of venomous anger.
Sweeping into a beautiful bow, Kallaar remained so until Shanna bid him rise, then smiled that sweet, endearing smile of his. A few paces behind him, handsome and mysterious, was Ahmla, who saw her look and gave a small, wispy smile of his own before he lowered his head.
"An honor to make your acquaintance, Your Highness," Kallaar said. "We were most pleasantly surprised to receive the invitation to court you; it has been many years since Remnien has sent such a note to our humble deserts. I was not certain if the custom of a gift upon presenting was still practiced, so I took the precaution and pleasure of bringing one."
Ahmla stepped forward and handed Kallaar a box he'd taken from behind his back. Kallaar bowed again and handed the gift to a servant, who delivered it to Shanna.
"Thank you, Highness, that is most gracious and considerate." The box was about long as Shanna's hand, and the same in height, covered in dark blue velvet. After untying the silver ribbon around it, acutely aware of the way every eye in the hall watched to see what the little upstart from a tiny, forgettable desert had done to make himself less forgettable, Shanna removed the top of the box and set it aside.
She gasped softly at the contents and lifted out the delicate statuette. Carved from beautiful, translucent yellow glass was the royal queenfish, down even to the stripes that marked it from similar-looking fish. "It's beautiful."
But she was vastly more interested in the sealed letter she'd found tucked beneath the base of the statuette.
"That is desert glass," Kallaar said. "There is a place back home the size of a large lake that is made entirely of that glass. Countless legends pose how it came to be. Most often pieces of it are carved into jewelry, charms, and other such things, but every now and then we use a large piece for grander creations. I am sorry if I have broken any customs, but I am glad you like it."
"I very much do. Thank you." She nodded, he bowed and returned to his seat, and the fifth course was brought out as the entertainers began to perform.
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