章節 15: Breakfast
Lucine stared at her reflection in the mirror, turning this way and that to make sure her look was perfect, not a hair out of place.
"Yes, Lynsa," she said, "that is concerning. I'm sure there must be some explanation, though." She held still as her lady's maid made a few minor adjustments.
"Still," she said, "Selena usually shows up for breakfast, and will most likely be heading over to the temple after. I will pass along your concerns to her and whatever the issue is, I'm sure the priestesses will take care of it."
"Thank you, your Highness," Lynsa said.
Lucine kept a straight face, but inwardly she was wincing, the same as every time a servant close to her used her honorific. It would disrespect their respect to tell them, but she wished she could get away with letting them speak to her familiarly.
The honorific made her feel lonely even while surrounded by people she cared about.
In theory, each of the five princesses of the kingdom of Luna had her own lady's maid, though to Lucine's knowledge, only she and Mona made the expected use of them.
Luna's maid was more likely to help her into her armor than her dress, though Lucine suspected that even that help was reserved for the most ceremonial of occasions.
Aadhira, of course, had no use for a lady's maid. Even if she could be persuaded to sit still long enough to get properly outfitted, the likelihood of any outfit surviving until the start of an event, much less halfway through it, was somewhere on a par with the sun and the moon being in the sky at the same time.
Not that Rechel was left twiddling her thumbs all day.
Nobody was quite sure how it happened, but Mona had somehow managed to acquire the services of Aadhira's lady's maid in addition to her own.
Worse, whether the princess' fashion sense had rubbed off on her maids or whether it itself was the product of three brilliant yet bored minds, the trio spent entirely too much time locked in her room, creating elaborate creations that were definitely not intended for the abuse the silly girl always seemed to put them through.
And then there was Selena, who was more likely to dress simply in her temple robes and pulled back hair than to wear anything more elaborate; though, while this was considered more appropriate for a princess than anything Aadhira ever wore, at least she wasn't above putting on elegance when the occasion demanded.
A sound drifted in from the open window: Luna barking commands at the infantry. Lucine instinctively glanced at the window, but Lynsa was better positioned to see out it.
"Looks like they're just wrapping up," she said pleasantly.
Lucine very carefully avoided nodding, so as not to disturb the maid's work. "Thank you," she said. "It looks like we are as well, right on time."
It was a secret known to none outside this room that, contrary to expectations, Lucine had always had a difficult time getting out of bed in the morning.
It wasn't until Luna had taken charge of the daily training of the troops a few years back that she had come up with a solution: if she forced herself out of bed when the training began outside her quarters in the morning, readied herself for the day while they trained, and walked out of the room as Luna dismissed them, she would arrive at the dining room within seconds of her sister.
Lucine couldn't think of any better way to start her morning than discussing the overlap of their respective spheres of governance with her favorite sister.
Lynsa took a step back to indicate that she was finished, and Lucine glided over to the window to watch the end of training.
It seemed today was sword day. Luna was leading the troops through forms, outlining a series of strikes, parries, feints. The troops did a good job following her; a few might have even been better than her technically.
But none could match her in presence, power, ferocity. It was always a sight to behold the way the ground itself seemed to tremble before her powerful movements.
Their parents might not have had any male heirs, but it was good to know the kingdom would be in such strong, capable hands when it was time.
And then the exercise was done, and Luna dismissed the troops.
That was her cue. Lucine finished straightening her collar and made for the door after an exchange of pleasantries with Lynsa. Down the stairs, up the hall, and there was Luna opening the door to the dining room.
"Good morning, sis," Luna said, holding the door for her.
"Good morning," Lucine replied as she stepped past her.
She collected her breakfast of fruit and a pastry, and sat down across from where Luna had set her eggs and a slice of ham.
It was time to discuss business.
"I'm sorry," Luna said.
Lucine froze, mouth open. "What?"
"I didn't mean to foist Lucas off on you."
It took a moment for Lucine to figure out what Luna was talking about. "Oh. That." She waved her hand dismissively. "We are princesses," she reasoned. "Getting married off to somebody we hardly know is kind of in the job description."
Luna's face fell. "And in my selfishness," she said, "I have shirked my duty, which has fallen to you."
Whoops. "I think you mistake my point," Lucine replied. "I don't fault your hesitancy in this matter. Rather, you don't need to feel bad on my account. I have long since made peace with the fact that I am not guaranteed love. I intend to make the most of my marriage with regards to benefiting the kingdom."
She hesitated. "Not that I doubt your commitment to the good of the kingdom. I–"
"But I haven't been seeking the good of the kingdom," Luna said, voice sounding… weird. "Not on this matter." Was her lip trembling?
"Lucas isn't a bad man," Luna went on. "He's not ugly, or boorish, or drunken…. He seems to have all the right qualifications, qualities, temperament…. Any queen should be happy to have him as her consort."
"But you're not attracted to him?" Lucine guessed.
A pondering expression crossed Luna's face for a moment. "That's not it," she finally said. "He's… I mean, I could see myself becoming attracted to him. It's more…."
Luna nodded. "He's not attracted to me."
It almost sounded like it was a revelation to her.
Luna looked down at the armor she was still wearing, and then across the table at Lucine in her dress.
"This is who I am. I can't be comfortable gussying myself up like – sorry. What I mean is – men like women who look like you more than women who look like me.
"Lucas tried to court me, honestly he tried to find me attractive, I'm sure of it. For the sake of our diplomatic relationship, he tried. But I think deep down inside a part of me knew that – I mean, what man wouldn't be intimidated by a woman who could snap him in half like a twig?
"And so I think the reason I pushed him away is that I knew he didn't really want me. Not for me, anyway."
The pair sat and ate their food in silence for a few minutes.
Finally Lucine reached across the table and took her sister's hand in her own. "I wish," she said, "that I could lie to you and tell you that you will find a man who isn't afraid of you, someone who will love you for your strength.
"But you've been a princess longer than I have. You know the odds of marital bliss aren't in our favor. I guess the best I can say is that, no matter what manner of man ends up sharing your bed, your little sis will always look up to you with love in her eyes."
She gave her a squeeze and a smile.
"We all will," came a voice from the door.
Luna and Lucine both jumped and turned to see Aadhira and Selena standing in the doorway. Aadhira had a goofy grin and a tear in her eye, while Selena had a hand hiding her face.
"Sorry," Selena said, revealing a spot of color in her cheeks. "We just got here, we only heard the last little bit, and–"
"And it was just so sweet," Aadhira interrupted, running forward and wrapping her arms around the clearly uncomfortable Luna. "Whatever you're going through, we're here for you."
"Right," Luna said, standing up. She seemed bothered by the fact that Aadhira still clung to her, even with both feet half a hand off the floor. She .? shooing motions with her hands that stopped just short of pushing Aadhira off of her.
"Look," she said at last, "I've got something I need to do. With the… troops. Yeah." Grasping Aadhira's hands in her own, she peeled the hug off of herself and hurried for the door.
Turning to Lucine just before leaving, she said, "Thank you." And then, including the twins in her gaze, she added, "Thank you all."
And then she was gone.
Aadhira turned to Lucine. "What's going on with Luna?" she asked.
Selena came to Lucine's rescue, pulling Aadhira over to the food table.
Lucine took her time finishing the remaining crumbs on her plate. Selena, seeing this, let Aadhira sit across from her when they returned.
"So," Aadhira asked once again, "What's going on with Luna?"
"Luna will tell you if she wants you to know," Lucine said smoothly. At least the silly girl had the good grace to look embarrassed.
Selena looked back and forth between the two of them. "Which of us were you waiting for?" she asked.
"You," Lucine replied. "Lynsa bore a strange report this morning about a low tide for her sister's Convocation last night. It seems the water only rose to their knees and so was insufficient to draw out the tribute."
Selena exchanged glances with Aadhira. Lucine arched a black eyebrow. "This early, and this isn't the first you've heard of this?"
Selena shook her head, but it was Aadhira who answered. "Last night I had to… pacify… a certain merchant woman who got a little… excitable."
Excitable. Right. "How much did you steal from her?"
"Hey, it wasn't me, it was–" Aadhira closed her mouth with a click. "Okay, look. I can understand a certain amount of combativeness under certain situations. But this lady started acting weird even for that, and she was the one who suggested that she was overreacting due to not being bled, okay?"
Selena stepped in. "I think the relevant question is, did Lynsa's sister bear any ill effects from missing the tribute?"
Lucine shook her head. "No. The priestess at her temple knew an earth based rite that she was able to pronounce in time."
Selena nodded. "So most likely no ill effects from that. When I report this to the priestesses, I'll have to include the recommendation that every temple make sure they have a replacement rite ready to go, just in case this happens again."
Lucine nodded and rose. "I do believe that is all the information I have for you. Unless you have other questions? Then I shall take my leave."
She turned back just before exiting the room. "Do let me know if the temple needs any appropriations from the palace to deal with whatever the issue may be."
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票