Chapter 14: Tales of Tribal Romance
THE wedding was nearly upon us now.
“Only five days away? Where did the time go...?”
This wasn’t a serious question, of course. We’d been following a rigorous schedule, so at no point did I forget the passage of time. Still, now that the big day was looming just on the horizon, even I was starting to get a little nervous.
Patricia’s wedding hairstyle was already set in stone, and I was reasonably confident I could pull it off on my first try, but I was still tempted to suggest we do a practice run, just in case. After all, she’d probably want to see for herself how it would look on her, and in the event it didn’t turn out the way she hoped, we still had time to make alterations.
But first, I had my daily tasks to worry about.
That morning, I got ready in a flash, then grabbed my hairstyling tools and hurried off to meet Patricia.
“Oh, good morning, Ray,” I greeted as I walked past him into the Princess’s bedroom.
“Morning, Mayna,” he replied in kind.
Inside, I found that Patricia was already awake. I greeted her along with her three servants.
“Good morning,” Rebecca answered promptly.
“Good morning...” Mona replied dreamily, a vacant smile on her face.
Sari simply glared in my direction. Either she was still upset about catching me alone with Kirion two days ago, or she was silently blaming me for his conspicuous absence.
You see, as of yesterday morning, he had been temporarily relieved of his title as Royal Hairstylist’s Apprentice—likely a direct result of Ray discussing his suspicions with Prince Dario.
Mind you, Ray almost certainly would’ve included the possibility of Kirion’s innocence in that conversation, so the fact that Dario had taken action seemed to suggest that the Prince was unwilling to allow anyone of even mildly dubious character within his future bride’s vicinity. Instead, Kirion had been assigned a different job altogether: as of today, he’d been assigned his own room in the castle in which to give haircuts to the servants. After all, with the big day right around the corner, the castle would soon be filled with foreign diplomats and other important guests, and it couldn’t hurt to have everyone looking their best. As for Kirion, he seemed to accept this decision without complaint.
In the meantime, the Prince had sent a servant to go and look into Kirion’s work history. Should he be proven innocent, he would regain his title and resume work as Patricia’s hairstylist. But his hometown was located in a distant, rural part of Vaxwald, so the trip there and back would take a good few days. Timing-wise, this meant the investigation was scheduled to wrap up close to the wedding ceremony.
“Your Highness, why don’t we do a trial run of your wedding hairstyle today whenever you can find some time?”
“Why, that’s a marvelous idea! I should quite like to see how it will look. I’ll have time after breakfast, so let’s do it then.”
“Understood. In that case, I’ll just give you a simple style for the time being.”
Once I had styled her hair, I left her quarters. Out in the hall, Ray called out to me. “Mayna, did you run into Kirion yesterday? I can’t imagine he was happy to lose his title. I just hope he didn’t take that anger out on you.”
“No, he didn’t.” He did whimper something about how he wished he could stay with me, but I decided not to mention that. “He’s accepted his new post with grace, though he was complaining about the heavy workload when I spoke with him yesterday. It seems there’s no shortage of servants interested in a free haircut.”
I was trained in cutting hair myself, and at one point I was tempted to help, but after everything that had happened two days ago, I ultimately decided not to. Perhaps he would think me heartless, but so be it; I didn’t want to risk him misinterpreting my kindness as anything more. Instead, I advised him to set a maximum daily quota for himself and schedule haircuts based on that.
Ray nodded pensively. “Don’t let your guard down around him just yet.”
What if this investigation proved that Kirion was telling the truth? That he never used mind control magic on Ian? That he really was who he claimed to be? That he was my Bondmate, and he’d bought the hair ornament for me?
No... Even if the first two proved true, I still couldn’t accept the rest. My real Bondmate was the person who gave me the gift, and that was—
✦ ✦ ✦
❀❀❀
“OH, it’s perfect! I love it! And I’m sure Prince Dario will like it, too. I admit, after everything that’s happened, I was a bit worried that something might go wrong on our big day, but now I’m really looking forward to it!” Patricia gushed, admiring her wedding hairstyle. And after all the protesters, rumor-mongering, and even an attempt on her life, I could certainly see why she might be anxious.
Still, I was glad this fancy new hairstyle had brightened up her day, even just a little. Finished with the test run, I took her hair down and restyled it.
With my duties fulfilled, I left the room, and Rebecca followed me out into the hallway in order to go and prepare a cup of tea for the Princess.
“How are you feeling, Mayna?” she asked as we walked down the hall side by side.
“Who, me? I’m fine. You’re not worried about me because I’m a Flowerfolk, are you?”
For whatever reason, these Dragonkin all seemed to see Flowerfolk as feeble, helpless creatures.
“It’s just... Lately it’s been getting colder in the mornings, you know? Suits us just fine, of course, but I was worried it might be a bit much for you.”
“No, no, it’s great!” I reassured with a smile. “I have to ask, though, why is it that Dragonkin see Flowerfolk as frail? I would understand if you all had direct personal experience, but as I understand it, Vaxwald doesn’t have a Flowerfolk or fairy population at all, so I can only assume you’ve never met one.”
“That’s correct. You would be the first,” Rebecca confirmed my suspicions.
“Then what is it? Is it a mental association with flower fairies?”
“I’m sure that’s part of it, but...” Rebecca paused. “I think a lot of us got the idea from Tales of Tribal Romance.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of that! I forget when, though... Hmmm...” I tilted my head in contemplation, and a moment later it hit me:
“She’s human, but I daresay she looks like a Flowerfolk.”
“Indeed, she’s quite small and stylish. Fortunate, too, because a real Flowerfolk would never do. I mean, you’ve read Tales of Tribal Romance, surely?”
“Oh, yes, I have. I quite liked the one about the Merfolk.”
“Likewise. I also enjoyed the one about the human.”
It was at Patricia’s big debut party soon after we first arrived in Vaxwald—a conversation between two noble ladies, if memory served.
“Tales of Tribal Romance is a famous anthology. Anyone who grew up here has read it at least once,” Rebecca explained. “There are five short stories, each with a different Dragonkin protagonist, and each protagonist has a Bondmate from a different tribe: human, Flowerfolk, Merfolk, Treeborn, and Shadowkin, in that order. The stories are about the struggles each Dragonkin faces in forming a relationship with someone from a different culture.”
“Sounds like a good book,” I mused.
“It’s really popular. But not all the stories have a happy ending, you see. The tales of the Flowerfolk and Shadowkin are both quite tragic.”
“Oh?”
“Would you like to read it for yourself?” she suggested. “I have a copy I can lend you. And since it’s something we’ve all been reading and rereading since childhood, I’ll bet it can help explain why we see Flowerfolk the way we do.”
“That would be great, actually!”
“Perfect! I’ll bring it with me first thing tomorrow.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Or so I said...but internally, I was a bit apprehensive.