(My life has been checkmated.)
Fie’s realization struck her as she sat in a relatively small back pavilion of an otherwise needlessly large palace, spooning cold soup into her mouth. She sat alone, with only the company of the head chef, who was known as such due to the fact that he was the only one who worked here. The head chef, in turn, had been struggling with his request of asking to resign.
Outside, the sound of fireworks filled the air, intermingling with the sounds of celebration rising from the gathered crowds, to the point where it was even audible where Fie sat.
(Seems like it’s quite the celebration.)
It was an accurate observation. After all, today was the wedding day of King Roy, of one of the world’s Great Kingdoms — and Princess Fielle, from the Daeman kingdom.
His Highness was good at what he did — namely situational analysis and decision-making. He was deeply involved and passionate in his political duties within the kingdom, often solving problems and engaging in foreign diplomatic affairs, even at his young age. King Roy’s actions led the already great kingdom of Orstoll into an age of greater prosperity, and he was a well-loved and respected king of the people.
To top it all off, his dashing appearance reduced the princesses of surrounding kingdoms to slobbering fools. However, there was nary even a rumor of King Roy showing interest in romance — and this was a constant worry in the hearts of the people of Orstoll.
Due to his cold indifference towards women, King Roy suitably earned the moniker “Ice King.”
With that being said, it was this very same Ice King’s marriage to the princess of the rural Kingdom of Daeman that had led to the celebrations outside today. The interesting thing, however, was that this wasn’t a political marriage arranged by worried advisors, nor was it a marriage of convenience out of loyalty to the duties of the throne.
“I would like to take Princess Fielle of Daeman as my bride,” were the very words that came from his lips.
And that is why such massive fireworks displays filled the air tonight.
Fie looked at the star-filled sky through the window, marveling at how ridiculously large said displays were. The resulting explosions resonated through the night sky like peals of thunder.
(This is more than just a typical celebration...)
It is perhaps worth mentioning that Fielle being the princess of a rural kingdom was her only imperfection. She had a good head on her shoulders, a great personality, and was beautiful to a fault. Looking at her alone, no one would think that she hailed from a rural backwater kingdom. Furthermore, Fielle seemed to be blessed with a strange power since her birth, and was also known as “The Priestess of Healing.”
If one takes all those factors into consideration, it could be said that this marriage was quite the jewel in the crown for the Kingdom of Orstoll.
And that was why a portrait of the embraced, smiling couple was flying through the air, hung from the gondola of a hot-air balloon. It was certainly a large-scale, uproarious day of happiness and celebration.
On the other hand, today was also the day of Fie and King Roy’s marriage, although no one was interested in that at all. It was worth mentioning that Fie was, like Fielle, a princess of Daeman. To be precise, they were twins.
In contrast to the wildly celebrating crowds in the direction of the main palace was the tiny back pavilion built next to said palace, which currently housed Fie and her cold soup, in addition to the head cook, who was currently feigning embarrassment and regret as he asked for permission to resign.
Would she actually say “Yes, go ahead?”
And that was almost like an afterthought, not even much of a consideration — as insignificant as one’s pinky finger. Such was the relative significance of Fie’s circumstances, compared to her twin.
To be perfectly frank, King Roy of Orstoll’s marriage proposal was completely out of left field, and was joltingly surprising.
Fielle’s popularity was warranted, however. With a cute face, great personality, and smarts, there was no way she would not be treated as such, enough to attract suitor princes from all around Daeman.
However, she was after all a princess from a small rural kingdom. Put nicely, it was a somewhat large kingdom — but still backwater. The people of Daeman thought of it as nothing more than a land acquisition, or just a means to expand Orstoll’s already vast territory.
Orstoll was, in more ways than one, the center of the world. To have it in one’s pocket, in turn, was unthinkable for the rural Kingdom of Daeman.
“I would like Fielle’s hand in marriage, come what may.”
Upon receiving this letter, the King of Daeman, who was naturally the father of Fie and Fielle, wasted no time in fully exploiting the situation. Oh, and exploit it he did.
As such, a list of demands was presented to the king of one of the Great Kingdoms of the land.
“It would be a great honor for you to take Fielle as your Queen. However... Fielle is in much demand, and her popularity knows no bounds. And as such... many suitor princes from many, no, all countries... are all competing for her hand. So... as I’m sure you understand. There must be some... merits, to this arrangement, yes?”
In the stereotypical crude manner of a peasant, the King of Daeman produced demand after demand, mostly for gold, silver, or other precious metals, in addition to gemstones and valuable works of art. Although he had thought they would be turned down with a curt refusal, for reasons unknown, all these demands were quickly accepted.
And the one who was ironically flustered about all this, was, of course, Fie and Fielle’s father, the King of Daeman.
(Are we supposed to make even bigger demands?) he wondered. The King of Daeman was truly a scoundrel — at least, he thought like one.
But since an extensive list of demands had already been met once, there was no reason to want more. Such was the mettle, or lack thereof, of the King of Daeman, who would have been blown away by a single stare from the monarchs of the Great Kingdoms.
It was then that a thought struck him.
“If you are to take Fielle as your queen, then you would have to take Fie as your bride as well.”
Of course, it was a well-known tradition for marriages between royalty to bind two kingdoms together, and a single kingdom providing two brides was not unheard of in the least. To phrase it bluntly, it was a preparation for the inevitable “what if” scenario.
To actually see such a practice implemented was a rarity, however. One would question why such a practice would be dragged out at such a time, but certain questions have no answers.
Perhaps, it could be said that one reason was that Fie was hopelessly unpopular.
She was the princess of a rural kingdom, with no benefits whatsoever. To even speak of marriage was foolish. Fie had no charm to speak of, much less the required amount to land a suitor prince.
(Well, that basically means I don’t have any value as a queen at all...) And that was where the King of Daeman focused his intents and efforts.
“Our kingdom shall provide two brides. If it is possible, could you please provide the dowry for both of them?”
All of the King of Daeman’s unreasonable demands, including that of the extra bride, were accepted without much fuss.
One wonders exactly how much King Roy had fallen for Fielle.
Having obtained a dowry ten times of the value for two people, and an unspecified variable of riches and resources otherwise, the King of Daeman was very satisfied — almost to a point where he became full of himself.
So much so that, the very next day, a very fed up Fie drove her knee into the face of the King of Daeman, breaking his nose in a fittingly crooked manner.
And that is how Fie was caught by a bunch of peasant “knights,” captured, restricted, and brought to Orstoll as she was.
And just as if their cargo were contraband, it was treated like a hazardous substance, and then summarily deposited in a small pavilion constructed by the side of the main palace.
For the people who would confuse Fie and Fielle’s names, that is a story of another time, a story of when Fie and Fielle were still in the womb.
When the King of Daeman knew that the Queen was pregnant with twins, two names were prepared. And eventually came the moment when the twins were born.