The very next night, Fie went to Fielle and Roy’s bedchamber. The security outside the door was quite strict, as was befitting for the quarters of the king and his queen consort, yet they let Fie in readily enough. There was another door behind the first, and the moment Fie opened it, a blonde girl leaped at her for a hug yelling, “Fie!”
She was a head taller than Fie, slender, and utterly gorgeous. Her exquisite face looked like it had been carved by angels; Fie, who was quite pretty in her own right, couldn’t even compare. This vision of loveliness, Fielle, blinked tears out of her eyes as she awkwardly (not that Fie really noticed) smacked into Fie for a hug.
“Good to see you too,” Fie said. “How’ve you been, Fielle?”
“I missed you so much!”
“Aw, come on, it’s okay.” Fie gave her sister a wry smile as she gently patted her head. Fielle was well known for her dignity and grace, but sometimes, when she and Fie were alone, she acted like a little child. Hugging someone taller than her reminded Fie of hugging Queen.
“And how have you been?” Fielle asked. “Did you have a horrible time when you suddenly had to come with me to Orstoll?”
Wanting to prevent Fielle from worrying, Fie said, “I’m fine, really. I had a lot of good times here. Hey, Lynette, good to see you too.”
“Oh, yes! I am so very glad to hear you were able to leave that dreadful place, Your Majesty. I always knew you’d make it out someday.” Lynette’s eyes swam with tears. For the past year, she had set aside time in her busy schedule to visit Fie, but Fie had a feeling that might not have alleviated Lynette’s worries entirely.
Fielle’s ears picked up on a certain phrase. “What do you mean, ‘that dreadful place’? ‘I always knew you’d make it out someday’? Was Fie locked away somewhere?”
Fie and Lynette shared an identical “yikes” face. So much for keeping this a secret from Fielle.
“Don’t worry about it, Fielle,” Fie said. “It’s all over now.”
“No, tell me!” Despite Fie’s best efforts to misdirect her, Fielle stubbornly demanded to know the truth. “Were you suffering all because of me?”
I guess she won’t be fooled, Fie thought. She sighed internally and then decided to tell Fielle the whole story, although she fudged some of the details, hoping to make it sound like she had wanted to be a knight the whole time. She tried to make the first part of her story as brief as possible before skipping ahead to the squire part in order to spare Fielle and Captain Yore’s feelings.
“I-I-It’s all my fault you suffered so much...” Fielle sobbed, her shoulders visibly shaking.
Fie shook her head and grinned. “It’s not your fault at all. And honestly, this last year I had was really awesome, I swear. I made tons of new friends, met a lot of really kind people, went to all sorts of interesting places, and saw all kinds of things I had no idea even existed. If it’s because of you that I was treated poorly to begin with, then it’s also because of you that I got to have such an awesome time. Right?”
Fielle looked at her sister’s smile and thought, No one but Fie could look at someone who subjected them to such cruel treatment and give them such a beautiful smile. Forget what I look like, she’s a far more beautiful person than I will ever be. Fielle understood that it was her fault and it would be remiss of her to forget that, but all the same, Fie’s words soothed her heart.
Just as Fielle began to relax, Fie said, “Oh, I should mention this too,” when another important fact just struck her. “Did you know I also have a boyfriend? But let’s keep that part secret.”
A split second later, there was a huge scream. This was from Lynette; Fielle, on the other hand, looked overjoyed at the news. “That’s wonderful!” she cried.
Lynette looked about ready to jump down Fie’s throat. “Aren’t you having an affair?!” she cried.
“Yeah, I guess. Whoops, sorry.” Fie had only been thinking about Queen’s feelings for her, but when she later thought about it objectively, she realized that, yeah, this was technically an affair. After all, she was already married.
Lynette trembled. “N-No, Your Majesty! You’re not the one to blame! It’s your b-b-boyfriend that’s the problem! Not to mention His Majesty the King for marrying you and then neglecting you!” This last comment seemed to have slipped out in the force of her anger.
“No,” Fie said, “Queen’s a really good person, and I respect King Roy a lot. So I’m definitely at fault for this too. It was my choice to date Queen, right?”
This stopped Lynette from ranting any further, but deep down, she was terribly upset about Fie’s news. Here she was, finally able to meet with Fie in a public setting, and some random stranger had swooped in and stolen her princess right out from under her nose. She knew she was just being selfish at this point but Lynette, ever the sore loser, asked anyway, “D-Do you really suppose this...person...is suitable for Your Majesty? I mean, do you really love him?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Fie said. Sure, she loved him as a friend, but...maybe some things were better left unsaid. Fie wanted to avoid explaining the whole complicated situation, and besides, she didn’t even know herself if she really liked him in that way or not.
Lynette whimpered and turned a pale white, but Fielle cried, “Why, that’s fantastic!” Her eyes shone with excitement. Neither of the girls had much experience with romance, so they couldn’t guess at the hidden meaning behind Fie’s quick response.
Now that the conversation had calmed down, Fie took the opportunity to look around the room. “By the way,” she said, “is Captain Yore... I mean, King Roy not back yet? I don’t want to overstay my welcome, so I should get going soon.” She was thrilled to see her sister again, but it was getting late. She didn’t want to intrude on any of the couple’s time together.
Lynette and Fielle pulled a face. Fielle looked at Lynette, nodded, and then said, “Um, the thing is... King Roy and I sleep in separate bedrooms.”
“Huh?! Why’s that? Did you guys have a fight?”
Fie knew about the captain’s problem with how he treated women, but she had also heard that he and Queen Fielle were head over heels for each other. She hadn’t expected them to have any marital issues.
Fielle timidly admitted, “Um... well, you see... King Roy and I aren’t actually married...”
Talk about a shocking confession!