There was now a meowing cat sitting in Fie’s lap. A merchant in the palace had, for some unknown reason, foisted the cat off on Fie, and Fie, unable to abandon it, took it in as her pet.
“That merchant Kirk is infamous for being too pushy,” a servant told her. “I suppose he must have come by so you would learn his name, Your Highness.”
“Huh,” said Fie. “Again? I wonder why.” She didn’t understand why all these merchants were dropping in, but it was a shame they were going to all this effort.
She had only just gone to check with Queen whether or not he wanted to marry her, and the answer was a resounding yes. Now that she knew what he wanted, it was her job to make it happen. On that note, Fie did not intend to remain in the palace much longer. Yes, everyone had been lovely to her, and she was quite grateful to them, but she didn’t want to impose on their kindness forever.
Imagine me being married. She couldn’t picture what marrying Queen would be like. She’d never been married before, she thought, so she had no idea what to expect. (Although, after thinking about it a moment longer, she realized she had been married all along—to Roy, that is.)
Essentially, to grant Queen’s wish, she needed to marry, divorce, and then marry again. It was a lot of hustle and bustle, particularly considering that her awareness of having completed step one was tenuous at best.
The cat was now attached to Fie at the hip, probably because she took care of it herself rather than leave it up to her maids. Thank goodness she hadn’t had a dog foisted upon her—in her state of relative confinement, she wouldn’t have been able to take the poor thing out for walks as often as it needed. Also, with her rather dog-like boyfriend, she thought this arrangement might make one of them jealous (although, which would be the jealous one she could not say).
The cat was just a little thing, and it was impossible to believe that it was a distant cousin of the lion she had seen at the circus. Its brown and gray fur reminded her of Queen.
“I wonder how he’s doing?” she said.
The cat meowed at her in response.
He seemed to have been enjoying himself when she last saw him at the circus, but now he was marching off to war. She was rather worried for him and her other friends—Gormus, Slad, Remie, Gees, and the rest of the bunch. The knights in the 18th platoon, including Crow and Captain Yore, were likewise in danger, fighting directly on the front lines. True, they were all quite strong and as such gave her little cause to worry, but she still hoped they would all make it home safe.
Compared to the stressful war situation, life inside the palace was peaceful. Thanks to Roy flushing out the last traitors in the palace, even Fielle could now relax and enjoy the occasional tea party with her sister. These pleasant days renewed Fie’s gratitude towards King Roy and furnished her feelings with an additional helping of guilt.
Fie picked up her cat and looked up into the blue sky. It was such a beautiful day that it was hard to believe their kingdom was embroiled in war. I wish I could be with the others and fight alongside them, she thought. She still had just the slightest bit of rueful attachment to her former life as a squire.
Fie was unaware of it, but in King Roy’s absence, the role of stewarding the castle fell to her. She received all the visitors who came calling, and all the castle’s merchants descended on her in a flock. Yet, while she was unaware, the maidservants knew exactly what was going on. She was quickly taking on the role of a queen. The reason why the castle’s inhabitants were so calm in the king’s absence was because Fie was there to take care of them.
Queen and the other squires were engaged in all their usual tasks, distributing food supplies to the appropriate parties and loading wagons with weapons needed on the front lines. It was not glamorous work fit for a story of legend, but everyone understood that it needed to be done all the same. The squires worked diligently in their camp on the plains, far from the front lines.
The news of the war situation reached their ears—the king’s victory was all but assured, probably due to his overwhelming strength. Duke Zerenade attempted to mass all of his followers together for battle, but only those already indicted for crimes answered his summons. Even though Roy was almost certain that Duke Zerenade was involved in this level of crime, he was reluctant to seize the rights granted to the duke by the former king without sufficient proof of the duke’s wrongdoing, for fear that it would destroy the level of trust he currently enjoyed with the nobility. Had that happened, more nobility would have sided with the duke, and the possibility of a larger conflict increased (although the king would still have won, assuredly). If such a war broke out, his allies and even the unaffiliated civilians would be subjected to a rise in organized crime and potential invasion from other countries seeking to capitalize on the discord in Orstoll. Therefore, the proof of Duke Zerenade’s wrongdoings assured the king’s victory, and allowed him to arrest the duke’s allies in the upper ranks of the military before any fighting began.