As Fie entered the castle, she heard a thunder of running footsteps and a boy’s voice crying, “Is Fie here?” A black-haired boy who looked awfully like Roy barreled through a door across the way.
“You shouldn’t run in the halls, Your Highness Prince Salsa,” Fie chided.
Salsa was Roy’s younger brother. Yes, that’s correct—Roy had a younger brother. Just before the old king passed away, he and a commoner in town had conceived a child together; however, the boy was born after the king’s death and as such, the government refused to recognize him as a legitimate heir. He was soon abducted by Duke Zerenade and hidden in a place where no one, not even Zorace, could find. Once the war ended and Duke Zerenade was defeated, Salsa was found, and Roy immediately sent him home to the palace for his own protection, wherein he had become well acquainted with Fie during her stint as the acting queen.
“It is a pleasure to see you again, Your Highness,” she added.
“What’re you being so formal with me for?” he whined.
She giggled. “Good to see you, Salsa. Here, come meet Qurio.”
“Oh wow,” he said. “Is this the baby you just had?”
“I had her six months ago, but yes.”
Salsa resembled Roy in looks alone, his time being raised among commoners having bequeathed him with a more open and cheerful personality. Duke Zerenade had told him that the royal family abandoned him, planting a bitter resentment in Salsa. However, once that misunderstanding was cleared up, Salsa warmed to Roy immensely.
The door opened behind Salsa, and Zorace strode in. “Listen here, Salsa,” he chastised. “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. The royal family must always conduct themselves with a certain level of dignity.”
“Aw, quit getting on my case, you old geezer,” whined Salsa.
Even though Zorace had finally retired from his position of chancellor, he still oversaw Salsa’s education.
“It is a pleasure to have you with us once more, Your Grace,” he said, now addressing Fie.
“Good to see you too! You look like you’re doing well.”
He chuckled. “Yes, thanks to the fact that I’ve been freed from the worst of my labor.”
“You can be freed from me too,” Salsa offered.
“My last work will be to raise you into a fine, respectable prince.”
“Bah!”
Fie grinned as she watched Salsa and Zorace squabble, until she saw another familiar face come up from behind them and ran to meet him.
“It’s good to see you again, Your Majesty,” she said.
“Thank you for coming.”
Roy hadn’t changed a bit, which didn’t surprise her—it had been less than three years since they last met. But in those three years, so much had changed for Fie. The new baby was just the tip of the iceberg.
“I hear Fielle is doing well for herself too,” he said.
“Yes, we keep in touch with monthly letters.”
Once Tomas regained consciousness, he married Fielle and succeeded to the throne of Vorland. Additionally, Fielle had worked some magic (Fie had no idea about the details) that forced her parents to abdicate the throne and combine Daeman with Vorland into one larger country. Fie dearly wanted to ask about what had gone down, but Fielle seemed to be having so much fun with her pottery that Fie never got around to broaching the subject.
“She and Tomas seem to be very happy together,” Fie said.
“That’s good to hear.” Roy broke out into a grin to match Fie’s, but the conversation was beginning to go in an awkward direction for him.
“By the way,” Fie asked, “have you found a good candidate to marry yet?”
Roy smiled stiffly. “No, but, uh, I’m working on it. But you know, it’s hard to make time, what with my duties and all...”
Unlike before, Roy now accepted his subject’s suggestions about possible marriage candidates, and rumors popped up here and there that he had spoken with this countess or that duchess about arranging a match. However, Fie still hadn’t heard a thing about him falling in love with any of these potential suitors.
“Well, when you do find someone, you make sure to be nice to them, okay? You can’t be thinking only of yourself. You both have to be on the same page first, and then you can take the lead.”
“I-I’m working on it... Ah, that reminds me, I have more work to do...” Roy tried to make his escape, but Fie would not let up. “Sorry to cut this short, but take care, all right?”
She sighed as she watched him slink away. “Captain Yore and Sir Crow are never going to get married at this rate.” She couldn’t help but worry for them—here she was, years younger than them, and already two steps ahead on the path of life.
Zorace, watching the exchange, smiled. “His Majesty has changed considerably as well, you know. It used to be that he wouldn’t give a woman the time of day if she tried talking to him about something he didn’t care for. Now, he gives her a full book of topics he actually is interested in and makes her read it before they converse.”
“I mean...I guess that’s an improvement,” she said. He still really wasn’t getting the point, but hey, Fie thought with a wry grin, it was a start.
What had brought Fie to Wienne today was the squires’ accolade, the ceremony in which the squires graduated to knights. Although she could not participate as one of the graduates, she intended to be there as Queen’s wife and as chaperone for their daughter.
“It’s about to start,” she told Qurio. “We’d better hurry.”
Just as she set off for the stage where the ceremony would take place, a man called out to her, “Hey, is that you?”
She stopped. She didn’t recognize this man, but he clearly knew her.
“I knew it,” he said. He grinned when she tilted her head in confusion. “Guess you don’t remember me, huh? I was the judge on the day you tried out for the squires.”
“That was you?” she cried. What a shock to meet that person here, of all places! As frustrated as she had felt at the time, the loss of that match was now a pleasant memory.
The man looked Fie up and down, his face alive with memories, and smiled kindly at the baby. “And now you even have a kid of your own. How time flies.”
“Yeah,” she said. “A whole lot has happened since then—some of it good, some of it bad—but it felt like it all flew by in an instant.” She had never so much as spoken to him before, but all the same, Fie felt like this man was instrumental to her fate. Maybe meeting him here was fate too.
His smile clouded as he looked at her. “To tell you the truth,” he confessed, “I was actually one of the duke’s men. My wife and daughter were deathly ill, so I became an informant for the money.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. Even if the man was a traitor, she didn’t harbor any ill will towards him. What was the point? Fielle and Tomas were now happily married regardless of his actions. “Are your wife and daughter all right?” she asked.
The man grinned. “You bet. The king recommended us to a good doctor, and they’re both making a great recovery. I was ready to serve my time for my crimes as well, but the king granted me a pardon.”
“That’s great to hear.” And it was great, she thought as she beamed at him. She really meant it. “Take good care of them both, okay?”
“You take care of your family too,” he said. “Although I’m sure you don’t need me telling you that.”
“Of course not,” Fie said. “Family is important.”
The man smiled apologetically. “Sorry for taking up your time. You must be on your way to see the accolade ceremony, right? You’re going the wrong way, though. It’s over there.”
“Oh, oops,” she said. Looks like she’d made the wrong turn somewhere along the way. “Thanks.”
“Take care,” he said, “and see you around someday!”
“You take care too! Come on, Qurio, let’s go see daddy look handsome at his ceremony.”
She waved to the man and set off for the venue where her husband was waiting for her.