Celedia blinked, settling her deep-blue eyes on him. “Maxwell Reclentos…” She blinked again, switching to Luciana. She repeated this several times.
Is this girl well? Maxwell wondered. I’m told she’s to be our savior, but something about her feels…off.
The girl’s mind wandered away. Her lips moved but formed no words. None the others could hear, at least. She was repeating the names in a tone audible only to herself. Cecilia. Lectias. Luciana. Maxwell. And then, finally, “Why?”
Sable said something to her, and she returned to her senses. Concerned, disturbed, and otherwise curious gazes washed over her. A sweet, pitiful smile came to her lips.
“I’m sorry. This is all very new to me, and I’m still terribly nervous.”
“Oh, I can understand,” Luciana said in a gentle, reassuring tone. “This is only my second ball, and I still clam up on occasion. It’s nothing to chastise yourself over.”
“Thank you, Lady Luciana. That’s very kind of you to say.”
“She’s only recently come to the capital and has few friends,” Melody explained. “Would you all mind terribly much if she were to join us?”
“No objections here! We don’t mind at all, do we?” Luciana looked to the others. They all smiled in agreement.
Melody sighed in relief.
“Thank you. You’re all so generous.” Celedia smiled softly.
“All rise for His Royal Majesty the King, Her Royal Majesty the Queen, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”
With the herald’s cry, the royal family entered the ballroom. All eyes went to the stage on which they stood.
Melody tilted her head. “The prince?”
“What about him?” Luciana asked.
“I thought he would be escorting the imperial princess.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. I wonder who she’s with instead.”
His Highness wore a regal mask of stoicism, but the faintest twitch of his eyebrow betrayed a hint of indignation. Or perhaps it was only a trick of the light.
I don’t see Lady Anna-Marie either, Melody thought. I wonder what she’s up to.
“My countrymen,” the king began, “it is with great pleasure, and doubtless great redundancy, that I come here to confirm the rumors. An honored guest joins us tonight—Her Imperial Highness Ciestine van Rordpier, of the Rordpier Empire.” A murmur swept through the crowd. “As I’m certain you all know, our nations share a history, a history of bloodshed. But let the dead rest this evening and the past lie, for we are taking the first step in setting things right. Her Imperial Highness joins us tonight as an envoy of peace, and she will attend Royal Academy as a symbol of our future bond.”
The murmur rose to a buzz. Evidently, few knew of Her Imperial Highness’s planned attendance at Royal Academy.
“I suppose it’s as Lady Anna-Marie said. In all likelihood, she’ll be in His Highness’s class. Your class, Lady Luciana,” Melody said.
“That’s certainly where this seems to be headed,” she muttered.
Rumors and suppositions spread through the crowd like wildfire.
“Do you suppose Her Imperial Highness will join Prince Christopher’s class?”
“This ends in a betrothal. Mark my words.”
“Perish the thought! Prince Christopher remains true to Lady Anna-Marie!”
“And a fine concubine I’m sure she’ll make, but she simply doesn’t compare, in terms of political expediency. An imperial princess for queen consort would be of great value to the realm.”
“The day Lady Anna-Marie becomes a mere concubine will be a dark one indeed.”
It didn’t take much to set the peerage’s infamously active imaginations to work. Soon, the gossip would turn to disorder. Anna-Marie had many supporters, unlike the princess of an enemy nation, and this threat to the people’s favorite royal couple only lowered Her Imperial Highness’s popularity further.
“We were told in no uncertain terms that a betrothal hadn’t even been considered,” Beatrice murmured.
“I suppose it’s possible they kept Lady Anna-Marie in the dark,” speculated Milliaria.
“Perhaps this is why they’ve never formally gotten engaged,” Luna said.
“Lady Luciana,” Melody said, “I’ve never seen the royal couple together myself. Is the prince’s betrothal to another really so difficult to believe?”
“I would say so, yes,” she replied. “They have incredible chemistry. At the academy, they’re rarely apart, and it’s like they exist in their own world. It’s hard to describe, but I’ve witnessed it.”
“I see.”
How sad, Melody thought. What’s best for the realm isn’t always what’s best for the self.
The misunderstanding flourished. If only the people knew the truth of their relationship, of their lack of official engagement. It was a mercy that Anna-Marie was not present to hear such things.
In truth, the royal couple existed only in the public’s imagination. Their perpetual protests and behind-the-scenes interference kept them from marrying. The matter of the imperial princess was hardly a few weeks old, and a betrothal hadn’t crossed anyone’s mind yet. As things stood, the two countries had a long way to go before either trusted the other enough to unite via holy matrimony.
But as sure as the sun would rise, the people would gossip. And loudly, at that.
“Silence!” roared Lord Chancellor Reclentos, standing imposingly behind His Majesty.
The assembly obeyed at once.
A glance from his metaphorical right hand told the king he had the floor again. He cleared his throat, then gestured toward a large door. “Let this night mark the beginning of a bright new future for our two realms. Enter! Presenting: Her Imperial Highness, the second princess of the Rordpier Empire, Ciestine van Rordpier!”
A grand set of double doors directly across from the stage slowly, dramatically creaked open, and the orchestra struck up a tune, drowning out yet more murmurs. The people wanted to know who dared trample on true love. They would soon find out.
At last, the way was clear, and a girl stood in the archway.
But the murmuring rose again. This was not she.
“Weren’t we expecting a princess?” an onlooker muttered.
“What is she doing there?” another whispered. “What’s happening?”
In place of a princess, or even a woman, stood a strapping and handsome figure in a prince’s regalia, matched in extravagance only by Christopher himself. At the man’s side, presumably serving as his partner for the night, was Lady Anna-Marie Victillium.
The ballroom’s lighting shimmered in their golden hair as the pair made their way toward His Majesty, the stranger’s icy blue gaze slaying every maiden it caught.
“How beguiling,” one swooned.
“I feel as though he’s read my very soul,” said another. “I’m frightened, and yet I can’t look away.”
The crowd’s anticipatory malice vanished, replaced by fascination. What made this strange, androgynous beauty’s hair shimmer so? What did it see with its piercing eyes? How might its porcelain skin feel to touch?
“That explains what Lady Anna-Marie was called away for,” Luciana said. “But His Majesty said princess. What is a prince doing here? Is Her Highness missing?”
Luciana’s curious mind raced, but Melody was not deceived, for she had the eyes of a maid. “That, Lady Luciana, is a woman.”
“What?” It took Luciana a moment to process that. “What?!” She did a double take and studied those androgynous features more closely. They divulged nothing. “Are you sure?”