dance.
“Oh!” she cried. A wave of relief washed over her.
She could hardly afford to make these silly mistakes, but she was used to
meeting royalty on equal terms. “Yes, of course! Your highness. I forget
myself. Pray, do forgive me, only I’m unaccustomed to socializing with
royals.”
Would the king believe these lies? Of course he
would not. If Lally did not fill the silence, he would ask where a non-royal
might have received such a stunning silver gown. “From whence come you, King
Aelwyn? I mean, your highness. Only, your appearance is not as that of most
Northerners. I hope you take no offence at my remarking so.”
The king’s countenance hardened. He looked away from
Lally. Silence sat between them like a mountain of stone. Offering her
apologies, she begged King Aelwyn to disregard the question. “You see the tone
of my flesh and assume my origin to be in the Hot Kingdoms.” His gaze softened
as he sighed in frustration. “True, my mother hailed from the Hot Western
Kingdom, but I myself have never visited that area. I was born in the North
and have lived through its balmy summers and frigid winters my entire life.”
“How did it come to pass that you were born here in
the North?” Lally asked. Why anyone would leave the hot kingdoms for the cold
ones puzzled her.
The flautist was joined by the drummer and a fiddler
too. “In the time of my grandparents, the Hot West and Northern Kingdoms were
keen trading partners. It was decided that, in order to contribute variety to
our monarchies’ bloodlines, the kingdoms would also trade royals. When my mother,
the heiress of the Hot Western throne, reached a marriageable age, she was sent
here to wed my father, the Northern prince. My father’s younger sister was
sent to the Hot West, where she rules to this day. This has prevented our
royal bloodlines from becoming too pure. When a monarchy’s lineage is unmixed,
illness and insanity become rampant. The Southern Kingdom is a perfect
example…”
Lally suffered a cramp at the mention of her father’s
kingdom, but she did not allow the king to see her suffering. He continued,
“Our neighbours have obsessed about pure bloodlines, and what is the result?
We all know the tale. Lunacy has consumed King Galyn’s once-brilliant mind, to
the point where he obsesses about marrying his own daughter!”
A sweat broke on Lally’s palms. The king’s statement
was true, but why did he have to speak of it so loudly? Others were certainly
listening. Must everybody know of her misfortune? They knew already, perhaps…
“Are you talking of the bawdy princess Lally?” an
excessively fat man asked. “She was asking for it, with all her gallivanting
around the kingdom!” The man snorted with drunken laughter at Lally’s
misfortune. She bit her lip with all her might. Any pain but that pain!
She would rather feel the sting in her physical self than think upon her
father’s lunacy, or imagine the maltreatment she might have endured had she not
fled his castle.
“I heard it was the other way ‘round,” a skinny but
equally obnoxious man accused. “I heard it was she who snuck into bed with the
old king Galyn! He was the only man left in the whole of the kingdom she
hadn’t firked.”
All went quiet to Lally’s ears. The dancing
continued, but she no longer heard the music. King Aelwyn’s lips moved, but
she did not hear his words. Her ears pounded with the polluted blood pumping
through her veins. She wanted to run, but her feet were stone. Her arms fell
like weights at her sides. The bony man continued to laugh. Lally heard
nothing, but when he threw his head back and his mouth wide open, she saw the
specs of food in holes where teeth had once been.
How dare he? Lally’s skin pricked. She felt like she was being
stabbed with hot tapestry needles. What cruelty and malice of spirit would
drive anyone to
“Oh!” she cried. A wave of relief washed over her.
She could hardly afford to make these silly mistakes, but she was used to
meeting royalty on equal terms. “Yes, of course! Your highness. I forget
myself. Pray, do forgive me, only I’m unaccustomed to socializing with
royals.”
Would the king believe these lies? Of course he
would not. If Lally did not fill the silence, he would ask where a non-royal
might have received such a stunning silver gown. “From whence come you, King
Aelwyn? I mean, your highness. Only, your appearance is not as that of most
Northerners. I hope you take no offence at my remarking so.”
The king’s countenance hardened. He looked away from
Lally. Silence sat between them like a mountain of stone. Offering her
apologies, she begged King Aelwyn to disregard the question. “You see the tone
of my flesh and assume my origin to be in the Hot Kingdoms.” His gaze softened
as he sighed in frustration. “True, my mother hailed from the Hot Western
Kingdom, but I myself have never visited that area. I was born in the North
and have lived through its balmy summers and frigid winters my entire life.”
“How did it come to pass that you were born here in
the North?” Lally asked. Why anyone would leave the hot kingdoms for the cold
ones puzzled her.
The flautist was joined by the drummer and a fiddler
too. “In the time of my grandparents, the Hot West and Northern Kingdoms were
keen trading partners. It was decided that, in order to contribute variety to
our monarchies’ bloodlines, the kingdoms would also trade royals. When my mother,
the heiress of the Hot Western throne, reached a marriageable age, she was sent
here to wed my father, the Northern prince. My father’s younger sister was
sent to the Hot West, where she rules to this day. This has prevented our
royal bloodlines from becoming too pure. When a monarchy’s lineage is unmixed,
illness and insanity become rampant. The Southern Kingdom is a perfect
example…”
Lally suffered a cramp at the mention of her father’s
kingdom, but she did not allow the king to see her suffering. He continued,
“Our neighbours have obsessed about pure bloodlines, and what is the result?
We all know the tale. Lunacy has consumed King Galyn’s once-brilliant mind, to
the point where he obsesses about marrying his own daughter!”
A sweat broke on Lally’s palms. The king’s statement
was true, but why did he have to speak of it so loudly? Others were certainly
listening. Must everybody know of her misfortune? They knew already, perhaps…
“Are you talking of the bawdy princess Lally?” an
excessively fat man asked. “She was asking for it, with all her gallivanting
around the kingdom!” The man snorted with drunken laughter at Lally’s
misfortune. She bit her lip with all her might. Any pain but that pain!
She would rather feel the sting in her physical self than think upon her
father’s lunacy, or imagine the maltreatment she might have endured had she not
fled his castle.
“I heard it was the other way ‘round,” a skinny but
equally obnoxious man accused. “I heard it was she who snuck into bed with the
old king Galyn! He was the only man left in the whole of the kingdom she
hadn’t firked.”
All went quiet to Lally’s ears. The dancing
continued, but she no longer heard the music. King Aelwyn’s lips moved, but
she did not hear his words. Her ears pounded with the polluted blood pumping
through her veins. She wanted to run, but her feet were stone. Her arms fell
like weights at her sides. The bony man continued to laugh. Lally heard
nothing, but when he threw his head back and his mouth wide open, she saw the
specs of food in holes where teeth had once been.
How dare he? Lally’s skin pricked. She felt like she was being
stabbed with hot tapestry needles. What cruelty and malice of spirit would
drive anyone to
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