Our eyes met. For a moment everything was silent. He had dark eyes, like mine, and beautiful curly bck hair. He had an aquiline nose over a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a retively muted dark blue outfit. Still, he had a strong presence, and from his demeanour it was clear that he commanded respect. He was handsome, but not as handsome as Alvar.

  "Introducing, Princess Talia of Havermark!" Baron Rangon broke the silence.

  The crowd parted so that I could walk up the walkway towards the dais at the head of the hall.

  When I was a child they had tried to teach me something about royal grace. How to hold your head high and show css in every situation. I had never listened well, and never matched up to my sisters in this regard. Now I would have to use everything I had learned to try to pass muster.

  I held my head high, looked straight ahead, and walked slowly and deliberately towards the dais. It was hard not to turn my head to look at all the people that were staring at me.

  Ahead stood Prince Virtus, and his father the king Potius. The prince smiled kindly at me, but the king made no expression. He was a rge man, with salt and pepper hair and a big white beard. Behind the king stood the queen Reena. She was a pretty woman with light brown hair. She did not seem much older than Prince Virtus. His mother had died years ago, and this queen was the king’s second wife. I had also heard that Prince Virtus had a slightly younger brother, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  I went up on the dais and bowed, just as I had been taught by Baron Rangon. First to the king, then to the prince, finally to the queen.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty, for welcoming me to your kingdom. I am honoured to be invited to join your family.”

  The prince took my hand. His hands were warm, and almost soft.

  "Welcome to our kingdom, Princess Talia."

  His voice was beautiful, deep and lyrical. The crowd appuded. I blushed but otherwise stood unmoving. These would be my people. I would be their queen.

  ***

  I was panicking in my bedchamber. My dies-in-waiting were trying to cheer me up but I could tell they were also stressed on my behalf.

  The dinner was in an hour, and I had nothing to wear. The initial introduction had been a few minutes of pleasantries, then around an hour of meeting the most important members of the court. At the end, the king had said:

  "And now let us all retire for a couple of hours and let the princess change out of her travelling clothes and into her court clothes for dinner."

  But this was my best dress! What could I do? My father had sent some money along with me, but I would never be able to buy a full new dress in just two hours, and now only one was left!

  I had bathed. At least I no longer had the road dust on me, and the sweat from sitting all day in the humid carriage. My only hope was to just change into another one of my nice wool dresses and hope that they would find it slightly more acceptable.

  There was a knock on the door. Lady Ima opened it. Outside stood two maids carrying a rge box between them.

  "From the prince, Your Highnesses."

  My eyes widened.

  "Tell him thank you."

  Lady Ima and Lady Adelheid took the box and the maids left. They carried it into the room and opened it. Inside was a beautiful red silk dress, a box and a note. The note read:

  "To my dear betrothed,

  I thought you might enjoy this dress to fit in better with the Medoran court style. If not, I apologize for the presumption. In the box there are jewels to match the dress.

  Yours truly,

  Virtus"

  I opened the box, and inside were beautiful golden pieces of jewellery, encrusted with pis zuli. The dies all gasped.

  “Wow, that’s beautiful,” Lady Gwendolyn sighed.

  “And so thoughtful of him to bring it to you,” chimed in Lady Ima.

  “Yes,” said Lady Agatha, and gave me a scolding look, “you’re lucky to marry such a man.”

  I felt guilty. If I had not met Alvar I would probably be very excited now to marry Prince Virtus. I was very grateful for the gift of the dress, now I would be able to fit in at court.

  My dies-in-waiting helped me get dressed. The dress fit wonderfully, and the jewellery suited me well, I wore a crown and a neckce. The only thing I could not wear were the ear pieces, which I learned were called earrings (although they were not rings). Perhaps if I stayed long in Medora I would have holes poked in my earlobes. It sounded painful.

  Baron Silverin came to lead me to the dinner. Along the way he helped me revise the names of the most important people that I had met earlier that day. For once, I was very grateful to have him. His obsession with people, gossip and status was very useful that evening.

  The banquet hall was already mostly full with people. The same people from earlier that day. The sun was about to set as I entered the room. As I walked past each table, the people bowed. Tables and benches had been brought in to the banquet hall, and covered with embellished cloths. On the tables dozens of delicious dishes had been pced. At each seat, a silver dining set.

  My father’s great hall in Havermark was only half the size of this one, and the only good dining sets were reserved for the guests eating at the king’s table on the dais. Here, even the guests in the lower hall had everything made of silver. My silver jewellery was not impressive by comparison. I was extremely thankful to Prince Virtus for having lent me the jewellery.

  I saw him sitting at the table, the king and queen were not yet there but he was conversing with a man around his age. The seat next to him was reserved for me. He looked me in the eyes and smiled. I smiled back and took my seat beside him.

  “Good evening, Princess Talia. You look beautiful tonight,” his dark eyes shimmered in the candlelight.

  “Thank you, Your Highness. It’s all thanks to you.”

  “You’re beautiful on your own as well of course,” he was quick to add. “But the dress suits you very well.”

  “Thank you, your highness. Did you have it ready for me already?”

  “No,” he looked down. “It belonged to my mother, the jewels as well. I’m sorry, the style is not the most fashionable at the moment, but it’s very cssic.”

  “It’s the most beautiful dress I’ve ever worn. I didn’t have anything that fits in at this court, so I’m very grateful. Thank you, Prince Virtus.”

  He smiled softly.

  The king and queen entered together, his big bloated hand on her waist.

  “All right!” he bellowed, “Welcome to this banquet held to introduce Princess Talia, who will marry my son Prince Virtus a week from hence! You may now begin eating!”

  Only a week? I had known it would not be long until we were married, but a week felt very short.

  The king sat in the middle of our table, which faced the hall below. Beside him on his left side sat his advisor, the queen sat on the right side, next to me. I had met her earlier in the day, but we had only introduced ourselves.

  “Good evening, Your Majesty,” I said.

  “Good evening, Princess Talia. You may call me Reena, if you wish.”

  “Then you can just call me Talia.”

  “How were your travels, Talia?”

  I thought about Alvar, I thought about those two wonderful nights we had spent together.

  “They were good, except…”

  I remembered that one night, where the bandits had almost stolen me. But I had ended in Alvar’s arms, so perhaps it was not so bad after all. I told her all about it, but omitted Alvar’s name.

  “That sounds ghastly! I’m so gd you were saved.”

  “Yes, as am I. So tell me about yourself, where are you from?”

  “Oh I’m from here, born in Medolina.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I know it’s rare for queens to not have been born into royal families, but for second marriages it’s more common to marry from the local aristocracy. After all, it’s not like I’ll mother an heir. Not with two princes grown already.”

  “I guess so.”

  “I know about everything here, just ask me if there is something you want to know.”

  “Well it seems like I need the help of a good dressmaker, do you know one?”

  “The best! I’ll take you tomorrow.”

  “Thank you very much.”

  Reena seemed to be truly friendly and helpful. It was strange to think that this woman who was the age of my older sister Penelope would soon be my mother-in-w.

  "How were your travels?" the prince asked from my other side.

  Reena and I ughed. I told him the whole story of the bandits from the beginning. This time being especially careful to downpy Alvar's part.

  "... but you must have experienced much more horrible things in the war," I added.

  "No, my father never let me go to the front lines or most dangerous battlefields in the war. He was too afraid of losing his heir. My brother Plinius however was a great general in the war, and probably saw some things that I am grateful to have avoided. He travelled so far, I think he even went to Havermark at some point. He liked the military so much he stayed with it. He's currently away on an excursion in Perova. That's why he's not here to meet you right now."

  "Ah, what a pity. Will he return for the wedding?"

  "Yes, he should be coming tomorrow."

  "That's good."

  "Yes, although he is now a grown man and a feared military leader, to me he will always just be my spunky little brother. I’m always so worried about him when he’s away.Tell me, do you have any siblings?"

  I told him about my sisters and brother back home. He listened very attentively, and between him and Reena I had very entertaining conversation the whole evening. The king did not speak to me once, but perhaps that was for the better. He didn't seem like a very personable man.

  At the end of the evening we mingled among the rest of the noble folk. I got to meet some of the people from the faraway pces, and I tried to hide my ignorance and fascination.

  When I was with Reena, greeting the Lord and Lady of Verenes, I saw Virtus across the room. He was whispering something in the ear of a striking dy. She had bck hair and icy blue eyes. She ughed and grabbed his arm, he smiled warmly at her. Neither of them noticed me.

  That night I thought of Alvar. Then I thought of Virtus. Since we had arrived at the castle, Lady Agatha could no longer force herself into my room. Would Alvar try to climb in my bedroom window? Was he already alseep in the guards rooms? Was Virtus thinking about me, or was he in that striking woman’s bed? Was Alvar thinking about me? I fell asleep alone and confused.