Her Rightful Place

68: The Banquet

"Well, Xavier, we have not yet had to clean up an unmitigated disaster, aye? It seems this is turning out better than anticipated," Jerôme greets his friend with more than the usual amount of dry humor. They have just managed to make their way across the Great Hall, where many of the guests who have come for the Midsummer's Eve Ball are mingling before supper, to exchange a few words. Once the evening meal begins, the two of them will be at separate tables.

"Do not say that too loudly, or someone may see fit to make you eat your words," Xavier warns, utterly without humor. He has been hard pressed to be appropriately pleasant to the guests that have arrived since his conversation with Mireille, or to anyone else, for that matter.

"Why so glum? Did you not get to see your most anticipated guest?"

Xavier glances around the Great Hall; to his relief, neither the Princess nor anyone else from the Vyrunian Court has yet arrived for supper. "We spoke. I just.... It was not what I hoped for."

"What was amiss? She looked as well as I have ever seen her, and our Queen never once seemed to suspect that she has met either of our ladies before. What more did you hope for?"

"Some assurance that, if and when she and I marry, it will be a match based on...mutual affection, rather than simply political convenience."

"I am surprised. Her letters and general disposition towards you have been of a friendly bent, have they not?"

"Marriage is a bit more than friendship, Jerôme. I confess I envy the sort of affection you and Christelle seem to share. But I would rather not talk about it, just now. There is time yet, to cultivate... Thank you, by the way, for giving me the chance to escort them to their rooms. Without your help I never would have been able to speak with her privately, and I appreciate that you were willing to sacrifice time with Christelle—"

"No sacrifice, actually. Christelle came to see me not terribly long after you all went to the East Wing. Some of their guards and servants were yet in the courtyard, actually."

"Really? Do tell."

"We only spoke a few minutes. Her errand was to inquire of me where young ladies such as herself might be able to walk outdoors and perhaps play with a dog, information I was of course glad to give her. And she thanked me, again, for the letter from her family. Evidently it touched her a great deal. Thank you for making that suggestion, and affording me the opportunity to do such a thing for her."

"I am glad to have served you so well, my friend." Xavier pauses, biting back a sigh. Mireille's doing, I have no doubt. Always thinking of what is best for others, and for her country. "I only wish I knew how I might similarly touch Mireille's heart."

"You have already returned her to her true family, and saved her from the Queen's wrath. What more—"

"But I also visited the Queen's wrath upon her. She even pointed out, when we first met, that I could have come back here and told the Queen that the reports of her skill were greatly exaggerated. She still misses her trade and that village, I think, though she directly told me she could never go back now that she knows how much more good she can do in her current place."

Jerôme considers this for a moment, along with everything he knows about the Princess. "She has endured much, and she seems always to put others before herself. Perhaps if you put her first, in actions as well as words—"

"Prince Xavier," one of the Princesses of Claiamean interrupts with overbearing affectation. "I absolutely adore what you have done with the Great Hall. These decorations are simply sublime." She gestures to the abundant greenery studded with red and purple blossoms, all courtesy of the village of Adrennes, throughout the enormous space.