The Past

Afternoon Tea

Inspired by the ring my boyfriend got me for Christmas

It was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. The game had begun, and until Remor could get me a ship, I would have to play it. That ring would go to a particular debutante, the bride of the prince of the gods.

"And why, exactly, should I wear this?" I asked him, though obviously I could estimate the answer. He was showing me this specific display, but the entirety of his jewel room was magnificent. Well, his father's jewel room.

The glass-domed ring box sat on a tall pedestal, enveloped in deep blue velvet. It was the only such display in the room, and it was paired with a necklace, earrings, and a tiara. Along the walls were mounted displays with similar sets, though none as brilliant as this carved piece of blue stargem, set in a rose gold frame.

The whole room was arranged by gem. Stargems, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, every type of gem or crystal one could imagine, all in one room. Hathe could summon any precious jewel at will, if he wished.

"We both want the same thing," Aeremordus said to me. Remor. "The freedom to not marry." The jewel room had no windows, leaving it dark save for the flame I held in my palm. The warm light gave him even more of a boyish look.

"Do you do this every year?" I asked him, not taking my eyes off of the ring in front of me. "Find the first girl who doesn't want to marry you?"

"No." He gestured to the door and we walked into a small hallway. Pastel blue walls were adorned with carved white painted wooden frames, complete with a white marble floor. Every floor of the palace was made of marble. "Actually, this is the first time Mother has asked me to find a bride. You must be very special to her."

"She's like a mother to me."

"Come," he said, offering me his arm.

It had been a week since my arrival in Orion, and there had been two more balls, but now they would be happening with less frequency. At each ball, I sat at Hathe's table. At each ball, I sat beside the prince of the gods.

I had made a few friends, surprisingly enough. They knew well enough to befriend the competition, rather than alienate her. The game was clear, though. There was always a game.

Today we would attend an afternoon tea, each and every person attending in a pair. Balls were meant for frolicking, new friendships and new couples being formed, but the true mess of it took place in the interim.

We walked into the grand tea room and he handed something to a waiter and whispered, quiet enough to where I couldn't hear.

What is he planning? I wondered.

"Are you even planning on getting me a ship, or is this a game, too?" He signalled for the servant to pour tea into the thin porcelain cup as we got into our seats.

"These things take time. It must stay under my father's nose, and he is watching both of our movements too closely."

His father was not the only one. The room we sat in had all-white walls, and tables covered in baby pink cloths that were adorned with silver teapots and platters full of small, bite-sized sweets. The gods and demi-gods that sat at each table spoke in hushed tones, some glancing frequently at us.

"I don't see Teirr or his brothers, or even Heilen. Where are they?"

"I really can't say I know. Of course, not everyone comes to the tea. They may be sparring or something of the like." He offered me a tiny ball of some dough that I hadn't tried before. It turned out to be quite sweet, and with a grape in the centre.

"Kinheal, hello." One of the girls I had met, Laesin, approached Remor and I at our table. She was the half-breed child of Erisin and some mortal in a faraway empire. She was not a pleasant person.

"Laesin." She seated herself between me and Remor, at absolutely no one's invitation.

"So, you're Remor's plaything for the year?" She teased, scooting closer to him. She didn't look much older than me, but that didn't mean much. Half-breeds on Orion were different from ones such as me and my brothers. Here, the more experienced ones could alter how they aged. She could have been as old as forty, while still looking as though she were in her twenties.

She must have had many years of experience.

"I am no such thing."

She moved even closer to him and ran a hand through his hair, touching his face and pulling it to hers. I fought back the urge to burn her pretty little face off.

Remon grabbed her wrist and shoved her away. "Laesin, not now."

"He does this every year, you know. Gets the freshest young girl, gives her the ring, beds her, then redoes it the next year." She got up and backed away.
"You're one in a cycle of many."

We sat in silence till she was gone, as she had confirmed my previous suspicions. "Well?"

"She's not telling the truth. One year, the year she came, I met her and immediately fancied her. She was beautiful, you see, and I hadn't had a woman in over a century. I gave her the ring, I meant to marry her, and, yes, I bedded her. As it turned out, she was also bedding Athern." He took a deep sip of tea. "And that, dear Kinheal, is why Athern is playing this game with you."

I wasn't quite sure which of them to believe. Perhaps neither.

It was all a game, to all of them.