The Princess Crisis

The Ceremony

The Grand Hall of the planet Cartiss, the fourth planet in the Dardia system had only been used three times since Queen Arafina had been crowned. One of those times had been the Queen's Crowning ceremony, held three weeks after the Life Ceremony of her father, King Estonos. The king had passed his life just seven months after unilaterally ending the war between Cartiss and Valzoth. The med techs had ruled the cause of passing natural causes, but many believed it was different. The other time had been the five year celebration of peace between the planets. Representatives, dignitaries, and prominent citizens of the three planets that were inhabited by humans in the Dardia system were there to celebrate. Missing was anyone from the moon Serradain. Part of the wars between the planets had been for control of the moon and its mining facilities. The treaty that ended it all left the moon as an independent entity but not equal to the planets. For some reason, this was working as all three planets traded with the moon without issue. Now the Grand Hall was full of military, governors, and well-wishers waiting for Captain Orlando Bennett to receive his fifth Order of Valor.

There was a delay in the Queen arriving, there had been some last minute issues with one of the governors of the thirty provinces of the planet. Waiting to take their places next to the Queen was her life partner, Duke Galann. Strikingly handsome in the military uniform he was wearing, although he had never served in the Defense Forces, as Duke and life partner to the Queen, he claimed the right. He fidgeted with his jacket, feeling a little out of sorts without any medals, unlike the man of the hour, Orlando Bennett. He was standing next to Princess Alleate, the object of the most recent mission that had brought about the Order of Valor ceremony. The princess was dressed in one of her ceremonial dresses, although it wasn't that much different than what she wore regularly. There was a band of material that rode extremely low on her hips with full-length strips in the front and back, that covered her private parts. She had chosen a three stone dangle as her belly ring, each stone represented the colors of the Cartiss. The princess's top was more of a sash than anything else. It was wrapped around her neck and hung down to cover her firm breasts. There was a fine chain of metal that looped around the back, somewhat keeping it in place. Her earrings matched her belly ring and she wore her crown that was an indication that she was a direct descendant princess of the previous King. Four handmaidens were waiting a discrete distance away, along with two butlers of the Duke's staff.

"How are you feeling my dear?"

"Much better, thank you Galann."

"I understand you have an audience with your sister, the Queen, tomorrow," Galann stated with a tone that gave Alleate pause. She shrugged it off as Galann just being Galann, he's always had a sour disposition.

"Yes, I was hoping for something sooner, but my sister has been busy ..."

"True ..."

There was a moment of silence before the Duke spoke again.

"Are you planning to give him a special thank you?"

Alleate glared at her sister's life partner, even if she took full advantage of the planet's open lifestyle, talking about it was commonly not done.

"It is the tradition ... as I understand."

"What are you two speaking about?" the Queen said, stepping toward her sister and life partner.

"I was just ..." Galann started.

"Nothing ..." Alleate cut Galann off.

"Perfect ... shall we ..." the Queen commanded, walking past the others. Princess Alleate followed behind her sister, although her thoughts did review what Galann had suggested. Orlando Bennett was handsome, and his reputation amongst the handmaidens was almost scandalous, something that brought a smile to the princess's face.