A Tale of Crowns and Stars

Sapphires & Stars

       The noise of the engagement party below wafted up to Cyra like the sounds in a zoo. Hundreds of guests arrived in the Grand Hall, each kingdom represented by their various royalty or an ambassador in their kingdom colors. She viewed the entire room from a balcony above and peered down at the revelry with Mirabel at her side, watching the minglers with a passing interest. The lady-in-waiting didn't look at the guests below with her but instead chose to fuss with Cyra's gold satin ballgown. The off-shoulder dress - tailor-made for her - was lace from the top to her waist, where it decorated the top of the skirt.
      Before pouring her into the gown, Mirabel pressed her ordinarily curly hair straight and then pinned her tresses into a low bun, finally placing the laurel hair comb into the top of the bun. After that, Cyra had found her way to the cylinder, still sitting on her nightstand. She finally unscrewed the top unceremoniously and dumped the contents into her hand, expecting some small, insignificant trinket.

Instead, a sizable blue sapphire ring dropped into her palm, and upon further inspection, she found pavé diamonds encircled the sapphire twice, as well as the top half of the band. The craftsmanship of the ring astonished Cyra, and when Mirabel saw it, she inhaled sharply.

"That was in the cylinder this whole time?" Her lady-in-waiting held it up to the light, watching the jewel shine as she twisted and turned it. "This must have cost at least half of his fortune."

The jewel now rested upon her ring finger, impossible to ignore. The ring looked out of place on her usually bare fingers, and the substantial weight of the sapphire made her hand feel heavy, so she placed it at her side. Halewijn had left her this gift for a reason. She would figure it out when they met at the party below, and not a moment before. Mirabel finished her fussing behind her and walked to her side, taking the ring hand in hers one more time. The young woman examined it with more curiosity than before, while Cyra looked over the railing to the party again. Her eyes roamed the crowd, picking out heads of people she knew from the various functions she had attended before like a sharp-eyed raven. Princess Clara, Prince Avisi, Princess Odette, her mother, and father... all of her other cohorts had either sent ambassadors or had yet to arrive.

Halewijn stood in the middle of the crowd, dressed in his most delicate blue and silver garments and speaking with a man animatedly, his hands illustrating the tale he wove. A mass of silver stars decorated his outer robe, and the laurel crown he wore was also silver, catching and throwing the light as he turned.  The shirt and pants he wore matched the blue color in the robe, and he seemed damn near perfect on the outside, a vision to behold. A white-haired man who stood in front of him - tanned from years in the sun - nodded in fascination, his old eyes never leaving the High Prince. Cyra could understand those feelings when looking at Halewijn; the fixation at the man who looked like he had cut cloth from the night sky to wrap himself in was all too familiar.

"Are you ready to make your entrance, Princess?" Cyra stiffened at the thought of having to make a grand entrance and attracting so much attention to herself. But this was her engagement party; she would be the main focus no matter what—her and Halewijn.

"I'm ready." Cyra walked down the flight of stairs to the main floor, out of sight, pausing for a moment to breathe.

"Imagine everyone here is a jester..." Mirabel advised. "They're all here to make you laugh and smile." Cyra nodded, taking the lady's words to heart, then let Mirabel descend into the crowd below like so many times before. The Princess took a step towards the staircase, about to place a foot on the top step, thus bringing herself into view, when a loud trumpet fanfare blasted below her. The eruption was not her usual way of entering, so she looked past the corner of the wall to see who was coming and had ordered such an entrance.