In The Name of Love
15: Surprise

“You look beautiful,” Fifi assures her sister as she finishes twisting braids of rose-gold hair around Minna’s coronet to stylishly keep it in place for the night’s dancing.

Minna smiles at Fifi in their dressing room mirror, but the smile doesn’t reach her eyes.

“Really,” Fifi insists. Minna’s earrings and necklace, gold set with emeralds and pearls, match her coronet, and her pine green gown is elegant and tailored to show her off. “If every man you’ve invited to the Ball isn’t completely enamored with you by the end of the night, then I am no judge of beauty.”

“Maybe it would be better if I wasn’t,” Minna whispers, toying with a strand of gold in her necklace. “Some of them might be put off by the prospect of an ugly bride.”

“Minna….” Fifi casts about for words. She hasn’t tried to talk with Minna about her Quest for Favor since they argued the afternoon before and she sent their mother to Minna. The only mention she’s made of it has been thanking Minna for insisting, along with their mother, that Kai be invited to the Ball despite their father’s protests. “You’d still be a princess. And for many suitors I’d expect that’s more of an enticement than beauty.”

“You’re probably right. But that won’t help me choose.” Minna sighs heavily. “I always thought, when we were planning for our Quests for Favor, that I would know who the right one was.”

“You still might. The Ball might make things clear.” Fifi pauses and then giggles. “Eliminate every suitor who steps on your feet or is otherwise a poor dancer.”

This time Minna’s smile is genuine. “I’d rather marry a poor dancer with an amiable personality than a man who dances well but is otherwise abhorrent.”

“But if you keep only good dancers with pleasant personalities in consideration, that ought to narrow the field significantly.”

“Minna! Fifi! It’s time,” Queen Ingrid calls from their antechamber. Minna rises from her chair with perfect posture and glides across the floor. If she didn’t know her sister, Fifi might think Minna at ease, but the tension in Minna’s neck and the staccato clicks of her heels on the floor give her anxiety away.

Fifi follows Minna to meet their mother and then make their way to the Great Hall, which the servants have converted to a majestic Ballroom since the Talent competition ended. Floral arrangements and sheer fabric drapery and crystal bowls of water with candles floating in them were everywhere within when Fifi snuck in earlier in the day. Her parents have been adamant that no expense or opulence be spared for Minna’s Quest for Favor.

“Good,” King Ansgar nods approvingly as they approach him and Prince Emrik behind the immense doors of the Great Hall. Tradition dictates that the Royal Family of Aethyrozia must make a grand entrance, and so they do with a great fanfare from the Royal Orchestra. The King and Queen enter first, arm in arm and looking as though they might genuinely like each other. Fifi and Emrik follow them, smiling for Minna’s remaining suitors and the nobility who have populated the galleries to observe the evening’s festivities. Emrik thrives from the attention, strutting about in his gold and blue livery; Fifi feels out of place beside him, though her blush pink gown is nearly as elegant as her sister’s and she knows how to play her part. Smile and wave, never upstage, she reminds herself. You might as well be part of the scenery tonight.

After a vibrant musical flourish from the Royal Orchestra in their corner of the Great Hall, Minna sweeps into the room, and Fifi is the only one who looks at anyone else; she prefers to watch the suitors’ reactions to her sister. Of the royal ones, only Prince Ramiro is totally unaffected by Minna’s entrance; Grand Duke Maksym blushes at the sight of her, and Prince Emiliano stares open-mouthed, while Princes Lisandro, Adalberto, and Didier have better manners and appreciative glances. Prince Casimiro seems to view Minna’s presence as competition for attention and strikes a pose. Beyond them, the remaining noble suitors—Fredrick, Ingemar, Kai, Mathias, and Ragnar—also watch Minna with varying degrees of interest. Do they know that the game is set against them, that they cannot hope to win? Fifi wonders as she watches them. In her estimation, Ragnar and Fredrick admire Minna most sincerely, while Kai’s gaze is one of cool polite interest, and Mathias and Ingemar look more determined than anything else.

According to the traditions of the Quest for Favor, Minna walks slowly past the line of suitors along one side of the room, making eye contact with each and every one. When she reaches the end of the line, she turns on her heel and starts to walk past them again. Minna must dance with each of them at least once in the course of the Ball, but she has the privilege of choosing her first dance partner of the evening.

Near the Royal Family of Aethyrozia, a gaggle of sumptuously dressed daughters of the nobility whisper to one another. There are ten of them present as additional dance partners for the suitors, since Minna and Fifi can each dance with only one at a time. Fifi has never conversed much with any of them, but tonight she hopes to speak with as many of them as possible during each refreshment break, that she might learn more about the young men contending for Minna’s hand.

Finally, Minna curtseys to Prince Adalberto and extends her hand to him. He bows and takes her hand without a trace of a smile, not that Fifi would expect anything different, knowing how he grieves. Minna then leads him to the center of the dance floor.

“Princess Wilhelmina has chosen her first partner!” the Chief Royal Steward announces. “The rest of you should do the same.”

All at once, the suitors break out of their line and the young ladies near the Royal Family rush to meet them. Fifi moves more sedately, curious whether any of the suitors will seek her out as a partner.

She is both surprised and relieved when Kai appears in front of her.

“May I have this dance?”