In The Name of Love
56: Competition

Despite being stuck seated between Emiliano and Didier, Fifi cannot help smiling when she looks at Minna and Adalberto. She hasn’t been able to hear all of their conversation with the king and queen because Emiliano won’t stop trying to tell her about his latest jousting escapades, but she can see that Adalberto and the king seem to be surprised by her sister in the best way, and she did hear the queen thanking Minna for the flowers they brought her. I’m glad she likes them, Fifi muses as she takes a bite of beet salad. Not only did she help Minna choose the flowers, but she dropped a chip of gemstone into their midst and whispered a blessing in Barivyce while she was helping the servants unload the flowers for the queen. I hope they help her in some way. Queen Casilda looks, to Fifi’s eye, healthier and happier than she did at the gates this morning, but whether that’s because of the flowers or resting or some other remedy, she knows not.

“And then Tacito took this fence taller than Adalberto like it was nothing!” Emiliano boasts. “There’s no better horse in the hunt, I’d bet my life on that.”

Fifi forces a smile and nods. She’s had more interesting conversations with Algot, even before she learned how to actually communicate with him.

“A fascinating tale, Emiliano, but perhaps not the best choice for this occasion,” Didier interjects from Fifi’s other side.

“What’s it to you?” Emiliano snorts.

“As I recall, Princess, you enjoy drawing. Did you see anything worth drawing on your way here?” the Vyrunian prince continues while Emiliano has his mouth full of pickled herring.

“Some deer and some eagles caught my eye, but they wouldn’t stop the carriages to let me draw,” Fifi replies, hating that Didier is a much more interesting conversation partner than Emiliano. She wishes she could ignore both of them, or take the meal alone in her room, but she won’t cause a scene at an occasion so important for Minna. “I’m sure there were far more worthy sights on your way here. The journey from Vyrunia is far longer than ours was, is it not?”

“Way too long,” a woman with sharp features and chocolate brown hair in elaborate plaits piled on top of her head cuts in from Didier’s other side. She bears more than a passing resemblance to him, and Fifi wonder if this is his older sister.

“Arlette—” Didier protests

“What? It was, especially after the carriage ride from the coast to the Palace of Roses and the voyage by ship from Claiamean.”

“I would love to see the ocean,” Fifi sighs wistfully.

“A few days’ ride north of here is the Ice Sea,” Emiliano tells her while Didier argues with Arlette.

“The Ice Sea? Have you been there?”

“Only once, years ago. Got lost on a hunting trip.”

“What’s it like?”

“The water’s dark, and there’s huge chunks of ice floating in it. In the distance, it looks like the sea itself turns to ice. And it was bitter cold when I was there. But the wolves up there are huge and fierce. Best hunting there is.”

And with that, Emiliano launches into a tale of how he and Casimiro stalked and brought down some of these wolves. Across from Fifi, Casimiro turns his attention to them at the sound of his name and even adds his own bits to Emiliano’s story, when he’s not sending unsettling, lecherous glances down the table towards a princess who cannot be more than fifteen. Fifi’s stomach turns, as much because of Casimiro as from Emiliano’s description of the gore of the hunt.

“This again?” Didier mutters from Fifi’s other side.

She glances at him sideways, wondering if giving him her attention will provide any respite from Emiliano.

“Some people are…very committed to their own interests,” she says. She’s not as good at perfect princess manners and tact as Minna, but for her sister’s wedding, she’s determined to be at her very best.

“I suppose. To answer your question from earlier, I found the mountains most impressive and inspiring, of all we saw on our way here. But I didn’t bring any painting supplies with me, and I rode horseback rather than in a carriage when the weather was fine.”

“That must have been nice. I wasn’t allowed to ride horseback, and the carriage jolted too much for drawing.”

“A shame. Perhaps your return trip will be more accommodating.”

“I doubt it. There were bandits on the road.”

“Of course, yes, I should have realized…. There were for us, too. Not enough of a threat to slow us down much, but still a caution against unnecessary stops.”

“Bandits?!” Emiliano interjects, his eyes alight. “Did you fight them?”

“I didn’t, no. They skirmished a bit with some of our guards and were clearly outmatched, so they retreated into the forest. It wasn’t worth trying to chase them down.”

“Coward. Wouldn’t have stopped me.”

“You mistake foolhardiness for bravery.”

“Oh, yeah? You think you’re tough? Let’s you and me go out to the front courtyard right now and—”

“Emiliano!” King Celestino interrupts with a voice like thunder.

“But Father, he—”

“Enough.”

Fifi bites her lip to keep from laughing while Emiliano sulks beside her. Further down the table, the younger princes and princesses are snickering behind their hands and whispering to one another. Maybe I can have a bit of fun tonight, after all, Fifi tells herself. Playing Didier and Emiliano off against each other is far more fun than trying to converse with either one of them, and this way she’s technically not the one causing problems. She might even be able to enjoy her meal without hearing any more about dying animals or bandits. And most important, Minna and Adalberto don’t seem to be paying any mind to them; they remain more or less focused on each other. For the first time all night, Fifi has reason to hope that the supper will turn out all right instead of being a complete and utter disaster.