Chapter Text
“Father,” Vanessa said, entering the office wearing one of her more plain dresses. “I have a question for you.”
He looked up from a letter from a Duke, eyebrow raised. He had shed his doublet at some point, earlier, and on his shirt was the swan pin that had belonged to the late Queen Ysabella. “Sit down,” he said, waving at the chairs in front of his desk.
The simple circlet Vanessa wore when not engaged in Official Duties sparkled in the mid-morning sunlight coming in through the windows. She sat down gracefully, smoothing out her dress. Her wedding band glinted in the movements, and she stared at the ring for a moment before meeting her Father’s eye.
“What is on your mind, Vanessa?”
She bit her lip in an unusual show of hesitance. “When Mother and you were first married,” she started slowly, “what Traditions did you show her?”
“Ah,” he sighed, leaning back in his chair, the letters in front of him all but forgotten. “Trouble planning the Court Ceremonies?” His tone was light, and Vanessa could tell he was slightly amused at her plight.
“A bit, yes,” she admitted. “I’ve never experienced the Ceremonies with someone who, who, did not know the Traditions before. And Prince Max has been… Busy, learning the minutiae of his role here.”
The look her Father gave her spoke volumes of its own.
I’m sure that’s what he’s been busy with.
She cast her own, pleading, look back at him.
Please, don’t. I know. Please.
Father let out a mix of a sigh and a scoff. “In time, I am sure he will come to realise the honour and beauty of our Court.”
“Yes, Father,” Vanessa said automatically. She knew what he was saying underneath his words; the true meaning of what, or rather who, the Court really was. Honestly, she was sure that anyone off the street could pick up on it, given the unsubtly in his tone of voice. “But being able to explain these Traditions that we do, even the silly ones, are sure to help that along, yes?” She directed the conversation back to the issue at the forefront of her mind.
“Yes, yes, alright,” Father relented. “Have you made a list of which ceremonies he must be part of?”
“I have,” Vanessa said. “It is rather short, though, I am afraid. It has been so long since anyone new has entered the Court, that I cannot tell what is too much and what is too little.”
“Well,” her Father said, “he must be at the Official Solstice Opening Feast, of course, and the Closing Feast as well.” He ticked off the events with his hand. “I would recommend he be there for the Coin Dancing, though it is not necessary he is there. So long as one of the Royal Family is present, that will satisfy.”
“I did not consider taking him with me to the Coin Dancing,” Vanessa admitted. The Coin Dancing was an event that took place in the Town Circle. The young ladies of the Town who were eligible for marriage dressed up in their finest and warmest furs and did a lovely dance around the fountain, which had usually frozen over by this point of the season. It was called Coin Dancing because at the hems of their sleeves and dresses, coins had been attached. When they moved, the coins would jingle merrily, and it was a show to the eligible men of town that the young ladies’ doweries would not just be in bread, hand-spun wool, and goats.
“Yes, I would like to keep him away from any more unattached young women,” her Father mused to himself under his breath, clearly not intending for her to hear him. “Make sure you take Sir Trevor with you,” he continued, at a normal speaking volume. “He is a good sort and knows how to navigate the crowds.”
“I have been to the Dancing before, Father,” Vanessa reminded him, “and Sir Trevor has been with me for those outings, as well.”
“You are my only Daughter, the only Heir,” Father said, leaning forward, blue eyes serious. “I want you to be a part of the People, I want them to know you and love you like I do, but most of all,” he reached for her hand, grasping it comfortingly. “I need to know that you are as safe as I can make you.”
Vanessa smiled wetly, seemingly pulling a handkerchief out of thin air, and dabbed at the tears in her eyes with her free hand. “Yes, Father.”
“Good girl,” he squeezed her hand and then let it go. “The Prince ought to be at the Orphanage with you as well. A mix of both your Houses would be a good showing of unity.”
“Alright,” she said, handkerchief gone and emotions back under control. “But what of the more fun things? The Snowman Contest, for instance? Ought he be a judge, as well?”
“It is a silly event that the Household Staff partake in,” Father mused, “It would be a good way for him to get to know some of the Staff outside formal duties. At least Head Cook Henley and Mother Seamstress Seren, oh, and the men in charge of training our Knights.”
“And what about the Lanterns?”
“I suppose he should be there. It is one of the times that all the Royal Family as a whole must be seen together, bar some sort of serious injury or illness. I expect Lady Anneliese’s family will be arriving soon?”
“Yes, the Twilloils have sent word ahead that they are only a few days out from the castle.”
“And what of Sir Trevor’s and Sir William’s?”
“Oh, ah, the Watsons shan’t be able to make it this year. His younger sister, Miss Julia, is coming back from finishing school too closely to the Solstice. They wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the Lanterns. The Broadacres will be here in time for the Lanterns, but only Dame Broadacre and their remaining daughter at home, Miss Kasi.”
“Hmm, a little smaller than last year, but that is alright. Much of the focus will be on Prince Maxwell’s being there, rather than Lord and Lady Watson and Miss Julia not being there.”
“I have spoken already with the chamberlains, so the Household Staff is aware of the number of rooms which need to be aired-out and prepared.”
“Good job, Vanessa,” Father said, a small smile on his face.
Vanessa tried to play down her preening at the praise. “It was nothing,” she said, “just doing what is expected.”
“Still,” he said, “you have done well.” He picked up the letter in front of him again, eyes still on his daughter. “Now go find your husband,” Vanessa thought it was admirable how he kept from grimacing around the word, “and round up Sirs Trevor, William, and Dennis, along with Lady Anneliese. It is best for the Prince to start getting prepared now for the Feast and the other Events that he will need to be attending.”
“Yes, Father,” Vanessa said, standing up and giving him a small curtsey. “With your leave?”
Her Father rolled his eyes at his daughter’s teasing formalities. They both knew that right now, with the pin out in the open, she need not do the things she would be expected to do were he not wearing the pin. But she was her Mother’s child, certainly, as he remembered his lovely Ysabella doing the same.
“Goodbye, Vanessa.” He said pointedly, looking down at the letters on his desk with a blank face.
A bittersweet wave of fondness crashed over him at her fading laugh as she walked out of his office.
“How many of these events am I expected to be at?” Prince Max asked, looking at the list of the events and their descriptions put together by Princess Vanessa, with help from some of her Household.
“Officially?” Princess Vanessa double-checked, “Five. You needn’t come to the Coin Dancing if you don’t want to. It’s expected I will be there, but since you are so new to the citizens, it’s not going to cause any scandals if you don’t come this year.” Though she and Prince Max had only been married for a scant month, his informality of speech was starting to slip into her own when they were together.
Prince Max frowned, looking up from the list. “But you’d want me there?”
Princess Vanessa stuttered for a moment, taken by surprise at his question. “Well, I, ah, I wouldn’t turn you down if you were to want to come along. But like I said, you don’t need to be there.”
“I’ll be there, then,” he decided, taking a quill from its stand and dipping it in a deep berry coloured ink before making a note next to the event.
By the time he had placed the quill back in its stand, she had regained her composure. “And of the other events?”
“Well,” Prince Max started, giving her a crooked smile, “I don’t think I’ve got much of a choice when it comes to the Opening and Closing Feasts.”
Princess Vanessa couldn’t help the small laugh she lets out at his quip.
“The Feasts are going to be focused on your gods, and though I’ve been studying, I still am having trouble with them. Going to the Feasts will help, I’m sure.”
Princess Vanessa nodded, and Prince Max continued, “The Snowman Competition is held within the Castle for the staff, and I reckon it would be fun to watch. If there are no issues with me attending, I think I should like to go.” He hesitated for a moment. “I don’t think I should go with you to the Orphanage. The children are going to care more about seeing you then they are me there; I would just get in the way.”
“That’s not true,” she argued, “they would be just as interested in seeing you as they are me. You’re their new Prince, their eventual Prince Regent.”
“I’m an outsider,” he rebutted, “swanning in and pretending like I know a thing about how the culture works here. I would misstep somewhere, and I would insult someone on accident.”
“M-Max,” Princess Vanessa said, stumbling slightly over addressing him without his title.
“I am not going to the Orphanage this time, Vanessa.” He frowned, but she could tell it was due to thinking rather than any resentment. Or, rather, she hoped it was. “Before the wintermelt happens, I swear I will attend with you. But not during this. Not during something so important to your People.”
The Princess bit at the inside of her cheek, trying not to show how she felt about his Othering himself in this part of the conversation. “… They’re your People now, too,” she mutters, eyes dropping to where her hands were in her lap, fabric bunched in her fists.
Prince Max says nothing, but nods. The barest tilt down of his chin to let her know he heard her.
“The Lanterns seem to be something more solemn,” he spoke again after a few moments of tense silence.
“Not necessarily,” Princess Vanessa replied, latching onto the change of topic with only a few regrets resting bitterly on her tongue. “It’s a way of remembering those who came before us.”
“Well, I’ll be in attendance there,” he decided, setting the list aside on the small table between him and Princess Vanessa, “we don’t really have anything like that back home. It’ll be fun to see.”
Princess Vanessa gave him a weak smile. “Right.”