Chapter Text
Just a couple adjustments, a little tweak in the fit... Nancy nodded to herself in the mirror. She looked perfect, the way a new queen should. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. When she was a little girl, she used to shake her head out before appearing in front of the public, but she couldn't do that anymore. Her hair would become messy, and her crown would fall off. No. If she wanted the people to take her seriously as a ruler despite her young age, she had to look flawless. She couldn't allow herself any mistakes. Her mother left quite a legacy after all, and everyone will expect Nancy to outdo that, or live up to it at the very least.
It was a hard challenge to face. Queen Karen's early death last year shocked the whole kingdom and put her oldest daughter on the spot. Normally, a man of the family would take over in a case like this, but everyone knew the old King Ted was only king in name - he was utterly useless in any matter of the court. And Prince Mike was away "finding himself before sitting on the throne," apparently. Nancy knew this was just an excuse so he could run after that mysterious mage he loved so much and avoid the responsibilities. It has always been up to the women to handle everything in this family. But now with the previous queen dead, and little Princess Holly being too young for politics, everything has fallen on Nancy's shoulders.
She knew this day would come, but not like this. She imagined it many times: her crowning, with her aging mother by her side, and her sister holding her hand, acting as her main adviser. Nancy hoped the latter part of that dream could still come true... Holly did show signs of cleverness and great leadership skills even in this young age. But it would be years until she could actually help her sister out. For now, Nancy had to face it all herself.
She waved to the servants, and they opened the door. Nancy walked out of the building, down to the courtyard, then up the stage where her seat was set up - all with a straight back, not flinching at the hundreds of eyes pinned to her. She was fortunate to have both the common people and the other nobles in her favor, but she knew more than well that this favor was only given in advance because of her mother's good name. If she wanted it to last, she had to forge her own image - which meant making no mistakes.
Nancy sat down in the central chair between her sister and fiancé, then signaled for the tournament to start. This was her favorite part of being a queen: hosting feasts and tournaments. Especially the jousts, which she always put first.
"I'll never understand this game," Prince Jonathan sighed next to her.
Nancy decided it was best to ignore his comment. At first, she felt proud that she managed to secure a marriage this early on with a member of an allied royal family. Politically speaking, it was indeed a significant achievement. But marriage was more than that, and after four months of Jonathan staying in her court, Nancy started to understand why her own parents had bedrooms on opposite sides of the castle. Not that there was something wrong with Jonathan per se... He was young, he was decent looking, he was kindspoken and respectful. She just couldn't help but find him incredibly boring. Nancy was always quite fond of weapons and knighthood, even if she could never become one, as this was something women were forbidden to do. It was miraculous enough that her mother managed to become beloved as a female ruler. A female knight would be just impossible... So Nancy made do with watching knights (especially one in particular). She couldn't understand, however, how it is that a man such as Jonathan, who has access to all, would genuinely oppose knighthood as a concept and put all his efforts into art. Sure, Nancy could appreciate art as much as any noblewoman, but she did not tolerate the slander towards her knights!
She was the ruler at the end of the day, though, so she held as many tournaments as she wanted. But the arguments following them didn't help bring the two of them closer...
The knights walked in and sat on their horses, ready to begin the joust. Nancy's heart skipped a beat as she saw the first competitor appear with the signature crest on his armour depicting a small, brown-red bird - it was Sir Robin, the mysterious newcomer. He showed up a couple of months ago at the first tournament of the summer. He was the black horse of the race - a knight nobody knew or heard of before - and he aced the competition. Nancy already felt a liking for Sir Robin for his skills alone. But she really grew fond of the knight for his behaviour at the feast. While he attended, Sir Robin didn't remove his helmet at any point of the evening, nor did he partake in the loud debauchery that went down at the tables.
The secretive knight whose face nobody has seen... If she were in a dreamy poem, Nancy would say she was falling in love.
Sadly, this was real life, with reputations to obtain and Jonathans to marry, not some fairytale. Still, observing never hurt anyone, right? In truth, Nancy's eyes were stuck on Sir Robin the whole day, and the evening... If only she knew who was beneath that helmet!
The question was stuck in her head every night she left for bed. But it also made for quite lovely dreams...