by S R Ahuja
It wasn’t anything very interesting to Jade, so it was easy enough to keep her mouth shut. Jade knew that grownups didn’t want to be bothered by kids talking, and that was why she wasn’t supposed to talk unless she was given permission, but Menelwen never seemed to mind her talking, and she was a grownup. And Sir Jack had never minded her talking, and he was a grownup too. Maybe it was just kings who don’t like to hear kids talk. Although, when Jade was paying attention, which really wasn’t all that frequently, it seemed like the King and King Vidar were the ones talking most of the time. Queen Liselotte would chime in occasionally, but mostly she just sat back and listened like the kids. Maybe it was that kings didn’t really like to hear anyone talk, but they couldn’t stop other kings from talking too.
It wasn’t until the servants began to clear away the dessert dishes that the conversation turned back to the children.
“I don’t think you ever mentioned,” Queen Liselotte said, speaking to the King but looking at Jade, “why it was that you sent Princess Amalthea to be fostered in the Middle World. Was it that you wanted her to have a unique perspective on your kingdom? A perspective from fresh eyes, so to speak?”
“Not exactly. It is actually quite a long story. Perhaps one best saved for when the children are in bed,” the King said.
“I’m not sleepy,” Jade was lying, but the mention of this story really had perked her up a bit from her position of practically falling asleep in her pie.
“Nor I,” said Prince Freyr quickly. Then he smiled at her, and Jade realized that he was covering for her. She had spoken out of turn again.
“Well,” the King said, rubbing his wrist. “The short story is that when Amalthea’s mother died, there was some concern about her safety in Avalon. The Nine Sisters, our seers, believed that she would be safer with her aunt, her mother’s sister, in a world without magic, and I agreed.”
“That’s right,” Queen Liselotte said quietly. “We’d of course heard of your wife, but I had nearly forgotten. Such a sad tale, and poor little Amalthea, never knowing her mother.” The Queen patted Jade’s hand softly.
“That’s ok, your majesty, don’t be sad for me. I had my Aunt Anna. She was just like a mom to me.”
The Queen smiled at her. “I am so glad for that.”
The silence that followed was awkward. The King was the one to break it when he reminded them that it was time for children to be in bed. Menelwen took Jade up to her room and the others were led to their guest rooms by other servants.
“How do you like your guests?” Menelwen asked as she was tucking Jade into bed.
“They’re ok, I guess.” Jade shrugged. “I didn’t really get to play with Prince Freyr and Princess Sylvi. I think they both like to read though, or at least, they both read, which is kind of like me, so maybe we will get along. Do you think they’ll want to have adventures?”
“Ammie,” Menelwen chided, “you shouldn’t be having adventures. Don’t you go pulling those two children into your crazy fantasies. You’ll get yourself in trouble, and you’ll get them in trouble. Best just to follow what your father says and leave the adventuring to your books.”
Jade sighed and folded her arms across her chest. Menelwen didn’t understand, but Jade was used to that by now. She knew Menelwen was only worried about her safety, but she sure could make things boring.
“Will you tell me a bedtime story?” she pleaded, suddenly forgetting about the whole adventuring thing.
“Oh, Princess, it is late. You should already be a sleep,” Menelwen protested.
“Please,” Jade begged, taking one of Menelwen’s dainty hands in both of hers. “I promise I’ll go to sleep right after.”
“How about a compromise?” Menelwen suggested, “I’ll sing you a lullaby instead.”
Jade considered for a moment. “Ok, I guess that would be fine.”
“Good, now, any requests?” Menelwen asked, spreading Jade’s blanket smooth across her stomach.
“You knew my mother, right?”
“Yes,” Menelwen said slowly.
“Were there any songs that she really liked?” Jade asked hopefully. The discussion at dinner had made her curious all over again.
Menelwen thought for a moment. “There is one song she used to sing to the other children when she was still here. Would you like me to sing it for you?”
“Yes, please.” Jade snuggled down with her head resting on the soft pillow, pulling the covers up to her chin.
Menelwen cleared her throat and then began to sing a song about flowers and kings and queens. The tune was very simple, and it quickly had Jade dropping into dreams.
Chapter XIII
Winter Solstice
___________________________________
Jade woke up with the sun falling lazily across her face. Remembering what day it was, she sat up like a bolt of lightning. Throwing the covers off of her legs, she jumped out of bed. The stone floor was ice cold beneath her feet, but she didn’t let that stop her as she rushed across her room to the door. It was open a jar, but Jade flung it wide. She paused just for a moment at the threshold, checking to see if anyone was in the hall. When she saw no one, she ran to the door just down the hall and knocked quickly three times. Almost immediately, Menelwen opened the door. She was already dressed with her hair pulled back.
“It’s today! It’s today! It’s today!” Jade cried gleefully as she threw open her arms.
“It is today!” Menelwen smiled and scoped Jade up in a hug. “Come on, let’s get you dressed and ready for breakfast.”
Menelwen had made Jade a special dress for the festivities in the evening, but for the day time, Jade just wore one of her old dresses.
This one had long sleeves and was very loose fitting, which Jade liked because it gave her space to move underneath. What she didn’t like about this dress in particular was that the skirt fell all the way to the floor, just covering her toes. She would have to pull it up anytime she wanted to run, but Menelwen insisted on it.
“Princesses shouldn’t be running anyway,” she said when Jade complained. “Just ask Princess Sylvi. I’m sure she never runs.”
The dress was a pale yellow to reflect the celebration of the return of the light.
Just as soon as Menelwen was done braiding Jade’s hair, Jade was off and running down the hall, her skirt hiked up to her knees.
“Amalthea,” Menelwen called sternly to her.
Jade slowed to a walk, dropped the hem several inches to be at a level with her ankles, and looked back for Menelwen’s approval.
“Much better,” Menelwen said as she caught up to Jade.
Jade couldn’t wait to get to the dining room, and every step felt like it took a hundred years. When they finally made it there, King Vidar and Queen Liselotte were already seated, as was Princess Sylvi. Prince Freyr must have still been asleep. Jade paused when she entered to curtsey to the family.
“Good morning, your majesties,” she said as sweetly as she could, secretly hoping they wouldn’t want to talk to her so she could get into the kitchens.
“Good morning, Princess,” King Vidar said to her politely.
No one said anything else, so Jade quickly hurried through the door to the kitchen. She had been in the kitchen many times before but never during the hustle and bustle of a meal.
People were everywhere, but it was her father she searched for, and she found him quickly standing at a large stove, stirring something around in a large pot.
“What’s that?” Jade asked, trying to peer into the pot, but she was too short and the stove was too high.
“I’ve been demoted to porridge duty,” the King explained, and then he leaned down to whisper to Jade, “I burnt the toast, and apparently my eggs left something to be desired.”
Jade giggled. Thinking about the King being bad at anything was incredibly funny.
“Princess Amalthea,” a large man dressed all in white said as he approached her. Jade knew this man from her other v
entures in the kitchens. His name was Louis, and he was the head chef. “We are just about ready to serve your guests. Would you help us bring the food out?”
“Oh, ok,” Jade said, all her enthusiasm vanishing. “I actually wanted to help cook.”
Louis smiled at her, “Don’t worry, Princess. We will need all the help we can have to cook dinner, but for now, the most important thing you can do is help us get the food to the hungry royalty out there. Take it from me, royal families don’t like to be kept waiting, especially when they’re hungry.”
The King grunted something, and Louis winked at Jade who giggled again, her enthusiasm restored.
Menelwen tied a white apron around her waist to stop her from spilling food on her dress, and then she began taking food out. Other servants of course carried plates out as well so in no time at all, the dining table was well laden with eggs cooked in every way imaginable, potatoes, porridge, toast, marmalade, bacon, sausages, and a great deal of other delicious foods.
Once all of the food was out, the King and Jade took their places at the table. Prince Freyr had come down by that point, and he sat next to Jade.
“Why, Henry, Amalthea, this is quite splendid,” Queen Liselotte exclaimed once they had tasted the food.
“Thank you, Lottie,” the King said.
“We didn’t actually cook most of it,” Jade admitted.
“Well, please tell your chef that it is delicious,” the Queen said, smiling.
“I will,” Jade said happily. “Chef Louis said I could help cook dinner.”
“Very good,” the Queen said.
“Amalthea,” the King said, “I thought that perhaps, after breakfast, you would like to give Prince Freyr a tour of our kingdom.”
“What a splendid idea,” King Vidar said so quickly Jade wondered if he hadn’t known about this plan beforehand. “Freyr has never been here before, and I’m sure he would enjoy a chance to see the kingdom. Would you not, Freyr?”
Prince Freyr was busy with his sausages, but he hastily swallowed when his father addressed him. “Yes, Father. I would appreciate that.”
“Good,” King Vidar said. “And, it will give you two a chance to get to know each other better.”
“Can I go?” Princess Sylvi asked.
Queen Liselotte was sitting next to her and put her arm around the young princess’s shoulders. “I think it is better if you stay here with me and your father.”
“Why can’t I go?” Princess Sylvi asked, a touch of whining creeping into her voice.
“You’re too young, Sylvia, and that is that,” King Vidar said sternly.
Princess Sylvi looked down at her plate, and Jade thought her eyes might be filling with tears.
“It’s alright, Sylvi,” her mother said soothingly. “Maybe next time you can go.”
They all finished breakfast relatively quickly after that, and Jade led Prince Freyr to the stables. Sir Erec was assigned to be their chaperone, so he and one of the royal guards came too. As they walked, they talked although Jade found fairly quickly that she and Freyr did not have much in common.
“This snow is quite awful,” Freyr said as they approached the stable.
“I think it’s lovely,” Jade said, scooping up a handful snow to throw into the air. She watched it float lazily back to the ground. Freyr stepped away from her so as not to get hit by the falling snow. “Have you never seen snow before?” Jade asked curiously.
“Of course I have,” Freyr said, standing up very tall. “I have seen it in the Middle World, but we do not have such a nuisance in Olympus.”
They reached the stables then, and Jade quickly went to find Nate, the stable boy. A servant had been sent before breakfast, so Nate already had Jade’s horse, Arthur, Sir Erec’s horse, Edmund, and a spare horse saddled and ready to go.
“This is Egbert,” Nate said, indicating the third horse. “He’s a very gentle horse.”
“Do you ride much at home?” Jade asked.
Freyr smiled confidently, “Of course, I ride the fastest horse in the realm. I’m sure little Egbert here will do though.”
He reached out a hand a little too quickly to stroke Egbert’s nose and the horse snorted. Freyr jumped back a step, and Jade laughed. She stopped quickly at the look on Freyr’s face, which was quickly turning scarlet, but she couldn’t stop smiling.
“Don’t worry, Prince. His snort is worse than his buck,” Jade said playfully. Based on the color of his face, the prince was not amused.
She allowed Nate to help her up onto Arthur’s back. Her cloak draped across his rump, and she pulled it around her arms once again. It was the thick velvet cloak Peter had given her the last time she had seen him. Once she was settled, she reached forward to stroke Arthur’s neck lovingly as she waited for Freyr and Sir Erec to be ready.
“Ready, Princess,” Sir Erec said once he and Freyr were both seated on their horses.
“Ok, let’s go slow, at least right now,” Jade said. She thought she heard Freyr sigh behind her. If you could hear someone rolling their eyes, that’s what Freyr’s sigh sounded like. When she turned her head to look at him though, he was smiling.
“Lead the way, Princess,” he said.
She turned forward again and started them off just walking to the Hamlet on the western side of the castle. As they rode through the streets, people (mostly children) came out to see them. Jade recognized most of them from school. She waved to them and called out many greetings. Freyr was very quiet the entire time; Jade could almost forget he was there.
Once they were out of the Hamlet, Jade decided they should head south to the forest so he could see the Elven Village. As they were riding, Freyr came up beside her. She didn’t look at him.
“So, your kingdom is fun and all, but do you want to do something more exciting?” he said, quietly enough that the guard and Sir Erec, riding a few feet behind them, wouldn’t hear.
Jade glanced cautiously over her shoulder before responding in the same whisper, “Like what?”
“I don’t know. This is your kingdom, not mine, but you’ve got to have something more interesting to do than just watch a bunch of kids fawn all over their princess.”
“What?” Jade said indignantly. “They were not fawning all over me!”
Freyr really did roll his eyes this time, and Jade could see it. “I get it. They all love you here. I’m sold. You don’t have to show me a bunch of other villages where they all love you too.”
“Well, yes they like me. But I’m their princess. They kind of have to like me.”
“Trust me, they don’t,” Freyr said, straightening up again. “My people don’t love me. They think I’m an asni, and I’m only ten. Just think what they’ll say about me when I’m an adult.”
Jade didn’t know what an asni was, but judging by Freyr’s tone of voice, it was not something good. “What’s an asni?”
Freyr glanced sideways at her before answering. “Well, literally it means a donkey.”
“Why would they call you a donkey?” Jade asked.
“Because, they think I should be like you, friends with everybody, but I don’t like people. So, I keep to myself, don’t go out, stay in the castle, and they think that means I think I’m better than them. So they don’t like me.”
“Do you think you’re better than them?”
He glanced at her again. “Well, I am a prince, and they are peasants.”
“Doesn’t that get lonely?” Jade asked.
“Lonely?” Freyr repeated the word like he didn’t understand its meaning.
“I mean,” Jade continued, “don’t you have any friends?”
“Princes don’t need friends,” Freyr said, sitting as tall as he could in his saddle. “Now, do you want to do something fun, or not?”
Jade thought about it. That’s when she realized that there wasn’t really anything exciting left in Avalon. Everything had been new and exciting when she’d arrived a few months ago, but it had lost its appeal somehow.
“Predict the future? Like, they can tell you what’s going to happen to you?” Freyr seemed interested in the idea.
“Yeah, like it’s tradition for the Queen of Avalon to take any new royal baby born to the Sisters, and they make a prediction about the baby’s impact on the kingdom.”
“What was yours?” Freyr asked.
“Mine?”
Jade almost didn’t tell him. She felt like she shouldn’t, like it was something private or something secret maybe. But it wasn’t private or secret, and there really wasn’t any harm in him knowing.
“My prophecy was that I would face a lot of stuff in my future, but that if I could get past it I would be the only one best King of Avalon.”
Freyr didn’t say anything at first. He finally said, “Yeah, let’s go see them.”
Jade changed the direction they were headed slightly west, but they kept going at the same speed, very slow.
“You know,” Prince Freyr spoke up after a minute, “that prophecy is kind of stupid.”
Jade pressed her lips together and closed her eyes briefly before she responded. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, they said you were going to be a king, but you’re a girl. If you’re a girl, then you’re not a king, you’re a queen, like my mother.”
“No, I want to be a king,” Jade insisted. “The king is the one who makes decisions. The queen doesn’t actually lead.”
Freyr rolled his eyes again, an annoying habit of his. “Well, regardless of whether you call yourself a king or a queen, I don’t think there could ever be a girl ruling a kingdom by herself. She’d have to be married so her husband could rule with her.”
“But that’s what I’m saying. Then she’s a queen, and queens don’t actually get to lead. Besides, who says a girl can’t lead a country.”
“Everybody. It just wouldn’t work.”
“Why not?” the question came out slightly more viciously than Jade had planned, but she didn’t take it back.
