"And this is going to happen." The prince assured to his dad. "But can't you wait a little longer? Shouldn't we use my marriage as a bargaining power to bring allies to Navon?"
The king became a man of habits, including about his clothing that he didn't want to change even if it was dirty and torn. And, in time, he was being so sick and jealous about his objects that he could no longer deal with people, except his son and his personal servant. The king didn't want to think for himself anymore and didn't care about what was happening around him, and that is why a young man as Navi had to perform the role of a king.
"I don't like the way you say it." The king complained. "It's like you are a commodity."
"The first lesson you gave me was that I could be the victim of situations like that one day."
"I warned you. But I would never force you to do such thing."
"And yet you are forcing me to get married?" Navi said, patiently. "Doesn't it sound contradictory to you?"
The king shook his head in determination. "You don't understand. Sorry, son, but this is my condition. And in case you haven't noticed, this girl who just walked right out that door is the one I chose to be your bride. And no," The king warned. "Do not protest against it because it will not work."
Navi did not collapse. Under no circumstances, from small negotiations to war, he would never ever show any defeat. He could argue with his father as it would have happened in any other traditional family, but that's not what he did, because the prince had been taught that nothing should ever shake him and that he should be firm in any situation. His kingdom, his people, his soldiers were at stake. What was a marriage compared to all this?
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Navi said, bowing down to the king.
II
"There is a sigh full of anguish."
The Ballad of Mulan
◊
Mabel had to move in immediately to the castle without her father and her mother. They were just the parents of the prince's bride, nothing else. They had no connection to the throne, so they should not be living in the castle. It was sad for Mabel, but unfortunately there was nothing she could do.
"What is the benefit of being the prince's brid," Mabel asked respectfully and careful with the words addressed to the king. "If in the first opportunity that I have to help my parents I can't even have them with me?"
"Be patient, my dear. After the wedding, you can even have the family's goat living in the castle." The king shouted: "Amir, bring us some more wine!"
Amir was the servant designated especially for Dareh, but while the king couldn't find someone to serve Mabel, he would be in charge of her as well.
"Why did I have to move to the castle, anyway?" Mabel asked one day, interrupting Amir's speech about the castle routine. "I'd still be the prince's bride out there, wouldn't I?"
"It's for your safety for when the news spread." He answered. "And our magnificent king thinks you should get used to the castle as soon as possible. This is your home now."
But the truth is that all this was part of an intensive preparation for the future princess until the wedding day. She would have lessons of etiquette, diplomacy, history... Mabel could hardly have basic housewife lessons with her mother, how could she go through all that?
On the other hand, Navi was facing this marriage situation as a political issue. Of course, he didn't want the marriage to happen, but he had other things to worry about. For example, how to find an ally now the war with Tzara was approaching. Besides, he thought his father desire wasn't so insane and incomprehensible either. It would be good to have more than two people living there day after day. It was about time for Navi to settle down and think about the future.
However, for eleven days since Mabel arrived at the castle, the prince and his bride didn't meet. Their paths were destined to be always opposite, from day one.
Navi spent all day locked in his office writing letters, reviewing political treaties and negotiating allies; or supervising the work of the commander with the 2nd battalion soldiers. And Mabel always was in the living room, with newly hired ladies-in-waiting. She had to learn how to be a good wife, and also how to be a good princess. She always had to have flawless appearance, with perfect looking hair, with tight dresses and unnecessary petticoats that made it hard to walk on heels. With all those requirements, she found out that it was very easy for the royals to keep the composure as any other move they made required great effort.
Any other girl would be enjoying all that, but not Mabel. The king didn't even ask her opinion about the marriage, and she only had an advantage over Navi because she knew about the engagement before him. So when the king communicated Navi about their marriage, Mabel wasn't as terrified as Navi. The king didn't ask if Mabel accepted the prince, if she accepted such great responsibility, not because he thought she should blindly obey him, as he had imposed to Navi before, but only because he thought that Mabel, just as any other girl in the world, would not object to such greatness like this.
It's true, she didn't object, but how could she dare to? Mabel was a peasant like her mother and every other woman in her family, and she knew how miserable their lives has always been. At that moment, she faced it as the only quick and easy possibility in order to guarantee a good future for her parents.
Sacrifices, she figured out. It was necessary.
Then the king decided it was time to Navi and his bride to meet up. "Amir," He said. "Tell the prince to have dinner with us tonight."
At least Navi could now realize he would have to eat with his family, which for a long time was just him and his father, chewing food in silence in a long empty table; and now there was Mabel.
Navi and his father were sitting at the table when Mabel showed up perceptively nervous. The chair did not make a single move when Navi stood up; one of his servants pulled the chair immediately as he got up. Because he was an old man and was tired, the king did not bother with having good manners. Besides, her fiance was Navi; he was the one who had to do these things.
Navi's hair was wet, swept to the opposite side of the risk on the side of his head, topped with a quiff. If he wasn't so serious and busy about the kingdom affairs, Mabel would say he spent a lot of time combing his hair.
The servant pushed the chair for Mabel, and only at this time Navi allowed himself to sit. Mabel looked at Navi with a haughty face and urgent eyes as if she were in front of a god. Him, of course, did not notice her. Or if he did, he couldn't care less.
"Doesn't she look pretty today?"
"She looks better than last time I saw her."
"It's been a while since we don't have flashy dresses around here." The king said, a smile hovering around his lips. "Your mother gave life to this place when she was still alive. She and her ladies-in-waiting filled this place with joy, and they colored every part of it. I miss that."
"So do I." It was truly genuine in his face that he was missing his mother, but unlike his father it wasn't because of the colorful and bustling life. The prince had learned to get used to peace. But he missed her, especially now she wasn't there to bring the king back to his senses.
"I know. And that's why Mabel is here." And with a hand gesture, the king requested that the food be served.
The drinking pots were made of gold, as well as the rest of the silverware. And even though Mabel was feeling confident about where she came from, she was still feeling strangeness the opulence everywhere.
"Why did you choose her?" Navi asked himself since the day the king announced the engagement. Why not any other peasant girl from the kingdom, if that was the requirement, or a lady of royalty just like him, or at least one that came from a good family. The choice seemed too restricted to be a random choice.
"Mabel's father was my commander." The king answered. "He saved my life numerous times, and in one of them, he got injured because instead of letting me be hit by a horse out of control, he chose to save my life. I asked him what I could do for him, and Amyntas mentioned his son Gael
. But in the end, only one daughter left. I don't know if you heard around, but the commander's son is a deserter."
In Navon, a deserter isn't just a person who quits his army's position and as punishment would be sentenced to prison on a hill at the most distant and secluded forest. He was to be detached from society and condemned to exile forever and irrevocably, left on his own, to try and survive outside the kingdom's boundaries. But their most important sustenance would come from the farms and the houses they would attack outside Navon. In order to be distinguished from the rest, the exiles' would be marked with hot iron at the end of their necks with a "D" of a deserter man, facilitating their identification, so they do not mingled among the Navon people again. And if they were caught by the guards on Navon's soil, they would be sentenced to death. The true death. A deserter was the worst thing a person could ever be. For their family, for themselves and to the world.
In the entire history of Navon they have never been threatened before, until that Tzara decided they would explore their gold and their land. The only battles Navon faced before were the ones on behalf of other kingdoms – even Mabel's father fought battles of other kingdoms. That is why there were so many deserters, because they did not want to fight battles that didn't belong to them. But that's what was offered in alliances, men to defend lands of big men. Navon had made a choice. And now, they didn't even have the soldiers. Or the kingdom they had as an allied for years; they were too afraid of the Tzara's wrath. Navon never expected this, but it was their own fault.
"I've waited all this time to keep my word." The king said. "You know that a king doesn't go back on his word."
"I know that, but you could have chosen something else to honor the old commander with. She doesn't have the requirements to become a princess. She has no diplomatic skills, and she probably can't even read!"
Mabel felt uneasy by the way Navi was talking as if she wasn't at table sharing the same conversation.
"How can someone like her be able to do that?"
"These things can be learned." The king said, amicably.
Mabel couldn't leave the castle boundaries; it was this stone structure with many decks, far away from the village where the peasants lived as if they were protecting themselves from them. If any hostile force attacked the kingdom, the village would be the first target to be hit, and the people wouldn't be able do anything about it but to disperse as busy ants. If Mabel could handle all the implications required for living inside and outside of the palace, she could do anything else as well.
"If the king is not worrying about these requirements," Mabel's words were moderated compared to the turbulent conflict that was going on inside her now. "Why are you, Your Highness?"
Navi looked at Mabel in front of him, and she shuddered. He was confident in his look and his talk. Whenever someone looked at him, there was no chance of not feeling intimidated, whoever it was.
"It's not the king who is getting married, is it?"
The king choked. And then, he had a sip of wine to clear the piece of fat meat stuck on his throat.
Mabel opened her mouth to respond him, but she realized he was right. From the beginning, it was just a game for Mabel, and she only needed to hedge and then everything would be fine. And yet, she turned her face away from Navi so he couldn't see the disturbance on her face, though anywhere she looked she would remember her position in that castle. She was just a simple girl from the village with no voice in between a prince and a king. And nothing would change that.
Navi didn't eat dinner that night; from the beginning he didn't look like he was eager to eat. He asked permission for leaving, and Mabel watched him go to the his favorite place in the castle: the office. And all what she could think about it was how sad and lonely he looked.
"I know it seems hard to deal with him," The king said, turning Mabel's attention to him. "But believe me, he's not. He's just busy and is always worried. Sometimes I wonder if I'm overloading my son too much with such responsibility. The parents’ role is to prepare their children in what they are good at, and now that Navi is back, I want him to get used to his future position as soon as possible. Do you think I'm being too hard?"
"No," She replied, honestly. "Of course not. You're just a demanding tutor like my father. He also teaches me things that he's been good at one day."
The king smiled peacefully at her. "I'm not as good as your dad. He didn't force you to marry my son. But I just wanted to see Navi happy, and I think you'll manage to do it."
"Anyone will be able to make him happy, Your Majesty."
"He doesn't just need to have someone else. He needs something bigger than that. Perhaps he needs someone patient enough to understand a soldier with an inability to perform the graceful and redundant dance that is the courtship." The king smiled again. Unlike his son, the smiles came to him a lot easier. "So why don't you try to talk to him? You two are committed now, and you need to get to know each other before the wedding. This could make things easier."
"Maybe this isn't a good idea, Your Majesty. When the prince looks at me, all he sees is a mess. He doesn't approve my origins, and I don't know how to do it in an easier way."
The king's solidarity wasn't enough to change her mind, so he thought he should sound more aggressive. "Do it. Anyway, at some point you'll need to get used to him. Better do it now, don't you think?"
Mabel had no choice but to nod that yes, that she would do it. She wiped her mouth one last time just as she had been instructed to, and left the dinner table elegantly as she was told to. After she passed by the wall that separated the dining hall, she leaned against it and hid from the king, her hands covering up her face.
III
"Oh, my daughter. Who is in your mind?
Oh, my daughter. Who is in your heart?"
The Ballad of Mulan
◊
Apart from Navi being responsible for Navon, now he had to deal with his father wanting him to marry, adding up one more concern to his list. He was only a twenty-two year old young man with too many responsibilities for someone his age. And that's what Mabel thought: that maybe if Navi saw that she wasn't a stupid girl, things could be easier. At least they could become friends once they were eventually getting married.
Gathering some courage, Mabel gave three knocks on the door.
"Come in."
Mabel passed the door, balancing the tea tray in her shaky hands. It wasn't heavy, but she thought it would be so expensive and she didn't want to pay the price for being careless. She could never work enough to pay for it.
She placed the tray in the corner table, and the cups' impact on the tray made some noise. Mabel turned to Navi, but he continued to stare at the paper on the table. His was holding a pencil, and had wrinkled eyebrows showing concern in a beautiful and aristocratic face so worriedly exhausted. To get his attention, Mabel scraped her throat, and only at this point Navi realized that something was different from the usual.
"It's tea." Mabel said, pointing her head to the table and returning immediately to look at him. "You'd better drink while it's still warm. Dinah said this is the best tea that she's ever made. I guess you don't know who is Dinah, but Dinah is a cook. At least the night shift's cook, the morning cook is someone else. It's Dorothy, in case you're wondering."
But he wasn't wondering.
"Thank you," Navi said as he turned his head back to the quill pen brushing the inkwell. "But I only accept meals from the same person, so they'll know who to blame if I got poisoned."
Mabel nodded her head with an ironic smile on her face. "I wouldn't be a smart murderer if I killed my future husband before the wedding."
"I didn't mean to say that." Navi wouldn't look at her. "I'm sorry I can't give attention to you now. I know I should be a more attentive fiance but, as you can see, I'm writing this letter right now and you have no idea how important it is, so can you come back another time?"
Mabel's chest swelled and disarmed, a kind of sigh that relieved something a
nd took for itself something at the same time. "I'm here because the king wants me to be your friend and not because I like this or I'm enjoying this situation. You should know this hasn't been easy on me either. So wouldn't it be better if I took a little longer here, so we could pretend we're getting on with each other?" She took a step forward rashly. "We don't even need to talk in fact; I just need to be here with you for a while. The king... he's pressuring me."
Navi didn't take his eyes off the pen running from left to right on the paper. "I'm sure you can get rid of an old man."
"It's not like he's just an old man.' Her eyes widened at him. ''He's the king."
"Yes, he is." Navi agreed, stopping to write halfway to look at her face. "But you must not be that naive if you managed to get his attention."
"I had no part in this. You know that," She shrugged defensively. "The king just told us the same story."
"Anyway it doesn't matter." Navi returned his attention to the letter he was writing. "I wouldn't mind marrying any other girl, but it bothers me the idea of marrying you. For this reason it makes no sense helping you to fool him, does it?"
Mabel's forehead wrinkled with curiosity. "I don't understand you. If you don't like this marriage all what you have to do is tell your father that you won't do it."
Navi finally gave up on writing. "Navon is going through a hard moment now, which requires my full and immediate attention, so I don't have time to convince my father how crazy it sounds, even if he wants me to marry someone who is totally opposite to my reality."
"If this situation is so irreversible as you said," Mabel said notably offended. "Why are you punishing me, then? If our fate is sealed forever, why are you trying to sabotage me all the time?"
"Doesn't it seem obvious to you?"
"I don't want to marry you either. I wish I didn't have to wear these dresses ever again, they annoy me, and I don't wanna be forced to walk like a peacock all the time, it bothers me. I don't even like living in a castle!"
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