Chapter 3

Evanthia pulled me out of my room and I reluctantly followed her. Lady Glissen was the wife of the high ranking noble, Lord Glissen. Lord Glissen was one of the wealthiest and most influential lords at court. He was also the shadiest of them all. Lady Glissen , however, was one of the brightest ladies at court. She and her husband were pole opposite characters. While Lord Glissen was mostly quiet and cunning, Lady Glissen was chirpy and thought of nothing except her standing in the society. They both had a common goal though, power,so they tried to fix a match between me and their son Yohal. He was Vasilios's friend and exactly like his father. He would however, unlike his clever father,at times show how privileged he was by being an absolute prick and a spoilt brat. They knew that father wouldn't agree to this match unless I loved Yohal and was willing to fight for him and that was never happening. I was disgusted by the very thought of us together. We were nothing alike and the thought of us having a family made me want to kill myself. That didn't stop Lady Glissen however.

As we approached the library Evanthia said" I hope you like the surprise Rina. She has been waiting all morning to see you". I was annoyed as it is and her words felt like taunts. " Like that is going to happen. You know I hate everyone in that bloodline. Why would I even-"

I stopped and looked at what my surprise really was. "Aunt Valeria!". I wasn't sure whether I shouted or shrieked but I went and threw myself on her in a massive hug. She laughed. I couldn't believe she was here.

The thing about aunt Valeria was that I didn't just love her, she was my inspiration. She never married . Instead she head out on these voyages or adventures now and then. She hated court politics and preferred staying outdoors. So father let her go and explore on the condition that she had to bring trade and allies to Nydalidia and help strengthen it's position. She basically worked as an ambassador. She was as beautiful as she was brave and adventurous. I had to give her the due credit for it was because of her that I could go for combat trainings. She, too, had rebelled a lot back in her days and the hunger strike was basically her idea.

She was much younger than father but held a resemblance. She had long, wavy black hair that just accentuated her pretty face and dark brown eyes. She and Evanthia had almost the same curls. She was taller than me, almost as tall as Vasilios and father.

" My god Verina. Look at you. You look so beautiful darling. The last time I saw you it was about 2 years ago. Oh, how I have missed you." She said as she wrapped me in another hug and kissed my forehead. Life without her had been hard. My mother passed away when I was 10. Seeing my father in grief and nobody to look after the 3 of us she stayed back for almost 4 years. That was the longest she had stayed back since she started out with her adventures. She basically became like our mother figure, and I was her favorite.

"Did you meet Vasilios? Where is he? And father?-". She gestured me to calm down and said " the first thing I did was meet your father and uncle Vasilikios who were disappointed in Vasilios. I heard about what happened last night. Apparently your brother went out in the city, got drunk and hit a guy on the streets. Varyon was furious. As usual, he was ordering him to behave himself and Vasilios was not giving a damn about it." She looked a bit concerned. But I did not know who was she exactly concerned for. The prince who might be going on the wrong path or the father and king too exhausted to deal with a rebel prince." Oh, and I also have great news. The kingdom of Glikaraach wants to extend an alliance with Nydalidia. They are sending gifts traders and a few ladies in waiting for the two of you. And all the credit goes to your amazing aunt." She said as she tried to shift on to a happier topic but I knew something bothered her. Besides, Glikaraach was a really powerful kingdom. How did she manage to pull this off?

We talked for a while about her latest adventures in the south until Lady Derilia and other noble, aspiring ladies came to the library. Aunt Val had a quick chat with Lady Derilia and headed out. The day continued with lectures in music, art, language and literature. Lady Derilia was the daughter of a high ranking lord of west Nydalidia, Lord Paeral. Her mother taught aunt Valerie courtly manners and etiquette. She had platinum blonde hair tied up in a neat bun almost always. She had a sweet voice and not a very large structure. She almost looked like a sparrow. Her most renowned quality though had to be her patience. She would sit for hours doing handy work on the finest of cloth. Something I could possibly never achieve due to my impulsive behavior.

"Zheria had a choice. To step down and let the ministers be happy with whomever they chose to be her match or let someone else rule on her behalf. What do you think she should have done? Think about it and let me know tomorrow ladies" she said finishing her lectures. And this got me thinking." I think Zheria was right." I had unintentionally said it out loud and Lady Derilia turned and so did the other 4 heads. Her brows probably too tensed. "Why do you think that Princess Verina?".

"Well, she was the daughter of Erinia and Zherif. All she had known her whole life was how strong her mother was and how supportive her father was. Most importantly Erinia never bowed down to anyone. Wouldn't she let her mother down if she gave up without a fight?"

"You see princess ," Lady Derilia started answering me as she struggled with her expressions "Erinia, unlike her daughter, did think about her people first. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come out of Lothuvia with them. She chose the well-being of her people over ambition. That is what leaders do. Zheria however was ambitious. Her ambition split a country into two. It's all about finding happiness in the balance created by nature. I am of the opinion that women are strong princess, but not out in the field of battle or politics. They are nurturers who love and care. You will understand someday". Will I? I got her debate about Zheria and her ambition but if Erinia could do it hundreds of years ago then why couldn't we? I never got answers to that question. Besides Zheria ushered in a new age that brought stability to a newfound kingdom. Is this how she will always be remembered just because she didn't bow down?

After the lectures I went straight to father who was in his study usually at this hour. As I entered the study I saw him deep in thought and uncle Vasilikios standing by the huge arched windows. The study was nothing short of mesmerizing. It had every possible book of law and political strategy in it. The center of the room was adorned by a massive table which had a map of Nydalidia and its adjacent kingdoms painted on it.

I came in and sat diagonally opposite to him" you know if you keep brooding over issues like that you'll age faster. Evanthia says stress causes wrinkles and it could lead to massive amount of hair fall" to this father and uncle Vasilikios laughed and uncle said-

"So that is why!".

I was able to make these two men laugh which was an achievement considering how serious they always were.

"Shut up Vasilikios!"My father and uncle had almost the same structure. Both of them remained fit even at this age and though uncle had light brown eyes, father's was exactly like mine, dark brown. Unlike father, who was almost bald, uncle had voluminous dark brown hair with streaks of silver which showed he was aging. We discussed local issues and politics before dinner and then I head straight to bed.

I was having a wonderful dream about eating at a banquette with the table filled with delicious food when Carrissi woke me up at the middle of the night and informed that we have been summoned by father to appear at court to welcome the traders and ladies from Glikaraach. I rushed and got dressed and headed out. To my surprise I saw Vasilios leaving his chambers too.

"Do the bruises hurt?" I said as he turned to look at me. "Well it wouldn't have if you, my dear sister, my blood, hadn't hit me".

"Hey, don't blame me. You attacked first. And besides why should I suffer and not attend training if you can't be sober?" My point seemed pretty fair to him, and he dropped the topic. "Do you know why father summoned us at this hour?"

"Glikaraach wants to have an alliance, so they sent us gifts, traders and ladies in waiting for me and Evanthia. So behave!"

I tried to sound as assertive as I could.

"You too? It was bad enough with everyone saying that, but you too?" he sound hurt.

"Look Vasilios, this doesn't really bother me. You might be torn apart or have a ravaging storm inside you now and then but these are events where you need to get yourself together. Do you understand the responsibilities you have? The-"

He cut me mid sentence and said" look at you. Always responsible. What happened to the rebel in you? You are not the girl who starved herself to do what she liked. You have changed. "

"Haven't we all?" I tried to stop my tears. Yes I had changed a lot. But I had to be strong. I had to be the best I could because that would have been the only thing that made mother happy. Seeing all of us happy and together. Even if it meant me sacrificing or changing myself. Even if it meant becoming harsh. I had no friends except Masiol because I was afraid of losing them. Just like I lost her. I never had ladies-in-waiting or even even a horse. But Vasilios didn't have to know that. I had to be strong. Not just for myself but for all of us. Evanthia could be vulnerable with her friends and so could Vasilios. But father couldn't. And I had to be his support system. So I had to be strong. Always!

We approached the doors of the court and were escorted to our respective places. The king sat on his throne which was higher and next came our seats. With Vasilios, the prince and heir to the throne, sitting in the middle and the princesses on either sides. I spotted Masiol and other nobles sitting at their respective seats. Masiol looked sleepy, like he would probably drop on the floor snoring any minute now.

The Glikaraach procession in the court began. A man carrying their banner of green and black entered first, followed by gifts and ladies. The messenger announced that there were 6 ladies in total who were well groomed for the task. These were going to be my first ever ladies in waiting. Evanthia had 2 already. I never asked for or wanted any. I looked over to see Evanthia who seemed very pleased. Then I looked at Vasilios. His expressions were intense. He looked mesmerized.

I looked at the direction where he was staring and saw that a lady of Glikaraach had caught his attention. This got the wheels in my head moving. I now may have the solution to Vasilios.

I looked over at father and signaled towards her which I had hoped he'd understand. He did.

"Welcome ladies. I hope you find Nydalidia as interesting and intriguing as our princesses. May I ask Lady Shayla and Lady Mounara to assist Princess Verina and the rest of you to assist princess Evanthia ?."

With that the procession continued and ended and I headed back to sleep. I wasn't proud of what I was about to do but this had to be done. Suddenly I remembered Lady Derilia's lecture about the power of a woman's charms which I was surprisingly paying attention to. Most importantly, no one knew him better than his twin. If only she could bring him on the right path! It hurt me to do this to him but I had no choice. I couldn't see father worried about him all the time. He had to be strong. She could be his strength. But I knew somewhere deep down that they couldn't end up together. He was the heir to throne, she was a low ranking lady in waiting.

Yes it was ethically wrong. But he had never looked at any girl the way he looked at her.