Chapter 21

The Choosing

Bright flags and banners in every color imaginable lined the road leading to the castle. It seemed like a never ending caravan of horses, wagons, carriages, and people marching in on foot. Kit stood next to her mother, most of the Royal Council members nearby, while her own ladies and her mother’s assistants stood in the distance, watching the Representatives pour into the castle grounds. A glance over her shoulder let Kit know her father was also there, though as a male, and only a duke, he stood in the back and would not actually greet anyone. Still, it calmed her to see his reassuring smile. She couldn’t imagine how he must feel about the beginning of this process; his little girl finding a mate had to be unsettling to some degree.

Taking a deep breath, the princess prepared herself to meet the next delegation. Today was the first of several where she’d spend long hours standing outside waiting for the Representatives to arrive. Each province had selected a man to submit as their candidate for the princess’s Choosing, and while she was eager to finally see who she would have to select from, under the current conditions, she found herself lacking any true connection to any of them. She hoped that would change once she had the opportunity to hold meaningful conversations with them as individuals.

Already this morning, she’d met the candidates from some of the nearby provinces. Chorsmy, Banckburn, and Arch Hollow were fairly close to the castle, and those men hadn’t looked tired or weary from the road at all, only excited to finally be a part of this process. She imagined those who would come from farther away, provinces like Iceforge and Longfall would be less interested in making her acquaintance and more interested in finding their beds.

It was meeting everyone in the delegation that took so very long, not the suitors themselves. The first two weeks of the Choosing would be full of festivities for all of the people in the queendom to partake in, though the princess would be too busy meeting the Representatives to attend. Most provinces sent large parties with their Representatives, sometimes hundreds of people, particularly noblewomen and their families. Because the castle couldn’t possibly house all of them, they would camp out on the grounds around the Wrenbrook. Those delegations that arrived last might be forced to find spots miles away, even in some of the closer provinces. It was all a wonder to Kit who had never experienced a Choosing like this at all since the last one of this magnitude had been her mother’s. Her Choosing was so much more elaborate than the process the other noblewomen of the castle had undergone, including her cousins. She couldn’t imagine anyone traveling hundreds of miles by carriage or horseback just to see their candidate off for such a contest.

The word contest made her stomach churn; she was not a prize to be won. But she’d heard the events referred to that way for so many years, it was hard to keep the term out of her own vocabulary. She nodded and accepted the greetings of the last of the processional from Arch Hollow, waiting to see who the next group would be, and wondered how she would’ve ever survived this if she was still the same person she’d been three years ago, before her Exploration.

At the beginning of that ritual, she had been terrified. Yet, that shouldn’t have been a surprise considering she was a naive child. She remembered how frightened she’d been, waiting for her first pleasuring. After that first night with Terrowin, her entire life had changed, as had her countenance. She knew now, after three years of experience, what she wanted from a man, and not all of it could come from satisfaction in the bedchamber.

Thinking of Terrowin made her glance at her guards. Most of them were screening the delegates as they came in to make sure the princess would be safe. The Queen’s Guard was busy with the same task. There was a line of armed men both in front and behind the women who stood on a dais to the right of the castle entrance. This was the same spot where her mother always addressed the people, but looking out over the crowd of thousands of onlookers now, all of this seemed different. These people were here to see her, and Kit wondered if Terrowin was out there somewhere.

She doubted it. Her mother had sent him away a few months into her Exploration once she had determined Kit exhibited enough confidence to no longer need him. The princess had objected, of course. While she had been with several other men by that point and knew who to request again and who to steer clear of, Terrowin had grown special to her. That was, of course, her mother’s logic for sending him away. In fact, she’d disposed of every man Kit had grown fond of, three others after him, so Kit had learned how to show disinterest in an attempt to thwart her mother’s schemes. It made little sense to Kit that her own mother didn’t want to see her child happy, but Queen Rona insisted it was for her own good. What was the point in becoming attached to a man she could never marry?

“The delegation from Metfirth!” the royal announcer shouted from his position near the line of guards who checked each individual before they came through.

Kit didn’t remember the colors of each province well enough to know which was which, though she marveled at the blue and gold flags that decorated the Metfirth carriages and horses. As the excited Metfirthians headed her direction, Kit noticed most of them were also wearing blue and thought it was a nice testament to the support of their land.

It took a few moments for the carriages to begin to empty, and then the screening process began before Kit could even see any of the delegation. An older woman was in the lead, and she bowed low to the queen first before moving on to Kit, as was the custom. “My lady, Princess Katrinetta, I am Lady Enora de Lunge. May I present to you my son, the Representative from the great province of Metfirth, Pierce de Lunge.”

Kit did the same thing she had every time, nodded her head at the speaker and then offered her hand to the Representative, but as soon as he had her hand in his, she paused. There was something familiar about this one. His light hair and pale complexion sparked a memory, though she couldn’t remember from where.

He bowed and kissed her knuckles, as they all had. “My Princess, it is lovely to see you again.”

“You as well,” Kit replied, smiling amicably, as if she could remember who he was. “I trust your journey was not too long?”

“Nay, Your Majesty, not too long when the result is seeing you.” He stood and smiled, his white teeth gleaming in the sunlight, and she realized where she knew him from. The dance before her Proem. He was the one who explained to her that the queen had been asking for donations to her favorite charities in exchange for an invitation. Though Kit couldn’t remember seeing him sense, she was certain she had danced with this man at her birthday celebration. He was a bit taller now, his shoulders broader, overall more attractive, but she could still place him.

A small smile broke out across his face, and she thought he must be able to tell she’d only just remembered him. Since there were dozens of other Mefirthians waiting patiently for her hand, she said only, “I shall see you again shortly. I hope your stay here is comfortable.”

Pierce smiled at her, bowed again, and moved on down the line, the next beaming guest ready to be greeted.