Clash Between Princesses

“Who’s it from?” Raquel asked as Nicole handed her the letter.

“Page boy says it’s from your aunt, Lady Elis.” Nicole responded quickly.

Raquel looked at the envelope, checking if the red wax seal had been broken. It didn’t seem to be, making Eaquel let out a sigh of relief.

She took the letter opener Nicole was holding and used it to open up the envelope. Taking out the letter she found a short note. There was an invitation card too.

Dearest Princess,

My second daughter’s sixteenth birthday is happening in two months. I would like to formally invite you to the banquet as well as your husband-to-be, Duke Ryker.

Your aunt,

Lady Elis

P.S. The tribe was happy to hear about your engagement.

Raquel looked at the short note for a moment. “Nicole, bring me a candle would you?”

“Did it have something important on it?” Ryker asked as Nicole left to go get the candle.

“We’ll see now.” Raquel said as she took the lit candle from Nicole.

She lifted the letter slightly up and placed the candle behind it. And just as she thought, Governor Elis had replied to her message. Words written in plain sight, the light of a candle being the only way to see it.

Princess,

Thank you for answering my request for help. As you wanted to keep this a secret, my wife has placed a formal invitation for a party. We can solve the problem under this guise.

May Adath bless us until we meet,

Gonveror Elis

Raquel smiled at the note, placing the letter over the candle and letting it burn. She then handed the candle back to Nicole and grabbed the envelope again.

Inside was the formal invitation.

“Looks like we’re going to a banquet in the north.” Raquel smiled, waving the invitation. “We’ll solve that monster problem during our stay.”

Ryker nodded in understanding. “Governor Elis was smart with that excuse.”

“Yes.” Raquel said. “We just need to send a reply accepting the invite and extend our trip, going from Westerwyn to the Northern Territory.”

“Alright…Now back to this topic.” Ryker pointed at the documents. “I suggest you send out the letters now so you can use the excuse about needing more help with all the work and travels. Also, seeing as Lady Maris is from the north, we can just meet her at the banquet.”

“Sure. I’ll get to work on those letters then.” Raquel said.

***

A week soon past, the palace abuzz with the preparations for the wedding. Ryker and Raquel too were busy with the backlog of empire work, trying to complete everything for their trip to Westerwyn and the Northern Territory.

Responses from the potential lay-in-waitings had come back and they were all arriving today. Raquel prepared her office for the arrival, deciding it was best to give Ryker a break seeing as he had been spending countless hours helping her work through the paperwork.

Thus Raquel was quietly sitting in her office, the place having been returned to its normal state, sipping on some tea Nicole had made for her.

She was placing her teacup down on her desk when she suddenly heard some noise coming from outside. Out of instinct, she grabbed her sword and got up from her chair.

As she took a step towards the door, it bursted open, a raging Princess Fiana tumbling in. The two guards, meant to stop intruders from entering, looked at Raquel nervously, their gazes going down to her sword.

“Your-” One started but Raquel raised her free hand up to silence them.

“Get out.” Raquel said in a low tone. She then turned to her half-sister, glaring down at the heaving girl. “Care to explain what you’re doing here.”

“You! How could you?!” Princess Fiana cried out as she walked towards Raquel. “Did you think I wouldn’t know about you making Lady Ria a lady-in-waiting.”

“It’s within my rights to make her my lady-in-waiting.” Raquel said in a calm tone, secretly enjoying the anger it was causing her half-sister.

“But you knew that she was a friend.” Princess Fiana hissed. “How could you embarrass me like this?!”

She raised her hand to slap Raquel and Raquel smirked. “Go ahead. Just understand that the second you touch me, I will hack your arm off.”

Princess Fiana hesitated but kept her arm raised up. “You can’t do that… You know what the consequences will be.”

Raquel a step closer to Princess Fiana, her face just an inch away from her half-sister’s face. “Mommy can’t help you in this situation. You touch me and I hack your arm off, because in the eyes of the law, I was right to do so. You forget you’re just the daughter of the emperor’s legal mistress and I’m your future empress.”

Princess Fianawent pale at the words “You…You!”

“What monster? Demon? Madwoman?” Raquel murmured. “Come now, my dearest sister. You didn’t forget about that little fact. That no matter what you do in high society, you’ll always just be an illegitimate daughter, never allowed to claim the throne.”

Raquel knew she was going a little too far and would probably face some backlash later on but she couldn’t stop. All those years of Princess Fiana tormenting her, bottling her feelings to avoid Lady Diana’s rage.

It was all coming out.

“Just you wait.” Princess Fiana yelled. “You will regret embarrassing me like this!”

Princess Fiana then turned her heel and stormed out, the door slamming behind her as she left. Raquel breathed out a sigh of relief and felt a sense of calm flow through her. She knew her half-sister’s threat was real but she needed to get the feelings off her chest.

Besides, it was finally time that Raquel was able to catch Princess Fiana doing something out of character. If she had known, this is how she would act at one of her henchwomen becoming Raquel’s lady-in-waiting, she probably would have sent those letters earlier.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, interrupting Raquel’s train of thought.

“Your highness, your lady-in-waitings are here.”