Short Story
Kiri
It wasn’t just the school but the whole of Danann that buzzed with excitement over the royal visit.
Although Miss Briseis and Miss Maeve had said this would be like any other day, no one believed them.
All the students arrived that day washed, combed, and in their best set of clothes.
It was clear their teachers had spent many evenings scrubbing and dusting the schoolhouse, for it hadn’t looked this clean since it was first built.
The village itself had done its best to beautify the cabins and other buildings.
Ribbons and garlands from that summer’s festival had been repurposed, strung between buildings, and every porch was decorated with Darrow blue.
The central firepit had been polished and the area around it paved with stones.
The paths were all neatly swept, the tavern and meeting hall finished just in time, and a few topiary and rose bushes in pots had been found to add a burst of green.
Kiri bit back his smile, watching all the fuss. He’d seen Lady Aislinn and Lord Hakon before; they weren’t ones to stand on ceremony. If anything, they might be flustered and overwhelmed by the pomp Briseis and the villagers were orchestrating for the noble visit.
Although, he supposed there was the little matter of this being a royal visit, too.
He and the other students had spent a half hour every day for the past fortnight practicing proper bows and curtseys.
Kiri didn’t think all the practice was necessary; bowing was easy enough.
The curtsey was a little more complicated.
Maeve had nearly throttled him when he convinced the girls to bow and boys to curtsey instead.
Really, he didn’t see the problem. The princess was coming to see their unorthodox town of otherlies, no doubt to gawk at the oddity. Kiri didn’t see the point in dressing up and dancing like fools so that a royal could gape and oh my at them.
It’d all grown quite silly, and Kiri was ready for it to be over and life to get back to normal.
It was late summer—there were lakes to swim in and caves to explore and girls to flirt with. The last of which he was still working on, though, but aimed to improve this year.
Maybe it was seeing his two eldest brothers, Balar and Soren, find their mates that’d gotten him really thinking about a kigara of his own.
He was young yet, of course. Almost no mantii found their fated mate so young.
He couldn’t say he wanted one right away, but it’d certainly be fun to join his other brothers, Diar and Akila, at the taverns and flirt with the pretty girls there.
Kiri had one problem, though. He always got tongue-tied, unable to think of anything to say once he had a girl’s attention. And most of the time, once the novelty of meeting a manticore and petting his wings or mane wore off, the girls had little to say back to him.
Diar had been trying to coach him on how to keep a woman’s interest, although Kiri grew wary of his advice after Maeve, Soren’s new kigara, had warned him, “Don’t listen to Diar.”
Perhaps he could ask his new friend Blaire, Maeve’s younger sister.
Blaire was a girl, just a year older than him, and he’d no difficulty talking to her.
Maybe that was because she was indifferent to him romantically; through her favorite poems and a few comments she’d made, Kiri had figured out she preferred girls, too.
Although, Blaire might be more hopeless than him.
He could ask Maeve, away from school, but she’d been so stressed from all the planning that’d gone into this visit. And when she seemed to finally have a moment, there was Soren to claim it for himself. Greedy bastard.
Kiri might’ve choked from all the whispers and eye batting they did between them, if he wasn’t so damn happy for Soren. No one deserved happiness more than his brother, and Kiri was pleased he’d ended up with someone so fierce. Even if it meant staying in Diar and Akila’s cabin for now.
As he approached the school, he saw Maeve waving at him to hurry up, her expression forbidding. Chuckling to himself, he hustled to join everyone lining up at the school.
Maeve kept everyone by the front, not letting them fidget or sit down and get grass stains on their clothes. She even led them through a few practice curtseys.
He’d never seen Maeve so nervous; usually, she was all sunny confidence. She’d met Lady Aislinn plenty of times as he understood it, the heiress being good friends with Maeve’s older sister Sorcha. So all the tumult must have been for the princess.
A shoulder bumped his, and he looked up to see Soren standing beside him. Quiet and calm as usual, he shared a resigned grin with Kiri. This had all been Maeve’s idea to begin with, and while it might be ridiculous and silly, if it made Maeve happy, they’d do it.
They all looked up the gentle slope toward town when little Grainne tugged on Maeve’s skirt and exclaimed, “Here they come!” Miss Briseis was easy to spot; as a red dragoness, she stuck out most places, even among a town of otherlies.
She walked at the head of a large group, talking with a blonde woman Kiri recognized as Lady Aislinn.
He wasn’t the only one who stuck out their neck, trying to get a look at this princess come to town.
Maeve cleared her throat. “Get ready, everyone,” she whispered urgently.
Standing straight, their class met the group with stiff backs. The visitors fanned out; quite a few of whom seemed to actually be knights. While not in armor, they nevertheless were armed, ready to throw themselves in the way of danger.
As if he could sense Kiri’s burgeoning idea of trying to get a rise out of the knights, Soren pulled his tail.
Biting back his grin, he bowed when Maeve gave the signal.
“Hello, Lady Aislinn, welcome to our school,” he recited with the other students.
Lady Aislinn stepped forward with her half-orc husband.
“Hello, everyone. Thank you for showing us your school. Hakon and I are pleased to see what you’re learning.
” Turning back to her group, she raised her arm, ushering a young woman forward.
“Princess Isolde is looking forward to meeting each of you.”
Kiri doubted that was true.
All eyes fell on the princess, several of the younger children gasping or holding their breath.
Crown Princess Isolde Monaghan was sixteen, an only child, and first in line for the throne of Eirea.
Her mother, the beloved Queen Ygraine, had ruled for a long time but had been sickly all her life.
Therefore, it was to the kingdom’s great pleasure that Princess Isolde had always been a healthy, lively girl.
That’s what Maeve told the class, anyway.
In the evenings, away from impressionable ears, she also admitted that rumor was Queen Ygraine was dying but holding out until Isolde reached majority at twenty years old.
Otherwise, her father, the king consort, might press his regency even further than he had.
None of that really showed on the young face of the princess. In fact, if Kiri hadn’t known who she was from Lady Aislinn’s introduction, he wouldn’t have thought she was a princess at all.
Lady Aislinn and her court tended toward informality; she herself was in a plain gown with only a necklace and a few rings for adornment.
Of the princess’s retinue, the knights were the ones most notably dressed, their leathers and colorful hauberks eye-catching.
The princess herself wore simple colors and fabrics; linens dyed light blues and greens.
A pendant necklace hung round her neck, and her long hair had been tied back with a ribbon.
Tall and slim for a human girl, her features were long, her eyes downturned. A spattering of freckles dotted the bridge of her nose, and her lips were a pale pink. Her eyes were a grayish blue, and her hair a light brown, almost auburn.
She was pretty enough, he supposed, although perhaps plain for a princess. Or what Kiri thought a princess should look like. Really, to his mind, princesses looked like Maeve, just with grander, longer gowns and glittering jewels.
The difference between the real and the imagined princesses was stark when Maeve stepped forward to greet Princess Isolde. She curtseyed low, waving behind her back for them to follow her lead.
“Good day, Your Grace,” said the students.
The princess’s eyes went wide to see their synchronized manners.
Maeve was all charm as she greeted Lady Aislinn and the princess, beckoning them closer to introduce the children. To Kiri’s surprise, both the heiress and princess greeted and shook hands with each child, listening carefully to their names, ages, and favorite subjects.
He wasn’t surprised that Lady Aislinn paid attention; she was known to talk to any of her subjects and take all matters seriously. But that the princess listened, shaking hands without gloves, and even smiling graciously at a few mishaps did earn her some credit in Kiri’s mind.
He was actually a little nervous by the time they got to him and Soren at the end of the line. Kiri kind of disliked being so nervous, but he couldn’t help it and tried to hide it behind his grin.
“Hullo, princess,” he greeted. “I’m Kiriken, I’m seventeen, and my favorite subject is history.” He clapped Soren on the shoulder. “This is my brother Soren. He’s thirty-one and his favorite subject is Miss Maeve.”
The children tittered, as did the knights. Hakon hid his chuckle behind his hand, and Lady Aislinn looked between them like this was obvious. Princess Isolde blushed, her gaze barely making it up to Soren’s face.
Kiri expected the tweak to his ear when Maeve pinched it ruthlessly.
Clearing her throat, Maeve said, “As Kiri says, this is my beau, Soren. He takes excellent care of the grounds and leads us on the most informative nature walks.”
Kiri received another pinch to his ear, no doubt to dissuade him from even thinking about mentioning all the scat they saw on those walks.