Welcome to Court #2
Over the years, the wondrous traits that families once possessed had become watered down into nothing more than handy parlor tricks. My mother’s family lost their Birthright two generations back, but my father’s Birthright had presented him with the ability to never miss a target with his bow.
However, he gave up using the bow entirely almost immediately after his Birthright had manifested.
In his eyes, it tied him to our unspoken past, which he was trying to distance himself from.
It all seemed terribly silly to me. I thought we should be thanking our ancestors for acquiring such a great honor, but I seemed to be the only one who was proud of what our ancestors had given us.
In the eyes of Norden’s nobility, my family had a blemished past. My father’s tainted blood, to be specific.
His family originated from a clan of mercenaries, a group of hired hands who worked for whoever paid the best price.
Somehow, many generations ago, our family had been given the title of ‘Baron’ and land to go with it.
No one really talked about how that came to be, but I knew it wasn’t a common practice.
Since we hadn’t been born into our title, my family always sought to show how far removed we were from such a distasteful heritage.
To compensate for our lack of pedigree, we became skilled in all the proper activities that were befitting of our station.
And since I was an only child, I had to be found without fault in all areas.
I looked out the carriage window, wondering if I’d be able to live up to my mother’s expectations if I’d be found worthy of the king and queen’s acceptance into court. A large shadow was moving across the land, and I looked up to see a dragon flying toward the castle.
Sometime later, I was awoken by the clamoring sounds of Royal City. I pulled back the heavy velvet curtain and peered out at the bustling streets. The city was full of people working, selling, buying, or just traveling through, like myself.
It was one of the most interesting places I’d ever visited, and I’d only been here twice. That would finally change once I got accepted into court—I’d be required to visit the castle once a week for the first two years of my courtier life to complete my education.
As the carriage rattled over the wooden drawbridge and made its way into the castle’s courtyard, page boys scurried out of various areas to come and hold the horses and help me out of the carriage.
Once I was out, I shook my skirts, ensuring they hadn’t wrinkled too badly on the ride over.
My mother would kill me if I had creases everywhere.
I followed one of the pages as he showed me into a sitting room where a few other firstborns were already waiting for the presentation ceremony.
Some were playing cards, while others were reading books or looking out the windows at the gardens.
Wanting to stretch my legs, I took a turn about the room, pausing here and there to examine things that caught my eye.
My nerves grew as I waited, trapped in this stuffy room.
“Did you hear? The crown prince isn’t going to be here today,” a girl pouted to another she was sitting next to. “How will I get him to notice me if he never shows up to public events like this?”
“I heard his mother is trying to marry him off to one of the neighboring kingdoms threatening our trade treaty,” her friend responded, shaking her head.
The pouting girl gasped, covering her mouth with a small, gloved hand. “No, they can’t! What about all of us waiting for a chance to be presented to him? It’s not fair!”
I rolled my eyes as I left the window I’d been standing in front of and drifted to the other side of the room.
I couldn’t stand listening to the simpering of a snotty girl who had no idea how the real world worked.
If Errit closed the borders to us, this would be a big problem indeed.
That’s not even mentioning the goods they supplied us with.
My skin started to itch with smothered emotion as I tried to keep from getting worked up at things I couldn’t change.
Finally, I focused on a few girls playing a card game I was familiar with.
“Would you like to join our game?” one of the girls asked. “It might help to keep you from dwelling on our first court appearance.”
“Is it that obvious?” I asked, embarrassed I hadn’t controlled my emotions better in public, even if it wasn’t for the reason the girl assumed.
“If you weren’t nervous, that would be most unusual,” she stated with a slow blink.
“Then yes, I would gladly join your game,” I said, smoothing my expression and arranging my skirts to sit.
Just as I sat, the door opened, and a palace steward walked in and bowed. “The king and queen will see you now. If you would please follow me, I will take you to the throne room.”