(Sorry about yesterday’s post – I blame 4 days of chronic pain for rattling my brains. XD)
It was the first of the Founding Day feasts and Ethian was already feeling sick. He hated high feasts. He’d hated them since his first, just after arriving on the Throne World the summer before his sixteenth birthday and his attitude hadn’t changed in nearly thirteen years. Timur walked around, twitching the hem on his shirt, plucking nearly invisible lint off his pants, adjusting his jewelry until everything was in place to his satisfaction.
“Am I ready?” Ethian asked as Timur stepped back.
“You just need the coronet and then you’ll be set, Your Imperial Highness.” Timur fetched the gold circlet from its place on his dressing table. Ethian sat down so Timur could put it on his head. Ethian was two meters tall, the same height as his father, and Timur was a good bit shorter than him. It made it easier for him if Ethian sat down so he could do his hair and set the coronet in place.
Timur fixed his hair and set the coronet on his head. “Now I am ready.” Ethian glanced at his reflection.
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.” Timur stepped back.
Ethian rose and headed out. His guards formed up around him and escorted him to the great hall. Fallon was waiting for him. “Try smiling a little more when you are out here.”
“What is there to smile about?” Ethian grumbled. “I am on full public display in formal regalia for the next several hours. I hate high feasts. They are tolerable at best and an absolute snore fest at worst. Lidia does her best but I detest the food, the wine, and the fact that so many people are gawking at me.”
“You are in for a lifetime of these things, Ethian. You know that.” Fallon looked at him.
“I do know that,” Ethian snapped. “It does not mean I have to like them.”
“If you can learn to find something to enjoy about them, it will make them easier to bear.” Fallon gave him an exasperated look. Ethian schooled his expression into something more neutral. Fallon did the same.
“I doubt I will ever find anything enjoyable about them,” Ethian muttered. A few minutes later, Kaelea and Ismaeli joined them. Their sisters were less able to hide their expressions, but they were excited. The girls loved the high feasts. Then perhaps five minutes after the princesses arrived, Karis and Sayana joined them. The Imperial family took their seats and the dishes were scanned. Then the high lords were let in.
Arken took his seat on the other side of the princesses, and the other high lords and ladies took their seats. Then the rest of the court was let in and everyone settled into their positions. It was half an hour of jockeying for the places closest to the seat of power. Once everyone was settled, the first course was served.
The first course was served and the guards scanned it. They stepped back. No poison in the first course this year. Ethian remembered for three years in a row he’d been unable to eat right away because the first course had been poisoned.
He looked down at the first course. It was soup as usual. What it was, he couldn’t tell. It was red, thick, and had some kind of meat and vegetables in it. He sighed inwardly, picked up his spoon, and once his father had taken the first bite tasted it.
One of the high lords near him made a retching sound. “It tastes of blood,” he gasped, horrified.
Ethian took a bite. The man was right. It did taste like blood. “This is almost inedible.” He glanced at his father. “This is not food, Father.”
“Eat it anyway,” Karis instructed from where he was doggedly devouring his soup. “I will have a word with the head cook after this is over though. I think it is blood in the soup, and I do not find it at all appetizing.”
Ethian choked down the soup. There were some muttered comments from several nobles about the soup and Lidia was fiercely gesturing to a servant. She held a whispered conversation with the man, who nodded and scurried off to the kitchen. It seemed even Lidia was surprised by the soup, and she’d been in charge of the menu plan. The head cook must not have told her what the ingredients were.
The first course was over and as servants cleared away the dishes, a beautiful woman with a pair of musicians came out. The musicians set up their instruments and began to play. The woman sang several haunting ballads about lost loves and suicidal women who’d given up on love. Ethian didn’t think much of the singer’s choice of songs. Neither, apparently, did Karis or Sayana. They hid their disapproval well, but Ethian caught the frown Karis sent in Lidia’s direction.
The woman ended her performance to a polite spate of applause. Then the second course was served. These were tiny wedges of some green leafy vegetable served with bacon and onion and coated in a tangy sauce.
Ethian ate them. Sayana obviously approved. Fallon ate them as quickly as he could. This was probably the seventh or eighth time Ethan had eaten them at a high feast and while they weren’t his favorite, he didn’t mind them. They were better than the soup.
A troupe of acrobatic performers was the second entertainment. They were a much better fit for the celebration than the first singer had been, and Ethian enjoyed their performance. The applause after they were done was more enthusiastic. “They were better than that first act,” Fallon muttered.
“Much better,” Ethian agreed.
The third course was the main course and this one was some kind of meat course served with mashed starchy roots that Ethian thought at first were potatoes but instead was something sharp tasting and a green salad. He didn’t recognize the meat or the starchy roots, but it was all good.
Another entertainment, this one an Imperial scholar telling a story of one of the early emperors, bored everyone to tears while they waited for the dessert course to be served. Kaelea and Ismaeli listened in rapt attention to his story. Ethian thought perhaps he was the only one who was bored because he’d read three different versions of the story, and they’d all been more interesting than the one he was relating.
“I have read two versions of this, at least. You?” Fallon asked.
“Three that I can remember.” Ethian hid his yawn in his wineglass.
The scholar finished and the dessert course was served. Ethian couldn’t identify what he was given. It was yellow. That was all he knew. The guards cleared this course as well. Ethian ate his dessert with some trepidation. It was tart and citrusy and not unpleasant after the meal they’d had. The court finished their desserts and the tables were cleared. The princesses were escorted back to their wing and now the conversations began in earnest.
“Your Imperial Highness, it is so hard to pin you down.” A portly lord came up to the table.
“It is very easy to speak with me, if what you have to say is worth my time.” Ethian realized this must be someone Fallon had put off. “Of course, you have to get past Fallon. I rely on him completely for that purpose.”
“Should you not make your own decisions on who you see, Your Imperial Highness?” the lord asked irritably.
“I do not have the time to see every lord who wants to speak to me. I would never get anything done.” Ethian contrived to look unconcerned. “Fallon taking the matter out of my hands works in my favor, Lord Rehman.”
“I told you that you can take your petition to Lord Geraint or to our father, Lord Rehman. That answer has not changed. Ethian has nothing to do with what you wish to discuss with him,” Fallon told the man coolly.
“If I had his backing I would have better luck with them,” Rehman protested.
“Lord Rehman, if it is something to do with Geraint, I would send you to him to discuss your petition as well and you would have wasted my time.” Ethian’s tone was just as cool as Fallon’s. “I would not offer my backing to anything needing his assistance until I have spoken with him about the merits of your petition.”
“Even I would send you to Geraint,” Karis interjected, overhearing the conversation. “If it was something I thought needed his expertise. I would not weigh in on it until he had given his opinion.”
“Of course, Your Imperial Majesty.” Rehman bowed and hurried off.
“If you want to expedite the process, go to the experts first.” Karis shook his head. “They can present it to us. If we have questions, we will ask them to explain what we do not understand. That is what the council is there for.”
“So long as your council does not get the idea that they have the authority to rule in your place,” Sayana told him. Ethian could barely hear her over the noise in the great hall, but the concern was obvious.
“They are not like the old council, my heart. I have been careful not to cultivate the same kind of atmosphere my father did.”
Ethian knew he’d have to watch out for that as well when he became emperor. He could not afford a disaster like what had happened to his father. Part of it had been because of his father’s inexperience, and Karis was seeing to it that Ethian had that experience.
He hoped it wouldn’t happen though. He wanted his father around for several years yet. He had read enough history to know that some of the emperors had reigned until they reached their first century. He hoped his father would be one of those. He didn’t want to think of how devastated his mother would be if his father were assassinated. They were completely devoted to each other, and it would not be easy for her to deal with his death.
“Your mask is slipping.” Fallon elbowed him sharply.
Ethian smoothed his expression back into the neutral mask. “Thanks.”
“Quit thinking depressing thoughts. This is supposed to be a celebration of something joyous.” Fallon gave him the side eye.
“I will be a lot happier when these three days are over,” Ethian muttered. Fallon snorted and a faint smile flashed across his face so quickly only the sharpest eyed would have seen it. Ethian, who was watching him, did see it.
“I am certain it is funny to you.” Ethian took another sip of wine.
“If you would learn to relax at the high feasts, as much as we can at least, you would find them more enjoyable.” Fallon tried logic with Ethian, but it wasn’t working.
It was Ethian’s turn to snort. “I doubt that.” Another lord approached the table. Ethian sighed inwardly. He missed his mornings in the garden. Verena was much better company than any of the courtiers in the upper court.
Ethian scanned the crowd as Fallon chatted with the lord, playing gatekeeper so Ethian didn’t have to talk if he didn’t want to. He tried to see if he could pick Verena out of the hundreds of lords and ladies milling about. He knew it would be impossible, but he still tried. Ethian made some non-committal reply to the lord who went away unhappy and continued watching the mass of humanity swirling in front of him.
Ethian was more taciturn than usual that night. Fallon carried most of the conversations. Ethian simply watched people and waited for his parents to withdraw. As soon as Karis and Sayana rose and left the room, Ethian and Fallon left as well.
Ethian happily changed into something more comfortable. It wasn’t that late, so he decided to read for a little while before he went to bed. He sat down with his pad and picked up where he’d left off in his book. He hadn’t gotten more than a few paragraphs in when Fallon walked in.
“What is on your mind tonight, Ethian? You do not usually imitate Hanzo and go all silent.” Fallon’s blunt assessment was not inaccurate of Ethian at this evening’s feast and Ethian well knew it.
“I just did not feel like talking to everyone.” Ethian scowled. “I was not in the mood to be on display. I did not really want to be there. I tried to socialize but I knew it was going to fall flat so since you were more talkative than I was tonight I let you gatekeep while I people watched.”
“Were you watching for a particular person?” Fallon asked.
“I would not have seen her anyway. Not in that press of bodies.” Ethian realized what he’d said as soon as he said it.
“You were looking for Verena.” Fallon sat down beside him.
Ethian sighed and put his pad to the side. “Yes, Fallon, I was looking for Verena. I knew I was not likely to see her, but I still wanted to try. Of course I did not see her. I do not even know if she was there. She told us yesterday it is a struggle to even get into the high feasts like Founding Day and the winter festival, so they may not even have made it.”
“You like her.” Fallon looked at him.
“Of course I like her. She is a good friend.” Ethian tried to deny what Fallon was hinting at.
Fallon shook his head. “It is more than friendship, Ethian. I think you are attracted to her.”
“I mean, I think she is pretty.” Ethian was still trying to keep from admitting what Fallon was trying to get him to say.
“No, Ethian, I think you are genuinely attracted to her. You do not even look twice at any of the upper court women, yet you futilely searched for a woman you knew you were not likely to see.” Fallon regarded him seriously.
Ethian frowned. “I mean, I see where you are going with this. I do not think I am in love with her, Fallon.”
“I do. Tell me, were you wishing you could be in the garden with her instead of at the high feast today?” Fallon gave him a knowing look.
“Of course I was.” Ethian shrugged. “But you know I look for anything to do rather than attend the high feasts.”
“I do not think it is just the high feast, Ethian. I think, if given the choice, you would skip the council meetings to go to the garden as well.” Fallon continued pushing the point.
Ethian thought about it for a moment. “Probably. You know as well as I do that I cannot do that though. I have my responsibilities.”
“Yes, and one of your responsibilities is to perform as the crown prince at the high feasts,” Fallon pointed out.
Ethian scowled. “I do not see why I have to be put on show every frakking time there is something someone wants to celebrate.”
“It comes with the territory of being an Imperial prince.” Fallon gave him a hard look.
“I have said it before. I will say it again. I wish I had stayed on Covus,” Ethian muttered.
“Do you really wish you stayed in the colonies?” Fallon asked.
Verena’s face flashed in front of Ethian’s eyes. “I suppose not.” Ethian sighed.
“You just thought of her.” Fallon watched him closely.
“Starflare, Fallon, I am not in love with her.” Ethian almost shouted at his brother. A tiny voice in his head asked him if he was so sure of that. “At least, not that I can admit to being in love with her even if I am.”
“Because she is lower court and that would be a death sentence as sure as if you drove your vibroblade into her heart yourself.” Fallon knew it as well as Ethian did. Ethian nodded. “If you are patient, you may be able to say something once they ascend. You know from what Demetrios has said her father is just waiting to get rid of those four sisters of hers to move up. Once she has ascended, you can move in.”
“I still will not be able to do so without risking her life,” Ethian pointed out. “She will be one of the lowest ranked women in the upper court. Can you imagine the horror of the high lords and power brokers?”
“You can move her into the Imperial wing and put her under the direct protection of the Imperial guard once she becomes a lady of the upper court.” Fallon looked at his brother. “It would be much harder for them to assassinate her that way. They would get used to her, just the same as they got used to your mother.”
“You think so?” Ethian asked and then realized what he’d just done. He buried his face in his hands. “You are right. I am in love with her.” The words came out muffled.
“I figured this out a while ago, Ethian.” Fallon put a hand on his shoulder. “She has not, and I think she would be horrified if she did find out.”
“I am not going to tell her.” Ethian looked up. “I do not think she will figure it out if I am careful. She just sees me as a good friend, and I want to keep it that way.”
“Keep treating her the same way you always have, and she will not notice the occasional lapses.” Fallon shrugged. Ethian nodded.
“How could I have fallen in love with her so quickly?” Ethian asked. “It has only been three months.”
“Ask father how long it took him to realize he loved your mother,” Fallon suggested as he headed out. Ethian summoned Timur and sent him to find out if his parents were still awake. They were and they were curious why Ethian was still up and wanting to talk to them.
Ethian went to his parents’ rooms. “You are up late.” Karis looked at his son. “Is something wrong?”
“This is going to be a very strange question, Father.” Ethian regarded his parents with a strained expression on his face. “How long did you know mother before you realized you were in love with her?”
Karis and Sayana stared at him. “That is an odd question.” Karis finally spoke. “I knew I preferred your mother’s company after only a few months. I think I finally admitted I loved her to myself if to no one else after about six months. She figured it out not long after that. Why?”
“I have gotten myself into some trouble.” Ethian ran his hands over his face.
“What kind of trouble?” Sayana asked warily.
“I am in love with Verena.” Ethian gazed at his parents with a hang dog expression.
“Oh Ethian.” Sayana sighed. “You are not making this easy on yourself, are you?”
“I know I cannot say anything to her, or to anyone else.” Ethian knew the risk. He wasn’t going to take it. “Not without getting her killed.”
“It has been three months, and you are that certain of your feelings?” Karis asked. Ethian nodded. “You will have to be patient. When they ascend after they get rid of those four problems, we will move her into the Imperial wing, and she should be safer here.”
“That is what Fallon was saying.” Ethian’s response didn’t seem to surprise his parents.
“Do not say anything to her right now. We will deal with this when they ascend.” Karis looked thoughtful. “I am certain her father is just waiting to be rid of his four older daughters, as Demetrios suggested, before he makes his move.”
Ethian nodded. “I know I am not making this easy.”
“You never do.” Karis laughed. “We will figure it out.”
“Thank you.” Ethian headed back to his room and decided to go to bed. He took one of his pills and fell into a sleep filled with dreams of a certain silver-eyed woman.
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