"Lady Chancellor, Majesty. Do pardon the interruption." The head nanny for the children bobbed a curtsey.
Alistair leaned over in the throne at the head of the dining hall, Gwyneth on his right, Elissa's empty throne with the queen's crown resting on the seat to his left. "Mistress Hood, what can I do for you?"
"The children are refusing to settle and eat, Majesty. The Princess has thrown several plates of food already." Mistress Hood's face pinched with worry. Princess Moira's tantrums had grown worse as of late, and though Gwyn had done much to ensure elves working in the palace weren't dismissed at the first sign of trouble, there was still the nagging anxiety from decades prior to overcome with many of the servants.
Alistair started to rise, but stopped when Gwyn laid a hand on his arm. "Allow me, Majesty. One of them is mine, after all. And the Orlesian ambassadors are here."
"Ah, yes, mustn't upset the Orlesians while they're throwing their single daughters at me." He grimaced into his wine chalice. After a fortifying gulp, he snarled under his breath, "Elissa's barely been gone for three months and they're circling like vultures."
"Officially, they're here for trade negotiations. Stick to that and pretend you're missing the subtext." Gwyn stood and curtsied to the guests, then to Alistair. The Fereldan nobles smiled and nodded. With five young children occupying the palace nursery, it wasn't unusual for the King or the Chancellor to be called away from the dining hall.
The Orlesians, however, flicked their fans and whispered to each other behind their masks. Lady Tangine, the woman the lead ambassador was trying to include in the 'trade negotiations' as Alistair's bride, stuck the lacquered nose of her mask up in the air and made a sneering noise. "Rabbits belong in the kitchens, don't you agree, Henri?"
Gwyn stood straighter and pulled her shoulders back, passing behind the lady with all the dignity she had in her and fighting down the urge to cast a Waking Nightmare on her.
Silk skirts swished in the silent palace halls as she followed Mistress Hood to the nursery wing. As soon as the door opened, the silence was shattered by Moira's shrieking, what sounded like Bryce and Maric banging on the table, and Duncan squealing at his half-siblings' antics. Little Elissa was still too young to eat with her brothers and sister, or she would probably be crying like a creature of the Void.
"What is going on here?" Gwyn placed her fists on her hips, voice authoritative. Smoke, Moira's mabari, yelped in greeting and danced around Gwyn, but sat when she lifted her hand in command. The low table Moira ate at was splattered with mashed potatoes, small bits of roast goose, gravy, and braised vegetables. The princess herself stood on her chair, tears streaking down bright red cheeks and strawberry-blonde highlighted copper hair a riot of curls pulled free from the pigtails they were normally in.
The twins were in the splatter zone of their sister's tantrum, and had bits of potato, gravy, and goose. The handles of their forks and knives were no longer being banged on the table, and they were sinking down in their chairs, until dark amber eyes and strawberry blonde mops were the only parts of their faces visible. Duncan gave her a toothy smile and screeched, "Ma!"
"Moira, please get down off the chair and stop shouting. You know this isn't how a princess acts." Gwyn kept her tone even, even though the scene was quite hilarious.
"NO! You're not my real Mumma! You're not my Mumma!"
Gwyn felt like she'd been punched in the stomach by the little girl she loved like a child of her own. What had brought this on? Thoughts whirling, she thought over what she could have done that would have made it seem like she was trying to take Elissa's place. "I'm not… I didn't…. I'm not trying to take your Mumma's place, Moira."
Moira stamped her feet on her chair, and shouted out, "I don't want a new Mumma! I want my Mumma! I WANT MY MUMMA!"
Each shout was punctuated by another stomp of her feet, and she started sobbing at the end. Gwyneth blinked at Mistress Hood, who shook her head and held up her hands in shared confusion. Speaking gently and holding back her own tears, Gwyn held a hand out to Moira, "Moira, who told you you're getting a new mumma? I promise, your Papa wouldn't get a new Mumma for you without asking you first."
"Lady Tangerine. She said she was going to be my new Mumma. I don't like her! She's mean and she wears an ugly mask and she smells like a garden barfed on her!"
One of Mistress Hood's assistants tittered and then choked off in a cough. Gwyn carefully stepped around the table and knelt next to Moira's chair. "I swear, Moira, Lady Tangine is not going to be your new Mumma. Not now, not ever."
"Do you promise? She said she was going to send me away because real ladies don't shoot arrows. Mumma did, and so did my Grandmumma!" Moira's small arms wrapped around Gwyn's neck and she started crying harder.
"I absolutely promise, Moira, love." Gwyn stood up, Moira in her arms. "Mistress Hood, ask Her Grace's nannies when Lady Tangine managed to get to the Princess. Ladies," she gestured to the assistants, "Please get the Princes and Lord Duncan cleaned up and ready for bed. I need to take Princess Moira to speak to His Majesty."
"Yes, Lady Chancellor." Mistress Hood and the assistants curtsied. Gwyn paused to press a kiss to the head of each boy, whispering for them to behave, lingering on Duncan and inhaling his still-babyish scent.
"Your Grace, may I take you to your Papa so you can tell him what Lady Tangine said to you?" She asked Moira. The girl nodded against her neck. "I promise, I will never, ever try to take your Mumma's place. I loved your Mumma and I miss her, too. If I have done anything or if I ever do anything that makes you feel like I'm trying to take Mumma's place, you can tell me, okay?"
"Double promise?" Moira held up a chubby fist, tiny pinkie extended.
"Double promise." Gwyn hooked her pinkie with Moira's and kissed their linked fingers, then gave a wobbly smile to the little girl when she gave a sticky kiss to them as well. She hugged the princess to her chest as she strode back to the dining hall, her fury at Lady Tangine rising with each step. When she swept into the hall with Moira in her arms, Gwyn felt a vengeful prickle of satisfaction when the lady in question shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Your Majesty, the Princess has something she needs to tell you." Gwyn murmured to Alistair. "Tell your Papa, Your Grace, but remember to use your Inside Princess Voice, okay?"
Moira nodded, and stretched out an arm to Alistar. He stood and took her from Gwyneth, who sat back in her seat with a little smile for the guests at the table. He walked back behind the throne into the private nook that the royal family entered the hall from, and Gwyn could hear them murmuring to each other. Tangine had her head turned from the head of the table, and looked to be trying to get permission to leave.
"Lady Tangine." Alistair's tone was hard and cold. He stood between his throne and Elissa's, Moira on his hip with her head pressed into his neck. The look on his face clearly stated that he was in no mood for any games or flattery.
The lady stood and bobbed a curtsey, "Majesté."
"You are no longer welcome in my court. Ambassador du Habier, if you wish to continue negotiations with Ferelden, you will remove this woman from my kingdom as quickly as you are able. She has insulted the memory of my Queen, my mother-in-law, and threatened the Crown Princess. This is not a request."
He sat down in his throne, murmuring to Moira and running his fingers through her riot of curls. Gwyn wished she could reach over to comfort them, but she couldn't in public. After all, she wasn't Alistair's wife, or Moira's mother. They weren't really a family, as much as she wanted for them to be one.