A/N: Those previous chapters were just memories. I decided that it would be too long and boring to write over a year of negotiations.
Chapter Five
As she stood on the Tortallan shore, she vividly recalled those memories – of finding out about the alliances with Tortall and Joppa, the embarrassing incident concerning the Duke of Salisan, her last truly free – and yet also one of the saddest – moments. They seemed so far away now, memories of a time that was so different from now, a time when now seemed like it would never come. But she would hold on and remember them, as surely as one would hold on to the light that shone in shadow. And she watched as the ship that had brought her here sailed away into the distance, returning to a place she would never again see.
"Milady?" It was Celia.
"Oh, sorry."
An entourage of carriages and horses were waiting for them. The hawk-nosed Duchess of Salisan stiffly (and rather impatiently) motioned for Alanna to enter the first carriage. Alanna quickly made to enter the carriage as a footman assisted her. Celia made to follow her, but a reedy voice stopped her.
"It is not the etiquette for servants to ride in carriages with their mistresses," said the Duchess of Salisan.
"No. Celia will ride with me. I have no companion but her," said Alanna.
The Duchess of Salisan gave her an affronted look, but could say nothing against her. Celia entered the carriage and the Duchess sat stiffly in the seat opposite them. There was not much conversation the entire ride to Fief Landlin. The stifling air the Duchess of Salisan imposed stopped all conversation between Celia and Alanna. It was almost evening when they arrived at Fief Landlin. They were shown to their rooms and baths drawn up. After bathing, she changed into a soft golden gown. The softly burnished golden sleeves were tied on, leaving gaps through which there were puffs of her chemise, one at her shoulder and another at the elbow. The waistline was high, tied with a thin ribbon the same color of her sleeves. Her hair was twisted into a crown roll*.
The duchess escorted her to the dining hall. The table at the front (the only one) looked very small in the large hall. But the feast was big; very big for the few people in attendance. The Lord Landlin was kind, and a good conversationalist. He asked much of the customs of Clarus and Alanna learned much about Tortall. The Tortallan court seems much more complicated, with a lot of protocol and etiquette. How can one eat every night when many others are watching them? Tis' uncomfortable.
When the meal was over, Lord Landlin took her on a tour of his castle. From the highest tower, she could see the waves beating upon the cliffs. Everything was made of hard, grey stone, and the halls possessed a shadowy air, even when torches were burning very unlike the warm, open palace in Clarus that was full of light and air. But she liked the high towers that let her see far beyond, something that did not exist in the villa-like palace of Clarus. When the tour was over, it was night, and Alanna bid him good night and was brought back to her room by a servant.
Alanna and Celia talked of their day. The Tortallans were very formal, they agreed. They talked of what they hoped Corus would be like. Then Alanna changed into her nightgown, washed up and went to sleep.
The next day, they set out from Fief Landlin at noon. From there, it was a half-day's ride to Corus. Alanna was excited; perhaps this Tortall would not be so bad after all. Her time at Fief Landlin had been quite enjoyable; the everyday life there seemed like what it was at home. Home… she wondered sadly about what was happening there. It would be time for the Festival of Mirian, the goddess of plants and crops. She wondered about Thom, had he started learning the mace yet? What about Mother and Father? And Aruella? She would have been at Joppa for a few months now. Was King Henderas nice? What about the court there? They arrived at Corus at sunset.
She was shown her chambers and a bath drawn up for her. After she bathed, she changed into a light blue silk gown with a flared skirt. The sleeves were very wide from the elbow, reaching past her knees. They were split* and tied at several points, leaving gaps through which the chemise showed. The neckline and sleeve hems were bordered in blue. The waistline was belted with a silver girdle* and the long ends hung down in a thin line to the hem of the gown. The train extended a few feet.
The supper was of a smaller sort, one that was quite unusual in Court. The prince was not there. Alanna was told she would meet him later, at the first ball of the season. The King Roald and Queen Lianne were very kind and told her much of the customs of the court. They were more complicated and formal than when she had first learned about them. Things like – a princess always had to be accompanied by at least two of her ladies-in-waiting and she would never go out into the city. There was never anything silly like that at home! And whenever a courtier passed by anyone of royal rank, he would have to bow and address them as 'Your Highness' or 'Your Majesty' depending on whether they were a king, queen, prince or princess. There had been nothing like that at home, either. People would simply bow their heads and head on their way. The supper, though a smaller one by Tortallan standards – there appeared to be about thirty-five people in attendance, all high ranking nobles and their wives, was rather formal, compared to the merrier ones in Clarus. In Clarus, at banquets like these and smaller, there was much merrymaking and jokes. Will there be nothing here but stuffy courtiers and somber meals? After the meal, Alanna was escorted back to her chambers.
She and Celia talked about their first experience in Corus. Even the servants were very rank-conscious, said Celia. The upper servants were often condescending towards the lower ones. Servants were often not treated well by their masters or mistresses, she said. The serving maid who had sat next to her had a large bruise on her arm – a result of spilling a little gravy on a courtier's tunic. Alanna told Celia of the customs she had learned about, and they both laughed as they talked about how shocked the Tortallans would be at the things they had done at home.
"What would they think of swimming?"
"They don't even have pools here."
"They don't?" said Alanna in a surprised voice. "But what about in the summer, when it's hot?"
"I suppose they just sit out in the gardens. Though it must be awfully hot in those heavy dresses of theirs."
"Yes. And some of the skirts are puffed up so it looks like they are wearing giant bells!" said Alanna as she and Celia laughed.
"And they also wear corsets. Even the servants. It must be extremely hard to breath."
"I suppose it's because so many of the women at court are fat. It doesn't seem like they are supposed to do anything but sit around, embroider or talk. I definitely don't want to wear any of their stuffy dresses. No one ever wore anything silly like that at home."
"Did you see the Prince?"
"No, but the King and Queen were at the supper. They were nice, but the supper was just too formal."
"Well they have balls during the social season, don't they?"
"Yes, but those are really just time for the knights and ladies to court."
They talked for a while more, and then retired for the night.
The next morning, after she awoke and dressed, she had breakfast. Then the Duchess requested that she meet with her. She immediately requested that she change into a Tortallan style gown, saying that it was more 'proper'. She talked much about etiquette and taught her more of the court dances, which were quite stiff and formal, with none of the joyous feeling of the dances in Clarus. She practiced her curtsy to the King so many times she felt she might just collapse from tiredness. Finally, it was over.
But then, the Duchess said she would have a court lady who was to be her lady-in-waiting show her around the palace grounds. But Alanna could not stand another second in the company of these Tortallans. So when the Duchess (or the Lady Etiquette, as she had begun to call her privately) went to the privy, she snuck out of the room and went back to her chambers, where Celia said she would be. She quickly changed out of that horrid gown and put on one she had brought with her to Tortall.
"Celia, let's go around the palace," suggested Alanna.
"I'm not sure. The midday meal shall be coming up soon and we shall be late if we get lost."
"Don't worry. We won't go too far, okay?"
"Alright."
They walked out of the room and down the hall and after a few turns they came to a large and solemn hall. Along the walls were portraits of men and women, the men looking most similar to each other, with their dark, often black hair and (usually) blue eyes. From this, Alanna supposed they were in the Hall of Kings (portrait gallery). Most of the women had light, golden hair. A few possessed dark locks, but that was all. Alanna wondered how she would look when she was up there. Would visitors think strangely of a copper-haired, violet-eyed queen? She wondered about her reception tonight at the banquet. There would be hundreds of courtiers and nobles. Normally, she told, only a few nobles were in court at this time – mid-September – as the social season did not start until October. But they had come earlier this year because she – the prince's betrothed – had arrived and they wanted to see the person who would be their future queen. Would they think strangely of this improper and unmannered foreigner, as Lady Etiquette did? Though she had not told Alanna that, Alanna was quite sure, from the looks she had received. Then it was time for the midday meal.
She bid Celia goodbye – Celia would eat later with the servants – and walked down to her chambers. Only when she arrived did she realize she did not know how to get to the dining hall. She felt rather guilty for just leaving and remembered that she had promised herself she would do her duty to her empire. She would. She would help create the alliance with Tortall by doing her duty – marrying Prince Jonathon. But now . . . everything seemed to be going wrong and she had not even met Prince Jonathon. She did not like the court, Lady Etiquette thought she was unmannered and improper, would everything be this way? Then there was a knock on the door.
It was the Duchess. She gave Alanna a disapproving look.
"There is no time to change into a proper gown, so I suppose the best we can do is fix your hair," she said with a disapproving look at Alanna's loose hair.
Proper gown indeed! Her gown was perfectly fine. She would certainly do her duty but she supposed she could at least dress in the manner she wanted to.
Lady Etiquette called a maid to fix her hair. Her hair was parted at the sides and pulled up, with two lace braids* from the middle of the part line. It was secured and the rest left loose.
She was escorted to the dining hall. There were masses of people, and it seemed as she walked to the High Table, that every eye was upon her. It felt quite cold, despite the torches and masses of people. Perhaps it was the hall. It seemed cold the minute she looked upon it, made of cold, gray stone, it was. She felt as if she were one of the animals in the animal gardens back home – stared at as if she were a strange object of curiosity.
The banquet was quite lavish, with many courses – twelve to be precise. But there was none of the merrymaking and jokes that Alanna was used to. It was rather prim and boring. People conversed with their dining partners – in the lower tables, that is. At the High Table at the front, it seemed to Alanna that the monarchs and few nobles there were presiding over the banquet with a very formal air – as if it were not a merry time to laugh and be joyous but a solemn and serious affair. Alanna looked at the table of unmarried ladies of the court and wished she could be with them, laughing and talking, instead of up here at this stiff and boring table. The courses came in monotony, except for the subtleties. They were beautiful and fragile, created mostly out of spun sugar and almond paste. There were gardens and animals, captured as if they were almost alive. The banquet was finally over. It was well past two.
The Duchess escorted Alanna back to her chambers. When they arrived there, she – the Duchess – proceeded to give Alanna a stern lecture on courtesy, and etiquette.
"Princess Alanna, your activities before dinner were in absolute violation of the courtesy and etiquette of our kingdom. It is not proper for a princess in any circumstances, and most certainly not yours, to be walking around unaccompanied. The sort of problems that could occur if your activities were known to the court are the worst of the imagination. It is not only about this court and our etiquette, but also the alliance. I hope you shall keep this in mind for any possible future 'trysts'," she said. "I shall now introduce you to your ladies-in-waiting."
They were absolutely boring and drab – her ladies-in-waiting, all twelve of them. She could not possibly imagine how much worse it would be when she would be Queen and there would be even more of those ladies. It had been the third day since she had met them and they were absolutely boring. Here she was, sitting in her chambers and she could not even read a book in peace, for she had to become "acquainted with the court." So she was listening to them talking about the most annoying subject ever – palace gossip – as they were embroidering a tapestry. There seemed to be endless talk of who was courting whom, snide remarks about other courtiers, especially ones who were not quite the 'norm' or had strange looks and such. Is this to be the rest of my life? Sitting around with these horrid women and poking at a tapestry. King Henderas of Joppa most certainly sounds like a better fate. The afternoon wore on. She could hardly wait for night, when she would have time to talk with Celia.
Then came the palace dressmakers. It was not of much interest to Alanna, these strange clothes. But everyone else seemed to be in excitement – for the dresses that were to be made were for the first ball of the season. But Alanna knew she would not wear this attire. There would not be much left of her land to hold on to in the future and she would make the most of it now. But it would surely cause gossip and controversy if the betrothed of the heir refused to wear the attire of her 'land'. So she let herself be pinned up for a gown. But I will hold on to what I have left.
A/N : Hope it was a good ending. Bit of foreshadowing there in the chapter. I had originally hoped to include the night's banquet in there as more of what Alanna sees of Tortallan culture but I decided this might be a better ending. Sorry for taking so long to get it out. Review!