The official engagement was announced the next day. The prince and I stood on the balcony, waving to the cheering masses.
"My fellows," my fiance shouted. "I choose a lady from the common ranks to be my wife and princess. What more proof do you need of equality in this nation?" the speech started.
I mentally scoffed. The prince had discovered my humble origins too late. A brilliant cover up. As for equality, it did not exist. The peasants barely made a living by squatting on the land. The few rich would eat to the bursting point and deliberately throw up their food so they could take in more.
"We enjoy great prosperity," he continued. "The tribute from the conquered territories flow like a mighty river!"
What lies. The king relied on the spoils of war to finance his expenditures but he was losing badly. The cardinal was hoping for a turning point but none was in sight, not at this rate.
"Everyone is happy, from the modest peasant to the wealthiest merchant."
The starving peasants were on the verge of revolt. There were few businesses left here since the war had driven them all away.
Nonetheless, I held my peace. It is not good strategy for a princess to challenge her husband openly.
On my wedding day, I wore white and pretended to be the virgin I had not been for a while. What a pointless burden it is to refrain from what is natural and necessary! Purity is a myth created by men to keep women in line.
After the customary celebrations, I was immediately escorted to the royal bedroom so the servants could prepare me before my husband arrived. The maids left giggling, in anticipation of what would happen. However, their cheer was in vain. On the night of my wedding, I sat on the bed, alone. I waited and waited but he never came.
It was like this every night. After a while I stopped waiting. Three months passed with no sign of an heir on its way. I spent each night alone and saved my dalliances for the day.
I rarely had a chance to speak with the prince, he had many duties and mistresses indeed. Nonetheless, I often sat no more than 20 feet from him in the same room. He was required to attend official advisor meetings and as the princess, I was expected to watch from behind a curtain. I never missed a single convening. I gradually learned who was a puppet, who was being bribed, and who held the most influence over the king. However, no one came close to challenging the subtle authority of the cardinal. It was apparent that he quietly ran everything while the king was off hunting both animals and attractive virginities alike. I do not mean to criticize the well meaning monarch. He is an excellent warrior and talented in battle but has absolutely no interest in politics.
I may have been separated by a piece of cloth and distance during official meetings, but I had excellent access to the advisors during social functions, as I was expected to make myself available and charm everyone to win their favor on behalf of my father-in-law and husband. I began to quietly insinuate that the war was doing nothing draining the royal treasury. I consolidated my power through political alliances that were carefully veiled by the façade of a pure social connection.
I was expected to knit tapestries during my free time so I turned this to my advantage. I began to embroider secret messages into the cushions I made and stuff them with gold. I made gifts of these to members of the court to pass on messages under the scrutinizing eye of the cardinal. Together, we plotted under my leadership. I learned that the guards were disgruntled and underpaid. I read about coups in Russia, where the czar would resign when the disgruntled streltsy, soldiers, stormed the palace. I would have to win the allegiance of the troops and the richest lords. The king was in debt from his extravagant spending. Our neighboring rival was poised to invade. I must learn to wield a sword for a needle, seduction, and charisma are insufficient weapons. I soon realized that many of the lords were disgruntled by the king since he had yet to pay them back. The servants proved to be a useful source of insider gossip.
I was walking through a hallway when I heard voices behind a closed door. I stopped to listen because I thought I had heard my name.
"The princess is obviously infertile. You must find someone else," insisted a voice I recognized as the cardinal's.
"You know better than anyone else the Church forbids divorce. What will you have me do, found my own church?" The prince chuckled at his own joke.
"If she were to be murdered so brutally at the hands of our barbarian enemies, we would have reason to wage war on them."
"Now that's a bit extreme my friend."
I quickly rushed off before anyone could catch me. So the cardinal was already perceiving me as a threat. I would not be surprised if it was he who was somehow keeping the prince from my bed. There were already rumors that I was sterile, or so revolting that I could not even attract the prince for one night.
I took many lovers, some for pleasure, some for political gain. I am but a woman, I have nothing to offer but my feminine attributes. Men do not need to sleep with the powerful to gain power but women do because men have all the power. It is an unpleasant gamble that does not always work. My sexual prowess would fade as I aged. Sex is an unsustainable and unreliable means of accumulating power.
My oldest maid became my confidante. She soon began to address me as if I were a sister and often scold me gently.
"You are a petty harlot to toy with affections like that."
"Nay. Other women do so for diamonds and frills. I do it because it is my only means to power. To improving this corrupt kingdom."
The royals often received many jesters from faraway lands but it had become too dangerous to travel in our country because of all the fighting. We made do with homegrown humor. The court poet recited a beautiful ode about a Jade Queen. I gave a bit of a start but everyone else seemed relaxed. After his performance I cornered him.
"That poem. It was a play on words. The Jade Queen is actually a jaded queen," I prompted.
"I thought no one would understand the true meaning," he bowed. He smiled at me, which made my stomach flutter. Now that I had a proper look at him, I realized that he was very handsome.
"Why is your topic matter so glum? It has no place in this court."
"Quite the contrary, princess. Do you ever leave room in your life for love?"
"It is better to be feared than loved," I quoted my favorite author, Machiavelli.
"Can you not have both?"
"It is harder for women."
"My point exactly, oh Jade queen."
"What is your name, Poet?"
"Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer"
I stared after him as he suavely bowed and excused himself. We had never spoken before but he knew me so well somehow.
I sat quietly behind the curtain as the chancellors spoke about the nation's troubles. "The peasants are revolting, there is no bread," one of them said.
"Then let them eat cake," came the prince's reply.
I turned away in disgust. Cake is a colloquial term for this inedible hardtack that is given to prisoners when getting them to break down and confess.
I indirectly addressed the matter of the peasant revolt at the next banquet. As the princess, I had every right to set new fashions. I handed my order to a page and he read it aloud. "By request of the princess, the cycle of binging and barfing used by many in the court is ridiculously out of style. It would shock the courts of the finest kingdoms. You shall eat what you wish, but you may not vomit anything you eat for the purpose of being able to eat more."
The assembled lords and ladies gasped their protest. "Your new fashion is difficult to bear!" one of them objected. "It is as harsh as iron."
I gave a reply that would become my trademark. "The Iron Lady is not for turning."
The cardinal confronted me in private. "It is not your place to decide matter of state," he informed me none too politely.
"I am the future queen of this country. You are but a priest who steps outside of your boundaries," I answered.
"You can't even get into the prince's pants, must you try to wear them?" he jeered.
"L'etat, c'est moi!" I snapped. The state, it is me. I turned on my heel and left.
I went exploring the castle, hoping to find a secret passage or something of the sort. I didn't find one, but I ended up stumbling upon something even better. I found the royal archives, which were piled high with papers. I sifted through them. Most of the paperwork was boring documents but some very rude and insulting letters caught my eye.
"You violated our peace treaty, I will not have you violate any of my daughters," one of them read.
Others were more polite. "It is my regret to inform you that we have no desire at this point to arrange a marriage uniting our lines."
The marriage rejection letters took up most of the shelf. I was fascinated to see seals from every country and places I had never even heard of. Apparently no one wanted to marry their nobility off to our prince. That explained the ball. It was but a charade to mask the fact that we have alienated so many nations that none are willing to marry into our line.
"Curiosity killed the cat," someone stated flatly. I jumped and whirled around. The cardinal was standing in the door, scowling. He walked over and saw the letters in my hands. "So you've discovered the correspondences." His eyes gleamed maliciously.
"The ball was a front," I stated.
The cardinal regarded me with a steely gaze. "That ball, that chase, it was all orchestrated to appease the masses. To let them think it is possible to go from rags to riches. That the prince is benevolent and populist. I directed the prince to focus his attentions on the stranger who obviously had the least noble bearing."
"You cannot make peace with foreigners. So you try to make peace with your own subjects."
"Precisely. Now remember this, I made you, I can just as easily destroy you."
"You have created something more powerful than yourself."
"No. You thought you were holding all the cards but you are but a pawn." He began to laugh without mirth.
"Sometimes the pawn can overpower the bishop," I replied coolly.
"I want what is best for this kingdom," he hissed. "You are ruining years of careful planning."
"If you truly wanted what is best, you would not adorn yourself in such finery while others are in rags."
"I don't see you leaving your laces and silks in your closet."
"This is a means to an end. If I am to have any credibility, I must stay in the latest fashion. Note however, that I do not favor an excessive amount of jewelry."
That night, I lay in bed alone, as usual. I resolved to not let anything stand in my way. I envisioned the prince in my head. I will use you for power as you had used all those maidens by carefully planting ambiguous hope in their heads, I thought. I almost felt… vengeful.
A/N: I'm now randomly throwing in real historical characters. Geoffrey Chaucer was a writer who managed to make fun of the aristocracy without getting into too much trouble because he knew how to do it without actually crossing the line. Margarat Thatcher, former PM of Britain, would say "the Iron Lady is not for turning" in her speeches whenever someone gave her crap about her policies for transitioning to a more capitalist state. Louis XIV said "l'etat c'est moi." his ego was bigger than Versailles. Marie Antoinette replied "let them eat cake," when informed that the peasants has no bread to eat. no wonder the French Revolution happened. Did I forget anything? it's not mine.