Royal Blue - How Gifts speak

Three hours after sunrise the queen of earth sat placidly in the 
earthen drawing room with a list of addresses and merchants in
front of her. The earthen drawing room was a room just off
the east wing of the palace, where the royal family slept and
kept their private quarters. The royals often used this room
for informal gathering and policy discussions. This morning
the queen was working on some of the tasks necessary after
a ball was given.

The door to the room opened and in walked Telluric, king of 
the earth, who was just Luric or father to his family. He walked
over to his wife and bent to kiss her. "So, Honoria, what is the 
task today?"

Queen Honoria smiled at her husband. "Gift selection for the 
guests of the ball, of course. But we cannot start yet."

Her husband frowned, puzzled. "Why not?"

"Because Terrius is going to join us and help with the selection."

"Terrius? Our son, Terrius?" the king asked, surprised. "He told
you he was coming?"

"No," Honoria shook her head, "but he will be."

"How can you be so sure?"

Honoria smiled to herself as she reflected on the ball. "Because I
know my son," she said aloud.

During the ball last night, in a rare moment when she wasn't at her
husband's side, Honoria was having a conversation with her brother,
Lord Gaius, when she happened to look out one of the balcony windows 
and see her son with a woman she didn't know.

"Hale," the queen asked, "who is that woman on the balcony next to 
my son?"

Her brother turned and stared at the woman in question for awhile.
After a few moments, he answered, "I cannot be sure without seeing
her face, but that looks like Lady Adaunde Anderson, daughter of Colonel
Bill Anderson, who your husband lorded one and twenty years ago. She 
attended preparation at a prestigious institute in Afrique, and was sent on 
with honors.  She is currently home acting as a lady, under duress, so the 
rumor goes." After filling in his sister while still looking at the couple on the 
balcony, he looked back at the queen, "Should we interrupt them?"

"No," the queen said as she looked at the couple. To see her son
talking to anyone beyond the necessary formal pleasantries, unless
they were friends, was a rarity. 'I think my son may have found
a girl worth courting. And it is about time.' "Let us give them
some privacy," the queen insisted as she drew her brother away from 
the window to talk to other people at the event.

"Oh, I am sure," the queen insisted as she came back to the present.
"He will be here."

As if on cue, the door opened and in walked Terrius. "Mummy, 
Father," the young man said as he bowed slightly to his parents 
and then kissed his mother on the cheek.

"Good sunrise, my son." Honoria said.

"Yes, good sunrise, son. It is somewhat of a surprise to see
you here. Are you really going to help us select gifts?"

The young man nodded uneasily. As he sat down, the room 
remained silent for a few moments, with the only sound being
the queen's stylus on the list in front of her. Finally, 
Terrius asked, "Mother, what do you know about a lady named
Adaunde? Her father-"

"Was First Colonel William Anderson, whose brave act of loyalty 
saved your father; Luric lorded him for that. She is out
of preparation, was sent on with honors, in fact. She has much 
to recommend her," the queen stopped as she sent her son a
knowing look. "I would say she was even worthy of a fourth gift."

By the end of her reply, both her husband and son were staring
at her in shock.

"How do you know everything?" her son asked.

"A fourth gift? Are you serious about this, Honoria?" her husband
asked.

The queen smiled, "I know because I am your mother and I have my
sources. And, as for the fourth gift, I am serious, Luric. Yes,
I have not actually had a chance to talk to the girl as she left
before she presented herself, but I trust the judgment of our son in
this."

The room was silent a little longer, until the queen asked, "We
are looking for a fourth gift for Lady Adaunde, are we not?"

Her son, realizing what a fourth gift meant and what he wanted,
maybe even needed, nodded.

The queen smiled. "Well, let us get started then. We need to get
a first gift out soon. As for a fourth gift, some of the things
given in the past have been-"

"That is okay, Mummy," Terrius interrupted. I know what my fourth
gift shall be...it will just take some research."

"Okay, well we should also brace for the gossip, so no sharing
anything outside of this room."

"Gossip? How will anyone know what we are doing?" the king asked.

The queen just shook her head at her naive husband. "Even the walls
have ears. Besides, I am sure that the merchants on the street are 
already talking about us looking into a fourth gift."

*****

Later in the day an odd but familiar sight was seen walking the market.
A lady and a merchant's daughter were walking in the open air, comparing
prices, laughing, and talking. Normally such a phenomenon would never
happen. There were clear status lines between the nobility and the
merchantry. Nobles, responsible for the political leadership of the 
planet, were usually very conscious of their rank. Merchants, responsible
for "creating" and disturbing needed goods, knew how far away they were 
from nobles in the status hierarchy, with the military (and their 
responsibility for enforcement and protection) ranking higher than the
merchants. Yet this lady and merchant's daughter were different. 
It was well-known that Lady Adaunde would gladly destroy the divisions 
caused by the status system and that Mistress Maya was rather bold, 
going after what she wanted. Maya had gone after Adaunde's friendship 
as a toddling two-year-old, and they had been close ever since. This
noble and merchant being seen together, therefore, didn't cause any
comment. But their conversation might have.

"So what happened at the ball last night? Did you meet her?"

The excited questioning of her oldest friend threw Adaunde. "What
do you mean, 'what happened'? Did I meet who?"

Maya sighed and pouted, "Don't hold out on me, Adaunde! Something
huge happened at the ball. Something huge. Everyone is talking 
about it. You were there; you MUST have an inkling of which lady
finally merited a fourth gift!"

Adaunde was even more confused. "A fourth gift?" she asked, "What do
you mean?"

Maya shook her head. "What am I going to do with you? You do 
understand the gift system, right?"

Adaunde nodded. "After a ball, the royal family bestows three rounds
of gifts on the ladies in attendance. The first gift goes to every
lady who was present. The second gift goes to a more select group
of ladies, those connected to the formal legislatures of the planet,
ladies tied to administrators or judges are not usually included here
unless they are from powerful houses. The third gift goes to an
even more select group of ladies, those that hail from the ten most
powerful houses, mostly. But a fourth gift? I do not-"

"You don't know anything about it? That's because it is given out
rarely. The fourth gift is given by the reigning prince to the
lady he wants to court. It's a formal way of asking to get to know
a lady. But more than this, it is always a first step to becoming
queen, and often used only once by the 'king to be'. Almost
every queen, including Her Majesty Queen Honoria, were recipients of
the first and last fourth gift that the reigning prince at that time
bestowed. So, I want to know if you met the woman who will most 
likely be our next queen!" Maya finished in a loud voice.

Adaunde smiled at her gossip-hungry friend. "I am sorry, Maya. I have
no idea who this woman could be. I avoided the ballroom most of the
time I was there. Most likely it was Lady Talia-"

"Nope. Her engagement to Lord Anthony Waynemeyer, the next Duke of
Amerwest, was just announced two weeks ago. Merchant Calinder is doing 
the wedding."

"Or Lady Bella-"

"Who, besides being solely a good friend to the prince, has set her
cap at the handsome Morte-Vida. Not her either."

"But I would not know," Adaunde said pointedly to her friend. Then,
in a suspicious casual voice, she continued, "A lot happened that
night. I was too occupied with other thoughts to even look for the
prince. I did not even present myself to the royal family, which
upset Mama greatly."

Maya looked at her friend, slightly disappointed, "You didn't 
present yourself? Dawn, what am I going to do with - wait a minute."
Maya stopped walking suddenly as the rest of what her friend said
processed. "What else happened that night?"

"What makes you think anything-"

"I know you," the future merchant interrupted, "So spill."

Adaunde sighed. After a few moments with the only sounds around
them being the bustle of the market and the impatient tapping of
Maya's foot, Adaunde relented. "I met someone at the ball."

Maya's eyes widened. "Met someone as in 'hi, how are you' or
met someone as in met met someone?"

"As in met met someone."

Maya put her hands on her hips and threw her friend a nasty look.
"When you were planning on telling me?"

"When I came to terms with it and knew for sure I did not dream 
what happened." Adaunde sighed. "Oh Maya, he was wonderful. He
understood, about the horizon, about everything." She laughed.
"He did not even seem to mind that I was a Creationist. I have
yet to understand why that seems to upset people," she added
under her breath. "It was...I really do not know what to say."

"What's his name?"

"Terry. At least, that is what he told me. I do not believe that is
his name, but he felt comfortable in the alias, so I did not press."

Now excited that her friend seemed to actually be serious about a guy,
Maya's eyes lit up and she asked, "So what does he look like?"

Adaunde had been afraid that this question was coming. "I do not know."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?"

"I did not actually see him."

"Okay, let me see if I understand this," a frustrated Maya got
out while twisting part of her dress in her hand. "You met met a
guy. He was wonderful. He 'understood' about the horizon, so
you obviously had a conversation with him. You are in possession of 
a name that you believe is fake...and you DON'T KNOW what he looks
like? How is that possible?!"

Adaunde blushed. "Because I never looked at him."

"You never LOOKED at him?!"

Adaunde let out the breath she had just taken. "He was out on the
balcony with me, seeking escape from the 'role' he felt trapped in.
Most likely, he was a royal guard or a palace servant. As soon as
I turned to look at him, it would have been 'my lady' this and 'my
lady' that...and I did not want that. I did not want status barriers
between us. If nothing else I would have the memory. But I hope,
I do hope that Terry is looking for me." Adaunde turned to her
friend, "Do you understand?" 

Maya nodded. She knew how her dearest friend detested being set
apart from people and how she hated the political game played to 
perfection by some in the nobility. Adaunde, for all of her faults,
and she did have them, had a big heart...one too big to pay attention
to or like status hierarchies. Her friend would willingly spend
a whole night not looking at a servant if it made him feel more
comfortable. "Yes, Dawn. I understand." After a few moments of
silence, Maya looked at her friend. "You do realize that this
Terry may never come looking for you."

Adaunde sighed. "Yes, I know." Maya reached for her friend's
hand and gave it a squeeze. "Thank you," Adaunde said softly.
Then, in a stronger voice, she said, "Now, did we not come down
here so that you could conduct some business espionage?"

"It is NOT espionage! I just need to confirm a rumor, is all."

And with that, two old friends continued walking and laughing,
putting aside the possible life-changing ball. For the moment,
anyway.

*****

He couldn't believe it had been a week. The week had flown by
and tomorrow he was presenting the fourth gift. He had put a lot
of research into it, reading books on flowers and the registries
of the noble houses. And then there was the paperwork. The young
man sighed. 

It wasn't just the work on the gift that had worn the young man 
down. His nerves had helped as well. What would she say? Would
she turn him down? Adaunde was the first person who really seemed
to understand him and understand that he was deeper than his crown.
But what if she didn't like what she saw?

The door opened and a voice said, "I take it that the fourth
gift will be ready soon?"

"Mummy," the young prince said, and was about to jump to his
feet and bow when his mother held up her hand to let him know
not to get up.

"The blue calendryias and notes went out this morning. Are you
ready for the presentation?"

"Yes," the young prince confirmed. "We shall need to call the flower
merchant again."

The queen looked puzzled. "Son, the calendryias are already out.
I am sure we could recall them, but -"

"No, I need the merchant for the fourth gift."

"Flowers? You are giving flowers as the fourth gift?" the queen asked,
surprised. "But the fourth gift is supposed to be special and to
show that you somehow understand the lady in a way she does not 
herself. How-"

"Trust me, mummy. These flowers say all of that and more." the 
young man sighed. "I just wish that I was not so nervous."

The queen gave her son a hug. "If it is in the Creator's will, you
have nothing to worry about."

At the mention of the Creator, Terrius's stepped back and stared at
his mother. "I did not know you were a Creationist!"

"I am not, I still quest after. Yet, in some things, I do believe
that the creationists are correct." The queen smiled, "My son, it
will be okay. I have a feeling that someday soon I shall be talking
to a princess to be about a wedding dress; and I am confident
that her name will mean 'challenger'."

******

It was long after sunwane, a week after the ball and Maya arrived at her
friend's house, extremely curious about the urgent summons. All 
her friend told her was "Help!" That was it. Maya was a little
worried; such a short and desperate summons was out of character
for her friend. Adaunde always seemed to live up to the meaning
of her name, "the challenger"...but with this cry for help she 
almost sounded defeated. That alone was enough for any good
friend to leave home in the middle of the night to help a friend.

Maya found her friend in the library of the Anderson home. Adaunde
sat in the floor holding a note. An ice blue calendryia sat in a
clear container in front of her. A beautiful framed picture of the
horizon at sunwane lay against the wall directly behind her. And
Maya thought she saw the twinkle of a charm or pendant that her 
friend wore around her neck. "Adaunde?" Maya asked.

Her friends head shot up, and Maya could see tears, fear, and a
touch of angry helplessness in her friend's face. Now Maya was
more worried. "What's wrong? What is it?"

"Maya, thank the creator you came. I-" Adaunde seemed to be at
a temporary loss for words. "You have to help me." She managed
to finish in a whisper.

Maya moved all the way into the library and sat on the floor across
from her friend. "Dawn, you have to tell me what's wrong. You're
scaring me!"

"I think someone is playing a mean joke, or that something has gone,
terribly wrong, or - well, I do not know what to think."

"What makes you think that something is wrong?"

"Maya," her friend sighed, "Look at the pendent I am wearing. Look
at the stuff in this room. I know you are in the know; figure it
out."

Surprised at the way her friend snapped at her, Maya decided to
follow her friend's advice and look closely at the objects in the 
room. First, Maya looked at the new jewelry her friend wore, which
she could see more clearly from her vantage point. It was a white
gold pendant of a dancing slipper. Then, Maya turned to look at
the picture of the horizon against the wall. It was a beautiful
rendition by Maquillage, a very in demand merchant of art. Finally,
Maya looked down at the rare ice blue flower in between her and her
friend. Calendryias were hideously expensive in their native 
light bronzy color; the ice blue one must have been even more
hideously expensive. The pendent, the picture, the flower...Maya
suddenly gasped as she put it all together, "You got all three of
the royal gifts!"

"And I should not have! Not unless someone is playing a cruel
joke. My family is not that powerful that I should receive
such recognition."  Tears began to well up in Adaunde's eyes.
"My parents, this has meant the world to them. But if someone
has done this to hurt me, to hurt them," Adaunde's eyes narrowed.
"They shall pay." The young lady sighed. "But that is not the
worst of it."

"There's more?" Maya asked.

Her friend nodded, "This came with the calendryia." Adaunde passed a 
piece of paper to her friend.

Maya scanned the note. She looked up at her friend after a few
seconds, "His royal highness is giving his fourth gift in the main
square tomorrow and asked that every lady recipient of the third
gift stand by a merchant's boothe?! Well, I'm definitely working
Daddy's boothe tomorrow, and you are standing by it!"

"But this cannot be meant for me, do you not see that? Why would 
I need to witness courting ritual?"

"Maybe because you are getting the fourth gift."

"No," Adaunde shook her head violently. "It has to be some
sick form of amusement for someone." The young woman sniffed
back tears, "But even if the gift was for me, I would have to
turn his highness down."

There were a few moments of shocked silence. Then Maya shouted, 
"WHAT?!"

"I would have to turn the prince down. Now Maya I know I sound
crazy," Adaunde continued on over Maya's objections, "but I -
I want to get to know my Terry, not the next king. And if,
if Terry is a guard or palace servant, even Prince Terrius's
presenting a fourth gift to me ruins my chances with Terry. If
the prince decided he wanted me for some reason, it would make
me off limits to anyone who ranked lower than his highness that 
was tied to the palace or royal family in any way. I would
rather be laughed at in the streets tomorrow than..." Adaunde
trailed off. "Maybe I should not go."

"No way. You are going. You have to; this is a royal summons,"
Maya pointed out. Then, in a gentler voice she said, "It will
be alright. I'll be there with you." Then Maya smiled, "Besides
it will be a great show." She laughed, "And whatever merchant that
the next potential queen is standing next to will make a fortune!"

That caused Adaunde to laugh, which helped Maya to smile. "Now
come on," the merchant's daughter said to the lady. "We have
to figure out what you are going to wear tomorrow. It has
to be something that sets off that calendryia that you have
to wear tomorrow. Do you still have that champange-"

And the conversation turned toward fashion, with the fears of
the challenger pushed to the side for the moment.

*****

It was three hours after sunrise, and the main market square was 
packed. Although the middle remained clear, as per orders of
the royal family, people watched from windows of buildings above,
from the sidewalks, and from the twenty-five merchants boothes that 
made the square. Beside twelve of the twenty-five boothes, stood a 
lady by instructions of the royal summons. The emotions of the ladies 
ranged from excited and curious to dreading; yet, there seemed to be a 
level of anticipation in the air, as everyone was  speculating on the identity 
of the lady who would receive the fourth gift.

Standing next to the Calinder boothe, Lady Talia al Ghoul surveyed
the crowd. She knew most of the ladies that stood by merchant 
boothes, and she was trying to guess which lady had finally caught
Terrius's attention. She sighed and she brushed some of her long
dark hair behind her shoulder. Usually her hair did hang in her
face, over half of it in general; she normally didn't mind, but she
wanted to see everything. That meant pushing her hair back.

An arm snaked around her waist and a strong male voice said, "This
is an interesting scene. One wonders what his highness is planning."

Talia turned and looked at the source of the voice. "Good sunrise,
beloved," she said as she kissed her fiancé. "And do not be so
hard on our dear Terrius. He has his reasons."

His Grace, Lord Anthony Waynemeyer lifted an eyebrow at that statement.
"Whatever his reasoning is, this seems more like a coronation than
a request. I wonder who the lucky lady is."

"We all do, beloved."

"Hopefully, he does remember that you are now affianced."

Talia laughed, "Oh beloved! Do not worry so. I am sure I am not
the one upon whom Terrius is going to bestow the gift. I am only
here because I was born into a powerful family, no matter how much
my father frightens people, and I am about to marry into another."

Anthony's eyes narrowed. "I would rather not talk about your 
father; we do not agree on that topic. I will say again, however,
that the man is dangerous."

Talia sighed, "He is my father, beloved. And I shall always love him.
I cannot agree with shutting him away because you think he is 
dangerous-"

Anthony nodded, "I know, Talia. I know." The young duke scanned
the crowd. "So who do you think Terrius will choose? Most people
are betting on Bella."

Talia shook her head. "I do not think so. Bella and Terrius are
friends, but nothing more than that. I suspect that Bella 
probably knows who the lady will be, but I am sure it is not Bella,
herself."

Anthony chuckled, "Which is probably a good thing as Morte-Vida is in 
the crowd opposite the booth where she is standing. He has been staring
at her since he arrived."

Talia quickly turned her head and began scanning the crowds. "Where
is he?"

"He is well hidden, Talia. I do not think you will see him."

Talia pouted slightly. "That is a shame. It would have given me 
something to do while I was waiting for Terrius to present his gift."

Across the square, another lady stood by the boothe, also very
curious about what was going to happen. Lady Bella, who 
always seemed to wear a happy smile unless faced with a serious
situation, stood musing to herself. 'I wonder who the lady is.
Terrius has actually told me nothing of his thoughts, for once.'
She snorted, 'Like I have not noticed how distracted, happy,
confused, and nervous he has been lately. And I know it was
someone at the ball. I just do not know who! Please get here
soon, Terrius.'

Lady Bella sighed as the clothier merchant at the boothe where
she stood came out again to mention their "wonderful wedding
selection". Bella knew she was the favorite in the eyes of
many; she knew about the numerous large bets on her to receive
the fourth gift. It did not help that the ice blue calendryia
matched almost perfectly her light blue hair. She hoped that
this didn't deter Morte-Vida. She was really hung up on that man.
And hey, if Talia with her creepy father could land Anthony, Bella
was sure that she could get an offer out of Morte-Vida...she hoped.

Under her breath, Bella began to eliminate the ladies standing
around the square. "It is not I. Lady Talia is newly engaged,
so it is not she. Lady Ashante is the new Countess of Afrique,
so it is not she. He cannot abide Lady Ashley. Oh Terrius,
I really wish that you would have told me. The suspense is 
driving me crazy!"

Finally, another interesting conversation what happening three
boothes over. "Adaunde, will you at least turn around and 
look at the show?"

"No."

Maya sighed. "Look. No one is going to laugh at you. Just turn
around and face the music. It will be a great story to tell your
kids someday."

The lady shook her head. "You tell me what you see."

Maya sighed. "Okay. Well, His Grace Lord Waynemeyer is staking
a visible claim on his fiancée, which I think is funny. The
Laurens are bugging Lady Bella again. I think they really think
that they will be getting a royal wedding out of this. Think about
what that would do for business. Lady Ashley is primping next
to her boothe. She seems to be working on some kind of acceptance
speech. I guess she is really sure of her chances."

"Creator help us all if she is the choice of Prince Terrius for the next
queen," Adaunde laughed.

Maya turned away from her friend as she saw the commotion at the end
of the square. "It looks like the prince has arrived. But-" Maya
broke off as she stared at the heir apparent. He was not in his 
traditional uniform and he wore no crown. Instead he wore a deceptively
casual outfit. Any merchant or worker would know immediately that
he was nobility or royalty...but someone born into the military or
noble strata would assume that he was a merchant or a well paid servant.
'Why is he trying to hide who he is? Is it important for some 
reason that these women not see him in his full royal regalia?' "Bless
my heart, oh Creator." Maya breathed out.

"What? What is it?" her friend, who was still not looking at the 
center of the quad, asked.

"He's coming this way."

"Are you sure?"

Maya nodded. "Yep, he is coming this way, with Sergeant Bryer right
behind him."

Adaunde's eyes narrowed, "That opportunistic, silver-haired, backstabbing
menace! To this day I wonder how his disloyal actions landed him
a place in the royal guard."

Maya eyes kept getting bigger and bigger as the prince got closer. Suddenly
he stopped and spoke. And what he spoke surprised these two women, but
for different reasons.

"Adaunde," the young man said.

Maya's mouth dropped open. The prince had called her friend by name.
Maya was even more shocked as she looked at her friend's face and 
saw the light dancing in her eyes. "Terry," Maya heard her friend
say quietly. "You found me."

The prince replied, "Of course I found you. Will you look at me this
time?"

Adaunde laughed, "Only if you are comfortable with it."

Terrius handed the box and scroll he was holding to the 
military man with him and said, "Yes, I am comfortable with it."

With that, Adaunde turned around and Terrius took her hands in 
his. The two of them just stood there for awhile, staring at
each other, until Maya's shocked outbursts processed in Adaunde's
head.

"Maya, what is it?" Adaunde asked as she turned to face her friend.

"This is your Terry?!" Maya asked in a squeak.

"Yes. I would never forget his voice, but why are you so-"

Maya groaned. "You mean you still don't know who he is?! Dawn,
take a look, take a good look at your Terry and think for a moment."

Adaunde did as her friend bid. Her Terry had beautiful blue eyes.
His dark hair tended to fall in his face, but that just added to
his charm. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and seemed a little nervous.
His slightly off center smile was charming...and causing her to 
smile herself. He could give the prince a run for his money-

Adaunde gasped and her eyes widened as she finally made the connection
that everyone else around her had made. "Your high-" she started to
say as she began to curtsey.

But Terrius stopped her, pulling her into his arms so she could not
show the deference that she was about to. "Please, just call me Terry,
Adaunde."

"But, your hi-

"Terry, Adaunde."

"Terry," Adaunde repeated softly, still looking shell-shocked.

"I have a gift for you."

"For me?"

At her question, Terry opened the white box that Bryer had and pulled
out a wreath of white calla lilies, which he placed on Adaunde's head.

"It is beautiful," Adaunde said, "but the house that is represented by
these flowers, will they not be upset that I am wearing them?"

"No, they will not." Terrius took the scroll from Bryer and 
handed it to Adaunde. "Read this."

Adaunde broke the seal and read the formal document...and then read it
again. When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes. "A flower? 
You gave my house a flower? But - but why?"

Terrius smiled, "Because, as far as I am concerned, you are a real
lady. Real royalty and nobility is not about birth, it is about
character. And if the nearsighted people we call 'my lord' and 'my
lady' need to see a flower to understand who you really are, so
be it."

By this point, Adaunde was crying in earnest, a little too moved to 
speak.

But Maya wasn't. "Say something, Adaunde! Put the boy out of his 
misery." She looked at her friend who still stood there in shocked.
"Oh forget it, I'll say something. Yes, your highness, she accepts
your request for courtship. You are 'her Terry' as far as she is
concerned." Maya leveled a look at the prince, "Take good care of 
her."

Terrius smiled at the true friend in the merchant. "I shall try to
take as good of care of Lady Adaunde as a courter as you have as
her friend."

Maya smiled and nodded. She always knew that her friend was meant
for greatness by her huge heart alone. But she had never thought
in all of her wildest dreams that her best friend may one day be 
queen. 'The peace of the Creator and the luck of these lands be
with you, my friend and my prince.'

- to be continued -