Heir, page 4
part #5 of Ressaline Series
“And what would your opinion be?”
“I would point out it’s your life, your First, and unless she had very, very good reasons to deny you, she shouldn’t make it any more complicated than it needs to be.”
I shifted my gaze back to Olivia. “Do you have a list?”
“Not written down.”
“Is your name on that list?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone else in Charth with remotely as lofty a social standing as the four people in this carriage?”
“That isn’t how you should decide,” Gionna said. “We don’t even see things that way. It’s not about social standing.”
“There are at least three people I’d prefer you got to know before coming to a final decision,” Olivia said.
“There’s one name I bet you haven’t considered,” Allium said. “Do I mention it in front of her, Olivia?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Holliahta.”
“Oh, interesting,” Olivia said. She shifted her gaze back to me. “The mother of a friend of your sister’s.”
“Would this friend’s name be Gretchena?”
The three of them began smiling. “Yes, as a matter of fact,” Allium said. “Darfelsa mentioned her?”
“Something about a few kisses being exchanged,” I said. I paused. “I think that’s a bad idea.”
“Why is that?”
“Because my sister is fond of this girl, and I don’t think I want to get in the middle of that.”
“You wouldn’t be,” Gionna said. “Unless she’s actually fond of the mother.”
“She likes the mother, but… I’d be some sort of sex slave in the same house as my sister’s friend. I’m not comfortable with that.”
“What if Gretchena wasn’t there?” Allium asked. “Do you still feel the same way?”
“I don’t know.”
“So I’d like her name to stay on the list. If you decide you like her the most, then we can stash Gretchena somewhere else for a month.”
“Do you think we should ask her that?”
“You let me worry about that,” Olivia said. Then she paused. “Well, assuming you’re inviting me to help guide you. I guess I was assuming. I shouldn’t do that.”
“Ambassador, I would like your guidance on this.”
She smiled. “My guidance is that Olivia is a perfect guide.”
“Thank you, Olivia,” I said. “You were explaining your plan?”
“A quiet dinner at the embassy after we arrive,” Allium said.
“A formal event in my home the next night,” Olivia said.
“And a far more intimate event at Olivia’s the next night or possibly the night after, depending upon whether we feel you need more opportunity to get to know people.”
“I’m actually not happy about having to rush this,” Olivia said. “Ressaline women have years to think about who they want to ask. Some end up with a stranger, but most women know the person they invite to host her First. I’ve been using the same few women who I know well, but that means you have to trust me, and some of you I don’t know remotely well enough to make optimal choices.”
“You’ve done well so far,” Allium pointed out.
“Unfortunately, there really isn’t a better way,” Olivia continued. “Unless they come before they are sixteen and have time.”
“I wonder if I could convince you to alter your plans,” I said, speaking slowly.
“Alter, how?”
“Well, as you just said, you’d prefer I knew the woman better. Do we have to rush?”
Olivia didn’t answer that. Instead, she asked, “What did you have in mind?”
“Is there any reason to expect I’d be anything other than a pleasure slave?”
“Are you about to make a different request?”
“Not at all. I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t making a bad assumption.”
“It’s a safe assumption,” Gionna said. “Unless you make a different request.”
“So,” I said. “Could I have a date with each of the most likely suggestions?”
“Interesting,” Olivia said. “I’d probably want to narrow the list a little.”
I turned to Gionna. “I want to ask you something.”
“All right.”
“If it were legal, and if it were a good idea, would your name be on the list?”
She grinned rather widely. “I’m not the keeper of the list.”
“Fine. Would you want your name to be on the list?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said.
“Then ask me on a date.”
“I can’t be your First, Ahlianna.”
“You can’t be my first owner,” I said. “But do you want my first kiss of a woman?”
She stared into my eyes and then whispered, “Yes.”
“Allium,” I said. “Please switch with me.”
“What?” Gionna protested. But Allium and I awkwardly switched places. “Was that just a tease?” Gionna asked.
“No,” Allium said. “Olivia and I are now your chaperones until your first date.”
“Oh. We don’t need chaperones.”
“I don’t want a hurried first kiss in this coach,” I said. “I want a long, lovely, delicious first kiss in a much better setting.”
“Oh.” Gionna smiled. “Olivia, can we make this work?”
“Yes,” Olivia said. “I think I’d like to hear the rest of Ahlianna’s plan.”
“Ambassador, who is invited for the intimate dinner our first night back?”
“Olivia, is your list you and four others?” Allium asked. Olivia nodded. “We can make that work.”
“And Gretchena, too?” I asked.
“And Gretchena, too,” Allium confirmed.
“Then,” I said. “My suggestion is this. Dinner at the embassy. Your formal event the next night. Then I have my first date with Gionna the next evening. After that, I place myself in your hands, Olivia.”
She nodded. “But you’d like a date with each of them.”
“Any who remain on the list after meeting me,” I said.
“There’s one problem with that plan,” Allium said. “Hunters and prey.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I didn’t plan musicians at the embassy, but yours is a ball, Olivia. And she said she wants her first proper kiss with Gionna, and I don’t think she means as part of that particular game.”
“I’m not trying to complicate this,” I said.
“You’re not,” Olivia said. “You’re being quite reasonable.”
“Then I guess our first date begins at the embassy,” Gionna said. She turned to me. “Invite me.”
I laughed. “Would you accompany me to an event at the embassy?”
“I’d love to,” she said.
“That still doesn’t work,” Allium said. “She wants to meet the other possible choices.”
“We’ll make it a second night,” Olivia said. “Embassy and date, intimate. Ball. Meet everyone. Remaining dates in the nights after that.”
“That works,” Allium said. Everyone turned to look at me.
“I didn’t realize it would take this coordination.”
“Oh please,” Gionna said. “I imagine your mother would be appalled to realize we just planned a week of social engagements over ten minutes while jostling around in this drafty old coach.”
“True,” I agreed with a laugh. “Allium, is there anything in your dispatch to Father I should know?”
“I have copies for you,” she said. “I’ll give them to you if we end up talked out. There’s nothing critical.”
That looked like it was going to happen immediately, as we all stared at each other for a minute, several of us grinning, before Olivia said, “I think some of us are shocked you’re really here.”
“I think I know what you mean. Darfelsa was quite displeased she couldn’t come with me.”
“She wants to see you in red,” Gionna said.
“I think she wouldn’t mind seeing you in red,” I countered. “But you’re right. So. Who is going to tell me about this girl? I had a hard time getting anything out of my sister.”
They looked at me, none of them saying a word. I was directly across from Gionna, so I set my gaze on her, but she held her hands up. “Don’t ask me. I barely met the girl. She seems pretty enough.”
I shifted my gaze one person to the right. Allium folded her arms. “I’m no gossip.”
“I’m not asking for gossip,” I said. “Does she have any brothers and sisters?” Allium snorted. “What was that noise?”
“There are no brothers north of the river, Ahlianna.”
“Oh. Okay, well, that part was stupid.”
“Gretchena lives in Charth with her mother and younger sister,” Allium said.
“How old is the sister?”
She turned to Olivia. “Ah, fourteen, I believe.”
“So Darfelsa is in between them,” Allium said. “They’re originally from Ressaline City. I’m not sure what Holliahta does.”
“She’s a tradeswoman,” Olivia said. “I’m surprised you haven’t exchanged notes.”
“What sort of trade?”
“She’s a gifted glassmaker. Quite respected for her age, but that comes from learning from her brilliant mother from the womb.” Olivia smiled. “She’s a little like you, Allium.”
“I knew I liked her,” Allium said with a smile. She turned to me. “Are you appalled?”
“Why would I be appalled?”
“Your sister’s first romantic kiss was with the daughter of a glassmaker.”
“Well, as I understand it, we’re not long on nobility up here. A half hour ago, I was begging a builder of roads to be one of my most trusted, senior advisors.”
“So that’s what was so intense,” Olivia said. “Princess Ahlianna, I have an agreement with your father.”
“Oh?”
“The embassy remains open, and the ambassador is someone of whom I personally approve. If you intend to take Allium from us, I do hope you’ll remember our agreements.”
I looked her in the eye. “And are you going to be difficult in approving someone?”
“Yes.”
“Olivia,” Allium said.
“Well, I am,” Olivia said. “If you intend to take Allium from us, you better plan ahead, because you’re going to have to find someone to replace her. Don’t even consider any of the children currently working for her for at least ten years, and you don’t have anyone else.”
We met each other’s gaze until finally, I nodded. “Flarvor expects a continued friendship with Ressaline, Duchess.”
“I’m not trying to be difficult,” Olivia said. “But this is very important to us.”
“I understand, Duchess. Allium, have you given thought to these concerns?”
“My current staff is young, and I’m still learning my job,” she said. “I’ve been in my current duties for not even a year. I have my current staff, and some of them may be ready, eventually. All of them show more than average initiative just to come here.” Olivia frowned, but Allium added, “Frankly, Ahlianna, once I get the embassy running, it’s not a terribly difficult posting.”
“That is not the position of the Ressaline government,” Olivia replied. And then she shifted in her seat, staring out the window, as both Allium and I stared at her. “Please don’t take her from us, Ahlianna.”
I barely heard the words.
“You don’t just mean the ambassador. You mean Allium.”
“The ambassador should be someone both sides can trust,” she said, still looking out the windows. “And we’re not going to trust a career diplomat. We trust people who have proven themselves solving complex problems.”
“I’m just-”
Olivia, Gionna, and I all spun to Allium. Gionna and Olivia both pointed a finger. “Don’t say it!”
“You’re not just someone who builds roads,” Olivia continued. “You’re someone I trust, someone I know will keep her word, and someone who doesn’t think like a diplomat. We don’t need pretty words. We need honesty. Furthermore, I am personally convinced we would still be trying to work out the farming leases, a problem you solved in one meeting.”
“Oh, please,” Allium said.
“No!” Olivia said. “No one north of the border thought of that, Allium. And some career diplomat wasn’t going to think of it, either.”
“It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“No, it wasn’t a difficult solution once you pointed out the obvious, but if it was so obvious, why didn’t either Queen Lisdee, me, or any of our advisors think of it?” Olivia waved a finger. “You’ve spent your entire life making up for what the rest of your society thinks is a shortcoming. You don’t even realize how differently you think, but you do realize how deeply unappreciated you are. Well, you’re appreciated on this side of the border.”
“Let’s say you’re right,” Allium said. “Let’s say somehow I’m currently the only person right now. You and I have solved the hard problems. No, scratch that. You created problems so I could come up here and solve them. Well, they’re solved. Five years from now, ten years from now, my duties could be summed up as ‘have an active social life’. And we both know it.”
“So, you’re going to leave?”
“I begged her,” I said. “She begged to stay.”
Olivia turned her gaze to me. “You know how she’s treated, and you’re going to drag her back anyway? I thought you were her friend.”
“You’re right,” I said. “She’s everything you’re making her out to be. But here’s the thing. I can’t do it alone, Olivia. I can’t. Without Allium and a few more women like her, I may as well find some pretty boy and let him be king.” She stared into my eyes as I let that settle. Finally, I asked, “Is that what you would prefer? Perhaps a weak southern border fits your plans.”
“No,” she said. “It does not.” She sighed. “We’d rather have a strong, friendly queen. We might be able to manipulate other situations, but you, as our friend and securely on the throne, is our preferred choice.”
“Then help me, Lady Olivia,” I said. “I’m here, with everything that implies. But help me.”
At that, she nodded.
“This is decades away,” Allium said. “Even five years is enough. The king is hale, and there is no reason to expect that to change.”
“I love my father,” I said. “And I hope this never happens.” Everyone nodded her understanding at that. “But we have to plan, and we have to assume.”
“Yes,” Olivia said. “Agreed.” She turned to Allium. “If you were drawn away tomorrow, who would you recommend?”
“There are few choices,” she said. “Wesla Kunzite.”
“Ms. Kunzite has not risen to the same prominence you had before you came here,” Olivia replied. “And I am not convinced she is going to.”
“My available choices are limited,” Allium replied. “You asked about tomorrow.”
“All right. Five years from now.”
“Darfelsa.”
“We would happily accept the princess,” Olivia replied.
“I’m going to need her, too,” I said gently. “She’s here for experience she can’t get anywhere else.”
“If it’s five years from now, she’ll still need more experience,” Allium replied. “She’ll only be twenty. This would be a perfect post for her, if she can retain the staff I’m building. However, I suspect some of them will prefer to follow me. I can’t predict whom.”
“Keep training her,” I said, “But I’m not sure, Allium.”
“I believe,” Olivia said carefully, “that her posting here represents her best possible education, especially if she also spends more time with me and perhaps a few other key people in the Charth government.”
“I agree. So do Father and Mother, as much as Mother hates letting her leave.”
“It takes effort for me to be involved in training a foreign princess,” Olivia said. Yes, I recognized negotiation when I heard it.
“Which you’re happy to do because it enhances friendship with my Father’s second daughter and Flarvor’s future queen’s beloved sister.” I sighed. “What do you want?”
“No one in this coach believes Darfelsa’s position here is permanent,” Olivia said. “Which means this conversation continues.”
I nodded. “That’s it?”
“That’s all. Ten years from now?”
“All right, Allium. Ten years.”
“That’s too far,” she replied. “I don’t know who from my current staff will grow into being my possible replacement by then. Any of them could outshine Darfelsa even in five years.”
“That may be true,” Olivia said. “But then we need to find a means of giving them opportunities to truly shine, and I don’t know how to do that. If I make opportunities for anyone to shine, it will be you doing the shining, Allium.”
Allium snorted. “I’d rather you not do that again.”
“It is not my intention, but do you see my point? Your current staff could continue as your current staff, but you’re right. This isn’t a difficult posting for them. This is a stepping stone to something more, but not to Ambassador.”
“Do you have something or someone in mind, Olivia?”
“No.”
Allium looked frustrated. “For what we’re doing here, I don’t really need more staff.”
“Why do you mention that?” I asked.
“Because if I needed more staff, I could ask Leander to send more, and I have a few people in mind I could try out.”
“Oh?”
“Your cousin, for beginners. And the young Ms. Gyrolite is another.”
“Refresh my memory.”
“The youngest of the women we returned to you,” Olivia supplied. “Allium, she’s barely older than the princess.”
“She’s a mayor’s daughter,” Allium said. “Maybe, like we expect of Darfelsa, she would grow into a position of authority. Maybe she wouldn’t.”
“But if there’s anyone to help her do so, it’s you.”
“Perhaps,” Allium said. “And coming from a small village, she has an entirely different perspective than someone from Barrish. Furthermore, she didn’t care to return to Bilarkeet. Maybe she’s worthless. Maybe fitting in at the embassy is ‘beneath her station’. If so, I can send her home.”
