As the song ended, I started moving towards the stage, but they immediately launched into another piece, this one was a little faster, but still for couples.
‘Will you dance with me, Falcio of the Greatcloaks?’ a voice came from behind me. I looked over at Bal, wanting to signal him somehow, but his head made the slightest movement left and right. Not now, he seemed to say.
I turned back to see who had spoken to me. Valiana was resplendent in her lovely gown, her hair straying a little from the perfection of earlier after much dancing, but still bedecked with gems and gleaming. Trin was a few yards away, dressed in a simple purple gown no doubt designed to complement Valiana’s own. She was in her own way as beautiful as any Princess, and yet there she stood, for ever in the background – alone. She caught me looking at her and dropped her eyes.
‘Greatcoats,’ I said absently, my eyes refocusing on Valiana.
‘What?’
‘Greatcoats. Not “Greatcloaks”. Greatcoats.’
‘Ah, well of course, that makes sense, doesn’t it?’ She laughed lightly. ‘Shall we dance then, Falcio of the Greatcoats?’
I looked around and saw several nobles trying very hard to light me on fire with their cold stares. I saw the Duke, smiling.
I shook my head. ‘No, my Lady, I—’
‘Your Highness,’ she corrected.
‘What?’
‘I’m a Princess now, Falcio, so as long as we’re being formal, I should prefer “your Highness”.’
I bowed. ‘Your Highness, I thank you for the honour, but I’m afraid I’m ill-suited to dancing.’
Her smile faded. ‘Ill-suited to dancing, or just ill-suited to dancing with me?’
‘I simply fear that I might tread on your royal toes while my mind struggles to keep track of my own feet and I try to understand what game you’re playing just now.’
She glanced briefly back at the Duke, then at me.
‘Then I will make it equally simple: my father feels it would be a show of great humility and unity for me to dance with a Greatcoat. If it makes it easier for you, then consider it an order from your employer.’
I shrugged casually but spoke loudly. ‘As your employee, Highness, of course I accept,’ and I took a deep bow, my right hand extended behind me while my left reached towards her, palm up. It was the customary invitation from a romantic suitor, and entirely inappropriate for this situation.
I was surprised when she accepted my hand and stepped lightly into my embrace for the opening of the dance.
‘How clever you are, Falcio of the Greatcoats,’ she whispered to me as we turned. ‘How much more wise and canny you are than the foolish girl before you. I asked for something that would cost you nothing, but you didn’t like my phrasing and so now you have humiliated me.’
‘Perhaps you should have asked one of the others,’ I replied.
She laughed. ‘Which one? The one who wants to murder me or the one who wants to murder my father?’
Feltock must have told her what happened.
‘I am curious about one thing, my Lady. How did—?’
‘Your Highness, you mean,’ Valiana said.
‘Yes, well, about that: how exactly did you manage to pass the Heart’s Trial? I’m told the spell is very difficult to fool.’
‘And you think that I must have cheated somehow? That I lied about who I am or what I intend? You do realise that in the days before King Paelis, it was considered treason to question the honour of the throne?’
‘I’m surprised, your Highness, that I am not therefore in irons.’
She ignored the question. ‘Why do you despise me so, First Cantor of the Greatcoats?’
‘I do not despise you, your Highness. I am afraid of you.’
‘What cause have I given you to fear me so?’
I looked in her eyes, searching for mockery but finding only an honest question. ‘Little to none, your Highness,’ I sighed, ‘but you have shown no wisdom either, and I believe you are being elevated as part of a conspiracy to bring false credibility to a new line of Kings and Queens, once again ruled wholly by the Dukes. I doubt you are evil – you might even be a nice person. But the Dukes will use you like a well-schooled animal and you will be like unto a monster for this world. And I am in the business of stopping monsters, your Highness.’
She stopped and I almost tripped over her, but she held me tight. ‘Why not kill me, then? Or at the very least, let your man, who is so eager to do so, do it for you?’
I held her eyes in mine. ‘Because my King would disapprove.’
For a moment she didn’t move at all, then she gave a very slight nod and we stepped back into the rhythm of the dance.
‘Then why treat me so foully? If I am such a fool and you so clever, why not ingratiate yourself with me, manipulate me for the benefit of your Greatcoats, just as you claim my father and the others will do?’
‘Because, your Highness, I am not like them, and my King would not approve of that either.’
‘Then why—?’
‘Highness,’ I asked softly, ‘what is it that you want?’
‘I—’ She leaned in closely and whispered in my ear, so quietly that I almost missed it when she said, ‘I am afraid.’
I leaned back from her. ‘Has someone threatened you?’
‘It’s not like that, nothing so overt – it’s just, when I’m with them, I sense what you say, that they do not listen to me; rather, they listen only to ensure I say what they have told me to say. My mother—’
‘Your Highness, forgive me, but your mother is the Duchess Patriana. If we speak of her, I cannot guarantee your safety.’
Valiana looked around. ‘From whom? I do not see Kest or Brasti.’
‘From me, your Highness. From me.’
‘Ah. You blame her for the death of the King.’
‘I do.’
‘Do you take no responsibility at all? Does it not matter to you that the King broke ancient laws, dismissed pacts and agreements of long standing held by his ancestors and the Dukes?’
‘I know little of that, your Highness. I know only that this country is weak and decaying, and it is breaking apart, thanks to the injustice heaped on it by the nobility. I know only that my King tried to bring a measure of fairness and mercy to the people of this land. I know only that your mother and the other Dukes had him killed for it.’
‘If you truly want a more just rule, Falcio, a more compassionate rule, then help me. Be one of my advisors. I would – I would even consider reuniting the Greatcoats, with some compromises. I need someone I can trust, someone who isn’t simply seeking more power for their family or house. Feltock says he believes in you, despite what conventional wisdom tells him. Be loyal to me, and I swear to you we can help the very same people you claim to want to save.’
The dance was coming to a close. ‘My Lady – your Highness, this afternoon you said you would intervene for the family whose home is under siege as the Blood Week begins.’
‘I have not forgotten.’
‘Save them,’ I said in her ear. ‘Save one family.’
The last note hung in the air for a moment as we separated and she looked at me. I bowed, properly this time, not as a suitor, and waited for her sign that I should leave.
She curtsied back. Before the musicians could start again, she raised a hand in the air, and everything stopped.