Once Lisbeth had finished with her hair, Bryn let the two girls tie her up in her mother’s golden gown. The stiff bodice squeezed her waist uncomfortably, leaving her only able to take shallow breaths. As the girls tugged harder at the stays, Bryn glimpsed a future she dreaded: being caged in uncomfortable clothes, hardly able to sit down or even breathe. How had her mother endured this?
By the time they’d finished, the morning was gone, and Bryn’s stomach growled. Yet the idea of doughy balls was far less appealing now.
She made her way down the stairs with dread pooling in her stomach. Chatter came from the direction of the great hall, but it didn’t carry the joviality of Saint Amice’s Days of the past with servants mixing with nobility and children chasing each other with their roasting sticks. Today, there was a heavy seriousness to the chatter.
As soon as she entered the great hall, she realized why.
The hall was decorated as though for a formal banquet. Holly garlands spanned the walls. Bouquets of white roses graced the table along with opulent dishes of roast pig, pheasant, and figs drizzled with Mir honey. Instead of the simple dough balls, enormous spiced cakes sat at either end.
Every Mir noble, along with the remaining servants who hadn’t been dismissed, was gathered and dressed in clothes far too formal for the occasion. Lord Tarry and Lord Gerbert smiled sharply at her.
Bryn’s face burned.
Was this an ambush?If it is, I think I’d rather be ambushed by bandits than nobles.
Captain Carr stepped out from the crowd. He wore his usual military uniform, though it had been freshly pressed, and a formal silk mantel draped over his shoulders.
“Lady Bryn. We’ve been awaiting your appearance. You look even more radiant than your beautiful mother, may the Saints keep her soul.”
He took his time painting his gaze down her body. Her stomach lurched as he extended his hand to her. As much as she didn’t want to take it, she knew what she had to do.
She forced an innocent smile. “What is this extravagance, Captain? Surely tradition has not changed this much in the time I was away.”
He gave a thin chuckle. “New traditions for a new Mirien.”
Her stomach tightened more. She pressed a hand to the stiff bodice. It was getting harder to breathe with all the eyes on her.
He led her toward the banquet table, where two places had been decorated at the table’s head with holly garlands. A tray overflowing with orange biscuits rested at her place.
“We have much to celebrate this Saint Amice’s Day,” he said in his rasp.
Bryn’s face burned. She felt everyone’s eyes on her. Did they all know that this was Captain Carr’s plan? Were they in on this ridiculously opulent charade?
She couldn’t look up to meet their eyes. These nobles and advisors who’d only kept their heads by betraying her family. And the servants who probably hated her for the sins of her parents, thinking her no better.
I can’t breathe.
She was starting to feel dizzy. The dress was too tight. The fires in the great hall were too strong, too warm . . .
Captain Carr raised her hand to his lips, echoing the knightly pose that graced the wall tapestries, though there was nothing noble about him in the least.
A hush fell over the room.
All eyes were on her. Waiting excitedly for the next words as much as she dreaded them.
“Lady Bryn Lindane,” Captain Carr pronounced. “On this auspicious occasion of Saint Amice’s Day, I do indeed wish to start a new tradition for a new Mirien. This shall be a kingdom governed by rulers who exhibit strength and charity toward their people. I wish to banish the old ways, usher in an era of even greater prosperity. As you are crown heir, the Mirien goes to theman you take as husband, so long as he has royal blood. I would humbly request that you consider me as that man. Though I am a mere servant of the people, I do have royal blood through a distant relation to your father.”
He produced a gold ring from his pocket. It was ornate. Dotted with diamonds.
It was herdead mother’sring.
Bryn went numb. As far as proposals, this one couldn’t be more stiff, even macabre.So much for a new Mirien. Captain Carr was demonstrating that he was exactly the same as her parents. He didn’t care for the betterment of the common folk—only for a crown atop his own head.
A few excited gasps came from the audience. They irritated Bryn like buzzing flies.
“Though your parents were disgraced,” Captain Carr continued, his speech clearly intended for the audience, not her, “I have nothing but compassion for you. You were too young at the time to be party to their tyranny, and I would humbly request that the kingdom spare you from its judgment and trust that under my guidance, you will grow to be the merciful queen that your mother never was.”
It might be true that Bryn had little compassion for her deceased mother, but it infuriated her to hear Captain Carr suggest thathehad the power to shape Bryn into a suitable ruler. The threat was clear—if she didn’t marry him, he would turn her over to the fury of the common folk, who would string her up on the galleys.
