Earning the Love of a Princess-Chapter 254: Violet: Right or Happy?

"You shouldn’t have done that, Vy." Ilse’s voice was tight as the two girls walked back to their bedchamber, tired and footsore.

"Done what?"

"Provoked Lady Maisie like you did."

"I did nothing of the sort. I simply let her know I won’t tolerate her insulting me or my kin."

Ilse rolled her eyes as they stepped into the darkened bedchamber, then hurried forward to grab the candleholder on the small bedside table. She passed it to Violet, who then used a wall sconce in the corridor to light the candles.

Once the door was locked behind them, Ilse turned to her sister again with a long suffering look. "You upset her first, by suggesting her admiring Prince Johan was disgusting."

"It was disgusting! The prince would be over twice her age! Are you saying you don’t see anything wrong with her practically panting over the man?"

"Yes, I think it’s a bit sickening. But that’s the difference between the two of us. I’d never feel the need to tell her that her line of thought is disgusting." Ilse pulled off her circlet and veil, and began unbraiding her hair. "Whether what she thinks is right or wrong, it has no bearing on how I live my life. So why would I say anything about it?"

Violet removed her veil, her head aching from the tight braids. She didn’t understand why Ilse was so focused on what one snobby lady thought.

"You’re entitled to have your opinion, Vy. But just remember that not everyone’s entitled to hear your opinion." Ilse stepped out of her gown and draped it carefully over her clothes trunk. "Now you’ve made an enemy for us out of Maisie and I really wish you hadn’t."

"If she refrains from insulting us and we all stay out of each other’s way, there shouldn’t be any problems."

Ilse gave Violet a flat look. "Staying out of each other’s way will prove hard, given we’re all stuck waiting upon the same queen. Seriously, why did you have to then go and make it worse by answering back to her?"

"Sweet lord, sister. What was I supposed to do? Keep my mouth shut and just let her insult our house?" Violet asked irritably.

"Yes! Because again, how does that woman’s opinion affect how you live your life? It doesn’t!"

Violet twisted her arm awkwardly behind her back as she untied and loosened the lacings. "We’re not here to be insulted and endure slights, Ilse. We deserve respect."

"We need to earn that respect. No one here at court is overly impressed with our titles or breeding. We’re simply one noble family of many." Clad in only her chemise, Ilse climbed into the bed. "The way to earn respect is to treat everyone with kindness and slowly start to make alliances. We’re not going to get very far by making enemies everywhere we go."

Violet sighed slowly. "I’m not trying to make enemies. I just know in this case, I was right to stand up to that woman."

"Answer me this. Would you rather be right?" Ilse asked quietly. "Or would you rather be happy?"

Violet opened her mouth to reply, then stopped to dwell on the question. She hadn’t come up with a satisfactory reply by the time she drifted off to sleep.

- - -

The next morning, the sisters woke at dawn to wash and dress themselves. Violet’s feet were still sore from the night before, when a courtier whose name she missed, had asked her to dance. The clumsy man had stood on her toes several times but she’d managed to only react by clenching her jaw.

How dare Ilse accuse me of not being able to keep my thoughts to herself, she thought? I was a model of polite silence last night when that oaf bruised all my toes.

After breaking their fast, the twins headed to Queen Celia’s apartments. When they arrived, they saw all the ladies busily sorting and arranging embroidery silks in a rainbow of colours. On the floor lay an enormous length of tapestry with an intricate design sketched on it. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The queen greeted the twins pleasantly. "Good morning, ladies. I hope you had a nice evening, dining with the court for the first time."

Both sisters bowed and nodded, keen to put the clash of words with Maisie behind them. And when Maisie handed Violet a hopelessly tangled pile of embroidery silks to sort, Violet smiled back sweetly as if she’d be delighted to help with such a thankless task.

- - -

As the days slipped by and eventually became weeks, the sisters slowly grew more familiar with their surroundings. They could soon manage the route from their bedchamber to the banquet hall and to Queen Celia’s apartments without a second thought. They knew where to source water for bathing and washing clothes, as well as the quickests route to the kitchens and the queen’s private gardens.

Of course, they both knew they hadn’t even scratched the surface yet of Magdaline Castle. Behind the veneer of elegant halls and manicured gardens existed a seperate, secret castle. One of dark, hidden rooms and back corridors, where the worst of the court’s debauchery took place.

Ilse was determined to avoid any knowledge of such scandal but Violet found the thought both frightening and fascinating. She behaved without reproach though, determined to keep her word to Ilse and avoid risk as much as possible.

The sisters also began making tentative friendships with some of the other ladies-in-waiting. Lady Maisie and her most devoted followers were still hostile, particularly to Violet. But she found several other ladies were tolerable enough to spend time with, if rather dull. Through their conversations, Violet learned much about the court’s inner workings.

The favourite topic of discussion was of course, who would be chosen as a bride for Prince Leo. It was rare for an heir to the throne to marry into his own kingdom’s nobility instead of to a foreign princess. The queen’s ladies explained there was a complete lack of suitable candidates in neighbouring kingdoms. Havietten and Moraigth’s princesses were still in their nurseries, meaning they wouldn’t be ready to produce heirs for at least five years. Al Biscay’s king had nothing but illegitimate daughters and the other surrounding kingdoms only had available sons.

Everywhere Prince Leo went, the ladies would watch him in a flurry of whispers and blushes. Whenever he was sparring at the training grounds, a small crowd would always gather. The prince seemed glad enough with the attention, though his gaze never stayed long on any one lady. He also didn’t seem terribly distressed by the recent death of his betrothed.

"Apparently the poor Princess of Tyre had a face like a horse, with large teeth to match." one of the ladies had murmured to Violet and Ilse. Violet had been amazed that such rumours had spread about the unfortunate looks of a lady no one in Islia had ever met.

"Her teeth really must’ve been enormous." Violet mused as she walked along one of the first floor galleries. As she looked over the grounds below, she could see the gardens were slowly turning to green again. Queen Celia and her ladies were in one of the courtyards, listening to a harp player. Unfortunately, the queen had forgotten her fan and had sent Violet back to her apartments to fetch it.

Violet didn’t mind carrying out an errand alone. One of the downsides of court life were that outside being in the privy, the moments you were truly alone were very few and far between. She found that at the end of each day, she was exhausted from hearing the constant gossip and chatter of the ladies around her.

King Edward and his younger brother suddenly stepped into the gallery from a side entry. Violet froze on the spot at the sight of the two men striding towards her.

The resemblance between the two of them was strong, though she found it hard to believe there was less than a year between the two. King Edward looked far more careworn.

Prince Johan on the other hand, looked in his prime. When he bellowed a laugh at something his brother said, he looked so charming it was almost easy to forget it was the same man who’d struck down his own son for no real reason.

Almost.

Violet bowed as they walked past her and heard Johan ask his brother who she was.

"One of Celia’s new ladies." The king sounded dismissive.

"Goddamn, brother. It feels like you’ve summoned every noble wench in the kingdom and crammed them into this castle. If your boy doesn’t find a wife after all this, there no hope for him."

"He’ll find one, you’ll see. And with all the leftover ladies..." King Edward’s voice turned sly. "You’re not tempted to choose one for yourself?"

"A generous offer but I’ll have to politely decline. Some men simply aren’t the marrying kind. I’m one of those." Prince Johan laughed.

Poor Maisie, thought Violet.