The King's New Toy - (Part 1 of the Ignaius-Saga)

The Spring Festival

The festivity of spring was a major event in the capital and all through The Realm. Local fairs offered a great opportunity to exchange gossips and stock up on important goods after the long winter. On the morning of spring festival the priests blessed the fields, gardens, and livestock. After that general festivities and public dances filled the air with music and laughter. For the young people it was a chance to mingle, and for the old people it was a time to remember how it felt to be young.

In the royal palace a special ceremony was held on this day: The noble families, following an age old pattern, presented their daughters to the king. It was the traditional way to forge loyalty and celebrate life by creating family ties between the household of the king and his nobles. Usually the young women served as concubines for the king for at least a year before they were married of - often at the spring festival as well - to a deserving noble. Thus the king was able to forge familiar alliances between the noble houses as he saw fit. And of course he also chooses his consorts from the girls who pleased him the most.

As the weather permitted it, the court had assembled on one of the terraces overlooking the royal garden. There was a nervous whisper going through the crowd as everyone was expecting the king. It was also clear that the families who were to present their daughters were wearily eyeing each other, taxing the candidates, wondering which girl may be able to gain special favor with the monarch.

Suddenly everyone fell silent, as two dozen of pages came down the stairs and took up position. A fanfare announced the arrival of the king and the master of ceremony formally announced him: "Praise to our king! Bow to the majesty of king Tanier! May our king live forever!"
As everyone bowed, a middle aged man with dark, short hair and piercing eyes appeared on the platform. He stopped on the top of the stairs for just a moment to review the place and acknowledge everyones presence, before he walked down the stairs with swift, energetic steps before he took his seat on a lavishly decorated throne. He was dressed in an expensive suit. The bright colours of his costume matched the spirit of spring. As soon as he was sitting, the agility transformed to a well studied posture of dignity that would still allow him to sit comfortably through the ceremony that was about to begin.

The master of ceremony and the bearer of the royal mace had followed him down and were standing to each side of the throne. Starting to the right of the king, each head of house would step forward and lead a young woman over to the master of ceremony who would then present the young lady to the king.

Actually it was all pretty exciting - for everyone but the king. While the women and the other members of the families where busy checking each other out, there was very little for him to do, except for smiling at the right time and hiding how bored he really was. The respective qualities of the young ladies were of little consequence to him. Occasionally one or the other caught his fancy and he made a mental note which girls may be worth a closer inspection, but he knew well that he had no chance to refuse any of them, just because the poor girl did not appeal to him. Also he had learned by now that first impressions could be deceiving. So he smiled and greeted his guests and the women who now became part of his house, and did his very best to portray the well meaning, jovial figure that everyone expected him to be.

He was almost half through with the ceremony when he snapped to full attention as the next house was being announced, for this promissed to be interesting. He had known what was about to happen, but obviously not everyone knew and some gasps and whispering could be heard when instead of a young woman a young man was handed over to the master of ceremony.

The stomach of said young man was in knots. It has been for some time and it only got worse, as he was escorted up to the Master of Ceremony on his father's arm, as if he were just another one of the girls. Everyone was staring. People were whispering. They all knew what he was about to become, and it was humiliating.

Nevertheless, Variel had been taught well his manners. His anxiety was visible outwardly, if in a less severe form, and he forced a polite smile and bowed before the king as was his place. The king couldn't help to look at the young man attentively. This was new. Actually unheard of. An idea born from desperation, as he knew well. He did not want to draw more attention to the novelty than strictly necessary, so he was careful to greet the young man with the same formal politeness he had displayed so far, but deep down the boy had his full attention already.

But not just the king could barely take his eyes off the young man. When Variel went to stand with the girls, even they were staring at him and whispering amongst one another. A few giggled, which only made him more self-conscious and he clutched the fabric on his doublet for some measure of security. He watched his father return to his mother's side, all of his brothers standing around them. They were all older, all bigger and better with a blade. They had all made his growing up hell because he had preferred his books, so he couldn't say he would particularly miss anyone. As for his parents... he was angry with them and had to look away. Sure... the king was an attractive man, but was this really all he would ever amount to in life...? A concubine sold for the sake of his family's position?

The ceremony dragged on, but king Tanier bore it with well practiced friendly stoicism. Actually it was not bad, as the weather was nice and the view to the garden provided some pleasurable distraction while time was wasted on bows and greetings. Still he made sure to pay attention to everyone standing in front of him. He had done his homework and was prepared to exchange a few friendly words with everyone who approached, reminding a man of the deeds of his father, congratulating him on the birth of a daughter or exchanging a story from his last visit. Although the number of girls - and sons, as he reminded himself - was traditionally limited to twelve each year, the ceremony lasted well into the evening. At its end the master of ceremony guided the group of girls - and the boy - to the large staircase, giving the king an opportunity to inspect the whole group. It was customary that right after the ceremony he would let his chamberlain know which one of the girls would have the honor to join him for the evening ball. He had already decided on one of them, a lively brunette. He didn't want anyone shy or difficult for the occasion. And the reputation of her family was making her an excellent choice as well.

Rooms had been prepared for the girls in a special wing of the palace and a servant was assigned to each of them. Two girls shared a room and all of them shared a lounge, a library and a few other rooms for socializing and passing time. Variel got a room of his own, but he still had to live with the other girls. This arrangement had been a topic of debate, but in the end the king had decided to treat him like any of the other girls as much as this was possible.