Sins & Virtues

Chapter Twenty: The Princess of Amity

Diggory

The Glass Palace, Vermillion Mount

As the Amitian carriage trundled up the road and through the gates of the Glass Palace, lines of soldiers holding back the crowds still gathered there, King Diggory stood alone at the front steps to welcome the envoy. Sigrid had left weeks before, tearfully and without looking at her brothers, and Albert was still unwilling to be in the same room as him. Sebastian always disappeared when a visitor from Amity arrived. Better for him to stay out of the way, their father had always claimed, but Diggory had always known the word he meant to say was hidden. Amity knew of Sebastian's existence, but knowing of something and seeing it for themselves was very different.

So Diggory stood alone, wondering if Sigrid would have stood with him even if he hadn't sent her away to the very same place this carriage had come from. He had deigned to allow the Dukes or any other nobles to attend the arrival. This was a political matter between their King and the heart city, not a time for parties or simpering.

The carriage stopped in the courtyard, and the alabaster-dressed footman scrambled down to open the door.

Diggory stepped forward, all smiles and decorum, to greet the envoy, his steps faltering at the man who stepped from the carriage. He froze.

Cardinal Blythe looked up at him with a warm smile.

Cardinal Blythe surveyed the crowds with an emotion between disdain and pity. The crowds gathered around the gates had only doubled since word reached out through the city that the envoy from Amity was not a Cleric but the Cardinal. Each and every citizen desperate to see him, to hear his guidance.

Diggory watched Blythe over the rim of his teacup.

He remembered when he first met the imposing man sitting across from him. He wasn't a particularly striking man. He wasn't handsome like Diggory's father had been. He didn't have any striking scars or features, like the Sun Kiss on the young king's cheek. Any other man would be thoroughly forgettable, but at five years, Diggory had gazed up at the bland-looking gentleman, clad in a scarlet suit and robes, and felt an overwhelming trepidation. Blythe had knelt before him and kissed his cheeks, touched the red mark beneath his eye and commented to his parents that he was as blessed as the princesses.

Cardinal Blythe clicked his tongue and turned away from the glass walls. Diggory dropped his gaze, his teacup returning to its saucer harder than he intended.

' You'll be pleased to hear that Princess Sigrid arrived at the Alabaster Temple safely.' Cardinal Blythe told him.

Diggory bobbed his head. ' I felt bad about sending her. Mother always refused.'

The older man smiled in amusement. ' Your mother, rest her soul, always doted upon her youngest, and Devotion is a Virtue, but I'm glad to see you have put Princess Sigrid's Soul first. I believe she is already settling in nicely.'

' That's good. Thank you for...taking care of her.'

Blythe bowed his head humbly. ' But of course, Your Grace. We live to serve the blood of blue.'

' Has she been joined by many other princesses?'

Blythe sighed in exasperation. ' Sadly not yet, though my Clerics have been directed to offer similar positions to Queens Marisol and Octavia, as well as Kings Truett and Cairn. I will admit I do not have high hopes. I do not believe the other royals are as amenable as yourself, Your Grace.'

Diggory stirred another sugar cube in his tea, weighing those words against his anxiety and glancing outside at the crowds. Blythe followed his gaze and chuckled.