Mystery? In a Royal Court?
What price do you pay to protect someone? What cost to yourself do you pay to make sure tender dreams are not crushed?
There are no dragons (not on this planet, everyone is glad about that). Dungeons are generally fo...
In the morning (before Yva and the two guest princesses wake up), the Queen tells the King about Emme.
Emme is led by one of the older women of the castle staff and told to come with her to the throne room. Emme finds both the King and Queen seated on their thrones, leans upon the older women as they go to stand center in front of them both.
They send the other women off.
The King says: "Emme your resilience during your stay here has been very good. Seeing you sorrowful is hard on all of us.
Both the Queen and I have training in magic principles. We know the magic council's guidance on letting casual mages cast spells. We saw clearly how you dealt with magic. You were obviously not certified. We knew that. Standing right there on that day. We could have pulled you back.
This is a decree from the throne. You are not to blame yourself. You were never a responsible party. We both saw you act in good faith."
Emme bows her head and says: "Yes my lieges."
They dismiss her, but she walks away still shaky.
The King and Queen do not think Yva should be around Emme (until Emme can rally her former bright disposition
By morning light, they tell Yva to pack some clothes. She will go to Castle Ursua for a visit.
The carriage that princesses of Ursua ride is large and heavy. Large heavy horses pull it. It has a roof the folds back.
Having arrived this morning, it returns along a path that avoids the Central Kingdom. A path that is not smooth. The heavy carriage bumps strongly on potholes.
The two princesses of Ursua show Yva the trick of jumping at the bumps. Both getting thirty feet into the air.
Yva tries and goes sixty feet up. Much higher than she expected to go.
Thankfully, the two girls help to catch her 'Wooh, you really can jump. Light to catch though. You weigh next to nothing.'
They arrive at Castle Ursua. Carved into a sheer face solid rock. It has a silhouette of a castle. The princesses immediately rush in the stone doorway.
Yva looks as the walks up the stairs. Someone did the carving with claws (not tools) much larger than any hand.
When she enters, an older tall man announces 'Princess Yva of the Annovae Kingdom!'
Then the man leans in and whispers 'You will find this royal residence to be quite relaxed. Look to the royal family and accept their every invitation to ignore usual royal custom.'
By following the noises, she climbs very wide and deep stone stairs to rejoin the two princesses.
Almost immediately, the room fills with many tall lanky princes. Bushy heads of hair, all wearing casual clothes. They bump and jostle each other to greet Yva. Some older princes file in and also greet her (with a deep bow which lets them kiss her face).
It gets playfully rowdy, and Yva finds herself taking part in a pyramid. The two smaller princesses taking each side next to her on the floor level. Many tall and lanky princes balance and climb. At the end, one of the tall princesses takes a leap to the top.
The whole mass of royal children comes falling down. Yva under the nearly ton of royalty.
A yell from the Queen of Ursua marks dinnertime. The princesses and princes all jump up and shout 'Coming Mawr!'
They leave Yva alone on floor.
The smallest and youngest prince walks up to her and says: "Someday I am going to marry you!"
He then speeds off for the dinner.
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