Rimush stood transfixed at the princess. His natural talent in magic granted him the ability to occasionally sense sources of magical power. As evidenced by her glowing eyes, absent pupil or iris, the princess was a font of magical power. It was difficult to tell where exactly her gaze lay, but RImush was sure she looked him directly in his eyes. Her hair, previously frizzled from her discussion with the Chief Minister, was tied up into a bun, still exuding a purple glow.
“You may sit.”
Rimush shook himself from his daze and looked around. The chair at the vanity still had some old clothes strewn on it. He carefully hung them over a table corner before sitting.
“I trust you are house broken.”
“I’m sorry, your highness. ‘House broken’?
“I don’t have a good intuition for Raleighan ages, but you are extremely young by elf reckoning. I seldom allow the maids access to this room. I would hate to have to call them up to clean a dog’s mess off the carpet.”
“Oh…” Rimush finally processed the insult. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Rimush didn’t have his father’s inclination for performative arguments. Hoping to avoid the same situation as in the great hall, he stood up to redirect the conversation. “Your highness, allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Prince Rimush, son of Emperor Dren.” He took a slight bow. “It is my pleasure and honor to finally meet you. I hope our union will prove a benefit to both our peoples.”
The princess harrumphed and moved to look out the window, her back toward Rimush. “You come here assuming that our marriage is a forgone conclusion. You would do well to remember that the final decision is mine. I have not yet decided.”
Rimush glared at the princess behind her back. “Well we must start somewhere, your highness. Perhaps you can tell me how to address you. Or do we keep using our formal titles?”
“Princess Varygoff will do. I have no sisters to share that name with.”
Rimush sighed, “Just Rimush is fine for me. I don’t have much use for titles or rank.”
“How common.” The princess turned to approach Rimush. She jostled his epaulette. “Does this not imply a rank?”
“It’s a signifier of my former military service. I’m the former captain of the Raleighan battleship Aranzah.”
“Former? So you lost your ship. What happened?”
“You did, princess.” Rimush sat back down. “His eminence delivered the news of our engagement shortly before promoting my first officer. I am now honorably discharged from the Raleighan military. My rank stays behind on the ship when I leave.”
“So, just a lowly prince?” The princess said, sarcastically.
“I have many brothers. In the Raleighan empire, status is dictated by lands, ships, and conquests. As of now, I have none.”
The princess folded her arms and looked down at Rimush. “So Raleigh sends its least valuable prince to the crown princess of Vistha.”
“That is…one way of looking at it. His eminence is of the opinion that I am the prince most likely to foster a good relationship with a Visthan elf.”
“I suppose if I am to have a pet, I’d prefer one with a good temperament.” The princess sat on her bed. “Understand that if you were to marry into the Varygoff family, it is all or nothing. You will have sole fealty to the kingdom of Vistha and its queen. You will take my family name and have no loyalties to Raleigh.”
“That much has been explained to me. One may even call it a form of exile…” Rimush grimaced, remembering the conversation he had with his father the previous day.
The princess studied Rimush’s face. “Your father did you a favor. There are worse fates for a failed ship’s captain than becoming the second most powerful person in a nation.”
Rimush struggled to keep silent as the princess continued.
“Just think of my position. You get to marry into the royal family. I’m being saddled with some…beast.” The princess nearly spat on the last word. She could not bring herself to discuss the possibility of heirs just yet.
“Princess,” Rimush clenched his fists in his lap, “I think we may both have to adjust our standards of beauty if this is to work. I think you’ll find that not every race in the quadrant finds elves unequivocally attractive.”
“I suppose you’d prefer me shorter, with a tail? I’m certain I haven’t enough hair for you.” The princess turned to look back out the window. Disgust on her face.
“I like your hair.” Rimush noticed the princess’s scowl softened a bit. “And your eyes are…captivating. I haven’t seen anything like them elsewhere in my travels.”
The princess didn’t turn her head, but her left hand played with her hair as her posture relaxed a bit.
“The glow is magical. That much I can feel. I just don’t recognize the school.”
The princess perked up. “You can feel it? I did not know Raleighans even had magic.”
“It’s not common, or very popular, but it’s a skill you can learn. I have no formal education, but I did manage to pick a few things up.” Rimush’s hands glowed blue and the odds and ends strewn about the vanity began to orbit the princess with a dark blue glow.
“You learned this on your own?”
“I was bound for early military service rather than Magi evaluation and training. During a long uneventful patrol, you end up finding ways to fill time.”
Rimush made Vanessa’s brush dance in front of her face.
“I can also conjure very small amounts of fire or sparks, but not enough to impress anyone with magical training. To be honest, most Raliehans would much prefer to hurl fireballs or shoot lightning from their fingertips, but I’ve found gravitation much more applicable to my life.”
The princess glanced back at Rimush, intrigued. “How so?”
Rimush returned the floating items back to the vanity, no more disorganized than when they left it. “In hand to hand combat, manipulating gravity can throw weapons off balance. Most fighting is muscle memory. If your sword or spear suddenly has a change in balancing, it’s hard to compensate. And that’s to say nothing of the more subtle applications. I managed to get an entire set of hardwax furniture from a BTFO merchant for just about one hundred fifty thousand credits.”
The princess’s face showed some slight recoil. “You mean that material made from the sick of some Rachnian?”
“Well it’s a bit more complicated than that. The wax is actually-”
“How exactly does gravitation magic play into a negotiation?” The princess interrupted.
“The same way you may use it in an interrogation. The merchant may be prepared for a long drawn out process of haggling, until his chest starts to feel heavy, and it becomes harder to breath. A neck meant to carry fifteen pounds having to carry eighteen. Fingers straining every time you rewrite part of the purchase contract because the pen is just slightly denser than expected. All subtle effects that add up. The guy can’t wait to get out of there, and he’s willing to cut his margin down to half his ask just to get out of there.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Vanessa cackled. “How devious. And the merchant had no suspicions?”
“Suspicions of what? We’re just dumb Raleighan brutes. All we know how to do is shoot and bludgeon people into submission. At least this dumb Raleighan was kind enough to keep his weapons holstered during the negotiation.”
Vanessa exhaled with an audible sigh. “I think your father may have been on to something.” She turned herself to face Rimush again.
“His eminence has remarkably good judgement.”
“Please, Rimush.” Rimush couldn’t tell for certain, but he suspected the princess was rolling her eyes. “Our fathers are still in the great hall bickering like fools over how to properly start a negotiation. I will grant us grace enough to not deal with such formalities.”
“If you like, Vanessa.” Rimush smirked. “I did find that display unproductive to say the least.”
Vanessa glowered for a moment before continuing. “I would know how you plan on leading Vistha at my side.”
“How so?” Rimush straightened up in his chair, attentive.
“When it comes to territorial expansion. I understand Raleigh has been successful at extending its reach. How would you apply that to Vistha?”
“Most of Raleigh’s expansion comes from glassing worlds to create forward operating stations.”
“Glassing?”
“Clearing any local resistance with thermonuclear ordnance.” Rimush shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “The heat fuses the silicates in the ground into glass shards.”
“I’m aware of the effects of a fission bomb. I was just unaware that your kind created a shorthand for such barbarism.”
“It’s not something I would advocate for. I prefer the raleighan handling of the BTFO. While they are an independent territory, they do a lot of trade with us, and rely on us to keep raids and general violence down to a predictable level. They are so dependent on Raleigh that they rarely ever step out of line.”
“So essentially a vassal?”
“Well, a very dependent smaller state at the very least. Most luxuries in Raleigh are Rachnian made, and they don’t have many other customers.”
“We have a similar arrangement with our nomadic clans. The spinwise portion of Visthan space is the nomadic autonomous region. They provide us food, some trade goods, and pay taxes. Otherwise, they are subject to their own laws. Not true fealty to the crown.”
“I take it you aren’t satisfied with that.”
“A house divided cannot stand. At some point, they must be brought into Vistha proper. Not left to their own devices to build their own fleet, elect their own leaders, threaten independence…”
Rimush thought for a moment. “What have you done to buy their loyalty?”
“Buy?”
“Or earn, however you want to split hairs.”
“The crown provides order and stability to the kingdom. Who are these people to demand anything of royalty?” Vanessa stood up in a huff.
“They are people with families to feed and businesses to run. There comes a point where the people need tangible, material reasons to support a leader.” Rimush leaned back in his chair. “To answer your original question, my leadership would be focussed on making the lives of my people easier. Either through public works, reducing the tax burden on the common elf, or simply providing for their basic livelihood. I would prioritize the masses to make them like me.”
Vanessa gripped her bedpost as she leaned against it. “You almost sound like a nomadic clan leader.”
“And if you want to be able to bring them into the kingdom without excess bloodshed, you might want to practice sounding like them, too.”
“I’m sure the commoners would love to see me dirtying my hands in the field or dressing a sheep.”
“I don’t see how it would hurt.”
“Then you have much to learn. Royalty is above the common elf. We must maintain that separation.”
“Then perhaps that would be your place, while I deal with the commoners more directly.”
This piqued Vanessa’s interest. “So while I maintain the dignity and regality of the crown, you would…”
“Be a big, friendly, sympathetic dog for the people.”
Vanessa laughed. “It’s such a ridiculous idea.”
“I am admittedly spitballing ideas. But I’m sure you can see my motivations.”
“I indeed can,” Vanessa mocked. “You’ll have no trouble cutting through a generation of well earned hatred for Raleighans by going to town squares in full regal dress, and rolling over for the children. Perhaps you will even let them pet you.”
“That’s not quite what I had in mind…”
“I would just be careful around those old enough to remember the last time a Raleighan came to Palid.” Her tone shifted from mockery to a darker resentment. Rimush noticed her hair starting to glow. “You bear a striking resemblance to your father. He who tried to, as you might say, glass our homeworld.”
“Princess, I do not wish to relitigate the Visthan conflict.”
Vanessa began pacing. “What a quaint term for such a brutal, suicidal invasion. How many worlds did your people devastate on their way here? So many creative ways to destroy a planet. Before then, who knew you could terminate a subspace jump inside a planet?”
“Princess!” Rimush stood, fists clenched. “We will gain nothing by arguing over the actions of our predecessors. And do not pretend as if Vistha was blameless in that war. My grandfather died in Vix’s P.O.W. camps! We were never even told how, where, or when. To say nothing of the poisoned food shipments. The radiated atmospheres. The redirection of comets.”
Vanessa spat back “Do you think Vistha can forget so easily? The current generation of Raleighans may not remember, but all of Vistha does. A quarter of the population are veterans of that war. And you come in,.” Vanessa pointed at Rimush’s clothes, “dressed as some mockery of civilized society while the dog that threatened to drop a subspace beacon on the planet sits in our great hall. So arrogant he didn’t even bring a guard. If our roles were reversed, my father would already be dead!”
Rimush sat back down and tried to calm his voice. “We came, princess, because your father came to my father with a proposal for peace. We all want to prevent another war.” Rimush looked down at the floor while rubbing his temple. “This can’t work if you are too caught up in your mother’s past.”
Vanessa hemmed up Rimush. “You do not get to speak of Vix Varygoff.”
Rimush looked back at her with a stoic, expressionless face. “Then let us not speak of her. Allow us to focus on the future.”
Vanessa let go of Rimush and turned around, brushing herself off. “You will ignore what just happened. Let us move on.” Vanessa continued, facing the wall while wiping her face. “How would you go about expanding the Visthan kingdom?”
“I’d need to study the outlying regions. Leave the nomads alone for a bit. Pick the worlds most in need of modernization, and most dissatisfied with their leadership. Offer them aid, technology, and protection. Then publicize the results to the rest of the galaxy. Make an example of those who join the kingdom willingly.”
“And if the leaders don’t like the idea of accepting such generous gifts?”
“I think it’s fair to say Vistha has never been above covert means of achieving its goals. Maybe a rebellion or a coup attempt that just needs a little support.”
“So you aren’t a complete fool.”
“I do my best, princess.”
“Since I was born, Rimush, I’ve never left the walls of Prassur.” Vanessa changed the subject. She turned back to face Rimush. “My father is very protective. I’ve never been further than the market street. And never without heavy guard. This extended courtship will be the first and last time I will be permitted to leave the planet.”
Rimush was confused. “Once you’re queen, can’t you just go wherever you want?”
“Royalty is bound by certain expectations. I cannot put the royal line at risk for something so vain as a holiday. Everything I’ve learned in the twenty nine nanoquads of my life has been read from books and reports. I intend to make the most of this opportunity.”
So I’m your ticket out of here, the prince thought. “I would be happy to show you the many scenic locations of Raleigh and the BTFO.”
“I have other plans in mind. All I need to know from you is this: are you willing to obey my commands while we are traveling?”
“Are you asking for my trust, or my loyalty?”
“I don’t know that the difference matters.” The princess walked back over to the window to look out into the sky. “I am looking for something. It will take a long time to explain what it is and an even longer time to convince you that it’s worth looking for. But I do not intend to live the rest of my long life on this planet without finding it.”
She turned back to Rimush. “You will have your wedding, and the title and powers of king, in exchange for facilitating my search. Do as I demand during our courtship, and help me find what I’m looking for. Then, Prince Rimush, I will marry you.”
“I agree to your terms. If it was so simple, we could have simply started there.”
“It is far from simple. I will hold you to your word. Now,” she walked back over to Rimush and extended her arm, “you may take my hand.”
Rimush was fuzzy on elf courtship rituals, but improvised a bit. He bent a knee, grabbed her arm by the wrist, and kissed the back of her hand. “Vanessa Varygoff, crown princess of Vistha, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Vanessa was taken aback by the strange display for a moment, but composed herself. “Prince Rimush of Raleigh, yes, I will marry you.”
