sorcery and science 04.5 - masquerade (4 page)

“Do I have to marry Terra?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” Father said shortly.

This whole scheme to ‘unite the families’ had very little to do with Jason and Terra—and a whole lot to do with Father and King River, Terra’s father. The two of them had been best friends since long before Jason was born, and they’d been scheming for a way to name each other brother and spend the rest of their days playing Wilderness while sipping hot rose tea.

They should have just betrothed Lana to Davin. What did it matter that the two of them had never spoken more than three words to each other? They would both do whatever they were told, no matter how boring it was. He and Terra, on the other hand, were a different story. They were fire: wild and untamed. They did what they wanted and liked to have fun. Putting them together was just asking for a forest fire.

“No, not those.” Father took away the boots Jason was about to put on and pushed a pair of unnaturally shiny black dress shoes into his hands. “These.”

Jason recognized them. They were the most uncomfortable pair of shoes he owned. The torture of putting them on was reserved for only the most special occasions. They were even worse than the stiff black suit Father had forced him to wear.

“They’re just going to get dirty,” Jason protested. And it would be impossible to walk across the slushy grass without the heels sinking into the mud. Why did a pair of boy shoes even have heels to begin with?

“No, they won’t, because you’re going to sit nicely and politely as we all have our tea in the winter garden,” replied Father.

“Sounds dull,” Jason grumbled.

His mother, who had just finished pinning Lana’s braided hair on top of her head, smiled. And there was sympathy in that smile. “Yes, well, formalities must be observed once in awhile. Even by you, Jason.”

Lana stood up, brushing the wrinkles from her emerald green dress. The skirt was adorned with twinkling stones, as were her accompanying shoes, which looked even more uncomfortable than Jason’s boy heels. Her smooth soles tip-tapped across the wooden floor as she followed Mother into the next room.

“Ok, Jason,” Father began seriously, staring him straight in the eye.

Jason clamped his mouth together and resisted the urge to glare back. There was something about people staring him in the eye that revved up his temper.

“You will meet King River on the front lawn,” Father continued, oblivious to Jason’s urge to hit something. “And when he pauses in front of you, you will...”

Jason took a deep breath to calm himself. “Bow.”

“And?” Father prompted him.

“And what?”

“And what will you say?” Father asked.

Jason felt the hum of a portal opening. They were there, right at the edge of the Chrysalis grounds.

“Um, nothing?” Jason guessed.

He was finding it difficult to concentrate. Terra was there. Soon, the two of them would be running through the woods… Jason looked down at his suit and shoes. No, not running. Instead, he would be stuck sipping tea and making small talk and spewing formalities like some ninny.

“You will say, ‘Your visit honors us, Your Majesty.’ Got it?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do I have to bow and call him ‘Your Majesty’? I’m a prince, right? Then he should have to bow too and call
me
‘Your Majesty’.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Father told him.

“Why not?” demanded Jason.

“First of all, he is a king and you are a prince. Second of all, King River is the husband of the high queen of Elitia. We all owe our loyalty to them. And finally, you are yet but a child, and he’s your elder.”

Those sounded like pretty stupid reasons to Jason. “Then does Davin have to bow to me?” he asked. “He’s not my elder. I’m even a month older than he is.”

“No, you’ll bow to Prince Davin as well and say, ‘An honor to meet you, Your Highness’,” Father instructed him.

“But I already know Davin Storm, and it’s no honor. He’s such a twit. Why do I have to call him ‘Your Highness’?” Jason complained.

“You just do. Now, let’s go back. When King River pauses in front of you…”

“I bow and say, ‘Your visit honors us, Your Majesty’,” said Jason, monotone.

“Good. Now, onto Queen Lyrica. As the high queen and Terra’s mother, it’s very important that you impress her.”

“But she already knows me. And likes me. She gave me cookies when I was at Laelia last weekend,” Jason recalled.

“Yes, well this ritual assumes the families are not already friends,” Father admitted.

“That’s stupid. Why would anyone betroth two people who had never even met?”

“It’s an old custom.”

As far as Jason was concerned, it was a custom that should have stayed buried in the past.

“Now, Queen Lyrica. As I said, she’s the real one to impress here. You will bow even lower than you did for King River—”

“How low?”

“As low as you can without falling over,” Father told him. “And then you will kiss her hand—”

“
Kiss
her?” Jason choked out in disgust.

Father’s eyes narrowed in warning, like a mean old tiger. “Yes, kiss her hand lightly and make eye contact. Then you say, ‘Your Majesty, please allow me to show you my home,’ and at that point—”

“My home? Isn’t it
our
home?” Jason countered.

“Yes, you nit-picker, but that’s just how the ritual goes. And stop interrupting, or they’ll have come and gone already before I’ve gotten through all of this with you.”

Jason sighed.

“At that point,” Father began again. “Lana will escort Prince Davin and King River inside to meet us in the winter garden, while you show Queen Lyrica and Terra the grounds—and don’t say they’ve seen them already,” he added quickly.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Good, so then you bring them back—”

“I was just going to point out that you forgot to refer to her as ‘Princess Terra’,” he said, struggling to keep his face straight.

“Jason,” Father sighed.

Jason chuckled.

“Oh, I give up. Just follow your sister’s lead and hope for the best.”

Great, so he was supposed to imitate his seven-year-old sister. Yet more evidence that they should have betrothed her and Davin.

“They should be almost here by now,” said Father.

“Actually, they already are,” Jason told him.

“You heard them arrive?”

Jason nodded. “A few minutes ago.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”

“You seemed so engrossed talking about your silly ritual,” Jason replied with a shrug.

“
Our
ritual, Jason. It’s part of Elition culture,” he said. “Ok, go now with Lana. Greet them on the front lawn. And try to keep your clothing in presentable condition until the ritual is complete. After that, you’re free to go swim in the mud to your heart’s content.”

Father took a velvet box from the dresser and set it into Jason’s hands. “After we’ve all finished our tea, you’ll ask Terra to take a walk with you—walk, not run, not roll in the mud, not swim in the lake—and you’ll give this to her, under the Rose Queen, as a symbol of your betrothal.”

The Rose Queen was the oldest and tallest rose tree at Chrysalis, dwarfing all others. Jason and Terra had climbed it many times—and had been cut by its thorns many times.

Father opened the large, flat box, revealing a silver-chained sapphire pendant, then tucked it away in his inside jacket pocket. “I’ll just hold onto it for you until then. Now, go to meet them.”

Jason got Lana from the other room, then the two of them traversed the massive front lawn of the house. Four figures stood at the edge of the woods, waiting. On any other day, they would have just walked to the house, but apparently that was taboo today. Jason was growing more convinced by the moment that this ritual was long overdue to be killed off.

Jason and Lana stopped before their guests. King River appeared tired and strained, yet happy, as he smiled at his wife upon his arm. However, it was Queen Lyrica, or Jasmine as she always insisted that Jason call her, who was clearly leading the party.

Her gently-curled hair of flaxen blonde, intertwined with the occasional streak of warm auburn, fell in cascading layers to her elbows. A short sweep of hair feathered across from her side part, framing the platinum band on her forehead. It was the crown of the high queen, set with two diamonds hugging a center purple-blue iolite gem that complemented her vibrant ultramarine blue eyes. Her gown, a weave of white and silver, had capped sleeves adorned with beaded strings and a low v-neckline. It tucked in around her hips before it flowed out in three layered tiers of fabric. The last of these tiers swished against the ground as she walked. She moved with such grace that she seemed to be floating.

Terra, dolled up as Jason had never seen her, looked like a miniature of her mother as she walked beside her. Her golden hair, brushed back straight and smooth, had been braided and pinned up on her head in a style much like Lana’s. Her dress was a close imitation of her mother’s—with a little more on top and a little less on the bottom. It fell to halfway between her knees and ankles, showing off a pair of beaded silver slippers that were so clean they must have been introduced to her feet mere seconds before they all appeared beside the orchard.

Davin strode along beside his father, looking both very smug and very bored. Jason looked from Davin’s suit, crisp and creaseless as a fresh sheet of paper, to his own, already slightly wrinkled even though he’d just put it on, and he wondered if Davin were breathing at all in there. From Davin’s condescending expression, he appeared to be making a similarly unfavorable comparison.

But Jason chose to ignore him. Terra was beaming at him as her family stood there before them, and her expression was so infectious that Jason couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey, Jason, look at me. I look like a girl,” she whispered across at him.

“You sure do,” he breathed back, trying to hold himself together enough not to burst out laughing.

Lana jammed him hard in the side with her bony elbow. It actually kind of hurt. King River was standing before him, waiting patiently. It was then that Jason recalled what he was supposed to do.

“Your visit honors us, Your Majesty,” he recited, bowing.

“And your hospitality us,” replied King River, stately. “May I introduce my wife, Queen Lyrica.”

Jason bowed as low as he could, which felt rather silly, and kissed her hand, which felt kind of wet. “Your Majesty, please allow me to show you my home.”

“Yes, of course,” she replied, her dancing eyes sparkling with warmth. “These are our children, Davin.” She waved her hand toward Davin. “And Terra.” She set her hand on Terra’s shoulder.

Jason felt like he was in a play. A silly play.

“An honor to meet you, Your Highness,” he said to Davin with as little sarcasm as he could muster.

But when he came to Terra, he froze. His father had forgotten to tell him how to greet her. He glanced sidelong at Lana, who tilted her head forward. She wasn’t helping.

Terra stepped up to him quickly, breaking the awkward moment by kissing Jason once on each cheek, then returned to her mother’s side.

“King River, Prince Davin, please allow me to escort you to our parents, who are waiting in the winter garden, while my brother shows Queen Lyrica and Princess Terra the grounds,” Lana said with effortless grace. That just proved Jason’s point
again
—they really should have betrothed her and Davin instead.

Lana led them toward the terrace entrance as Jason set off in the direction of the pond with Terra and her mother close behind. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say—or show, for that matter.

“This is our pond. It’s very brown and dreary right now, but it’s pleasant here in the summer,” he said awkwardly. “And those trees.” He pointed to the line of rose trees that bordered the backside of the pond. “Are everlasting roses, the symbol of Pegasus. They bloom even in the winter. And, um…” He looked around for something else of interest. His eyes settled on the Rose Queen. “That is the Rose Queen. Once when I was two, I got stuck up there trying to climb it.”

Terra swallowed a giggle, which came out as a very unladylike snort, and she covered her mouth in embarrassment. She’d gotten stuck up there a few times herself.

Queen Lyrica smiled at Jason. She said softly, “You’re doing very well, dear.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” he replied. “Would you care to see the mint gardens now? The Winter’s Mint is growing like a weed at the moment.”

“Lead on,” she agreed and took Terra’s hand as they continued through the grounds.

The tour of the grounds seemed to drag on forever. Jason simply wasn’t good at making small talk over every leaf and rock, as seemed to be expected of him. He’d rather have run off into the woods with Terra, and from the conspiring looks she kept throwing his way, she was thinking exactly the same thing. But finally it was over, and the three of them joined the rest of the party in the winter garden. There, they all sat stiffly upon their cushioned seats for the next hour, their hands folded neatly on their laps. Queen Lyrica took a seat beside her husband, who was on the other side of the table from Jason’s parents, and Terra sat beside Davin on the bench opposite Lana. As Jason positioned himself so he was across from Terra, her eyes twinkled at him.

It was the longest and dullest tea time Jason had ever survived. Even his father’s eyes had drifted more than once to the Wilderness game box on the shelf.

“Jason,” Father said eventually, holding out the jewelry box to him.

With both glee and a touch of trepidation, Jason stood and took the box from his father. It was time to ask Terra to come with him outside, where he would present her with the engagement pendant. But what was he supposed to say to her? They both knew what was coming, but that didn’t in any way diminish the awkwardness of this very staged afternoon.

“Princess Terra, would you care to take a walk with me?” Jason delivered.

“I would love to, Prince Jason,” she replied, practically giggling.

Hand in hand, he led her outside—walking, not running, just as his father had instructed. After all, everyone was staring at them through the glass walls. They stopped beneath the Rose Queen, and Jason turned his back to the house and pulled Terra in front of him.