Chapter 9.5 The Princess Who Listens
Gabryella had always found adults disappointing. They spent their entire lives collecting power only to become painfully obvious once they possessed it. The journey back to the guest wing had proven her point. Servants rushed through the corridors carrying trunks and folded garments while nobles exchanged endless farewells. Every conversation sounded secret. Most weren’t.
A merchant wanted lower tariffs. A lord wanted a better trade route. A lady wanted her son to be introduced to someone’s daughter. The same games, the same ambitions. Gabryella leaned against a marble pillar and watched them all while pretending to adjust the silver bracelets around her wrist. Nobody paid attention to children. It was one of the greatest advantages children possessed.
“...the harvest reports are favorable.”
“...the western mines exceeded expectations…”
“...if Korvethis agrees to the proposal…”
“...one negotiations resume…”
Boring.
Her attention drifted toward the gardens visible through the nearby windows. Toward the fountain where she had spoken with Rylla earlier. Toward the strange princess she could not stop thinking about. Most nobles liked secrets because secrets made them feel important. Rylla liked secrets because she wanted to understand things. Gabryella had never met anyone like that.
A door opened nearby and she immediately lowered her gaze. The voices that followed belonged to people worth listening to. One belonged to her father, the other did not. “Your Majesties have been generous hosts,” her father said.
“We hope the Sultanate feel the same.” answered a calm voice she did not recognize. Gabryella shifted slightly, careful not to reveal her interest.
The footsteps stopped only a few paces away. “The alliance remains important to both kingdoms,” the advisor continued.
“It does.” There was a brief silence.
“The complication from Veeque has altered several considerations.”
Gabryella felt her attention sharpen. Elora. The princess everyone had quietly expected to become part of the agreement. Her father remained silent.
The advisor continued carefully. “Korvethis must reconsider which child can be spared.”
Spared. It was an odd word choice. Not a child who was chosen or even a child offered, but one that could be spared. Gabryelle frowned. The conversation moved on before she could make sense of it. Trade routes, shipping schedules, metal exports, grain imports, nothing interesting.
Eventually the two men departed in opposite directions. Gabyrella remained beside the pillar, thinking. The alliance was still being discussed, that much was clear, but nobody knew how it would happen. Not yet. A week ago she would have immediately shared that information, she could already imagine her older brothers arguing over its meaning. Her sisters would happily turn it into a dozen theories before supper.
Normally she would have joined them. Instead she found herself doing something unusual. Nothing. She simply held the information. The way Rylla would. The realization felt strange, almost uncomfortable, but she kept it, and because she kept it, she noticed more.
At dinner she observed which Korvethian royals were seated closest to visiting diplomats. Which names were mentioned. Which names were ignored. Everyone seemed interested in the older children. Wrena, Walric, Leonah, even Elmara. Yet, one prince appeared almost invisible. A younger boy with brown hair who seemed far more interested in his horse stories than politics. Nobody discussed him, nobody watched him, nobody considered him important. Gabryella filed the observation away. Not because she understood it, but because she didn’t, and the things people overlooked were often the most interesting.
That night she sat beside her chamber window overlooking the moonlit city. Korvethis glittered beneath the stars. Tomorrow her family would begin the long journey home. Normally she would have been excited, instead she felt restless, as if she were leaving a puzzle unfinished.
A soft knock sounded on the door and one of her sisters peeked inside. “Are you coming?”
“In a moment.” she replied. The door closed again and Gabryella looked back toward the distant silhouette of the castle. She had arrived in Korvethis hoping to learn how these northern nobles played their games. Instead she had met someone who played an entirely different game. Someone patient, someone dangerous, someone who saw the same invisible threads she did. A smile tugged at her lips. When she learned something truly valuable, she decided Princess Rylla would be the first person she told. Not because information was worth coin or that information bought favors, but because for the first time in her life, she had found someone who understood why it mattered.
