Kai sits at the end of a long table in the Great Royal Dining Hall, where the suitors are to take their evening repast, picking at his roasted root vegetables with little appetite. I’m glad I got to perform before that Prince Didier, he muses, glancing over to the separate table for the royal competitors. Though he has no delusions about his own chances in this contest, nor any wish to win it himself, he does pity the Viscount who had to follow Prince Didier’s act. No chance of his advancing. He was so nervous and intimidated he nearly broke his gittern, and he played more wrong notes than right ones.

“Looks right unpleasant over there, doesn’t it?” the suitor to Kai’s left remarks.

“Beg pardon?” Kai replies, surprised that anyone saw fit to speak to him.

“The royal table, I mean. All that posturing and preening and empty conversation.”

“A nightmare.”

“You suppose any of us peons will advance to the Questioning?”

“Like as not they’ll keep some of us, if only for appearances. The Ball will be frightfully dull with only the seven of them,” the competitor across the table, whom Kai remembers as turning out an excellent performance on the virginal, chimes in while Kai wracks his brain for the name of the young man who started a conversation with him.

“Appearances? You can’t possibly be implying that the Quest for Favor is rigged?”

Sharp features, short…Jousting, Kai recalls. He still can’t come up with a name, but he remembers how seamlessly this young man worked together with his spirited chestnut mare.

“Don’t know that I’d go that far, but His Majesty’s face has told the whole story of how he hopes Princess Wilhelmina will choose, over the course of the day,” the one across the table points out. “And that he sees the Quest for Favor as a waste of time.”

“Guess it’s a question of how much influence the king has on his daughter’s choice, then.”

Trumpet fanfare overlaps this assertion, drowning out any possibility that either of Kai’s acquaintances will ask his opinion on the matter, and then a pair of double doors swing open at the opposite end of the hall. King Ansgar leads the Royal Family of Aethyrozia into the room. A hush falls over the Great Royal Dining Hall as the suitors wait with bated breath for the announcement they know is to come.

Would I rather stay or leave? Kai asks himself. Certainly his father would prefer that he stay, but Kai would have jumped at any excuse to get away from Adelhyod before he met Fifi in the courtyard. At least none of them asked me to betray her confidence.

“Greetings, competitors!” King Ansgar calls grandly. “We hope you have enjoyed your supper, and we thank you all for your participation in the Talent Round of Princess Wilhelmina’s Quest for Favor. Today has been a spectacular showcase of your various talents, and Princess Wilhelmina has thought long and hard about who shall remain here for tomorrow’s Questioning, and whose time in the Quest for Favor ends tonight. Without further ado…Princess Wilhelmina, your choices?”

Neither Princess likes to be the center of attention, Kai observes as the elder princess steps meekly forward. Fifi and Queen Ingrid stand behind her, lending silent support, but it’s clear from their expressions that the queen is by far the most comfortable of the three. Fifi looks anxious on Minna’s behalf. The two of them are close. The way they sat during the performances, I would swear they were communicating somehow, though I never saw their lips move.

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“In no particular order, here are the names of the contestants who will stay for the Questioning,” Princess Wilhelmina begins. Her voice is much softer and sweeter than her father’s. Several suitors lean towards her to try to hear her better. “Prince Adalberto of Syazonia…Duke Alvar of Emskyr…Lord Birger of Besnuth…Prince Casimiro of Syazonia…”

“No particular order, my foot. Alphabetical by first name,” one of Kai’s neighbors mutters.

“Prince Didier of Vyrunia…Lord Einar of Saisyn…Prince Emiliano of Syazonia…Duke Fredrick of Rothan…”

Around them, those whose names the princess calls exult quietly. Princes Emiliano and Casimiro gain extra swagger when their names are listed. Kai sees Fifi roll her eyes in their general direction. They must be staying solely at the King’s insistence, he muses. Like as not Princess Wilhelmina thinks the same of those royal braggadocios as Fifi does.

“Lord Hans of Hrathnyr…Lord Ingemar of Nulymr…” Princess Wilhelmina continues with steady cadence.

“Me? Really?” the virginal-playing contestant across from Kai whispers, surprise evident on his features.

“Lord Karl of Fyrlenth…”

“I thought I was out when Prince Emiliano unhorsed me,” the suitor next to Kai, apparently Lord Karl, marvels softly.

“Prince Lisandro of Syazonia…Grand Duke Maksym of Khandazar…Lord Mathias of Chasthyr…Lord Nicolaas of Lyrnola…”

“What?!” Kai hisses between his teeth. Did Fifi ask her to keep me in the running? Is this some kind of cruel joke?!

“You played well, and it’s said Princess Wilhelmina has quite an ear for music,” Karl says near Kai’s ear. “Congratulations. I guess we advance together.”

“Duke Oskar of Quelnuth…Lord Ragnar of Marduth…Prince Ramiro of Syazonia…Lord Rolf of Senthior…and Lord Ulrik of Sulthir,” Princess Wilhelmina finishes. “To the rest of you, we thank you for coming and sharing your talents with us, and we wish you all the best in the future, but your time in the Quest for Favor has ended. We hope that your travels home are safe, swift, and pleasant.”

“Thank you, Princess Wilhelmina,” King Ansgar takes over. “We bid you all good night. The Chief Royal Steward and the Hedersvakt remain here to assist you with whatever you may need.” With that, the Royal Family of Aethyrozia sweeps out of the Great Royal Dining Hall as abruptly as they came in.

No sooner than the double doors close behind them, the hall erupts with outbursts of celebration and outrage.

“Well, what do you know. We did it,” Ingemar remarks to Kai and Karl.

“One of life’s great mysteries,” Kai mutters.

“Hey, neither of you fell on your face in the dirt in front of her, at least,” Karl points out.

“Only because we had the sense to compete in music, which everyone knows is one of Princess Wilhelmina’s chief interests,” Ingemar retorts.

“Some of us are all thumbs and can’t carry a tune in a bucket. We all have to play to our strengths.”

“Yeah, for this round. But the Questioning…. I never thought I’d get that far,” Kai sighs. And it means I’ll have to speak, he worries. Which King Ansgar doesn’t seem to want me doing. Not that I’m any good at it, anyway.

“You haven’t spent much time at court, have you?” Ingemar asks.

“No.”

“Then she’ll probably stick to basic, getting-to-know-you type questions with you,” Karl encourages.

“With all of us, most likely,” Ingemar amends. “None of us are of any real importance to the kingdom.”

“For whatever reason, Her Highness has given us a chance to change that.”

“Your optimism would be inspiring if it wasn’t delusional.”

“Let tomorrow be the judge of that.”

Kai lets them bicker without contributing further. Being spoken to as a peer is a nice change of pace for him, but he’s always preferred the company of animals to that of people, and his advancement to the Questioning looms over him like dark storm clouds.

At least it means another day away from home, he tells himself, whatever fresh challenges tomorrow may bring.