“First day done,” Minna whispers in the darkness of the bedchamber she shares with Fifi, hoping her younger sister will respond. Fifi has been uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn since supper. Since I betrayed her trust by asking if she could be sent to Syazonia instead of me, Minna scolds herself. But maybe now that the maids have left them alone for the night, in the privacy of their own rooms, they can set things right.

“Aye,” Fifi answers softly. Relief washes over Minna. “Half the suitors gone already. I didn’t realize it’d go so quickly and yet so slowly.”

“Too slow for Father’s liking, even so.” Minna sighs. “I’m sorry, by the way, that I suggested you choosing a Syazonian prince in my stead, without at least asking you first. I just…. I had to know….”

“I know. I would be more upset if Father gave the idea any consideration. As things are, I’m mostly sorry for you.”

“He has his reasons,” Minna excuses King Ansgar, forcing herself to sound cheerful. Please try to understand, Fifi. He can’t just be our father. He has a whole kingdom to think of, to rule. We must do what’s right for Aethyrozia. “His priorities just…aren’t exactly the same as mine. Or yours.”

“Minna, it’s your marriage. Your life partner. Like Mother said, you get to make the final decision.”

Another sigh escapes Minna’s lips. Her eyes have adjusted to the darkness enough that the meager moonlight coming through the cloudy glass windows allows her to pick out the patterns in the canopy over her bed.

“Perhaps Prince Didier will win Father over during the Questioning,” Fifi suggests. “He certainly has the charm and the manners to have at least a chance—”

“Oh, hush,” Minna protests with a slight giggle. Don’t get my hopes up. I need you to be serious about this. “Which of the Syazonian princes do you think I ought to choose, if Father’s judgment guides my choice?”

“I agree with what Mother said last night. Adalberto and Lisandro are the least objectionable.”

Minna nods thoughtfully. “Lisandro played and sang well, didn’t he?” I could definitely do worse.

“Aye.” Fifi’s brief response is heavy with unspoken thoughts and feelings. Don’t, Sister. We’ve argued about this before. You and I will never agree. Father wouldn’t knowingly send either one of us into a lifetime of misery.

“And he’s nice enough, and seems a pleasant fellow,” Minna continues. Can I be happy with him for the rest of my life? Will I like living in Syazonia?

“Maybe so, but next to Didier—”

“Fifi, please—”

“I’m just saying—”

“Perhaps Father will let you choose him, if he comes back.” You deserve to be happy, at least as much as I do. If you really like him—

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“Father will probably set me up with that pompous Lord Felix,” Fifi snorts.

“What makes you say that?”

“He thinks I’m…just a useless ornamental burden to pawn off to the highest bidder.”

“Oh, Fifi, that’s not true,” Minna assures her sister. Though she truly means it, she can practically hear Fifi rolling her eyes in the other bed. “And even if it were, the Viscount of Donthur would never be the highest bidder in a competition for your hand.”

Both sisters giggle a little. It’s true, though, Minna adds silently. No Viscount has the resources to compete with a Duke or a Prince.

“He was truly ridiculous,” Fifi mutters.

“A good many of them were. I have to wonder what some of them were thinking, coming here and competing….”

“Might as well take a chance. After all, you are the fairest and most eligible maiden in all the land.”

“Right.” Minna’s insides twist uncomfortably. “Do you think that’s all that matters to them?”

“To a lot of them, certainly. Or to their parents who sent them here. But like as not at least some of them are looking for love, or at least a felicitous union.”

“Parents who sent them here?”

“I don’t believe for a second Prince Ramiro volunteered for this, and I know that Kai’s father insisted he compete.”

“Should I have sent him home, do you think?”

“I asked him about that, and he told me to let you decide based on his performance. And then he performed so well—”

“He did, but he seems so uncomfortable here at court. And Father hates his father so—”

“I know. I’m worried for him in the Questioning.”

“Do you fancy him?” The question slips out before Minna can stop it.

“I don’t know him well enough to say. Certainly no more than you fancy Prince Didier.”

“Forgive me. I just…. It seems like you must have had quite the conversation in the courtyard this noontide, and—”

“I think we have a bit in common, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know him more. I’ll have to have someone here I can talk to once you’ve gone away and gotten married.”

“Fifi….” Minna wants to comfort her sister, but the words won’t come. We’ve known our whole lives this time would come, that I’d have to go away and get married. Just like you will. “If that’s what you’re after, maybe you should focus your attentions on the ones who actually spend time at court.”

“You’re probably right, but Kai was the one in the courtyard when I went out there.” There’s an unusual hardness to Fifi’s voice, making Minna question the wisdom of pushing the issue further. “Tell me what I missed at dinner.”

“Truly there’s nothing to tell. You saw the reprise at supper.”

Fifi sighs heavily. “Don’t sacrifice your happiness for his whims. You deserve better, and he’s not worth that.”

“He is the king, Fifi, not just our father. We can’t think only of ourselves, but also of our country—”

“Our country won’t have to live with the man day in and day out like you will. And neither will Father. Just…remember that, as you make your choice.”

Minna bites her lip hard. How could I forget it? I live with Mother and Father just like you do. I also wonder if Mother is happy with him. But we are princesses, not only people, and princesses must do what is best for king and country, not only ourselves.

“I will,” she tells Fifi after an agonizing silence.

“Good.” Fifi sounds satisfied, but Minna is far from it, weighing her sister’s words with her father’s adamant advising. We still have the Questioning and the Ball. At least two more days. Perhaps more, if a Redemption Round proves necessary. I still have time. Please, Chuezoh, guide me and make the right choice clear to me. Let the remaining two rounds be enough.

She imagines King Ansgar will be furious if she decides to have a Redemption Round, and hopes to avoid such a thing. But at the same time, she hopes she can find a happy medium, a suitor who will suit her as a life partner and also satisfy her father’s wishes, and if a Redemption Round is what it takes to do so, then in her mind, it will be worth his temporary wrath.

But it is too early to worry about that. For now, she must focus on tomorrow’s Questioning and choosing which suitors will continue to the Ball. One step at a time, Minna. One step at a time.