Winter 1338, Frankfurt Castle, Frankfurt am Main, Holy Roman Empire

Joan had not forgotten about her gifted horse, Red Arrow, that her father left in her care. But as the days grew shorter and colder, it was harder to go visit the stables to see him. When the weather was acceptable, she would ask to go down to pet his nose and give him a carrot. There was no horse riding in winter, and even so Red Arrow was a beast and too big for a child, according to both the Empress and the stable master. But the horse had known her father and was a tenable link to him, so she tried her best to keep him company even if she could not ride him.

He usually whinnied when she approached, as he had gotten accustomed to his afternoon visit and treat. She promised to ride him when she was able to. Sometimes she would sit outside his stable in the grass to be alone for a while or brush him if shecwas able to get inside the stall. The stable master warned her of a horse's powerful kick, but she did not fear Red Arrow. She stayed outsidevas long as she could stand the cooler temperature.

Inside the castle where it was warmer, Prince William was a whirlwind of energy, running up and down corridors. Joan raced him on occasion until Margaret stopped her. It was thrilling to let some energy out.

"It is unladylike to run like that," the Empress scolded. "My son is like this in the cool months. He can't run about outside. Louis is the calm and William the storm. They are such opposites. But I know you are a calmer girl, so I will insist you don't run inside even if I can't stop William."

Joan's German skills were picking up to where she could have simple conversations, but Anna and Elisabeth still mostly only spoke to each other.

Joan tried to focus on lessons, including diplomacy. There were the hard lessons on how laws and cultures differed and how one must try to unite differences for a common goal with tact and reason. Then there were the soft lessons that Joan had gauge for herself.

Her cousins didn't care for her, but she wanted them to care for her. She greeted the royal children daily even if their responses were to ignore her or with polite indifference. Her only consistent touch of humanity were letters she received, mostly from her mother, then next from Cousin Joanna, then less from Isabella, then an occasional letter from her brother Edward, although she imagined he was told to send them because they were brief and perfunctory. She did not receive letters from her father, but her mother explained the King was very busy and also had poor penmanship, so was not fond of writing. Spending time writing her family back made the cold, short days pass by faster.

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One day as she went into the study to greet Prince Louis, she saw a deck of cards on the table.

"Oh, you play?" she exclaimed.

He didn't look up from his book. "My tutor must have left them."

Joan flipped through the cards, seeing the familiar images. "The king, the Pope, the Devil, and Karnöffel. Oh, please, play!"

"Games are a waste of time," the Roman said, but Joan ran to the door to go find the lesser sisters. They were sewing quietly in the drawing room.

"Play Karnöffel?" Joan said, using brief words as her German was still limited.

"Play?" Elisabeth said.

"Come!"

Perhaps out of curiosity, the girls followed her back to Louis's study. Joan sat across from, Louis and Anna and Elisabeth sat across from each other. Joan quickly went over the rules as she remembered them. Louis clarified some things for the rules and words she didn't know.

"I have played before," he said, but the girls hadn't been included in those games.

They played one round, and then two more. They were not keeping close scores, but laughing in surprise when someone pulled out a trump card. Even Louis smiled. They played until they were interrupted to go to lessons.

It was something they could do without much talking, but it was the first time Joan had felt somewhat German herself, speaking it among her peers and playing their game with them. Lessons felt easy and enjoyable for the rest of the day.

At bedtime, Anna reached out to Joan for the first time. She asked, "so, which do you prefer now, Louis or William?"

"Prefer?"

"To marry," Elisabeth explained. "That's why you're here, for our alliance. You will probably be married to one of them."

"Oh." Joan had not thought about them that way. They were just two boys she had to deal with until-- "Am I never going home?"

She had made due to bear the empire as long as she had to, but it hadn't occurred to her that it could be the rest of her life. Why hadn't anyone told her when she left England that she would not return? Maybe the goodbyes would have been different if she knew she would never be back.

Anna shrugged. "If the alliance is important, you'll get Louis and maybe be empress one day. If Father finds someone more important to ally with, you'll get William, so pray for the better match so you don't get stuck with him." The sisters giggled.

Joan did pray as she did every night, but she couldn't quite pray for any future husband. She just couldn't reconcile that just yet. All she wanted was to see her parents again.

She also knew it didn't matter who she preferred. No one who decided these things would think to even ask her if she did have a preference. She would have to marry whoever she was told to marry, preferred or not. Being a princess had many wonderful privileges, but the biggest obligation was to marry whomever was decided outside of her own wants.