Chapter 72: Congratulations (2)

In unison and as if rehearsed, both women turned to glower comically at me.

“You two are getting too good at that,” I said as I pulled on a pair of shoes.

Yes shoes. I wanted to wear my boots but the shoes were actually much cooler. Which was becoming an increasingly important consideration.

“So what's the Empress up to.” I added ignoring their critical stares.

“She's decreed that it's impossible for any religious administration to try, prosecute and judge crime of any kind.”

“Including Heresy?”

“Especially heresy. Religious crimes must now be tried before a civilian court.”

I thought about this for a moment.

“That's a lot of courts, how are they going to prevent the church influencing the civil magistrates?”

I was already picturing images of panels of judges who either were, or were under threat by religious authorities.

“It would seem that things are going to move back to a more feudal state.” Laurelen said, scanning the piece of paper. “What she's essentially trying to do, looking at all of this, is make sure that people are governed by people, not religious zealots.”

I sniffed as I was doing up straps and buckled in my new “courtly costume”. “Still seems a bit arbitrary to me. Just because someone's a feudal lord doesn't stop them from being a religious zealot, or under the influence of one.”

“I agree,” said Emma.

“The paper does seem to go into more detail. It seems that this is a first step, there's lots of other waffle here about working with local governments to try and bring set these systems up properly.”

“I take it that one of the other things that she's already done is decide who the new heads of state are going to be.” I asked as I finally managed to get hold of something to drink.

“Yes,” Emma said pouring herself a cup as well. “Primarily she's managed to find cousins and nephews and things for Aedirn, Redania and Kaedwen. That bastard daughter of Foltest is here and has been formally declared legitimate although the poor girls mother and elder brother is going to be the all but ruler there. I think a couple of people are trying to take the girl under their wing in an effort to make her better able to stand up to the more formidable members of the rest of her family.”

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“So that'll be....”

“Constable Natalis amongst others.”

I nodded.

“There has been something else come through while you were out though?” Emma told Laurelen.

“Oh yes.”

“Yes.” Emma fished out a particular piece of paper. “Long story short but I've told Princess Dorn to stockpile all the lumber coming out from her Kingdom as there's going to be a shortage in the north.”

“What's she done?”

“She's declared an alliance with the dryads of the Brokilon Forest,”

I was unfortunately drinking as this was said and as a result I nearly choked on my own tongue.

“She's done what?” Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“She's declared an alliance with the dryads of Brokilon and told everyone that an attack upon the Brokilon forest is an attack on Nilfgaard itself.”

Emma looked calm as she said it.

Laurelen seemed to join me in looking aghast.

“But,” I said, “What's she going to do, walk up and....No, this is....”

Laurelen had taken the paper off Emma and was reading it quickly.

“I think it's actually quite clever.”

“It's going to be another war.” I said. “Cidaris and Verden depend on that wood.”

“Not any more,” Emma said. “I actually think it's quite a good idea. From her point of view of course.”

I took the time to remind myself that my sister, although she's my sister and I love her a lot, is ruthless enough to command respect from the most hardened of traders.

“Why?” Laurelen looked up at Emma.

“Nilfgaard is a war economy.” Emma ticked the point off her fingers. Yes, putting down rebellions and policing are going to occupy a lot of that army but, as has been proven, soldiers tend to be unhappy at the prospect of going home to farm so she's got huge amounts of soldiers sitting around drawing pay for doing relatively little. Even if she doesn't replace the soldiers that Nilfgaard lost while invading the north that's still a lot of soldiers.

“Second, it gives the northern Kingdoms, as was, something to do to vent their spleen at. Those kingdoms are relatively small but at the same time they make a lot of money. They didn't come to the North's aid because they saw which way the wind was blowing and as a result, decided to keep their heads down. The North can be relied upon to be cranky as they just lost a war and as a result, there is a target which they resent anyway, can't possibly defend itself against both fronts and therefore will allow the North to save some face. As well as finding something for all the grumpy younger sons to do.

“Thirdly. It shows the elder races that Nilfgaard values them. It shows them that the new Empress will listen to what they have to say. That might be more valuable than any of us think. Especially when it comes to the elves of Dol Blathanna.

“Economically, it also benefits the other lumber mills. It means that more wood has to come from Kaedwen and from places like Dorn's kingdom. The Brokilon is no longer a supplier of cheap lumber and people will have to pay the higher prices. Temeria is in no shape to take that wood so why should Vergen and the rest do the same?”

“I suppose,” I said, “But, I don't know, I think we need peace at the moment. There's been war, almost constantly since I was born,”

“And before that,” piped up Laurelen. “I'm sorry Freddie but you're being naïve. There's already been wars going back centuries. That's not going to change. We're running out of space on the continent so those wars are going to grow unless Nilfgaard can conquer it all and remain strong enough to keep us in check. That's if Zerrikania and the other foreign powers don't start to have Imperialist ambitions.”

“I suppose.” I admitted before scowling “Also, when did I give you permission to call me Freddie?”

She threw something at me. Although it wasn't properly aerodynamic so it didn't get close enough to me to cause me any trouble

I had finished dressing and Emma came over to me. “You ready to face the music?”

“You mean...?”

“To face Francesca. She's been hounding me about you since I got here.”

“Oh Flame.”

“That's one way of putting it, here.” She handed me a slim, lightweight looking sword.

“What's that for?”

“They wear them round here.”

I took it off her and looked at it dubiously. “I haven't got the first idea about how to use this thing?”

“Sure you do, hold it by the hilt.”

“Very funny.”

“Look, you can't take your spear but you are a Noble and a Gentleman so you can't go around unarmed.”

I gave up on the grounds that it was probably easier for a quiet life on the whole. “I'm never going to hear the end of this from Kerrass you understand?”

“I did think about that,” said Emma opening the door and leading the three of us out into the street.

“And?”

“I decided that I didn't really care that much.”

“Some sister you are.”

“Oh, I think it's exactly the kind of sister I am.” She gave me another quick hug. “I'm so proud of you.”

I looked at her for a long time. “Thanks Emma.”

“That's enough.” Said Laurelen taking my other arm. “Let's get him up there.”

What followed was the funniest time I could remember in my immediate past. We were walking back up the hill towards the castle with Emma on one side of me and Laurelen on the other. The number of envious glances that I got from other men who were leading their own ladies around. That I had two beautiful women on my arms was.... hilarious to say the least. If only they knew.

“You enjoying yourselves?” I asked them.

“Very much so,” answered Emma.

“Did you plan this between you?”

“Of course,” Laurelen commented as she waved to an acquaintance of hers.

“What are you doing?”

“Protecting you,”

“From them?”

“Oh Freddie,” Emma said giving me a little kiss on the cheek. “That's not who we're protecting.”

“I should ask before we go any further.”

“What's that?”

“How is brother Mark?”

“He should tell you himself.”

“Do I need to still be angry with him.”

Laurelen snorted.

“No, no I don't think so. He's doing his best bless him but he's physically trying to change his way of thinking. You should talk to him, I know he wants to talk to you, so let him. Just, be patient with him. It's not been a good year for Brother Mark.”

I grunted. I wanted to ask more but I got the impression that she wasn't going to give me anything other than that.

We walked up the slope to the castle. There was a genuine party atmosphere about the place. I kept finding myself looking for the cracks in it. The same way that you look closely at an oil painting in an effort to find the cracks to see how old it is. I looked closer and closer but I still couldn't... It all seemed so genuine. These people were genuinely celebrating.

As had been made clear, the new Empress was not going to usher in a new age over night. She is and was her own woman with her own feelings and thoughts. She had ideas about the way in which the world needed to be run and there were certain, inescapable economic facts that were unavoidable. As Laurelen had said, war wasn't just going to stop for my wishing it would.

But they were celebrating. I found myself wondering why. Was this just going to be another tick in the box. When historians looked back at this moment were they going to be saying things like “This was the start of a golden age on the continent,” or would they be saying things like “This was the first sign. This was the beginning of the end for all things.” Or even worse than that would this just be another day in the list of genealogies. “Then there was Cirilla, daughter of Emhyr and Pavetta who reigned for tumpty years and was revered for not killing too many people. Her greatest accomplishment was that she didn't declare war on anyone.”

But these people seemed to be genuinely happy.

I found that I pitied them. I found myself looking down on them for being so naïve in thinking that this was going to be the beginning of new and grander things. But my anger and resentment was fuelled by the fact that I envied them that naivete. I so desperately wanted to believe that this was the dawning of a new era, for the continent as a whole but Laurelen's earlier dismissal left me feeling young and stupid. If my time on the road had taught me one thing over and above everything else it was that human nature, sorry, not human nature, sentient nature will remain sentient nature no matter how hard we try. We will always want what our neighbour wants and we will always be willing to steal and cheat and murder to get that thing.

I had been looking forward to this day for quite a long time but I found that my mood was getting darker and darker with every passing moment. Suddenly I wanted to go home. I was afraid and I didn't want to go the few steps further up the hill.

Emma must have sensed my mood as she tugged on my sleeve. “Why the long face little baby brother?”

“I don't know,” I lied. “I just, I just find that I'm suddenly afraid of the future.”

She patted my arm. “Don't worry brother of mine. We'll take care of you.”

“It's not that it's just....I suppose I'm having my idealism taken away from me.”

“What are you afraid of?” She asked, she shooed Laurelen off in front of us so we could talk alone.

“Everything... Oh I don't know... No I do know. I'm afraid that this will be the best day of my life. I'm afraid that it won't get any better than this but more than that? I'm afraid that, in the long, greater scheme of things. Today is going to turn out to just be another day.”

She hugged me.

“Well I don't know about that, but I think that that, at least, is going to turn out to not be true.”

What happened next was an assault about my person. I want it recorded here for posterity that I was assaulted and that my body was made free with in a way that was completely inappropriate for the time and place. I was not consulted about what happened next but I would like to say here and now that it was unwelcome.

I heard a strange noise. It was a squeal the likes of which I refuse to believe can be reproduced by a human throat, regardless of the gender of the possessor of that throat. The noise was increasing in volume before I suffered an impact. An attack, nay a vicious assault. One from which I am still recovering. A figure had spotted me at some point and came running down and leapt at me full pelt wrapping both arms and legs around me which knocked me off my feet.

“Ow,” I said after I tried to peel the laughing form of my little sister off me.

“Shut up.” She said, refusing to let go of me after she had attached herself, limpet like, to my innocent and frail body.

“Frannie. You're making a scene.”

“So?”

I was lying on my back. Other courtiers had gathered round us and were making comments and jokes. Already I could hear wagers being traded and shouts of encouragement were being given on both of our behalfs.

Joking aside, it was really good to see her.

“Are the two of you going to help?” I asked Laurelen and Emma who were stood over us in the manner of umpires and people keeping score. They looked at each other.

“Nah,” Laurelen waved a passing page to bring something to drink.

Emma was a bit more solicitous and helped us to our feet. Francesca first I noticed.

No sooner had I gotten to my feet than I was once again enveloped by my little sisters hug.

“Hello Frannie.”

“Brother,” she yelled laughing. “It's so good to see you.” She suddenly pulled away. “You've been avoiding me,” she accused.

“As well I might,” I insisted, “Especially because every time I do see you you jump on me and do your very best to cause me grave bodily harm and injury.”

“Hah,” she said. “The mighty Scholar and Witcher's apprentice afraid of his little sister.”

“Too right. I would remind the honoured lady Francesca that it would be inappropriate to hit her back.”

“You wouldn't hit little old me would you?”

My sister has the largest eyes you can imagine.

“No, I might tickle you though.”

She squealed and slipped out of reach but I couldn't be put off. Vengeance was sweet.

I had missed my sister.

But she had changed a lot since I last saw her.

I might be biased in saying this but my younger sister had always been pretty. Where my elder sister is blonde in her colouring, my younger sister is dark haired. The last time I had seen her was when I left home after a massive fight with my father, she was fourteen at the time and was already growing into being a great beauty. To me it is difficult to talk about her as being beautiful as I can never get away from her being young and fussy and perpetually sick all the time. She was always too thin and try as we might we just could not get her too put on any weight. She would pick at her food in the same way that a bird does, getting out the choicer bits of meat. When challenged on this she would insist that she was already full or not hungry. This gave her a pale, gaunt and consumptive look. The kind of look that classical romantic poets at the university had gone absolutely mad over. They had seen her riding through town on those occasions when father or mother had brought her into Oxenfurt and had told me that I was a lucky man for living near such beauty. I had been forced, on may different occasions to take offence at this pointing out that she was my sister, also she was only fourteen and that they should slake their unnatural lusts elsewhere.

I may have been drinking at the time.

She had also grown tall very quickly. Whereas I was a late bloomer in terms of growth and physical maturity, Francesca had hit that maturity early. Much to the envy of her friends which had turned vicious on more than one occasion. But now...

It seemed that her time at court had done her much good. In the same way that my time with Kerrass had done me good in helping me put on some muscle mass and weight in the right areas it had done the same thing for Francesca.

I realised that I wasn't worried about hurting her in these little games. She looked strong and healthy and it suited her.

She had already been beautiful. People had teased me wondering if we really were brother and sister as she was so gorgeous and I was so.... not. But despite my occasional bouts of jealousy, I was made up for her. But now, as I got my first proper look at the woman in front of me, I was surprised that I recognised her at all. I could. She still carried herself the same way but there was a confidence in her now. A force of personality that was hard to get around.

She also dressed differently.

Very differently.

She had been a girl of dresses. Of jewellery and skirts and under shirt lifts. She liked flowers and gentle things. The most physical thing that she had learned to do was to learn to ride a horse but only that because it was required of her.

The woman that stood in front of me was muscled and hardened. Lean and fit like a racing Grey-hound or a fast racing horse. For a start, gone were the skirts and the petti-coats. Also gone were the bodices, she no longer needed them. Instead she wore dark leather trousers along with calf length leather boots which I could see metal plates sewn into the leather to armour her shins. Over the trousers she was wearing a white shirt, over which was a leather corset with battle skirt. to protect the upper thighs, chest and belly. Again I could see the shape of metal plates sewn into the leather. Even more hardened vambraces and shoulder guards as well that had obviously been made to fit this young woman. But that wasn't the surprising thing. She also had a sword strapped to her back with the same kind of harness that I had seen Kerrass wear so that it was not only feasible for her to draw it, but also easy.

Using the observational training that Kerrass had taught me, I could see that the hilt of the sword was well worn and the leather armour that she wore showed signs of use. It had been made so as to not limit her movement and so it was scuffed and scarred in places.

Her face was unadorned with make-up and her hair was held up and out of her face by simple hair clips. If she hadn't betrayed her identity in the opening moments of assailing me that day, I would not have recognised her.

“Well?” She demanded. “Do I pass inspection?”

“Sorry,” I said pretending to shake myself from a thought process. “I was distracted. Forgive me madam but have you seen my sister? I could have sworn that she was here just a moment ago.”

She hit me on the arm. Another woman in my life who thought that physical violence could take the place of a witty retort.

“Ow,” I said. “What did I do to deserve that?”

Instead of answering she threw her arms round me again “Oh it's so good to see you. I'm so happy for you.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“Congratulations,” she said again.

A nearby soldier, one of those men in head to foot plate mail was nearby. If his face hadn't been completely covered I would have sworn that he was trying not to laugh. “Excuse me Madam?” he said to Francesca, “I don't mean to intrude.”

Francesca changed before my eyes, from the young woman that was my sister to a lady and a terrifying lady of battle at that,

“The Swallow?” She asked the soldier. The man nodded. “I'll be there directly.” She told him before turning back to me. “Listen, I have to go but I want to hear all about everything alright? Private dinner, just family, tonight?”

“I uh,” I looked at Emma who nodded. “Uh, sure.”

“Right, see you then.” She turned and jogged after the soldier.

“Not what I expected,” I said watching her go before turning back to Emma with an accusing look. “You knew about that didn't you? You wanted to see my face didn't you?”

“I did,” said Emma trying to look serious. Laurelen was openly laughing at me. “And you did not disappoint.” She linked her arm through mine and started to lead me inside to the capital building. There was a delay at the door as there was a queue to make sure that we were who we said we were meaning that the three of us had to answer a series of questions to ensure our identity.

Emma and Laurelen got through with a very short and perfunctory set of questions whereas I got the third decree. Apparently, not many of my answers could be trusted as, according to the very serious looking man in the black tabbard with the golden sun emblazoned on it, anyone could have read my travel journals to ascertain the more common answers to the questions. In the end Emma had to vouch for my identity, much to the amusement of several people standing nearby. Laurelen made a jest to cover it up but I also saw Emma looking around and making note of the faces who were laughing. I was surprised at how fast the laughter died down.

The next stage was some more security. I was taken into a side room where I handed over my sword before I was patted down to find any other hidden weapons before I was shown out into the main hall where Emma and Laurelen were waiting for me.

The first thing that hit me between the eyes was the heat of it. So many people walking around, mingling and chatting.

“So why the change?” I asked Emma as I steered her towards where the food was laid out.

“In Frannie?”

Laurelen had vanished off to talk to another woman, terrifyingly beautiful with almost platinum blonde hair with a silver ankh round her neck.

“Yes. I never thought I'd see her as a warrior.”

“Your fault apparently.”

“My fault?”

“Yes. Mother and Father had sent her down here to try and strike up a relationship with the young Empress but, unfortunately it turned out that poor Frannie had no idea how to set about that. Then you started publishing your “Travels of a Witcher,” and, having an interest in the subject, the Empress expressed an interest in them and therefore in you. Someone remembered that they had a Coulthard at court and Frannie was sent for.

“The Empress is charming in her own way and was able to draw Frannie out. They've both suggested that Frannie provided a “little sister” of sorts to the Empress and the two got on like that from then on. There are several of them, in the Empress' entourage. The Empress has certain requirements of her ladies and friends, in this case she requires that the women be able to keep up with her. As a result Frannie had to learn sword craft, tactics, fighting and hunting.”

“She suits it.”

“She does. They're even being trained to act as guards to the Empress. They're not quite there yet but the Empress has decided that she wants to trust her guards implicitly but how can she do that when they men that surround her served her father and have their own agenda's. So she's taking steps to surround herself with friends. Friends who can help her fight.”

“Also, it strikes me that the Empress is more than capable of taking care of herself.”

“That is part of it. But anyway, it turns out that you, you, have been responsible for our rise in importance of the Imperial court.”

“Fuck me,” I swore softly.

A nearby noblewoman blanched and moved away. Emma giggled and I spent a bit of time scanning the table for something that looked edible. It was not easy.

“Lord Coulthard,” came a heavily accented voice from behind me. “You have forgotten me.”

I turned, a shrimp in one hand with my off hand poised to catch any tumbling bits of food. Not the most graceful moment to see one of the most beautiful women in the world. A woman who giggled as I quickly choked down the food.

“Your majesty,” I bowed deeply.

“So you haven't forgotten me?” said the Princess Dorn. Sleeping Beauty as was.

“How could I forget?”

“I'll leave you two to catch up.” Said Emma, “Freddie, the Empress is going to want to talk to us when she gets here so don't go wandering.”

“No ma'am”

Emma glared at me before turning away to grab some passing Lord by the arm and began whispering to him in a quick and determined manner.

“So Your Majesty,” I said snagging something that looked like a miniature quiche. “How are you finding things?”

“Tricky,” she said. “Can we switch to speaking in the Elder speech?”

“Certainly.” I answered in said speech. “You still struggling with the more modern dialects.”

She pulled a face. “In all honesty, it's not so much that it's just that my accent makes me think that I'm stupid but the instant I start talking in the Elder speech I suddenly seem to get more respect.”

I winced. “Humanity is still humanity I'm afraid.”

“Quite.”

“You're looking well.”

I was lying. She looked drawn and tired but I thought that she was bearing up well. There were still shadows under her eyes and she looked frail, almost worryingly so but there was still a glint and a glitter in her eyes that betrayed the humour and intelligence that I had seen when I first met her. I also noticed that despite the heat in the building and in the Duchy where fashion dictated scooped necklines and a bit of cleavage, the Princess was covered head to toe, including wearing gloves. She wore a small circlet of Gold with a single red gem in the middle.

“Thank you Lord Frederick but I think you're being overly generous. I look tired and drawn. I feel a stranger in my own lands let alone here where they seem so progressive to me although to you it would seem almost backward. But, I am making friends slowly and surely. Marion would be cross with me if I didn't say hello.”

“Say Hello back. Are you formally Queen now?”

“I will be when the Empress gets crowned.” She nodded. “It's been what, six months since I saw you?”

“About that.”

“Well the Imperial army has secured our borders against the more ambitious and aggressive of my neighbours. People are being encouraged to settle there and we look to make an industry out of the masses of timber and lumber that we expect to be able to grow but I wish we were more self-sufficient.”

“Baby steps Majesty, Baby steps.”

She smiled then. “As you say. The Empress has been very kind.”

“As well she might.”

“But anyway, enough about me. I understand that congratulations are in order.”

“Yes, that got around fairly quickly.”

“People care about you Lord Frederick.”

“Thank you Your Majesty. Not to change the subject too quickly but how are you getting on with your Mother?”

She made a face. “Slow going. All through my life my parents taught me to take responsibility for my actions and to face up to your responsibilities but Maleficent is just so flighty. Very clever but her mind jumps about from one thing to the other with a bewildering speed. We'll have just sat down to talk over tea and then she gets a thought and just vanishes without stopping to tell me where she's going. Ariadne says it's just her though and that she'll settle down.”

“And Kerrass?” I asked carefully.

She smiled. A little sadly I thought. “I still don't know about Kerrass. I owe him so much and I would like to talk to him more as, to all intents and purposes he is the person that I've known the longest but, he gets uncomfortable around me and makes his excuses before wandering off.”

I winced. “Where is he anyway? I had expected to see him here.”

“The Empress has commissioned the Witchers to act as her personal guards for the duration of the festivities. I think that she still gets uncomfortable around the Nilfgaardian's but the Witchers she understands. There was something else political going on about that as well that they kept me out of. I think she's making a statement. But...”

“She's not really keeping you in her thinking.”

“Not me, not many people. If you want to be worried about someone, be worried about her. She's taking on so much and I sometimes get the feeling that she's trying to make people change, make the continent change. too fast and without thinking that people might rebel against some of her ideas.”

“That's what Empresses do though. Make change happen.”

“Yes but sometimes we all forget that change is painful and can cause a great deal of harm. Then people who don't like the change want to fight against it and then the response backwards is so strong the change might as well have not happened in the first place. Real change happens slowly and, I might say, happens when the rulers of nations are looking the other way.”

“You might be right,”

“There she is,” The Princess said,

“There who is...”

But then I saw her.

Ariadne was on the other side of the ballroom, talking with a couple of people that I didn't recognise and she was accompanied by a beaming Duchess of Angraal but I wasn't really looking at her.

Ariadne looked absolutely amazing.

I know, I know that I am hardly unbiased in these things but I would go so far as to say... I was in the presence of Sleeping Beauty herself although she won't thank me for saying so but as I looked over and saw Ariadne there in that room it was as though the Princess faded away.

I know that men always claim that there lady is the most beautiful woman there and I have been lucky in knowing many beautiful women but Ariadne took my breath away that afternoon.

A long, off the shoulder blue dress with a yellow sash. She was dressed in light colours, a long way from the dark and forbidding colours that people still expected from her. She had a drink in her hand and was in the process of making the person who she was talking to laugh aloud at some witticism. There was a mischievous glint about her face and I could tell that she was enjoying herself immensely despite only smiling with her lips. A habit that I knew she had picked up so that people didn't see her fangs and become afraid. She wore a single piece of jewellery, a red gem seated in gold that was twisted together around her neck. It look fascinatingly delicate as though the gold was woven together to form a strange tapestry. Beyond that her hair was loose and fell down her back.

She took my breath away.

As I watched I saw that she had been waiting for me to notice that she was there as she knew where I was immediately. She looked over, smiled at me and was just in the process of talking to her companions in a way that I thought meant... “Please excuse me but I see someone over there that I simply must talk to.” But then the fanfare started.

Princess Dorn elbowed me in the ribs with a sly smile and gestured over the throng towards where Emma and Laurelen were standing together. Emma was beckoning to me, I bowed to Princess Dorn and went over.

A glance at Ariadne showed that she was moving into place herself along with a few people that I recognised from Angraal including the Duke and Duchess. I saw her mouth the word “later” at me and I nodded.

The fanfare was long, and far too loud for so small a place. As I stood there I could see the trumpeters up on a balcony but then the door opened and in strode a woman.

It is an odd feeling to know that you have made a mistake. Especially when you are chronicling your own circumstances and things that you've been up to. There is an urge to paint yourself in the most flattering light possible, to try and tell everyone that you were and are amazing at everything, that you saw right through the person that was lying to you and that you fought off your enemies easily.

But there is no getting round the fact that I made a mistake.

The first woman that came through the large double doors of the room was not the Empress. But she looked like one.

I had never seen Her Enlightened Ladyship Anna Henrietta , Duchess of Toussaint before. I hadn't even seen her portrait but I hope that I can be forgiven my lapse of judgement as I started to fall to my knees. If anyone looked like Imperial royalty at that time and in that place it was her. Emma caught my mistake though and tugged me up to my feet and I was able to realise that the nobles around us were merely bowing or curtsying.

What can I say about the Duchess?

I cannot remember where it was written but there exists, somewhere, a poetic discourse on what a woman requires to be considered “truly classically beautiful”. Many women have been known to make themselves dangerously ill in the pursuit of this “ideal” but even so, I have to admit that personally I find that my tastes are a lot more varied than what the poet describes. But, in meeting the Duchess it has to be said that the poet in question might very well have been writing about Duchess Anna Henrietta of Toussaint.

Toussaint is a land of tasteful excess. While I was there I kept catching myself looking for the edges of the painting. Looking for that place where the air of enchantment lessened, where the paint turned out to only be skin deep but I kept finding that what I was looking at was not actually an illusion. Nowhere was this more exemplified than in the personage of the Duchess herself. Her blonde hair was done up into a hairstyle that was almost ludicrously elaborate with a head dress that was, to my eye, worth more than the total worth of all of the historical crown jewels of Redania.

Her dress looked as though it was spun from actual gold itself in that it certainly shimmered as though it was while she worked. Vast skirts and hugely ornate beadwork was on display over the course of the rest of the dress which looked as though it was impossibly tight even though she seemed to move and breathe easily. She wore emeralds in her ears and around her neck and the way she moved was like a dancer. Each foot fall was deliberately placed and as she did so the sound of her foot hitting the ground echoed into the silence after the fanfare died away. She walked up to the throne on the dais and moved to stand behind it. I saw her register a few people's presence. Princess Dorn who, I noticed, was bowing just as low as anyone despite being royalty bowing to a “mere” Duchess.

It should be said, for those people who are not students of Nilfgaardian history and politics that Toussaint, although old and steeped in tradition and history is relatively small and strategically unimportant. Having said that though, the volcanic nature of the part of the world in which it resides means that the wines of Toussaint are separate to none. No-one wants to invade Toussaint because, at the end of the day, no-one can be bothered. It would cause far more problems than it would solve. That's not to say that you can't. The capital of Beauclair could easily be taken by a relatively small force, they do produce some food but mostly what they produce is wine so their wealth is in their trade income. Wine gets exported and everything else get imported.

I hope you understand that this is a gross simplification of the matter.

But to invade Toussaint, you first have to get through all of the surrounding territories. Which are allied to Toussaint and each other. So if you attack one then everyone else will prevent you from doing so. Also, the number of alliances that Toussaint holds through marriage is also larger than is conventionally thought of as being particularly realistic. So suddenly, people all over the continent are getting letters from “their noble cousins” saying that these dreadful little men are invading us, anything you can do to help would be appreciated. Then suddenly the invading army discovers that all the food they were expecting to receive from their friends seems to have mysteriously vanished at sea.

Plus, if you invade. Wine production stops. So then you have to drink the “northern piss,” That Toussaint people think of beer as, or Southern Swill which is everything from further south. Also all, your friends are suddenly realising that wine stocks are running low and can't help but notice that the reason that this is all going so badly is because you've fucked things up.

So in short, invading Toussaint is more trouble than it's worth.

However, Nilfgaard had conquered the surrounding territories and annexed the place. Looking through the history books it seemed that there was some kind of marriage contract that joined the two houses so that the Dukes and Duchesses of Toussaint can refer to the Empress and the Emperor before her as being “our noble cousin.”

In short. Inside Toussaint, the rule of the Duchess is absolute, to the equal of any ruling monarch in their own lands. If the Emperor gave an order to a courtier of Toussaint, then that courtier would check with the Duchess first.

So what I'm saying is, when the Duchess walked into the room, I was expecting to see the Empress. What I saw, looked so Imperial and so royal that I automatically assumed that she was the Empress without thinking about the known differences.

So, as I say. The Duchess moved through and walked up to the dais where she stood beside and a little bit behind the throne which would traditionally be the position of an advisor.

Then the Empress came into the room and when I saw her, I wondered at my own mistake.

She moved in a way that I used to see my father move when we had just moved into the castle that we now call home. At the time I did not see it for what it was so I didn't recognise it at first. But this time I did. She moved with the speed of someone who knows that everyone will wait for her to arrive, but at the same time has no wish to fuck about and waste time.

Everyone always talks about Empress Cirilla by talking about her hair. So I will talk about that first. Her hair was long and she had it pinned up behind her head in a manner that suggested that she had just ordered someone to do so so that it wouldn't keep getting in her eyes. The fact that it was held in that place by a diamond encrusted silver comb was not lost on me.

As I watched her stride into the room I recognised the hairstyle as being one that I've seen Emma adopt and Francesca afterwards. I glanced at Emma from my place on my knees to find that Emma was watching me, her eyes twinkling. I would have bet any amount of money that it had been Frannie who had tied up the Empress' hair for her.

The Empress' hair was once described by the bard as being “Ashen blonde,” but I'm here to tell you that to my eyes, it might as well be white. If anything it made me think of silver hair rather than anything else so I have wondered since whether the bard had taken some poetic licence with this. Who knows?

Is the Empress beautiful?

Of course she is. The very question itself almost trivialises what she looks like. She is... how can I put this. She is beautiful but it's a kind of remote beauty. It's a hard and an unapproachable beauty. She is remote and distant, standoffish almost. It's not that she's not charming. She's also extremely quick and ridiculously intelligent. Her mind is lightening fast and I know, from experience, that she can take up a detailed conversation from the point at which she left it up to several days later and I'm told that she can do the same thing for weeks or even months afterwards.

But I get the feeling that she keeps people away from getting too...intimate with her. I guess that she has one or two close confidants that she lets get close to her and be friends with because she doesn't want to let anyone get close enough to depend on her for political favours.

Taken classically, the portrait painters are going to love her. Maybe because of her scar.

Suitors will flock to her, not just for her position, nor just for her charm or her intelligence but I struggle to believe that anyone will get close to her without intercedents getting involved as it seems as though it will be all but impossible for her to let her guard down enough to be close to anyone. She watches the room and you can see, or rather sense, the wheels turning behind her eyes. I say sense because those same wheels are turning impossibly fast as the woman is just thinking on a different level than the rest of us. She's easily more intelligent than me and I would put her at being considerably more intelligent than most people that I know and I know some really smart people.

But she's always thinking and like a chess player she's thinking ten, fifteen moves ahead on an international scale. I find that I begin to pity her a little, it would almost be easier for her if she wasn't also a reasonably good human being. But right then and there, she had just walked in through the double doors and she was dominating the room without doing anything. She didn't even look up to register the rest of the room, she just moved through with a long legged stride of someone who was used to other people getting out of her way as well as the stride of someone who is used to having other people keep up with her rather than having to modify her pace to suit others.

She was also vastly different to the ornate and brightly coloured suits and dresses of the assembly. Where we were all brightly coloured and bedecked in ornamentation the Empress was...well... not.

She wore a high collared dark purple riding coat which was absolutely plain despite obviously being made from expensive material. It was the kind of purple where it looked as though it was dark blue until it caught the light or folded in some way which was where it revealed the red underneath. It was buttoned up across her chest and I wondered how armoured it was and if I was close, whether I would be able to hear the metal clinking together. She had a broad dark red sash across her middle and before the tails of the coat flowed backwards. Not for this Empress the vast trains and skirts. Underneath the coat she wore a set of White trousers, the kind of which you would see on anyone who rides a lot and she had on a pair of Black boots that looked as though they were made for comfort rather than ornamentation. They were lacking in spurs which had surprised me. As she walked she was tucking a pair of white gloves into her sash as though she was coming in from outside.

I looked in vain for any sign of jewellery, she wore no ear-rings and no rings on her hands. No necklace either and her hair was pinned up with a simple silvery clip although I suspected that someone might have been able to sneak a few precious stones into it without the Empress noticing. The only other thing that she wore that looked to be of any value was a golden Sunburst broach on her chest but again that was simple and understated.

I caught the statement and I could almost feel Emma watching me from the corner of my eye. The Empress was telling us all that she didn't need to ornament herself or advertise who she was. We should all know who she was and if we didn't, then we were in the wrong place.

Sir Rickard once told me that this happens in the military as well. You can always tell the real leader of men in the army. It's not the person with the most ornate armour or even the shiniest suit of arms and equipment. Nor is it the person who shouts the loudest or has the largest horse. Look for who speaks softly, look for the person with the signal flags and who they're standing next to. When the orders are given, who do the men look towards. It might be the person with the most battered suit of armour, or the hairiest, smelliest Sergeant on the field. That's the man in charge. The man who everyone defers to.

The Empress dominated the room. It was as though the sun had come out and shone on us all but it was a focused shine which made it bright and almost uncomfortable.

She was accompanied by three Witchers. One of which was Kerrass who scanned the room, his sword in the scabbard on his back and his left hand on the sword strap. Another was a man who I knew to Eskel from the Wolf school from Kerrass' descriptions. A large man with the most hideous scar across his face which lends him an air of grim savagery which I have since learned could not be further from the man's true nature. The third was a man that I didn't know although I knew that it wasn't the White wolf of legend as this man's hair was dark and shaved close to his scalp.

Also with the Empress came Francesca, still in her warriors garb and with her own sword on her back. She walked at the Empress' left shoulder and in her arms she cradled a sword as though it was a baby. The hilt was permanently offered towards the Empress so that the Empress could draw that sword, easily and at any time.

This too was a statement of some kind although some of the complexities were lost on me.

A few other people came in with her. Another man who I would later learn to be Morvran Vorhees who I, rather unfairly, didn't like the look of. He was pale faced and pale eyed and he reminded me of a dead fish. My sincerest hope is that he laughs when he reads this. He makes me think that I shouldn't trust him and yet has done nothing and continued to do nothing to betray anyone who he has sworn an oath to. I am told that he was one of the first to bow to Empress Cirilla when she was named as Emhyr's heir, although there was rumour that he was disappointed in this as he hoped to be made heir himself having a good claim to the throne himself.

There also came the Sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg who, although she was there and dressed in her signature colours of black and white, she scanned the room upon entering and walked off to a quiet alcove where she opened the book that she had tucked under her arm and sipped from a single goblet of wine that might even have been empty for all I know. Yes she is beautiful and yes, she is terrifying.

If there were any others I must have missed them as I was too busy watching the Empress command the attention of the entire room without really trying.

She walked in and strode quickly up to the dais before turning around and just for a moment she seemed surprised that we were all there and that we had all taken a knee.

She took a moment to survey the room before sitting down. I saw that she wore no crown but she sat and crossed her legs comfortably. At some signal that I didn't see we all started to straighten up. At another signal it seemed as though we all were given permission to get on with the party.

Not for long though.

I just had time to pick out Ariadne in the crowd again, like me she had sought refuge amongst the familiar faces for the Empress' entrance as I saw that she was with the Duke and Duchess of Angraal, formerly the King and Queen of that territory but I later found out that they were using their Nilfgaardian titles here. She had been scanning for me as well as when we saw each other we started towards each other at almost the same time.

It was not to be however as I was intercepted.

“Lord Frederick?”

I turned and a young man, can't have been more than twelve in a Squire's outfit stood at my elbow.

“Yes?”

“The Empress' compliments my lord. She invites you to converse with her at the dais.” I nodded, “Lead on.”

He did so. I tried to ask him whether or not the Empress had actually sent her compliments to me but he wasn't being drawn on the matter.

I was shown to the foot of the dais where Emma was also waiting and I followed proper protocol which was hurriedly whispered in my ear by the squire in question. You know the type of thing. Bow, advance three paces, bow again, stay bowed until the Empress invites you to straighten, don't look the Empress in the eye etc. I tried to keep a straight face during this description. Normally I'm much better at keeping myself under control with regards to the solemnity of the situation but Kerrass was pulling faces at me from behind the throne where he was on guard.

I went through the bowing and the scraping.

“You may straighten Lord Frederick.” I was surprised at how....well...normal her voice was. She had none of the airs or graces of any noble person that I've ever spoken to. It was a voice, although trained to carry in a din such as this one, that wouldn't draw your attention in a tavern let alone in so august a company as this one. It was direct and to the point.

I did as I was told and got my first look at the Empress.

As I say, the Empress is a beautiful woman in her own right, even ignoring her elevated position.

“Imperial Majesty.” I said simply.

“I've been looking forward to meeting you Lord Frederick, please come closer so that we can talk without having to shout at each other.”

I looked at both sisters. Emma nodded almost imperceptibly and Frannie looked pleased. I saw that Lord Vorhees looked a little annoyed but also resigned. I felt myself shrug and step forward.

“I am unsure of the protocol here,” I heard myself say, “Do I kneel or crouch or something?”

“Just stand, thank you.”

I swear she was amused. As though she was as aware of the ludicrousness of the situation just as I was.

“As I say Lord Frederick,” Notice that she wasn't using the royal “we” I'm told that she doesn't unless she's making an official declaration. “I've been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Should I be worried?” I really hate my sense of humour sometimes.

“Maybe,” said the Empress. “Although I suspect that if anyone is to be concerned here it should be your younger sister as she absolutely guaranteed that you would not be boring.”

“Define boring for me your Imperial Majesty. If it pleases you that I should sing a song or do a little dance then I'm sure that I might qualify to be your fool if nothing else.”

Her lip twitched upwards.

“I find that I have surrounded myself with many fools in recent time Lord Frederick.” Her absolutely dead-pan delivery made me wonder whether or not she was joking. “I was told that you might speak a little more sense.”

“My father taught me that if I had nothing sensible to say then I should say nothing at all.” I said carefully. “As a result of this sentiment I endeavour to remain as silent as possible. I will redouble my efforts in your presence your Imperial Majesty.”

I saw Eskel having to clap Kerrass on the back a couple of times as Kerrass suffered a seemingly uncontrollable fit of coughing.

“Quite right too.” Put in Duchess Anna Henrietta of Toussaint.

“That's as maybe,” said the Empress carefully. “But there are several matters upon which I would like to take some time to converse with you upon over the next few days.”

“I am, of course, Your Majesties most Humble Servant.”

“And not so humble I suspect?”

There is a moment, when sometimes you meet someone and you feel a certain amount of kinship with them. Whether it's the hint of a shared sense of humour or a shared thought. I found myself with that feeling towards the Empress. I found myself thinking that the poor woman would give a considerable portion of her Empire to be anywhere else but here at the moment. Including if that meant that she was in the middle of a battlefield.

“You might suspect that Your Majesty but I couldn't possibly comment.”

“I also understand that Congratulations are in order.”

I bowed deeply.

“I am grateful Your Majesty. It is a small thing and I suspect it will mean more work for me in the long run.”

“Perhaps so but it takes a certain amount of bravery to agree to marry anyone, let alone an Elder Vampire. And a Sorcerous one at that.”

Somewhere I could hear wind blowing.

My stomach dropped.

“Sorry Your Majesty, What did you say?”

“I said you must be a brave man to agree to marry a vampire.”

“And that was what you were congratulating me for?”

“Yes,” she said her eyebrows rising, “Was there something else?”

I looked over at Emma who's own eyes were wide with horror. “Is that... Is that what people keep congratulating me over?” I heard myself say.

“What else was it going to be?” Emma said faintly.

The sounds of the party and things drifted away.

I felt myself turn to stare into the face of Ariadne who was stood at the foot of the dais looking at me.

“Oh,” The Empress started to laugh. “You didn't know.”

Her laughing got louder and louder.

Without looking away from Ariadne's serene face I heard myself say, quite distinctly, “So is that position of “Court Fool” still available Your Imperial Majesty?”

The Empress needed to be handed a cup of water.