Page 26 of The Tsarina's Favorite
“She was uncivil to another undeservedly,” I said, “and regardless of how you see me, I still will come to a lady’s defense.I would have done the same for any of you.”
“Oh, we are not upset,” said another.
“We thought it was marvelous.Lady Pochenka is uncivil to everyone!”
“Would you join us?”The countess gestured towards a little circle she had formed, Princess Alaina at the center of it, her face as dour as the tsarina’s.
I did not trust them, but I had no better occupation.And for a rare moment, they weren’t finding novel ways to torment me.
“Lead the way and I shall follow.”
Ekaterina smiled and led.The other four ladies escorted me.The countess turned to look at me over her shoulder as she introduced me into her gathering.The princess looked up and then pointedly away, fanning herself with such vigor that I thought she intended to send half the party away in a gust of wind.
They offered me a seat on a bench, and I took it, but only after I saw all of them seated first.
“What’s it like being a chicken?”one of the newest ladies asked.
“Spend more time at court with all the henpecking biddies,” I told her, “and you will have opportunity to witness others with far more experience than I.”
Most of the group laughed.
“Is it true you were a prince?”another lady asked when no one else followed up on the initial question.
The question, although not malicious, invariably led toward a humiliating conversation at my expense.How funny, a fallen prince.Ha ha.But I wasn’t just a fallen prince.I was a jester now too.I possessed a certain degree of freedom in my storytelling, as Drook had always been quick to point out.I could guide the discussion as I wished by how I framed my answers.
“Once,” I told her, deliberate in my tone of confidence and sorrow.“Then an evil witch cast a spell on me and left me as you see.”
Ekaterina blushed.“That’s a rather romantic way to put it.”
“Is it not true?”I found her eyes and gazed into them, intentional and manipulative in my connection.She had once wanted me despite whatever she had done since my return.And if Klessa was right, I could still sway her, even if not in the same capacity.“Still me, in body, mind, and spirit, in all ways of substance — and yet....”
“Is there a way to break such a spell?”A young woman gazed at me in a way I recognized and had not seen in a long time.
“Typically, it is the love of a woman true and fair which frees a prince from such a curse, but by design, no one will ever look upon me again and see someone worthwhile.”
“That’s not so,” said one of the women.“You have such beautiful eyes.”
“And a gentle way of speaking,” added another.
“And I would guess that you’re beautiful beneath your mask.”
“Would you take the beak off and show us?”
“Please!”a chorus of ladies pleaded.
“Alas,” I told them, “I cannot, as part of my curse.Should anyone see the prince I was before, I might never be free.”
Their disappointment sounded in chorus too.
“I fear,” I said, sounding as woeful as I could, “if no one can look beyond my trappings or the station to which they consign me, I shall never find someone to rescue me from my cruel fate.”
“A cruel fate indeed!”A lady moved closer to me on the bench and reached out to pat my hand.
“However might we assist?”asked another.
I had them now wrapped up in a fairy tale of my unfair disgrace, and I bent it to serve me.
“Perhaps petitions to release me from my enchantment might remind my sorceress that she is a good and kind ruler and that I have only ever wished to serve her.”I sighed with great pathos, a tragic noble figure now in the eyes of these ladies.“And perhaps, if it is not so much trouble — though I know how I must appear to you — some civility as I attempt to endure this sad state of mine with grace?”
