Like royalty

What a bed! It was like being cuddled by a giant panda and a pack of puppies all at once! Lucija’s mood was much improved. Her arrival to this new world had a rocky start but things were looking up.

Take the blankets. Magic heated. They stay at a comfortable 20°C all night long, and if it gets warmer than that, they turn off. Take the bath. Enough space to fit a water polo team and the water stayed constantly warm however long I spent in there.

At that moment, Lucija was sitting on a seductively curved lounge chair, drinking a cup of tea. It didn’t taste anything like any tea she had before, but it was the form of it that mattered. She went to make another cup, switching on the magic kettle.

She was a little curious by the number of things that reminded her of Earth, but the little chocolate sweets made her forget all about it. Resting on the table was a little bell. She picked it up and gave it a little shake.

Within seconds two women came scurrying in, both roughly in their early 20s. One wore a long modest dress, the other a military uniform: a dark teal tunic with turned up collars and tight breeches. The sleeves and hem of the tunic had silver-thread embroidery, mainly of meandering vines, some animals and flowers.

'Morning again Silvia,' Lucija addressed the woman in uniform as she lifted the cup of tea to her mouth. 'The food and tea are delicious, thank you. Could you tell me my schedule for the day?'

Lucija still found it surprising that someone in this other world, this Urda, spoke Maltese, but it sure made life easier.

'It would be my honour, lady.’ Silvia answered, while giving a theatrical bow. 'We will be heading to the Palace. There we will meet with the royal family as well as nobles and dignitaries from across the Imperium.'

'Yes, that’s right. A royal audience. Mela. That should be good.’ Kira took another sip of tea, the cup shaking a bit.

‘Would you like to get ready my lady?’ Silvia asked.

‘Yes, I must look my best for all the royalty and what not.’

The maid showed Lucija a selection of dresses before helping her get changed behind a screen. While she dressed, Silvia gave her a mini geography lesson. Lucija didn’t remember much, other than they were in some large city called Halvesdon, the capital of the country they were in, the Veltagia Imperium.

Lucija looked in the mirror. The close-fitting Burgandy dress flowed down to her ankles. She clasped on the thin leather belt and twirled in front of the mirror, smiling at the soft swoosh of the silk.

‘I love the material. Does it come giant, man-eating caterpillars, the kind adventurers hunt in dark caves?’ Lucija asked.

Silvia gave Lucija a quizzical look. ‘Erm, no just regular silk caterpillars. Although I hear farmers sometimes lose fingers if a mimic sneaks in with new shipments.’

‘Mimics! Like the chests with big tongues?’ Lucija shouted, running up to Silvia, enthusiastically taking hold of and shaking her hands.

‘I don’t know about chests,’ Silvia deflected before changing the subject, ‘Ahem, now for some etiquette, my lady. Usually, you bow at the waste when introduced to someone. For formal occasions you will do this.’

Silva then bowed, tilting to the right. She kept both arms slightly in front of her and next to her side. Her palms were open and pointed upwards.

‘For a lady in a dress, it is common to just bow your head to, ahem, avoid any awkward angles.’ She added.

‘Oh, no curtsy? I've always wanted to curtsy, but when I’ve tried at home, I’m all elbows and it looks like I have four knees.’

‘I don’t know what a curtsy is, my lady,’ Silvia said. ‘But the highest form of respect is shown by kneeling. Simply lower your body, resting you left knee on the ground while also bowing your head.’

Silvia added, ‘But that is only used to show respect to the most august host or guest; generally, only the king himself or the king of another nation.’

*

The walk to the Palace was short, through wide lawns and tree lined paths. Lucija and Silvia waited at one of the two terraces that led to the Palace entrance. The Palace itself was a mixture of straight walls and rotund towers.

Soon the other summoned started to arrive. Lucas saw Lucija, smiled and waved, but other than that, they had nothing they could say to each other. Lucija knew only a tiny bit of Portuguese, most of it along the lines of ‘here’s your change’ and ‘no toilet here’.

Each summoned waited in their own couples. Like Lucija, they had someone that could translate for them. Lucija tried to talk with the others, but it was awkward. Everything she said had to be translated twice and then translated twice again before she could get a reply. About the only useful thing she got were some names: Lucas from Brazil, Xiao from China and Ishikata from Japan.

‘Silvia, is the king a kind man?’ Lucija asked as she started thinking about the royal audience. She had never met royalty before and was starting to feel nervous.

‘The king is a magnanimous and gracious ruler loved by all his people.’ Silvia answered with hardly a pause.

‘Oh, that’s good then.’ Lucija replied.

Soon, some official looking people came out of the house, each wearing a richly patterned cloak. One raised his voice, speaking in the native language.

'The audience is about to begin. Shall we go, my lady?' Silvia asked.

'But we’re not all here yet. There’s only four of us. I haven’t seen that man. The one from yesterday with the shadow.'

'I understand he won’t be coming. He had a late night.'

‘Oh, what a shame. Let’s go!’ Lucija said as she almost skipped up the steps.

The group weaved through hallways, paved in different colours of marble forming geometric shapes. The walls were covered in white wainscotting, tapestries and paintings. The atmosphere reminded her of walking through the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta, but this time she was an honoured guest, not some kid on a school trip.

After the hallways, they walked through a set of doors and into the sunlight of a large courtyard, in the centre of which was a plastered circular building.

'This is the inner council chamber,' Silvia explained, ‘The building is usually used for the important meetings of the Sovereign Council, the most senior authority in the Imperium after the king. Many of the important functions of the state are delegated to the Council.'

They were ushered into a well-guarded antechamber. The soldiers wore richly coloured tunics under breastplates and armed with spear and sword. They opened a set of doors to a large round room surrounded by tapestries.

'High King Aethalmund Sigeson should be arriving shortly.' Silvia said.

Lucija wondered what the king might be like. Her imagination zig-zagged from a kindly old man with thick white beard, a young dashing hero-type and, here least favourite, a middle-aged man, craggy and greying from the important functions of state.

On a raised dais at one end of the room, flags unfurled, trumpets rang out. A herald then cried out.

'Ladies and gentlemen, High King of Veltagia, the king of kings and protector of humanity, King Aethalmund Sigeson.' Silvia translated.