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“And is making all the arrangements?”
“How did you know that?”
“Oh, Tiggy,” he said, shaking his head. “It is really quite obvious. They are training you to be their puppet.”
“What?”
“Well, not literally. But that is how families like that work. They aren’t helping to relieve your stresses. They are doing it to exert their control! They are showing how things will be into the future. Get engaged at a time and place they determine? When they say? How they say to do it?”
“I... didn’t think about that.”
“Most wouldn’t. But if they get their way now, they will have established the pattern. They will dictate things forever. Even when you are queen, you will have a meddling dowager as puppet master.”
She felt foolish. It all rang true.
That was what the queen had done, wasn’t it? Little tests? Little games? All to assert her dominance? And she had seen it countless times back in Mestibes too—parents and grandparents running over the top of young bachelorettes not strong enough to fight back. Girls joining noble families only to become little more than doormats.
And she had seen it in her own house as well. She had endured the years of subservience. She had endured the rip of cane against skin!
Was that to be her life again? To be a little woman under another tyrannical mother figure?
No! No, I won’t allow that!
“So, what do you suggest?” she said.
“This whole relationship? You are playing it a whirlwind?”
“Well... yes.”
“Then actually make it a whirlwind! Be spontaneous. Take the initiative!”
“But, how?”
“Have Calix propose at the Black Night Festival?”
“But... that’s just five days away!”
“It is a whirlwind, Tiggy! It is supposed to be whirlwindy!”
“Yes, but everyone knows that Calix observes the Sable Moon Sanctum. Withdrawing on that night to pray and reflect.”
“Exactly! So what better way to show the complete change you have brought over him—breaking his habit of solitude? People here don’t care about that piety stuff. But him coming out of hiding, kneeling before you in the presence of his future subjects? It would be the ultimate confirmation of his love. A moment strong enough to silence the doubters.”
“Doubters? What have you heard?” A little shiver ran through her. Was that what the queen had meant when she’d said some people were hard to convince?
“Cousin, please, don’t worry about idle gossip.”
“No, please, tell me!”
“Well,” said Aurelius, with a reluctant look. “Some are asking why Calix has not visited the Great Grove.”
She bit her tongue accidentally. Of course! How could they have been so stupid? That’s what smitten young couples were supposed to do! Ms. Securia had even implied it when they’d walked back from the temple of Vatic. That’s why she’d told her the story of her own experiences. She must harbor some doubts, just like all the other citizens did!
“Exactly,” said Aurelius. “And you can’t do that, can you? So why not take the next best option? Do the proposal so quickly, so publicly that you silence the chatter before it becomes a chorus?”
She ran her thumb along her pendant, nodding. “You’re right. It’s perfect. I’ll ask Calix at once. And... thank you for this. I know this whole situation must be difficult for you.”
“Dearest cousin,” he said, taking her by the hands. “All that matters is that Mestibes is safe and that you are happy.”
