10 Chapter 10

George heard the steel in her words and wondered again at what pain had forged it. Taking his silence as answer, Alexandra turned to him.

"If it comes down to a choice between being royal or being myself, I believe I will remain myself, whatever the cost. Leave your sword in its scabbard, I would not wish to see you hanged for my sake." She nodded at him and walked back toward the palace. George watched her leave and thought to himself that she was more royal than any dozen of them, enchantment or not, and he cursed himself for not having the nerve to say it to her.

The stable hands saw that now George was staring into the courtyard at nothing. It seemed to be catching, whatever it was, and they gave the old man a wide space for his thoughts.

While Alexandra was gathering her thoughts and escaping the stench of the morning, the King was closeted with his councilors. He paid little attention to the young man who still was odorous with the magicians' spells, and who was occupied with wishing he had never been born. The clerks were sneezing with the dust from old books of law and tradition, as they searched for some respectable way of finding a match for the princess. They had given up on spells, curses and enchantments. They had considered the damsel in distress route, but the smelly young councilor had roused from his self-pity long enough to point out that Alexandra was unlikely to simply wait about to be rescued and having her extricate herself from dragon or ogre would just leave them with a worse embarrassment. It was agreed that no ordinary monster could long hold the princess prisoner. The really good monsters were too high a risk since they had been known to eat more than a few knights, and even the occasional princess. All morning they talked and squabbled; some ideas were too risky, either to the princess or the royal dignity, while others had little chance of success.

At last the oldest councilor opened a book and mumbled to himself as he read through the cloud of dust rising off the paper. His eyes brightened as he realized that he had the solution to their problem. As he opened his mouth to speak, he sneezed. All the others in the room looked at him as he sneezed again and again. His eyes watering and itching, the old man tried to explain his plan. Finally, he just pushed the book over to the King and placed his finger on the title of the chapter.

"A description of the great tournament to choose an heir to King Albert the XI," the King read.

"So, what has this to do with marriage?"

"If...ah-choo...you can...ash-hoo...choose an heir...ashooo... by tournament...honk...why not...ah...ah...ah..."

"A husband for the princess!"

"....SHOOO! Egsakly, I mean certainly, your Majesty."

"You have found the answer, I am sure. I will leave you to plan the tournament and take care of all the details." The King got up to leave, and stretched briefly. "One more thing, if any of you mention this to the Princess Alexandra I will personally see you scrubbing floors, in the dungeon. Good day."

Preparations for the great tournament moved forward rapidly. The King and Queen decided that they would inform Alexandra of the true nature of the tournament on the eve of the final round. There was no need to create a fuss until everything had been taken care of. They found ways to keep Alexandra distracted until then.

The chancellor was drilling Alexandra on the ritual for the making of an heir. She found it harder to deal with the supercilious little woman than to learn her lines. The princess put up with the morning lessons for long after she had learned all her lines so well she was reciting them in her sleep. The chancellor was a fountain of unofficial history of the kingdom. She knew every gaff and foolishness of every person who had ever sat on the throne. Alexandra heard stories of a King who had paraded through the city in his underwear, and another who turned everything he touched into gold, including his food. Morning after morning she would leave the chancellor working at her papers while she struggled not to laugh out loud until she was well out of ear shot.

Alexandra wasn't looking forward to the tournament. While she might see some of the people from the school, she wasn't sure that she wanted to, or that they would want to see her. The princess heaved a sigh, and headed out to the stables. Once the King had learned of her spending time at the stables he instructed George to teach Alexandra the finer points of running an army. Much of it consisted of supply lines and sanitation. George quickly learned what they had taught her at school, and started on the things they had never mentioned. What to do when everything went wrong. He told her stories of foul ups and disasters, then made her tell him why it went wrong and what she would have done differently. He taught her how to play chess to make her think ahead, then forced her to play quickly so she had to think fast.

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