13 Chapter 13

Alexandra

With the rising of the sun, pandemonium reigned in the palace grounds. Horses were being exercised and the contestants were either stretching, meditating or fencing at shadows according to their mood. Rings for sword play and the lists for the tilting were being given their final inspection by the judges.

Alexandra had woken early to discover that once again she was expected to sit on display for the entire day.

For a brief moment, she considered throwing a tantrum, but after a deep breath she settled for refusing to put on yet another ill-fitting dress. She sat at her vanity while one of her maids ran to find the seamstress. She brushed her hair and stared into the mirror. She would never, she thought, be a raving beauty like Anaeth. As the seamstress entered Alexandra turned to face her.

"Look at these dresses." She waved her hand at the bed. "They neither fit nor suit my taste."

"You woke me out of my sleep to tell me this? I am not a young woman, Princess. You could have waited out of consideration for me. These dresses are the latest fashion, and I made them to your measurements myself."

"I am aware that they are your own work, the quality speaks for itself. But you have not taken new measurements in some time, and I am not a little girl anymore." She handed the seamstress a sketch.

"You will sew me a dress in this fashion for this evening's ball. And you will sew it to the measure you take now." A maid handed her a measuring string. The older woman became immediately professional and took a great many measurements, muttering under her breath the entire time. When she had finished she briskly rolled up the string and handed it back to the maid.

"I will send you some essentials that you need now. The dress will be ready for fitting by the noon meal."

As she turned to leave, Alexandra stopped her with a look.

"In the future, you will not make any new gowns for me without consulting me first. You may go." With a nod the princess returned to brushing her hair.

The seamstress stood outside the door a moment to catch her breath. She looked at the sketch in her hand and shook her head. It seemed that this young woman had her own ideas about fashion, and interesting ones too. Well she had better get to work, and the first thing to do was to wake up all her assistants. Chuckling to herself, she walked back to her room.

In the meantime, Alexandra put on an older gown which was less tailored than the new ones and still fit. Dressed comfortably for now, she headed down to the kitchen for a bite to eat before heading out to watch the preparations for the tournament. The opening ceremonies were scheduled for mid-morning, and the first matches would start before lunch. She leaned against a fence watching a princeling trying to control a coal-black charger with shouts and curses. A chuckle beside her announced George's arrival.

"No horseman there, heh?"

"If he strikes that horse I'll go in there and throw him out myself."

"Don't worry, here's his groom to put him right." George chuckled again and shook his head. "Did I ever tell you about your Uncle Jack?"

The princess simply shook her head, still watching the struggle to control the high-strung horse.

"Well, he was your father's older twin." Alexandra whipped her head around to stare at George. "Easy, your Highness, watch the horse. These days your Uncle Jack isn't well known about these parts, but he caused a proper scandal in his day. He and your father were your age when the old King was going to declare his heir. Jack wasn't much on governing and running the kingdom. He much rather'd be out on the border, dealing with the giants. They were rather a dense lot. Still are for that matter."

"Anyway, there he'd be, all alone using only his wits to trick the giants and keep them out of the kingdom, and some pompous messenger from the King would ride up and blow his trumpet and make all kinds of a fool of himself, and demand that Jack return to the castle and his duties. Jack was furious, and so when they finally held the ceremony to declare the heir, Jack tricked your father into wearing his clothes and taking the oaths. They looked enough alike that no one noticed until it was too late. Your father didn't mind, and I think he made a much better King than Jack would've been. Soon after the coronation Jack made himself scarce, thinking that another man who looked just like the King was too much asking for trouble. King John, your father, agreed, and while Jack's name isn't exactly forbidden, the naming of him isn't encouraged either."

George sighed and straightened.

"I'm not as young as I was." The princess stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Why have I never been told about Uncle Jack?"

"Well, the King isn't about to bring the subject up, your mother always follows your father's lead, and the chancellor who knows, and tells, every other scandal in the history of the kingdom, was sweet on Jack, and to this day can't talk about him without choking up." The sound of trumpets interrupted them, and the princess and the old groom hurried off in different directions to take their place for the opening of the games.