The Weight of Duty and Secrecy

Just then a servant appeared requesting that Princess Isabella come to see the King as he had requested to see her regarding the arrangements for the upcoming trip. Isabella carefully packed away the gift and they strode together returning to the palace.

The pair greeted each other and Isabella made her way to see her father. The servant had said that the King was in his private study. She quickly made her way until she reached the front door of his private study. This was one of her favorite rooms, she recalled that as a small girl she would often play in this room, and marveled at all the wondrous things her father had collected from all across the lands.

As a little girl she found it fascinating to browse through the many books as her father told her the great tales of legendary kings and beasts, she loved envisioning being a captain of the guard whenever she saw the great swords displayed around his study, but most of all she loved the memories of playing all day and finally succumbing to sleep on the fluffy rug in front of the cozy fire.

Princess Isabella couldn't help but smile as the warm memories flashed in her mind. She knocked gently on the door announcing that she had arrived.

"Please come in and take a seat Princess Isabella, everyone else please leave us." The King ordered calmly.

Isabella took a seat by the dark oak desk, several papers were sprawled across the table suggesting that the King had spent a vast amount of time working here lately. She looked around the room, spotting the familiar books and swords that she had admired all her life.

Gazing around the room further she noticed another table with what looked like the map of Verdesaint and its neighboring kingdoms, little men were placed strategically all across the map as if depicting enemies and their strongholds.

"Isabella, I am sure you are excited for this meeting with Arcoi, but I need you to understand that this is a very important meeting and you will be playing a vital role in all of the things to come." The king cleared his throat.

"Father, I was under the impression I would just be a guest to observe and learn from the art in Arcoi?" She searched for confirmation in her father's eyes.

"My dear," He scoffed. "Of course that is what everyone said, but that is not their true intentions! Surely you should understand by now that being in our position everything we do and say is like chess, each word we say has power to change things and our actions even more so. Now, let's start with what you need to do."

"Yes father." Isabella replied somberly.

"Not to worry Isabella, I will never allow you to marry an Arcoi prince! I simply wanted you to befriend him for now. I want you to listen to everything that comes out of his mouth and report back any meaningful information. Of course, if you outright asked him he would be onto us. So just be your charming self and let him delve into the secrets of Arcoi. We need every bit of information so that we know what we are up against, and be prepared for whatever they are plotting against us." The king demanded as he paced up and down the study. "From what our informants have told us the Arcoi are cooking up a plan that involves you somehow, so I will ensure you always have an escort with you, be it Sir Edmund or any other attendant, you are forbidden from being on your own in Arcoi."

"Father, I don't think I should be involved in this..." She started to protest before her father interrupted her.

"You are already involved. From the moment he laid eyes on you, you were already involved. If not before that even, I have every Informant working the field to get us as much information as possible." he said in a stern voice before shouting, " You will obey your Father and your King!"

"Yes father," her voice shook for a moment. "I will obey, if he tells me anything I will report it to you."

"Good, now onto the next matter." He sighed. "A notice has been sent that there will be a Grand Artisans Exhibition during our stay in Arcoi, The Royals of Arcoi requested that you collaborate with the Prince making your own project to showcase in the Exhibition. They are already using our presence to their advantage!" He shouted as he slammed his fist against the table.

"But father, wouldn't the collaboration benefit us as well?" Isabella tried to calm her father. " I could find a way to showcase our beautiful gemstones, we could bring some lapidary crafters to craft wonderful statues and show off our own talents."

"I still don't like this Isabella, but you have my approval on using gemstones and crafters, I will have Instructor Nuria assist with this." He rubbed his forehead as if to chase away his frustrations. "Unfortunately we cannot deny the request, we already agreed to meet and they are aware you are interested in art, I would have no excuse, and as you say, we may benefit somewhat after all."

She rubbed her hands together in her lap, unable to find any words to respond.

"See to it that you are prepared, we leave in two days." He said as he dismissed her.

She hurried to her chambers as her calm demeanor faltered. She fell onto her humongous bed engulfed in pillows and blankets. She threw the first few pillows off her bed in rage, and finally grabbed the remaining pillows and began to cry.

Isabella had a bad feeling about being involved, she did not want to spy on a charming prince, nor did she want to disobey her father. She knew that she was doomed to give into one or the other, which made her more terrified of the potential consequences.

She stayed curled up with her pillows until she fell asleep.