At All Costs

From her earliest memories, Fifi has always loved Friggenter, the celebration of the summer solstice. She loves getting to stay up all night. She loves dancing and the bonfires that feature in the celebration. Most of all, she loves that the sermons about Chuezoh are shorter at Friggenter than at any other holiday during the year, making more time for all the fun parts of the celebration.

This year, the celebration of the shortest night of the year has special significance for Fifi. First, her blossoming connection with Cybarein, the magic of nature and the world around her, has brought her more in tune with seasonal and celestial rhythms than she has been in the past. Second and more importantly, this is the last year that her older sister, Minna, will celebrate Friggenter at their home in Adelhyod. In just two days, the two of them and a full retinue of servants and soldiers will depart from Adelhyod, the capital of Aethyrozia, and travel all the way to Syazonia so that Minna can marry her betrothed, Syazonian Crown Prince Adalberto.

Fifi has no desire to think of any of that, not tonight or any other time. Instead, she resolves to savor every instant of this Friggenter celebration and soak in the splendor around her. The largest courtyard of Adelhyod, normally a bustling place of horses and noblemen and servants coming and going with business and deliveries, has been transformed into a gathering place for this celebration. Five large piles of firewood, several long trestle tables accompanied by low benches, and practically every member of the nobility fill the space as Fifi and the rest of the Aethyrozian Royal Family make their entrance to polite applause. Normally the feeling of everyone’s eyes on her makes Fifi uncomfortable, but tonight she feels her fiery attire is worth admiring and smiles at the crowd.

Her heart stops for a moment as her eyes fall on Kai and her smile broadens. His smile in return makes her insides melt, but she forces herself to look away. He is the son of the Earl of Lyrnola, her father’s most hated courtier, and he’s the one who introduced her to Cybarein, the practice of which is forbidden by the Crown. Her father, King Ansgar, cannot know that they have any acquaintance with one another beyond what he witnessed in Minna’s Quest for Favor–the contest of her suitors that culminated in her betrothal to Prince Adalberto of Syazonia–a few months ago. Fifi cannot say whether the king would be more displeased at her departure from Chuezohm to partake in Cybarein or at the fact that she and Kai have become something more than friends; either would be enough to have her confined to a convent and Kai executed, and so she and Kai must avoid her father’s notice at all costs.

The Royal Family meets the High Priest of Chuezoh in the center of the courtyard. A servant hands Fifi an unlit torch and she whispers her thanks. The High Priest lifts a lantern laden with the Sacred Flame of Chuezoh high over their heads so that all the crowd can see. Fifi struggles to hold still and act pious while he prays to Chuezoh, thanking Him for the blessing of fire and all the other gifts He has bestowed upon his creation. When he finishes the prayer, each member of the royal family, with Fifi last, lights their torch from the High Priest’s lantern and walks to one of the piles of firewood in the courtyard. At the High Priest’s signal, they all drop their torches into the wood, setting the piles ablaze.

“Blessed be Chuezoh!” the crowd shouts, but Fifi has a different prayer in her heart as she watches the flames dance. She has little time for contemplation, however, as the Royal Orchestra starts to play a lively tune–the signal for her and Minna to lead the traditional Friggenter fire dance. Fifi searches for Minna and meets her between their two bonfires.

“Are you ready?” Minna asks. The twilight around them does little to disguise the anxiety and conflicted emotions in Minna’s green eyes from her younger sister.

“If you are,” Fifi smiles, taking Minna’s hand. The crowd parts for them, creating a direct path to the most central bonfire, the one King Ansgar lit. Around them, people begin clapping in time with the music, and Fifi cannot help but step to the beat. Once she and Minna reach the fire, they separate to opposite sides of it and face each other, swaying and clapping with the crowd. Almost immediately, Kai comes to her right side, and then Lord Karl of Fyrlenth is on her left.

“May I?” Kai asks, gesturing to Fifi’s arm, and she nods, unwilling to pay him more mind than any other nobleman. Moments later, she’s linked arms with both Kai and Karl, and meanwhile Minna has joined arms with their mother Queen Ingrid and their younger brother Prince Emrik. More of the nobility join them, forming a circle around the fire. With a whoop, they start to dance around it, kicking and swaying and leaping in time with the wild music from the Royal Orchestra. Fifi can’t help beaming from ear to ear through it all. Trust Kai to find a way for them to celebrate together tonight, in spite of her father’s presence! Even King Ansgar, who is as stoic as usual despite the celebration around him, can’t fault her for dancing with the eligible bachelors of the nobility tonight, not when he specifically directed her and Minna to lead the traditional dances.

The Royal Orchestra plays faster and faster, bringing the dance to a thrilling, breathless finish. The circle of nobility breaks apart, laughing and clapping and talking amongst themselves. Kai and Karl stay close to Fifi, though, and they are soon joined by another young nobleman Fifi recognizes from her sister’s Quest for Favor: Lord Ingemar of Nulmyr. Though he is only a baron’s son, his wavy dark brown hair, sharp jawline dusted with stubble, slim physique, and arresting amber eyes have made him quite popular with the eligible noblewomen at court.

“Might I have the next dance, Princess Josefina?” the three young men ask Fifi severally. They then throw each other playful glares and snicker, making Fifi think that the three of them must be friends.

“I’ll dance with each of you tonight, but not all at the same time,” Fifi tells them as the Royal Orchestra starts up another bright tune. “Perhaps, since I was with the two of you for the fire dance–” she gestures to Kai and Karl “–Lord Ingemar might be the first?” Ever conscious of her father’s stern stare, Fifi dares not dance twice in a row with Kai, or even look at him for more than a couple of moments at a time.

“Seems fair to me,” Karl shrugs.

“Later, then,” Kai agrees. The two of them disappear into the crowd as Ingemar takes Fifi’s arm and twirls her into a proper dancing position.

“Thank you for choosing to honor me with a dance, Your Highness,” Ingemar says as he leads them through the first steps of the dance. His movements are light and elegant, and he carries himself with uncommon grace.

“Dancing with you is always a pleasure. You’re the best dancer here,” Fifi replies, smiling as she spins close to Ingemar. The light of a nearby bonfire illuminates Ingemar’s cheek like bright sunlight for a moment as they dance. That’s brush strokes of cosmetics on his jawline, not hair, Fifi realizes in that moment. But the last time I saw Ingemar at court, before he fell ill, he had the beginnings of a beard. So why…. An idea occurs to her with a start that she tries to play off as part of the dance, because making a scene about it could be catastrophic for her dance partner, whom she is all but certain must be not Ingemar at all but his twin sister Solveig.

“You flatter me, Your Highness,” Ingemar dismisses Fifi’s praise.

Fifi stifles a huff of annoyance. She hates her full name and her title, and Solveig ought to know it well, having been lady-in-waiting to both Minna and Fifi for at least a year before leaving to care for her ailing brother.

“Fifi, please,” she tells Ingemar with earnest intensity, holding his gaze with knowing brown eyes. “In Friggenter’s firelight, we are all friends, and rank is but a trifle.” She knows she said similar things, if not the same words, to Solveig when she was working in the princesses’ household.

Her partner’s amber eyes widen with surprise before their facial expression relaxes into a wry smile. Their dancing never misses a beat; in fact, the so-called Ingemar adds extra flair to their movements.

“How long have you known?” 

“Just realized.” Fifi’s eyes dart in King Ansgar’s direction and she lowers her voice, although she doubts their conversation can be heard over the orchestra’s music and the din of the celebration around them. “I think the ballroom was not bright enough, when we danced during Minna’s Quest for Favor, or I might have guessed sooner.”

“I knew it would be hard to hide the truth from you for long, with your artist’s gaze.”

It is no secret to the court at Adelhyod that Princess Josefina loves to draw and spends much time in courtyards sketching plants and birds.

“Why risk yourself like this?” Fifi asks after a moment’s pause. “Is it your twin–”

“Aye. Still ill. My father had no chance in Minna’s Quest for Favor, and no desire to compete anyway. No one feels the need to arrange a marriage for Solveig of Nulmyr. But I have a chance, this way, to help my family and myself.”

Fifi’s heart aches for her estranged, disguised friend. “I understand. Your secret is safe with me.”

“I would expect no less. And yours is safe with me, as well.”

Fifi’s heart thunders in her chest and her eyes widen in alarm. “What do you mean?”

“Your walks and sketching ventures in courtyards are not always without company.” Ingemar, or Solveig–Fifi isn’t sure how to think of her dance partner, in light of what she’s discovered–throws a meaningful glance towards Kai, who is currently dancing with one of the eligible noble daughters whose name Fifi has forgotten.

“Are you in each other’s confidence?” Fifi’s voice is so soft that Ingemar must lean quite close to her in the dance to catch her words.

“Enough. My secret is known to him, as well.” Ingemar’s lips twist in a curious little smirk. “He’d be a good match for you, if you were bold enough to choose him when your own Quest for Favor comes.”

How much has Kai told them? Fifi wonders. She dares not ask aloud–not here, not now. Her heart is in her throat and she swallows hard to put it back where it belongs. Despite her fear, though, there is some comfort in having found an unlikely ally–one with a secret of her own to keep at all costs. “Your endorsement means much. But you know the king’s feelings about his father.”

“Yes. But will the king keep you from what you want?”

Fifi sighs and turns her gaze towards the nearest bonfire, finding Solveig’s piercing eyes too intense to meet. “I want to say no. But defying him to his face…”

“Risky, I know. And terrifying. But you’d likely fare better than I would if he saw what you’ve seen.”

“And you take this risk anyway,” Fifi concludes. Her eyes meet Solveig’s again to share a knowing look. The Royal Orchestra plays a flourishing, vibrating chord to conclude the dance.

“Society’s made cages for both of us. I’ve found a way out of mine, at least for a time. Would that you can do the same, Princess.” Ingemar bows to Fifi, who curtsies in return.

“Time will tell. May Chuezoh bless you and your family, Lord Ingemar.”