Of Flowers and Flames | ONC#2020 ((ON HOLD))

Chapter Three

The dark green chiffon dress Fiama wore was new and irritated her in the most uncomfortable and difficult to reach spots upon her body. Standing on the dais in the throne room, she knew hundreds of eyes were upon her, so any attempt to move to itch would draw immediate attention to her and undoubtedly a public shaming from her mother. She weighed the options and decided suffering in discomfort for the next hour would be far more beneficial.

Anyone who could afford to do so attended the welcoming ceremony held to honor the arrival of the Ithoyan Emissary. Those with the intelligence to know better knew that Morakar was in desperate need of the alliance with their closest kingdom and anything that could better improve trade and their economy meant the potential for more gold to line their pockets. With those thoughts in mind, minor lords and ladies dressed in their finest and crowded between the walls of the throne room while they waited for the announcement that the Emissary had arrived.

Little did they know the carriage carrying the Emissary's daughter arrived the night before not to the castle, but to one of the nearby inns. Fiama noticed it as she made her return trip from Jeraf's cabin just as the morning sun began to peek over the hills in the distance. It wasn't unheard of for an Emissary to choose their own lodgings, but her parents were adamant about the Emissary staying within the castle as their personal guest. Whether Brokand informed his daughter of those plans and Ziedas then chose to ignore them or it was intended to be a slight towards Morakar, Fiama knew not but was impressed with the spite all the same.

The sound of the fanfare announcing the Emissary's arrival immediately sent a hush throughout the throne room. Fiama, however, felt the uncomfortable itch intensify as it moved to her stomach, lower... the anxiety of seeing Ziedas again tightened her chest and made her palms sweat. Her parents would, no doubt, find some reason to blame Fiama for the insult— they needn't know it very well could be her fault.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye to see her father sitting in his throne— lounging was more like it— looking bored and bothered. His mother sat on his right, barely on the edge of a smaller and far less elaborate seat, wringing her hands in her lap as if the Emissary's arrival was the beginning and the end of Morakar.

Maybe it was.

The three of them dressed in the black and green of their kingdom, matching the draperies and tapestries of the otherwise barren throne room. The large firepit in the middle of the room hadn't even been lit, leaving the room chilled despite the numerous bodies within it, and Fiama wondered who would lose a hand for that misstep.

The crowd shifted, arching their necks and angling their bodies as they looked back towards the throne room's main entrance, vying to be one of the first to see the Emissary before their announcement. Fiama gritted her teeth as her attention remaining solely on those still-closed wooded doors. Perhaps Ziedas was truly sent to be a decoy on her father's behalf, and the Emissary had arrived overnight, and thus why the carriage remained at the inn...

Or not.

The doors opened and Fiama held her breath.

The royal herald appeared in the middle of the archway and the room fell silent.

"Announcing the arrival of—"

Fiama whispered a silent prayer.

"— Ziedas of Ithoya, daughter of Emissary Brokand."

She cursed the gods above.

Even her father sat straighter in the throne, his hands gripping the armrest as their otherwise unexpected guest arrived. The silence in the room was broken by the harsh whispers among the guests who expected to see an older male instead of...