For The Country

Of Names

"Lord Hunter." Ella asked during the hunt the next day, disguised as Rose. "Forgive me if I'm too forward..."

"You should call me by my name." The prince interrupted. She gasped quietly. That wasn't the protocol between a supposed servant and a noble. Even if she was the princess right now, she would have to call him with honorifics. "Is it not allowed?"

"Oh— um. It's not really in accordance with protocol?"

"We already hunted together. That makes us equals." He sighed. "But if you don't feel comfortable..."

"No, I do! I definitely do. It's just that— um. I'm not sure how to pronounce it."

"It's Kave'le'aha." He said. There were a lot of growling sounds and weird pronounciations. Ella felt like she was about to humiliate herself again.

"Kaveleaha?"

The corners of his mouth twitched up as he was fighting with himself not to laugh.

"Kave'le'aha." He repeated, chuckling.

"Kave'leaha." She said to his amusement. She blushed. "I'm sorry, I don't know how!"

"Oh, I'm messing with you. Nobody really uses those long names in Great Tundra. These are the official names with honorifics, we always use shortened versions. Nobody told your Brivish nobles because it's hilarious seeing them struggle."

Ella laughed. She hadn't expected that.

"You can call me Kava." The prince said softly. It had the emphasis on the second syllable.

"Kava." Ella repeated to herself. It sounded right. "Kavele'aha."

He chuckled again.

"Close. Feel free to call me Kava."

It felt intimate. Ella looked down at the grass.

"You wanted to ask me about something?" Kava said, ripping her out of her thoughts.

"Right." The blush refused to leave her face, and she couldn't quite look him in the eyes. She was on a first name basis with the prince while posing as a servant. "I don't mean to sound rude, but... I've heard that you don't talk during the official events in the place. Some people even think you're mute or you don't know our language. But here it's clear you're comfortable talking. Is there a reason for it?"

Kava looked aside, stepping quietly among twigs and branches.

"I am not allowed." He finally said. "You can clearly see that I struggle with most Brivish customs, so my father made me promise I won't be speaking, especially when king is nearby so that I don't accidentally offend anyone important."

"That's harsh. I just thought... I thought that maybe it's a way of rebelling because you don't want to get married."

"I'm aware this union is important. that's why I'm silent. If I mess it up, my father will be furious."

"But... you have to speak to the princess, don't you? How else do you court her?"

"I'm hoping she's not offended by my silence. I have to try to speak as little as possible, at least before the wedding comes. I can't be the one to destroy everything."

"I'm sure the princess wouldn't sell you out if you missed a custom." You have already done that plenty of times, you just don't know. "You should talk to her. She might be more interesting than you think."

"I'm sure she is. She seems lovely. She also deserves a better wedding than the one of duty."

"Don't you?"