Princess of the Blood Moon

Not too far from the training grounds, a short man who is getting on in age hurriedly paces through the halls. Archbishop Samel has been given oh so much to do, and he only has so much time to get it all done.

 

He’s not working completely alone of course, in light of the short deadline he’s been given permission to delegate tasks to the castle staff, and he always has the help of his disciples at the church when needed, but none of that means much when it comes to the tasks that require him to work with one very specific person, especially when she’s been especially tricky to track down thus far.

 

He’s not particularly bothered about missing her yesterday, last night’s dinner wouldn’t have been the place to get any of this done, but there are some pressing tasks that will need to be started today if he wants to get everything done on time, and many of those cannot begin without first consulting with the princess.

 

He wouldn’t have imagined she’d have all that many places to be considering she’s barely been here a day, and yet from what he can tell she’s been all over the place, leaving him scrambling to try and catch up with her. She apparently went into town early in the morning, and when he finally got word from the staff that she had returned, she had apparently gone off somewhere else by the time he was able to visit her chambers.

 

He’s run into a few of her mercenaries, she gave them permission to enter the castle unsupervised since they work directly for her, but he’s checked every wing of the castle and hasn’t been able to find the woman herself. He overheard some of the knights who were returning from their training though, and it sounds like she was there not too long ago, so now he’s rushing towards the training yard in the hopes she’s still nearby.

 

The archbishop hurries through the castle, trying to think if there’s anything else he can take care of while trying to pinpoint the princess’ location, when he rounds a corner and finds himself colliding with someone heading in the opposite direction, almost getting knocked off his feet in the process whereas the person he ran into doesn’t seem to be phased at all.

 

“Oops! Sorry ‘bout that.” The other person says while Samel regains his balance. “You okay, archbishop?”

 

“Oh! It’s you!” He yells in shock after getting a look at the person in front of him.

 

“Yep! It’s me!” Princess Tori replies with a smile. “‘Been a while, eh?”

 

Samel had heard talk of just how much the princess has changed since she returned home yesterday, of course, and if he wasn’t under so much pressure at the moment he probably would have been taken aback by just how drastic those changes are when seeing them in person. He has no time for that, however, and instead gets right to the point.

 

“Your highness, are you busy right now?”

 

“Not really, was headin’ over to the archives to do some reading.”

 

“Well if you don’t mind putting your plans on hold, I need you to come with me for the time being.”

 

“Oh? Did something happen?”

 

“I’ll tell you what happened, Princess Vi-”

 

“Just Tori.”

 

“Very well, Princess Tori. You see, Queen Izabelle oh so graciously decided to put me in charge of preparing everything for your coronation, and let me tell you, two weeks is not a lot of time to prepare a celebration at a scale befitting for the occasion. For the most part I’ve had it all under control for the past week, if only barely, but there are several things I need your approval on today to make sure everything will be ready on the day. Now come, the royal tailor needs to see you in order to sort out what you’ll be wearing, we can discuss the rest on the way.”

 

“Hmm… Guess I can’t really say no, can I?” Tori says with a smile. “It’s my fault you’re working on such a tight schedule, after all. Besides, can’t let you do all the work when it’s meant to be my party. Lead on, Samel!”

 

Archbishop Samel leads Tori as they head to the tailor, with the princess easily able to keep pace with his hurried steps.

 

“Okay,” he begins as he pulls a piece of parchment out of his coat pocket, “I should mention that the queen said that I am to spare no expense when it comes to planning the coronation, so if you have any requests that we’re able to grant in the time we have, I’ll do my best to make it happen.”

 

“Not sure I’ve really got anything in mind, and I wouldn’t wanna make more work for everyone in the first place. How ‘bout we go through those things you needed to talk to me about and we’ll see if I think of something?”

 

“Well, first up is the meals that will be served at the banquet afterwards. We’ve got a basic menu we can work with, but do you have any preferences?”

 

“Long as we’ve got some hearty meals and there’s enough for everyone I’m good.”

 

“I’ll make a note to ensure generous portions are served.” He scribbles some notes down as he walks. “Are you sure there aren’t any specific foods you’d like?”

 

“Oh! Don’t suppose dragon is on the cards, is it?”

 

“Dragon?” He asks, looking up from his notes.

 

“Yeah, they’ve got some real good meat on ‘em, bet it’d taste even better if a proper chef cooked it! If that’s not in the cards then I’ll be happy with anything big and meaty.”

 

“I’ll see what we can do, princess. Next up is entertainment before the ceremony. I doubt we’d be able to get anyone specific in the time we have, but is there a certain type of performance you would like to see?”

 

“Some good music would be excellent, something that’d liven up the mood, make sure things don’t get too stuffy. Make sure to look for performers from the area though, ones who could use the attention.”

 

“Supporting local talent, that’s a fine way to start your reign.” Another set of scribbles find their way onto the parchment. “As for the decorations, Queen Izabelle had some thoughts for the colour scheme, and had requested we go for her favourite colours, Gold and Purple, but I wanted to see what your thoughts were on the matter. It is your coronation, after all.”

 

Tori puts her hand to her chin. “Well, definitely agree that we could go for something different… Might need some time to think about it though. Do you need an answer right now?”

 

“The sooner the better, but as long as we can put the order in with the appropriate people by the end of the day the decorations should be ready on time.”

 

“Great, I’ll come find you later once I’ve thought on it some more. What else is there?”

 

“Oh,” he says, double checking his notes, “assuming you decide on the colours later, that’s actually all we needed to discuss for the time being… We got through that much faster than I expected, I’m used to these sorts of discussions being a lot more drawn out normally.”

 

“Hah! Bet the queen gets all obsessive over every little detail, doesn’t she?”

 

“She can be very… particular, yes.”

 

“Well, since we’ve got some time to chat, how’ve you been holdin’ up? Hope all that council nonsense hasn’t been givin’ you too much trouble.”

 

“I will admit that Sister Elizabeth can be a lot to deal with at times, but a job such as mine often requires that you work alongside those of unique character, and I’m more than able to keep things under control.”

 

“Well let me know if it gets too much, already had to give one council member a talkin’ to yesterday. Not afraid to do it again if I have to.”

 

“Oh, I suppose that’s one advantage of being the princess…” Archbishop Samel is briefly lost in thought, but they reach the tailor’s workshop before the conversation can continue, and the two of them are very quickly brought inside by the tailor and her two assistants.

 

“Welcome, your highness!” The boisterous woman exclaims. “Please stand over here, we have so much to do!”

 

Tori is led to a pedestal-like platform towards the back of the room which is flanked by a number of large mirrors, and Samel takes the opportunity to sit on a nearby chair for a well-earned break.

 

“Stand up straight and hold your arms out, my assistants here will take your measurements. Now, her majesty has spoken to me about your coronation dress, and I’ve drawn up some designs based on what she asked for. All that being said, I put these together before your arrival, so they will need some adjustments to make sure they suit your current stature, but which one suits your fancy?”

 

The assistants get to work as the tailor shows Tori a series of sketches portraying all manner of extravagant dresses, each one displaying varying amounts of cuteness and elegance, but none of them seem to catch her eye. The tailor goes through every design without Tori having said a thing.

 

“I’m sorry, your highness. Are these not to your liking?”

 

“Look, these are great designs and all, but they don’t really scream Tori, you know? It’d be great to have something more ‘me’ on the day.” The princess says apologetically.

 

“I’ll tell you what then, I do have time to sketch out a few more ideas while you’re here, so tell me what would scream Tori?”

 

“Well, look at me, not exactly standard princess material, y’know? Don’t worry about all the fancy details, we need something bold, something powerful… something that won’t tear apart if I move my arms too much!”

 

The tailor spends a few moments thinking, and then her eyes light up.

 

“I think I know just the thing! Give me a few minutes.” She says before rushing over to a desk in the corner where she starts rapidly drawing on a fresh piece of parchment.

 

Tori continues standing in place as she waits, smirking slightly when one of the assistants starts measuring her arms and shoulders with a mild blush on her face. Meanwhile, Archbishop Samel is quietly writing more notes with an expression that suggests he’s concentrating very hard on whatever he’s doing.

 

“Y’know,” Tori starts, “if you’re that busy you could always go take care of whatever else you gotta do, no need to just sit there while we work on the dress.”

 

“N-No, I’d much rather stay here, if I may. You, and by extension the dress, are the centrepiece of the entire celebration. If I left before confirming we’ve got a design to work with I’d be stressing out for the rest of the day.”

 

“Fair enough, I s’pose.”

 

“Besides, I’m looking at what’s left to organise, and there’s really not all that much left after this. It’s mostly just putting in the orders for what we’ve decided and checking in on a few other things.”

 

“Wow, sounds like we’ve really smashed through everything.”

 

“I suppose we have, haven’t we?”

 

Samel has to admit, Princess Tori is shockingly easy to work with, especially in comparison to the queen. Sure, tracking her down in the first place was quite the pain, but he had expected to be spending most of the day managing a lot of very specific requests. At this point the only major thing that he still needs her help to sort out are the decorations, so it seems like the preparations might actually be running on schedule!

 

“Okay, tell me what you think, your highness!”

 

The tailor runs back over and shows the princess one more sketch. This one is much more hastily drawn, but the princess grins widely upon seeing the new design.

 

“Okay! Now this one’s heading in the right direction! What’s the go with these bits around the wrists?” She says, pointing to the relevant part of the picture.

 

“That part would be done with lace, I thought the design could do with something to break it up a bit.”

 

“Hmm… I like the colour, but how ‘bout we go for metal instead?”

 

“Ah yes, I can see it!” The tailor says, clapping her hands. “I know a jeweller who would be able to make those.”

 

“No not jewellery, think bigger, bolder!”

 

“Oh!” She quickly adds something to the sketch. “Like this?”

 

“Yes, that’s perfect! What if we also did a matching headpiece?”

 

“I love that idea! That will look so striking in gold!”

 

“Hold on a sec, let's not do gold. Breaks too easily and with someone like me you don’t wanna take any chances. Bronze would work better.”

 

“Yes, that could work… but either way, the only problem is getting these pieces made. This seems more like a job for a blacksmith than a jeweller.”

 

“I knew it was worth sticking around.” Samel says, standing up from his seat. “When we’re done here I can look into finding a blacksmith for the job, I can’t promise I’ll find one who won’t already be too busy to make them before the ceremony though.”

 

“Well, the queen told you to ‘spare no expense’, right?” Tori points out. “Long as they’ve got the materials, all you’d need to do is tell ‘em the queen’ll pay whatever’s needed to get it all done before the day, right?”

 

“You know what? She did say that, let's do it!”

 

“Excellent! Sounds like we’re set on the design!” The tailor exclaims. “In that case, once the measurements are done we’ll be able to get right to work!”

 

“Great, I’ll go see what I can do about that blacksmith then.”

 

“Wait! Before you go!” Tori calls out with a glint in her eyes as she takes one more look at the design.

 

“I think I know what I want to do for the decorations.”