“I think you have the idea,” Melina agrees.

  Jager makes moue of distaste.

  “Barbaric custom, that,” Jagger shrugs. “I’ll do my best to make it more palatable. She’ll likely need other things as well, for after the wedding, perhaps a hennin or two to cover her hair once she’s married. Maybe some new dresses.”

  Jagger gives me a sly look and smirks at me. “Some appealing night garments. Perhaps some bed coverings with special features?”

  I play the sheltered princess. “That might be best discussed with Lord Kenric,” I shrug. “I’m sure he might have more… refined tastes. My mother told me a bit about what some men like, but I can’t say if Lord Kenric prefers any of that or not. He’s been quite honorable with me, despite the long sea voyage here. Probably didn’t hurt that I spent the first month sitting on the floor with a bucket in my lap. Not exactly an appealing sight, I assure you.”

  Jagger nods, “The protected princess, hmm?”

  I gesture at the room, which contains seven ladies, Jagger, and his assistant. “This is about as much privacy as I get. Counting myself, there are only ten people here. I don’t think I’ve ever been alone with a man in a room, other than Lord Kenric, since well before I was of age. Not even my own father. Had I not been so sick on the voyage, Lord Kenric wouldn’t have been allowed either.”

  I don’t mention the seven hundred and twenty-three years I spent packed in with the rest of my war band, nose to nose, but even then, I was never truly alone. It didn’t do much to uphold my virtue, as humans see it, but I was definitely never alone.

  Jagger looks surprised. “I don’t know that you’ll be prepared for court life here then.”

  The ladies around me seem to understand that he’s indirectly referencing the lecherous Oskar and some of the other lecherous lords. Oh lovely. More entitled men who somehow think I owe them something.

  Pia frowns at him, “That’s why we’re here, and it’s why we were chosen for her. She’s going to need some dresses, and this is going to sound strange. She needs to be fashionable, but as unattractive as possible. When the next lord comes to present his wife at court, we want to be sure that all the attention goes away from Víl?. If you can make her look as plain as possible, that will help.”

  Mila nods in agreement, “Plain enough to put them off. Plain enough to get them to turn their interest elsewhere.”

  Jagger looks as if he’s unsure if we’re teasing or if we’re playing a prank.

  “That is what we discussed,” Melina says, looking at Jagger, “but I think he might have some different thoughts, if I read the look on his face properly.”

  Smirking, Jagger nods and says, “I do indeed have other ideas. She’s too lovely. I could put her in a potato sack, and she’d still be beautiful. Until she starts to wear the hennins, her hair alone will make her stand out in a crowd, even from afar. Once her hair is covered, her size will distinguish her. She seems so tiny and delicate that this will attract attention, no matter what she wears. Those with darker motives will want to overpower her. Those with less selfish motives will want to position themselves as her protector, perhaps for a price. Those big doe eyes will melt all but the coldest hearts. I can’t think of ten men who wouldn’t tear down one of the moons to get a kiss from those bow-shaped lips, if they believed it might be possible to win such a kiss. I think it might be better to lean into it and let her become a court favorite so that any man harassing her quickly becomes the worst of scoundrels and the biggest of blaggards.

  Melina and all the ladies slip into a quiet conference. I catch snippets of their conversation, and it seems that more than a few of them think Jagger’s plan might have merit. Some remain unconvinced, but most agree that if I can successfully win over the other women, this could be a better option. It might not offer much protection from Oskar, but it would provide some defense against the other equally dangerous lords. I’m unsure if this will work, but I also hesitate about trying to blend in and appear as plain and unremarkable as possible.

  I doubt I can be bland, especially here, where I am Fey among humans. I am too small, too strong, too fast, with too many senses to remain unremarkable among humans for long. The more I think, the more I tend to talk myself into Jagger’s version of the plan.

  Sighing heavily, I nod at Jagger, “The longer that I think on it, the more I think that I agree with you. The gods did not make me plain, even among the Fey. I have never been particularly good at being unremarkable, unless I am completely hidden. I feel like I shall be even less able to be unremarkable here, away from my own people. I blend in even less here than I did at home.”

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  Jagger smiles and nods, “Then let us make you remarkable, but not in a way that makes the other ladies jealous, rather in a way that makes them sympathetic. We play up how dainty you look and turn you into a living doll.”

  “If you were to invite them to dress you,” Mila says, “They might start to see you as more of a doll and less as competition for their lords.”

  “It doesn’t hurt that Kenric is a love match,” I murmur back, “I have the only lord I want.”

  “I thought one of the royal princes was quite taken with you,” Lilli shrugs. “You could marry him and let him protect you from the others.” I shake my head. “No, that won’t do at all. That would void the trade contract. My king was very specific about it being Lord Kenric or there not being a contract. I think he meant to make sure they didn’t do something to Kenric.” Mila nods in understanding. “Your king approves of Kenric, then.” Slowly, I take a deep breath and glance at Melina, who nods imperceptibly. I can’t explain what it means to be feral to these women, but I can share some parts of my past with them. “I was in quite a state when I met Lord Kenric. Our border wars ended recently, and my service during the wars left me somewhat… disturbed. Kenric has been incredibly helpful in helping me regain my composure and showing that I’m fit for polite society again.”

  “A pampered princess?”Jagger frowns. “On the front lines?”Sighing, I try to explain.”It was a war of survival. The things pouring over our border... They were eating us. We were their food when they could catch one of us. Gender was irrelevant. Mass conscription was the order of the day.”Jagger shakes his head.”Things must have been dire indeed to send someone so tiny and delicate to fight. How is it that you’re still so sheltered?”“I served with a lot of other women.”I start to name them, “Kaylessa, Larrell, Taeryl, Zeno, Sylvis, Calarel, Thallan, Venali, Pelleas...”

  Jagger waves me off.”I think I see. Your people must have been really desperate if they were sending out their high-born women to fight.”I nod. “Desperate would be an understatement. Those things were literally hunting us for food. We’d already lost most of the army.”“And you survived all that? No wonder you were in quite a state, as you called it. I can only imagine what a shock it would be to someone as formidable as Queen Grethe or Duchess Ina. They’re literally twice your size, and I still can’t see them taking up a sword to defend the kingdom, no matter how dire things got. I can’t imagine what your king was thinking.”

  Jagger gives me a long look. “No matter, it’s not my place to second-guess him. Still, if you’ve got the nerve to come through all that, I’ll dress you so that the other ladies will want to coddle and protect you. They can be just as vicious in their own way, but I can help you minimize that.” I think for a moment and nod, agreeing to his version of our plan. I’ve already tried approaching the other women and been met with everything from distaste to open hostility. Without Duchess Ina to smooth things over and make a way for me, I’d have been lost before I could make the first move.

  Now my game of chess with Oskar begins in earnest. The clock is ticking until the wedding, and the dress must be ready along with Kenric’s matching suit. I ask if he will be able to complete that as well, and Jagger shakes his head. Making so many things in such a short time means that his small shop simply cannot handle it. Instead, Jagger points us to what he promises is an excellent tailor two doors down. Jagger walks with us and shows his sketch to the tailor, who makes some notes, asks quite a few questions, and agrees to the delivery schedule, provided Lord Kenric comes in so the tailor can take his measurements that day or the next.

  He makes some quick sketches, and I am assured these are the latest in men’s fashion for Dobile. I think about having him wear Fey garments briefly, but discard the idea after recalling one of the lords from the delegation accusing Kenric of “going native.” That’s not how I want our marriage to start. Our long, soft under-tunics, covered by heavily decorated outer tunics, usually come to mid-thigh but can be longer for more formal occasions. They provide our men some privacy if they happen to become aroused. These outer tunics are typically closed with a silk sash or a jeweled belt.

  Depending on the weather, this may or may not be topped by an outer cloak. Under the tunic, men wear close-fitting pants with high, soft boots. This is nothing like the clothes that men wear here. Here in Dobile, men wear short, floppy boots, woolen hose, a much shorter outer tunic with floppy sleeves, and an under tunic with lace ruffs at the sleeves and neck. The whole outfit isn’t considered complete until it’s topped with a large floppy hat with equally large feathers. Having seen what the tailor sketched out for Kenric, I know that Kenric will try to make changes, but I’ve advised the tailor to dress him as he should be dressed to wed me and not as he will want to be dressed.

  The instructions amuse the tailor, but he gives his word that Kenric will be dressed appropriately for my status and not his own. Among the Fey, a female’s status is her own, and typically, the dress of both partners reflects that of the higher-ranking one. Just as Duchess Ina dresses as a duchess because she’s married to a duke, no one was surprised when I dressed Kenric as a prince. What Oskar and the others don’t understand is that it wasn’t just any lordling I wanted. It was Kenric specifically. Kenric is a thousand times the man any of them are. If they think he’s powerful, even if he doesn’t have official rank here, that gives me some protection from these lecherous men.

  We head back to the castle, and following Grethe’s directions, we go through a different entrance to our rooms to meet up with Kenric. Kenric greets us with a sour expression. “We can’t get other rooms. The chimneys aren’t scheduled to be cleaned for a few months unless we want to pay to have it done ourselves. We can have a plasterer come in to plaster the walls and seal the drafts, but we’ll have to cover that cost ourselves too.”