The Queen's Handmaiden

Seasonal Festival

The next morning, everyone sat at the breakfast table quietly, except the Queen, who was the only one excited about the day. She discussed every possible topic and occasionally involved the prince and Jan-Anne as well, who didn’t seem to want to talk, especially in the presence of the King, who still hadn’t talked to Jane at all after last night. Richard was a whole different matter.

The events of last night still played in his mind. He could never forget feeling the lightness that he felt after conversing with Jane-Anne, but he also couldn’t forget the way she conversed with that night guard. He was gladly returning to his bed chambers for the well-deserved rest before a hectic day when he had heard her call his name. But turning around he saw that it wasn’t him she was calling out to.

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Jane-Anne was ready to bury this whole night and sleep because the coming week was going to prove like nothing they had had before during the annual Seasonal festivals. She was nearly by her servant’s cottage when she heard a familiar gait round the corner. “Richard!” She gleefully called, getting his attention.

The young handsome man returned the charming smile the moment he realized who had called him. Even in the dark with only his guard’s lantern illuminating their faces, it was clear how familiar they were to each other. They talked a bit, sometimes laughing quietly at something he said, careful not to disturb the sleeping servants in their cottages.

Standing from far, Prince Richard could not hear any of the conversation but, for the first time in his life, he felt jealous. Not in an extreme sense, just an empty feeling that he didn’t have someone to talk to as freely as the two people did. And the fact that he might never get to experience such informality only added to his yearning to be in place of that lowly guard who was making Jane smile as she playfully slapped his shoulder and he feigned to get hurt by it.

Richard had just discovered a new side to his mother’s handmaiden. In all the memories he had of her, she was always professional and stayed within her limits, even when the Queen used to force them to play together. She used to joke with the Queen and laughed too, but he had never seen her this relaxed.

‘This is what happens when you are not restricted by statuses’, he thought to himself. As Jane leaned in for a hug, Prince Richard turned around to head back to his chambers, already seeing more than he came for.

♕♕♕♕

A maid bowed to the royals at the end of the breakfast and informed them, “The ladies have gathered in the court with their chaperones.” The queen excitedly got up with a beaming smile. It was a nice change from her depressive years and everyone was grateful for it, “Yes, of course, let us not keep them waiting. Anne, you are coming with me. Gentlemen, excuse us!”

With that, Jane followed the queen to the court where the ladies were waiting and the King and the Prince went to attend to their royal duties that the younger one was soon going to inherit.

The ladies and princesses had prepared themselves as much as they possibly could. They all proudly stood in pairs with their chaperones. The queen entered the court and silence followed. She gracefully walked past the pairs who stood on either side of the queen’s path to her throne, followed closely by Jane-Anne, who tried her best to ignore all the hatred-filled stares coming her way. Every woman recognized her from last night.

As the queen rested on her throne and Jane took her place to her left, within hearing range but not equal, the head lady of the court, began the announcements. One by one, the ladies and princesses were called along with their chaperones and they bowed and introduced themselves to the Queen, formally entering the Seasonal festival for the throne.

Once all the formalities were done and over with, the Queen stood up to announce, “A good queen has many qualities. Some are more important than others. This season, I won’t just be acting as a Queen, but also looking for my daughter-in-law. This means you will have to showcase your abilities to be a worthy Queen to sit on my throne by the end of the fortnight, as well as, prove to me that you deserve to be my son’s wife.”

There was an excited hush in the crowd as every woman felt confident in her abilities for which she had been trained since a little girl. “Today is the first day of the festival. Since the Prince and future throne are directly involved, the themes of the festival have been changed. This time the prince will be personally judging the results of the competitions. And all the tasks will be held in mixed company.”

The ladies were shocked, their chaperones tried to calm them down, and one of the ladies whispered loudly, “How are we supposed to concentrate with that knowledge?” It was unclear who from the back spoke it, but the queen sharply replied, “If you find such a task to be hard, then you are not suitable to be a queen. It takes a lot of nerves to sit on this throne and carry the crown. Metaphorically speaking.”

The ladies exchanged glances but stayed composed nonetheless. Which of these was best suited to serve the country, Jane had yet to decide, but her first impressions were not that promising.

“The first task of the first day is multitasking. Your needlework, along with your literary sense and music will be tested.” Some of the ladies gasped. Jane-Anne knew how it must seem, to do all the tasks that require concentration and attention together, as the prince and other gentlemen, along with the Queen and her court, watched. It must be nerve-wracking, “Before lunch.”

The Queen completed her announcement and asked the head lady to lead the ladies to the hall where their competition was about to begin. Jane was ordered to stay by the headlady’s side.