The commoner king

Elera p.o.v The corridor smelled like lye soap and steam. I liked it there. It was a place where I could be myself. No one expected to find a princess in the corridor. The court attendants with their faces and plans didn't look for me here. My fathers advisors moved through the palace like water finding cracks. They didn't come here either. My father himself had spent twenty-three years ignoring me. The washerwomen knew me by name. They kept my secrets. They even gave me a cup of tea on mornings without me asking. That was more than I could say for most of the people who were paid to take care of me. I was sitting on a crate beside the drying racks. I heard my fathers voice in the corridor. I stopped moving. It wasn't fear that made me still. Habit. I had learned that my fathers voice in a corridor meant something “The northern summit." He sounded pleased. "Calla will lead the delegation. She is good with the lords." I didn't need to see my sister to know what she looked like. She had been practicing for the summit her whole life. She was good at it. My siblings earned everything they got. They got a lot. "Aldric takes the commission in the east." There was a pause. I heard papers being moved. "The appointment will be announced at the end of the week." Aldric. That made sense. My brother was good at what our father valued. Being strategic and getting things done. They spoke the language. I had spent twenty-three years trying to learn that language. I still didn't speak it fluently. I shifted on my crate. Reached for my tea. I told myself I was there to relax. "The girl." I stopped moving. The girl. My father had daughters but there was only one he called that way. It was a reminder that I existed. "Summon her." There was a pause. "The foreign king wants to see her and no one else." The silence that followed was heavy. One of his advisors Renwick thought about asking a question but decided not to. "One hour " my father said. "Make her look presentable." The footsteps went away. I sat still holding my cup of tea and listened to the quiet. He wants to see her and no one else. A foreign king. Specifically he wants to see me. Those two facts didn't make sense. I wasn't the choice for anything to do with foreign kings. I was the daughter of a maid and my value to the kingdom was just theoretical. The washerwomen found me still sitting there when the palace steward arrived. He looked like he had drawn the straw. "Your Highness " he said. I could see something in his face. It was probably pity. "I heard " I said. I stood up set down my tea and smoothed my dress. It was wool, not what a foreign king should see a princess wearing. The next hour would involve a lot of lacing. I followed the steward out of the corridor. As I walked I thought about the situation. A foreign king. A specific request. One hour. No information about the kingdom, the man or the reason. I didn't think about the thing. The quiet arithmetic I had been avoiding since month. My maid Senna was waiting in my chambers with three dresses laid out. She looked like she knew something I didn't. "Sit " she said. I sat down. She started working on my hair. We agreed on the dress without talking. Not the blue, not the green. The ivory. It was the amount of effort. Senna laced me up in silence. I watched the window. The palace grounds were normal. Gardeners, couriers, guards changing rotation. When did you last,I started to think, stopped. I knew when. I had been knowing for two weeks. Trying not to think about it.. Sennas hands stilled on the laces for a moment. She looked away when I met her eyes in the mirror. I felt a weight in my chest. Twice. I had missed my cycle twice. "There " Senna said. Her voice was steady. She tied off the laces. Stepped back. "You look like a princess." "High praise " I said. My voice was steady too. I stood up smoothed my dress and looked at myself in the mirror. I took the fact I had just confirmed and put it inside me. There would be time later. After the presentation after the king after whatever this was. I walked to the door. One problem, at a time. I opened the door. Went to meet the foreign king.