I finally managed some more Four Kingdom’s AU, this time little Olwyn’s first real meeting with Kel..
Kel, Ireth, Haninan, June, Arethfal, and Glory belong to @feynites. Kass belongs to @scurvgirl. Selene (mention) belongs to @selenelavellan.
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Olwyn’s betrothed is named Kel. Kel is the daughter of the Keeper Ireth and her husband Haninan. She has a brother named June who is A MILLION YEARS older than her, and a big clan family. Kel’s mom can turn into a dragon. No, that isn’t right. She’s a dragon that can turn into an elf, that’s what makes her a Keeper and not an Evanuris, like her grandmothers and uncle Dirthamen. It is hard to keep track of it all, but she has been studying very hard about the Council of Clans, so that she can make a good first impression.
Olwyn knows it is very important to make a good first impression. And also that betrothals are serious business. Her grandnanae has been trying to make friends with the Council of Clans for a very long time, and this betrothal is really important for that. It could mean that there wouldn’t be any more fighting.
That’s a good thing. Olwyn doesn’t like it when there’s fighting, because that means her parents might have to go off to war and they could get hurt. There hasn’t been a war since Olwyn’s grandnanae defeated Mythal and divided the empire into four kingdoms, long before Olwyn was born, but she knows that all of her parents fought in it, and so did her Aunt Selene and Uncle Dirthamen and grandparents. Sometimes she has nightmares that there’s a war again and her parents have to leave, but her parents always tell her it’s ok, because there isn’t any war and they’re all trying very hard to make sure there won’t be any more wars either.
Olwyn believes them, and she’s glad that she gets to help make sure there isn’t any more fighting by getting betrothed. She’s trying her hardest to be good at it, and be as responsible as all the adults. They don’t let children do responsible things very often, so Olwyn has to show them that she’s ready for it.
It’s hard to be serious though, when she’s so excited.
“I wonder how many pets Kel has,” Olwyn swings her legs back and forth, and stares at her reflection in the big dressing room mirror. “Nemmy do you think she’s got a dog as big as Haurshos? I don’t think anybody’s got a dog as big as Haurshos. Do you think the Council of Free Clans have dogs at all? Are dogs only for empire elves?”
“Keep your head straight, little princess,” Nemael chuckles, continuing to braid her hair. Nemael is Olwyn’s nanny. He was a spirit once, one of the kinds that doesn’t really have a name. He came with her father Arethfal when he married her papae Aelynthi. He smells like the forest, and he’s almost as tall as an aspen tree. He always makes sure she stays out of trouble when her parents are doing important things or adult things or important adult things which are the worst. “I’m not certain if Kel has a dog or not. That is something you can ask her tonight at dinner.”
Olwyn begins to nod, and feels the soft tug of her hair as Nemael continues to braid, and sits up a little straighter for him. “Keeper Ireth was a really pretty dragon, have you ever seen another dragon? Are they all as pretty as her?”
“I have seen other dragons, but not another Keeper.” Nemael answers, “Your grandmothers Princess Andruil and the Lady Ghilanain can both turn into dragons, but their forms were very different.”
“Kinda like how all elves look different?”
“Just so,” Nemael agrees, and gives one final, playful tug. “There you are, all set.” Olwyn looks at herself in the mirror with a pleased grin. She’s wearing an all new dress; it’s gold and teal with a white fur trim, and she’s got a yellow jade hairpin nestled in her braids.
“Do you think Kel will like my hairpin?”
“I am sure she’ll love it.”
Normally Olwyn doesn’t like big dinners. It means sitting at the high table and having to eat all her vegetables because she has to be well-behaved. She can’t even sneak some to Haurshos because he isn’t allowed to come.
But papa Thenvunin has assured her that there will be lots of wonderful foods to eat and that she gets to sit with Kel and also stay up late like adults do! She hasn’t been able to talk with Kel yet, not after seeing her at the big meeting place when her papae Aelynthi was greeting Keeper Ireth and she hadn’t been able to really talk because the adults were talking.
Adults really like talking.
But she’d waved at Kel, and smiled at her, and tried to make her feel welcome. It is her job as a good hostess and betrothed to make Kel feel safe and happy. She thinks Kel is very pretty. She doesn’t wear her hair in the intricate court styles, but keeps it cut short, and her eyes are warm and her ears are straight rather than sloping up at the tip.
Papa and nanae Glory come get her from her rooms, to take her to dinner. Olwyn knows papae is in talks with Keeper Ireth and Grandnanae, and babae is helping show the clan members around with uncle Morwen.
They don’t go to the imperial dining room, where Olwyn is used to her more formal meals. Instead papa carries her out into the large, open-aired courtyard that is usually used for the large festivals. There are already musicians playing, and a group of dancers at the center, surrounded by smaller tables that each sit four (two imperial officials and two clan members to each). On a raised dais are two longer tables, and on the highest dais is where Olwyn’s Grandnanae will sit, with Keeper Ireth beside them to show a level as equals. Grandpapae Nithroel, grandma Faunalyn, and grandnanae’s wife Kassaran are already seated. Olwyn waves, and is rewarded with smiles and a wave in return from all three.
On the dais just below Grandnanae Melarue is where Olwyn will sit with her parents and Kel and the rest of Kel’s family. Olwyn’s father, Prince Arethfal, isn’t here yet, which makes her a little sad. Her papae had explained that father was talking with her grandmamae and grandmemae back in their kingdom because they were angry that they hadn’t been invited to Olwyn’s betrothal meeting.
He was supposed to be back before the meeting itself, but he sent a message ahead saying he’d be a day or two late. Nanae says that Olwyn doesn’t need to worry, but she still does. Sometimes she finds her grandmamae Andruil to be scary. Grandmemae Ghilan’nain is a little nicer, she thinks. She made Haurshos after all.
Her worry is overshadowed by her excitement, of course. She has so many things she wants to show Kel, and so many questions to ask her!
Papa sits her down on his left, on a large blue cushion. It reminds her of eating meals with her parents around her low table, and not the high-backed imperial dining chairs. She likes it even more now. The only thing that would make this perfect would be Haurshos. He’d whined the whole time they’d gone down the hallway from her rooms; he doesn’t like it when he can’t see her.
Nanae sits beside papa, and Olwyn knows that babae will sit beside them. Papae will sit with Grandnanae, for more talks with Keeper Ireth. Olwyn can see lots of officials and clan members settling into their own seats, and recognizes several of grandnanae’s top officials, including uncle Morwen and nabae Treachery and gran gran Mirena.
The air is pleasantly cool, like a spring evening, despite the snow on the tiled roofs. Lanterns line the courtyard, still unlit, though Olwyn knows they will activate once the sky darkens. She learned all about that kind of light magic in her lessons, and she even spelled the one in her own room!
A gong sounds, and a herald announces the arrival of Grandnanae and Keeper Ireth. Papa picks up Olwyn and stands, as everyone else gets to their feet and Grandnanae walks to their seat with papae. Both of them are dressed in even prettier dresses than Olwyn’s. Keeper Ireth is in her elf form, but she has her horns still. They’re different than the horns Grandmama Kass has, they go up and out and they’re gold.
Babae leads Kel and her papae and brother to the table next to Olwyn, and Olwyn has to keep herself from talking until Grandnanae addresses everyone and welcomes them to the meal and talks for a little bit about peace and alliances and new beginnings while Olwyn twists in papa’s arms to get a better look at Kel.
She’s dressed in a deep emerald dress with silver embroidered trees on the hem and collar, and there are silver cuffs on her ears, and she’s trying to get a good look at Olwyn too.
When Grandnanae and Keeper Ireth sit down, the rest of them follow suit and Olwyn nearly jumps out of papa’s arms to settle on her cushion beside Kel. “Hi!” She chirps, “I’m Olwyn.”
Kel smiles back, “I’m Kel.”
“Do you have any favorite foods?” Olwyn leans over and grabs a small bowl of sliced mango. “This is my favorite fruit, do you wanna try some?”
Kel takes a bit and nods, “It’s good.” She doesn’t finish it though, Olwyn notices. Oh no, is she being a bad hostess already? Olwyn pauses, and tries to think about what she did wrong. Well, she’d asked Kel if she had any favorite foods...but she hadn’t given her time to answer. She’d just given Kel the things she liked. That wasn’t very nice of her. Olwyn tries again. “What kind of foods do you like, Kel?”
“I like spicy things,” Kel replies, as Olwyn waits and tries REALLY hard not to start talking until Kel finishes.
“Oh!” Olwyn nearly knocks over her glass of water as she reaches across the table—nanae grabs it and keeps it from spilling just in time—and grabs another bowl. “Wanna try these peppers? My babae really likes them. They’re too spicy for me though.”
Kel takes the offered pepper and goes for a second before her papa tells her that she has to eat the other foods on her plate too. Olwyn steals a glance at him as she nibbles another piece of mango. His name is Haninan, she knows, and he’s got his hair in braids like her, with little gold and glass beads in it. It’s pretty. Sitting beside him is Kel’s big brother June. June is dressed really fancy, like the empire elves, and he’s watching the room like he’s not sure who he’s supposed to talk to.
Papa keeps putting foods on Olwyn’s plate and—Olwyn grimaces—there it is, vegetables. She sighs. She’d really hoped that since it was a special night she would just get to eat good food, but nanae gives her a look that says “no”.
Babae and Haninan are talking about something over Olwyn’s head, as Olwyn leans over conspiratorially. “Do you like vegetables?”
“Some,” Kel nods, “Why?”
“Any of these?” Olwyn points to her own plate. When Kel points to a few Olwyn hurriedly transfers them over.
“Da’len,” Nanae pats the top of her head, “What are you doing?”
“I’m being a good betrothed!” Olwyn defends, “Kel likes these vegetables it would be remiss of me not to let her have them.” Remiss is one of the new words her tutor had taught her the other day.
Haninan laughs, and Nanae makes a face like they want to laugh but know that they shouldn’t. Instead they pat Olwyn’s head again, “Alright.”
“Tomorrow do you wanna play with my toys?” Olwyn turns back to Kel. “The adults are going to do boring stuff, but we can play in my rooms! You can choose all of the games, since you’re the guest.”
“That is very nice of you, Princess Olwyn.” Haninan smiles down at her.
The rest of the evening continues much the same. Olwyn and Kel both get distracted from talking about their favorite games by the new dancers in the middle of the courtyard, before Olwyn’s uncle Morwen walks forward and makes a speech about two groups coming together for peace, and about the wonders of music connecting people—uncle Morwen is very good with words—and then plays a piece of his own, inspired by traditional clan music, and the whole courtyard goes silent to listen.
Olwyn barely notices she’s getting sleepy, until she finds herself being carried down the hall in papae’s arms. She doesn’t need to open her eyes to recognize him—he smells like his favorite jasmine perfume and paint. She doesn’t hear his words, not awake enough to make them out, but he’s talking with her other parents.
“Can I play with Kel tomorrow?” Olwyn murmurs, as papa Thenvunin pulls the blanket up to her chin. She feels the bed shift as Haurshos leaps onto it and settles against her back.
“Of course you can, da’len.” Babae answers, and then each of her parents gives her a kiss on the forehead. By the last, she’s fallen asleep.
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Olwyn wakes the next morning before Nemael arrives to help her get ready for the day, too excited to stay in bed a moment longer. The sooner she gets dressed the sooner she can see Kel, after all. She is halfway through putting on her clothes when he walks in and pauses in the doorway to survey the chaos.
He laughs softly as he begins picking up the clothes scattered across the ground, “Eager to play with your new friend?”
“Kel’s never seen a big dog so babae says I can bring Haurshos to play and we’re gonna go to the big garden and the menagerie and we’re gonna have a picnic next to the koi pond because it’s romantic.”
Haurshos gives a soft woof of agreement from where he’s curled up on the bed.
“First we need to be properly dressed.” Nemael nods. “It’s going to be too cold for that dress today.”
Olwyn looks down at the dress she’d chosen. It’s one of her favorites, with golden bamboo and cranes on it. It makes her feel very grown up, like Grandnanae; all silk, with a red and gold sash with a beaded pendant in the shape of her formal seal. She frowns, “But this one’s my favorite.” Just in case Nemael forgot.
“What about the dress is your favorite part?” Nemael asks as he sits her down on the ottoman next to her closet.
“The sash,” Olwyn decides, “and the colors.”
“Well,” her nanny stands and heads for her closet. “What if we find some warmer clothes that are the same color and wear them with the sash?”
Olwyn thinks about it for a bit. She really wanted to show Kel her favorite dress. It makes her look important and royal. But...she also doesn’t want to be cold. She doesn’t like the cold very much. “Ok.”
In the end Olwyn finds herself in a pair of warm leggings and a long-sleeved tunic—Nemmy reminds her she’ll be running around, and leggings will make it easier to move—with a pretty navy blue coat with gold swans sewn into the collar that match her sash. Her hair is still in braids, so Nemael leaves them loose. The braids reminds her of babae’s hair, which has her in an even happier mood by the time nanae and papa come to take her to breakfast.
Haurshos whines, but stays with Nemael as they head out. He’s not allowed to come to the formal dining hall and has to stay until they go to the gardens. Olwyn hates it just as much as Haurshos, maybe even more. “Haurshos is really sad papa.” Olwyn pouts, tugging on Thenvunin’s hand. “Can’t he come to breakfast? He didn’t get to come to dinner and he waited so good. Please?”
Her papa wavers, but nanae simply wraps a fur-lined scarf around Olwyn’s neck and boops her nose. “You know better than to ask papa with that sad face. Haurshos will be fine for a little longer.”
Nanae always catches her when she tries to ask papa or babae for something she knows her other parents will say no to. Olwyn sighs, “But what if he forgets what I look like because I’m gone so much? Or he tries to eat the ducks because he’s so sad, like Screecher?”
Nanae snorts. “Screecher did not eat the ducks because they were sad, da’len.”
“Well it made Uncle Morwen sad,” Olwyn asserts, while papa sputters and begins telling her that Screecher was just doing what Screecher does and wasn’t trying to make anyone sad. Papa tells that story every time Screecher attacks an animal or person—which is often.
“Where is my little puppy?”
Olwyn recognizes the voice instantly, and tears away from papa’s hand as she careens down the hallway toward the tall figure at the end. “Father!”
Her father grabs her up and lifts her into the air as she giggles, before pressing a kiss to her forehead. He’s still wearing his traveling clothes, and smells like his hunting leathers and the snake hounds. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Olwyn wraps her arms around his neck, and breaths in the smell of the woods from his coat, before she leans back to look him in the eyes again. “Have you met my betrothed, Kel? She’s really pretty and she’s never seen a dog before!”
“Did your talk go well?” Nanae asks her father, as they continue down the hall. Nanae doesn’t like Olwyn’s grandmamae and grandmemae at all, Olwyn heard her talking with papa Thenvunin about it before, when Olwyn had gone to visit them for the first time. nanae Glory had said “NO! It’s too dangerous.” and papa had stayed behind with them so they wouldn’t be lonely when she had gone with father and papae and babae. She remembers how scared nanae had sounded, and how hard they’d hugged her when she’d come back.
“Of course,” Olwyn’s father answers, but even Olwyn knows he’s only saying it because they can’t talk about adult stuff when she’s there. Instead he turns to her again and smiles, “Your grandmothers sent you some presents to congratulate you on your betrothal. Would you like to see them?”
Olwyn loves presents. Even if sometimes her parents tell her she’s too young to play with some of the gifts that Grandmamae Andruil sends her. Last time Grandmemae Ghilan’nain sent her a gift it was Sunset, her very own moose-lion. She lives in the stables, and usually Olwyn has to sit in father’s lap to ride, but she’s old enough now to start riding lessons on her own because she’s practically all grown up. She’s about to say yes when she remembers something, “Did they get Kel any presents?”
Her father blinks, “Well, no.”
“Then I’ll wait till later,” Olwyn decides, and tries not to seem too disappointed. “I don’t wanna make her feel left out.”
She is such a good betrothed.
Her father sets her down, and holds her hand while they walk to the dining hall and listens to her describe the night before. The herald at the door announces them, before they walk inside. The imperial dining hall is full of five long tables made of dark wood, embedded with tops made of clear crystal. This is where the nobles of the court sit, those that wish to eat their meals in attendance of Grandnanae and the rest of the royal family.
This morning the tables are full to bursting, with imperial elves and members of Kel’s clan. Grandnanae Melarue is sitting at the sixth, final table with Keeper Ireth and her family. The table is longer than Olwyn remembers it being before, to accommodate the new arrivals, curving at both ends rather than straight across.
This time Olwyn doesn’t get to sit beside Kel because they’re seated at opposite sides of the table. She hears Kel ask her papa why, and Olwyn turns to her own parents with the same query, before she can’t stand it any longer and tries to get down from her seat so she can go talk with her. The debacle ends when she finds herself firmly seated in Grandnanae’s lap, with Kel in Keeper Ireth’s, so the two can talk.
Olwyn isn’t a baby, she doesn’t need to sit in someone’s lap, but she knows the adults like to think she does.
And she doesn’t get to sit in Grandnanae’s lap as much anymore, and she knows Grandnanae misses it and she doesn’t want their feelings to get hurt.
“My papa says that when we finish eating we can go and play and don’t have to wait for the adults to be done,” Olwyn tells Kel, “We get to spend the whole day together! And all of tomorrow too. And the day after that, to make sure we like each other. I think I already like you, cuz you like dogs and eat the vegetables that I don’t like so I don’t have to. But we can spend more time together too just to make sure. And because being betrothed means spending time together.”
Kel nods, “We need to play games so we can see if we like the same ones.”
“There’s a tree in the big garden that has lots of good branches for climbing and it’s the tallest tree ever,” Olwyn leans back in Grandnanae’s arms, “We can race to the top!”
Kel bounces in her mother’s arms, “I wanna see it.”
“After you eat,” Grandnanae reminds them.
Olwyn has never eaten her breakfast so fast. She slows down only when her grandmama and grandpapae tell her that she’ll get a stomach ache if she doesn’t stop, and pouts for a bit while she waits for her tummy to settle before babae comes to take her and Kel to go play, along with Kel’s papae Haninan.
By the time they get out of the dining hall both girls are giggling with excitement, ready to run off and play.
The most important thing, of course, is meeting Haurshos. Olwyn reminds her babae several times as they leave the dining hall that they need to go back to her rooms and get him. She refuses to be carried; she wants to walk with Kel.
She knows betrothed hold hands, but she doesn’t want to go too fast. Betrothals are long and she needs to be patient and understanding. She and Kel agree that waiting is important, so they’ve agreed on the end of the week for hand holding.
Olwyn can hear Haurshos whining as they near her rooms—he’s smelled her coming. When babae opens the door Haurshos tumbles through and nearly knocks her down. He doesn’t of course, because he’s the smartest dog in the world and he knows better than to knock her over when she could get hurt. Instead he covers her face with kisses.
Nemael walks out of Olwyn’s rooms behind Haurshos with a sigh, and begins wiping the slober off Olwyn’s cheeks, tutting. Olwyn is so preoccupied with scratching Haurshos’ chin that she almost forgets that she’s supposed to be showing Kel around. She turns to see her betrothed standing a few feet away, eyes wide, looking excited. Olwyn grins, “This is Haurshos!”
At the sound of his name, Haurshos looks over Olwyn’s head and turns to welcome Kel. He leans forward, tail wagging furiously as he sniffs Kel’s outstretched hands. When Kel lets out a giggle his tail wags even harder and he ventures a lick on her palm.
“He loves getting his ears scratched,” Olwyn shows her how, and Haurshos grunts and leans into Kel’s hand as she does so.
“He’s so soft!” Kel exclaims, and looks more than a little wonderstruck. She can’t seem to stop petting Haurshos, and Olwyn’s faithful hound shows no sign of moving.
Olwyn knows the concept of sharing, but is not something she’s ever had to do before. There were never any other children to share with. And while a part of her feels some odd tinge of worry, that maybe Haurshos might like Kel more now, she realizes that more than that worry she likes the idea of Haurshos and Kel getting along, the idea of all three of them there, having fun.
Olwyn smiles, “Do you want to ride him?”
