The Four Kingdoms Box Set 2 by Melanie Cellier

Author:Melanie Cellier [Cellier, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Luminant Publications
Published: 2018-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

In the following weeks, the weather got even colder, if possible. The palace staff decorated the entire palace with the same green boughs, colored baubles, and red bows she had seen in the square.

William pointed out a sprig of mistletoe that someone had attached above the main doorway to the kitchen, and she saw several servants allowing themselves to be caught by their sweethearts underneath it. Giggles and calls of encouragement always issued from the scullery maids and apprentices in the kitchen when they witnessed the chaste pecks.

“It’s not what I expected from Northhelmian formality,” Cordelia said to William the first time she witnessed it.

“Ah, but mistletoe is a Midwinter tradition, and tradition is a special form of formality here. You can’t go against tradition.” He grinned. “An important thing to understand if you’re looking to bend the rules. Every system can be played.”

After each kiss, a berry was removed from the sprig, but Cordelia noticed that a new sprig, full of berries, appeared every time the old one was emptied. So perhaps the crown prince wasn’t the only one in the Northhelmian palace finding ways to bend the rules. She smiled, but it was rather wistful. She wished she had a sweetheart to kiss in the doorway.

Queen Ava turned out to be much more charming than she had envisioned, only occasionally showing a glint of steel behind her pleasant exterior. All the young royals were soon on friendly terms, and the Northhelmians organized an endless number of revelries and entertainments.

Cordelia’s intervention had quieted the talk against Ferdinand, and he generally accompanied them. His rank and squad were both still his, but he had been excused from his regular duties with the guard so that he could participate as a member of court during the lead up to the wedding. Cordelia had worried that, with everything that had occurred, their first meeting after her accident might be awkward. But other than clasping her hand tightly and asking after her health, Ferdy acted in his usual manner, and her own discomfort soon eased.

As well as the standard balls and soirees, there were sleigh rides and bonfires and visits to the Midwinter gifts market. They even went ice skating once a team from the palace checked that the lake had completely frozen solid. Cordelia felt relieved, since it seemed like a final exoneration of Ferdinand, but also a little nervous. Ferdy encouraged her to give it another go, however, and Rafe and William took turns staying by her side. The enjoyable memories from her previous experience returned as she whizzed across the ice again.

One cold, clear day, after a particularly heavy snowfall, Ferdinand even led them all into the forest where they built snowmen and rode sleds down a small hill. Cordelia suspected Ferdinand had arranged the excursion after she confessed that she had always wanted to build a snowman, and she feared the activities were a little childish. But, if they were, none of the others seemed to mind, and Rafe instigated a snowball fight that even Hans, the most serious of the group, threw himself into.

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