A glittering spectacle. That was what Andromeda was already hearing the wedding described as, seated as she was at the head of the banquet-table. A glittering spectacle, unrivaled in anyone’s memory. None could remember such a beautiful party, in times of peace or of war. Spirits dampened by the threat of invasion were buoyed by the lights, the jewels, the music, the feast. What the people wanted was grand pageantry, and they were damn well going to get it. Game had been slaughtered, casks had been opened, and most importantly, coffers had been emptied to create the perfect celebration. Or illusion of one, anyway. To all onlookers, this was the perfect wedding. Two well-liked public figures, madly in love, bearing Trailsend’s hopes on their perfectly-sculpted shoulders, smiling brilliantly in the torchlight.
Andromeda took a dainty bite out of her roast pheasant. The banquet would not last forever, and events were soon to transpire, but there was no reason she couldn’t get a dance in first. She flicked a look to Vilexi, who nodded and slunk off into the shadows. For someone with absolutely no rogueish training, that woman was certainly talented in skulking. Perhaps it was an inborn trait. She heard the musicians start up a new tune moments later, and gasped in mock surprise, turning to her new husband. “Oh! Darling,” she trilled, an expression of almost girlish delight overtaking her features. “It is our song! The one we first danced to, that night we met!” Andromeda saw a look of momentary confusion pass over Nikolai’s face, soon smoothed over by the expression of placid charm that he wore by default. Curse the gods that saddled her with such an idiotic co-conspirator, that landed her in this backwater hole married to an empty-headed dandy. “Should we not dance, my love?”
Understanding passed over Nikolai’s face as he recognized her meaning. “Of course, my darling! We certainly can’t deprive these fine people of our first dance much longer.” Andromeda heard chuckles from those seated nearby, and fought the urge to scream. These simpletons, so easily pacified by glitz and glamour and personal charm. Their idiocy served her well, but it was so deeply frustrating to be the only person with ambition for a hundred leagues. Instead of screaming, though, she smiled demurely at Nikolai and allowed herself to be led by the hand onto the dance floor.
They took their positions, his arm around her waist, her hand on his shoulder, and the musicians started a new refrain of the song. She bowed her head, leaning her forehead against his as they began to dance. You can hear me, yes? she thought at him, casting a spell of telepathic link.
I so hate when you enter my mind, darling. I can feel your cold claws digging through all my most private thoughts. Is a man not entitled to the privacy of his own thoughts? Nikolai looked deeply into her eyes, for all appearances a man besotted, but so close Andromeda could see that his smile was brittle. The tenor of his thoughts was nervous, almost jittery. She batted her eyelashes at him.
Having second thoughts, are we? Cold feet? Allow me to reassure you, dearest love. Her right hand tightened a fraction on his, and only the slightest wince on his face betrayed the fact that her blood red nails had dug in for half a second. The plan will work because I am the one who made it. No amount of idiocy on your part could possibly defeat the years of work I have put into this moment.
It isn’t idiocy on my part that I’m worried about. Nikolai twirled her effortlessly, pulling her in against his body on the return. To onlookers, it appeared to be a moment of intimacy, two lovers unwilling to be apart for even the briefest of moments. Andromeda, however, felt the tightness of his grip, and knew better. You have left too much up to him.
Oh, you are one to talk, Andromeda replied, her thoughts dripping with contempt. You entrusted this man with your protection for years, and only now you are worried about where his loyalties lie? I can tell you with certainty that they lie with himself. That, my dear baron-to-be, is why he is so easily used. Nikolai dipped her, and she was able to see the crowd for an instant. They were a perfect scene of reverence, scarcely a dry eye in the hall, enraptured by the display of beauty and love being put on for them. Idiots. A selfish man is the easiest to coerce. He has no other allegiances, no inconvenient moral obligations. I have informed him of the consequences should he betray us, and he knows I am not lying. He will do as I have asked.
And your sibling? Nikolai smirked at her, with the air of someone who has dropped a trump card. You seemed as surprised as I was that they came in on his arm tonight. Were they not one of the party who investigated my, ahem, nighttime rendezvous?
Andromeda did not falter in the intricate steps of her dance. They know better than to stick their neck out when it is unnecessary. And besides, they suspect nothing of our true aims. Emiel was easily her favorite sibling- it was not as if there was much competition for that title- but more than that, they shared a good deal of her philosophy. They knew they were entitled to the finer things in life, and they knew that some things are simply none of your concern. They would do well once she was Baroness. They will not be convincing him to make any sudden moral turns, I guarantee you that. Unfortunate that they had seemed to have developed an attachment to the pawn, but there would be others. Perhaps ones of more suitable position. And, frankly, a less dour appearance.
But yet we still can’t count them as an ally. Andromeda’s mouth twitched in the barest hint of a frown. Your own sibling, and you haven’t even put them into the loop?
One single carefully-shaped eyebrow raised on Andromeda’s face, imperceptible to onlookers. I do not believe that you should be lecturing me on proper family bonds.
Fair point! The last chorus of the song was ringing out, and their steps slowed. To their audience, they were drifting beautifully over the dance floor, as graceful as angels. In that case, are there any more necessary preparations?
No. Everything is in place. All these years of waiting, of scrounging for victory, of relying on the idiocy of others and the skills of a select few, of blackmail and espionage and wholesale slaughter- all the pieces were now in place. Not even the Steel Legion itself overrunning the feast-hall could stop her plan’s progression.
Nikolai’s grip was firm on her hand. Then we had better get on with the pageant. The song is coming to an end, and we have much to do before this feast is over. As the musicians played the last measures of the verse, he pulled her close again, his lips brushing against her ear. “And by the way, my sweet flower,” he whispered, taking care to hide his words behind the fall of her hair, “I hope you are not expecting fidelity.”
Andromeda laughed aloud, and the crowd murmured at how happy the young couple was. She brought a hand to his face and cradled it, looking deep into her husband’s emerald eyes. “Oh, my darling,” she purred, her voice laden with love. If you think I am letting you touch me tonight, you are more stupid than you look.
Author's Notes:
Written 12/15/17. Nikolai and Andromeda are two of the villains of the Cold Lands setting. They're real pieces of work!