She was sprawled over the table in her room and pouting, waiting for anything at all to happen.

Most of her friends were gone somewhere or another, the recent cla.s.ses hadn't been any more interesting than they had been previously, there was no more cake to be had anywhere in the city and even the annoying old man had left. The only interesting person left here was Josseline and she only ever spoke about boys. Mable was fine with the subject but not if it was to be the only one all day and every day.

She hadn't wanted to ever leave the school before but now she couldn't wait to be gone.

"That's not very lady-like of you Mable." Her best friend giggled.

"There's no one here so it doesn't matter." She answered dejectedly.

"We'll meet back with the others soon enough. The knights promised by the king of Artefine should be here to escort us home in just a few days."

The royal knights lent to her might not be as good as the usual imperial knights who watched over her but she really didn't want to wait for them to get here. Coming here all the way from Thronewoods took a while and the next group of students would arrive soon. She didn't want to meet a whole new cla.s.s now, she just wanted to hurry home.

"What's taking them so long anyway?" She grumbled.

"They have to prepare supplies for the journey and say goodbye to their relative, of course it's going to take a few days." Aglaya explained. "Why don't we go see lady Blackbull or Josseline in the meantime?"

"The old Blackbull will complain about my posture again..." Mable let her voice trail off at the end.

She didn't have any good argument, she just wanted to stay here and wallow in her misery some more. Aglaya pinched her cheek and pulled a bit to get a reaction out of her but Mable just answered by making a long unenthusiastic "Bahhhh" sound.

Her friend laughed and spoke again.

"That sad expression really doesn't suit you. Even back in the imperial palace you just looked serious and bored, not sad. You should enjoy this place while you still can instead of doing that."

"But I won't be able to do that at home either." Mable complained.

She'd be required to look perfect at all time again which meant no fun, no sadness, no being sprawled anywhere, no leaning against anything, no speaking casually and so on. In a way, she was currently enjoying something she wouldn't be allowed to do normally.

"Going back home isn't all that bad either." Aglaya tried to comfort her. "You'll get fine food and clothes again, as much cake as you want and all sorts of people fawning over you."

"They're fawning at the princess me, not the actual me."

They didn't care one bit about her, they only cared about her name. Even if she spoke, all her words would come in from one ear and flee from the other. They didn't want her opinion or her friends.h.i.+p, they didn't want to just have fun with her or even just chat casually. What they wanted was the favors of the emperor standing behind her. They were 'acting' kind and friendly not 'being' kind and friendly. Aglaya was her only actual friend there, the one person who held no secret from her and was always honest.

"It'll be different from now on, trust me." Aglaya a.s.sured her.

"Will it?"

"It will because 'you' are different. Now you had a taste of outside, you've grown up a lot, you have a man in your heart, you have a goal in your head and fire in your soul."

She did grow up a lot mentally and physically but she didn't see how it changed anything. Was she talking about how she said that she'd do her best to help out her friends or was she just saying that her chest grew so much that n.o.bles would ogle at her now too on top of ignoring her? Just thinking about it made her frustrated. Being home wouldn't be fun at all.

"Even if I don't want to be just a pretty painting anymore, whatever I say will just be ignored. Even if I work hard to help I know I won't be able to do much, I'll just feel even worse than before."

"That won't necessarily be the case. All you need are some allies who will actually hear you out and then your words will steadily gain reach. Just sit properly and I'll tell you about the plan." Aglaya told her mischievously.

What plan?

"Aglaya, what did you do?"

She wanted to retract her earlier thought, Aglaya did keep secrets from her, a whole lot of them. She was always planning some sort of surprise to cheer her up or try to give her some advantage Mable didn't see the point of having.

Aglaya pinched her lips with a teasing look. She wouldn't tell unless Mable sat up properly.

She made an unladylike groan, sat back up straight and questioned Aglaya with her eyes. Her friends smiled and presented to Mable what she had been working on in secret. Speaking of it all on a secretive tone to pull Mable into her scheme.

"You've told me what you wanted to do and worked hard to learn everything you'd need here like I told you to do but you had no real plan in that cute head of yours so I worked on one for you."

"A plan for what?" Mable asked in confusion.

She couldn't remember what she told Aglaya exactly because she was always talking with her and even then, she couldn't know what Aglaya got out of it. Truly, the only real objective of Mable was to have fun with her friends. She wanted everyone happy and that was it.

"A plan for everything!" The older girl teased. "A plan to get you Emp, to give you some leeway to do what you want and help those you want and even some realistic ways to do so."

Mable didn't really see how one could make a plan for all of that at once. It sounded impossible and also, she wanted to do her best to help, being told what to do wasn't really the same. On the other hand, there was no one in the world that knew her better than Aglaya, not even her own family. If that plan of hers could help her get out of the frame keeping her prisoner and get her to marry Emp, she was willing to listen to it.

"Are you sure about this thing? How does that plan go?" She asked, sounding more curious than she wanted to admit.

"You won't be disappointed, I worked hard with countess Blackbull to detail the whole thing."

"The old woman is part of your plan?" Mable couldn't help but ask with a frown.

"Of course she is. She's been on your side since the beginning Mable."

"She's on her own side, don't pretend otherwise. If she wants to help it's because it benefits her somehow."

Mable might look like she wasn't paying attention but she was very used to the workings of high society. Blackbull was a n.o.ble down to the bones, she only did things that would benefit her name. She'd never side for Mable if it didn't bring her some great advantage.

At a glance, it might seem obvious that a.s.sisting an imperial princess achieve her personal objective would be greatly beneficial for anyone but every respectful n.o.bles knew this was an illusion.

Mable had no power at all and would not inherit anything unless a tragedy befell her brothers. Her voice had no weight and a.s.sisting her openly might result in those a.s.sisting any of her brother frowning upon Blackbull instead. They'd see it as an attempt from Mable to overthrow the current pecking order and no one wanted that.

The imperial family wasn't the best place to grow up in, not because of her family itself but because of everyone around them instead. They made things way more complicated then they ought to be.

Her eldest brother, Dirch, had a lot of support because he was the heir to the imperial throne. He'd become the most important man in the empire as soon as her father Billow stepped down. Of course, most people would try to get onto his good side before this happened. Mable didn't get along well with him because despite his pretty exterior, peeling off the surface skin revealed a hard man who didn't like fun at all.

People who liked to gamble however put their hopes into her second brother Arpen. Like the aspen tree he took his name from, he grew really tall and thin but his ambition grew even higher. He wasn't happy with only the second place, he believed himself more suited to the throne because his elder brother was too stiff. The two of them quarreled all the time and many n.o.bles pushed Arpen to be more aggressive still. They hoped that he might challenge his brother and eventually take the throne bringing great rewards for those who sided with him. Arpen ignored Mable entirely, she was apparently too small for him to see from his high spot.

Then there was Pino, the last of her three brothers and her favorite. He was closer to her age so he was more friendly than the other two with her. Pino was the one who believed he had no real chance and so made no efforts to gain follower. He was smart however and more accommodating than his two brothers so many still aligned behind him.

They believed that his laid back att.i.tude and altruistic habits would make for a better received ruler. Dirch and Arpen had many ideas on how they wanted to change the empire to fit their opinions better but Pino was softer and willing to let the empire calmly sleep for a while, to let it stay as it was currently. He was a bit p.r.i.c.kly when disturbed though, he didn't like people sticking to him and felt a bit distant.

He was now the third brother but had been fourth once, the third died in his first hunt. Pino had never been the same after that loss. Mable hadn't been the same after the death of her mothers and sisters either. She understood him better because of this.

The only thing the three brothers agreed upon was that the Muraciers had too much power. Because of that, a great amount of n.o.bles traditionally loyal to the protectors of the empire remained unaligned still. As long as old man Aminui didn't pick a side, the warrior n.o.bles wouldn't choose any.

Mable knew that in the past, a great general would be appointed to the new emperor on the day of coronation to express their support to the new emperor but this time around, the Muraciers were all... disorganized. n.o.body really knew what was going on and who would be the great general next and it made people nervous.

Her imperial father knew what was happening but didn't tell her anything and only prolonged his reign instead. He could still sit on the throne for years and no one would complain but it was unusual that nothing had been set in stone yet.

In this situation, as a smart woman, it was in the best interest of Balckbull to standby and watch. Her family wasn't highly placed so aligning early with one of the princes wouldn't give her any benefits. Instead, she would loose a lot of the goodwill and reputation she had acc.u.mulated over the years. If she had to choose however, Mable expected Blackbull to side for her eldest brother Dirch because she liked tradition and order.

That being the case, she saw no reason for her to decide to help her. Mable was as far from orderly as it could go, she was like the opposite of Dirch. Anytime she was given some leeway to act as she pleased, she'd go straight to things deemed unreasonable. Aglaya said that Blackbull sided with her but she couldn't see why. The advantage for her must be enormous to support Mable despite her quirks which meant that something big was going on and Mable was blind to it.

"What did you promise her?"

"That's the best part, I didn't have to promise her anything!" Aglaya giggled at her pouting friend.

"Aglaya." Mable said as sternly as she could.

"No, it's true, she's doing this for Emp's support rather than yours. It's just that your victory is his victory too."

"Emp's support?"

Mable wondered what benefit Emp could provide her that would be worth it.

"Yeah, he's a high n.o.ble too as you surely remember and heir to his own place, I heard from Blackbull. She knows both of your full names after all so she knows exactly what will be in Emp's and your reach in a few years."

Mable accepted that answer. It made sense. Certainly, it was too soon for Blackbull to pick one of the three brothers but she could support a high n.o.ble courting the princess. No one would see it as an attempt to get ahead in the imperial court and depending on who Emp really was, she might reap enormous benefits as a mid ranked n.o.ble.

It was a bit frustrating to know that Blackbull was helping her because of Emp rather than herself but it couldn't be helped, that was how the world turned. As long as Mable got what she wanted, it didn't really matter why others helped her.

"So what are you planning with the teacher?"

"We'll be building your own faction and strengthening your influence."

"What?"

Building her own faction? That sounded really wrong.

"I don't want to pick a fight with my brothers." Mable said flatly.

"I know and we aren't. Well, we are but not really."

Mable furrowed her brows and crossed her arms with a severe look to scold her friend. The other girl wasn't intimidated in the least and kept explaining. Aglaya clearly thought that her stern look was cute instead which was mildly frustrating.

"Listen, all three of your brothers have gathered followers throughout the n.o.ble spheres of the empire. Whenever one of them speaks, he does so with the weight of many lands behind him. When you speak, n.o.body cares."

Mable pouted strongly. She knew that was true but it was still upsetting to hear her best friend say it aloud.

"You want to help everyone out but you have no influence. Even if you don't want the throne, you should gather people behind you so that when you speak, the others will be forced to consider your opinion too. The goal wouldn't be to oppose all your brothers, but only to play the role of arbiter between them. If his highness Dirch and his highness Arpen were to disagree, the court would be split in half between the two. You'd be able to make the balance tip in whichever way you please by placing your own voice on either side."

"Isn't that just what Pino does?"

"Yes but his highness Pino doesn't really care. He only ever says anything when the other two go too far. You would need to be more active, you want people to think that you will be the deciding factor between your two eldest brothers and so the other two factions will support you now to gain your support later when they need it."

Mable munched on her lip while she thought about it.

"Doesn't that sound just... underhanded?"

Aglaya wanted her to gather people who wouldn't be there for her directly but instead to try to sway her towards the other factions. It would feel like she was cheating everyone just to get her own objectives forward.

Wasn't that what all the other n.o.bles did? The thing she really disliked, hated even.

She couldn't stand their false friends.h.i.+p and pretended concerns. She still wouldn't have any real say in anything, she'd just be able to pick sides on a bunch of things she didn't care for.

"It is a bit unsightly yes but you won't achieve anything by just smiling and speaking smartly. To get to them, you have to use their language."

"If I absolutely have to I might agree but are your sure it would be enough?"

She wasn't sure what her father had planned for her and how stubborn he would be. She also had no clue on how to help her friends achieve their goals effectively. She could tell her father to support Nessa for d.u.c.h.ess of the northern grove but who knew what sort of weight she'd need for him to consider it.

"We can't make any stronger moves than this right now, you don't have the reach and as you said, we don't want to challenge your brothers. We can't afford to look like a threat to any of them and we can't afford to let them think you might reach for more influence later on. As long as they believe this is only to fight for who will get your hand, it should be safe to make this play.

You don't need any more power than that anyway, the point is really just to pull everyone to your side once you speak about your love towards Emp. You need them all to support your union regardless of the side they are on. They will do it for the possibility of your group siding for them later. We just need to remain balanced and not make any bold statement that would go against either of your eldest brothers.

The effect we're looking to achieve here is 'let me have this one please' instead of 'I'll fight you all if I have to'. If we play it right, they'll be glad to follow your request to please their sister and get the n.o.bles that will be in your pocket. Anyway, by being married off, it'll send the message that you don't want the throne which is perfect for us."

That was right, she would be marrying into Emp's house instead of the other way around. Emp was heir according to what Aglaya just said so he couldn't become a Grandbois, she'd leave her family for a new one and it would rea.s.sure her three brothers. She'd live happily with Emp and comfortably as a high n.o.ble lady. Everyone should be happy with this and then her brothers would be free to keep arguing against each other as much as they pleased without her forced to sit there and watch.

She couldn't just agree to a plan she knew nothing about however. She usually trusted Aglaya with those things and just did whatever she said that she should do but this time was different. It wasn't just a silly school plan to have some fun, her whole future would be on the line. She was nervous to agree to anything.

"How would you proceed to get people on my side then? If your plan is to work, I need people to side for me first so that the others will pay attention to me. How am I to do that if I don't have any goals or ambition?"

"We will prey on the neutral group, those that don't want to pick a side like Blackbull. With her setting the example and her many connections, we should be able to gather quite a following of people who don't want to really get involved while still wanting to retain some limited influence in the court. They can't afford to pick one of the big sides because the risks are too big but if you offer them a third safer option with no risk of defeat they'll naturally follow.

I also prepared a secret weapon to speak and move information around for us in the beginning while you'll still be stuck. I invited Josseline to follow us back to Thronewoods."

"Josseline?"

A very unexpected name came up.

"Yes." Aglaya said with a proud smile.

Mable gave her a dubious face. She didn't understand how Josseline could help them in any way. How was she a secret weapon exactly? Was she much more important than she first thought? What did Aglaya tell her exactly?

"Because you let me do mostly everything, you didn't know this but Josseline is actually very talented at gathering information."

"Like a spy?"

Mable couldn't see Josseline as a spy, she was too... bold. She had no discretion and only ever spoke about men.

"Not exactly but sort of. She's gifted to learn all sort of information. In school, she knew almost anything that was happening all the time and when she didn't she knew who would know. I learned of that talent after the incident in your room. Josseline felt guilty because she knew that Gytha often met with an older man.

She didn't dig further and didn't do anything with the information because it was none of her business but she regretted. I think we can put her talent to good use. She will blend in the court for us and gather all sorts of secrets we might need later as leverage. This way she can atone and meet with many n.o.bles who might be in need of a new wife."

Of course it was about her looking for a husband again. What else could it be?

"Is she really that good?"

"Well, she almost never gets all the details but she does find all the interesting lines. As long as we let her set up, she'll be able to warn us in advance of anything big happening and probably also who's doing what for whom."

"And you think this will be enough?" Mable asked with a bit of worry.

"For what we need, it will be more than enough. We're not trying to change the world yet, we're just trying to get you and Emp together for now."

Mable closed her eyes and thought about it some more. What did she really want and was Aglaya's plan a good one?

She needed Emp to look good and convince her father he was the right one for her. Aglaya's plan would help with that as long as she could give an opportunity for Emp to s.h.i.+ne.

She needed to have some freedom because she couldn't stand to be treated like furniture. Aglaya's plan would help with that too if it worked as intended but it would give her some responsibilities she didn't really want.

She needed her fun to go on forever and make sure everyone she shared her fun with was happy as well. She didn't know how to achieve that, only that it was the most important point. She didn't have a clue on whether Aglaya's plan would help with that or not.

"Will it make everyone happy?" She asked simply.

She didn't need to say more, Aglaya would understand right away what she meant, she always did.

"No, but it will give you the reach to make it so or at least, to push things along the right way somewhat." Aglaya answered honestly. "I don't know how to make everyone happy. I don't know how to make the fun last forever, I'm not a fairy. All I can do is make sure that you, at least, are happy."

"In that case, I'm willing to try. We'll do as you say for now." Mable agreed.

At least Aglaya had come up with some real ideas instead of her who simply thought something needed to be done.

Having her own faction sounded a bit complicated but if she had to manage this to succeed in her objectives, she would. It would be hard work but she would be rewarded at the end as long as she didn't mess around. She didn't like working but she was more than able to if she had to do it.

"I'm still bored though." She complained.

Aglaya answered with a chuckle and the next few days were spent doing nothing much.

She spoke to Blackbull about the plan and she said similar things than Aglaya about it. She said she'd do her best to help unite her with Emp and use some of her influence to move things the way they wanted but also warned her that things would move slowly since she'd act from here.

Most of it all would be in Mable's and Aglaya's hands since there would be a ma.s.sive delay between anything happening and the answer from Blackbull. Things could change drastically from weeks to weeks and by the time the news made it to her and back, there might be months of delay.

At least they'd have the support of Josseline.

"I'm so excited to go visit the capital! I wonder what sort of people we'll meet there." She told them in the carriage as they were leaving the school behind.

Mable watched the school as it slowly drifted away from her with a bit of regret. Had the best time of her life truly come and left already? She worried that nothing would be as fun as what she had already lived in school.

"There are a lot of interesting folks there so I'm sure you'll find some entertainment there. Just don't forget that we're counting on you." Aglaya told her.

"Don't worry, I know. If I can help out my friends then this is great and it's a great honor to serve the imperial princess anyway. I'd have never dared dream of it and I wouldn't ever have guessed Mable was the imperial princess if you had not told me. Also, I really had nothing better to do since going back home now is a bit sad. This is very exciting instead, I'll do my best to get you all the rumors, I'll even get George and Zoran in on it. With us three combined, there's not a single thing that will go past us unnoticed."

"George and Zoran too?" Mable asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah, of course! Zoran is with Emp right now so we'll know what the Muraciers are doing and what is happening in Greenpeaks while George's father is the marquess Hectarow. Marquess Hectarow has his territory on the border between Grandbois and Windbow, south of the Thornwoods.

Because there's nothing going on in his territory, he often travels to Thronewoods to meet with the court instead and he might bring George with him since he didn't go with the rest of the boys. I heard he supports Dirch because he feels in a good position already and doesn't like when others try to meddle with laws and politics that are already working."

Mable felt a bit impressed already. Josseline was already revealing herself to be an a.s.set.

"I didn't know that you could be interested in anything but men. I'm sorry I misjudged you." She told the other girl.

"Don't worry about it, I like to talk about men, that's true, but I like to gather rumors more. The men are just an excuse to get everyone talking, when I speak about guys, all the other ladies open their mouths to speak about how impressive this one or that one is. They always try to up one another about the accomplishments of the boys so I get to hear a lot.

I was doing it just because I like to like to hear everything as a hobby and shared the stories with Zoran and George but I never thought I'd ever do anything with them. We were trying to figure out the secrets of everyone just for fun, I'd never have guessed that that I'd be hired to do the same on a bigger scale."

"Did you get the names of everyone in the group?" Aglaya asked curiously while the carriage stopped at the gates of the upper city.

"Almost. We didn't find out who Mable was but you're too good at throwing false rumors around Aglaya. We didn't find out who Emp was either but we had a few guesses. I think I know now though, I'll ask Zoran to know for sure."

She guessed the name of Emp?

"If you do find it, don't tell me." Mable asked a bit nervously. "I don't want to know, it's too stressful."

Josselin c.o.c.ked her head to the side.

"Too stressful?"

"Yeah, I want to surprise him with my name and hear his own at that time. If I hear it before, I'll get too impatient to tell him mine too. Also, I can't make the mistake of getting close to his family or trying to give them an advantage before we're official. It might ruin my chances if I move too soon and I know I won't be able to help myself if I know. For my own good, it's best if I don't know."

There was also another more simple reason. She just wanted Emp to tell her himself, she didn't want to hear it from a third party. That might be silly but that was how she felt.

"Then if I do find out, I'll keep it to myself, I promise." Josseline agreed easily.

After that, a long trip awaited them and right at the beginning, they had to face a setback.

"What do you mean she's not here!" Mable complained loudly towards Aglaya.

"They said that Calla isn't in the village anymore because her Grandfather came to pick her up weeks ago." She explained.

Mable felt frustrated because she had wanted to say hi but there was nothing to be done about this. She could just keep moving towards her home. She was a bit disappointed though.

*-*-*-*

Grandbois naming convention:

The boys are given the name of a tree with a letter changed depending on the order of their birth. First born get the first letter changed, second born gets the second letter changed and so on. 1:Dirch is birch, 2:Arpen/aspen and 4:Pino/pine.

The girls are separated by mothers but follow the same rule otherwise. Mable/maple was the third daughter of her mother but had many other sisters older than her from other women.

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