Naamah's Blessing

expedition, members of the Great Houses, and a selection of the fighting noblemen from the Lesser Houses who would be accompanying us.
    It was an extravagant, glittering affair held in the great hall of the Palace. While the cooks labored in the kitchen to prepare the endless stream of dishes that would strain the long tables, servants in immaculate livery circulated with trays of food and drink to tantalize our palates.
    Duc Rogier and his wife, Claudine, were unfailingly gracious, their sons, Tristan and Aristide, handsome and charming. Desirée, permitted to attend the reception prior to the dinner, was glowing, the excitement of the occasion overshadowing the fact that it was meant to celebrate our departure.
    “I have a secret, Moirin,” she whispered to me.
    “Oh? What is it, dear heart?”
    She giggled and shook her head. “I can’t tell you. I promised Papa Rogier. He wants to tell you himself.”
    I raised my brows. “Papa Rogier, is it?”
    Desirée nodded. “He said it was all right to call him that, him and Maman Claudine. It is, isn’t it?”
    I made myself smile at her. “Yes, of course, if he said so.”
    Before we were seated to dine, the royal steward rang a silver bell, summoning us to attention. “My lords and ladies!” he called. “His excellence, Duc Rogier Courcel de Barthelme, Regent of Terre d’Ange, begs your indulgence for an announcement of joyful tidings!”
    “Uh-oh,” Bao muttered.
    “He wouldn’t dare,” I said under my breath. “Not here, not tonight. Would he? Is he
that
confident?”
    Gathering his family, including Desirée, at the head of the hall,Duc Rogier smiled beneficently at the murmuring crowd. “My thanks to all of you for gathering together on this momentous eve!” he said in a carrying voice. “In a moment, we will sit and break bread together, sharing our hopes and prayers for our valiant explorers as they prepare to embark on a quest of imminent danger. Before we do, I am pleased to share news of a joyous nature!”
    Tristan de Barthelme reached down to take Desirée’s hand. She held his gladly, gazing up at him in adoration.
    “He
is
,” I said in disbelief.
    But instead of making the announcement I dreaded, Duc Rogier gestured toward the back of the hall. Attendants opened the doors and ushered in a fair-haired couple who looked to be in their mid-fifties or later. She possessed a delicate, ephemeral beauty that had turned brittle with age, harsh lines bracketing her lips. He had greying silver-gilt hair caught back in a long braid, and blue-grey eyes whose sparkle had dimmed. Although I’d never seen either of them before, they looked familiar nonetheless.
    I caught my breath, suspicion rising.
    Together, they approached the head of the hall, exchanging greetings with Desirée, who had clearly met them already and been delighted by the revelation. Duc Rogier’s smile broadened.
    “My lords and ladies, I present to you the Comte and Comtesse de Maillet, her highness’ maternal grandparents,” he said. “With their blessing, I am pleased to announce that the ties between House Courcel and their descendants in House Barthelme will be strengthened even further with the betrothal of her highness Desirée de la Courcel to my eldest son, Tristan Courcel de Barthelme.”
    If Desirée hadn’t looked so gods bedamned happy, mayhap there wouldn’t have been as many cheers; but she did. Happiness radiated from her every pore as she stood clutching the hand of her betrothed Sun Prince, the hands of her newly found grandmother resting on her shoulders, her newly found grandfather with an arm around his wife’s waist, Papa Rogier and Maman Claudine gazing on with approval. No one could begrudge the orphaned Little Pearl her joy.
    It was a brilliant move.
    “Queen Jehanne’s
parents
?” Bao asked me.
    I nodded. “She couldn’t abide them, or at least not her mother. They had a dreadful relationship.”
    He eyed them. “Why would they be a party to this?”
    “I don’t know,” I said. “Except that according to my lady Jehanne, her mother ever resented her. Jehanne convinced his majesty to gift them with a modest title and send them into virtual exile in the provinces. Mayhap this is her chance at last to eclipse her daughter’s star, or exact petty vengeance for being banished from her life.”
    Across the hall, Duc Rogier caught my eye. He lifted his chin a fraction, daring me to speak out against this.
    I glanced around the hall. I had