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Quinnahunti ends, Quinnatorz elapses, the twins have their ninth birthday on the thirteenth of Quinnasweela, and Kiri has eventually seen bits of everything she will need to take or delegate charge of - the palace, key portions of Chialto, the Ardelay estate, and the various family business concerns (the national network of libraries being the primary thing, but the Ardelay family has been a major investor in museums as well, and Kiri has inherited partial concerns in things ranging from bakeries to stationery stores; eventually she will have to take a more active role in managing the finances, but they should be self-managing for the time being unless too many key people die.)
In Quinncoru, Kiri - with Aleko in tow this time in addition to Renny - makes a visit to the palace, and, since the king seems willing to ignore her and she doesn't really want his attention, and since there is not a full complement of primes around, has nothing much to do with herself but make a beeline for the prince. (Aleko goes exploring by himself.)
calescent
The prince can be found in his rooms. It seems he is indisposed - no one she might ask for directions is clear on how - but not turning away visitors.
He is flopped in bed, under a blanket, looking exhausted - but when he sees Kiri, he perks up and waves. "Hi, Kiri!"
(The arm he waves with is bruised.)
(The arm he waves with is bruised.)
As she gets within range, he's just thinking that he should have thought to warn her earlier, but then she doesn't immediately yell and run away, so it looks like it's fine.
"I feel kind of awful," he says, cheerfully. "It's much nicer with you here, though. Since it looks like you don't get hurt when I'm hurt, can I have a hug?" Which will predictably make him hurt more, but will make him feel better, and it won't be bad-hurting anyway.
"I feel kind of awful," he says, cheerfully. "It's much nicer with you here, though. Since it looks like you don't get hurt when I'm hurt, can I have a hug?" Which will predictably make him hurt more, but will make him feel better, and it won't be bad-hurting anyway.
calescent
"Yeah, okay." She leans over to give him a careful hug. "I don't experience what I'm getting from other people, you don' have to worry about that."
"Good."
Hug! Yes that's much better. (He is rather uncareful about hugging back.)
"So how've you been?"
Hug! Yes that's much better. (He is rather uncareful about hugging back.)
"So how've you been?"
calescent
"I've been okay. It's kind of overwhelming to have so many things that I inherited by being prime, but now I have notes on all of them and know who is looking after them in case I need to do something with any of it."
"Well, that's good," he says, smiling.
"Mm," he says.
Isten is small and curious and sometimes he breaks things, or makes messes. When he does, and his older brother is there, the prince usually contrives to make people think he did it. This habit has made his father hate him even more than he used to, but it's also kept Isten out of harm's way, at least some of the time.
In this particular case, Queen Risella actually deigned to visit her child, and Isten tripped on the trailing loop of a string of pearls she was wearing. The prince was close enough to have (barely) plausibly done it, so he pretended he had - on purpose, because the lie wouldn't have held up if he'd claimed to have done it by accident, not with the two-year-old sprawling on the floor next to the broken string, surrounded by falling pearls. Isten's mother went to her husband in a rage and demanded something be done about this. And the prince received an emphatic lesson in respect and princely conduct. Sufficiently emphatic that two days later, he is still choosing to spend most of his time in bed rather than try to move too much.
Isten is small and curious and sometimes he breaks things, or makes messes. When he does, and his older brother is there, the prince usually contrives to make people think he did it. This habit has made his father hate him even more than he used to, but it's also kept Isten out of harm's way, at least some of the time.
In this particular case, Queen Risella actually deigned to visit her child, and Isten tripped on the trailing loop of a string of pearls she was wearing. The prince was close enough to have (barely) plausibly done it, so he pretended he had - on purpose, because the lie wouldn't have held up if he'd claimed to have done it by accident, not with the two-year-old sprawling on the floor next to the broken string, surrounded by falling pearls. Isten's mother went to her husband in a rage and demanded something be done about this. And the prince received an emphatic lesson in respect and princely conduct. Sufficiently emphatic that two days later, he is still choosing to spend most of his time in bed rather than try to move too much.
"I'm okay," he says, smiling. Defined as: he is happier with this outcome than he would be if he'd stood back and let the blame fall on his little brother. And still that other thing, from when they first met - it's not so bad that he needs to be out of it no matter what.
calescent
"I guess it's good he has you to look out for him, it's just..." She shakes her head.
"It'd be better if I didn't have to," he says. "Yeah."
Well, unless somebody assassinates the king, there's not much to be done about that.
calescent
"He hasn't declared an heir yet, has he. I wonder what happens if he needs one before he picks one."
"It'd be me, probably. With a regent until I turned fifteen."
He has no idea who that regent would be; no obvious candidates present themselves. Certainly it would be a mistake to nominate one of the current queens. The ten-year-old prince feels that he could do a better job than either if his father dropped dead that very minute.
He has no idea who that regent would be; no obvious candidates present themselves. Certainly it would be a mistake to nominate one of the current queens. The ten-year-old prince feels that he could do a better job than either if his father dropped dead that very minute.
calescent
"I think the primes get to pick the regent," says Kiri reassuringly.
"Will they be any good at it?"
He knows one prime out of five, and he trusts her to at least want to install a regent who would be good at their job... but that doesn't guarantee she'd be able to spot all the problems a candidate might have. It would help if she consulted him, he supposes. But then there are the other four primes, who may or may not be inclined to listen to a couple of children.
He knows one prime out of five, and he trusts her to at least want to install a regent who would be good at their job... but that doesn't guarantee she'd be able to spot all the problems a candidate might have. It would help if she consulted him, he supposes. But then there are the other four primes, who may or may not be inclined to listen to a couple of children.
calescent
"Well, I don't know if they'd be good at it, especially with Nerine and Valdin at each other's throats thinking daggers at each other all the time, but I can block attempts to install one of the queens."
"What's Nerine and Valdin's problem?"
calescent
"I don't know much of the history of it. They aren't like, 'grrr, I hate her for reasons I will think about in chronological order within five feet of Ardelay over there'. They're just always mad at each other."
He giggles.