fiction - brigits_flame - dine
Nov. 14th, 2008 05:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hwangoThis is my entry for the writing activity on the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
brigits_flame community. The prompt for this week was "dine."
Princess Rosaliya gazed out her window at the kingdom that had been her home for her entire life. She had visited other lands for diplomatic ceremonies, weddings, and other courtly matters, and always found herself looking forward to returning home. Everywhere else she went she felt like someone playing a part. Only in her homeland did she really feel like herself.
Alas, it would not be long before she would have to leave it all behind. As was the custom of the land, she was soon to be married off to some stranger. Many of the neighboring countries were sending princes and other noblemen who would all attempt to win her hand. In the old days she might have at least had a chance to meet with them and come to a decision after some thought, but as her father slipped further into madness his decrees were becoming more and more bizarre.
For Rosaliya, he had proclaimed that each of her suitors should bring some fine meal to offer her, so that she might make her choice of where she would live based on where the food was the best. Rosaliya had been less than thrilled by this news, but considered that she was luckier than her older sister Olivia, who had been married to the suitor who had the thickest eyebrows. Rosaliya shuddered at the memory of the man.
A gentle tapping at the door brought her thoughts back to the present. Her maid opened the door to reveal a young boy.
"Message for the princess," said the boy, holding out a sealed piece of parchment. Rosaliya nodded for the maid to take it and bring it to her. The messenger remained at the door, which Rosaliya thought was odd, but she was much more interested in who might have written to her. She maintained correspondence with a few other noblewomen, but the seal on the letter belonged to no one that she knew.
As Rosaliya read the letter, the maid could see her expression shift from surprise to amusement. The princess dipped a quill into some ink and wrote something at the bottom of the parchment, folded it, and resealed it. She returned it to the messenger with a smile, and the boy dashed off down the hallway.
The maid would not dare to be so presumptuous as to ask what was in the message, but Rosaliya could see that she desperately wanted to do so anyway. Rosaliya laughed. "It was about the ceremony," she said, and smiled again.
* * *
Weeks had passed, and the time had arrived for Rosaliya's prospective husbands to present themselves. There were more than a dozen of them, each in the finery of their native lands. Each one held a covered tray containing the meal they would present to Rosaliya. The meals had all been prepared in the castle's kitchens from ingredients the suitors brought with them by cooks they had also brought with them. Rosaliya looked out over the colorful group and wondered which of them she would choose. At least none of them had eyebrows the size of sausages. She waved for the first suitor to step forward.
The first man was dressed in a fine doublet of deep blues and greens. He had dark eyes, dark hair, and skin the color of bronze. On the tips of the fingers of one hand he balanced a delicate silver platter inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The lid that covered it had been carved from brilliant red coral. He flashed the princess a smile of incredibly white teeth and removed the lid with a theatrical flourish.
"My lady, I bring for you succulent Nightwatch crab, rarest delicacy of my land, which strays close enough to the shore to be caught for only one hour each night. I present it here sautéed in butter with lemon and capers."
Rosaliya speared a small piece on a single tine of a silver fork and delicately placed it in her mouth. She had to admit, it was delicious. She nodded to him and smiled. He flashed her another smile and took a step back.
The next suitor stepped forward. He wore a rather severe tunic of iron gray and a cloak of emerald green that matched the color of his eyes. Easily the tallest man in the room, he towered over the first suitor by nearly a foot. In his hands he held an intricately carved wooden tray with a woven grass cover. With precise formality he lifted the lid.
"My lady, I offer you the tender meat of the Cloud-Dweller Pheasant, which roosts in the tallest trees of my land. It has been roasted for you with honey and pecans."
This too the princess sampled with her silver fork. She smiled at him and nodded, and he stepped back.
And so it went, on and on, each suitor in their finery presenting her with rare delicacies of their lands presented on fancy trays. Rosaliya found many of the dishes quite tasty and some of the men rather charming, but the assembled crowd could see that she had not yet chosen any of them.
Finally, there was only one suitor left to present himself. Many in the crowd had overlooked him because he looked rather plain next to some of the more exotic foreigners, and the tray he carried appeared to be one from the kitchens downstairs. His clothes were neat and clean, but not particularly elegant. More than one guest smothering under their formal clothes stared daggers at him for wearing something that appeared to be practical and comfortable. He smiled at the princess and took a step forward.
"My lady, I bring you this," he said, and lifted the lid from his tray. "An apple from the tree in the garden of this very palace."
Some in the crowd could only sit in stunned silence. Others engaged in scandalized whispering. A very few began to shout at the suitor for this shameful display of disrespect until they were all motioned to silence by the princess. She leaned forward and took the apple in her hand, then sat back and took a large bite out of it. She smiled, and this time it was not just a polite smile, but one that showed in her eyes and lit up her face.
"Thank you," she said when she had finished chewing, "for bringing me exactly what I wanted."
Several of the other suitors were visibly angered by this. One, whose face was turning an alarming red, sharply gestured to his offering.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch one of these things?! If you don't spear it precisely through the heart they explode. Explode! And you're choosing an apple?!"
The princess favored him with a cool look that quieted him instantly. Then she turned her attention to the group as a whole.
"Make no mistake, gentlemen – I am deeply moved by the trouble that each of you went through to provide me with these extravagant meals, and I'm touched by the depth of your devotion to the cause of winning my hand. Many of you undertook difficult or perilous challenges, but only one of you had the foresight to undertake the most important task of all."
She smiled again and gestured for the man who had brought the apple to step forward. He took her hand and stepped up next to her.
"Only one of you wrote ahead to ask what I wanted."
brigits_flame community. The prompt for this week was "dine."Princess Rosaliya gazed out her window at the kingdom that had been her home for her entire life. She had visited other lands for diplomatic ceremonies, weddings, and other courtly matters, and always found herself looking forward to returning home. Everywhere else she went she felt like someone playing a part. Only in her homeland did she really feel like herself.
Alas, it would not be long before she would have to leave it all behind. As was the custom of the land, she was soon to be married off to some stranger. Many of the neighboring countries were sending princes and other noblemen who would all attempt to win her hand. In the old days she might have at least had a chance to meet with them and come to a decision after some thought, but as her father slipped further into madness his decrees were becoming more and more bizarre.
For Rosaliya, he had proclaimed that each of her suitors should bring some fine meal to offer her, so that she might make her choice of where she would live based on where the food was the best. Rosaliya had been less than thrilled by this news, but considered that she was luckier than her older sister Olivia, who had been married to the suitor who had the thickest eyebrows. Rosaliya shuddered at the memory of the man.
A gentle tapping at the door brought her thoughts back to the present. Her maid opened the door to reveal a young boy.
"Message for the princess," said the boy, holding out a sealed piece of parchment. Rosaliya nodded for the maid to take it and bring it to her. The messenger remained at the door, which Rosaliya thought was odd, but she was much more interested in who might have written to her. She maintained correspondence with a few other noblewomen, but the seal on the letter belonged to no one that she knew.
As Rosaliya read the letter, the maid could see her expression shift from surprise to amusement. The princess dipped a quill into some ink and wrote something at the bottom of the parchment, folded it, and resealed it. She returned it to the messenger with a smile, and the boy dashed off down the hallway.
The maid would not dare to be so presumptuous as to ask what was in the message, but Rosaliya could see that she desperately wanted to do so anyway. Rosaliya laughed. "It was about the ceremony," she said, and smiled again.
Weeks had passed, and the time had arrived for Rosaliya's prospective husbands to present themselves. There were more than a dozen of them, each in the finery of their native lands. Each one held a covered tray containing the meal they would present to Rosaliya. The meals had all been prepared in the castle's kitchens from ingredients the suitors brought with them by cooks they had also brought with them. Rosaliya looked out over the colorful group and wondered which of them she would choose. At least none of them had eyebrows the size of sausages. She waved for the first suitor to step forward.
The first man was dressed in a fine doublet of deep blues and greens. He had dark eyes, dark hair, and skin the color of bronze. On the tips of the fingers of one hand he balanced a delicate silver platter inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The lid that covered it had been carved from brilliant red coral. He flashed the princess a smile of incredibly white teeth and removed the lid with a theatrical flourish.
"My lady, I bring for you succulent Nightwatch crab, rarest delicacy of my land, which strays close enough to the shore to be caught for only one hour each night. I present it here sautéed in butter with lemon and capers."
Rosaliya speared a small piece on a single tine of a silver fork and delicately placed it in her mouth. She had to admit, it was delicious. She nodded to him and smiled. He flashed her another smile and took a step back.
The next suitor stepped forward. He wore a rather severe tunic of iron gray and a cloak of emerald green that matched the color of his eyes. Easily the tallest man in the room, he towered over the first suitor by nearly a foot. In his hands he held an intricately carved wooden tray with a woven grass cover. With precise formality he lifted the lid.
"My lady, I offer you the tender meat of the Cloud-Dweller Pheasant, which roosts in the tallest trees of my land. It has been roasted for you with honey and pecans."
This too the princess sampled with her silver fork. She smiled at him and nodded, and he stepped back.
And so it went, on and on, each suitor in their finery presenting her with rare delicacies of their lands presented on fancy trays. Rosaliya found many of the dishes quite tasty and some of the men rather charming, but the assembled crowd could see that she had not yet chosen any of them.
Finally, there was only one suitor left to present himself. Many in the crowd had overlooked him because he looked rather plain next to some of the more exotic foreigners, and the tray he carried appeared to be one from the kitchens downstairs. His clothes were neat and clean, but not particularly elegant. More than one guest smothering under their formal clothes stared daggers at him for wearing something that appeared to be practical and comfortable. He smiled at the princess and took a step forward.
"My lady, I bring you this," he said, and lifted the lid from his tray. "An apple from the tree in the garden of this very palace."
Some in the crowd could only sit in stunned silence. Others engaged in scandalized whispering. A very few began to shout at the suitor for this shameful display of disrespect until they were all motioned to silence by the princess. She leaned forward and took the apple in her hand, then sat back and took a large bite out of it. She smiled, and this time it was not just a polite smile, but one that showed in her eyes and lit up her face.
"Thank you," she said when she had finished chewing, "for bringing me exactly what I wanted."
Several of the other suitors were visibly angered by this. One, whose face was turning an alarming red, sharply gestured to his offering.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch one of these things?! If you don't spear it precisely through the heart they explode. Explode! And you're choosing an apple?!"
The princess favored him with a cool look that quieted him instantly. Then she turned her attention to the group as a whole.
"Make no mistake, gentlemen – I am deeply moved by the trouble that each of you went through to provide me with these extravagant meals, and I'm touched by the depth of your devotion to the cause of winning my hand. Many of you undertook difficult or perilous challenges, but only one of you had the foresight to undertake the most important task of all."
She smiled again and gestured for the man who had brought the apple to step forward. He took her hand and stepped up next to her.
"Only one of you wrote ahead to ask what I wanted."
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Editor
Date: 2008-11-21 07:38 pm (UTC)I'm helping out and picked up this for another run through as an editor.
I was delighted to read this entry when the voting for week 2 appeared. I've discovered you to be quite the hidden jewel in the bunch and your writings often appeal to my own love of fairy tales. Not only do you write wonderful fairy tales - you often make them darker which is my favorite.
I love the colorful descriptions that fill this story. It's not hard for my mind's eye to pick out the dish coverings, the livery, the crowd, and the delicate princess tasting the food with her silver fork.
I also liked that with the telling of the tale, you point out a powerful moral of the story. The winner not only thought about what she wanted but most likely knew she would want something from her own land. I have one suggestion about his choice (and this is only a suggestion =)): I presumed that he chose it because 1. that's what she wanted and 2. it was from her own lands. I'm not sure if that's an accurate presumption or not. Also, 'typical' fairy tales do have the 'wrap up nicely' ending to it suggesting they 'lived happily ever after' somewhere doing something. I'm not saying that you have to be typical! It would be nice to have a closure to that affect.
Most definitely a wonderful read! Keep up the good work - I look forward to future entries.
Good luck!
Re: Editor
Date: 2008-11-22 11:01 am (UTC)* Have you ever played the game "Once Upon a Time?" It's a storytelling game in which control of the story passes from player to player, and each one is trying to shift the story towards the ending on the card they have in their hand. Most of the endings are happy and typical, but there's one about the evildoers being thrown down a well or something. I always thought that one was hilarious.