The Lady at the River's Edge

2 - The Game Begins

"When? When?" Ilona demanded, tugging at Erzsebet's sash as she tried to tie it. "When is the prince coming, Erzse?"

"He's not a prince," Erzsebet snapped, pulling her sister's hands free. Still holding the grubby little monster, she inspected her silk belt for stains, then released her. "They spent the night in Bacs fortress, so they won't be here until the evening."

"He's the son of the palatine," Ilona argued. "That's practically a prince." She spun around, her outflung hands coming dangerously close to knocking against a dressing stand. Of course, none of Erzsebet's ladies reprimanded the girl, and if anything happened their mother would blame only her eldest daughter.

"Go sit by the window, Ilona," said Erzsebet. "You're in the way."

"I think he's more of a prince than the real prince." The girl just kept blathering on, but at least she moved a few steps away. She was far enough now that, with her ladies as witnesses, Erzsebet could perhaps avoid blame if the girl fell out the window.

"He isn't a prince," Erzse repeated. "His father is not a king, so he is not a prince." The ladies had finished pinning up her hair, and so gently tugged her to inspect herself in the looking glass. "And as he is not at all a prince, he is of course less a prince than the real prince." She tilted her head, made a few slight adjustments, loosening one of the pins to gain a bit more volume.

"Nuh-uh," Ilona sneered. "Being a prince is more than who your father is–"

"That is quite literally all being a prince is!"

"It's how you act." She took on the condescending tone of a child reciting something they'd just recently learned. "Prince Andras rebelled against the king, and so he was exiled. He didn't act like a good prince should, so he's not really a prince at all anymore."

Erzsebet rolled her eyes, nodded and waved off the looking glass. She turned back to see Ilona across the room, digging through her jewelry box. "Exiled or not, he's still a prince," she said as she marched over and slapped her younger sister's hands away from her mother-of-pearl bracelet. "Benedek is only the son of the palatine."

"Father said the palatine is the highest position in the kingdom, except for the king!" She needed her hands slapped twice more before she left the jewelry alone. Arms crossed and petulant, she glared up at Erzsebet. "If he's almost like the son of the king, but he acts like a good prince, he's more of a prince!"

"The palatine has a lot of power," Erzsebet tried to explain while she chose from among her many gleaming accessories, "but it's just a job. Father had a lot of power when he was Judge Royal, but then someone else was given the job, and now he doesn't have that power." She chose her amethyst earrings, held them up to her ears and turned to her attendants, who nodded and clucked approvingly. "The palatine will only serve for a few years, then he'll return to being a count, and his son will just be the son of a count." She turned back to her sister, hoping at the very least that this last point would stick. "If you're a prince, you're born a prince, and you'll be a prince forever–unless you become the king."

The girl fell silent, thinking deeply about the intricacies of courtly power, absorbed as only the young could be when presented with new knowledge.

And in the midst of that blessed silence, there came a sudden knocking at the door, which made Erzsebet jump and nearly drop her earrings. After a calming breath, she called out, "Who is it?"

"Cecilia, my lady," came the answer through the door, "with word from your father. Lord Benedek has just arrived."

"What? Now?" Erzsebet cried. "The palatine is here now? It's hardly past noon!"