Back in Cintra, the knighthoods were over and Ciri, the Queen and King were sat at a large wooden table at the end of the great hall, enjoying the folk music that bounced off the walls. They watched as people danced before them, smiles on their faces.
The king turned his head to the man beside him. "These shindigs need a touch of the old abracadabra." He muttered. Mousesack beside him turned and gave a small smile. "At your service, Your Majesty. Tricks and illusions to delight." He said. Calanthe almost smiled, having heard their conversation. "He means to pull a disappearing act. Don't you?" She stated with a smirk, she already knew the answer. "No." The king said quickly. "Hm." The queen hummed in response. They continued watching in silence before the King spoke again, one hand clasped around the silver goblet in front of him. "I saw the Wraiths of Mörhogg over the channel this morning." He said. Calanthe took a deep breath, veins in her neck tensing briefly before she let out a loud sigh, which Ciri noticed. "Yes, you mentioned." She kept her eyes forward.
"Who?" Ciri asked softly, brows furrowing in confusion as she looked at her grandmother. "No good will come of it. They're an omen of warm." The King pressed on. Calanthe only smiled a little bit, she knew what she was doing. "The North has been at war since Nilfgaard took Ebbing. If the legend is true, the Wild Hunt's years behind the curve." She kept her eyes forward as she spoke. "The Nilfgaardian force crossed the Amell Pass." The king warned, his voice low. "Headed to Sodden, if they're smart." Calanthe responded quickly. "And if not, 50 of your Skelligen ships are on the way. We have more knights. We are prepared in case..." She was cut off by Ciri's curiosity.
"Prepared for what?" She asked from beside the Queen. Calanthe trailed off, lips pressing together tightly. She blinked some, trying to form the right words. "Nothing for you to be concerned about." She said softly but also dismissive. Ciri raised her brows some and looked back ahead to the people dancing in the room. "Your dismissive tone says it is." She responded flatly. "We're talking of war, girl." The king said to her which earned him a warning look from Calanthe. "With Nilfgaard? Why?" Ciri asked softly, her attention now drawn back into the conversation. "Eist!" Calanthe hissed under her breath while she looked at the king.
"Should we fall to Nilfgaard, your granddaughter will rule." The king said to Calanthe. "She needs to understand the way of things." He said gently. "We will not fall, because we are not under attack!" Calanthe strained each and every word seriously. "She's a child." She mumbled softly into the king's ear. The words were not spoken quietly enough, Ciri's head snapping to the side. "You won your first battle in Hochebuz when you were my age." Ciri stated. "I've heard the ballad." She spoke, not caring for Calanthe's set jaw. "Pretty ballads hide bastard truths." The king reminded the girl softly, stealing a glance at the Queen. "It's a catchy song." Ciri said after a moment.
Calanthe's body stiffened, her head rising some. "Threw thousand of my men died." She said before turning to look at Ciri. The young girl dropped the smile and after a moment dared to look at the Queen, it was definitely not the right decision to compliment the ballad. "If we must do this now, here is your first lesson. As in life, it is impossible always to be fully prepared for battle. Keep your sword close...and keep moving." Calanthe told her.
Ciri didn't get a chance to respond, the folk song ended and a cheer went up in the hall. At someone addressing them they all turned their heads to see a man and presumably his son stood in front of them. "Thank you for allowing our company at this splendid affair." He stated. The dark haired boy in the off shade of green tunic bowed slightly. "Your majesties. Your Highness." He said as he turned to face Cirilla. He shared a quick look with his father knowing what he had to do, he took a quick deep breath in before he focused his attention on the princess. "Would you honour me with a dance?" He asked, his nerves could have been seen in his hands, were they not clasped tightly behind his back.
Calanthe smiled at that, her eyes fixed on the man. "Uh... Martin..." Ciri started, not sure what to say. If she wasn't in court, acting as the princess, she would have laughed and probably told him to fuck off, but right now, she had a role to play. She grimaced slightly, about to find a way to kindly deny his offer. "She'd love to." Queen Calanthe dragged out happily with a smile, as though it was her who had been asked. Ciri's head snapped to her, looking at her in disbelief, speechless for a second but the warning and urging look in the Queen's eyes immediately put off any ideas of rebellion. Still, slightly in shock and disbelief she turned back to Martin and forced a little smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes. She scooted her chair back, quite ungracefully and walked around the end of the table, standing before the grinning idiot who held his hand out for her. She sighed internally, averting her eyes from him and all but slapped her hand down into his.
Ciri, despite having not wanted to join, did like dancing, and the smile on her face became a little bit more genuine, feeling less singled out in the crowd of people around her. "Reminds me of your daughter's betrothal feast." The king whispered quietly to Calanthe as he watched Ciri dance. "The night you finally saw sense, said yes." The king continued once he was sure that he had the Queen's ear. The corner of Calanthe's mouth twitched up into a smile, her eyes still focused on her granddaughter. "Made me the happiest man on the Continent." The king carried on softly. "I did it to save my kingdom." Calanthe replied with a soft smile as she turned her gaze to the man. "And no, you may not leave this shindig." Calanthe said with a knowing smirk, her statement brought a wide smile to both of their faces.
A dark man made his way through the room, sticking to the sides of the wall and after a moment interrupted the tender moment between the King and Queen. "Your Majesty, my scouts have returned." He informed the Queen, whispering the information quietly beside her. Calanthe turned her head to listen more closely. "Nilfgaard is on its way to Cintra." Her face fell, the worry almost not being hidden on her face. The man walked away and the King looked at the Queen, it didn't take much to see that the news she had just received wasn't good. Her face was almost sorrowful, her eyes fixed sadly on Ciri who was now happily dancing with the others.
"I stand corrected."
Calanthe spoke softly, her eyes fixed forwards, now filling with tears as she took in the piece of information. A shaky breath left her.
"They're here. They're already here." She said, urgency and worry seeping into her voice.
"So much for being smart." The king replied with a straight face as he leaned back into his seat. "You should tell the girl." He said to her, she needed to know.
The Queen heard him, but she couldn't do it, watery eyes now fixed on Ciri who was still dancing, it was quite clear the princess did not have a clue what she was doing it, but the smile on her face was a rare sight. "Let her enjoy this night in peace." Calanthe said softly.
"It may be her last for a while."