“Did you have a good talk with Stride?” Rosewater asked, swirling her glass and trying to look mysterious and alluring, playing to Roseate’s idea, but also feeling like a fraud trying to attract the attention of a pony who didn’t need the allure.

“I did. I think,” Collar said, looking past her to where the stallion was making his way back the way Rosewater had come. “He seemed wary of you, but… understandable, I suppose.”

“It is, I suppose.” Rosewater glanced back at him again. “I’d have expected him to have at least a few questions about Rosemary and myself.”

The stallion stopped shy of the wine stand and seemed almost ready to skitter towards the Dammerale stand over in Merrie ‘territory,’ stopped himself, and continued on.

“Maybe he wants to ask Rosemary first,” Collar said gently, stepping closer and sniffing at her wine. “That smells strong. I saw… well. I saw Roseate.”

“It’s not real wine.” Rosewater started to glance around then leaned forward and nipped his cheek. “I’d never drink my stress away.” She recalled the gala where Dazzle had nearly been taken back to Damme, and she’d been seeking the bottom of a wine barrel. “Anymore. I’ve drunk to numb, but never to forget.”

Collar looked into her eyes and nodded. “As have I. I don’t blame you for wanting to.” He took a breath and leaned in closer, pressing his forehead against her cheek and almost crossing horns with her. “Are you okay?”

“I am. In fact, I’m working the ‘drinking to distraction’ angle to trip her up.” She turned, swayed theatrically, and brushed her muzzle up under his chin.

“So… this is play drunk?” He smiled and nuzzled her cheek back. “I see. And drunken affection that I return?”

“As much as you want,” Rosewater murmured, glancing around to find Clipper Primwave had already joined a group of Dammers who were hanging on his every word as eyes darted to her and back to him. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be playing the part of a roguish pirate, but a somber storyteller. “What do you know about Clipper?”

“Primwave? He’s… a good pony, one of mother’s allies, too. He owns a sizeable fleet of ships, most of which winter in Los Pegasus or Saddle Arabia.” Collar glanced to the side, following her gaze. “I take it you two hit it off?”

“You could say that,” Rosewater said, bringing her glass up to her lips and pretending to take a long sip. “He’s helping with the ruse.”

“That you’ve been driven to drink by your mother?”

“Not so much that, I hope, as telling them how she treated me in public.” Rosewater sighed and leaned her temple against his cheek again, careful not to tangle her horn with his crown and only lightly brushing his ear with hers. “Is this okay?”

“More than,” Collar murmured, raising her foreleg and cradling it close to his breast. “You don’t deserve to be treated like that,” he said a little more loudly. “But I think I know something that will cheer you up.”

It was hard to stifle a giggle as he led her away and towards where Dapper was talking to the musicians getting ready to play. Out in the Crowd, Roseate looked torn between seething and glee as Rosewater lifted her glass one more time and drained half of it, leaving only enough left for Roseate to understand that she had been played.

Still, it felt good to both act and be happy with Collar in the public eye, and she was careful not to let her ‘drunken’ sway go more than a hair past disgracefully tipsy in the wake of her mother spending all night either snubbing her or badmouthing her behind her back.

“Rosewater, Collar,” Lace said by way of greeting, trailed by a few ponies that Rosewater didn’t immediately recognize. One was a Prim, and a woodworker or from a wood-working family from his mark, but the other was a Rosewood by his look, and clearly allies of Lace. Before continuing, Lace surrounded them all with a lightly held silence. “I don’t believe you’ve been formally introduced to Varnish Rosewood and Stave Primheart. Lady Rosewood, Lord Primheart, Lady Rosewater, heir of Merrie.”

With their names clicked the information about who they were and what they did… and why they might have an interest in speaking to her. “My lord, my lady. It’s a pleasure to meet with you.”

“I’ll get right to the point, my lady,” Stave said brusquely, as short and direct as his name implied. “Do you intend to succeed your mother?”

“Stave!” Varnish hissed. “We talked about this. That’s not the right way to ask. Especially not here.”

“It’s a fair question,” Rosewater said, taking a breath and focusing on the sturdily built Prim lord. “I am her firstborn, yes, and I have decided to take my responsibilities as the heir presumptive more seriously. This is about the hardwood export limits?”

“It is,” Stave said, relaxing. “So you know your mother has imposed a limit to ‘prevent over-foresting for foreign interests?’”

“I do, but I haven’t yet lodged my own complaint against it.” Rosewater cringed inwardly at the dereliction of duty. She’d been so… out of it, so distanced from the world aside from her small pieces of it that she hadn’t even carried out the basic duties of her station. For fear of inviting further reprisals. For doing her duty. “I will be doing so formally as soon as I am able. But in order to make my complaint, which has no real weight behind it, as I don’t use many woods in my craft. But.”

Rosewater raised a hoof to forestall the argument she saw coming from them. “I realize I have been lax in my duties even as heir presumptive. Largely out of fear of more being taken from me, but if I’m afraid of that, then I don’t deserve to be the heir. You, both of you, and both of our cities, deserve more, and I will be making a clearer stand as befits my station in Merrie. My partnership with Collar and Lace will only further my ability to make that stand.”

Lady Rosewood relaxed minutely. “You’ll be holding court? I can’t remember the last time Roseate held an open court session.”

Rosewater took a breath and briefly considered the ramifications once Roseate found out. It was her right as Heir Presumptive to hold court. She couldn’t actually do anything at court but listen and take complaints and suggestions to Roseate. In a more sane rulership, she would be sitting at her mother’s right hoof, dealing with the lesser issues and learning how to rule from her.

In this rulership, she would need to hold court on her own and bring them to Roseate.

“Yes. Yes, I will be holding court. I’m not sure where, yet, because I don’t want to bring the Garden into this, not without consulting with them first, but I will hold it on the Primrose if I must. You have my word.” She would also have to research the law and see if she could hold ‘court’ or if she would need to style it as some other kind of public gathering. She knew she couldn’t make decrees, only listen and gather complaints. “At this time, I can’t make any commitments to whether or not I would be heard, but you have my word that you will be heard by me.”

Both of them considered for a long moment, and Lace smiled behind them and nodded.

“I quite understand why you did not. When Roseline held court, it was with Roseate in attendance. Without Roseate holding court, there is no way you could have held court with her.”

“Nor,” Collar added, sidling up beside Rosewater and pressing his shoulder to hers, “do I blame you for not wanting to subject yourself to her crassness when she did hold court.”

“Nor I,” Varnish said, her ears dipping. “I didn’t mean it to sound like an accusation, my lady. Merely that I wish to be heard. Many of us wish to be heard, but even here she avoids being alone long enough for me to bring my concerns to her in confidence.”

“And we who rely on ponies like Lady Rosewood,” Stave said, dipping his ears, “have not even that much recourse save to complain to them when we can.”

“I’m not sure I can hold court for Dammers, but if you bring your concerns to Collar or Lace, they can bring them to me. It would be especially helpful if you encouraged your counterparts in Merrie to approach the Rose Palace first, to give the proper trail of actions before bringing your grievances to me. I don’t want to give her more reason to be vindictive against me or those close to me.”

“Of course,” Varnish said, relaxing further. “So, from business to other matters. I could not miss how the two of you entered, nor how closely you’re working together tonight.”

“Nor,” Stave added, “Cloudy Rosewing’s absence. It seems a deliberate replacement, and not because she’s keeping company… your daughter? Did I hear that right?”

“Yes. Adopted, of course. Carnation’s birthday present when I turned twenty-one was the chance to adopt her as my own as a second mother, as I had been raising her since… consciously since I was sixteen.”

Varnish and Stave shared a look before the former chuckled and nudged her business partner. “It’s not that unusual for sisters, or cousins, nephews and nieces to raise the children of their cousins, aunts, or uncles. Family is spread out, but all family is still family. It’s not going to be as shocking in Merrie as it will be in Damme.”

Stave grunted. “You say that. In Damme, it’ll just be another ‘Merrie’s just like that.’ More important will be how close the two of you are.” He tipped his head to Collar. “Just between us. How close are you?”

Rosewater opened her mouth, stopped herself, and glanced at Collar.

“Between us?” Collar chuckled and leaned in close to kiss Rosewater’s cheek. Far more intimate a display than any so far. She felt her cheeks heat and wished she didn’t need the rest of her ‘wine’ for her deception for her suddenly dry throat. “For myself, I’m in love with her. What’s happened thus far in the public eye is only so much less than what we’ve been through.”

“That’s quite a lot still,” Stave said, his ears flattening. “I support you, Lace, you know that, but this is going to shake a lot of ponies. I’ll need to see Rosewater hold up her words with action before I can say that I’m not one of them.”

“I support their union,” Lace said softly. “I’ve seen her actions thus far. She’s saved my son twice from Roseate’s machinations, albeit for reasons stated in the open that did not line up with her own actions. What she’s done since has convinced me that she is who she claims to be.”

“And your word means much,” Stave said after a short consideration. “But her word is yet untested in my eye.” He cleared his throat and faced Rosewater squarely. “I’m blunt, my lady, and I hope you will forgive it. I have little use for fluff in my words, and less use for it from others. Telling me you’ll hold court and argue the cause of the ponies who would be your subjects means nothing to me until I actually see it happen. But if you do, you’ll have my support. I’m tired of having to hedge on my ledgers and estimates for when I can get wood from Lady Rosewood’s loggers.”

“Understood, and I don’t mind your bluntness, so let me be blunt with you in turn. I will need some days to do my proper research to ensure that I’m not breaking the law or overstepping my bounds with what I can call my ‘court’ or what I can even do, but I will hold court, even if it must be on the bridge or in the treaty office, or just invite ponies to come to my shop and complain at me.”

Stave chuckled. “Good. If you simply leapt, I would be afraid you were somewhat tossed about in the head. You’ll have time, my lady, to accomplish your stated goal before I start stomping my hooves.”

“Winter is coming, too,” Varnish said with a huff and a glance at Rosewater that said ‘see what I have to deal with?’ “We won’t be doing much more than softwood harvesting for firewood for the near future.”

“Thank you,” Rosewater said gently, “both of you, for giving me a chance to prove myself. But, I think we’re ready to start the dancing.” She waggled her wineglass briefly. “I’m going to give it my best, at least, before I have any more.”

“You seem a much better sort than the rest of your sisters.”

It was the refrain Silk had gotten from the moment Pleat had dragged her off to visit with some of the more recognizably conservative crowd, those with the finer cut dresses and suits that hid more than they showed, usually older, but not always, and almost always faces she recognized from her training briefs on ponies to avoid capturing because of this or that reason usually involving causing problems for Lady Lace.

She wanted to tell them that she really wasn’t, but all she could actually do was smile politely and thank them, then compliment them on the stitching and pleats and how invisible it was in between Pleat herself telling Silk who was whom and generally making her seem… fake.

It wasn’t Pleat’s fault, truly, and she was almost certain that she knew what the mare was doing, but it was also painful to listen to them as they praised her for being a productive member of Merrie’s nobility, as if Rosewater’s perfumery didn’t usually make nearly as much as she did in a good year.

But clothing was tangible, touchable, and didn’t run into the same kind of problems that scents did in polite Dammer society.

“What does she think she’s going to accomplish?” One stallion harrumphed to nopony in particular. She’d lost track of who was in the circle that Pleat had gathered about her, some joining and leaving without warning or reason aside from a polite nod and farewell. “And what is that brat doing?”

Silk didn’t need to follow his gaze to know who he was talking about, but she did anyway to see Rosewater and Collar looking quite close indeed, and even caught him giving her a kiss on the cheek. They really were making their move tonight if that was also on the table.

“At a glance,” Pleat said, glancing at Silk and giving her a warning raised brow, “it would look as though they’re getting ready to start the dance portion of the gala.”

“And she will be dancing with him? Scandalous. He already has a pony he’s courting. Why isn’t she even here? She should be here, not the Terror, as much as I dislike her.” The speaker glanced at Silk and raised a brow. “I don’t suppose you know what she’s up to, do you?”

Fear spiked suddenly in Silk’s gut as she considered all the damage the wrong word here could do, but she pushed it aside and reminded herself that, as far as anypony was concerned, she had no idea what Rosewater was up to.

“I’m afraid not, my lord. We ten are… not close. Not all of us, at least. Rosewater, up until a few months ago, was the most distant of all of us, preferring to keep to herself and tend to… well, I suppose that makes more sense now that I know Rosemary is her adopted daughter.” Silk rolled a shoulder and tried to hide the shakiness in her hooves by shifting around to look more closely at her sister. “One thing that has been clear since Carnation was exiled by her own sister is that she loves that mare more than anything else in the world.”

A few uncomfortable coughs spread around the circle.

“As is only right for a mother to her daughter,” Pleat said in approving tones. “I can’t even imagine her distress when she was captured acting on Roseate’s orders.”

It didn’t take Silk much to imagine the same thing if Vine were captured and she were not. They’d been lucky thus far. Or if she were, and Vine escaped. Her precious, delicate sister…

“I can’t imagine,” Silk said softly, her voice unexpectedly tight. “Tonight has been a night of revelations for me, and so much has begun to make sense about our strangest sister. She, out of all of us, had the guts to stand up to our mother. To keep standing up to her. And now…”

It didn’t even take her long to find Roseate amidst a gaggle of Merrie nobility that looked more skittish than a deerkin caught in an open field at noon. Rage was too kind a word for what she saw boiling in the tension in her mother’s mien. Hate. Roseate hated that Rosewater was being accepted in a place where she had no power and no control.

“She looks ready to pop,” another mare said, laughing a trifle nervously. “Maybe… it’s not so bad that Rosewater is doing what she’s doing if it’s making Roseate that mad.”

“Making her mad is one thing,” the original lord said with a snort. “Polluting our leadership with…” He slid his eyes to glance at Silk and seemed to realize that what he was saying might just possibly be offensive to somepony he’d already claimed was ‘better than most’ Merriers. “Apologies. I imagine you find Collar courting two mares at once is commonplace.”

Silk flushed and shook her head. “It’s very common, but it’s not so uncommon in Damme, either, is it? The courtship isn’t one at a time, but—” Silk bit her tongue and glanced at Pleat. “Is it? If you spent time trying to figure yourselves out with one pony at a time until you found the right one, wouldn’t you spend months or years before deciding that something wasn’t going to work?”

Pleat laughed, and a few seconds later a few other chuckles sounded from the ponies around them. “You have it right! Stars, Lace, I hear, was being courted by no less than five stallions at once before she turned them all down in such a spectacular fashion. All of them Dammers, and she chose a Rose whom she had courted.”

“Very true,” the first lord said, looking as though he was swallowing a liverwort covered candy. “It’s not that unusual, I suppose. But having… relations with one is a commitment.”

“To us, sex is something shared between friends without commitments,” Silk said, shaking her head. “Rosewater wouldn’t see it as Collar having made a commitment to Cloudy if they’ve been having sex, especially since Cloudy is so recently a Merrier herself. Both of them would understand that whether or not Cloudy has had sex, Collar is still free to choose whom he courts.”

Every time she said ‘sex,’ several of them flinched as if she’d slapped them lightly on the flank. It made her want to shout the word.

“Well said,” Pleat said, bobbing her head. “It’s strange to us, because we’ve seen so very few cross-river romances, and fewer where the romance wasn’t between ponies that still lived on opposite sides of the river. I admit, learning all of this has been very enlightening.”

“And your preference, Pleat?”

“If Rosewater is sincere in her intentions, then I would prefer to see her. That’s an if, though, that…” Pleat glanced at Silk. “Perhaps you can shed some light on her character for us?”

Unamused looks spread around the little circle, as if they had been humoring Pleat because of her position in the community, and now were trying to hedge back their agreement that Silk didn’t seem like a bad sort.

“She’s the best of us,” Silk said softly. “She always has been. She has her flaws, don’t get me wrong, but understanding right from wrong has never been one of them. Understanding where her duty starts and ends has been. She’s a soldier, not a villain, and hating her because she’s an effective soldier isn’t… it’s not right. She wants this war no more than I or any of you do.”

“It’s important to remember, too,” Pleat said, setting a hoof against Silk’s ankle lightly, “that Silk is also a soldier. She has raided, captured, and imprisoned. But… let me ask her. Did you want to do any of that?”

“Stars, no. I only want to make pretty clothes for ponies.” Silk glanced at her mother, still arrow-sharp focused on Rosewater and not her.

“You’re scared of her,” Pleat said.

“Of Rosewater, stars no.”

“Of your mother. I can see it in the way you keep checking on where she is and who she’s paying attention to. Whenever she’s not looking at you, you relax.” Pleat hooked her foreleg around Silk’s. “Why? Why are you so afraid of her?”

Ponies leaned in closer, eager to hear this little bit of gossip from the mouth of one they’d nominally accepted.

Rosewater didn’t look cowed in the slightest by Roseate’s hate-filled glower as she, Lace, Collar, and Dapper spoke with the musicians. She looked, if anything, happier than she had ever been to Silk’s knowledge.

Live in fear or break free. Those were her choices. But it wasn’t only her choice. Whatever she said now would reach Roseate eventually. Maybe not tonight, and maybe not even for weeks to come. She might not even know when Roseate decided to enact retribution until it had already been wrought and forged and settled about her and Vine’s necks.

“Stars, she really is scared.”

“Yes,” Silk said, her voice quavering as she made her choice. “I’m terrified. I’m terrified of losing everything I’ve loved, everything I’ve built up, and the city that I made my life and living in. I’m terrified of losing the one pony that understands everything that I’ve been through, because she was right there with me. I’m…” She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt the salt touch her lips, the trail coursing down her muzzle, perfectly following her Rosethorn mark until it dropped to gather on her upper lip. “She’ll take it away. Just like she took away so much from my sister. But she’s taking it back. She’s… I’m proud of her. I wish I was half as courageous as she was.”

As soon as she started speaking, it came out in a rush.

I’m sorry, Vine.

“I need a drink,” Silk said hoarsely.

Collar glanced again at the wineglass Rosewater had asked him to refill and tried to suppress a smile. She was still talking with Dapper and Lace, showing that she was quite capable of having a rapport with the leaders of Damme to everypony present.

Roseate, to his surprise, followed him so obviously that he stopped and waited for her to catch up, brow raised as the mare, admittedly quite beautiful in her own way, and appearing more youthful than her more than half a century of life would indicate.

She didn’t bother to ask before she threw up a barrier against sound and snapped, “Two years of no raiding.”

Collar laughed at her. “Stars. Two years. Weighed against a lifetime of togetherness. No, Roseate.”

“Then you are courting her.”

“That seems fairly obvious to me by now, yes,” Collar said, chuckling and moving to break the barrier’s line. “That’s a free bit of information, by the way. Here’s another: I never intended to agree to any terms for leaving her.”

Roseate’s eyes popped out wide, then a sly smile crept across her lips. “Faithless negotiation, Collar? I didn’t expect that of you. You’re more devious than I thought you were, and hiding all of this right under my nose.”

Collar snorted. “You barely even talk to your daughter unless it’s a reprimand or a demand. I would hardly call her walking across the bridge twice a week ‘hidden,’ and before you get any ideas, no, we didn’t spend any negotiation time romancing. I’m sure you know, more than most, that negotiation and waiting for meetings and documents involves downtime between. Little bits add up quickly.”

“And you know, of course, that she’s been sleeping with that rather handsome stallion… Dazzle? That’s been all over the town lately. Would hate for you to find she’s already attached.” Roseate chuckled and stepped back a pace, flirting her tail and sipping at her own wine, watching him.

“Oh, I know.” Collar rolled his eyes and shook his head. “She’s been completely open and honest with me about who she makes love to. I can even name all of her lovers, and I highly doubt you can do that.”

Something in what he said made her relax, and it didn’t take long to figure out it was her multiple lovers.

“In fact, I asked her not to restrict herself on my behalf.” Collar chuckled at the look on Roseate’s face, halfway between curdled milk and spoiled cabbage. “Cloudy has corrupted me, my lady. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to fetch her some more wine. It seems like somepony put her into a mood.”

Briefly, Roseate’s marks flared with light as she took in the scent of the wineglass he was carrying. She would need a much fuller nose than she could get from there to tell that the juice was only actually scented and flavored to taste like wine… without the alcohol. Rosewater had assured him of that.

Still, she frowned as she considered the glass, then him, and then her daughter. She flicked her tail once more, sniffed, and looked him in the eye. “Do consider what else I might offer in my daughter’s stead. There is quite a lot I can offer as recompense for the paltry bits of love she has left over for you when she’s done with her other lovers.”

“You truly don’t understand your own culture, do you?” Collar asked her, then snorted and shook his head before stepping out of the dome of silence entirely. “Don’t bother making another offer. I’ll not listen.”

Collar ignored the hearty chuckle from the mare as she dropped the sound barrier and wandered back to her side of the ballroom while he made his way to the wine bar where Seed and Petal were doing a brisk business and seemed to be doing more gossiping of their own with Merriers and Dammers alike.

Silk was also there with Pleat and a few of the more conservative block of nobility, the former drinking from a half-full glass of a light golden liquid, one of the white grape vintages, one of the fruitier ones Rosemary had painted her lips with before kissing him gently. He could almost taste it again. Pleat was drinking one as well, that must have been what Rosewater had sent him to get more of, that Cloudy had dipped her tongue in before kissing him.

Stars… wine-tasting day had been exhilarating.

“My lord,” Seed said, bobbing his head as Collar set both his glass and Rosewater’s down on the counter. “Refills? Or something new?”

“Something new for me, I think,” Collar said, nodding to Silk. “What she’s having, please.”

“You know that pickup line never works, right?” Silk asked with a small, wan smile. “Besides. I hear you’re a twice-taken stallion now.”

Pleat’s ears perked up.

“Oh? Who’d you hear that from?”

“My own two eyes.”

Collar chuckled and waggled Rosewater’s glass, then glanced back at her. Dapper and Lace were taking to the front of the stage with Rosewater at their side. She was beautiful, beyond what he’d imagined she’d look like when he was dreaming of tonight. Her mane, her tail, her dress… all of it fit and matched her white coat, all of it brighter for being combined and close to her coat.

“If your eyes are talking to you, Silk,” Seed said, a note of amusement in his voice, “then I’ll have to cut you off here.”

“You know what I mean, Seed,” Silk said with a roll of her eyes.

“I’ve seen quite a lot as well,” Pleat said, leaning forward to look around her companion. “You and she do look quite close, Collar. Care to share?” Her eyes drifted to Silk, as if saying he owed her one.

“How are you two getting along?” Collar asked instead, nodding his thanks to Seed as a new glass of pale gold wine was set in front of him. “Was I right to pair you together?”

Pleat, at least, had the decency to look abashed, though Silk didn’t see it. “I believe so, my lord. Silk has been… enlightening. Though I worry for her safety.”

Seed raised a brow and glanced at Silk, then Pleat, but said nothing.

“I’ll be fine,” Silk said quietly. “Really. And yes, thank you, Collar. Pleat has been so good to me.” Her voice sounded tight for a moment, and she took another sip, then a longer draw from the glass. “I’m sorry. I’m being emotional.”

To Collar’s surprise, Pleat leaned against her. “No need to worry. I think a lot of us on our side of the river haven’t had a good look at how things play out on your side.”

“It looks like you’re in good company, Silk,” Collar said gently. “I’ll leave you in her care.” He nodded to Seed as the stallion finished pouring another of the juice wines for Rosewater. “Seed, thank you again for being so good to Rosewater.”

“She’s an aunt to me, my lord.” He leaned over the bar a little, resting one hoof over the edge. “Thank you for loving her as she deserves.”

“You shouldn’t thank me for that, Seed,” Collar said quietly, glancing at Silk, who’d surely heard every word, and Pleat, who seemed ready to vibrate with the need to tell others. Confirmation from Collar’s lips. Make it more explicit. “I started falling in love with her as soon as she stopped trying to be somepony other than herself. Encourage her to be herself more, and I’ll do the same.”

Seed extended the hoof a little further. “Deal.”

Collar took the hoof, careful to maintain the delicate telekinetic spell on both glasses, and shook once. “Sealed.”

“You’re sure you want us to take the first dance?” Rosewater asked, her voice trembling faintly. “The opening speech was one thing, but this… stars, even I’ve seen you both start the dancing with a solo performance, and I’ve usually tried to avoid everypony at the galas before.”

“Consider it…” Lace glanced at the musicians paying a little more attention than was really proper for performance. “Well, consider it an early present and a show of our trust in you, Rosewater.”

Dapper winked and nudged her ankle. “Just be sure to engage him in some conversation. That close, you might need a mint? An engage mint?”

Lace swatted her husband’s flank with her tail. “Stars, Dapper, just tell everypony.” She rolled her eyes exasperatedly as Dapper made to step to the front of the stage. “Don’t you dare, you irascible stallion.”

“Well, excuse me for waiting for this day for thirty years,” Dapper said with a huff. “My son and…” He grimaced and leaned in closer to Rosewater, dropping his voice. “Stars, I should be able to shout it to the world, my dear. I’m sorry, but…”

“I wish I could, too,” Rosewater said, dropping her head to nuzzle her future father-in-law. “Soon, Dapper. Possibly sooner than you or I think it will happen.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve made a promise to hold court for ponies that can’t get an audience with Roseate and act as their advocates.” Rosewater gave her future in-laws a rueful smile. “I couldn’t exactly do that without a plan forward.”

“That is true,” Lace said quietly and with a sigh. “This is going to enter into a strange and potentially dangerous time for you, my dear.”

“I… I know.” Rosewater took a deep breath and wished Collar could be there when she first held court. Instead, all she could have was one of her mares in waiting. She could let Dazzle be there, but he’d already taken too many risks for her and she’d already hurt his heart more than she could bear or ask him to bear for her. “But it’s something I need to do. If I can. Stars, I’ll let ponies sit down to lunch with me and complain for ‘court’ if that’s what it takes, if I can’t hold a formal court.”

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to. I have yet to let Collar hold his own court absent my supervision, but that’s largely because I’m asking him to do so much else already.” Lace pressed an ankle lightly against her shoulder. “Rest easy. You’ll get through this, and I will always be ready to give advice, Rosewater.”

“Thank you.” Rosewater glanced behind her as hoofsteps approached. “Thank you, Collar,” she said as she accepted her ‘wine’ and took a sip. To her left, Roseate seemed to be seething in rage still, surrounded by sycophants and yes-mares and stallions looking to gain favor. But there was also an air of anticipation about her, as if she was waiting for Rosewater to embarrass herself on the dance floor. Stumble, fall, maybe even sprain an ankle.

Or break one.

“It’s time,” Lace said softly to her husband, then nodded to the musicians. “The opening bars of the Dammer March, please.” As if thinking about it, she paused and added, “And then the opening bars of the Merrier Dance of Feathers, please. I trust you know it?”

“Aye, my lady,” the lead violinist said, glancing back at his small brass section. “We’re versed with both cities. But we usually only play one or the other.”

“Tonight, and every night from now where you play in my halls, please play both. Unity, Mr. Fiddlestick, is the goal. We can’t much do that if we use our music to enforce our differences.” Lace bobbed her head to him when he gave her a cautious bow. “Thank you.”

As Lace stepped up to the edge of the stage, Dapper at her side, the music rang out over the ballroom in the opening trumpet blast of the Dammer March, the old war song softened by centuries of peace into using strident violin and deeper cellos to go with the lively sharp-edged trumpets. The single drum kept time with the beat, setting Rosewater’s heart to stirring.

Only half a minute of that was enough to get the attention of nearly everypony else in the room, save a few stragglers deciding to hide in the wings or linger near the drink vendors and watch from a distance.

When she didn’t speak after the last of the Dammer March faded away, the crowd began to murmur until the opening, lively notes of the single violin of the Merrie Dance of Feathers began, followed after each third note by another violin until the cellos added their deeper base, then the trumpets with a quieter, tamer, almost mournful sound backing them up.

Only when the last trumpet note faded away did Rosewater and Collar join Lace and Dapper at the edge of the stage.

“The music for dances is about to begin, and I urge all of you to find your partners or make acquaintances with somepony new. As you heard, we’ll be playing not only Dammer-inspired music, but a selection of Merrier dances as well, and not only waltzes, but some folk dances as well from both of our cities.” She held up a hoof and patted the air as the conversations started up and swelled into a low murmur from dozens of throats at once. “I am breaking tradition, I know, but there is one tradition I will hold to.”

Rosewater tensed, then followed Collar’s lead as he took a step forward. “It is the right of the heir of Damme to request the first dance of anypony he wishes. Tonight…”

Rosewater’s heart fluttered as Collar turned to her and raised her foreleg with a spell and bent over it, kissing her ankle gently.

“My lady, would you have this first dance with me?”

“Yes, my lord Collar,” Rosewater said in a stronger voice than she felt in her heart. So many eyes were watching her and him, and she was vaguely aware of Roseate bulling her way through the crowd towards the front and center. She pushed that awareness away as she focused on Collar. “Tonight, I am yours.”

He flashed a smile at her and let her hoof drift back to the floor, and leaned forward to kiss each of her cheeks in the Merrier fashion. “Then, my lady Rosewater, so am I yours tonight.”

She kissed his cheeks when he pulled back, lingering briefly on the cheek facing away from the crowd to whisper, “I love you.”

“I know,” he whispered as he stepped down with her, shoulder to shoulder, facing her mother in the front row. “Lady Roseate.”

Tension gathered around them, and a few ponies backed away from the confrontation, spreading out in an impromptu circle of either battle or dance. One face Rosewater was missing from the crowd was her sister. Missing, that is, until she spotted the mare standing with the same mare Collar had introduced her to, whispering in a low tone to her companion.

“Lord Collar,” Roseate said in a low, almost sensuous voice, if only it had been absent the undercurrent of venom in it. “If you truly wished to ease the tension between our cities, a first dance with my daughter is not the way to go about it. Let you and I dance this first dance, show both sides of the river that bygones can be bygones.”

“Are you being serious?” Collar asked, incredulity plain in his voice. “You tried to abduct me twice, and once by luring me out on false pretenses. Why would you ever think that I would offer you the first dance?”

“To hear my counteroffer.”

“No deal,” Rosewater said.

“You have no say in this,” Roseate snapped. “Go bury yourself in drink.”

Rosewater smirked and sipped from her glass.

“As she said,” Collar replied after a moment of rigid muscles and tight jaw. “No deal. There’s nothing you can offer that would convince me to either leave her aside or dance with you tonight. Step aside, my lady.”

Roseate snorted. “Fine, my lord. Enjoy your broken ankle when this sot trips and falls on you. Or have you not noticed how much wine she’s consumed tonight?”

“I have, and she’s assured me she is quite capable of still drinking me under the table if it comes down to it tonight.” Collar smirked. “Though she does have a considerable head start, and I’ll need to catch up if I have any chance of chasing her down when she loses.”

“I did warn you,” Roseate said with what Rosewater could only assume was an attempt at a weary ‘what will I do with my children’ sigh and disappointed look. “When you break your leg dancing tonight, blame me not for your pain and recovery.”

Rosewater snorted, took one last, long sip from her glass and passed it to her mother who, surprisingly, took it without smirking or protesting. “Hold onto that for me, and I will show you that I can still dance, even with as much as I’ve had to drink.”

Author's Note

A lot more involvement from new characters these last few chapters that will play a bigger part in the next book when the rebellion starts running.

The dance next week, and a lot of fallout from the dance... and more.

Also returning to Friday ~~Thursday~~ posting. Back to normal, but this month might be strange... got called for jury duty, so I might have my first weekly misses depending on how that goes.