“Truer words were never spoken.” Queen Berengaria declared. Nobody had felt her approaching but now there she was, entering the conversation. Everybody present in the round expressed their reverence.

“I concur.” added Mabel “My esteemed mother is right. Like my esteemed husband already said, all of them are roses and Yteland can count itself lucky to own a garden with such beautiful flowers. This can only add to Yteland’s prestige. I am sure my esteemed mother and Her Grace the duchess will acknowledge this, for they are two roses of Yteland themselves.”

“Bellissimo!” exclaimed Lady Mafalda “Iutiterra being a garden full of rosas. Che bellissima metafora! What a beautiful metaphor!” She applauded enthusiastically. “Back in Giudena the people say that the Yteish are barbari. But people who are capable if finding such belle metaphors can’t really be barbari, can they?”

“You are right, mother.” Prince Edric affirmed.

Violant felt the entire hubbub around her to be simply too much. Although she didn’t wish for it, she ended up becoming the focus point of an illustrious gathering of people. She had to grin and bear it though.

Queen Berengaria then turned her attention to her son’s benefactor when she felt that Lady Salome and her scheming were fended off sufficiently with combined efforts. Her eyes widened in surprise when her gaze fell upon the margravial girl’s necklace. A gemstone such as this, shining from its deepest interior, she had never seen anything alike before.

“Lady Violant, might you be willing to answer the question what kind of gemstone exactly adorns your necklace?” the queen asked “It is the first time in Our live We have ever seen anything like it and We believe to be quite knowledgeable regarding gemstones and jewels of any kind.”

“Oh, this?” Violant checked back. Of course she had expected this question at some point of the evening, just not it coming from the queen herself. “To reply to Your Majesty’s inquiry: This is a dragon stone, the very same kind of jewel that forms when magic crystallizes in a dragon’s forehead bone during its lifetime. I am not surprised that Yor Majesty has not yet had the opportunity to see such a kind of gem, for it is quite difficult to procure. In fact, it took a trip to the dragon cemetery in the other march for me to personally procure this beautiful specimen. But I believe that no other gem would sufficiently express my humble person as well as the house of Avallach if not for something that is as magical and otherworldly as the other march.”

“This indeed beautifully matches the idea behind the necklaces.” Princess Mabel acceded “Only, I hope you were not in any kind of danger while procuring this precious dragon stone, Lady Violant. Personally visiting a dragon cemetery sounds anything but save to me.”

“Please rest assured, Your Royal Highness.” Violant replied. Since she knew that authentic stories about the other march were a much sought but seldom found kind of entertainment, allowing listeners to speechlessly marvel in amazement or to pleasurably shiver with goosebumps, she took the chance to tell hers for the enjoyment of the royals.

“The dragon cemetery admittedly is not the place friendliest to life. That is for sure. In fact it is quite the bizarre place instead. It is a deep rocky valley with bold cliffs surrounding it. The sky above is covered with ash clouds bringing with them an eternal night only lit by the fires of the very volcanoes in the vicinity which are responsible for the night-like clouds and a rain of ash literally everywhere. The valley is filled with the mortal remains of the proud, majestic and terrifying dragons. All kinds of dragons come to the valley to die. They are not dangerous anymore for the visitor. The dangers of the place itself are already more than enough. Additionally, it is said that there are basilisks and cockatrices in the dragon cemetery but I can count myself lucky to not have encountered one of those. Their deadliness is well-known, I presume. What I and my companions encountered, however, was a group of smaller, lizard-like dragons. They showed hostile behavior but could be fended off easily. Nonetheless I believe that visiting the dragon cemetery once in my life is more than enough. I would not dare to do so another time.”

Violant’s narrative of the dragon cemetery captivated listeners far and wide. In fact, groups of nobles standing nearby also closed in to be able to follow the story.

“An impressive experience, We must say!” a dignified male voice exclaimed. It belonged to King Baldwin. Captivated by the otherworldly tale, nobody had noticed the monarch joining his main wife’s side.

“Although We believe that a young lady should not dare to be so reckless. There is only one life.” the king continued “But We would not expect anything less of the courageous Lady Avallach who dared to selflessly traverse the treacherous other march following a tiny fairy’s plea to save Our dearest son Wynkin. At least this is what We have heard but We also affirmed this to be the truth. Yteland truly can feel blessed to have such a courageous daughter and many more excellent sons and daughters who are entering society tonight. My own sons ought to take a leaf out of all those wonderful young people’s book to create a prosperous and peaceful future for our kingdom.”

“I could not have said it any better, Lord Husband.”, Queen Berengaria concurred.

“Violant of Avallach thanks Your Royal Majesty for your inspiring and wholesome words.” the red-haired girl spoke while curtsying. She felt the king’s magnanimous gaze on her.

King Baldwin smiled to himself.

“We feel somewhat reminded of the late Lady Evelyn of Avallach.” he said, a nostalgic complexion on his face.

Violant could in fact have been the half-sibling of Mabel, Wynkin, Edric, Gervase and all the other princes if not for her mother’s sudden pregnancy out of wedlock. The conception of Violant brought a sudden end to the talks about Lady Evelyn as a possible royal concubine.

Confronted with feelings and regrets of the past, King Baldwin soon withdrew to further watch the debut ball from the sidelines while lost in thought.

Violant was overjoyed to see Gervase and Lady Salome suffer a loss to their plans. Both son and mother began to show their discontentment the more the longer they were outright ignored. Ultimately they went off in frustration, seeking to find a boost for their egos among their own faction.

Felicity of Marchester, the rival in love from Violant’s previous lifetime, already had made herself scarce as soon as she became aware of it that nobody paid any attention to her. Since the debut ball was a unique opportunity she sought to win the attention she believed to deserve elsewhere.

The Avallachs were surprised beyond belief how their tomboyish little Violant blossomed out to be the focus of the evening. They couldn’t surmise in the least that all that were the fruits of the harsh queen training the girl had to endure in her last lifetime.

In the course of the evening Violant successfully tied countless new contacts with nobles and deepened her ties with the houses which would essentially shape the further development of her new future. Those were especially the ducal house of Sulia, the count’s house of Wuldington, and the direct family of Prince Edric and Prince Wynkin.

While Count Wuldington should remain neutral time to come, not favoring any of the princes although Prince Jarm was his son’s immediate superior, Duchess Sulia, Queen Berengaria and Lady Mafalda as well as their offspring formed the core of what would soon be known as the Edric-Wynkin faction in the struggle for throne succession, with Prince Wynkin openly backing his older brother’s claim for the throne just as he had planned.

Contrarily, Violant would end up tying herself strongly to the Edric-Wynkin faction while trying to remain neutral nonetheless. But that wasn’t something she could surmise as of now.