Tish had started at Saya for what felt like forever before she has uttered, "I did not know that was the Prince."
Saya hadn't bursted into laughter or called the guards for getting her executed. She just gave her a polite bow, "How are you not aware of the man you are supposed to marry, Saintess?" She asked, "You are to marry the Prince and you do not know his face?" She repeated her words.
"Because I have never met him," Tish said a little annoyed now, "They brought me to Partha and just..... escorted me here."
Saya stared at her with pursed lips. It was the first time she had looked anything outside just a ...Parthan Maid.
"Help me," Tish begged, "....please."
Saya didn't say anything. She just left.
But in the evening she came back armed with inkpot and papers. She didn't throw the usual bow. She just set the tools down on the table, "Write him a letter."
"....what?"
"It is the custom. When a foreign princess comes to Partha for marriage -," Saya started.
"But I am not a princess," Tish cut in, "I am a Saintess."
"Or a Saintess," Saya corrected herself, "The Prince does not approach her. It will look too eager. The princess or...Saintess settles down first, gets comfortable and then sends a formal invitation," she nodded at the scrolls, "You are long overdue for that. The entire palace thinks you are a...timid girl," she said carefully but Tish could feel Saya wanted to say something else, something not so polite. She narrowed her eyes but let Saya continue.
"In any case," she pushed the scrolls and ink towards Tish, "It is hightime you invite the Prince. But not too your chambers! That will be too bold, too bold!" She repeated, again, "And do not be direct. Invite him without saying you are inviting him. If you are too direct, it will come off as....you know, " she left that unfinished leaving Tish to figure out what direct invitation meant in Parthan Palace, "It is better if you do not invite him at all but make him invite you."
Tish stared, utterly baffled, "So I have to make him invite me without telling him to invite me?!"
"Yes," Saya agreed, "Like an...offer to invitation! You are hinting you are open to his invitation."
Tish could swear studying ancient scrolls about origin of Benevia and Rā were easier than whatever she was doing right now.
She pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb, "Okay, okay. So how do I start?"
Saya thought for a second and then adviced, "Advice him your evening hour is open. The Prince has training in the morning, court duties throughout the day and he is hunting in the afternoon for Shapeshifters," she informed, "Evenings are for entertainment. He should not have anything important going on during that hour."
Tish sat up straight, "Hunting Shapeshifters?"
"Like the other day you saw him," nodded Saya, "He wasn't hunting an animal. It was a shapeshifting monster. Those things can take animal forms and also human forms. Just like dragons. Except they can be quite a nuisance," Saya looked at the window, " They approach those who are lonely and neglected. They friend their victims, isolate them and drink their blood.....eat their flesh. Since last month we had been having frequent breakouts of those things so the Prince took the matter in his own hands."
Tish's throat went dry. She couldn't recall how the deer had looked- the one that was being hunted by the Prince. Her entire focus was on the Prince ofcourse.
"But he didn't kill it," Tish said quietly, "His aim was terrible ."
Saya bursts into laughter. But there was something very dark about it, "Oh no, the Prince's aim is very good, Saintess. We have seen him shooting eyes of a bird sitting on a tree while looking at its reflection in the water. His aim wasn't bad. He was playing with his prey."
"Dragons love playing with their preys."
With that Saya left Tish alone to write an invi- no, offer to an invitation, or a not-so-offer to invitation .
"Mother Rāva," Tish muttered to herself, "Let me borrow your wisdom.."
But Rāva did NOT let her borrow her wisdom.
For the first half an hour Tish proceeded to stare at the paper. She had written complicated spells for tracking down Assassins across Benevia, she had written medical journals on Wolpertingers. Hell, she had even written thesis papers on the complicated anatomy of Ammits.
And now she was struggling with what felt more or less like a glorified love letter.
She took a sharp breath and dipped her quill in the ink.
My Prince,
While reading of a book on hunting I found a particular technique I couldn't make particular sense of. It involved something about reading the treeline before the chase.
I presume you may find it delightful or fascinating - or perhaps completely wrong. I am curious if you-
Tish paused. Did she even have a book on hunting? She turned around and ran her eyes through the names of the books.
Ofcourse, she didn't. Should she ask Saya to fetch a book on hunting? What if the book itself didn't have any fascinating or stupid trick that she was supposed to show to the Dragon Prince?!
She crumpled the paper and threw it outside the window.
She started a second time.
My Prince,
Having arrived from Benevia some days ago, I find myself hoping-
Hoping? Like a little girl eager to meet her puppy crush at a festival. The second paper flew out of the window in the shape of a ball.
Prince Rudra,
I happened to come across rather a find bottle of wine -
Nope.
Your Highness,
I hope your afternoon rides are pleasant! I, too, am fond of riding-
Oh, he would DEFINITELY KNOW Tish had watched him riding in the woods like a creepy stalker!!
My Prince,
I am writing this letter because I want to say-
Want. Want . It even sounded wrong in her head.
Crumple.
Tish let out a mixture of frustrated whimper and sigh. Focus Tish! She slapped her face with her two hands and then started again...
Prince Rudra,
I am writing this letter to you to introduce myself properly as we have yet to officially -
It was catastrophically dull. She didn't even finish the sentence before the paper was in her fist.
The problem was Tish had already decided she knew exactly what she wanted to write but in reality? Her thoughts were in scramble.
My Prince,
I apologise for writing without a prior introduction. I am not entirely sure if this is the right thing to do or not. If it isn't, you may ignore it in its entirety.
It sounded like she didn't know what she was doing, which was true but he didn't need to know that.
But she continued anyways too tired to start again:
I arrived in Benevia recently and I confess that I am yet to find my footing here.
I wish to familiarise myself with the estate grounds before the week is out but I have been advised by my maids it will be unwise of me to walk around without someone who knows the place.
Now she had reached the most critical part of the letter where she had to ask without asking, getting invited without hinting she wanted to be invited.
I understand you have a busy schedule all day but if you could find me someone who could show me around tomorrow evening, I'd be at your debt.
Yours, Teresa Williams.
Tish didn't reread the letter, she didn't check if there was any grammatical mistake. She folded the paper and rang the bell holding her breath- the way a student hands out her examination paper when she is certain she is doomed whether or not she revises her answers.
Saya came. She didn't bow. She didn't ask why she was summoned. Her eyes dropped to the letter sitting on the table and Tish's pained expression.
She smiled. Unexpectedly, Saya snatched the letter and opened it herself, "Let us see how good the Foreign Saintess is at the art of courting."
Tish groaned and hid her face in her hands, mortified, "If it is bad," she squeaked, her voice slightly muffled, "Just Chuck it into the fireplace!"
"Oh no it's not that bad," Saya purred, "But it shows how naive you are!" She said it with a mixture of insult and amusement, "You are like a little rabbit."
Tish squeezed her eyes shut, her face felt hotter than the fireplace.
"The Dragon Prince will eat you alive!"