Nadia returned to the Palace and split off from Amar quickly. The various maids and servants of the house immediately descend to check on her. The eldest amongst them wordlessly looked over her dress, poking and prodding the seams and more fragile parts. "Thank you for your worry, Undyine. I'm fine."
The woman glares up at her from the bent posture she's taking. "Oh, you wish to be coddled today, do you? Would you like warm milk as well?"
"Please don't torture me like this today. You know today will only worsen and the next week will probably not be any better."
Undyine pauses for a moment and stands up fully. "Is it that bad, milady?" Her formality returned in full force. Nadia nods solemnly. "Oh. Then, what do you need, milady?"
"Thank you, Undyine. I think a more comfortable dress and a drink would be nice. Also, no more miladies."
Undyine bowed politely. "Of course, Nadia." She turns to one of the other maids. "Get her a drink while we get her changed." Undyine pauses long enough to receive a "yes, ma'am," then moves on with Nadia. She changes from the overdone dress to a simple red one-piece dress. By the time she's changed, the maid sent away came back with a glass of fruit juice.
She thanks the maid for the Pongran Juice and smiles. She takes a deep drink of the red-purple liquid, enjoys the sour taste, and sighs. Idly, from the seat of her vanity, she reaches for one of the side tables, but her hand doesn't find what she's looking for. "Undyine, where's my book?"
"I put it away with your travel bag. Your father told me to pack some of your things for the evacuation."
Nadezhda didn't respond. Her glass nearly tipped as it hit the tabletop, and she walked out of her room, not even bothering to put on her slippers. Undyine was shocked but immediately realized what was wrong. She didn't follow.
Nadezhda went through the palace at just short of a run. The servants and soldiers in the halls made as though to salute or bow for her but stopped when they noticed her face. She didn't care, she took a sharp turn into a small side door that lead through the servant's quarters. She could already imagine the scolding she would get but pushed on. Left, right, right, left, on through the twisting halls and tight corridors of the hidden palace until she burst into the Main Hall. Her father and brothers were there, as were several commanders and aids. She didn't wait for any of them to greet her before shouting. "Why have the maids started packing for an evacuation!? Were you lying to the people?"
The reactions around the room are varied. Nikalai and Cherim sigh in exasperation, the youngest, Stalm, laughs and elbows Cherim, "I told you so." The commanders do their best to avert their gaze and keep their noses out of the king's family business. A young man she didn't recognize with sharp green eyes and dark red hair looked at her directly. Her father is thunderous.
"Nadezhda!" His shout back stops her dead. He takes a deep breath to steady himself. No need for him to get angry in front of his children or his commanders. "Commanders, leave us." They bow deeply and then quickly retreat from the room. The king looks at Nadezhda, holding his tongue until the door closes. "Don't walk into a meeting like that. Ask to-"
"Don't lecture me on etiquette. Answer my question, father." He bristles at her blatant disrespect but maintains his composure.
"We will not be evacuating. You will." He says it with finality. Nadezhda's hands ball up, grabbing her skirt in the process. Stalm's smile fades as her face shifts from uncomfortable questioning to unbridled anger.
"What do you mean I will? Just me? Why?" She approaches, doing her best not to scream outright.
"Yes, just you. It's just a precaution to ensure that no matter what, you are safe." The anger in his voice fades quickly.
"But, I can help. I may not be able to lead an army, but I can help from here. Even if it's just being here to smile and wave. To show everyone that we're together and have unshakeable faith in them. I want-"
"Enough." He interrupts her with a quiet voice. "The fact you want to stay here to help in any way makes me proud. But if we lost you, your mother would never forgive me."
"Don't use mom on me!" Her voice cracks a bit as she holds back her tears. She knows there's no other choice in this.
"Even if nothing happens, we must be cautious. Should the city fall, you will be needed. Don't think of this as me sending you on vacation while we stay to fight. I want you to help with the evacuation. Keep everyone calm and give them hope. Now please, get ready to leave." He looks at her sadly, but his eyes give no room for argument. "You can hate me when you come back to the city." He turned away but looked back out of the corner of his eyes. She wanted to say more, to fight back more, but she knew there was no chance she would win. She turned back and left the hall. The last thing she heard before getting out was from Stalm. "Sorry, Nadia."
She walks back to her room with no energy she had getting here. She's too busy keeping herself from crying. Her father didn't want her help or at least valued it less than her safety. She was less certain of her brothers. Nikalai probably agreed with her father. He saw her as a baby and wanted to protect her. Cherim and Stalm would probably be on her side. They were only three and two years older and probably remembered that feeling of being coddled. Stalm most would want her there, if only so he could pawn off his paperwork onto her. But they wouldn't go against their father.
She arrived at her room to see Undyine standing at attention, already wearing a cloak over her shoulders, and had the bags nearby. "I'm sorry, milady. I thought you agreed t-"
"It's fine, Undyine. I just-. Help me get back into my dress."
"Your dress, milady?"
"Yes, if I'm going to leave with the evacuation, I'm going to look my best, if only to convince the people that this was part of the plan." She can't hide the pain across her face from Undyine, but she says nothing.
It takes a while for them to get the dress back on, and the dress feels even more restricting. Her cloak feels leaden as she walks out, letting Undyine lead the way. They stop to collect other members of the servant staff. They relieved Undyine of the bags she was carrying when they could. Most are the servants' children, but a few older servants come along. The oldest was a bald, wrinkled old man. It took a moment for Nadia to remember his name.
"Mr. Jonston, you're coming with us?" She smiled politely at him.
He grinned back widely, showing his numerous missing teeth. "Ay, that I am, milady. It seems they wanted to get an old man like myself out of here. Of course, it all helps that the younger ones are willing to listen. I am glad to see you coming, milady. While I heard about your disagreement with your father, I agree with him. If I were in his place, I wouldn't want my daughter to stay in the way of a battle." He looks at her sideways. "You don't seem to agree, though."
She bobs her head a bit. "He wants me to help the evacuation and to be there to keep people calm." She sighed. "I'll do what he asks this time, but I'm not going to be so nice next time."
Mr. Jonston laughed and cackled. "I would expect nothing less from you, Princess."
She smiled at him and continued walking.
They arrived at the docks fairly quickly and she saw the people lined up, her father's subjects. She followed Undyine but stopped before stepping onto the first ship. She turned back to the crowd who waited. She felt her knees shake a bit at all of the attention, but focused down on a single person in the crowd. One caught her eye, a young girl around her age with shock white hair near the center of the crowd, a young child in one arm and a bag in the other. She looked at and around her to help blur out the rest of the crowd.
She curtsied to the crowd politely. "My Father, King Nikodim Iola has asked me to watch over you. I hope we can be friendly while we wait for everything to pass, together." It was simple, but gathered their attention and gave them hope. The crowd cheered a bit, but quickly fell back into order and began going through the process of boarding the ships. Nadia turned to board when Undyine stopped her.
"Milady, I'm sorry but I'm not going with you. You will have the other maids and servants to help you, and I have assigned Lilley to care for you exclusively." A young girl, perhaps twelve stepped forward and bowed to Nadia. Nadia gave a small nod back in return.
"Thank you Undyine. Please, stay safe here." She boards the ship, hearing the wind carry Undyine's voice to her. Her thoughts drift back to her family, and Dante.
"Thank you, Princess Nadezhda."
