Riptide

The party was meandering like a slow river in the heat of summer. Talea, done up like a noble woman on a quest for a husband, was bored. She knew she shouldn't have come. But when a friend had offered her an invitation to a ball in Kaibadal's capital she couldn't resist. It had been so long since she'd last seen her parents. Not that she wanted to talk to the aging king and queen. Just seeing them would be enough.

Talea craned her neck with everyone else when the royal couple was announced, followed by no other than Prince Meerten. She couldn't help glare at him. In the past two years, every time she'd encountered real injustice, or people pushing against the limits of the realms of magical creatures, he'd had his hands in it somehow. If she'd disliked him before for being sleazy and uncaring and cruel, by now she outright hated him.

Still, at a large party like this, there was little to no chance they'd actually cross paths.

Her parents looked well, despite their advancing age. It'd been ten years, Talea realized, cataloging the new lines and wrinkles on their faces. She wanted to be able to remember them all, even though a part of her wanted to cry at the sight.

She'd missed the good days with them. But in the end, the bad ones had been too much, had offset the balance. She'd had to leave. She still didn't want to return. She was happy traveling, having adventures. The worries there were less fundamental. More "do I have enough money for an inn or will I sleep under the stars?" and less "if you're not our son, like we want you to be, we don't want you at all".

To shake the bitter memories, Talea dragged her friend out onto the dance floor. It was easier to forget about her past with someone who'd only ever known her as Talea. For the dance after, she was asked by another noble, then another and another. She lost herself in the twirling and complicated steps.

Her parents were still alive. Everything was well. So her parents had made Meerten their heir. It didn't matter much to her anymore.

And then, a heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

"Hello, Talea," Meerten said into her ear. "Fancy seeing you here. One could think you were avoiding me these days." Louder, he added: "A dance, milady?"

"Why, dear prince, am I not too far below your station?" Talea used the wrong form of address on purpose. Like hell would she show him any form of respect.

"For you," he said with a cold glare but a pleasant fake smile. "I'll make an exception."

Talea let herself be lead back onto the dance floor by Meerten. "The hell do you think I'd want to be near you?" she hissed. Her grip on his shoulder had to be painful, even though he didn't show it on his face.

"It'd be all so much simpler if you'd just agree to marry me, Talea," he replied, pulling her closer. She stomped on his foot. "You could talk to your parents again. They'd love you like a daughter." He laughed. "In law. You wouldn't have to use all the magic you can get your hands on against me."

"This was never about you," Talea snapped. "Never! You just made it so. You always think it's all about you. But fuck you for thinking you could make me..."

"My court mages worked out how to negate a gnome's magic, Prince ■■■■," Meerten purred, like a tiger with a juicy slab of meat. "Think very carefully..."

Talea never learned what she was supposed to think carefully about. Reflexively, she'd pulled her knee up and leaned forward, ramming it into Meerten's stomach. It was an accident. She'd been aiming for his groin.

"You bastard!" she shouted, uncaring that she was causing a scene. "You swine! Prince you may be, but a gentleman you are not. Don't you ever dare touch me again!" She spat, to the horror of the assembled nobility. For a second, she caught her parents' expressions. Amusement twinkled in her mother's eyes. Her father was fighting for his composure. It made her realize not all was lost. Maybe she should try and write to them, she though as she stomped away from the fairgrounds. Nobody tried to stop her from leaving either.

In the end, if she disregarded the threats, it had been a good choice to participate in this party.