:And hot meat pie,: Caryo said, with a mental shudder. :There are so many wretched hot pies, any encouragement to make them better would be a boon to your people.:

Ice fishing. There should be a prize for the biggest fish caught ice fishing.

:One- and two-horse sledding races.:

That was just about all she could fit in a single day, she thought with regret. And she wouldn’t dare to take more than one day off herself—

:So have all of the elimination contests before the Royal day,: Caryo advised. :That way there will be some real anticipation building up, and you won’t have to taste more than five or six final entries in the food and drink contests.:

Or listen to more than five or six ballads on the subject of winter…

:And end with a feast and entertainments by moonlight on the ice, with the feasting supplied by the Crown,: Caryo said. :Have a Royal Ball at the Pavilion to coincide with the common feast. It will be very romantic. Some of your young ladies have been trying to get their young men to come to the question since you were crowned, and if this doesn’t do it, nothing will.:

She thought of those giggling girls out in the snow, and sighed wistfully. The last year of the Tedrel Wars had put paid to a great many romances, and placed obstacles in the paths of many more. Young men who had survived that last battle had sometimes not had the heart for much after what they had been through. She could certainly understand their frustration!

Not that she had anyone she wished would come to the question with her. Far from it. No, she wished mostly that for once a “courtship” didn’t consist of her Council shoving names and portraits at her. It would be so nice to listen to poetry, even bad poetry, about the beauty of her eyes. It would be wonderful to listen to stammered, clumsy compliments in the moonlight, and to pull away from an attempted kiss at the last possible, and most coquettish, moment.

Was it so wrong of her to hanker after romance, to long for a circle of adoring young men who didn’t adore the crown rather than the girl? Oh, she knew that most young women of her Court went off to arranged marriages rather than romantic ones, but still, they usually weren’t bartered off to the highest bidder like prize cattle. They usually had some choice in the matter.

Well, she had one choice, she supposed. She could always say “no.” They could badger her and nag her, but they couldn’t force her to marry anyone.

:Think about your festival,: Caryo advised. :You’ve taken all the steps you need to about the marriage plans. Think about something pleasant.:

But would Talamir and Alberich approve? They were in charge of her safety, after all…