Where’s a cousin, there's a cuisine
“Oh excuse me; I didn’t know that the little prince had visitors. I’m so sorry.” A woman looking like a seal made hasty counter-movement to her rather erupt entrance to the nursery.
“Never mind, we weren’t up anything too serious…were we?” Dôn replied and grinned little bit foolishly to Reko, who answered with laughter and threw all his pinecone figures towards Dôn…
“Now that’s a nasty boy! You cannot throw your toys against visitors.” The choppy woman intervened immediately and chided the prince by lifting him up despite the boy’s loud resistance.
“I really don’t mind, the boy weren’t any more evil than a tree in the forest dropping its seed upon me.”
“Well your highness, we are trying our best that the new Prince will live up to his father in manners and …HEY! No spitting at me you little…!”
And Dôn left the nanny to rebuke the child for a while and stood up to take the comfortable distance. While he glared outside the castles Small window, there were lot of crying and screaming and eventually a rather sulky looking toddler approached Dôn again, saying “Anteeksi.”
Dôn smiled. Reko was to be the first Finnish speaking Dôn to hold the title. She did not oppose it, so he answered, with her accent: “Ei kestä kiittää.”
And the boy was sunshine again in almost instant and scooted away to his games…
“You must be one of the Dôn’s by mere looks and appearance. If, my lady forgives me such out spoke.”
Dôn smiled in his thoughts, yeas I am
one of the Dôn’s. “Yes you are correct. And I don’t mind people speaking to me, when they have something to say.”
“It’s just so much of talks these days. Your highness has surely heard the gossip and all. Not all women want to be called as Dôn Ladies these days.”
Dôn smiled with some steel in her look. The nanny knew enough to gather little bit of shame to her appearance before she continued.
“And not that it’s anyway fault of the poor girl; I mean the count of Savolax is not much older than this little bodkin here, but must there have been someone to stop her! Or him! Oh that such noble woman would marry her own father’s bastard brother…”
Dôn let the woman continue…she knew enough details and manners of this marriage to know better not to speak out loud. As well as she had knew about Pierre’s relationship to his young cousin. Men…
“It must surely be that they dwell there,
andra sidan havet …those Swedish folk are queer as any…”
With fairies, having marriage to even one’s own brother was not something to even raise an eyebrow, but for men, these things carried big importance. Such a pity really. To Dôn, it was often hard to guide her offspring’s for making perfect match at the same time taking account what the men’s weird religions considered as sin or not…
“And those Egyptians! Every Dôn family outside this guidance that seems to dwell here had sold their sons and daughters to the Fatimid’s. Soon there will be Pharaohs instead of Princes here in Finland…
Dôn smiled. Pierre had hated Egyptians to the gut. But to Dôn, all man was equal…equally inferior, she kept reminding herself. Prince Reko abrupted her thoughts, by climbing up to sit on Dôn’s lap.
Among the other rabble he demanded a song where the nanny such mentioned:
“How would little Reko look like if he would be wearing that Pharaoh’s headgear!”
The Boy laughed
Dôn smiled gently. After all, weren’t Pharaoh’s kings instead of princes...
****
On her way out from the nursery, he met the old man again. It had been while since he had appeared at the same time in the castle with Dôn. Behind him walked a foreign looking man, olive skinned and dark haired and thoughts of Pharaohs and Nile visited in Dôn’s thoughts. He could have been Persian or Greek as well, so little his simple linen garments revealed to outside. The Old man steered him and the other man following him into a small room, but himself he remained and waited until Dôn came close.
“The deeds of the realm once again in hand?” Dôn asked.
The man grinned and said: “A court of a toddler with advisors still in level of toddlers aren’t in the focus of the world I’m afraid.”
“Was that supposed to be deneal to any dodgy deals that are to be signed there in the room?”
Dôn smiled her question trough her lips and the Old man sucked his own but still managing to grin in mockery.
“Well weren’t you planning to visit Tavastehus soon? You might have that chat with Guigues that the principality really needs…”
And Dôn grinned and passed by.