/~/~/~/~/
“Tell me.”
Helena closed the office door behind them. “King Consort Finn seated Count Villiers below his proper rank.”
Darragh’s stomach dropped. “How far below?”
“Three places. He put Lord Jameson’s daughter above him.” Helena’s expression was carefully neutral. “The count took it as a deliberate slight.”
“Finn wouldn’t…”
“I know. But the count doesn’t know your husband’s background.” Helena moved to the sideboard and poured two glasses of wine. “There’s more. During the first course, King Consort Finn made a joke about ‘stuffy nobility who care more about titles than people.’ The count took it personally.”
“Hell.” Darragh accepted the wine and drank half of it. “What else?”
“The wine you’re drinking. It’s from the Belmont region.” Helena paused. “Count Villiers’s family has been feuding with Belmont for two generations over a contested inheritance. Serving Belmont wine to Villiers is…”
“An insult.” Darragh set down his glass. “Three separate insults in one dinner.”
“Each one individually might be forgiven as an honest mistake.” Helena sipped her own wine. “Together, they suggest deliberate disrespect. The count believes you assigned your husband to deliver a message.”
“That’s insane. Finn didn’t know…”
“I’m aware. So is Thomas, and so is anyone who knows King Consort Finn.” Helena’s voice gentled slightly. “But Count Villiers doesn’t know him. He sees the king’s consort making multiple errors that all happen to offend him specifically, and he draws conclusions.”
Darragh scrubbed his hands over his face. “Can we fix this?”
“I’ll draft a letter of apology. Blame the seating on a clerical error, the joke on cultural differences, the wine on an inexperienced sommelier.” Helena sat across from him. “Villiers is a minor count. This won’t damage Safe Harbor’s reputation significantly. But Darragh...”
“Say it.”
“The World Council summit is in five months. Delegates from multiple kingdoms will be watching your every move, and analyzing every interaction.” Helena met his eyes. “King Consort Finn is wonderful. But he’s not ready for that stage.”
“Then we’ll get him ready.”
“Will we?” Helena’s expression turned sympathetic. “You married him because you liked him the way he is, because he doesn’t perform or pretend. Can you teach him to navigate court politics without changing those very qualities you love?”
Darragh had no answer.
/~/~/~/~/
Finn was in their sitting room, still in his formal dinner clothes, staring at nothing.
“Hey.” Darragh closed the door quietly. “You all right?”
“I’m sorry.” Finn didn’t look at him. “I know I messed up. I just don’t know how badly.”
“It’s fixable.” Darragh crossed to him and sat on the arm of Finn’s chair. “One dinner with a minor count doesn’t matter. We’ll smooth it over.”
“Helena told you.” Finn’s voice was flat. “About the seating, the joke, the wine. The hat trick of incompetence.”
“Thomas went over the protocol with you?”
“He did. I wrote everything down.” Finn pulled a crumpled paper from his pocket, covered in notes. “Count Villiers, fourth seat from the head. I remember writing it. But when I was actually arranging people, I got confused about whether to count from my left or right. Then Lady Jameson’s daughter was upset about being seated so far down, and I thought four seats were too many anyway because it seemed rude to put someone thatfar away when we had space closer...” he trailed off. “I didn’t know I was insulting him. I was trying to be polite.”
“I know.” Darragh took the paper and smoothed it out. “And the joke?”
“I thought it would lighten the mood. Everyone was so stiff and formal, barely talking. I was trying to...” Finn laughed bitterly. “It doesn’t matter what I was trying to do. It matters what I did.”
