The Princess's Offer
In which our protagonist talks to his team, and the team says what they have been thinking.
Kenji talked to the team.
He started with Elara, because Elara was the senior partner, the captain-commander, the woman who had kissed him on the cheek, deliberately, in front of Calla. They sat on the walls of the palace, at midnight, where they always had their hardest conversations.
"She proposed," Kenji said.
"I know. I saw her face when she came in. I saw your face when she left."
"What do you think?"
Elara was quiet for a long time. Then she said: "I think she is right. I think she is what you need. I think she is what the team needs. I think she is a princess who has watched you for two seasons and has decided that you are worth joining. I think that kind of decision is rare, and I think we should accept it."
"You are not jealous?"
"I am not jealous. I am the senior partner. I have you. I have Sundays. I have the alliance. I have the king's father's sword. I have everything I want. I do not have to be the only one who wants you. I just have to be one of the ones who does."
"That is a very mature answer."
"It is the answer of a woman who has defended walls for seven years and has learned that walls are not defended by one person. They are defended by teams. You are my team. Calla can be on the team."
Kenji kissed her. It was a long kiss. It was the kind of kiss that said: "Thank you for being the kind of person who can say that."
Then he talked to Lian. Lian was in her study, surrounded by notebooks, reviewing the structured magic curriculum. She looked up when he came in, and he said: "Calla proposed."
"I know. I have been expecting it. She has been writing me letters for six months. Did you know that? She has been asking about you. About us. About how the team works."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her the truth. That we are a team. That we make decisions together. That the relationship is not conventional but it is real. I told her that if she wanted to join, she would have to be willing to share, and to defer, and to be patient, and to put the alliance before herself."
"What did she say?"
"She said: 'I have been a princess my whole life. I have never had to share. I have never had to defer. I have never had to be patient. I would like to learn.' That is when I knew she was serious."
"So you are okay with it?"
"I am okay with it. The team is good. The team works. Adding Calla makes the team stronger. She is sharp. She is political. She has a kingdom. We need a kingdom."
Kenji hugged her. She hugged him back. It was the hug of colleagues who have become something more.
Then he talked to Seraphina. Seraphina was in the south, at her trading house, going over the Silver Road's books. She came to the crystal network when he pinged her, and her face appeared in the crystal, sharp and amused.
"I hear you have a proposal to discuss," she said.
"You already know."
"I am a merchant. I know everything. I knew she was going to propose before she did. I have been watching her letters to Lian. I have been watching her visits to the Council of Kings. I have been watching her watch you."
"What do you think?"
"I think she is good for the team. I think she brings the northern kingdom. I think she is a princess who is willing to learn to share. I think we should accept her."
"You are not jealous either?"
"I am a merchant, Kenji. I do not do jealousy. I do investment. Calla is a good investment. I have been investing in her for six months. The returns are about to be very good."
He laughed. He had not laughed in a long time. "You are something else, Seraphina."
"I am a merchant. We are all something else. Now go tell her yes. And tell her I expect a very favorable trade agreement between the northern kingdom and the Silver Road."
"Anything else?"
"Yes. Tell her she has to share the cost of the next expedition. I am not funding everything."
The call ended. Kenji sat in his chair, with Pip's faint spark in the back of his mind, and he thought: "I have three yeses. I have one more conversation to have."
The fourth conversation was with Calla herself. She came back to his office, the next day, and she sat down across from him, and she waited.
"The team says yes," Kenji said. "Elara, Lian, Seraphina. All three. They say you are good for the team. They say you bring the northern kingdom. They say they are willing to share."
Calla did not cry. She was not the kind of person who cried. But her eyes were very bright, and her hands were not quite steady, and when she finally spoke, her voice was not quite calm.
"Thank you," she said. "I will be worthy of the team."
"You already are. We do not accept people who are not worthy. We accept people who are willing to be worthy. There is a difference."
"What is the difference?"
"The difference is that worthiness is not a state. It is a process. It is something you build, day by day, by showing up, by being honest, by debugging the world alongside the people you love."
She looked at him for a long time. Then she said: "You really are a software engineer, aren't you?"
"Through and through."
"Good. The world needs more software engineers."
# WORLD.md (updated)
## Status
- Calla: accepted by the team
- Elara: senior partner, "walls are defended by teams"
- Lian: colleague, "adding Calla makes the team stronger"
- Seraphina: investor, "Calla is a good investment"
- The team: complete, four women, one debugger, one faint spark
## Lessons
- "Walls are not defended by one person. They are defended by teams."
- "Worthiness is not a state. It is a process."
- A merchant's jealousy is an investment's returns
- The world needs more software engineers