Summary_of__The_Dragonfly_

Dragonfly Chapter 1 The Fourth Crown Princess of the Blue Crescent Islands had sixteen rituals to observe from the moment of waking to when she broke her fast. These included getting out of bed on the right-hand side; turning to the east to bow to the sun; submitting to having her hair groomed with forty strokes from a silver-backed brush by the Under Mistress of the Royal Chamber; and– Princess Taoshira paused. What have I forgotten' Goddess rot the Etiquette Mistress’s rule book, I know there’s something else “Your fingerbowl, Your Highness,” intoned the Senior Mistress of the Chamber, holding out a bronze basin. Fingerbowl! Why do I always forget the finger bowl' Taoshira rinsed her fingertips delicately and dried them on a white linen towel. Probably, chimed in another voice in her head, because when you were at home–before you were chosen as princess–you had to wash your hands under the pump in the yard, jostling the serving girls for your place in line. Taoshira, or Tashi as she used to be known to her family, almost smiled at the recollection–then remembered that the Crown Princess was not allowed to show emotion until she had said the Four Blessings, the true beginning of the day in the Royal Palace, and accompanied the words with the appropriate gesture. “Eternal Goddess of Mystery, give our people wisdom” (touching her head): “Gracious Mother of Mercy, look upon our people with compassion” (right hand on heart); “Kind Sister of Healing, bless all who are ill” (hands outspread); “Joyful Child of Hope, prosper our work this day” (fingers arched, thumbs touching in a triangle). The four attendants gathered in her bedchamber gave the required response in unison: “As the Goddess wills.” Tashi was relieved that was over. She liked the morning prayer to the four faces of the Mother Goddess but had not yet got used to the fact that she was now an official priestess for the entire nation. If she forgot to say it–or even fluffed the words–her people believed that dire consequences would be felt throughout the land. It had been very different mumbling the same prayers to herself up on the hills of her family’s estate on Kai, the northernmost of the islands that made up the Blue Crescent, named for the curving shape of the isles in the Sapphire Ocean. In those days, as a faithful Kaian, she had said the words with only her goats to hear her as the sun broke over the jagged crests of the Marine Mountains. She had never dreamed that she would be snatched from that life as abruptly as a kid is plucked from the ground by a bird of prey. From insignificant daughter of an impoverished matriarch, she had become one of the four most powerful women in her world. Tashi stood with arms outstretched as the Assistant Under Mistress of the Chamber removed her nightgown. That was another thing that had taken a lot of getting used to: standing stark naked in front of her attendants with only her long fair hair to veil her while they went through the ceremonial dressing. Over the last four years, from blushing furiously she had progressed to thinking of other things while they fussed over her. The ceremony had its set order: first placing in the white silk under-robe, then the sleeveless orange tunic of the Fourth Crown Princess, next the flamboyant embroidered gown (today was on of her favorites–the dragonfly design), and finally the orange sash. Four items of clothing. Her life was ruled by that number. It had decided her fate when the last Fourth Crown Princess had met an untimely death at the age of twenty. The Blue Crescent Islands always had four crown Princesses, one from each isle of Rama, Lir-salu, Phonilara, and Kai. It had been the princess from smallest and most northern island that had died, so the priests and priestesses of Kai had gathered to identify the next candidate. Their choice was restricted to all eligible twelve-year-old girls of matriarchal families.