ROYALTY

Chapter 4

"No, my lady." It was Maeve that had answered. "We are not sisters my lady." Maeve, Maeve I rolled the name around my tongue. "I have never heard the name Maeve, it sounds beautiful though." The young girl blushed red and pink. She looked a year or two older than me, both did. "I am Naomi Faye Kathleen, but please call me Naomi." I said as I curtsied before them. At first, they were shocked, then their expression changed to that of a smile.

"Yes, Lady Naomi." They both said in union. "I hope you had a pleasant trip my lady?" Lauren asked, she was already checking through my already well organised and neat wardrobe. Um, that must change, my wardrobe is never organised. I sighed as I sat down on the long loveseat. "Yes, I think I did. I do not really know, but I slept all throughout the trip."

Maeve chuckled. "It was that boring?"

***

Three hours and more than half my dresses later, I was ready for dinner with the royal family. I never really understood why on earth it took a lady up to three hours to dress. I usually used just about fifteen minutes to work myself through a dress and do my hair. Well, my hair took longer. Now I sat at the vanity table, with Lauren and Maeve arguing about the best piece of jewellery to match my dress. I on the other hand was not that interested.

"There I told you this looks better on her Maeve." Maeve rolled her eyes, a smile on her face. "You look beautiful my lady." Before I could reply the clock chimed eight. And then the next thing that happened was I was being rushed out of my room and to the long waiting line of twenty-four other debentures. The prince was so lucky, he could choose from twenty-four so why did I have to be here? One by one we were announced by the herald, the same man with white hair. Apparently, I was the twenty third person as according to the list.

A figure bumped into me, with an "ouch." I looked back. "I am sorry." I said, the person before me though a little slimmer with pale skin, high cheek bones and hazel brawn eyes said. "No I am the one that is sorry I bumped into you." She still had her ladies maids with her, and by the looks of it, she was nervous and was still trying to arrange herself. She was to stand in front of me. "I am Naomi Faye Kathleen by the way."

"Gianna Eloise Esmeralda." She had said. By then there were only two ladies standing before her, the herald getting ready to announce one of them. "Your father is the great Esmeralda of the Northern territory I am assuming." She looked at me with a smile. "Yes he is. You have heard of him?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Every Nolanian knows him, he is not hard to miss at finishing school." She was announced then, she sent me a nervous smile before walking through the door. I tried taking a peep to know what was going on in there but the short man threw me a dirty look, clearly he was not impressed with my tactics of eavesdropping and sightseeing.

"The honourable Lady Naomi Faye Kathleen, daughter of The Honourable Archduke Kathleen and his wife the Honourable Archduchess Faye Kathleen." I walked in taking the splendour of the dining hall, it was a private one, not the official dining hall for guests but again not the usual dining hall of the royal family. The room was big, big enough to hold a ball. It had chandeliers and golden candle holders that cast the room into a golden yellow glow. There was a long table to, with the shape of an 'S' though it had the curves a snake would have while moving. The royals were sitting not at the head of the table but at the centre of it.

I took my time in studying the faces of the people before me, not because everyone was looking at me and I was looking for what to do, but because the distance from the door to the king and queen's table was a good thousand miles away. My point, it was a long distance.

The king had an unreadable expression, actually, all did. The queen looked on with curious eyes. Taking in all that she saw, but clearly showing her impatience by drumming her fingers on the table. The prince next in line looked bored to death, he had not even looked up at me, maybe he thought I was a waste of his time, well I agreed with him on that. He was a waste of mine to. The princess well she had her cool burning eyes solely focused on me, and it made me extremely uncomfortable. Watching my every move, anticipating my next big mistake. I turned my attention to the next person, the princes best friend, his name a Donovan Douglas, heir and son to one of the Nolanian grand dukes.

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