Once Upon A Princess

34: The Test

The guards came for her later in the morning than she would have expected. They had brought her a change of clothes; a red silk gown with long, wide sleeves and a bottom that billowed out in creases. She usually didn't like wearing red; she thought it stood out in contrast to her hair. She had left this dress sitting in her wardrobe the whole time for this reason, but she didn't tell the guards that.

Leesil and Jackson were both at her door, looking just as tired as she felt. She didn't even want to know how late they had been up doing who knows what with Brand. She shivered just thinking about it. At least she'd gotten some nightmare-free sleep last night, though she still couldn't figure out how she'd been having dreams about this night for months. Or why so many of the dream's things hadn't made an appearance.

When she walked out of her room, she saw the other girls waiting. They had been walking in a line, and each of them were giving her their normal sly smiles or daggered glares. She didn't feel as afraid of them today; their looks would never beat a trusted friend coming at you with a dagger. She shivered again thinking of it, the shadowy figure in her dreams replaced with him.

She joined them in their line, and their procession kept on. They picked up other girls who were coming out of their rooms looking refreshed. She tried to peek inside their rooms to see if their mattresses had also been stacked, but she could never get a proper look.

After a round through what seemed like the whole castle, they were led into one of the small dining rooms. It had been cleared of the large tables and chairs, and now had three small square tables in the middle of the room. Three members of the Bellemere family, the king, queen, and Theolon, were standing at each of them.

Theolon looked passive, even bored. His shirt was a dark forest green and his pants were a dark brown. His hair was unkempt, as if he'd just been woken up to come here. It hung in its waves down his forehead, almost obscuring his eyes. He was standing with his feet together and arms at his sides. He didn't look at Amelia when she came in.

They were being split up. A guard was making the girls go to one of the three tables. The room was too empty to contain the actual test, so Amelia couldn't guess what this was. Maybe some sort of sign in?

The fates aligned and once she was in front of the line the guard told her to go to Theolons table. It was all good and well; this just wasn't her week.

There were a couple of girls in front of her, and with each one Theolon leaned over the table and seemed to ask them something. At their answer he would gesture for them to go through a door. When Amelia looked around, she saw that the king and queen we're doing the same. Is that where the test was?

She finally got to Theolon. He didn't lean over the table like he'd done with the other girls. He was looking at her differently, though, and just a hint of that trademark smirk of his.

"Hello, princess," he greeted. His voice was quieter, so as not to carry around the room. "Answer this question honestly, okay?"

She wasn't sure what to expect. She nodded. "Honestly."

"Tell me, how did you sleep last night?" He had that bored look in his eyes. He wasn't looking at her with any sort of expectation.

Was he trying to trick her? What sort of question was that? But he'd said to answer honestly.

"Not well at all, prince."

Theolon's face changed, a ripple breaking the perfect stillness of his pond. His mouth opened to form an 'o', and his eyes widened. He even paled a few degrees, all the color draining from his usual pallor.

"What did you say?" he whispered.

Amelia didn't understand his horrified look. "You told me to answer honestly. I didn't sleep well at all." Please don't make me explain.

He leaned forward then, white knuckles pressing into the table. "Do you know why?"

Of course, she thought. But Leesil's words came to her. She couldn't explain, not really. For some reason, she wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Even the prince.

She said the first thing that came to her. "The bed just wasn't very comfortable." It was a horrible lie, because the bed had literally been mattress upon fluffy mattress. There was no way it couldn't be comfortable.

Theolon didn't call her out. He only kept his stare, as if looking at a ghost. Finally he shut his mouth and gulped.

"Well then, princess, it looks like you've passed the test."

The room suddenly went quiet, the heads of both the king and queen swiveling in Theolon and Amelia's direction.

Amelia felt a shock of cold go up her back. "What did you say?"

"You... you passed the test." He straightened up, putting his hands behind his back. His eyes had changed, and now they were glistening like dew. The pupils, however, were blank as if soulless. "The test isn't today, like you were told. It was actually last night."

A collaborative intake of breath was heard in the room as the reveal was made. Most of the women looked shocked more than anything else. Amelia just felt a simmering pain in her head, and a tight jolt of fear in her gut.

The prince continued. "You were placed in a room stacked with mattresses, each one thicker than the next. A pea, just one, small pea, was placed between the bottom two. The test was to see if you would feel it in the night. That would determine if you were the right one for Castiel."

Amelia almost felt like she was underwater, and her ears were full of water. He couldn't be saying those things. Surely she could correct him. That's not why I didn't sleep well! She wanted to shout.

She turned her head around, looking at the door she'd entered. Leesil and Jackson were both standing there in their usual stances. They weren't reacting to the news, not in any outward way. She looked directly at Leesil, watching as Leesil slowly looked at her. Then she shook her head, a small, imperceptible move of the head. She could read Amelia's pleas. But they were on deaf ears.

When she turned back around to face Theolon, and seeing the queen and king coming towards them, she thought only of her father. He was getting his wish.

"You are Castiel's soulmate," Morcia said as she came closer. She had a wide smile on her face, and shiny eyes threatening to pour with tears. She came right up to Amelia and gave her a firm hug. Talon stood behind his wife, a barely there smile on his face. He turned to the other girls who were watching with wide eyes.

"Thank you everyone for your participation. But we have found our next queen."

Amelia felt like any second now, she would wake up and everything would be undone. But this was real, and there was no way around it.

Castiel, apparently waiting for the announcement, came into the room through a small side door, an almost shocked expression on his face. When he saw it was Amelia his father was talking about, he only hesitated for a moment with a slight flicker to his expression. Then he was back to his old self, grinning in a toothy smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Morcia stepped away to allow her son to approach Amelia. He was so much taller than her, he had to look down at her with an odd crane to his neck. You could hear the unhappy sighs of the other girls, the losers, as background noise to the happy announcement.

Castiel's dark eyes looked sincerely at her, encouraging her to give it a try.

"It's time for you to go through the trial, and then we can continue with the wedding."

After some time the room erupted into a cheer, and even some applauded.

Castiel bent down to whisper to her then, and Amelia looked sideways and Theolon, whose mouth had thinned and face had slacked.

"Our fates are intertwined forever," he said. It was so quiet, and his breath tickled her ear and made her hair fly away for a moment.

Fates had intertwined, but it wasn't by fate's design, Amelia thought. But she couldn't say it aloud, and so it only echoed in her head like the beat of a thousand drums.