i just might love you (a hosie royalty au)

Part 17: "Lady Dana."

A/n: I got broken up with, covid, my teachers are going on strike and something else all happening at once, so thank u for your encouraging comments last chapter it really helped bring me joy during these tRoubLiNg TimeS :)
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Five days ago...

Time was a curious thing. It could be multifaceted; extending for an unbearable amount of time, whilst also speeding through whatever existence Lizzie found herself at with speeds that turned a thousand years into mere seconds. One moment she had won, and rightly so, each of the wooden targets she hit had almost shattered at the dead-center impact of her arrows. The next she felt incredibly unwell, her soul almost withdrawing from this plane into something unknown to her. It wasn't sleep, it wasn't dreaming. It was its own state of limbo. She kept hearing voices around her, and was acutely aware of how tense her whole body felt.

"I'm fine." She tried to reassure them. But the thought stood stagnant in the nothingness around her. "Please don't worry, Josie."

Her sister's cries could be heard every so often, repeating as if attached to a wheel that was constantly spinning. The silence after felt so heavy Lizzie could hardly stand it. She screamed in her own vast emptiness, falling apart and resetting herself as if it was the beginning all over again.

Finally, her soul returned to her familiar home, attaching itself to her body slowly but surely. She faded back like a sweet sunrise, a calm peace over her. It was quickly ruined by the burning pain shooting through her whole body, the most intense point being at her stomach.

Her eyelids felt like there were stones attached to them, but she lifted the heavy load to see the person she least excepted.

"Hope?"

Hope was standing near her bed, a distant look in her eyes, but upon hearing Lizzie's croak became startled.

"Don't try and talk, you're still unwell."

"You can't tell me what to do, Mikaelson!" Lizzie asserted, unaware of her own garbled speech. Hope popped out of her field of view, returning moments later joined by an elderly woman.

"Jo-sie." She rasped, trying to turn her head but with no success. The old woman touched her arm, maybe in order to comfort her. But it was too late, without her twin the panic would just continue to rise until she saw her.

"She's okay," Hope answered, genuine relief washing across her face, likely due to Lizzie's rapidly improving condition. She looked off into the corner of the room. "Send for Lady Saltzman."

The old woman tipped Lizzie's head forward, carefully holding a cup of water to her lips. The blonde drank greedily. But when she looked up Hope was gone. In a few moments her sister raced into the room, standing at the end of Lizzie's bed, her eyes were red and full of tears.

"Lizzie," She breathed, hands gripping the wooden frame of the bed until her knuckles turned white. "You're awake."

"Can you—" Lizzie's words cut off with a sharp intake of breath as she clutched her side; everything hurt but she was happy.

"Yes? Anything." Josie hurried closer to her sister, grabbing her free hand and giving it the gentlest of squeezes.

"Can you bring me my slippers?"

*

It's not that Hope didn't like wearing fancy dresses, she just found them too restricting and believed it was a waste of money. Normally her father didn't care, after all, he was a warrior as well. He always carried his axe with him, even tonight in his fine kingly robes and kilt, his axe always stayed right on his hip. But after Hope had broken one of the only tactical rules he had ever stated, he doubled down on being more firm with her. This included having her show up in finer garments than she would have chosen for herself. It was a sky blue gown that flowed behind her while she walked, the upper portion fitting nicely with her curves with cream and dark blue floral patterns. Her hair was mostly down, with braids that kept it out of her face that curled towards the back of her head. She looked good and she knew it, it was her one current comfort.

"Excuse me, your majesty."

A blonde girl bowed in front of Hope with a pleasant smile on her face.

"Lady Dana." She dipped her head, keeping her eyes peeled for her best friend. Penelope had yet to arrive and Hope's anxiety continued to rise as she stood in the banquet hall. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, suitors with hardly veiled desire, want. Not necessarily due to her appearance. There was not much time left, nor hardly as many suitors as before. Her father was already stockpiling resources from the far reaches of the kingdom. The kitchen manager had already hired extra staff, who were hard at work preparing for the week long feasts sure to come.

And there were the members of her fathers court. They feigned politeness to her face, most of them caring only for the personal gain they can achieve here. Some feared her, eyeing her suspiciously and especially when she returned from battle. Her tactics and physical strength were intimidating, to other generals as well.

"Is your dance card full?"

Hope turned back to Lady Dana abruptly, her thoughts receding like the rushing current of dark water. "Dance card?" Hope cleared her throat. "The first four, yes."

"May I have the honor of being lucky number five."

"Of course." Hope smiled tightly, then finally spotting the raven haired knight. "If you'll excuse me."

The Mikaelson heir didn't even wait to see Dana curtesy as she walked quickly over to Penelope.

"You can face a thousand enemies without flinching, but the bureaucracy of your kingdom unnerves you?" Penelope snarked once Hope reached her. The auburn-haired girl furrowed her brows at her friend. Penelope cringes at herself, apologizing lowly and touching Hope's wrist gently.

A booming laugh sounded from across the room, Hope flinched at the noise. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Lord Vardemus, likely far into the liquor at this point. But Penelope's piercing gaze noted Lady Dana and her remaining friends huddled together with him. They all looked quite pleased with themselves.

"This party is a drag." Penelope said, smirking at Hope when the other girl met her gaze.

"That's scheming face if I ever saw it."

"So what if it is." Penelope grabbed a glass of wine from the tray of a passing server, analyzing the pockets of people standing around the hall. "Do you think anyone will be using the old chapel tomorrow?"

Hope sighed, both endeared and tired of her friend's antics, both past and potentially in future. Before she could respond, her breath caught. A certain brunette began walking over to the two.

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A/n: keep your expectations low for updates, I don't have another chapter written after this one (yet).