I'm trapped in the world of my favorite novel.
Elizabeth has never had the best life but now that doesn't matter. Now she is living as Claudette, a character from her favorite novel. The only thing Claudette is destined to die at the hands of the Ev...
After much talking, we finally reached a door, which Princess Anna stopped in front of.
"Are you ready my darling?" She smiled at me, shaking any lingering anxiety I felt.
"As I'll ever be," I said and she nodded at a servant who pushed the door open. The room was less a room and more a greenhouse. The walls and ceiling were made of glass and plants seemed to grow wherever they wished. A table was set in the middle, where a small brick patio had been built. At the table 5 guests already sat, waiting, though I did not see the prince among them.
"Now entering Princess Royal Annia Maria Celenia" He announced to the room, the people at the table stood up. One, a woman, had to be helped to her feet by the man next to her since she was heavily pregnant. "and-" he looked to me.
"My dear friend Duchess Rosseau!" Princess Anna announced herself, she grabbed my hand and pulled me quickly towards the table. "Sit! Sit! You must all sit! Especially you Lady Lambert."
"Thank you your majesty" smiled the pregnant woman, as the man beside her helped her sit down. Seeing her closer now I could tell the man must be her husband judging by the way he looked at her. As if he was just a planet orbiting around her, his sun. I worried that if a fly landed on her, he might declare war on all bugs.
"Rosseau?" asked a gruff older man, his hair was completely white. "I thought the Marquis - Fredrick isn't it ?- would be joining us. Shouldn't he be taking the title after Tom's death?" My ears perked at the name Tom, as far as I knew Claudette's father's name was Thomas. Who was this man to be on a nickname basis with Claudette's father?
"This is Tom's darling daughter, Claudette! I was surprised too, I had mistaken her for a D'aurville given her hair." smiled Princess Anne as she sat down at a seat at the head of the table.
"You have lovely hair Lady Claudette," smiled Lady Lambert kindly. "I believe this empty seat next to me is for you."
"OH YES! Your seat!" exclaimed Princess Anna as she thought for a second. "Belmont!" she said surprising the old man next to her, who must be the Belmont in question. The name seemed familiar though I couldn't quite place it. "You will go sit there next to Lady Kaitlyn Lambert so that my darling Claudette may sit on one side and my nephew on the other."
"He can't sit next to her," said a deep voice and it took me a moment to realize it was Lady Lambert's husband. Everyone sat in silence for a moment before a woman stood up. She had not spoken since I arrived and she didn't seem keen on changing that. She glared down Lord Lambert that is when I saw finally the young boy sitting next to her. Black hair, darker skin, and deep blue eyes... Thibault!
"Lady Sardou! My husband meant no offense. It's just given Belmont's comments towards me in the past. It is fine though, I-" Lady Lambert said quickly, desperately trying to save the situation. But Lady Sardou, who must be Thibault's mother, walked from her seat to the right of Lady Lambert, to the open seat. She looked at Belmont who was standing by his chair.
"Lord Belmont may take my seat, next to my son." She said quickly, with power behind her voice. Belmont moved quickly to the seat and sat down between Thibault and Lord Lambert who were staring daggers at him.
"Perfect!" smiled Princess Anna, as if nothing had just happened. "Come sit Claudette!" she patted the seat next to her, which Belmont had just cleared from. I moved quickly and sat down next to her, trying not to look at Thibault who sat to my right. I looked up at these people, who were supposedly the most revered in their country and I felt that there was no way they could live up to their high titles. Suddenly it hit me.
Kaitlyn Lambert is a name so familiar because that was the name of Cordellia's lady in waiting, her closest friend. That Kaitlyn was not the woman sitting in front of me but instead her daughter. A daughter who was named after her mother after she passed during childbirth. A daughter who grew up without a father because on her fifth birthday her father "fell" out of a window. Belmont, a name I knew so well as Robert's last name, Cordellia's love interest's last name. The man in front of me now would die in 5 years leaving his land and child to his only heir, his illegitimate son, Robert. Lady Sardou was Thibault's beloved mother who was driven to insanity after her beloved husband's death. An event which, judging by her entirely black outfit, seemed to have already happened. And finally, Thibault, Prince Julian's most trusted friend, would die by Julian's side after Cordellia takes over.
I looked at Princess Anna scared. For everyone at this table would not survive till the end of the book. And now I raked my mind frantically trying to remember her name. Rember what happened to her in the book.
"Claudette darling, are you ill?" Princess Anna asked concerned. I could not move not even speak a word for the horror of the situation had caught up to me. Princess Anna was going to die in the next 5 years. Because she only appears in the book once, as the gravestone that Julian's was placed next to. The doors to the castle swung open.
"Now entering Prince Julian!"
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A picture, for reference, of the table seating arrangements
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