Conquering The Throne...And His Heart

Chapter III

For dinner, we were all to meet in the dining hall. This way we would have the chance to meet the members of the royal family, since unlike Fatima and Amelia, who were housewives, all the others had an occupation on the island.

Guillermo came to me a while before dinner and asked me to change into an alyna. This was the traditional clothing of the people of the island. It resembled the clothing worn by Indians; it consisted of a long skirt and a short top and a piece of cloth that was to be worn over the head when walking around unfamiliar people or to be proper and polite. I had seen many women wearing these, like Fatima. Amelia had worn a knee length dress and leggings, possibly due to her pregnancy.

The alyna Guillermo had bought for me was a creamy shade of white that went perfectly with my tan skin and dark hair. According to Guillermo, I was to always wear white and have my face painted because I was engaged to him.

Young girls and pregnant women were to wear the dresses and leggings like Amelia. Only engaged women had their faces painted, and on their wedding day. That is when they wear turquoise and then after that they are free to wear whatever color they please aside from white. Alicia pulled my hair into a side braid and placed small white flowers in the braid to match my alyna.

I took a long look at myself in the mirror, or at least the Agean girl that stood there, in the place of my reflection. I was Spanish, not Agean. This did not feel right.

I finally convinced myself to just do as Guillermo said, and let him lead me to the dining hall. Everyone was already sitting at the table, patiently talking and laughing. Realizing Guillermo and I had entered the room, they all got to their feet. We quietly walked to our seats as everyone's eyes followed us. I kept my eyes down and held my breath anxiously.

"Cornelia tell us about yourself, we have heard close to nothing about you" a man said, once Guillermo was seated beside me. I looked up at him. He was older than the rest, but not too old. He was probably in his 50's but had a long beard and sat at the end of the table.

"Uncle, should we not introduce everyone to her first?" Guillermo asked, before I could even answer.

"Why of course, pardon my manners" the man said and nodded his head. Guillermo smiled and continued on to introduce everyone to me.

There was Amelia, Karissa and Fatima, but I did not recognize anyone else. He introduced me to Eduardo, Amelia's husband and the father of her child. He had dark eyes and hair to match. He was handsome and looked absolutely in love with Fatima.

Next was Mauricio, Fatima's husband and Karissa's father. The resemblance from Karissa to Mauricio was obvious. Mauricio was handsome like Eduardo, but much more muscular.

Then of course there was Eduardo's brother Horacio. He did not seem as happy as the rest, but that must have been due to his lack of a wife or someone to love. He was the only bachelor present, but was very attractive. He had lighter colored hair than his brother, it was a nice caramel color and his eyes were a piercing green color so it was hard to tell that he and Eduardo were brothers.

Now Guillermo introduced me to his aunt and the current queen, Isabella. She still appeared to be young but was definitely in her 40's. She had curly blonde hair like Amelia with eyes a deep blue-green color that were more intense than Fatima's and had me captivated. Her smile was kind and it was obvious the love she had towards her family.

Next Guillermo introduced me to the King, and also the man who had talked to me first, his uncle Fernando. He was a kind man, it was impossible to miss it. It was no wonder the country had been running so smoothly throughout his reign.