famously unfamous (alternate) | jaron artolius eckbert iii

One

I walked outside in my shin length dress, barefoot, to stare at the carriage. It was a couple minutes before my father exited, the hoard of servants bowing and treating him like royalty. I curtsied, then gave him a flat look.

Father presented three boys to me, each looking uncomfortable as they saw me. I stared back, unforgivingly.

"Boys, meet my daughter. Her name is Charlette. Charlette, this is Tobias, Roden, and Sage."

They gave me awkward bows and I turned my gaze to my father again. He then presented them each a servant.

"Follow your man to a warm bath and a change of clean clothes." He cast an eye on Sage. "Some of you require more scrubbing than usual, so stay in the bath as long as you must. Once you are presentable, you may join me for a hot supper that I suspect will be the finest meal any of you have ever eaten."

Roden and Tobias followed their servants into the estate. Sage followed his behind them as they entered Farthenwood. The entry was massive and well lit by windows and a large chandelier directly above them. The plaster walls were decorated with beautiful murals of countryside scenes. A tapestry hanging near them depicted dozens of names and faces. The family tree.

I turned to my father when they were gone.

"What is your problem?" I snapped.

He scowled. "You know our duty to Carthya —"

"Your duty, Father!"

"Before your mother died, you were better than this!"

"Before you hired those pirates to off Jaron, I loved you!"

"Before you were born, we had no problems!" he roared. Spit flew into my face.

I blinked, staring at him angrily. "Is that truly what you think? Before I was born, you and Mama had no problems?"

"Charlette —"

"Is it?"

"No."

"You lie," I spat. "I refuse to have you spew dishonesties in my face any longer. Tell me."

"Perhaps there were a few small problems," he snapped. "But you brought along the worst of them!"

"Then why did you love me so when I was little?"

He clenched his teeth. "I will discuss this no more."

"Oh, sure! Run away from our conversation!"

"Go change for dinner!" he ordered angrily.

I turned on my heel.

"And be presentable," he hissed.

I glared at him over my shoulder, Cleo, my handmaid, taking my hand and pulling me toward my room.

I let her lead me, and once we were in my room, I told her to tell anyone that came by that I was taking a nap. I quickly tied my sleeves at my elbows and opened the window. She raised an eyebrow at me, though said nothing else, stepping outside and standing guard. I climbed out, almost jolting at the sight of one of the boys clambering the walls. He froze, staring at me with wide eyes. I made my way over nimbly, stopping by his side.

"You remind me of my friend," I informed him, and he relaxed.

"You won't tell anyone?"

"No. But you'd best get back to your bath. I believe that we will be expected at dinner, in respectable clothing."

He nodded at my dress. "Is that not respectable?"

"Not to my father's standards. He does not know I climb still. I intend to keep it that way. And you'd best not let him know."

He nodded and started climbing away. I called up to him as he reach his window,

"My best friend's name was Prince Jaron. You'll be finding much more about him tonight. And do not let that accent lapse in my father's presence."

I climbed back to my window, seeing Cleo waiting for me when I swung back inside.

"You have not much time left," she warned. "About twenty more minutes."

"I am not worried," I told her. I undressed quickly as Cleo filled the bath with warm water. I slid into the bath, dunking under and scrubbing myself down. I massaged soap into my hair and rinsed it out, lathering conditioner into it and scrubbing my nails carefully. I washed my face, then rinsed out the conditioner.

This took about ten minutes to fully wash, and when I got out, Cleo had a white slip for me to put on. I pulled it on and tugged on my underskirt, making sure my slip was tucked in. I let her dry my hair before I put on any more, slipping on my maroon shoes carefully. She combed out the still damp strands, then ran her fingers through my hair to take out the rest of the moisture. She took my front strands in her hands and swept my hair back with a silver hair comb with glittering stones. I tried not to touch my hair as she dug out my lavender dress. She helped me into it, laving up the front, then escorting me to the dining room. I was the third there, and I made a beeline for my seat, staring down my father from the end of the table.

"Charlette," he sighed, "can you sit across from Roden?"

"Why?" I demanded.

He scowled. "So that we may talk."

"Set me in Mama's old spot, then."

"I have already set Tobias there."

"Then I shall sit here."

I sat down, staring at him.

"I can move," Tobias offered.

Father's teeth clenched. "Fine! Be a brat. Tobias, please move around the table across from Roden."

I rose from my seat and moved to Mama's old seat. Father glared at me, turning his head away.

And we waited.

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And welcome! If you haven't read the first famously unfamous, I recommend doing that since I wrote it first! It also has an entirely different storyline. This is based off my other idea on how this book would be, so it's not going to be very similar. The original idea was actually a sequel to Harlowe which is in the paused rewriting stage.