Beauty's Rose

Chapter #6

"Wake up!" Raine screeches at me "Your grandma's here! Surprise visit!"

"Huh?" I murmur rubbing my eyes.

"Your mother sent me! Your Grandma's here!" She screams in my face. Wait, Gran's here? I hastily roll out of bed and put on a light blue blouse with a pair of respectable skinny jeans. She's my father's mother- the former queen of Hyalae. She was really kind and I loved her to pieces. They were probably all in the old-fashioned parlour; Grandma was very traditional.

Right, I think to myself. I've only got to run along this corridor and turn right to get to- "Sorry! I'm sorry your highness! I didn't realise you were here..." One of the servants trails off. I look around to see I've managed to run into the poor guy and make him drop all of the clean laundry he was carrying. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, it's all my fault!" I pick up a towel and throw it into the confused man's arms. "I'm so sorry!" I tell him again before I set off running to hunt down my family.

Panting for breath I nearly stumble into mother after running about the length of the castle.

"Where have you been?" She hisses in my ear.

"Sorry, I woke up late and then I crashed into-" 

"Save it. She's been waiting for you." Mother was always worried around her; Gran never approved of her and when she became her daughter-in-law she was pretty annoyed. Gran was the only one that could stress mother as far as I knew. She wiped an invisible spec of dust of her own blouse and confidently pushed open the parlour door.

~

"Hello honey!" Grandma greeted me. She got up and bundled me into a hug; whilst choking me on her cloud of perfume. She'd always had an aura of confidence and caring about her. Over her shoulder I could see our traditional parlour; pale walls decorated with paintings and pictures and the circular table in the middle with mis-matched chairs that had all come from different places in the Kingdom.  She gently cupped my elbow and led me to the table and we both sat down. "You two can go; I need to talk to my granddaughter. Although some tea would be nice." She waved away both my parents; mother looked anxious and father looking amused.

She described to me her new house which she had recently bought  to move out the castle. 'Too many people fussing about my age here' was her reason, apparently.

"Tell me all about what's happening here; I feel like I'm missing out on exclusive gossip!" She laughed. I shifted my eyes downwards. How was I going to tell her about the Rose? She hated mother enough already.

"Well..." I started.

~ 

I shook my head "No, I'll know later though, the petal falls, and then later it tells me a name. I've got to meet the man, and then...choose one to marry." I repeated sadly to her.

"Marry?" 

"Marry." I confirm. She whistled under her breath.

"Gosh, I knew she was bad news from the first time your Father brought her home." She said staring off into space, setting her china cup down.

"Miss?" A maid interrupted grandma. She shot a confused glance at me and grandma. "Your mother has requested that you go to your room immediately. Something about a Rose?" She glanced at Grandma.

"She requested that it was on your own." She still looked confused, but hurriedly bowed and scurried out the room.

"Well then," Grandma said. "You'll be learning about your new... suitor. Does your father know about this?" Before I could tell her that he did, she'd set out of the parlour in the direction of Father's office with a determinated glare.

~

A petal had clearly fallen off; the gold outline of the name was sparkling from the door. I sighed and walked over to it and found the name Achen sparkling from the sunlight. I didn't recognise the name so I turned to mother.

Mother was in my wardrobe, browsing through my dresses. "Urgh, who's Achen?" I asked her, pronouncing the name like ach-en.

"One of the Faerie Princes, the Queen's brother. His older sister; the queen, has already had two heirs so he'll never be king. Also, it's pronounced Ash-an." She answered bluntly.

"What about this?" She asked, holding up an outfit. It was a light pink vest top and a turquoise skirt that was short at the front and fell just behind the knee at the back. It was similiar to the dress I'd worn on the date with Henry. She rumaged through my shoes before pulling out a pair of pink wedges.

"Get changed. You have..." She looked at her dainty watch, "About forty-five minutes before he's here."

I quickly changed, and tried to apply some mascara. As I had time left, I went up into my father's office. I knocked on the door three times to let him know it was me, then opened the door. "Darling!" His strong voice echoed through the small room.

"How are you?" He asked. I was definitely a daddy's girl, although I never got to see him. I walked round the old oak desk to give him a small hug, sadly looking at the  worry lines carved into his forehead. I sighed, knowing that it might be me causing them.

"I'm fine. I have to go and meet another suitor soon." I immediately regretted saying it, as he hated the spell mother put on me.

"You don't need to worry about her for much longer." He said, trying to be reassuring.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. What did that mean? Where's mother going?

"She's going to go and live with her parents in the country house. Eliza and Evelyn are going to stay; they're practically our family now. We all know that Eliza and her mother don't get on too well." Mother was going back to her parent's house? She hated her parents. How was I going to manage without her? Yes, she always nags about how I make a fool of myself at public conventions, and how my dresses are too short, but she also helps. How am I going to choose what to wear when I go out? How am I going to-

"Oh my gosh! Look at the time!" I squealed, doing a brilliant impression of the white rabbit. I run out of the office and into the luxurious hall way, tripping in the wedges. I hurry down the stairs, startling a maid, who pushed herself against the banister to move out my way. "Bye father- sorry! Love you!"

I hear a car pull up outside, and try to make myself look presentable by brushing my dress back down, and by fanning my hands in front of my face trying to cool down. A maid rushes to open the door, and I hear it open with a click. "Do you know how long she'll be?" A deep voice asked. Not to be fooled though, I didn't judge people on their voices. Even if they were husky and masculine...

"Not much longer, I hope." I say, popping out in front of him.  He smiled kindly, letting his eyes rake my body. I did like my dress, I also added a small brown belt just under my bust. He learnt in and hugged me; he smelt of wild mint and lemonade. "Right then," he said, voice as brilliant as before. I pulled on some white pumps I found in the hallway and smiled at him. "I'm ready!"

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Sorry for more ANs, but has anyone got any outfit ideas that she could wear on future dates?

Georgia x