before it all

01

THE carriage came to a halt, startling the young princess awake.

"Emilia, wake up! We're here!" Lady Kenna exclaimed, standing up from her seat and tapping the girl's shoulder.

"Kenna!" Emilia shouted. "Sit down, French Court has stood in the same place for years, I'm sure it will still be there when we arrive." She reached out for her friend, grabbing her hand and pulling her back to her seat.

"Aylee, move over! Your hair is blocking my view of the castle!" Lady Lola teased, brushing her friend's long golden hair to the side.

"Ladies, please. We must compose ourselves, we are mere moments away from meeting with the King and his family," Greer scolded the restless young
women.

"You mean the Prince!" Kenna giggled. "Emilia, tell us, when did you last see the dauphin of France?"

"I haven't seen Francis since I was a girl, I'm sure he's changed very much." The princess smiled.

By now all five girls in the carriage- aside from Emilia, were anxiously peeking out of the opening, gasping and giggling at the sight of the nearing palace.

They hadn't been to France in ages, not since they were children. Mary, the Queen of Scotland, had arrived months prior. Since they were all children, Mary had been engaged to the dauphin of France.

She and her sister had lived at French Court for a time, and they'd bonded with Francis and his siblings. A few years later Mary was sent to hide in a convent, as the English had begun targeting the poor child, and Emilia was sent back to Scotland to her cold-hearted mother.

"Woah!" The driver shouted, pulling on the reins of his horses.

Emilia half heartedly smiled at the sight of the castle before them. The grass was green as an emerald, and the large stone edifice was breathtaking. It wasn't the same as home, lacking the rolling hills of lush, viridescent grass and cliffs overlooking the unforgiving sea. It wasn't Scotland, but it was her second favorite place in all of Europe. It felt like home.

"Ready?" Lola smiled. Greer, Kenna, Aylee, and Emilia all nodded. The carriage slowed to a halt and the girls straightened out their dresses.

One by one the girls exited the carriage, Emilia took a deep breath and climbed out after the ladies. "Oh, Emilia! Your hair!" Greer exclaimed. She moved to fix it, adjusting the loose curls and intricate jewelry placed atop her head.

Emilia smiled and swatted her hand away.

"There's Mary!" Aylee pointed behind her and they all turned to see their Queen walking towards them.

Emilia had seen her sister only a handful of times over the recent years, visiting the convent every year on her sister's birthday.

The Princess spent the rest of the year looking forward to those days.

All but Emilia rushed towards Mary, stopping abruptly once they remembered their manners. Mary was a queen and they were her ladies. French Court was no longer a place they could act like children.

Emilia of course didn't see it like this. She kicked off her shoes and began running towards her sister, colliding with her and nearly knocking her over.

Mary wrapped her arms around her sister tightly, pulling away and brushing a few stray curls out of her face.

"Emilia, how I missed you! And you, Kenna, Greer, Lola, Aylee."

"We're all together again." Emilia grabbed Kenna and Mary's hands and smiled.

"Oh Mary," Greer began playing with the young Queen's braids, tucking the stray hairs back into their original position. "It's truly unfathomable to me that the two of you could be royalty. You both look like you were raised in a barn," Greer looked from one sister to the other and rolled her eyes.