Hallelujah

Apprehension

Gracie

The smell woke me up first. A strange thing to wake up to, the smell of lilacs and morning dew.

Perhaps this was all a dream?

Would it be so bad if I didn't want to move?

With a sigh of determination, I rolled to my side, placing my feet on the ground to the chilly tiles. According to the bedside clock, it was just approaching 8AM and the sun was already high in the sky, as if the picture perfect scene could not become more beautiful. Before I even moved to get dressed, I padded softly over to the balcony doors, opening them up to allow in the crisp morning air. Sunlight touched the garden beds below, the flowers shimmering with precipitation from the night before. Rainbows sparkled in each dew drop, making a blinding scene full of color. The only thing that stopped it was the subtle shift in the rows of flowers as two people moved about them.

There were already workers, gardening in the flowers, ridding the plants of any weeds, throwing the dandelions in a bucket attached to their hips. It seemed like peaceful work, waking up before the rest of the capital. Not having to dress for anything that required finery. Something that just got dirt under their nail beds and the satisfaction that the flowers grew strong and beautiful.

"You missed one," the female said, tossing one of the dandelions at the male, who just caught it and placed it in the bucket. Slowly, I stepped back from the balcony, allowing them to have a moment of privacy and peace. It didn't seem to relate to anything I could write about anyways, unless my company had a sudden passion for gardening advice from a different kingdom. I had a feeling that they wouldn't require such material.

Moving inside to collect my phone, then stepping back out to the balcony to take a picture of the morning, I decided it would be a beautiful front headline picture. 'The Mornings in Rockford' or whatever cheesy line Gavin would push for the narrative. Finally, taking a moment for the sun's light to set over me, it was time to dress for the day. I could explore the city and take in some sights, sounds, see daily life from the people, gather photos, and overall see what this country had to offer. It was a long day, a day that required me to put my hair up, and take one step in front of the other.

Putting my phone back on the nightstand to shuffle through some of my morning music, I landed on a rather mystical playlist. Something that was a mashup between a fantasy opening and a medieval opening. It seemed rather fitting, the setting of this ethereal landscape with floating notes of soft humming, wind chimes every few beats, and the deep lulling sounds of the organs in the background. Truthfully, it was set in the tone of this kingdom, rather than the normal music that I listened to. A method of slipping into the mindset that was needed for a kingdom that was ruled by a dynasty.

Without wasting much time, and the music playing softly, I had managed to slide into one of the given dresses, a hidden dress code I was unaware of when packing, and carefully style my hair as I had seen on numerous women the day before. Better to be blending within the crowd than merely expose myself as an outsider. The best stories came from those who knew how to use their surroundings. With that in mind, I grabbed my notepad, a pen, and then moved out into the hallway, slowly retracing my steps from last night to make it into the dining room. A healthy and fulfilling breakfast was the best way to start the morning. With so many twists and turns though, it was going to be a challenge each morning to find my way to certain places,

My steps were the only noises though, even in an expansive house such as this one. "Good morning," a maid bowed her head, looking much like everyone else who worked here with a darker skin tone and brown eyes. Perhaps a coincidence as opposed to a racial profile. "Morning," I smiled softly back, "Am I moving the right way towards the dining room?"

The woman looked rather perplexed, her eyes flickering towards her peripherals, then looked back at me, impressively not moving her head from my direction as she glanced around. "Well...yes, in fact you are a left turn away from the door," she spoke softly, pointing the way I had been walking. The action was more robotic than one would have intended, one I certainly noted in the back of my mind. "Oh amazing! Thank you," and I was moving, leaving the strange conversation in my thoughts to jolt down on my notepad just moments after she left.