Pariah

Chapter Four

All thanks to the prince's curiosity, they had to start their journey again from the borderland, and they were already running late.
John made sure that he stayed inside the carriage with Damian and Anthony this time so the prince would not run off again.
They arrived late, but they still made it to the palace of Hyacinth, though little did they know what their coming late had caused at the palace.
Princess Violet, out of fear that the prince of Amaden would no longer come to visit her, had torn the whole place apart. She had smashed glass cups, broken flower vases and had hit a few palace servants too by the time they got there. She had even torn the sleeves of her own dress and cried out all of her eye make-up. Her hair was scattered and hard to look at.
Immediately she saw the prince, she ran up to him and wiped away the tears that had settled below her eyes.
"I thought you'd never come," she sniffed pathetically to him. Damian, on the other hand, had his eyes stuck wide open. In a word, he was petrified. And it seemed John and Anthony shared the sentiment.
Then, a group of four maidservants hurried over and gently grabbed the princess's arms, saying, "Your Majesty, you should probably come inside and change your dress now."
Violet looked at what was left of her dress and decided it was best to go back inside with them to change.
As they watched them leave, Anthony whispered into the prince's ear, "All right, Damian. Maybe we'll just wait for the second princess on the list."
"I'm glad you finally saw what I was saying," Damian whispered back with a smile of 'I told you so' sweeping onto his face.
A minute later, some palace servants came running in, and in their hands was a large roll of red velvet. They spread out the velvet from the prince's feet up to the entrance of the royal guest hall. Then, they politely asked him and the two other men to come in.
Damian trod gracefully on the red carpet, and soon, they were inside the guest hall.
Inside, they met Princess Violet and the four maids again, but this time, they had re-dressed the princess, and she was now the sheer opposite of what they saw earlier. She had new clothes on, but they looked the same as the first. This seemed a little suspicious to Damian. It was as if they knew beforehand that she would tear the dress into shreds. Did they though?- he decided he'd rather not know. They had also remade her scattered hair so impeccably that anyone who didn't see her before then would say she was perfect.
They all settled at a long dinner table in the guest hall; Damian, Anthony, John and Violet. The four maidservants stood by the table near the princess.
On the long table, there was a huge feast of chicken steak, soup, fruit, nuts and dessert in reception of the prince. But really, nothing they did would take the first picture of the princess off Damian's mind. That image would definitely stick on his mind.
Violet's father, the king of Hyacinth, joined them shortly. He had guards with him who stood by his seat like his daughter's four maids did. The visitors could guess that that was a tradition in Hyacinth, unlike back in Amaden, where the guards would actually give their masters some space to breathe.
"We apologise for not arriving on time, Your Majesty," Sir John said as he arrived.
King Eldred waved away the apology. "Sure, that's understandable. It's a long journey here from Amaden. We are glad you could make it."
Then, to his daughter, he said, "And Violet, didn't I tell you earlier that they would definitely come; that there was only something holding them up on the way?"
Violet smiled coyly without saying a word.
The king continued again. Now, he was talking to Damian.
"Prince, I'm sorry about your father," he said sympathetically. "He was such a good man; a true hero indeed."
"You knew him?" Damian asked, lifting his head from the food before him.
"Not personally anyway," the king shook his head. "But who in the land wouldn't know the king of Amaden?"
"It's popularly said in Hyacinth that Amaden is at the centre of the world," Violet said, still being unnecessarily coy.
Then, her father took charge of the conversation again, "Well, Prince, since it's not that I have to start asking you what you do for a living or the like now, can we just proceed to finalising the proposal?"
Damian slyly studied his left and right. When he read it in their eyes that John and Anthony weren't planning to say anything in response, just digging into their food, he decided to take up the responsibility.
"It's been a real pleasure coming here, I must say," the prince tittered, aiming to play it safe. "But let's not rush things, King Eldred. As of now, I haven't decided yet. Tomorrow, we'll send you a letter and let you know what the reply is."
"Mmm, all right then," King Eldred nodded, though there was certainly a lot of hesitation in his voice.
Then, after bidding farewell to the princess and her father, Damian, Anthony and John headed back to Amaden.
By the time they got back to Amaden, it was already past sunset. Coincidentally, at about the same time they arrived, Queen Lauren was also just coming out of the royal meeting hall to retire for the day.
"Welcome back, my dear," she said as soon as Damian came close enough.
The prince responded to his mother by shaking his head. The queen effortlessly understood what he meant.
She turned her gaze to the courtier and asked sceptically, "Sir John?"
John stepped forward and shook his head in reply, "I'm the adviser, and I wouldn't advise her either, my queen."
Queen Lauren sighed. She characteristically hated being kept waiting, and the bride was no exception. But she reined it in and said, "Well, it's a long list."
"I'll prepare the response tonight and send it to Hyacinth tomorrow, Your Majesty," the courtier assured.
"All right, Sir John," the queen nodded, and to Damian, she said, "I'm on my way to the dining hall now. It's time for supper already. Don't be late."
With that, Her Majesty left.
Damian was surprised that Sir John didn't report him to his mother for visiting Pariahland because he had expected him to do just that. He happily breathed out his relief, and with Anthony by his side, he went into his room to get ready for supper.