Painting the White Ones Red

Chapter One: Invitation

Twelve years later

"Harvey, you know how much I hate that Tea Party. Why should I go over there and accept his invitation?" The Queen asked Harvey. I watched and drank my tea as Harvey, the one who gave me this home and opened my world, spoke to the Queen, Lareina about the town and the other divisions. Aside from the Red Palace, there was three other divisions: Tea Party, Eden, and White Forest. 

Harvey took a sip of his tea and shrugged. "Because it would be the polite thing to do." He told her. Lareina snorts and continues to eat her small slice of cake. I knew in times like this, Lareina didn't care and I should keep my mouth shut. "Anyways, Delia is almost of age." Harvey beamed proudly.

I looked up from my tea cup at the mention of my name. "Of age for what?" I ask. A couple of times I had heard that phrase, but I never really thought much about it. Plus, it was rude to step into people's conversations. 

Harvey smiled at me and sipped his tea. "Of age to be seen as a woman." Lareina said calmly. Harvey nodded as she spoke. "All it would be is reciting lines." She shrugged it off and continued to eat as if the whole thing wasn't important.

"We have to have a ceremony for you." Harvey said. "Except..You would need someone to rehearse with..And that Hatter is the only one other than Lareina and I that knows the words by heart. And Lareina and I are so busy, we couldn't practice...So you would have to practice with him."

I have only seen the Hatter once, and that was at a ball when I was thirteen. I didn't know anything about him, except that Lareina disliked him for being "annoying and blunt". But that didn't really tell me anything.

Quietly, I stood up. "I'm sorry, but I'll be fine without having a ceremony for that. I would rather be seen as a woman by those that care about me. The whole world can decide on their own." I told them both. As I turned to leave, I heard Lareina chuckle softly. I stopped and looked down at her. She held her white teacup against her red lips. "What is it?" I ask, but she only shakes her head.

Lareina sips her tea then sits up straight. "Are you going out?" She asks me. Her eyes didn't even leave the table to face me while she was speaking. 

"Yes ma'am. Do you need anything?" She doesn't speak, but hands me a folded up piece of paper instead. I nod then walk to the black iron gate at the other end of the maze-garden. The sky was clear, so there wouldn't be any rain. At least, I hoped there wouldn't be any rain.

As I walked in the direction of the town, I began to unfold the note. In the Queen's neat handwriting, the words 'Tea Party, tonight' were scrawled onto it. She wanted me to go in her place. I sighed softly. The Queen must really dislike that place, if she didn't want to attend a harmless tea party. 

The town was just a bunch of simple family owned shops. A few bakeries, a fresh market, a dairy and other small shops. Today, I was headed towards the fresh market. I had to go get more honey for my tea, and I knew the perfect vendor to buy it from.

As usual, the market was only slightly busy. I had no trouble getting to the vendor. The little old man smiled at me as I bought the honey I always buy. As he went to hand me the change, I told him to keep it. He stared up at me as I turned to leave. But he wasn't staring at me.

Behind me stood a girl with short, boy-like brown hair. She was tall and slender, and a about a head taller than me. The girl looks around the age of  seventeen--same as me. She wears long, tan pants, black combat boots, a black long sleeve button up shirt, and a long brown trench coat over that. A dark brown belt hangs over her trench coat, a sword hanging off on her left hip. Her skin is fair, and her eyes are a shining, glossy brown.