Beginning

Chapter 11 - April 20, 1242

 The princess slept surprisingly well that night. The drink she had beforehand might have helped ease her excitement. Along with the knowledge that William will find out about this so-called surprise from her mother, it left very little for the princess to stay up and ponder about. Except, of course, her excitement for getting to see Ruda so soon once again, even if there would be little time for them to spend together.

The next night, Titania was up before Margareta even went to wake her. She woke up early to watch the sun go down, through the curtains of course, but she could still make out the sun dipping into the horizon of the mountains. Once the sun was fully out of sight, she knew her birthday had truly begun.

Titania smiled and enjoyed the moment for how it was. Quiet is all she heard around her. No, magically light surrounded her and no trumps sounded when her age turned, like how she imagined when she was small. No this moment was peaceful and tranquil and it will be the last moment of quiet she'll have to herself for the rest of the day, she is sure, so she took it in for all it's worth.

Then Margareta came into the door, with a few extra handmaidens in her company. "Happy Birthday Princess," all the maids chanted in unions. There went her silence, and she was prepared for it to go away too. Titania knew that after today things will go back to normal and how they were before her birthday, she would be awoken by Margareta every day, have meals with her father and mother, have lessons daily, deal with the annoyance that is Anna, and she'll still find ways to sneak around and meet with Radu.

These thoughts were swarming her head as the maids got Titania into her bath. The velvety feel of the scrub they used surrounded her so it was easy to get lost in thought while the maid's fingers got lost in her dark hair.

With her eyes closed, she let her maids since out of subs from her hair and body. Usually, Titania took forever in her bathing room, making the maids clean her hair and body for hours some days, just to enjoy the feeling of it. Today, however, she was much more eager to get out, not wanting to miss a second in this break of her normal schedule, for she knew, soon it will all go back to just how it was.

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William woke up in his quarters, up sooner than most people could bare due to the sun hardly setting. He needed to be up early because he knew most of the servants would also wake up early, considering all the work today's events would lead to.

After he left the princess last night in her chambers, William had snuck around to the servants quarters to see if anyone had any knowledge of the surprise the princess said her mother was planning. He found one girl who worked as a cupbearer during the meal time for the King, Queen, and Princess, who had heard the Queen mention it but didn't know anything more. She suggested perhaps finding a member of the Queen's escort party.

Now finding someone in that party was a lot harder than it sounds. William could easily go into the servers quarters and ask about information under the cover that he is just looking for some gossip or for "official aristocratic business." It helped that William knew many of the girls there, a bit too well from having requested several of them to join him in the izvor.

Unlike most lamias, William doesn't pick a preferred donor when he goes for a drink. He would call on someone, usually a girl, to come with him and then call on her again a few times more before moving on to someone else. When someone new joins the official members of the izvor, he would drink from them once or twice, then move onto the next.

It is said when a lamia changes donors often, it means he thirsts for someone else. William was the center of being rumored to have fallen for a lady he can't reach. The rumors ran wild at their peaks, accusing him of falling for a number of potential lovers, a servant, someone from a different village, and even the princess's name came into the mix. Soon, like most rumors, it died out, but he's still a bit infamous for it. This comes with its advantages and disadvantages at times.

At times like this, it is an advantage as well as a disadvantage. William knew of only one member of the Queen's escort party, it was a women who used to be a regular servant a few years back and that William had requested to join him in the izvor, named Alina. The only problem is that when William had requested Alina a few more times then he normal does with others, she was ecstatic and was hoping he would make her his regular donor. When the time came for William to switch to another, Alina got quite jealous.

It's not uncommon for human servants to fall for lamias, it would be harder placed to find a human working for lamias that isn't in love with one of them. William especially, with all his donor changing, has accumulated a rather large court of admirers.

Alina was in this court of admirers. Right up to the point when William had to tell her he wasn't interested in requesting her anymore. After that Alina swore to never speak to him again after the public humiliation he has caused her. Soon after that Alina was picked to join the Queen's escorts party, and was never seen without the Queen being nearby.

Finding her would pose a bit of a problem for William, especially finding her without Queen Stefania present. Getting her to speak to him and relay secrets of the Queen to a man she must surely hate is another story entirely. William sighed and traced his fingers around the edge of his mouth. The things he does for the princess.

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After the bathing and the dressing, Titania stood in front of her mirror, mesmerized with her appearance. The maids had taken extra care when they dressed her today, for this dress was new and specially made just for the princess. The underneath dress was an exquisite deep wine color, one that Titania didn't know could be dyed into clothing. There was a belt that went under her chest to keep the dress in place, soft to the touch and made of fur. The cyclas that went over the dress was as dazzling as the night sky, and under closer examination looked quite familiar to her.

Titania turned to look at Margareta, who was looking at the princess with admiration. "Margareta this embroidering style is very much like your mother's. She would be very proud of you," Titania complemented her and watched as her face lit up in pride.

Margareta curtsied in front of Titania, and the other maids followed suit, "Thank you, Princess, I will hold those words close to my heart." They then raised once Titania dismissed them. Getting bathed and dressed as taken quite a bit longer then Titania was hoping for, so when Margareta said she should start heading to her parents in the Dining Hall, Titania couldn't have left the room faster.

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It was common knowledge around the palace that the King and Queen prefer to dine without the company of their escort parties. Their parties always walk with them, chat with them, in the hallways as they go to the Dining Hall in the early hours, then leave once their Highness is settled down. Now as to where the party goes while they wait for them to finish and to accompany them again, is another matter.

The king is always first to arrive, accompanied by high aristocrats and usually other hunting friends, no human members are in his party. His party leaves him and then soon after the queen arrives with her party, made up of some of the wives of the king's party members and a few human handmaidens. Once the parties make sure they are no longer needed by either the king or queen, the doors are shut and they usually disperse for the hour while the queen and king are dining.

Now for the question of where they go after they leave the company of their Highness once the doors close. For the king's party, they disperse, going their separate ways and none of them saying a word to each other as they go their own way. As for the Queen's party, they usually shift down the hall, away from the doorway, speak, gossip for a bit, then slowly they start to go their own ways.

Alina and the other human members of the party usually leave together, was the tip William got from asking around another group of early working servants that have seen them a few times outside of the Dining Hall doors. These servants all so looked a bit too gleeful to be relaying this information to him. Everyone has heard about Alina and William's little fight, so these servants must be thinking that something is happening with them again and that they are sitting on some important gossip. William thought of this as a good thing, perhaps Alina would get wind of this and be more willing to cooperate with him if she thought she could be in the spotlight of the palace gossip.

William sighed and traced the outline of his mouth as his plan started to be put in place. He has to act fast as the moon started to climb the sky and more people awoke. No doubt the princess was awake already, the King and Queen would be coming down soon as well. William knew what he was going to do and hope this secret was going to be worth all this trouble.