Silence in Sagas

8

A huge hall opened up in front of Willa. Red carpets, grey stone-marble and chandeliers adorned her vision. She looked around. There were guards stationed on each side of the doors. They were staring ahead--Willa wondered how someone could have the patience to stand around like that the whole day. Willa looked to her side, but her escort had disappeared.

What a help he had been...

Willa looked around a little more. In front of her was a huge staircase in white marble. It lead up to another level, where Willa glimpsed several other staircases, twisting and turning in beautiful, inconvenient patterns. Though impractical and overcomplicated, it was captivating. So much so that Willa didn't realise she had been staring up, gaping for a good while. 

A hysterical laughter made her turn to her right. There stood a group of women--Queenlings--The others who had arrived. Willa looked around, but no one was looking at her, so she glanced down at her clothes.

Would it be a mistake to present herself like this?

Probably.

Willa stalked towards the group of Queenlings. There was four of them, in full on conversation. However, the laugh belonged to a girl, probably a little older than Willa... She was the most well-shaped woman Willa had ever laid eyes on. Her waist was thin... so thin that it seemed unfair that her bust and butt were well... bigger than average. She had dark skin, and her face was narrow--cheekbones prominent and her lips plump. When she laughed, perfectly straight teeth gleamed. Willa couldn't say she didn't feel at least a little intimidated. 

She walked closer, and soon, four pairs of eyes looked at her questioningly. "Um... hi?" said the Queenling while they were done sizing her up. She didn't even reach the shoulders of any of them. "Hi," Willa said.

There was silence, and there was awkward clearing of throats. "Um, who are you?" It was another Queenling with dark skin and a rectangular face with prominent cheekbones... she wasn't as skinny though, probably from Trotis.

"Um, I'm Wi--" Slipping up already... Willa masked her mistake by clearing her throat and continuing with an apologetic smile. "Oliwa..." She reminded herself of a deer right now... The prey--she needed to regain some of her composure and control, and so she straightened (it didn't do much for her height) and cleared her throat. "I'm the Queenling of Notteny."

Mouths were opened in surprise, but Willa just stood there. "Oh..." another Queenling said after a while. "I'm so sorry!" 

She took a step towards Willa, and smiled. "I didn't realise... you just didn't really look like it, yeah..." She held out her hand for Willa to shake. "I'm Keesha, Queenling of Sevala."

She was a skinny girl, wearing a blue cloak... They said of Sevala, that the temperatures were so low that if one were to go out without covering a part of oneself, a part of your soul would be taken by the cold. It sounded a bit alien to Willa. 

She took the woman's hand in her. It was rough and calloused against her own (which she was sure wasn't much better). 

The rest of the Queenlings seemed to catch up then. They all shot her smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes, all except the last of them. A woman with skin almost black... she looked at Willa with a judgmental glance, sizing her up and down, then spoke, "unbelievable that they would let that into the castle."

Willa tried her best not to react, but at the same time thought of some foul words. Out loud she said, "and who might this very charming individual be?"

The woman raised a pair of thin, black eyebrows. No hairs were out of place. Not there, neither in her hairline, or in the tight bundle of black hair on top of her head. "My name is Ose. I'm Queenling of Kestillz, and it would seem I also know how to dress to fit the occasion... unlike some others."

Willa nodded slowly. "Well, pleasant to meet you."

The Queenling shot her a look that seemed to say, oh, please. Willa returned it.

There was tension between them now, and Willa took a few last glances at the Queenlings... The beautiful one, the Trotis' one, and the nicer one from Sevala... then there was the last one, who met Willa's gaze with a particular disdain. "Do you know where we are to go now?" Willa asked them.

The Queenling from Sevala--Keesha--pointed towards the staircase. "Up and to the left... there are a bunch of servants ready to greet you there."

The Kestillz-woman snorted. "Or maybe some nicer clothes."

Willa walked away.

So that was four Queenlings... she was one Queenling, so that meant that there were five others... The two she had heard announced probably weren't of the four.

She would see more of the Queenlings, no matter if she wanted it or not.

She better put up her best court-lady-face.

Willa wouldn't let herself slip away, though, and the Kestillz-lady might have tried to insult her, but she was on her way to finding a dress, and it was not to please her, more than it was because Willa was pretty hell-bent on getting one of those elegant things on herself.

She was Queenling now, and playing the part could actually be fun. 

***

A/N

"I REMEBER THAT NIGHT, I JUST MIGHT REGRET THAT NIGHT FOR THE REST OF MY DA-AAYS, I REMEMBERS THOSE SOLIDER BOYS TOOK IT OVER THEMSELVES TO WIN OUT PRA-AAISE..."

Sorry, people, I was listening to Hamilton, and... yes.

And also, I'm sorry for the crazy late updates. I haven't really been writing, sadly. I just kinda lost my inspiration and forgot why I liked to create worlds and characters... I've been dealing with a lot of self-doubt and new, shiny ideas that crippled me from writing this story.

But I hope I'm back now.

Don't really know if anyone's really reading this story. Regardless, writing it is fun (when the self-doubt doesn't show its claws).

Thank you if you're reading.

/Olissa 

(Is this how I usually sign these things...? Probably not... :3)