Queen Adara
I wake to the sun streaming through my east facing window, casting golden beams on my items. I crawl from bed and stretch. My muscles bunch and ripple as I get my older maid, Marcy, help me dress. She pulls me into a thin, wine coloured gown. Red rubies wink from around the neckline and my hair is pulled into a tight, braided bun. My gold and ruby tiara is set upon my head, pinned at the back so it does not slip throughout the day.
I wear soft, calf skin slippers, died a shocking red. "Ah, perfect." Marcy murmurs, shining a certain ruby with a cloth. She smiles and set her hands upon my shoulders. "You look perfect. I'm sure Roya will be glad to have somebody like you too look up to." She says softly, smiling lightly. I snort, which earns a disapproving glance. "She won't look up to me. She watches Lady Tomberlin carefully, she would much rather study books than rule a kingdom." I say.
"Yes, but, she has time for both. You still study the creatures of fire, which takes more time than studying books." I look up at Marcy, my gaze suddenly Stony. "I gave up on those creatures ages ago." She smiles sadly. "What a shame, really. We could have learned so much from them." I crinkle my nose and rise suddenly. "Whatever you may think." I say before marching out and down to the dining room for a light breakfast. My mood lightens when I see Roya.
Christopher stands at her shoulder, watching her sausages with a greedy eye. I can't help but chuckle. "Eat, Christopher. And I'm glad to see you finally put a shirt on." He blushes. I study his white blouse, created with a red flame over his left breast. Black leggings tucked into brown leather boots. A sword hangs from his belt. Roya wears a blue dress, with white lace decorating the bodice and frills on her sleeves. Her hair is curled and her makeup light. "Good morning," I state. She smiles and returns the gesture.
Then we sit and feast.
Roya
For the first time ever, Christopher persuaded me to go down to the dining room for breakfast. To my utter surprise, Queen Adara was there. She was dressed finely and looked as if she was about to burst. She was unusually hot until she saw me. She instantly calmed, and the whole room grew back to normal. She muttered a good morning and then we ate, barely talking.
Afterward Christopher accompanied me on a ride in the surrounding town. I rode my usually Clydesdale. She pranced slightly at the sight of me. I pet Tatums head kindly and feed her a handful of oats. A young stable girl helps me saddle her and get the bridle on her monstrous head. Christopher was placed upon a high-head Arabian that seemed to never calm down. We trotted through the castle gates, nodding at the guards. Not ten feet away, we broke into a slow lope.
The town is set at the bottom of the hill the castle rests on. If bustles happily, people trading and selling coins for bundles of wheat and bread. Children run around, their loathes sprayed with mud but happy-looking. A few people glance up at us, and watch me carefully. I flash a smile and usually nod or something. Christopher leads me into a back alley and up to a stable-looking building. A man waits for us. "This is Mr. Topez, he will look after our horses while we shop for the afternoon." Christopher says.
He dismounts and hands the reins to the man. I follow suit and clench my hand to Christopher's muscled arm. "I have no coin." I whisper. To my surprise, he chuckles. "Oh don't worry, you're royalty now. I brought some for you." He pulls a velvet tailored coin pouch from his pocket and ties it around my wrist. He takes my hand and leads me back to the busy market.
We weave in between vendors and purchase sweet cakes with honey or tarts with whipped cream. I buy my mother a Icy blue bracelets send home, and my father a new pocket watch. I promise myself to mail them when I get back. Then it hits me. I haven't thought about my family since I got there. Not once! I make another promise— to write also. Christopher swerved me around a tall man, dripping wet and looking furious. He points a large, fat finger to my chest. "She stole from me!" He exclaims.
I jump backwards. "I assure you sir, I definitely did not." I say, shaking my head. Christopher steps forward a little. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to have to get you to stand down. This lady is one of the Queens court-goers." He man sniffs and takes another step forward. "I. Do. Not. Care. She stole from me." He says. I take a step forward and try to dodge Christopher's outstretched arm. "And what exactly did I steal?" I ask. The man furrows his brow. "I don't bloody remember!" I shake my head.
"To bad... to bad. I suppose you can come find me when you're not lying?" I snap. And without letting him speak I spin around an march into the crowd. I hold my chin high and everybody scrambled to get out of my way. Christopher catches up to me, panting and looking almost impressed. "What?" I snap, my patients running very low. "You looked almost... like a queen..." He replies. I turn around. "What do you mean?" My tone softens. "Your expression went all stony, and you sounded like a proper and well sculpted queen." I blink at his words.
A headache starts to form. "Can we just... go back?" He sees me clawing and trying to comfort myself slightly and nods. "Of course." We walk back through the crowd and into the alley that leads to our horses.
