A Royal Affair

Welcome to Bowerstone Castle

The ride back to the castle went without incident, it was relatively quiet aside from the gentle whimpers of the crying Hilda. In her eyes she should have burned with her friends, it was unfair that she be the only one who survived and oh how guilty she felt as she leaned into the King's chest and gripped his coat.  She felt an anguish that she didn't think would ever disappear.

When the finally reached the castle once more the pair was greeted by a handful of attendants and some knights, Logan stepped out the carriage first and offered a hand to the weeping Hilda who's porcelain skin became reddened and stained with tears; the maid who had looked after her the previous night stepped forwards when beckoned by the king:
"This woman's village has been destroyed, you, Maid. Fetch her some new clothes, hers have been charred and I will not have her wear them any longer." His tone was commanding and without care, the king so far was the happiest he had been, all he had to do was be by the maiden's side and she would slowly fall in love with him, it was the perfect plan. Logan cleared his throat and directed his attention to Hilda who's hand was still loosely gripping his, her head down not looking at anyone. The king let out a soft sigh and moved in front of her and using his free hand gently placed it under her chin making her look at him;
"Hilda.. I know you have witnessed true horror today.. But know that I will look after you, all is not lost. I will keep you at my side." He showed her a smile hoping to comfort her but as he looked into her oceanic eyes he felt a shred of guilt, it was however quickly lost when Hilda moved into his chest, wrapping her arms around him and gripping the back of his coat unable to properly string together a sentence it was obvious it was her way of saying; 'Thank you'.

After the initial arrival Hilda was taken by the Maid previously addressed to a large bath tub, she was helped out of her clothing and her hair was freed from the braids and trinkets that had adorned it. she felt rather exposed as she sat on a stool getting her hair brushed out by the Maid, it was horrendously quiet until the maid caught a part of Hilda's hair that had knotted from a previous to which the blonde let out a yelp at the sudden tug the maid drawing back in fear;
"My Lady! I-I'm so sorry!!" She squeaked out raising a hand to cover her face as if she expected to be hurt for the simple mistake. Hilda turned to face her and waved her hands a little and stuttered somewhat before she managed to speak;
"D-Don't worry!! My hair.. Has.. always been a mess," she professed flushing somewhat at the trouble it had caused; "It's why I braid it... there's so much of it so it tangles easily.." 
For a moment the Maid didn't know how to react but she managed to let out a soft laugh before straightening up:
"That's alright then isn't it. It's nice to see you with an expression other than crying, Miss." She commented as she went back to brushing Hilda's hair. Hilda wasn't sure how to take that but she didn't want to cause problems when this kind lady was going out of her way to help her, she sat still  and allowed the other to continue making small talk until she was finished. 
After her hair was brushed she was made to sit in the giant tub where the same maid washed her hair and body, using so many oils and nice smelling soaps that Hilda had never seen before, she was almost dizzy at all the different smells but it also felt so nice, the other woman's hands all over her body as she rubbed in another oil it didn't take much for Hilda to fall asleep in the bath but she probably shouldn't have because she awoke to the maid desperately trying get her out the bath and of course she managed because when she fully awoke she was atop the maid on the cold stone floor; Hilda let out a yelp and apologised profusely after rolling off the maid and trying to cover herself, she felt so embarrassed but the maid just laughed, she laughed harder than she probably ever had and after a moment Hilda joined in, the entire situation in itself jut felt so bizarre to her she couldn't help it. It took them a while to calm down but by the end of it Hilda felt more relaxed than she had all day, she was thankful to the maid for cheering her up.
"What may I call you?" Hilda asked the maid with a smile on her face, "Nicollete, Dear. But you can call me Nino, that's what most of the other maid's call me. I'm the head here at the palace so I take care of all the important things." She said with a soft voice and Hilda nodded with a smile, she was starting to feel more comfortable, if there were people like her here at the castle then hopefully staying here for a little while wouldn't be so bad.


Logan was impatient, the thought of his lovely Hilda in the bath was making him antsy images floating around in his mind of what her body would look like under that blue dress of hers, the mere thought of it tickled his fancy but he tried not to think on it too much; though if he could have he would have been in the bath with her... In due time of course he would make sure that happened. He smirked as he paced through the halls of Bowerstone just waiting for his bride to be to exit the bathing area, he wanted to see her again, he wanted to touch her, to breathe in her new scent oh how tantalising the thought of it was, once again he had to try think of something but currently the gypsy was all he could think about, he let out a sigh and made his way to his study, he couldn't go on like this he had to do something to distract himself while he waited.

It took roughly an hour to get Hilda into her new dress, a dusky rose coloured dress with matching corset which was laced tighter than any other corset she'd had before, it was a miracle that she could breathe at all, puffed sleeves slipped off her shoulders and showcased her collarbones and the slightest part of her bosom, she felt a little exposed but Hilda wasn't going to complain when she was granted kindness like this. She was given shoes to match the dress that had a slight heel thankfully the heel was smaller than she was used to so the shoes were no problem for her, next she was given a necklace that had a pendant drip down from a line of pearls; she protested saying she couldn't accept something so beautiful only to be told it was the King's orders, she couldn't say no after that. Next was her hair, aside from her regular hair Nino, the maid split her hair into a half up half down style, she brought the top half of her hair and braided it into a bun, this took most of the hair off her shoulders but still allowed Hilda's hair to flow; Hilda was actually quite fond of it. 
"All done!" Nino proclaimed excitedly, as she took Hilda by the hand and brought her over to a large mirror allowing her to see herself  for the first time. 

Hilda gasped at her appearance; it was as if she was staring at another person she couldn't believe what she was seeing, she took a few steps forward and touched the mirror and then touched her face; 
"It's... really me?" She said in a soft bewildered tone only to be met with a warm laugh from the maid, "Well of course it is!" She said happily, "You're very beautiful you know! With a little help from me of course." She joked walking over to her, jabbing at her side a little. "You look fit to be a Queen, M'ilday~" Nino said sweetly as she stepped back and admired her work before nodding and taking her by the hand:
"Now, we shan't keep the King waiting any longer!"   Hilda nodded and off they went.


Logan was pacing back and fourth in his study when he heard a knock at the door, to which he jumped at, he cleared his throat and called for whoever it was to enter, he picked up a book to make it look like he had been doing something until then. It was that moment Hilda walked in, he stared at her unable to say anything for a while until Hilda averted her gaze with a red face asking if she looked strange to him;
"Of course not!" He said with a little to much force behind it, "You.. You look beautiful." the King beamed before taking a step forward, taking her by the hand the smell of rose oils washing over his sense of smell, it was such a step up from what she looked like before he almost couldn't believe it was her but those sombre blue eyes were unchanging and he recognised them instantly. 
"I know its not on the best terms, but I have not yet said this to you." He took Hilda by the waist and walked her forward out onto a large balcony that overlooked the castle grounds; "Welcome, Hilda. To Bowerstone Castle. Your new home."