Jealousy & Blood| Etheria Series Book 1

Chapter 1

1699, November 14th.

The November Festival of Drayka had been in preparation for months if not since the last celebration in 1698. The festivities had been carefully planned, altered, increased, and settled by end of July and from then on, the plans were set in motion to be ready for the weeklong party. November's festival was an event that started the 17th and continued to the 21st in honor of the Draykian monarchy. Not only is the party to honor the Marthorne's rule of the country, but it was also to celebrate their births as well. It would be quite the sight to see and indeed, it was famous throughout the continent with many of the neighboring kingdoms coming to join in the merriment. While it was usually a joyous occasion, for the royals themselves, it was nothing but an unavoidable nuisance.

Princess Axelle, the heiress to the Draykian throne, had spent most of her time locked in the ballroom with her governess, Mrs. Featherlock, rehearsing her choreography and practicing her manners. As one might expect, these lessons had been common practice for the young woman, however, they were to be repeated until the day she was married to an eligible bachelor.

"You're too tense, start over." Mrs. Featherlock tutted, much to Axelle's annoyance.

Axelle started her routine again, make sure that she never held her breath or look at the floor. Currently, she was practicing her entrance; it was a tradition for the heir to make their appearance after everyone else and it was strictly enforced that the heir must perform perfectly. That meant head up, stand tall, hands at the sides or folded in the front, and the bow was the worst part.

Male heirs had to bow at either perfect or near-perfect ninety-degree angle. Female heirs had to keep their backs straight and bow their heads while their lower half did the rest. Knees must be bent so that most of the thigh touched the calf. Mrs. Featherlock made Axelle repeat the bow more than a hundred times and so far, Axelle couldn't quite get the movement right.

"Again."

Axelle sighed and stood up again, returning to square one. The part she struggled with was the bending of her knees; for a woman who spent most of her youth studying combat and strategic warfare, it shouldn't be a surprise that she wasn't perfect with her feminine practices.

On the opposite side of the large room was a pair of twins and their tutor, and they too were practicing.

Prince Gannon and Princess Blossom were the first twins of the Marthorne dynasty and born to a life of luxury and supreme privilege. Unburden by discipline, the twins were notorious for their terrible manners and no one knew that better than their tutor, Master Vonteller of Saint Warlock Cathedral. Under his guidance, the twins proved to be nearly unmanageable though not enough for the man to abandon them. They had their moments of understanding between teacher and students, thus only he was able to educate the teenage royals. For their lessons, like their elder sister, the twins were forced to repeat their steps and manners which was their weakest talent. It did not help that the teenagers were anxious with excitement and were unable to obey their instructions to the point both sides had enough of the other.

While Master Vonteller dealt with teaching the second princess's dance and proper introduction toward available bachelors, Gannon took the initiative to deal with his growing boredom. Servants who were decorating the room with tapestries, embroidered drapes, and long silk ribbons had left a basket of ribbons behind while they left to find something. Gannon had spent most of their lessons staring at the ribbons, imagining what he could with them to appease himself. When their teacher was fully devoted to educating the princess, he finally give in and stole the basket; he took them and tied them around his wrists. He then ran around the room, squawking and laughing so loudly that it startled his sisters out of their studious focus. Axelle was amused by his shenanigans while Blossom, eager for emotional release, joined her twin, to the horror of Master Vonteller.