Red Queen

Where Was the Brat?

When they arrived there were still many carriages there and many more still coming. Some servants of the palace greeted them, but before doing the servant in charge of the General's arrival was captivated by the young miss who stood out of the family the most. It wasn't her appearance, but the aura that she seemed to be giving out. It felt a bit threatening but he wasn't sure.

Mela stood a bit further back, behind Ashyer and Arvel so the attention was on them. But once they reached the ball room she was dragged by her mother to talk with the other ladies. Though Slona had been on the battlefield since her marriage she still had some connections with the other wives.

As the duo came closer the first ladies who noticed them stopped talking making the other ladies follow their stares wondering who they were. "Lady Slona it has been so long," a lady from the group stood up and hugged the lady in the green dress. "I've missed you too Libia." When they heard the lady say her name the group was surprised. This was the wife of the General? She didn't have the pale skin like majority of them and she seemed to have some muscles under that dress. Her brows were sharp and her stance looked strong, unlike the delicate ladies here. Although they were all wives and mothers she looked more energetic than them even after having 3 children. "Who might this be?" Libia asked. "Oh my, how can I forget. This is my daughter, Mela," Slona moved aside giving the rest of the ladies a look, curious on what the daughter looked like. If she was delicate, snobby, bulky, or stupid. But what had them dropping their jaws to the ground, maybe even further, was a young lady who was neither what they all thought. Even with no makeup on but a little bit of lipstick, there was one word that described her. Strong.

Mela neither bowed or curtsied, she just gave them a little nod acknowledging them. It was strange that none of them found it rude. The girl didn't smile and only had a calm demeanor, so different from her mother, who seemed more outgoing.

The duo sat with the group of ladies. When Libia told Mela that she could go find the other young ladies to talk with if she didn't want to hear these things. Mela just gave her a nod and continued drinking her tea. So the ladies just let her be but it was hard to do when all she was doing was sitting and she looked like a ruler. She was different from the last time they saw her. The last time she had on a bright yellow puffy dress that looked as if she was a duck, and she had on so many necklaces that they thought her neck was going to break, each of her fingers had at least 5 rings on them and on her wrists were 10 bangles. She talked as if she was above all of them and would lust over the young men making all noble families forcing their sons to stay away from her. But now, now they didn't know what to think of her.

"Good evening ladies!" A voice disrupted the group's conversations. They knew the voice all too well. It was the wife of the General's brother, Rowena. There were only a fair amount of wives that actually liked her, and they were the ones who acted just like her, cunning, annoying, persistent, and hateful. Even their daughters turned out like their mothers. Those who didn't associate themselves with the group warned their daughters away from them. "Who might this be?" Rowena said in a mighty voice. Slona stood up and started at her sister-in-law. "Sister-in-law, don't tell me you forgot me," Slona said with a smile. Since Slona hadn't stayed long-term in the kingdom she obviously didn't know the thoughts of the lady in front of her. Rowena knew that her husband's brother had come back but she didn't think the wife would be here, since she never attended these events. Rowena hated her to the core.

"Sister, it has been too long. Forgive this one for I have thought you wouldn't be attending the prince's 20th birthday," Rowena said to Slona with a tight smile. Mela didn't miss any of it. "How can I not come? My daughter needs to get use to coming to these events," Slona looked over to Mela who was still drinking her tea. Rowena looked over and was confused, where was the annoying brat? "Mela, come greet your aunt." The girl who was sitting on the chair stood up and looked at Rowena straight in the eye. "Greeting aunt, thank you for taking care of me during all those years," Mela said with the same face she greeted the other ladies. Her voice was so emotionless it was scary. Rowena looked as if she was gulping in air. Who was this? Mela? The annoying brat? This is not right! But Rowena just gave her a tight smile. "Erlanie is with the other young misses, why aren't you with them? I can get you to join them. They would be happy to know that their friend has arrived." Rowena said ridiculing her for being here instead of those her age. The bystanding ladies don't know how much this lady had changed but they sighed in pity that she didn't have any real friends. "Thank you aunt for the consideration but I'm rather enjoying myself. Though it may not be as calm anymore," Mela added a bit of a disappointed tone to the ending of her words and the ladies laughed at what she meant while Rowena didn't understand but she was furious that they were laughing and it seemed to be aimed at her. The wives that followed Rowena also didn't understand but they knew the other group viewed them as lower than them. Rowena was about to scold Slona for not disciplining her well out of embarrassment, but then the arrival of the King and his family was announced.

While everybody was getting quiet and awaiting their appearance Mela slipped to the side where there was a shadow. At the appearance of the royal family everybody bowed, except for the one in the shadow. "May the King live in longevity and glory," everybody said in unison. Ater the King dismissed them they stood straight, their attention went straight to the young female and male standing besides the King and Queen. "Today is a joyous day as it is my son, Prince's Trystan's 20th birthday. Everyone please enjoy the night," after that the music resumed playing as everyone watched the Prince descend down the stairs with a young lady in hand. Everybody wondered who this lady was. She didn't have a soft warming smile as all the other ladies and her dress wasn't as bright colored as theirs. Could this be the prince's betrothed? The minds of the young ladies were in jealousy and sinister. "Greetings Prince Trystan and Princess Renee," the General greeted the two. It took seconds for what he said to register into their mind. Princess Renee?! This was Princess Renee?! Nobody had actually seen the princess as she was always sick on these events but those who got a rare chance to see the princess saw her weak body and innocent mind and would sigh in pity as they thought she wouldn't live for long. But how was this expressionless fierce looking lady be the princess?! They didn't believe it, but when she and the Prince nodded to the General's acknowledgement they had to open their eyes to get a better look. If she really was the Princess then they must give their sons' hand to her!

On the other hand all the young ladies were by the side of their mothers. Rowena was quick to tell her daughter of Mela, but she didn't believe what her mother was saying and had a glint in her eyes. Finally, that brat was back. I can use her to my advantage.