Bad Influence//(svtfoe)

Chapter III

The Ring

Solstice woke up to the loud ringing of the bell tower. She sat up in her bed quickly running her fingers through her hair. She threw her legs over the side of her bed forcing herself to her feet. Solstice stretched her arms as she yawned loudly her eyes squinting shut. She slowly stood up and made her way to the porcelain bathroom as she got herself ready for the day.

Solstice sat at the dining hall her cup of tea in hand. "Keep your pinky's at ninety degrees, more tea please" everybody sipped in unison following the chant. Solstice's eyes were heavily lidded this had been drilled into her head so many times that she had it memorized by now and could quote it without any thought now- counting all the pauses the tone of voice and the sip. Everyone's eyes suddenly snapped open as Ms. Heinous walked into the tea room her rather large skirt trailing behind her as she read from the note in her hand.

"Solstice Butterfly." She looked out into the sea of girls looking for her in specific, as their eyes met Ms. Heinous indicated with a single finger for her to follow as she walked out of the room. They walked down the dreary purple and gray halls the silence only broken by the loud clacking of heels.

Solstice followed Ms. Heinous to the door of her dark purple office  she watched as Ms. Heinous walked in but she paused for a moment. She knew what awaited her on the other side of that door and she wasn't entirely certain she was willing to give up this prison for what she believed to be another. She took a deep breath in and followed Ms. Heinous through the door.

Solstice was immediately met with Queen Moon and King River. She gasped even though she knew that they were going to be there and ran forward to hug them with tears in her eyes.
"Mom! Dad!" She exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around them not caring about any of the ridiculous princess codes. Ms. Heinous cleared her throat interrupting the moment and looking at Solstice in complete and utter disapproval. Moon looked at her daughter lovingly.

"Why don't you go and pack up your things while we handle the paperwork?" Solstice nodded wiping at her now slightly smudged eye liner as she turned to walk out of the office.

Solstice sat in the lightly colored carriage her hands folded in her lap as she waited patiently for the carriage to arrive at the castle. She smiled pleasantly trying to remember the rules that she could apply to this situation. Her mother and father on the other hand looked at her in obvious worry and concern.  Queen Moon opened her mouth to voice her concerns only for the carriage to come to an abrupt stop causing Princess Solstice to fly forward onto her parent's seat. She looked up at her mother and father noticing how her crown landed perfectly on her father's head causing the normally very sturdy looking man to appear rather dainty. Queen Moon looked over at her husband and bit her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing Solstice did the same thing but when the two's eyes met they both dissolved into a fit of giggles. Queen Moon straightened up clearing her throat as she looked forward to the front of the cart.
"Oh we're here." She announced sounding slightly embarrassed suddenly the door opened causing everybody in the cart to turn their attention to Manfrid who was standing in the open door. Solstice cleared her throat righting herself and quickly standing to her feet walking out of the carriage gracefully. She walked towards the palace doors with authority and class. She smiled politely at all she passed without making eye contact. The moment she walked through the door she was surrounded by the cheers of all the people who worked in the castle. She smiled at them all gleefully hugging the people closest to her in excitement princess protocol completely forgotten. The royal guards that used to watch her when she was young, the chef's that taught her how to cook. The servants that taught her which fork was which and what to do with each meal course, they were all there. She looked up at the loud crashing noises only to see Wrathmeleaor reaching down to hug her. She let out a small giggle as the Queen laid out a big red hand for her to climb on top of. Solstice greeted her with a small curtsy before climbing on her hand. She sat quickly while clutching on to the demon queens thumb so as to avoid falling off. The Queen raised her hand up to her face to make it possible to see the young princess she had tears of lava in all three eyes.  She made a series of loud roars causing Solstice to giggle again.

"Yeah, I missed you too." She said while hugging the thumb tighter. Not for safety precautions but for the satisfaction of feeling safe. Suddenly Wrathmeleaor pulled away setting her down gently on her feet, causing her to reach up and straighten her crown. She heard someone clear their throat directly in front of her. Solstice glanced up suddenly, the moment the two's eyes locked Solstices narrowed dangerously. His widened awkwardly.

"Hey Solstice, long time no see." He joked in discomfort, she glowered at the boy hating everything, from his short brown hair, to his bright red skin. She turned away from him clearly not wanting to talk. Queen Moon looked at her daughter then at Marcus before clearing her throat to get Solstice's attention. Solstice glanced at her mother with an eyebrow raised and her mother looked at her pointedly glancing in the direction of Marcus. Solstice cleared her throat using what she had learned at St. Olga's to attempt to be as civil as possible.

"Yes, it has been a rather long time hasn't it Marcus?" She uttered through clenched teeth she was so close to grinding them down that it was almost painful to watch. Marcus chuckled nervously and handed her a box with a small velvet bow wrapped around it. She glared at it before cautiously pulling on the bow untying it. She opened it slowly the small box clicking demandingly at her. Everybody around the two strained to see what it was he had gotten her. Everybody watched as her face quickly changed from awe, to slight confusion to pure and unadulturated hatred. Queen Moon cleared her throat again causing Solstice to look up at her mother. Moon was frantically gesturing for Solstice to smile so the teenager smiled and gently pulled out the red and black ring placing it on her finger gently.

"I hate him!" Solstice declared to her sister through the mirror phone. "I hate him with a mighty passion. I sincerely hopes he gets trampled by a warnicorn!" Solstice bit her lip as Star locked eyes on something behind her sister. "What?" Solstice asked rudely unaware of what her sister was looking at when a voice piped up from behind her.

"Well, at least now I know how you feel about me." A voice said softly from behind her. Solstice closed her eyes, her teeth clenching down on her bottom lip. She whipped around, the ring that symbolized his courting her heavy on her ring finger. She sighed pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes.

"Look, Marcus. I-" she started sounding tired before he held up his hand silencing her explanation. He dropped his hand down defeatedly turning his head away bitterly keeping his eyes shut tight. Solstice's face softened as she saw red hot tears spilling down his face. She took a ginger step forward and grabbed his warm hand in hers, only for him to yank his hand away causing the warmth to leave her immediately and angrily storm out. The sounds of his footsteps echoed down the hall. Star looked between the door and Solstice listening to Marcus's footsteps to die out.

"Well, that could have probably gone better."