Our Second World book three: Personal Truth

Chapter 15: Nephinae

I woke to the sound of a knock on the door.

"Miss Nephinae? I'm coming in."

I sat up as the door opened for a blonde girl in a maids outfit. She had bright green eyes, wolf ears, and tail.

"Good morning, miss Nephinae. Pardon my intrusion," the girl bowed to me," allow me to introduce myself. I am the one who was chosen to be your personal attendant for the duration of your stay here. My name is Saphielle Allyna. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Saphielle," I replied, climbing out of bed.

"There are a few things I have been tasked to accomplish with you today. This includes: acquiring formal attire for the ceremony and—would you like some assistance?" Saphielle suddenly paused as she noticed I was struggling to lace up the back of my dress due to pain in my shoulder. Without waiting for my answer, she walked over and swiftly laced it herself," now. As I was saying, after breakfast I shall escort you to town to make a purchase. Then, we shall have lunch, and after that is a scheduled practice of the ceremony. Once that is over, we have dinner scheduled for seven, and your schedule is free after that."

"Alright. Let's go to breakfast then."

After eating, Saphielle and I traveled to the city. It was about nine o'clock now and the streets were bustling.

Saphielle brought me to a shop with two large windows in the front. In the windows were a number of colorful dress displays. The inside of the shop was filled with more displays, and in the back was a small sewing area lined with shelves of colorful fabrics and threads.

"This shop specializes in young children's clothing, so these should fit you well," Saphielle said," take your pick of whichever one you'd like."

I took my time looking at all the options displayed in the store, but in the end, only one of the choices really caught my eye.

The rest of the day was spent going through the activities that Saphielle had listed earlier this morning. By the time dinner was over with, I was exhausted.

As I was getting ready for bed, I noticed the black package Riniya gave me sitting on the vanity. I suddenly remembered I hadn't opened it yet, and decided now would be as good a time as any to do so. I picked up the small parcel and moved it to my bed. As I pulled off the ribbon, the black cloth unfolded to reveal a stack of white inside.

The first item in the stack was a pair of wing shaped hairpins. Under those were tall white boots that laced up in the front, and had a short heel. I set them aside and picked up the next things: gloves. One was blue, and had the fingers cut off, while only going to my wrist. The other was mostly white, with a sparkly blue wave pattern at the top. It started at almost my shoulder, and ended on my hand, connected by a small silver ring to my middle finger. The last item in the pile was a short sleeved, shirt skirted dress. The top was white with sparkly blue wave patterns on it, and the skirt was blue. The belt had a teal colored extra bit of fabric that hung over the majority of the left side of the skirt, and there was also a white pair of shorts to go under the skirt.

"What's all this supposed to be?" I wondered.

My question was soon answered when I noticed a brown envelope that had fallen to the floor. I picked it up and turned it over. 'To Nephinae' was written on the front in curly handwriting I recognized as Azariahs'. I opened it to find a note and a necklace inside. The necklace held a smooth blue and teal stone hung from a thin silver chain. The colors reminded me of Azariahs scales, and I set the necklace aside to read the note.

— To my dearest Nephinae,
I hope you're doing well. Did you like our little gift? It's mage gear. Riniya and I spent a lot of time making it for you, so I hope you did. I hope you liked my gift as well. It took a while to search the lake for the perfect stone. May you think of me when you wear it.
Best of luck, Azariah—

I slipped the letter into my bag and folded up all the 'mage gear' before setting it on the vanity.

The morning of the coronation, Saphielle came to wake me up again around eight. After breakfast, she had me take a bath, much to my confusion, and then brought me to my room where two other maids were waiting. One had long brown hair, lime green eyes, cat ears, and a cat tail. The other girl had short black hair and blue eyes.

"We're here to help you get ready for the ceremony," said the blonde," I am Filauria, and this is Faunalyn."

"Pleasure to meet you," the black haired girl bowed.

"Now then, let's begin."

Filauria and Saphielle worked on getting my dress ready, while Faunalyn sat me down at the vanity to do my hair. She curled it, and pulled it up into a partial updo held in place by a golden pin with red beads hanging from it. Once she was done, Filauria helped me get into the dress. Lacing up the back while Saphielle straightened out the skirt. Once making a few more adjustments, the three girls walked me over to the hanging mirror so I could take a look at myself.

The dress I was wearing was a brilliant scarlet. It had short sleeves, and the bodice was covered in sparkles. The multi-layered skirt also had various beads sewn into it. A red ribbon wrapped around the waist and tied in a ribbon in the back to complete the look.

Once they were satisfied I looked as best I could, Filauria and Faunalyn left, and Saphielle walked me down to the throne room. We entered through the side door and I stood over by the others to the side near the thrones. There were a number of other people in the room who I assumed to be nobles from around the country here for the ceremony.

The female knight, Rose, and another man I didn't recognize stood in front of the thrones. Rose holding a red pillow with an ornate silver crown sitting on top.

Since the ceremony hadn't started yet, I took the opportunity to admire the others outfits.

Haren, August, and Silver were all wearing black overcoats, dress pants, and colored ties. Harens was red, August's was green, and Silver had yellow.

Sylviana's blue hair had been tied back with a silver hair pin and she wore a pastel yellow dress with long sleeves and a low cut back for her wings. Elviya's dress was a fern green with short sleeves and a thin layer of sequins on the skirt. Her hair had been put up in a neat bun and tied with a green ribbon to match her dress.

A hush fell over the room as a knight standing by the main doors loudly announced," Her highness, the first princess of Croanade: Elisia Vergana Croanade."

The doors opened, and Elise entered the throne room. She walked with poise and elegance befitting royalty as she slowly approached the thrones. A section of her short hair had been braided and decorated with a silver, rose shaped hairpin. She wore a sapphire blue dress that sparkled under the light every time she moved. Once a few feet from the throne, she stopped and the blond man standing next to Rose stepped forward.

"On this day, we crown a new queen. We do this under watch of the seven celestial goddesses, and pray that they give us their blessings. Deliver the oath."

Elise bowed," I swear in the name of the celestial goddesses: as queen I shall give my heart to the people, and my soul to the country. I shall rule with honor and fairness."

Rose stepped forward and offered the crown to the man. He lifted it and gently placed it on Elise's bowed head.

"All hail Queen Elisia." Said the man.

"All hail the Queen." The nobles chorused.

I didn't pay too much attention to the next ceremony. After following the others to kneel in front of the throne when Elise called us forward, I tuned out most of her speech. She seemed to be addressing the nobles more so than us, and I could feel another headache coming on.

After what felt like hours, the ceremony ended. There was a dance held at the castle later that night in celebration of the new queen. Though I didn't want to, I went to part of it since I knew Elise wanted me to, but I went straight to bed once the party was over.