She slowly, walked down the stairs, hating every step she took.
"If your thoughts are going to be sour, at least close your mind, I don't need the family hearing how much you hate everything!" Her mother snapped, in front of her with a wave of her hand.
Jasannah sighed heavily, blocking her thoughts and walked into the foyer with a very large smile.If she was forced to be here, might as well as fake it. Her second cousin was the first to approach her and attached to his hip, was his new flavor of the week. She held back a very annoyed sigh.
"Jasannah, it's been too long." He said with a wide smile, which she never understood how women could find that charming in any way.
"This is Simone."
The woman standing beside him was gorgeous. She had beautiful glowing mocha skin, long raven black hair that reached her hips, and copper eyes which glittered under the lights. He was completely unworthy of her but, Jas bit her tongue on that subject.
"Your Highness." She said, her eyes lowered and looked, almost proud of herself, like she thought Jas' cousin was gonna be her catch but, Jas knew better and smirked, with amusement until she saw her mother give her a cold glare which she then covered it up with a smile.
Simone curtsied and gave her an uncomfortable amount of eye contact, refusing to look away. Jas half smiled at them both.
"Emmanuel, it's always nice to see you; and it's wonderful to meet you Simone." She said, with another smile.
"Would you like to see how the ballroom has turned out for your party?" He asked, eager to show her.
She nodded with another fake smile. He turned on his heel and she followed behind them. They approached those large wooden gold doors and he waved his hand to guard who bowed to them as he rushed to have the doors open. The ballroom was absolutely stunning. Deep emerald velvet and gold trimmings, along the walls and matching table cloths. The cups, plates, and silverware were pure gold with rubies and emeralds embedded on the cups and plates. The chairs were a beautiful deep dark blue with gold and the carpets were the same color, only aligned with a gorgeous golden color. The bouquets were not real flowers but rather made of actual crystals, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. The crystals that lite up the room with a hue of varies colors instead of ordinary lights and chandeliers.
Emmanuel rattled on and on about who did what and how perfect everything looked but, all she could think about is her forced marriage. Her life was being given away to a man she barely knew, she sighed heavily, filled with a terrible sadness and even more bitterness.
"What are you going to wear?" Emmanuel asked and Jasannah snapped out of her thoughts, looking over at him.
"Um... I don't know." She said shyly.
"You don't know?! Your party's tonight, you were supposed to have it made weeks ago!" He chastised.
Jasannah let out an annoyed sigh, that she had been holding in, and walked away. She wandered down the halls, glad to be away from the party and it's annoying inhabitants. She took turns, left, and right, weaving her way around the castle in way where they, hopefully, wouldn't find her anytime soon. As she walked up the spiral staircase, she stumbled upon a strangely familiar part of the castle. She pushed open a large old wooden door craved with a familiar symbol which had looked worn out after many years and the door creaked open, nearly dropping about a good bit of dust. She coughed as the dust hit the floor, blowing up a cloud of it into the air.
'Geez, how long has it been since someone has been up here to clean this mess?' She wondered.
She walked into an even older study and with every step she tried to avoid the piles of scrolls which looked ancient because no one had bothered to take care of them, to place them on the shelves instead of letting them lay around. She walked towards a very large desk, running her finger along the surface, looking at her finger and blowing the dust off, causing her to sneeze.
She turned and saw a large painting hanging above the bookshelf. The painting was of her mother, her younger self and her late father. She was a child no older than 3. It had been 2 centuries since her father was killed, the memories still ran fresh in her mind. She'd never seen so much blood spilled. Tears ran down her cheeks as the memory came back to her mind. She wiped her tears and wandered around the old room. She came across a wardrobe with a spiral pattern on the door and looked at spiral curiously letting her hands flow on the pattern, feeling every inch and not caring if her hands got covered with dust.
She pulled the door which refused to budge for a good moment and she had to yank it open, nearly falling in the process. The wardrobe was lined with fine suits and beautiful dresses. She wiped her hands on her dress, before touching the fabric of the dresses and suits before her. She spotted a gorgeous dark grey with a silver velvet bodice, sheer sleeves and small flower embroidements, out of the corner of her eye. It was absolutely perfect and she was almost afraid to touch it, for the dress looked so fragile and she didn't want to dirty it.
"Jasannah..." A voice whispered, echoing among the room.
Her heart began to race as she looked around frantically. She saw a large dark figure with piercing blue eyes standing, over by the bookshelf. She watched the figure closely; something about those eyes... She blinked and the figure was right in front of her. It reached out and touched the side of her face. The touch sent a deep chill through her body. She froze and opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out.
"FIND ME!!" The Figure shouted, which caused Jasannah to flinch.
She managed to find her voice and yelled in return. "Who are you!?!?!"
The figure leaned in close with a smile and whispered, "Your True King."
She looked into those icy blue eyes and her breath caught in her throat, unable to move or look away. She heard the loud pounding of the King's Guard getting closer, they must have heard her shout. She blinked and the figure was gone. She looked around but he was nowhere to be found. The Guards all piled into the room, crouched down, ready to defend the new Queen and nearly destroyed the door in the process
"Jasannah are you hurt" The leader asked, stepping forward with a bow.
"No, Adonis, I'm fine. I just scared myself." She said calmly, trying to not allow herself to show how shaken up, she truly was.
He examined her closely, before giving a quick nod. He allowed the other guards to escort her from the room and back to the main room for the party while he stayed back to examine the room. He walked back around the room and began to sense a familiar aura. He purred with delight, a sly smirk creeping onto his lips, his iris turning bright red and bowed.
"My Prince." He whispered, in delight
