Betrothed

Chapter Fourteen: Her Ladies' Special Skills

"Don't worry," Ethlyn chimed, "In another four to six weeks your hair will have grown out enough that we can curl or braid it. You just wait and see." Audrianna didn't care about what her hair would look like in four to six weeks. She just hoped that her hair would be fully grown out again within the next six years.

The princess was helped into bed, while Rozelle, Castalia, and Ethlyn laid down on their sleeping mats, and the room grew quiet again. Audrianna quickly fell into a sound sleep. It had been quite an eventful day. More than just a full daily schedule. She had enjoyed the countryside outside the walls of the castle, discovered a severed head, been privy to an executive meeting in the royal court, spanked by the prince, jumped out the bedroom window, hung from a tree by her hair, and had her hair chopped off. Yes, it had been quite an eventful day.

However, a little over an hour into the night, the princess was again startled by familiar sounds. It was that creepy sound of a person moaning somewhere in the castle. Audrianna was frightened all over again. She rolled onto the floor with a THUD, and slid underneath the bed. Rather than wake one of the Ladies, she decided to listen carefully to the sounds.

It didn't come at regular intervals, which meant there was no way to predict when the moaning would happen. But each time the sound appeared, she listened intently to figure out if it was a person, or an animal, or perhaps a bird. Each time Audrianna heard the noise, she couldn't imagine anything else but a person moaning in pain. There had to be someone in the castle either being tortured, or hurting from an ailment. She considered investigating to see where the moaning was originating. But she was so tired from her long day, and frightened of what—or who—she might discover. She decided to go back to sleep, but not in her bed. She once again pulled her comforter off the bed, and wrapped herself in it—under her bed, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Audrianna informed the Ladies that she had heard the noises again. The Ladies were weary from the drama the day before so they paid her no mind. They hoped that this day would be more of a regular schedule. The first week watching over the newly crowned princess was quite an extraordinary experience. Nothing like what they were expecting.

This time, the princess was dressed for breakfast thirty minutes early, even before the king and prince had arrived. This was an amazing feat, since the three Ladies had to spend extra time grooming Audrianna's hair to make it presentable.

There, the princess sat, hands in her lap, shoulders straight against the back of her chair, and dress neatly draped over her lap and chair. The sides of her head were braided tightly against her scalp, and the top of her head was combed over and began to slightly rise from its place. But the princess chose to sit as proper as she knew how, and pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary regarding her appearance. And if anyone mentioned her hair, such as the prince, she would simply ignore the comment as if it was never said. She was the crowned princess. That meant something.

The king joined Audrianna for breakfast, but the prince was nowhere to be found. They both started eating without him. The king told her that he probably would be a bit sparse in appearance. There were already whisperings in the castle about how the prince had chopped off the princess's beautiful hair and how upset many of the women were. To many a man, short hair is not a big deal. But to a woman, her hair is her glory! To hack off a woman's hair was equal to cutting off her nose. And, to hear how wretched the princess's hair looked, made many of the men angry as well. It was as if the prince desecrated a portrait of his own mother, Queen Luella—the Beloved.

"Well," Audrianna responded, "I can't say that I feel any pity for the prince, under the circumstances."

"If you would like," the king offered, "I can commission one of my wig makers to fashion a wig that looks exactly like your hair before the tree incident."