"A speech?" Rae groaned, rolling over in her all too plush bed (surprisingly, no matter how soft it was, the new problems she faced never seemed to melt away in it like she did after a long day), "They want me to make a speech? In front of everyone? And an entire presentation — with a visual aid?" A sardonic laugh left her mouth as she tossed the paper she'd been reading from to the side in annoyance. "Yes. Absolutely no pressure there at all."
Screwing her face up tightly, she promptly rolled over once more, put her head inside her pillow, and screamed. Would they expect her to wear a dress? Of course they would. The matter of whether she would comply with that was yet to be determined, but seeing as there was no getting out of this task, the back corners of her mind were already gearing up for work.
She didn't mind rolling up her sleeves and throwing herself into a project, but projects like this made her miss home more than ever. She had plenty of problems back there too, but at least she was free to do what she wanted when she had the time for it. She was free to wear as many pairs of pants as she liked, to swim in the lake at night, to cover herself in paints and ink without a single care in the world. Here, she played by they rules. And yet, did she really? Heading into the opening ball with a dress she'd painted herself and her boots showing proudly underneath them hadn't been proper whatsoever, and she'd done it without hesitation. Rae began to realize that she could twist this to fit her too. It was supposed to be a reflection of what she could do, right? Well, if they wanted to see all of her so bad, she was going to give it to them. Rae shot up, scrabbling for her sketchbook and a pencil. The speech would be the hardest part to compose, so she didn't start there. Her fingers swirled across the page, filling it up rapidly with bare-bones designs she wished to implement into her presentation. Now that she had an idea to work with, most of what she wanted would flow easily. She could worry about her words later. Right now, the only thing she wanted to think about was whether the royal family was ready for this.
—
Rae oversaw every last detail when it came to putting her presentation together. Everything, from the most mundane queries to questions of the highest complications crossed her ears, and she answered them as best she could. If they wanted her to throw herself into this project, she threw hard. She worked nearly tirelessly, reminding herself to eat and sleep by placing notes all around her room, workspace, and occasionally inking them onto her hands and arms.
When the day finally arrived, not a petal was out of place. Instead of succumbing to the propriety of the palace, with its endless rules and regulations, Rae brought her culture to the forefront instead. So off to the forest they all went, trekking into a woodsy wonderland. Due to her love for candles, Rae instructed that they light the main table. She found little dishes to put onto the large covering of branches the dinner table sat underneath, and lit candles there too. The lamps hanging from branches nearby assisted as well — they were organized into a large circle. The lighting was one of the last details she'd put in. While eating by the light of the moon had its appeals, she also had a presentation to give. She'd constructed a little podium with flowers and a gorgeous red fabric draped across it to make it appear more professional but still connected to her as a person.
For the food, she opted for dishes from her home. She actually cooked some of it herself, because if she truly would've been there, that's how it would've worked. There were special loaves of bread that had nuts and various dried fruits inside, as well as cuts of meat she'd hunted (although not this time, and they were cooked and seasoned to royal standards, naturally), and a sweet drink that likened itself to an enchanting red color that was typical for festive occasions. For dessert, cake. It was a large cake, decorated with the wildflowers she so often found growing around the forest she lived by.
