Storm's stall was very friendly, and it had a gate that connected to her own pasture, which I decided to leave open. Once I had her settled in, I asked a gardener where the training field was and headed over. Much to my joy, it was completely empty, so I was able to train in peace.
As the sun began to set, I finally gave in and went into the castle. The hallways were long and decorated with the finest of things that I had never seen before. I ran my fingers through the edges of the paintings. I watched as even the household workers moved with a delicate elegance.
It seemed like the castle was unaffected by the troubles of the people and lived in a bubble of idle chatter and rumors. A life I never wanted to partake in. I'd rather live in poverty and be happy than rule in solitude.
A maidservant that seemed to be of my age approached me with a gentle expression. She smiled at me and said, "Miss, would you like for me to show you the way to your room?". I smiled back at her and nodded my head while responding, "Yes, but please call me Kate."
She leads me up the stairs, and I can't help but wonder what my mother had prepared for me. She doesn't know me very well me, so my room probably looks far from something that I would want. Alissa opens the door, and my assumptions are proven right by the lavish gold ornaments and many stools and makeup. She laughs at my expression, "It is a little over the top.", she continues to chuckle.
"Yeah, can we call for some male savant to come and take away some of this stuff?" I continue to look around and see my bag on the bed.
Alissa enters the room and starts to put some wood in the fireplace. "Of course, I'll go send someone to get them."
After only half an hour, all the decorations and drapes, as well as the five armchairs, were back in storage, and my room looked more like home. I took the bag of clothes that I had brought and opened the wardrobe only to find it filled with frilly dresses and evening gowns. I closed the hanging compartment and moved all the jewelry in the drawers bellow to only one. I used the space to store the clothes that I would actually be wearing. I also placed my sewing kit in there, already planning to change some of the gowns.
Feeling exhausted, I decided to take a small nap knowing that someone would be sent to wake me up for dinner.
Three hours later, I wake up to a knock on my door. The sun had set, and someone had entered my room to light up some candles while I slept. 'You may enter." At those words, Alissa comes in and immediately walks over to my wardrobe.
"I thought you could use some help getting dressed. It is your first dinner with the upperclassmen. Not everyone was able to see you when you arrived, and besides, you didn't really talk to anyone." I nod at her before standing up and joining her only to see her grimacing at the frilly dresses.
I laugh at her expression, understanding how horrible the gowns genuinely are. "How long until diner?" She stops looking at the dresses and turns to the clock next to my fireplace.
"In about two hours, they wanted to have a late dinner party for your arrival." She continues going through the dresses, trying to find something that won't make me look like a marshmallow. I see her stop at a midnight blue dress that has puff sleeves and a good five layers of fabric.
I immediately get an idea, "Alissa, is there a sowing kit somewhere in this room that you can use." She turns to me and grins, nodding her head. Then she enters the bathroom as I take out the blue dress, and she returns with a sewing kit and a pair of scissors.
After an hour and a half, we were able to fix the dress and get me ready for dinner. As I look in the mirror, I take some time to admire our handiwork. We had taken out the puff sleeves and left the top to be a simple long sleeve design that faded into lace. At the wrists, we put some fabric between my thumb and index finder simulating gloves.
We left the torsos corset alone except that we changed the fabric into black leather and the ties into silver chains. Flaring out of the corset was my skirt, and it was cut at the front to land mid-thigh, but as the fabric went towards the back, it grew longer until I had a tail that would drag on the ground. Along with that, the skirt also faded from a silk into lace. I wore some black leather pants underneath with my riding boots.
Alissa did a great job with my hair. It was all down in waves, and it shaded from my natural brown hair to blond and then to white. She put on my head a silver piece that clipped to my head on the sides of the chains, and it had small diamonds that hung off the main one and blended into my hair. At the front, a silver crystal hung off the chain, and it rested on my forehead.
She took out a matching necklace, but I denied it, clutching the silver pendant that hung around my neck. I stuffed it into my clothing so that it couldn't really be seen. I really did miss him...
I looked one last time in the mirror to make sure that no hair was out of place and then followed Alissa out the door.
YOU ARE READING
The Remembering
AcciónA princess raised in poverty for her 'safety' was called back to the palace to join the rest of her bloodline. Besides her annoyance of having to deal with nobles she is forced to watch her kingdom fall apart and she is forced to run away. As kingdo...
