Messenger

Chapter 2

 "Flower! Wake up!" A voice called to the once sleeping form.

Flower stretched out and glared at the women. "What's going on?" She asked wiping crusted bits from her eyes.

"We've already let you oversleep. Time to get up." The lady grabbed the wooly blanket off of Flower much to her annoyance. What was basically being said was time to start another day of nothing.

"So, Maika, there's no real reason for me to be conscious." Flower stated sounding like a mix of tired and deadpan.

Maika sighed. "You need to get ready and start your schoolwork. That's reason enough."

Yeah, there's no escaping this. Maika grabbed a light blue gown with ghostly ruffles on the hem and sleeves from Flower's wardrobe, it being one of the high-end ones that she despised wearing. That could only mean one thing. "Is there a council meeting today?"

"Umm...yes. One of your parent's messengers will be bringing an update this afternoon and we'll need to discuss future actions." Maika informed, regrettable. Flower could not stand those meetings. She couldn't actually do anything, but look nice and watch as no one listens to her. They probably only had her there as a formality.

"Fun. Now may I get dressed?"

"Of course. I'll get the skirt." The adviser went to the door and turned back to the slightly salty princess. "Hang in there."

No other way, Flower thought as she forced herself out of bed and into her whalebone corset that was molded to her shape after (in her opinion) too much use under layers of fabric. Getting ready for these meetings took almost as long as the meeting itself and it was purely for vanity. Well technically it's for getting other people to "respect" Flower's status, but they would hardly treat her as an equal anyways. They just saw her as a little princess sitting in on the grown-ups, so why bother?

"Still being broody about this stuff?" Maika questioned as she slipped back in.

Flower slumped down. "I'm not being broody, just frustrated."

"Same difference. I know that these meetings are difficult, but it's for the sake of our people." Maika reassured. She probably knew the most about Flower's issue being her one of her basically stand-in parents for the time being, but she had a tendency to block out one of the most important details in this whole ordeal; the people hated her.

They haven't seen her in so long and they didn't like it. Everyone felt like the "royals" had abandoned them and Flower couldn't help but agree, but there's still nothing she could do about it. Apparently, it's too dangerous. Ok, maybe she was being a bit broody.

"The court would not be happy if you weren't in attendance today." Maika noted setting out an underframe of Flower's skirt.

Flower rolled her eyes. "I think they'd prefer it that way."

"I'm not talking about what they'd prefer. I'm referring to how they'd feel."

"Good point."

Time for dress hell. Whoever thought that huge dresses should be a staple of classiness is the bane of Flower's existence. Seriously, how does anyone move in these things? "I don't know what's more dangerous, the mad public or me using this skirt as a weapon by complete accident."

"I think it's an even match." Maika stepped back from the now draped fabric and turned her eyes to the tallish girl temples. Flower could practically feel her eyes probing her little personal rebellion. "Are you sure about the hair?"

"Yes. Completely." Flower had cut her hair into a short pixie style after a council meeting that ended in a particularly insufferable noble undermining her input based on her appearance. To say the least, it was degrading. And well, one thing led to another and Flower was down a lot of hair and up one horrified adviser. Maika tried to convince her to use a wig, but they both knew that that wouldn't happen.

"Fine. At least try the veil. It wouldn't kill you to try cleaning up for this."

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Flower took a delicate hair cover from her nightstand embroidered with a petal ridden pattern and pinned it behind the front fringe of her hair. "Better?"

Maika sighed with an exasperated smile. "As best as we'll get. Come on, you probably want breakfast before all of this."

"You're right about that."

The palace was already wide awake as the two ladies made their way to the elaborate dining hall. Messengers dashed along the corridors and guards were returning from a night shift in a buzz of activity that made the place feel all the more alive. Though Flower would never admit it, she did love it here. The bold arches and detailed woodwork that would intimidate most felt like home. And of course, the people were the most important part. Without her parents, these people were Flower's family.

"Have you seen Yohio today?" Flower asked knowing that he would around here somewhere. He was never far from the white and pink-haired noble much to Flower's amusement and Maika slight embarrassment.

"He's probably doing his own important preparations. Remember, we have to suffer with you." Maika commented.

"I think Yohio has the most suffrage."

"Most likely."

Yohio couldn't stand these proceedings almost as much as Flower and they have a number of inside jokes to show for it. It was simply too much time to have to pretend to be serious. The lords had no sense of humor.

Speaking of humor, Flower could spot a bright blond boy about the same height as her carrying his squire's sword carelessly through the hall. "Len, I doubt that there's going to be an evasion during breakfast."

Len playfully glared at Flower in response. "I doubt that there's going to be a royal ball at breakfast, but here we are."

"Very funny."

"I know. I'm hilarious." Len smirked. "Let me guess, meeting day?"

"Clearly. It's not like I'm wearing all this for kicks." Flower remarked following Maika into the kitchen.

The apprentice shrugged. "I know that much. You're lucky to be in there regardless of the dress code. Sir Dex would never let me sit in even though I have great tactical ideas."

"Good luck with getting these people to listen to those ideas."

"It'd just be nice to be included." Len said wistfully. He's wanted to be a knight since he could talk and getting sent to a council and strategy meeting would be a big step forward for him.

"Speak for yourself." A tall man stated. Figures Yohio would be here doing his very important preparations. "Those guys wouldn't really appreciate your...ummm...charm."

"If that's what you want to call it." Flower teased.

"I'm plenty charming."

Yohio and Flower shared a look knowing how far that's got the banana child. "Hardly matters in this case. If fast-talking could work here, Flower would have been terrorizing the nearest town long ago."

Flower couldn't help but think back to how long it's been since she been off of the palace ground. Way too long in her humble opinion. "Too soon, bud."

"Ehm..." The group turned their heads to Maika reminding them that amongst the banter, she was still there. "I hate to interrupt, but the meet starts sooner than you think, and being late would not look good."

Yohio stood up to match his co-worker. "You know, there are times when I hate you being right."

"You and me both."

It's a freaking miracle! I wrote dialogue without it being interrupted every other line! In all seriousness, I have been wanting to work on my dialogue skills, so this was nice and nerve-racking. 

-TheLavenderNarwhal