The Reformation Wars: Conflicts Rekindled

Chapter 10

Princess Kate slept peacefully that night in the comfort of her luxurious bed. Her restful slumber continued unbroken all the way to a few hours after the sun rose the next morning, and when she did sit up and blink her way into the new day, she let out a contented sigh at how refreshed she felt. Kate swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stretched her arms.

After sipping some water from an earthen cup on her bedside, Kate rummaged through her closet and rustled through her assortment of gowns. Normally, her selection would have been entirely random and barely thought through, but given her rendezvous at the Feliz manor that night, Kate felt today was a special one. Even though the dress she wore now wouldn't be the same as the one she donned there, she considered it important to start such a notable day correctly.

At long last, she picked a green gown and fussed with it until it draped over her body properly. Then Kate grabbed her handheld mirror and glanced at her face in its reflection. She tied her dark brown hair back into her customary bun, but once she'd finished, she found herself unsatisfied with the aesthetic. Kate's nimble fingers undid her previous work, and she set herself to making a simple braided ponytail running down her neck and upper back.

Because she'd been too stubborn to call a maid for assistance, Kate underwent several frustrating attempts before she finally achieved the hairstyle she sought. Then she squinted at the beauty products on her desk. Her father often insisted she was unbelievably beautiful even without makeup, so she usually didn't bother. But today was still a special day, and for all Kate knew, she could run into Andre once she stepped foot out of her room. She sat down at the desk and began her application.

Though Kate held herself to no strict schedule in the mornings, one constant was that she always ate breakfast an hour after rising. So when her stomach began grumbling at her, and she was still working away at touching up her eyeliner, she came to the astonished conclusion that she'd spent just about a whole hour on simply touching up her face, and all just over the possibility of running into Andre.

Kate sighed and hurried along the last touches on her eyelashes before stowing her beauty supplies away in a drawer and rising to her feet. After slipping on some green dress boots to match her dress and fastening their side buckles, she unlocked her door and stepped out.

As she made her way down the vacant corridor, Kate realized her father had most likely been forced to eat breakfast in solitude again due to her delay. The very first day after her return from Innutuk, she would have hoped to give him that time together, but supposed nothing could be done about it now.

A strand of hair suddenly tickled Kate's eyelash, and she blew it away in annoyance. She rolled her eyes at the fact that all her hard work to get her hair perfect had still failed to keep every tress in check. If nothing else, now she was absolutely certain that she would have to call on a hairdresser for tonight, because clearly she couldn't manage her own hair properly.

Finally, Kate came to an enormous open courtyard near the center of the castle, where a large section of the roof had been left open to allow sunlight to beam directly inside when midday arrived. As it was, the sun still shone at an angle, but given an hour or so, the prominent sculptures in the middle of the court would bask in its light fully.

Kate strolled past the circle of statues with her hands folded behind her back. Due to their massive size and superior artistry, the sculptures took decades to create, and that being so, each one had come to represent the reign of the Monteraynian king who had sat on the throne and commissioned them. Since very few monarchs lived long enough to add more than one entry to the collection, the one they did choose often proved to be a telling artifact of the man they had been.