"What did you do?!" the driver demanded, grabbing you by the arm and yanking you out of the chair.
"Nothing!" you exclaimed, gasping in pain when he twisted your arm. Rather than stopping him , as you would have assumed, your lady in waiting instead assisted by grabbing your hair. You bit your tongue to prevent yourself from screaming, tasting blood in the process.
"You must have done something." she hissed.
"I swear, I didn't do anything, he said he heard something!" you choked out, tears springing to your eyes. You felt the bones in your arm bend dangerously at another twist, and you were certain you felt hair coming out.
"What did h
Eventually your chaperons awoke, then told the driver to stop near a small brook. While they were setting up the tables and chairs, you and Alastair watched the water together. It seemed odd to you to bring such elaborate furniture to a picnic, but you quickly realized there was no way you could sit on the ground in your dress. The process alone would probably send you rolling down one of the hills.
The mental image of you rolling like a barrel while everyone chased after you was so strange it sent you into a fit of giggles.
"What's the joke?" Alastair asked.
"Oh, um, n-nothing." you replied, trying to control yourself.
"Come on, share
As you walked to the dining hall, you could hear some sort of commotion coming from inside. When the door opened, you had to duck when something came hurtling towards your head. Whatever it was bounced off the wall behind you and went on its own little journey down the hallway. You lifted your head back up to look in, and found a strange scene.
Prince Alastair was standing on the table holding some kind of stick with a funny looking knob at the end, while below him Lords Francis and Timothy were standing back out of the way. All three were staring at you, frozen stiff at having been caught in the act. Piled at Alastairs feet were some f
You awoke the next morning to birds singing. You sat up with a big stretch, feeling refreshed and happy. Though you were done sleeping, the immensely comfortable bed called to you with its siren song. But old habits died hard, so you clambered out of bed and rushed to open the balcony doors again, relishing the feeling of morning sunlight. You looked over and grinned down at your stone guest.
"Good morning!" you bent over to greet her before carefully picking her up to share the view with her, which was no less stunning in the sun.
"Isn't it a beautiful day?" you asked, then set her back down on the table.
You began finger combing the
After dinner, you said your good nights and excused yourself. You had hoped that because everything had gone so well you would be able to just get changed and go to bed. But as soon as the bedroom door was closed, your hair was yanked by one of your ladies in waiting.
"Did you enjoy yourself tonight, you little slut?" she hissed into your ear.
"You're only marrying Prince Alastair, not half the kingdom." the other added as they roughly undressed you.
"What are you talking abo-ow!" you were cut off by another tug.
"Don't play coy, we saw you flirting with those noblemen. What's the matter? Isn't royalty good enough for you?"
"I swear,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, dinner is served."
Upon hearing that announcement, you made the mistake of turning too fast, causing you to feel light-headed. You wobbled dangerously, but managed to stay upright. You covered your eyes in an effort to stop the room spinning. Two sets of hands touched your arms, clearly intending to catch you should you fall.
"Mon Dieu, are you alright?" Lord Francis inquired from your left.
"Yes, I'm fine! Please, don't worry." you reassured him, blushing furiously.
'Stupid! Stop making a fool of yourself!' you mentally scolded.
"Maybe you should retire early for the evening." Lord Timothy suggested from your
Later, as you made your way to the banquet hall, you caught the delicious scent of food well before you even arrived. Your mouth began to water, and as you felt your stomach churn in anticipation, you realized this would be your biggest challenge yet. Food had often been in short supply even before your kidnapping, then afterwards it became just another way for them to torment you.
And now you would be faced with possibly more food than you'd ever seen in your entire life, and you would be expected to act like it was nothing new. Then you would have to eat slowly and daintily, no matter how badly you wanted to devour as much as you could
As your tour guide was explaining the different types of flowers surrounding you, as well as the history of the rose bush hedge maze, you felt more drawn to the water fountain. Some skilled craftsman had taken what looked like white marble and transformed it into a beautiful 'garden' of flowers, some of which you didn't recognize. Water burbled gently from the center of the highest one, trickling down the petals and leaves into the pool below. What really drew your attention were the delicate fairies dancing and playing among the plants, looking so realistic you expected them to come alive and start fluttering about on their snowy butterfl
Once you were finished crying, you used the pitch of water by your bedside to wash your face of all evidence. You waited for the red puffiness to go down before ringing the servants bell.
~~~mini time skip~~~
You had known the only ones assisting your bathing would be your ladies in waiting. After all, your bruises still hadn't fully healed, and they couldn't afford to let anyone else see them and get suspicious. Still, you had still hoped at least one of the maids would stay nearby within hearing range so the two old hags would be forced to remain on their best behavior.
"Stupid child. Did you think you could get away with that?" the