Taming the wild rose

Chapter Two

"Oh, Maya! It's you? She'll be on her way. I'll make sure of that." Maison said to the maid whose cheeks flushed red and left as quickly as she had appeared. The maid is also a childhood acquaintance of their's; her mother was a maid in the palace when they were young, so she also grew up in the palace. When her mother passed, she had nowhere else to go, so she stayed as a volunteer maid in the palace. " You and Maya? What was all that about?" Ciara asked, smiling teasingly, when Maya was out of sight. "What was what?" He asked, confused. "She was tomato-red Maison." She pointed out. "So, what are you suggesting? Don't change the topic. Forget her, Lily. I need to get you to the ready to go to the ballroom right now! Mia told me how you gave her a hard time getting you ready when I went to your chamber before I came here."

"Mia is such a tattletale. I'm not going anywhere!" She announced and folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. "Yes, you are." With that, he reached for her arm and held onto it. "I can't believe you want to get me married like Father. Arrgh! You're so annoying! But you can't make me, you know?!" She shook her head, resisting. "Would you rather marry me? You have to get married if you want to get rid of me. I, for one, don't have a problem with that, but I think you would since I'm so annoying." He smiled and winked playfully, then proceeded to pull her out of the garden with her resisting still.

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Minutes later, the king and Queen, Ciara's brothers, Maison, and her suitor, together with his parents, were all gathered in the large ballroom. All was present, well, all except Ciara. The kings were discussing trade relations, the queens were chatting while the others engaged in random discussions. Meanwhile, Ciara's suitor was watching the flight of stairs impatiently, not looking away for a second, for he had been informed by the kind gentleman, Maison Or so they called him, who was now discussing with Daniel, Ciara's eldest brother, that she was going to descend from them.

The suitor is a man of average height and study build with ginger hair and a large-protruding nose you couldn't possibly miss. His face has an indefinite shape that's difficult to describe. He started to walk to where his father and Ciara's sat discussing, glancing back to the stairs at short intervals. "If we were to merge the trade routes, it would lead to more lucrative trade opportunities for the kingdoms around, but King Simon refuses."King Simon is known to be quite shrewd in business. He wouldn't do such a thing." He heard Ciara's father say, and his father reply as he approached them.

"Excuse me, pardon my interruption, your Highnesss, but I have been waiting for Princess Ciara for a while now, but I haven't gotten a whiff of her since we arrived. Might I know the cause for the delay? I could be of help." He offered and glanced back at the stairs once more. Don't be impatient, my dear boy. She's like that sometimes, you should get used to it. She'd be down very soon." Ciara's father said before letting out a light laugh.

True to the king's word, the princess did come down just moments later. She had a small entourage of maids escorting her. The ballroom fell silent as her presence was perceived. The suitor, who had been longing to see Ciara, who is famous for her beauty and intelligence, could finally behold *the wild rose of Grantel*. She looked as exquisite as they had described her. Only, their description didn't quite do justice to how beautiful she really is.

Her long hair was styled in a textured, braided side bun with flowers, that matched the color of her ballgown, neatly embedded in it. The tail of her ballgown was held up by some of the maids who made up the entourage that followed behind her closely. She walked gracefully, taking her steps carefully to where the kings stood and bowed courteously as her arrival was announced and the maids dispersed. "Princess Ciara Lilian Hareton of Grantel!"

She rose slowly and smiled widely, a smile only Maison could identify as fake. "Here she is, the one you've been expecting. My daughter, Ciara." The suitor's father held out his hand, and in turn, she placed her slender hand in his large palm, bowing again as he kissed her hand. "Well, I must say Charles, she is as beautiful as I was told. The only problem is that they didn't mention that it was to this breathtaking extent!"