A Pearl Of Wisdom (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 9: Arrival

We drove through the whole day until it started getting dark. The other girls talked on and off through the ride and mostly just made small talk, but nothing interested me so I tuned them out. I tried to sleep and so did the other girls during the day. We were all glad for the chance to get out whenever we got a break. When we finally stopped for the night we stopped at an Inn for the night. As everyone was eager to get out of the carriage, the tall girl who became known to me as Celine stepped on my foot getting out. My ankle starting hurting more especially because it was swollen from sitting in the same position all day. I was the last to get off and I started limping again, but I don't think anyone really noticed. We all got to have a proper dinner and then were off to our rooms. Thankfully Holly and I got to share a bed and Celine wasn't placed in our room.

"Are you okay Anise, you have been limping?" asked Holly.

"Yeah, I hurt my ankle yesterday and so it is just taking a while for it to heal" I reply.

"Oh, well hopefully it will feel better because we still have 12 more hours before we get to the palace."

"Yeah hopefully it will go by faster than today!"

"I agree, I am not sure how much more chattering I can handle from that Celine girl! She is so full of herself."

"I know hopefully in the palace will be big enough we won't have to run into her too often."

"Hey do you anything about the prince? Do you think he is nice?"

"I do not really know anything? I didn't even know anything about the King?"

"I know, we lived so far away it was really hard to get any news, we only heard the King died 7 months after it happened" Holly says.

" I sure hope he will be kind and understanding and will be willing to send me home."

"Well I guess we will find out more tomorrow" Holly replies as she flips over in the bed.

We promptly fell asleep and woke up to knocking on our door. We all got ready, had breakfast and were off in the carriage again. I spent the rest of the ride chatting quietly to Holly on and off and tried to ignore Celine every chance I got. We would stop for rest breaks every once and a while. Finally we hit the province of Tyrian. That is where things became more interesting. When we got to larger cities they were such a mix of people. It was the first time I saw Tyrianian's with a purple glow and purple hair. They were so beautiful and different. There was also people mixing together.

It was also the first time I had seen people from Viridian who had green blood that shone through their skin giving them a green glow. They also had light green hair it almost like silver in some lights.I had heard that Viridianer's had two stomachs and were able to go on long journeys without having to eat often. I had heard of these things, but to see it was so exciting and exhilarating. I had even heard that it is very common around the large cities to have intermixing marriages, but there was never any different people where we lived. I guess from wherever the prince chooses his bride it will bring great honor to that province because the Royal line will include some of the blood from that province.

I overheard the girls saying that we did not have much of a chance of making it to be Queen because the honor will most likely go to the girls of Tyrian. I mean that would make sense to keep the royal line Tyrian. Of course we all will be given a chance or they wouldn't have chosen to bring girls from all over the country.

We finally arrive at the palace it is a beautiful establishment. We go in through the gates and we go down the main road to get to the palace. It was made of a beautiful marble stone. It it one of the biggest and most elaborate buildings I have seen. All of the girls in the carriage seemed to be in awe of the building and we are all pushed up against the window to see the palace. I can tell everyone is starting to feel excited and nervous  we all sit in silence and awe. When we are able to finally get out, we meet Jack who we all had met earlier as he was the one that chose us. He is the Cerulean royal adviser in charge of all the girls from Cerulean.

"Welcome girls to Tyrian. I am here to help you in any way that you need, but first off we are going to get you all settled in your rooms, so you can all follow me." We all followed him and we were too tired to argue or ask many questions. We just wanted to have a bath and get into bed. All of the girls were shown to there rooms and I was the last to get assigned.

"Here you go Anise, my pretty flower I saved the best for last" Jack says as he winks.

"Thanks I think?" I reply.

"If you need anything else then you can find me down this hallway and he points it out!" He says.

I go into my room and pull off my dusty clothes and see that my room has a bath in it. I am not sure if all the girls had the same, but I am so happy to see it. While taking my bath I notice that my foot is looking swollen again. I guess I will have to go find Jack and see if there is some medical help I can get. I get out of the bath and pull on my nightgown and a coat. I start walking in the direction that Jack had pointed to earlier. As I round the corner I walk into something hard and fall to the ground.

"What is this here?" I hear while something pulls me to my feet.

"Sorry, I was just looking for Jack" I reply.

"Well you sure are pretty" He says while pushing me against the wall.

"Please stop I just need to find someone!" I say as I feel my heartbeat beating rapidly.

"Oh you must be one of the new concubines!" He says almost sneering. I feel my hair stand on end.