It's been twenty years since the Ascension and Vin's final battle. The world of mistborn and skaa have moved on. Society has chosen a king to lead them, Spook, or the Lord Mistborn as they are now calling him. The remaining people of Scadrial hav...
I have no clue why Irish/Scottish tunes come to my head when writing these chapters, they just do. I blame my subconscious! I must naturally equate that music with princesses and daring escapes. XD Anywho! Feedback is always welcome, but most of all....enjoy!
Apondrea's eyes were heavy from sleep the next morning. Missy had come to wake her an hour after she'd finally made it to bed. She cursed her bad luck, she'd thought she'd be given more time to sleep ever since she'd suggested the princess hadn't been feeling well the previous evening. Apparently nobody cared if the beautiful, delicate, princess was unwell. She was the third of thirteen after all. If she suddenly fainted, another one would take her place. The people wouldn't know the difference.
"Good morning princess!" exclaimed a chipper maid servant.
The princess in question muttered something incoherent that could have been a string of unladylike expletives or just sleep ridden murmuring. The maid decided to take it as the latter, of course.
The maid, who's name Apondrea couldn't recall, opened the curtains to a pinkish-gray sky. "Sorry to wake you so early princess, but your mother wants to make sure your ready for your big day."
Her big day? What could this maid possibly-
Apondrea practically jumped out of bed. How could she have forgotten?! Today was....today was.....
A day she'd been dreading her entire lifetime.
She'd been trying to forget it was coming. Desperately praying to Harmony that some sort of conundrum or unexpected disaster would come upon them all but no.
It was here anyway.
Her Coming of Age Ceremony.
It was a tradition that had suddenly popped out of the post-Ascension culture. The old nobles of Luthadel had practiced something like it in the old days. The only thing that had changed was that now everyone, poor and rich alike celebrated a child's Coming of Age. The heads of the houses were just more.....extravagant about it.
Her father had tried to discourage this behavior, the nobles under the Lord Ruler had wasted so much gold on parties and scandals that none went to the common populace. But during the construction of Elendel, there had been an outcry for some sence of normalcy amongst the leaders. So the Lord Mistborn had been coerced to allow the nobility some leeway. Balls or parties could be held once a week by one house in a rotating order, a certain amount of money had to be set aside for the improvement of the common populace, and in times of war or great struggle the balls and parties would come to a halt. All the former nobles that had survived the Ascension hastily agreed, the others reluctantly.
But Apondrea was grateful for the weekly parties. They were great times to snoop and hear interesting gossip that could be useful. She didn't go every week of course, her father didn't regularly take any of them till their Coming of Age Ceremony had passed. The princess thought it was because he didn't want to have to keep track of all thirteen of them at once while still playing politics. Apondrea had been to a few parties, but not nearly as many as she'd liked.
But she'd been dreading her Ceremony, not because of the freedom it gave her as a full adult (definetly not because of that), but because today was all about her. Every eye was going to be on Princess Apondrea, third child of the Lord Mistborn. There would be no hiding among the plethora of siblings, no sneaking around, and definitely no retiring early for some unladylike carousing. No there would be guests to host, dances to dance, and suitors to be declined.
Apondrea definitely didn't like the sound of that last one. She had one older brother and five younger ones, but that didn't mean she was comfortable with their.....attentions. If you could call them that. Boys her age were so uncivilized!
There was a burst and a bang. "Apondrea! I swear if your not out of bed by now, I'll get a battalion of manor guards and drag you out!"
The princess rolled her eyes and turned to face her once soft spoken mother. She emphatically gestured to her feet on the cold floor. Her mother's green eyes sparked with surprise.
"You're actually out of bed?" Queen Beldre acted shocked. "I was sure I'd have to pry you out of bed today; lead you down the hall kicking and howling."
Her daughter sniffed, pretending to be offended. "It is my Coming of Age day mother. I'm an adult now."
Beldre scoffed. "That'll be the day, darling."
The queen then proceeded to help the maid pick out an outfit for Apondrea. Her mother wasn't a bossy person for a queen, but having thirteen children and a constantly preoccupied husband taught her to take charge of situations in her own way. She was the best sort of leader, one who got things done, while giving everyone else all the credit.
"That's perfect Kay." Her mother said. "Thank you for you're valuable input, I'll take it from here."
The maid left with a pleased flush to her face. Her mother always knew what to say to compliment someone. Apondrea wished she had such ease with words; grace, pose, and manners were second nature to her, but words were not. Apondrea just tried not to offend to many people in one night.
"Now child," Her mother's voice snapped her back to the present. "What are we going to do with you?"
A lot apparently. Within the next hour Apondrea's hair was washed, brushed and styled. Powder was dabbed on her face and her lips were outlined with a red cream. The oddest part about it was, her mother did it all. She'd never readied Apondrea, not since she was a child. Now here was her regal mother, fussing over her like a hen with her chick. Had her mother done this to her other siblings on their naming days? She decided not to ask. It would ruin the magic of the moment.
After that was finished, she turned to see a beautiful evergreen dress was now draped across her bed, it was truly breathtaking. She'd never seen it before today.
"Am I wearing that?" She whispered.
"Yes darling," Her mother suddenly seemed a bit sentimental. "You are."
Her mother helped her put the dress on. It had clearly been made for her, it fit her like nothing else in her closet did.
The gown had a heart shaped neckline and spiraled down over her toes and to the floor. But the sleeves....the sleeves were the best part. It was a silky white fabric with embroidered vines and flowers down the arms.
"It matches your eyes." Her mother's voice was thick. Was the queen of the Basin....crying? If she was, Beldre whipped the evidence away before her daughter could see.
She gazed at herself in the mirror. Well, at least she wouldn't have to worry about looking like a child.
"You look like a woman now," her mother said. "let's see if we can get you to act like one."
Her mother her ushered her out the door. After a few corridors she realized where they were going and her face turned white. They were going to the atrium to stand in front of the council of Elendel.
To stand in front of her father.
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This was as close as I could find to Apondrea's Ceremony dress. ^_^ Hope you like!
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