LUNARIS

Chapter 7

"Clementine, wake up." said the sweet, gentle voice of my mother. I opened my eyes to see her youthful face, with a concerning look. She sighed when she saw me completely awake. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice soft and friendly. 

          "Huh? Why are you asking me that?"

          "I-I didn't... Did you attend the dance last night?" 

          "Um..." I stopped to think for a while. I had plenty of excuses to say, or at least that's what I thought. "Mum... I feel a little bit sick." I said, making my voice sound tired and weak.

          "I see... Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. I narrowed my eyes at her, hoping she would understand just by looking at my eyes. "Oh right..." She said, putting her left hand on her mouth. "Alastair was worried, you know?"

         "If he was worried, why didn't he come to check on me?" I asked. My mother looked away. 

          "He... He had to meet with the other princesses, of course." She said. Mum... He clearly doesn't care about me as a person... I thought. "Today's the day, Clementine. Dress up properly." She said, changing the theme. 

          "Mum... Can't you see how terrible I look? I have no energy. I just want to rest. I need to rest." I said as an argument. She looked down at me, she was thinking of an argument. "Please mum... I have to rest. Even though I haven't seen myself in a mirror, I bet I looked terribly tired.

          "No." She said. Not even with my sorrowful eyes and my painful look I could convince her. There was no plan B. I sighed, accepting my fate, it seemed my mother brightened up after noticing I wouldn't argue with her longer. She chose my dress, which was a grey and black dress. 

~

I finally got ready, not only to look pretty but to face whatever would happen next. I panicked, I didn't know what to do, in the hallway there was no one around me, the echoes of my footsteps bounced on the walls, making an almost deafining sound, it seemed the mirrors would break in any second. My hands were sweating terribly once I noticed I was close to the castle's gathering room. Once I was in front of the door, I was beginning to imagine possible things that could happen in the gathering, even though all of those thoughts were negative to me. I blinked rapidly, waiting for the floor to swallow me and make me disappear forever. There are not many chances I might get chosen... I thought and smiled to myself, Only those things happen in the books I've read... I added determined to open the door in front of me, that would lead to the gathering room. I opened the door, I wasn't the last one, but there were unfamiliar faces, all of them turned to see me. Alastair was there, sitting between an armored man (who I supposed was his personal guard) and a lady who I hadn't met yet. The gathering room was oddly pretty, it was a round room with crimson colored walls. 

       "Ah, Clementine Snowmelt." Said Alastair, standing up from his chair. I gave him a long stare as he approached to me, he took my hand and kissed it. I tried to hide my disgust. I never got used to that habit. "Please take a seat, anywhere you want." He said. He turned around and went back to his seat, and I looked for a proper place far away from people (because I'm an introvert when it comes to me making a first move in any type of relationship). I found a place with no people around, sat down and looked down at my hands, waiting for the meeting to be over even though it hadn't even started yet. The people around began gossiping, while I kept my head lowered, overthinking and hoping that time would pass quick like when I'm having a good time. The door began opening and closing until all the seats were officially occupied. I didn't even dare to look at the people beside me. I decided to pay attention this time.

          "Everyone, welcome and thank you for coming." Alastair said in a welcoming voice. "You may remember, yesterday was the dance, where I would get to meet every lady I invited to Westview. I'll admit, that I spent a wonderful time with them. Allow me to introduce them." He went on. "Isabel Addington, from Highburn." he said. A female with a orange dress waved to everyone. She had bare skin, long, golden-brown hair and hazel eyes, I calculated her an age of 25. After waving, she nodded to Alastair, who nodded back. 

          The clod knows who to pick... I told myself narrowing discretely my eyes. "Gabrielle Lancaster from Scarwood." A female stood up from her seat. I widened my eyes, it was either a kid or a grown woman who hadn't got through puberty yet. The 'girl' had honey blonde hair, light brown eyes and pale skin (not as pale as mine though). She was wearing a peach colored dress with white. She sat down with a face of discomfort trying to pretend happiness. If that's how you are truly feeling, then I understand why... I thought while I stared at her. "Clementine Snowmelt from Dawnsbury." I got a short period of shock when I heard my name, and forced myself to stand up.

          Ok... Now smile... No, let him know you're not a little, harmless princess... I stood up and tried to make a serious, intimidating face. Everyone stared at me, then I sat down again. "Charlotte Copeland, from Oulimore Itraya." Alastair said, he turned his gaze to a red haired woman, with pink skin with freckles and incredibly dark brown eyes, she was wearing a seagreen dress. She reused to stand up or wave, she just looked around with a smile on her face. 

          "And last but not least, Helena Bradford from Ipomoea." Alastair said. A woman with an average age of 18 stood up from her seat, she waved and smiled weakly. She had black hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a light pink dress with flower patterns. It was funny how everyone was wearing bright and happy colored dresses while I... Was wearing a gray and black dress. Everyone began clapping and smiling, I was the only one with a straight face. I turned my gaze to Alastair, who looked back. I gave him a challenging look, he reacted slightly angered to that, and I was happy about that. 

          Alastair began saying stuff about the dance... How fun, lovely and charming dance, how he loved to dance with every heiress. He mentioned dancing with me even though I wasn't truly there. I just kept pretending to listen to the whole thing until the important part came. "All of this told, I want to choose my..." He searched for his word, but never actually ended the sentence. "Um... E-Every single one of you are great women." He said. I turned to Gabrielle, Of course, if you didn't mistook her... I thought. "Please stand up, ladies." Alastair said. Everyone of use stood up. My heart was beating, it was feeling like a stab straight on the heart. "I choose..." 

          Just say it! Stop wasting your-

          "Clementine Snowmelt."