The Hands of Fate

Chapter 7

She shook her head, heading to the other rooms and delivering the clothes before approaching Amara's guest room. A sickening thought filled her with despair as she realized that one day, Caspian would sleep in the same room as her. Farah felt like she was going to vomit. Why would a woman so cruel have to sleep with Caspian, the kindest man she'd ever met?

With a sigh, Farah walked into the Princess' room. There, she began to hang up the woman's clothing. As she opened her closet, her breath sucked into her chest. There sat so many items of clothing, Farah couldn't even count. Her mouth almost seemed to touch the ground as her eyes scanned the many elaborate dresses hanging in the closet. Farah barely had one outfit besides her maids uniform. It amazed her that someone could own so many pieces of clothing and complain about having nothing to wear. Her brow furrowed in disgust. There were people who would die for such dresses, and here the princess was, complaining she didn't even have 'anything to wear' yet she had a seemingly endless closet, filled with gowns.

Pushing her irritated thoughts aside, Farah finished. She headed outside from there, deciding to sit by the lake near the gazebo in peace. She brought a worn out sketchbook, holding its flimsy leather cover while she opened the thin pages. There, upon the weathered pages of the book sat sketches of so many dresses, Farah could've sworn they were from Amara's closet. She had found the old book one day when she was sorting novels in the library.

When she had first opened it, Farah had been breathless at the beauty the book contained. She had told the royals that it had fallen and that when she had found it she wanted to clear it by them to make sure it belonged in the royal library, where history books were found at their finest. The royals had looked at the book before shaking their heads, for she was right, the book didn't belong there. From then on, Farah had kept the book and looked over all of the intricate drawings, which were clearly made by someone who knew what they were doing.

She looked for clues, trying to find the creator—though it was to no avail—and had just decided to look at the beautiful drawings, admiring them. She could only imagine herself in one of them. Not just any one of them, no, but one in particular. A beautiful dress that emitted at the hips, swaying to the ground gracefully. It was strapless, with fabric that fell across the shoulders and created long sleeves.

Beautiful engravings of swirls and flowers danced across the chest and the bottom of the ballgown. The see through sleeves also held the markings. Although the dress had no color in certain, as the sketches weren't colored, Farah had made a marking of her own, taping one of her own papers to the flimsy ones of the book. It said only two words, Gold-White; but she understood. It meant that in her envisions the dress would be made a lovely gold color with ombre white markings.

Something touched Farah's shoulder, and she spun around, jumping out of her thoughts. There she saw Caspian. He gave her a smile, though she knew it was a fake one.

"What is it?" She immediately asked him. He looked at her, his attempt of a smile disappearing, making her heart ache. What was the matter with him? "Caspian?" She asked him softly.

Hearing her say his name made him smile slightly, reminding him that she was there to be supportive, but nothing could truly help Caspian's mood. "In the throne room, mother and father told me that the Kingdom will be holding a ball."

Farah's eyes lit up, and Caspian gave her a slight sigh. She probably hadn't been to a ball before, and didn't understand how regal, tedious and boring they were. "What's the problem with that?" Farah asked, laughing slightly.

"Farah, it's for Amara and mines engagement. The Kingdom doesn't know she's here yet, and this ball will seal our marriage." Farah's face dropped, making Caspian want to cup her head in his hand and hug her tightly.

"Oh," she said softly. Those very words made Caspian's heart break, he wanted to lighten the mood, but he didn't know how. He knew that he didn't love Amara, everything he tried couldn't get him to love her, especially seeing her yell at Farah. But Farah was someone totally different. She was profound. She appeared able to accomplish anything. He adored her, and wondered what it would be like if he didn't have to marry Amara, if he could choose his very own wife. As a child he had dreamed of the possibilities.

Being able to marry Farah, it seemed like a child's fantasy. Back then he didn't understand love. He'd suspected he would know by now, at age eighteen, but alas, he did not.

She smiled gently, "look on the bright side, Caspian, at least she's pretty." Farah said with a kind tone, not an inch of hate within her words. Caspian stared at her, blinking. How could she not despise Amara? She had just yelled at Farah a few minutes ago. "Oh, don't look at me like that," Farah batted the Prince's expression away with her hand.

At her movements, Caspian suddenly noticed the book she was holding. Figuring it would be best to change the topic, he pointed to the little journal asking, "What's that?" He flushed, hearing how he'd just asked like a child spotting something their mother was holding. He sounded like a curious two-year-old. Farah didn't seem to notice, as she looked down at the book that sat on her lap.

"This? It's just a sketchbook I found in the palace a while ago. Wanna see?" Farah said with a glorious smile, making Caspian grin also, scooting closer and looking over her shoulder down at the book. She opened to the front page and Caspian blinked at the beauty, even if it was just pencil on paper.

"Wow, those.... those are..... wow..."

"Agreed," Farah replied with a nod. She traced her finger over the drawing of the dress.

"Whose is this? Who made these?" Caspian asked Farah. She paused for a moment.

"I'm not very sure, I found it one day while cleaning the library. Your parents saw no use of it and let me keep it. It's a shame. This book is wonderful. Could you imagine wearing one of those dresses?" She said dreamily. Caspian paused.

"I would hope not, maybe I could picture you wearing one, though." Farah flushed lightly, closing the book, hearing someone from far away call her name. She stood quickly, giving Caspian an I'm sorry I have to go look before she left, saying nothing more. Before disappearing into the palace, however, she turned back to the Prince and gave a little wave of the hand, causing him to let out a laugh. With that she disappeared from sight, thus leaving Caspian to ponder his feelings towards his old, compassionate friend.