A Whole New World (2019 Watty Awards Entry)

Chapter Eight

PUBLISHED:JUNE 22ND 2019, WORD COUNT: 1,433 | CHAPTER SONG: FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND BY LEONA LEWIS

I WALKED AROUND the palace gardens aimlessly when I spotted Bella coming straight for me. She waved at me until I went over to her, she took my hand and led me back through the garden, the way we'd both came from.

"I want to show you you this before Adrian got back from his royal outing, call it a wedding gift." Bella says, she leads me up the stairs and down a different hallway than the one I was used to going down. We turn down another hallway, Bella leads me all the way to the end of the hall and opens the doors.

I saw a white and gold dress hanging from a dress form, the dress's design resembled a rainbow but with less colors. A white veil hung beside the dress and rose gold embellished high heels sat underneath it. It all looked so beautiful.

"The dress still needs a few touches and to be taken in to fit you. The dress maker needs your measurements." Bella said. A knock at the door made us both turn and Bella nodded for the woman to come into the room. "This is Rose, she is the seamstress of the palace, she will take your measurements." Bella adds, I nod and was ushered to put the dress on. Rose took my measurements, waist, bust and height. I suppose, for her, taking my measurement height was future reference for her.

I looked into the mirror and saw a different woman standing before me, I hardly recognized her. She was healthy and she was loved. If I didn't know better, I'd say that this woman wasn't me at all. Since coming to the palace a lot has changed for, and that was saying something.

After Rose had taken my measurements, she told me that I was free to changed back into what I had previously been wearing. Slipping on my shoes, I looked up at Bella, who was smiling at me. Seeing her like that made me think of my 'mother' or the woman claiming to be my mother, and I knew what I had to do. I had to tell Bella about the letter, maybe she could help me.

"Bella," I begin, Bella moves forward, coming towards me. She sits down on the chair, she back straight as she looks at me, waiting for me to say something. 

"I know about the letter Allison and I know what you are about to say. I cannot make that decision for you, dear, but I can help point you in the right direction. Craft a letter to this Clara woman and request a DNA and go from there." Bella said. I smiled at her, I almost forgot that she has the gift to know everything about a person just from a touch. 

"Thank you Bella." I said. Bella and I talked for an hour about wedding things before we parted ways. I was currently back in the palace gardens, exploring some more until Adrian came to find me.

A rose caught my eye, it was simple rose like the ones you saw in windows of florist stores but this one was somehow different. It was a white rose with a pink center and bright red and bordering the edges of the petals, each color faded into each other making it stand out among the other thousands of roses planted in the garden. 

I stared at it well after the sun had gone and the light faded from the sky. I hadn't really noticed how long I actually sat there staring at it, thinking about what to stay in my letter to this Clara woman, for but all I knew was that I'd committed the stunning flower to my memory. Standing to my feet, I had to hop about for a bit to wake my legs up. A laugh from behind me and I turned to see Adrian standing in the entrance way to the garden, he was watching me as I gracefully hopped around the garden path.

"Its not funny, my legs went to sleep." I said. I continued to hop around until I had feeling in my legs again. I was very surprised that I didn't fall over or snap the heel off of my shoes while I hopped about. Adrian continued to laugh at me until I walked by him, brushing my bare arm against his. This action made him cease his laughter and fall silent. 

I walked by Adrian and back into the palace, where I knew that the palace's staff had just served dinner. I went in the direction of the dinning hall, where Bella, Draven, Desdemona, Alaric, Angelina, Danto, Lucian and Adriana sat waiting for Adrian and I. I hope that I hadn't kept them waiting for long. I took my seat at the table, Adrian sat beside me and we were all served our dinners. 

I still had to think of what to say in my letter to Clara, a woman who I didn't know at all. I hadn't been able to come up with something to say, there was no easy way to ask this woman to have a DNA test to prove that she was my biological mother and not some woman who was just saying that she was my mother to gain access to a lot of money. I mean I could say 'hey I don't know you at all, take a DNA test to prove your my mother', no that would've been rude and something that my father would've most likely said to someone.

As the dinner progressed, I remained silent and disengaged in the conversation going on around the table until Adrian nudged my arm, bringing me from my thoughts and back to the dinner table, where everyone was staring at me.

"Pardon." I said. My simple one worded answer broke the silence and the staring, everyone went back to chewing their food or cutting pieces from their dinners. But it was Bella and Adrian who kept their focus on me. "Did I miss anything important?" I asked. Bella set her fork down on her plate, she knew what I had been thinking about but she never said anything.

"Are you okay?" Adrian asked. I turned to face him and gave him a nod of my head. Remaining silent, I finished my dinner and waiting for the others to finish theirs before leaving the table. When everyone had finished dinner, we went our separate ways. I went up to the bedroom I shared with Adrian to craft a letter to this Clara woman, and yes until I know if she really is my mother, I'm going to continue to call her this Clara woman.

I took out a clean sheet of paper and a pen, I tapped the pen against the desk as I thought of what to say. I figured that I would keep my letter short and sweet. I decided that instead of procrastinating to ask for a DNA test, I'd just go right and ask. This Clara woman did say that she would freely take a DNA test to prove if she was my mother or not. So with that in mind, I put pen to paper and wrote:

Dear Clara,

Thank you for sending your letter to me, even though it was of the safest ways to get it to me. Please excuse my delayed reply. After reading your letter it left me with many things to think over, and after sorting through my very chaotic mind, I now request a DNA test to determine whether you're my mother or not. Considering the circumstances and the taking in the chances of future letters being intercepted, the Queen as requested that you wait to send letters to the castle until Ben comes to deliver my next letter containing the DNA results.

I understand that to ask such a thing of you was not easy and I'm sorry for upsetting you even though you stated in your letter that you'd be happy to be subdued to a DNA test. I've kept this letter as short as I possible could for a personal reason, maybe in the future when we know more, maybe my letters will be a lot longer than just a single page.

Yours truly, Allison.

Reading over what I had wrote, I was satisfied with how it turned out and folded the paper up neatly before sliding it into an envelope. I hid it in the false bottom of my jewelry box and changed into something more suitable for sleeping in. 

© 2019 DawningSwannBooks | Eveleigh Swann. All Rights Reserved.