There was no formal events the first few days of the debutantes being in the palace. Most of the time was taken for them to get to know their way around, meet the maids who would be assisting them, and hopefully get some one on one time with the Prince.
He did not seem overly keen to spend time with them, despite the fact that one of them may have ended up as his wife.
Aria made sure I was present when she officially met the ladies. I sat with her on the snow covered lawn outside, doing my best not to shiver even under the thickest coat Estelle could conjure up for me from one of the maids. One by one they came up to us and introduced themselves.
Miss Ashley Maeve and Lyanna Welsey were as haughty as we expected, with a large curtsy to Aria and barely a head nod to me. Miss Georgina Van Gellar and Miss Clarisse Demoine were both a bit more reserved and curtsied to us both, and Penelope Withers was without any great features to make her memorable.
Out of them all Miss Demoine was my favourite, but when we all sat down she was near Miss Maeve and Miss Welsey, so she clearly did not have good taste in friends.
The rest of the ladies seemed perfectly at ease with the weather, and I was the odd one doing my best not to move so as not to get any snow on me. I also kept my body close to the hot stones that one of the butlers was kind enough to bring out.
The Queen sat on her seat and eyed the ladies who were all doing their best to impress her. I thought that she was watching me closely, but when I turned she was always occupied by something else. I could see the small dark marks below her eyes that betrayed a bad sleep. I wondered what she could have been thinking of that would have kept her up.
Miss Wesley was standing before her now, and I could hear her chattering endlessly on about her family and the properties they owned in the East. Of course, the east being where most of the wealthy people lived, it made sense that her family was rich.
Aria brought her chair over to sit beside me laughing at my proximity to the heated stones. 'If your blanket catches alight you are toast!' I was only able to smile at her joke because any extra movement would stir up the cold air.
'Tell me why we are sitting out here when there is a perfectly warm - well, warmer - castle right there' I pointed at the castle to make my point then had instant regret at taking my arm out of the cocoon of heat the blanket provided.
'Oh come on Eve, it is not that bad'
Sensing her rising frustration, I encouraged her to go talk to some of the debutantes. She rolled her eyes but did what I suggested.
I watched Aria walk over to where Miss Demoine and Miss Maeve were tossing around a ball, getting snow all over their legs. Just the sight of it made me shiver again.
'Mother, why do you have these women out here in the cold?' Prince Masons voice called out over the lawn and the sound caused the women to stop what they were doing and turn to him. The ball that Aria had thrown to a now distracted Miss Maeve barely avoided colliding with her head. I hid my laugh behind a cough.
The Queen lit up seeing her son coming toward her. She stood and embraced him when he was close enough, 'For the most part they are ok. It was only Miss Davenport that requested heating rocks'
The Prince looked over at me all bundled up in coats and blankets and smirked, when he made eye contact my body shivered, and I convinced myself it was from the cold.
Miss Welsey sat up even straighter in the Prince's presence. 'Your Highness, you are looking incredibly warm' he looked at her oddly 'Yes Miss Welsey, I am warm, thank you'
Turning away, when the Queen sat back down he leaned over to say something to her quietly. At the end of his phrase she gave him a scolding look and pointed to the women that were now throwing the ball around and loudly squealing in an attempt to gain the attention of the Prince.
He reluctantly walked over to them and they curtsied and began to engage him in the game. Aria saw her chance and escaped back to where I was sitting.
'It is fascinating how conversation can turn from stimulating to absolute brain mush when a man is present'
'Not just a man,' I reminded her, 'He is an objectively handsome, eligible, single man. Who also happens to be the Crown Prince of the Kingdom. It would be odd if they did not suddenly get dumber in his presence'
Aria sighed 'I do not understand why I have to get to know them as well, I am not the one courting them' I laughed at her frustration then pointed over to the other two ladies, who were sitting far enough that they could not hear our conversation. 'All you have to do now is have a short conversation with them and then you're free'
Miss Withers and Miss Van Gellar were both working on knitting projects. Though they were talking to one another, they would both look up from time to time with clear envy at the attention that the girls throwing the ball around were getting.
Miss Welsely still sat in front of the Queen, no doubt hoping that gaining favour with her would be gaining favour with the Prince.
Now that Aria was talking with the knitting ladies, I was able to observe Mason a bit more carefully. He was laughing with the women and seemed to be in his element, which was a far cry from the man who had met them all with such grim determination.
I was finally beginning to feel warm, and I knew that if I stayed there I would doze off soon. Ignoring the protests of my body I stood from my cocoon, keeping only the fur lined coat on. I was thankful for the extra thick stockings I wore that protected my feet inside my boots.
Aria saw me get up and quickly excused herself from the knitting circle. 'Dull as doorknobs' she mouthed when she was close. My eyes rolled at her assessment of the ladies. She could be especially harsh on those with different interests. 'Lets do something fun?' I suggested, knowing that if I moved around I would heat up. I was also making a mental note to request assignments in warmer weather.
Aria turned to see if her mother was paying attention. She was still subject to Miss Welseys monologue, and she did not do anything to stop the girl from talking. Frankly it would probably be the most efficient way for her to really get to know these women very well if they all simply lined up and talked at her.
'Race you?' Arias eyes twinkled with the suggestion. I scoffed, knowing that I was faster than her by far. She usually knew to never challenge me to a race because I would always win.
'Where's the finish?'
She pointed to a point about 50 metres away from us 'Where it looks like someone has relieved themselves'
I nodded and prepared myself to go. As a rule I let Aria count us in because it gave her a tiny advantage over my speed.
'Three, two, one... GO!' Her shout echoed across the lawn as we both took off to the finish line.
Her confidence made sense in seconds, as did the shorter length of the race. I found that running through snow was not one of my strongest skills. Aria was doing an odd dance of flailing her legs about to bring them up off the ground which made me laugh madly.
Meanwhile I managed about 20 metres before I didn't lift a foot high enough and went flying into the ground. Snow might be soft when it is falling, but it was not soft when you hit it face on.
I stayed where I was until Aria reached me. My body was shaking and she was concerned that I was frozen until she lifted me out and saw that the shaking was because I was laughing so much. 'Lets do that again!' I cried out.
Laughs from behind us reminded me that it wasn't just Aria and I out there. Miss Wesley was watching us with disgust on her face, but I could see that the Queen was holding back laughter, and the Prince wasn't even trying to hold it back. He was laughing so much he was doubled over.
Miss Demoine and Miss Maeve eyed him uncertainly but both attempted to give small girlish giggles.
'Aria, Miss Davenport, perhaps you ought to go inside and dry off' the Queen called out from across the field. Aria sighed and her shoulders slumped 'Well that's the end of ice racing'
'I think its best that we end it there, before I am permanently damaged'
Once I was upright Aria and I leaned on each other until we got to the castle entrance, where we were greeted by annoyed maids who would have to clean all of our dirty clothes. I was thankful that Estelle was not one of them, because I would have gotten a swift talking to about not risking injury in the midst of an important assignment.
We were stripping off our outer layer of wet clothes when the Prince joined us to take off his boots.
'Ari, Mother was not impressed with your little race'
She stuck her tongue out, clearly resorting to child like tendencies around her big brother.
'Whatever. Where is Caleb today?' The words had barely left her mouth before Caleb himself appeared at the door. He took one look at Aria and me and burst out laughing, causing Mason to join him again.
Up close watching Mason laugh made something in my stomach shift. I shrugged off the feeling as my body reacting to being so cold and took the dry thick coat that was being offered to me.
We walked through the corridor with Caleb and the Prince trailing after us. I walked extra slowly because the cold of outside was beginning to seep into my bones.
'Well, that might be the only fun we have the whole time you're here Eve' Aria declared fatalistically. I nudged her shoulder with mine 'It will be fine. We're going to have a lot of fun and I promise you no matter how bored we might get, we will never resort to knitting'
Shivers started to overtake my body quick enough that Aria was worried. I sat down because I was feeling a little dizzy, but she insisted that I get to my room and into bed. Caleb and the Prince each took one arm and boosted me up between them, carrying me to my chambers.
While Caleb concentrated on not dropping me, The Prince tried to engage me in an exchange, seeing the way I was going delirious from the cold.
'Are you a good runner usually miss Davenport?'
'Yes I am Mr Prince. Usually I would kick Aria in the bottom fair and square. But it is a bit different when you are running across snow'
They brought me into my chambers and sat me down in a chair in front of the fire. Aria called for Estelle and the Prince continued trying to distract me from cold. 'Does it snow like this in Luridia?' He was easy and conversational but I pretended my mouth was frozen shut so I wouldn't have to answer. Luckily, Aria came back very soon with my closest friend.
Estelle took one look at me and called for hot water to be brought in immediately for a bath. The shivering was starting to settle but Caleb Aria and the Prince hovered in the sitting section of my chambers until a bath was brought in, then she demanded the men leave for proprieties sake.
Aria was able to sit with me while hot water was poured over me in the bath. 'Its like I'm being thawed out, like a piece of meat being prepared for a stew'
We giggled together like when we had first met at school and I was grateful for a more light-hearted day before all the serious things that were about to come.
When I was finally put into bed, I dreamt about a strong Prince who helped me out of a cold hole and put me into a thick coat to keep me warm.
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Ok so I got way too excited to wait till Monday to post the next chapter!
What do you think of the ladies vying for marriage with Mason?
Do you think Eve and Mason could develop an interesting relationship?
Let me know yours thoughts and don't forget to vote
xx
Kate