I stood by Piers' side as we said goodnight to the guests. I watched as they trickled out of the castle and towards their carriages, some leaning more heavily on one another than others. The king firmly shook his son's hand, not acknowledging me, as he walked out with his guards to his carriage. The queen embraced each of us, giving her son a peck on the cheek before she allowed her own guards to escort her to a separate carriage. As they pulled away, the doorman slowly closed the double doors, leaving us in the warmth of the castle.
"That was much more entertaining that I had believed it would be," I told Piers as we walked up the stairs to our rooms.
"Yes, it was," he said. We stopped at the top of the stairs. "Tomorrow you will begin your training and you will begin approving the plans for our wedding. Things are going to be moving much more quickly now that you have officially been introduced to the court."
"I'm eager to begin," I replied, looking up at him. "I believe I will enjoy being here much more if I am kept busy."
"As you shall be. In two weeks, we shall introduce you to the kingdom. You will undergo rigorous training before then. I know that the facility provided you with your training, but there are many things that must be learned before you may present yourself to the kingdom. The facility can only prepare you for so much. Only one person is ever chosen to be princess. It is the responsibility of the royal family to train that girl to fill the role."
"I'm aware. We were informed of all of that at the facility, Piers. It'll be okay. Trust me; I am more than capable of doing it."
"It is not you that I do not think is capable of doing it. I fear that some people will not view you as being an adequate ruler regardless of how good you may be," he said with a sigh.
I shrugged, taking his hands in mine. "No ruler has ever won over the entire kingdom. There shall always be those who find something to dislike."
He nodded, giving me a small smile. "I will be in the capital tomorrow when you begin your training. I shall be along in the morning, but I must leave shortly before lunch. We have selected a wonderful teacher for you. She was once my teacher, to be precise."
"I'm sure she's perfect, then," I said softly. He nodded and released one of my hands, gently pulling me down the hallway.
"You did well tonight, Adelaide," he said as we reached my room. "Many people were impressed with you. Do not allow for the few to make you feel less capable than you are."
"I won't," I promised him.
And I wouldn't. The facility had taught me that even when people believed I couldn't do it, I pushed on and I achieved the impossible. It felt as though that was what I had been doing my entire life, but I would rather have it be that way than to have had to accept defeat.
"Goodnight, Adelaide, and good luck," Piers said, kissing my forehead before he released my hand and took a step back.
"For the record, Piers," I said as I stepped into my room, "I would like you to have some say in the wedding. It is not just my day. It is both of ours. It is not fair if I am the one to do all of the planning, alongside your mother, of course."
He nodded, putting his hands into his dress pants pockets. "I would appreciate it, if I am not working, of course."
"Of course," I told him, smiling softly before I shut the door.
The kingdom would always come first. I walked out onto the balcony and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as a sense of calm washed over me. I may not have been the king's favorite, I may not have been perfect, but I was going to be able to change things. I was going to be able to help people.
It was such a relief to have Piers on my side. Had he not already disagreed with some of the ways of the facility, it would have been very difficult to convince him that it should come to an end. I understood that he had beliefs that he still clung to and I understood why he had to act how he did when we were not alone.
I could not sit back, however, and allow for things to continue as they were until the king's death. I needed Piers to find a way to change things. It could take months, I knew that, but I could not allow for years to pass by, for more Bycgan's to occur.
If Piers were unable to cause a change, then I would find a way to do it on my own.
x.x.x
The next morning, I was awoken by Eleanor as the sun began to rise. She helped me to get dressed, applying more salve to my back, before we went downstairs to meet Piers in the kitchen. As we sat eating bowls of porridge and toast, he explained to me what the lessons were going to be like.
Nothing that was too overwhelming. It was all about proper etiquette in different social situations, how to make polite small talk, and which subjects to converse about and which to not. The were important, yet small details that many never thought of, but ones that could make a difference when it came to creating alliances or persuading someone to take a certain side on an issue.
I knew that the princess could play an important role in such matters, but I had never imagined that the prince would allow his wife to play that role. That the king would never allow for it to happen. Yet, Piers assured me that I would play a large role in such matters. The king did not have any say in what permissions Piers could give to me. He could only make suggestions.
I wondered how difficult it had been for Piers to go against his father's suggestions, how his father would have reacted. There was no punishment that the king could give to his son for going against his wishes. Piers could have only been punished if he'd disobeyed a direct order. I didn't know if the king could do such a thing, I suspected that he could find a way to, however.
And the thought terrified me. If I lost Piers' support, I didn't know how I would be able to accomplish abolishing the facility. I needed Piers, more than he needed me. It was something that I couldn't think about, wouldn't think about, if I were to be successful.
Piers and I went upstairs just before eight to meet the tutor. She was an older woman, her hair already white and her walk a little stooped. She still had a commanding tone to her voice and was able to make Piers back down with just one look.
He had been hovering, telling her what I needed to know before the public welcome address. She raised an eyebrow at him and pressed her lips together before she said in a gravelly voice that she was well aware of what needed to be taught before the address. It wasn't her first job as a tutor.
I held back a laugh as Piers bowed his head. "I'm well aware, Miss. Dolloway, but my father is very adamant that we stick to the schedule that has been created."
"And we shall, Piers. I have never disappointed the king, hence why I am still allowed to teach despite his limitations placed upon women," Miss. Dolloway replied. "I shall not require your assistance in this manner."
"I already promised Adelaide that I would be at the lessons this morning," Piers replied as he clasped his hands behind his back, "and I never break my promises."
Miss. Dolloway turned her attention towards me. "Do you require the prince's assistance or are you a mature enough girl to handle the lessons on your own?"
I looked at Piers quickly. He gave a small one-shouldered shrug in response. "I...I think it would be best if the prince was there for the start."
Miss. Dolloway sighed before she nodded. "If you believe it should be so. I must say that it will be rather dull. All I will be doing is testing what you were taught at the facility and what you must learn in the next two weeks. We shall focus on the things that are of utmost importance when it comes to addressing the kingdom. Then we shall focus on the things that will make you an outstanding princess."
"Yes, ma'am," I murmured.
Piers took my hand. "Shall we withdraw to the drawing-room?"
"The library shall work just fine," Miss. Dolloway said as she picked up her handbag and began walking down the hall towards the library. I looked up at Piers.
"I promise that she's not all bad," he murmured as he gently pulled me in the direction of the library. "She just wants to win your respect. She'll calm down."
"She better if she's going to be staying with us until further notice," I replied, watching as Miss. Dolloway turned the corner to the library.
It had been a shock to me to find Miss. Dolloway in the entranceway surrounded by luggage. Piers had appeared unsurprised that she would be staying with us during our training. It was nonsense, he had told me, for her to travel back and forth each day. She was an elderly woman and even if she were not, she would have stayed. She had lived with him for over ten years when he had been preparing to become the prince.
"She'll be good company for you," Piers said as we slowly turned the corner. Miss. Dolloway had already gone into the library. "She's like a good watchdog. My father respects her and would not willingly dispose of her."
"She's one of your father's watchdogs, then?" I asked bitterly.
"No," he replied as we paused outside of the library. "She is a very opinionated woman, actually, and one that does not agree with my father's ways. You shall learn that soon."
I was starting to like the woman more and more.
Piers opened the library doors and we stepped inside. Miss. Dolloway instructed Piers to sit on one of the couches and to keep his comments to himself. She was the teacher in the room and he, in her eyes, was still one of her students. I watched as Piers obeyed, a ghost of a smile on her face.
She walked over to me, watching how I walked and how I stood still. She asked me to read a snippet of a speech the queen had once delivered at an orphanage, before the king had done away with such things. I was tested on my greetings to various members of the court, how I reacted to certain topics of conversation that may arise. She asked me to interact with the women of the court, and with the king's subjects.
As I did all of these tasks, she wrote notes in her notebook. I tried multiple times to catch a glimpse of what she had written, but she shielded them from me. The trainers had often done that at the facility and overtime I had become used to it. Now, it made me anxious. I had always felt confident in my abilities at the facility, receiving praise on my performance from the trainers. I didn't know what to expect from Miss. Dolloway. Somehow, I suspected that she would be even more critical than the trainers were. I was, after all, going to be the ruler of the kingdom one day. There was no room for error in such a positon.
"You hold yourself well, Miss. Colfield, however you must learn to disguise your nervousness much better," Miss. Dolloway said as she put down her notebook. "You may not believe that people can see it, the way you scrunch your toes up or the way you grit your jaw, but they are able to see it in your eyes."
I glanced over at Piers. "And what do you suggest?"
She looked between the two of me. "Are you speaking to me or the prince, who may I say is incapable of handling the current situation?"
I looked back at her quickly. "You, of course."
"Then you must look at me and not to someone for help. One day you will be unable to do so and you must be able to maintain your own ground." She took a deep breath before she crossed her arms over her chest. "You must do things that you are uncomfortable doing. Commanding the house, addressing the guards, taking control of your wedding planning rather than the queen."
"That's not possible," Piers spoke up. "The queen always works side by side with the princess to be to plan the wedding."
"Is it a law?" Miss. Dolloway questioned.
"It's custom."
"But is it a law?" she repeated, arching an eyebrow. Pierce's jaw twitched ever so slightly before he shook his head slightly.
"No, it is not law," he said tersely.
"Then it is possible for Miss. Colfield to take the reins. Custom or not, she must learn to stand up for herself, which is something that is not often encouraged here in Etuch. The princess needs to be able to stand up for herself. If she is not capable of doing so, how are the people expected to respect her? it is especially important if the king is to have a partner and not a—how did you put it, Piers? A servant?"
"Yes," Piers said tersely.
"Then she must do such things. You, my boy, must grow a backbone when it comes to your father if you want to make it possible for you to have a partner. She cannot learn to become one if the king imposes such strict laws on the women of this kingdom," Miss. Dolloway informed him. "You are the prince and it is about time that you begin acting as one."
X.X.X
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This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people is merely a coincidence. This work is a work of my imagination. Any similarities to other works of art are coincidental.