A Mysterious Monarch
The sun rose early, much Camellia's dismay. She stretched her tired limbs and shivered against the cold. She had too much to do today and she couldn't afford to sleep in. No matter how warm and cosy her bed was.
No! Don't think like that or you'll never get out of bed.
Once she was done chastising herself, she threw her covers off and began getting dressed. She quickly ate, kissed her father goodbye and set to the market with a book and basket in hand. There wasn't a large variety of book in her village in fact compared to what her books told her a single shelf of books wasn't nearly enough to call a library.
Fortunately, her father was a trader, often selling and trading craftsmanship from one village to another and frequently visited the town near the castle. Although, for the past week or so he hadn't received much news from them.
Her nose was deeply buried in her book when she felt a pair of hands tightly grab her shoulder and her soul left her body.
"Oh, Lia!" Her eccentric friend cried
"You'll never believe how much I have to tell you!" The blonde announced dramatically.
Camellia smiled at her friend's antics, despite her racing heart.
"Good morning to you too, Lucia," She teased
Lucia skipped alongside her.
"Oh hush!" She scolded her "This is important. More important than those dusty pages of yours."
"Hey!"
"You know Belinda, the one with the red hair and freckled face?"
"Of course, there's only one,"
"Right, well you know how she got married last week?" Her blue eyes lit up with excitement, bursting to spread the news.
"Yes..." She squinted her eyes, curious where her friend was going.
"Well I just in the market yesterday when I saw her buying Mrs Harrison's potatoes, only a bump was already growing in her stomach,"
"Now I'm no doctor but it surely takes longer than a week before a woman begins showing!" She cried laughing.
"Oh, it's absolutely scandalous!" Lucia said elated at the prospect.
Camellia rolled her eyes.
"Oh Luce, this isn't the first time newlywed couple disobeyed our conforms," She scoffed finding the knowledge useless.
The blonde's delighted face fell disgruntled, she was hoping for a more ecstatic reaction but she knew her friend better than that. Lifting her spirits, she spoke again.
"I knew you would say that," She smiled triumphantly.
"Is that so?" Her dark brow arched
Lucia nodded, gazing smugly at her arid nails as she tilted them under the suns light.
"I have much more grave news," She smiled mischievously.
"Do tell," Camellia begged, linking her arm with her "My dearest friend."
Damn, my curiosity!
"First of all, I'm you only friend but ah well, since your so desperate" - she really wasn't - "I'll tell you,
"You see my dear friend our monarch has changed,"
"Oh no, don't tell me his dimwitted son took over," She groaned in annoyance, their economy was already on the brink of ruin.
"I won't because I can't," The blonde smiled boastfully when her friend's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Oh its much more scandalous," She giggled delighted "A new monarch has taken the reigns," She winked at her own pun.
"A new monarch?"
"Oh yes. King Thaddeus has taken his place on the thrown," She spoke in her most aristocrat voice.
"King Thaddeus?" strange name, "How? What claim has he taken to the thrown? What are his origins?" Questions fired out of her frantically.
Fortunately, Lucia knew her friend well.
"Killed King Alistair and took his place I suppose," She shrugged "He was the leader of a rebellion. As for his origins... well its mystery I suppose. Some say he's a descendant from the forest beasts"
"Forest beasts?"
"Yes. A man by day and a beast by night," She whispered conspiringly.
"Those just stories my Grandmother tells me," Camellia rolled her eyes
"Doesn't mean they're not true!" Lucia (like most in the village) was a firm a believer that their were monsters lurking in the woods.
"She pulls out the bible when a black cat walks by!" She countered
Lucia groaned before a spark shone in her eyes.
"Didn't you come across one as a child," She smiled wickedly
"It was just an animal, there was nothing mystical about it," Camellia rolled her eyes.
"Well, whether you believe them or not that's the rumours they're spreading," Lucia deadpanned bluntly.
Camellia agreed with her friend but deep inside she felt a spark of curiosity course through her, she fondly remembered the wolf she met when she was younger.
It is not too childish to hope that...
She shook her train of thought.
"But that's not all!" Her friend declared.
"Oh?"Her brow arched again.
"Mr Morris tells me that he's coming our way!"
Her head so spun so quickly she was surprised it stayed on her neck.
"Whatever for?" She exasperated
"Apparently he comes bearing gifts and promises of a prosperous future," Lucia frowned tapping her chin.
"How strange?" Camellia's thoughts drifted as the market started to come into view.
"I know!"
"Most Kings request the people come to them rather than the other way round," Her brows furrowed and she became lost in thought.
"Miss Bate! Oh, Miss Bates!" A sing voice interrupted her chain of thought.
Looking to her left, She saw Mrs Garner scuttle her way towards her. She was a rather plump lady with pale hair and rosy cheeks but despite her welcoming appearance, Camellia was well aware of the prejudice that lay beneath.
"Ah, good morning Mrs Garner," She bowed her head politely, hoping this was when their discussion ended.
"My dear, you've heard the news," The woman fanned herself dramatically
Without letting her annoyance show, she stopped in her tracks and faced the women so desperate for conversation.
"Of course, we're under new sovereignty," Her voice monotone
"But haven't you heard he's one of the beasts from the forest! And He's going to be here in a weeks time! Oh the horror," Mr Garner tutted her pretentiousness clearly getting the best of her.
"Surely, as our new King, we can't exactly call him a Beast," She reasoned thinly concealing her irritation.
"Like I'd call that abomination our King,"
Camellia clenched her jaw.
"Beg your -"
"You're quite right, Ms Garner" Lucia quickly dragged her friend away from her "Well we best be off now," she called over her shoulder.
"What a narrowed mind woman!?" Camellia spat when they were far enough away.
Whilst she loved the village she was in and was glad to have a place to call home, she was often reminded of how ignorant the people here were. They had lived their whole lives here and their mothers and fathers before them, they hadn't stepped a foot outside their small bubble. They can't (or rather won't) see past the walls they placed around them. It often frustrated Camellia. She longed to discover new people and towns and even possibly cities.
♚ ♚ ♚
The picture at the top is Camellia btw ^^
so, what do you think of Mrs Garner?
why do think the King is actually visiting the villages? ;)))
vote and comment!
(also do u want a full cast w pics should I leave that to ur imagination)