"Can't catch me!" A young Princess Primrose ran across the royal front lawn. I grinned. This was the life. Watching Prim play with her nanny, while I studied my books, reading for my upcoming Herbalism level test. Sitting outside, soaking up sun, letting my cells rejuvenate, I was in heaven.
"Why don't you try, Grace?" A voice came up behind me. I whipped around, fully prepared to smack whoever it was in the face.
"Ruben! What is wrong with you? I could have killed you!" Fall Faeries, who require the most sunshine, would die without enough. And since our faces took in most of that light, if any of that tissue was damaged...
"Oh, you wouldn't, Princess. Hey, I've got a proposition for you."
"What?" Ruben was ever the joker. He was my friend, but he was also my enemy. We had a history of an on-again, off-again friendship, but it was one of the strongest friendship in the capital city, Cartia.
"I have a couple of tickets to the Fall Festival. I don't have anyone to come with me. Gloria had a prior commitment." He said it offhandedly, but I knew what he was saying. The Fall Festival was a big deal for Fall Faeries. It was a festival celebrating the rich Fall heritage we all shared. It was also a chance to show off your chosen. Going alone wasn't a very big deal, but going with a partner? The entire realm would know if I, esteemed scholar and mentor to the Princess, went anywhere with anyone.
"Are you kidding? Ruben, that's-"
"Amazing?" He cut me off. "I know. Can't wait to see you in a formal dress!" He stalked off, a huge grin on his face.
"RUBEN!" I yelled. "I hate you!" From that day on, everyone assumed we had an adversarial relationship, but... it wasn't. We were friends, regardless, but eventually, it bloomed into... something more.
The day of the Festival had arrived. I had asked Serina for advice, as she was the closest I had had to a mother. She had told me to accompany him, just this once. She had promptly run to the royal seamstress to order me a custom dress to match my bloom.
"Hold still, Miss. I can't sew this seam if you keep moving!" The seamstress, Katya, grimaced. "Forgive me, Majesty, but she is intolerable!"
"I am sorry, Katya. Thank you for creating such an amazing dress on such short notice. However, I am capable of finishing a garment on my own. I shall get her into it." Serina stared as Katya tried to reason with her, telling her that such a task was not fit for a queen. I smiled when I realized that the seamstress didn't know who exactly she was up against. Serina hurried me back to her apartments, almost as excited as a young girl before her first ball. Or a mother before her daughter's debut. I didn't remember it at the time, but this was to be my first ball as both as a debutante and as the Princess's mentor. And seeing as how Serina was like a mother to me...
"Alright, Grace. Get in the pool." She ushered me into her bathroom, and over to the bathing pool. I was stunned. The queen was letting me use her bathroom?
"Y...your Majesty?"
"Please, Grace. Call me Serina, as I've asked. Tonight is a big night for you, my girl. We must make the most of it."
"Y-Yes, your- I, uh. Yes, Serina."
"Good. Now, come along. Should I call Ophelia and Juliet?" The two girls she had mentioned were both Summers, sent by their parents to live and work at the palace. Their parents were both Falls, but they were... born in Summer. They were notorious among the palace staff for being understandably overzealous with their charges. If they got wind that I was going to a ball... it wouldn't end well.
I gulped. "No, Serina. I... I'll do it. Thank you." I gingerly stepped into the pool, expecting water that was scalding hot. Instead, I got warm water, glistening with oils made of comfrey and bryony. The water was enchanted, I could feel it. I almost asked Serina what she had put in the water, but I didn't. It felt too good to protest.
After the bathing pool episode, She hurried me into the closet when the dressmaker knocked on the door. "Oh, thank you, Katya. She'll love it." She gently shut the door behind her. I heard rustling, and as Serina turned the corner, I saw a bit of dull red. "All right, Grace. Come here." She beckoned.
"Oh, Your-Serina! This is amazing! I can't possibly wear this!" I gasped.
"Yes, you can, my dear. You'll be the most resplendent faerie there. Trust me, darling, not as your monarch, but as your friend." Her gentle voiced seeped into my mind like honey. I sighed.
"Thank you, Serina. It's amazing!" I enthused. The dress was made of red velvet brocade, with accents of yellow and orange to match my blossom. The entire dress seemed like it was set on fire, with tulle and satin fanning it out at the bottom. The top was elegant, with sleeves that came to my elbows, and fanned out to create a screen effect. It was cut to resemble an upside-down flame, with dark green fabric covering the more uncomfortable areas. Serina, and in turn the dressmaker, knew I couldn't stand being immodest.
I slipped into the dress. It was the softest dress I had ever owned. "Oh... but, Serina, I won't have any other occasion to wear this!" I cried, suddenly sad for the beautiful waste that would be this dress.
"Oh, Grace. I'm sure you'll find some reason to wear it. Now come, let me do your hair.
Several hours, and many different final touches, later, I was standing in front of a mirror once again. My hair had been styled to resemble smoke curling up from my dress. Ringlets hung heavy from my scalp. Jewels glistened on my ears and neck. My fingers were bare, in case some young man wished to claim them for his own. However much I doubted that would happen, Serina kept a knowing smile on her face. Finally, she said I was almost finished.
"Alright, Grace, you can sit down. I need to get one more thing." Serina said, leaving the bedchamber and entering the room behind us. She told me not to look into it, for it was her Spell Room.
Ten minutes later, Serina emerged from her Spell Room. She was holding a jeweled tiara that sparkled in the light. It had four stones inlaid in it: one light gray, one golden, yet another emerald green, and the other a bright red. It's frame was made of a white gold, and its delicate overlay was of diamond created by a very talented Summer. They had tempered the diamond to be red in color, and not a gaudy red that was favored by the flashy faeries, but a deep, rich red matching the leaves of Fall. "Its yours." Serina's soft voiced fell on my ears like a rush of water falling on leaves. "I made it for you, my dear. Wear it, and all who see you will know: you are chosen, and whomever hurts you will have me to reckon to." Her voice was still soft, but it had gained an edge to it, one that normally only appeared when one of her family was threatened.
"I... I can't, your Majesty. Asking me to wear this..." I frowned. Every faerie knew that to wear anything remotely like the crown of Albion without permission of Queen Serina was treason. And though I knew that Serina was giving me permission, I couldn't.
I shrugged. I might as well. She was giving me permission. It wasn't like I could refuse the queen of Albion.
"Now, my dear. Are you ready?" A younger Serina asked. I was standing in the throne room of the Winter Palace, waiting for a certain Fall faerie to come.
"N-no. What should I expect?" I shivered, wondering how I would be received by the nobles, when I was so clearly flaunting my status.
"You have nothing to fear, my dear. As always, I will be there to open the festival and welcome everyone. You will have fun and enjoy yourself, or else I shall forbid you from your books for a week." Serina was, when she was alone, quite a jester.
"Oh. A-alright, S-Serina." I was as nervous as a young Spring faerie asking a Summer for a piece of bread for the first time.
"Announcing Sir Ruben Kilsen, Duke of Killingsworth."
"Hello, milady." The boy strode into the room.
"Here's for strength, and here's for courage." Serina whispered gently into my ear as he approached.
"Thank you." I replied. "Hello, Ruben. I hear you're going to the Festival." I giggled nervously.
"Yeah. You ready to go?" He grinned. I blushed.
"Sure."
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Hey, guys! How do you like the mini-chapter? Extra-special Friday update, away! How do you guys think this'll end? Please vote and comment, it helps me continue!
God bless, Grace