If The Book Opinions Fit

A Message From The Royal Palace

The bell tolled, marking ten in the morning, and Tessa sighed, sweeping her hair back into a bun, getting ready for the demands and orders she would have to face in minutes.

Within seconds, however, the bells were ringing and she was dashing up the stairs, holding her skirts in her hands, careful not to trip over the stairs.

"Tessa!" Her stepfather, Mortmain, yelled, still cozy and warm in his bed, while Tessa had been slaving away all day. "Bring me my tea! Don't dawdle! Why are you so late today!"

She stood at the doorway to his room, bowing her head slightly, and hurried back down the stairs, grabbing a cup from the cabinet, and took the teapot that she had prepared earlier, pouring a cup and placing it on a small saucer.

Anticipating that her two sisters would also be wanting for tea, she poured another two cups, then started upstairs with the three cups on a small tray.

Entering Mortmain's room first, she walked over to beside his bed, handing him one of the cups, and he took it with a sly scowl. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, glaring at her with a look of fury. "Have you even attended to your poor sisters yet? They've been waiting for minutes fro their tea and help getting dressed. You know that today is a very big day."

"What is it?" she asked, having not been informed of the happenings of the rest of her family.

"Simply none of your business," he replied, downing the tea in one gulp and handing her back the cup. "And why are you still standing here!? Get on with you!"

Bowing slightly, she turned from him without another word, exiting his room quietly and making her way down the dim lit hallway, into her first stepsister's room.

"Tessa!" she yelled, beckoning her over with her harsh words that echoed through the room. "How late you are today, I suppose that my tea is already cold. Pity. And you have so much to do today. With the laundry that I have acquired over the past few days, and the windows in the drawing room that look simply horrible,"

"Jessamine," Tessa started, but was cut off when her stepsister gave her a cold glare.

"That's Miss Jessamine to you," she replied briefly, "But continue. What have you to say this time?"

Tessa only shook her head slightly, handing her the still warm cup of tea, and starting to the door. "Here you go, Miss Jessamine. I hope it is to your liking."

Grabbing the teacup from her, Jessamine took a sip, nodding with slight approval. "It will suffice… For now. Take the laundry when you leave. There's a rather important dress in there, and I don't know when I'm going to be needing it next, so you should hurry up and wash it in case an opportune moment comes along."

Tessa bowed her head once again, picking up the basket, while balancing the tray in her other hand. "I will be back to help you dress, Miss."

There was no reply, just a simple huff.

In the last bedroom of the hallway, Tatiana stuck her head out of the door, seeing Tessa approaching. "What has taken you so long? I've nearly starved in here, with you being such a slow poke."

"I am sorry, Miss Tatiana," she replied, entering the room and setting the laundry basket outside and placing the last cup of tea on the small desk in Tatiana's room. "Miss Jessamine was asking me to do a couple of chores."

"That's no excuse," she said, scowling, "I expect you to be on time every day. You've certainly been slacking lately. The floors are not polished, the dishes not clean, and you look like a mess."

"My apologies, Miss," she said, starting from the room and back to Jessamine's to help her dress. "I will be back shortly to assist you with dressing."

"Well, hurry on then," Tatiana scoffed. "I haven't got all day. And we've got things to do today. The most important things."

"I understand," Tessa replied, picking up her skirts and hurrying from the room.

Within thirty minutes, she had helped both of her sisters, well, stepsisters, really, dress, and prepare to go into town, which was apparently the highlight of the day.

Sitting in her room, she reached down to pet Church, the house cat, who took a liking for her room, and undid her hair, running a comb through the messy strands and then plaiting it back. Then, she put on her most worn out clothes, which really were no different from her nice ones, and stood up, preparing to start her chore of scrubbing and polishing the floors in the main room.

On her way out, she brushed her fingers over the small portrait on her ratty desk that was quite messy, covered in various classical books that she liked to read in her spare time. The portrait was a simple painting of her late mother, who had passed when she was young, but not before marrying Tessa's stepfather, though no one ever did really know why the marriage came to be.

From them on, life had gotten worse for Tessa. She became almost the maid of the house, doing chores and tending to every one of her stepfather and stepsisters' needs.

It was, in the easiest way to say it, completely horrible.

But the pain was muted now, dimmed from all the years that she had gotten used to it. the chores no longer seemed so strenuous, and she found herself having more and more time during the day to sit and relax, thinking and daydreaming about what might have been, had her real father not passed, or had her mother not remarried.

Kneeling over the cold tile, she dipped the soaking wet sponge into the bucket of water by her feet, getting to work on square after square.

Her mind was almost empty, only focusing on that she didn't miss a spot, and she heard the doorbell chime as if from a distance. When it rang the second time, she jumped up, drying her soapy hands on her apron, and opened the front door.

It was a messenger from the royal castle, who introduced himself as the servant Jem Carstairs, dressed in proper squire dress, and holding a script in his hands. He handed her a rolled up piece of paper, asking her to give it to her ladies of the house. "Those who are single and are looking to be wed," he had explained, before bowing slightly and turning around, walking away, down the steps and onto the next house on the street.

Tessa, knowing not to open the paper and risk her stepfather's wrath, stuck the script into her pocket, waiting for the rest of the house to return.

When they did, she waited until they were all in one room, then stood at the door, waiting for permission to enter until she was given it. Finally acknowledged, she walked inside, silently handing the script to her stepfather, who shooed her out of the room quickly after opening the message and glancing it over quickly. Once Tessa had left, he read it aloud to her two stepsisters.

She heard the squealing of her stepsisters, but was not able to hear the contents of the letters, but when they both ran out of the room, taking no notice of Tessa, who stood by the door, she glanced inside to see her stepfather get up from his seat, heading out a different door, and leaving the script lying on the table. Seeing her chance, she took a small step towards the door.

Silently, she crept in, and picked it up, scanning over the message.

Greetings, all unmarried maidens of London,

Tonight, February 1, a ball will be held in the royal palace of none other than

Prince William Herondale.

All single women are invited, and will have the chance to win the Prince's heart.

Sincerely,

The Royal Herondales.

Hey again! I know... I don't update, and then I start more stories that I don't update... But I really just had to wrote this one. I was so inspired, and the whole idea is laid out in my mind. So yay. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.

If you did, feel free to review, follow, and favorite, please. They gave me a lot of motivation to continue writing and actually update. :) Thank you guys so much! :)

~Jillessa Heronstairs~