Clarissa'sPOV
The tinkling sound of the Queen's joyous laughter continued to fill my ears as I felt a hand lightly touch my shoulder; looking up I saw Celine, smiling kindly and offering her hand to me. Me. Why on earth would she do something like this? My f- Valentine had always told me that the royals were selfish people who cared about nothing, but themselves, but then again I should have guessed he was lying. Despicable, I thought as I placed my rough calloused hand into her's. Confusion glanced her eyes as she helped me up.
"Celine, my love, this is Clarissa," King Stephen said to his wife as he went to stand besides her.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Celine said. Her voice was as smooth as honey and just as sweet.
"The pleasure is all mine, your Majesty," I said with a formal bow.
"Now, how did my rambunctious husband come across such a delightful young woman?" She asked, smirking at her husband.
"I am not rambunctious!" The King argued.
"Aye, you are," She said back. I laughed at their exchange and soon enough they joined in.
"I was capture by the Bandit King, but managed to escape. King Stephen was making his way to the castle when he saw me. I explained the situation to him and when he was going to invite me here, one of the bandits came out of the woods and attacked. I moved the King out of the way and... um," I pause thinking about how I should continue. The King sensed that i was uncomfortable and continued. He proceeded on telling how I killed the assassin and then my dancing and singing in the city. The Queen's emotions varied from surprise, to worry, to amazement, to happiness, and then to amusement.
"You certainly have been through a lot, my dear girl," She said, smiling sadly. I opened my mouth to say something when a voice interrupted.
"You can't believe everything she says, mother," I looked up and saw him. The prince. He was handsome with chiseled looks and golden features, but he held an air of arrogance. He smirked at me when I was studying him. "I know, my attractiveness is hard to look away from,"
"I'm sorry sire," I blushed, faking, "But it wasn't that your, ahem, attractiveness, was what I was looking at. It was the size of your arrogance that really caught my attention," The King and Queen turned to me, surprised, "I don't think I have ever seen so much of it in one place." I smiled sweetly at him, my blazing gaze matching his surprised one.
"Well, son, this is Clarissa. She's going to stay with us," King Stephen said, breaking the tension in the air. It was a good thing he did; I really hate to resort to violence in front of people. Especially, since I had my hand on my dagger. Again.
"Come with me, Clarissa, I'll show you to your room," The Queen whispered in my ear. I nodded and watched as she kissed her husband on the cheek, before escorting me up the stairs. "You know, you have got to be the second person not to fall for my son's charms,"
"Thank you?" I said, but it came out as a question. She laughed.
"You're welcome,"
"Who was the first, my lady?" I asked.
"Please, call me Celine and the first was my niece, Isabelle," She answered. We continued to talk, laugh and share stories with each other. When we got to my room, I opened it and fell in love with it. The room was very large, with creme walls decorated with little cherubs and clouds, outlined in a golden yellow color. The room had a vast carpet that reached from one end of the room to the other; it had a scene laid out before me. It was a weaving of the Forbidden Forest, my home, with lush green trees and dark earthy browns for the dirt roads. It was a picture of a hunt. The longer I stared at it the more it seemed to come alive. Suddenly the animals and humans started moving and I gasped, breaking the spell.
"It is a faerie rug," Celine said, wistfully, coming up behind me, "I have to leave, but I will have a maid come and bring up a meal for you." before she could leave, I hugged her, tears spilling over my eyes.
"Thank you. I am forever grateful," I said, raggedly. She wrapped her long arms around me and shushed me.
"It is quite alright, my dear. You're safe now. no is going to hurt you," She let me go and handed me a handkerchief. I smiled and bowed again, not rising until I heard the door close.
I sighed, and put my things in the chair by a fireplace. It was in a conjoining room, a study of sorts. This place was magical; warm and... just perfect, but all things must come to an end. I didn't know when, but I knew somehow, that Valentine was looking for me. His precious daughter. I just didn't know why though. Why did he want me back so badly? I took off my cloak to reveal my leather clad legs and white tie up tunic with a brown leather belt and knee high boots; I had three daggers strapped to my body, a sword hanging off of my hip, and a poison dart shooter with darts in various places on my person. I opened my pack and brought out my drawing book; it held assorted sketches of people, landscape, and my dreams. Most of them were of my dreams; I dreamed of dark places and dying angels and wars with fire and creatures that I had been warned about when I lived in the forest.
A knock on the bedroom door made me jump out of my reverie, making me drop my book. Gently, I picked up the book and set it on a table next to the chair and walked out of the room and into the bedroom. i opened the door and, much to my amusement, came face to face with the Prince. He was holding a tray of steaming meat, warm bread, slightly melting cheese, and hot spiced wine. I grinned cheekily.
"Well, now, what is a Prince doing acting as a servant?" I asked. I giggled when he blushed, his reactions were absolutely hilarious.
"Well, I, um, just take the tray will you?" He said, holding the tray out, positively flustered.
"Thank you, your Majesty," I said, bowing and then taking the meal. He frowned. "What?"
"You don't need to act like a servant," He replied.
"Oh, but I should. Am I not below your rank?" I asked, setting the meat down on a dark wooden table in the middle of the room.
"You are an equal in the castle. At least you are according to the King and Queen, so you don't have to bow of curtsy to us. Are that much different from yourself?" He answered, politely, tilting his head to the side.
"No you're not, but still. Fine, I will call you by your names, but I would feel more comfortable if I bow to people who's rank is above my own," I replied, shifting my gaze from his captivating eyes to the sky outside.
"I think we can allow that." With that he left, but not before adding, "You know, you are very different from any other girl I have met. Oh, I forgot, my name is Jace," He closed my door and I stared at where he was standing for a while longer and then I sighed again, picking up the tray that had my meal and eating it, before finally going to sleep. Little did I know that my destiny was bigger than I could have ever imagined.
