PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS - IM NOT SURE IM GOING TO CONTINUE THIS STORY - BUT PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ME TO!
The carriage ride was horribly bumpy, further aggravating Lorelai's nerves. After hours of travel, the lurching of the carriage, and the incessant babbling of her mother was enough to make Lorelai feel ill. Compounding the ailing of the trip, every time the carriage hit a bump, Lorelai felt her stomach jump with the thought of what awaited her at the end of the ride. The fact that the nobles would be there, her father would go before the king, and he would then present her before the king and all of court.
So when the carriage came to a halt, and she heard the commotion of servants outside, she could barely breathe.
Her father stepped out first, followed by her mother. Taking the silence of the moment to collect herself, she took a deep breath before she opened the curtain, took the hand offered to her by the coachman, and then she stepped out, the sun blinding her for a minute.
And then her breath was taken away.
The castle was magnificent. The expansive building seemed as tall as physically possible, towers going up all over, windows littering all of the brick buildings. Flags flew from every place on the castle, some even standing on the lawn. Her yes moved from the castle to the crowd of people there on the walkway to the palace. People were watching her, as she set her foot on the ground of the castle grounds. She could see people lined along the great pathway, and at the end of the pathway, she could see one person walking down the path. As he walked down the path, everyone who was lining the path bowed or curtsied.
She saw her father walk to meet the man walking, her father taking a deep bow. And her mother followed him in her own curtsy. And then they turned to her.
Lorelai felt as if her knees were shaking – visibly. Her hands were sweating. And she could barely breathe. But she steadied herself and took one step forward. And another, until she was standing in front of him.
The king.
She heard her father's voice saying, "May I present my daughter, Lady Lorelai Gilmore to your highness, King Christopher Hayden II, ruler of France."
And she curtsied, her head coming down low. And she looked up to see him. And he took her hand, and kissed it, his lips lingering on her hand while he looked into her eyes.
And he said, "Lord Gilmore, you failed to mention just how beautiful your daughter is."
His head was adorned in a crown. He was wearing a kingly robe, that came down all around him. He was taller than she was, which was saying something because her mother always told her she was too tall. His eyes found hers, their light blue gaze pulling her in. Until his eyes left hers and followed the line of her body down, and then back up, where he smiled at her. A smile that she knew should have made her smile, because it was from her king. But something about him made her uncomfortable.
Thankfully, his next words were to her father, "Lord Gilmore, I shall leave you until dinner tonight. There is a celebration tonight for the arrival of many young women who are coming to court." He was talking to her father, but he turned to look at her when he said, "I look forward to dining with you tonight."
And then he turned and walked away.
The rest of the day was a blur. Her mother was so happy with the impression she had given to the king. Her father didn't say anything. Soon she found herself escorted through the castle around turns and curves and staircases that she wondered whether she would ever find her way out of the castle again. She was given her own room with a dressing room, sitting room, and servants room for Kenna to sleep in. Her parents were nowhere close to her room, and she was actually fine with that. It had been that way her whole life. She felt no real attachment to her parents anyway. They had never raised her to be close to them.
The servants brought her trunks of clothes and other items to the room. Kenna immediately started to unpack her things, while Lorelai looked through the rooms.
The sitting room was beautiful, with exotic tapestries lining the walls and elaborate carpets covering the stone floor. Complete with a settee and chairs, it looked so elaborate compared to her room at home. She then moved into the dressing room, where all of her clothes were being hung, all of her jewelry laid out on the tables that were in there, her shoes being lined against the wall. In the corned was a basin large enough to fit three of her in it, and she realized that it was a bath. She started to wonder where they would get enough water to fill that, but she moved on. From the dressing room she walked into the bedroom, the most enormous and gorgeous of them all. Instead of woven carpets, skins of exotic animals lines the floor, her feet sinking into the warmth and soft textures. On one of the walls, there was a balcony, that she found out opened out to over the gardens. The glass doors that covered the balcony let light come streaming into the room, giving her no need for candlelight during the day in this room. And then her eyes moved to the bed. It was at least twice the size of her bed at home. And it looked soft, all of the pillows, huge blankets covering what looked to be a soft mattress.
Lorelai knew Kenna was watching her take it all in when Kenna said, "You should jump on it."
And she did. Kicking off her shoes, she ran twaords the bed, a laugh escaping out of her mouth as she jumped and fell into what seemed like a cloud, her skirts going everywhere, the pillows plopping up into the air before landing completely skewed. Her body sank into the covers, and she knew she would never want to get up out of this bed in the morning.
She then looked up to where Kenna was smiling from the dressing room, and Lorelai said, "Your turn."
Kenna didn't even hesitate, and Lorelai didn't expect her to. Kenna threw her shoes off and ran towards the other side of the bed, jumping and falling, sending Lorelai bouncing as the other body landed on the bed. Kenna laughed and said, "Who would want to get out of this bed ever?"
Lorelai smiled and said, "I must say it would give my mother a complete heart attack if she walked in to find you here in my bed and me in yours."
They both giggled, just lying there, staring at the ceiling.
Lorelai spoke first, "I can't believe I'm here. I just met the king." She was still blown away by what that had felt like. He was so powerful, but he had made her feel special.
Kenna also said, "I can't believe I'm here. My father is a blacksmith and here I am, in the king's palace."
Lorelai smiled, thankful to have someone from home that knew, someone to share things with. And she started, "I wish I knew how things worked here at court. I mean, I must find someone to wed me, but I must do it without appearing to be a loose woman. And what if someone I do not care for asks my father for my hand? I hate thinking about spending the rest of my life with someone who I don't like."
"Surely your father would not make you marry someone you do not love."
Lorelai smiled at how wonderful that sounded. "Oh, Kenna, I wish I thought like you." She turned to her friend and said, "But he will only think of his lands and power. He will find a man who can give him more power with a marriage union."
Kenna's voice was sad. "He will not think to ask you what you think of the man?"
Lorelai remembered when she had asked her father that same question. "He says that love is not a necessity in a marriage. One can produce an heir without real love. And as a woman, that is my responsibility. He says not to let love get in the way of the end game."
She felt Kenna's hand reach into hers, and she whispered, "I feel so incredibly sad for you right now."
And Lorelai nodded her head, and said, "I think I feel sad constantly. Knowing that my parents see me only as a bargaining chip to increase their prestige – that weighs heavily on a girl's mind." She remembered all of the talks her mother had given her about her duty as a daughter. "Perhaps that is why I envy you, my dear Kenna."
Kenna looked surprised, "You envy me, my lady?"
Looking back at the ceiling, Lorelai explained, "You had a hard life. And although I think that you would make an excellent Lady Kenna, I wouldn't wish the life that I am destined to on you. Because you have the choice. You meet a lovely young boy that makes your heart skip when you see him, and you have the ability to marry him, to birth his children, to live together in happiness and love for the rest of your life." Then she looked back at her friend and said, "I would give anything to have that opportunity."
"I understand."
They laid there for a few minutes, contemplating their different situations in life, and then Kenna startled up when she remembered, "We have to get you ready for your first night in court."
Pretending to whine, Lorelai said, "But the bed is so comfortable. I don't know…"
Kenna instructed the servants outside the door to draw her a bath, making sure that the water was nice and warm because of the chill that the stone brick all over gave off. She then helped Lorelai out of her traveling clothes.
Lorelai stepped into the warm bath, sinking her foot into the warm, bubbly water. And then her other foot, then her legs slid down into the basin, and then her torso, the warmth creeping up her body as she slid farther and farther down into the water. Soon just her head peeked out of the bubbles, and she closed her eyes from exhaustion. But as she felt herself falling asleep, she woke herself up, knowing all she had to do was slide into the water while she was sleeping and she could drown.
Kenna came over and helped her wash her hair, and then helped her dry off, put on her dressing gown, and worked a towel through her brown hair to help it dry so they could put it up for the party tonight.
Then Kenna started asking her which dress she wanted to wear.
"What about the green one with the diamonds in the corset?" Kenna asked.
Lorelai shook her head, "That one gave me a rash last time." She laughed at the face Kenna made, "The diamonds are a great idea in clothing, but when they rub up against your body it kind of hurts."
"What about the red lace one?"
"No." Lorelai said without hesitation.
Confused, Kenna asked, "Why on earth not? It's a beautiful dress and it looks amazing on you."
"My mother likes it. So I don't want to wear it."
Laughing ensued from the dressing room, and then Kenna said, "I've got it!"
She walked out carrying the white dress.
Lorelai nodded, and said, "Perfect."
Thankfully, Lorelai didn't have to wear a corset. She was so thankful for that, because she hated feeling constricted. But she had always been so skinny that she was able to get away with not wearing one, even though her mother was sure that she always had one on. Kenna helped Lorelai into the dress, lacing the back up around her shoulders.
Kenna did her hair, white flowers braided into the brown curls, causing her head to look like a waterfall, curls tumbling down with flowers following. A light bit of strawberry juice on her lips made her blue eyes pop off of the light skin of her face.
Lorelai looked into the mirror and she immediately knew they had chosen the perfect dress. The sleeves of the dress were in a light toile, and came only a few inches off of her shoulders before the toile flowed off of her arms, creating almost straight wings flowing down the sides of her body. The bodice was tightly fitted, not too low to show too much, but not too high that nothing showed. The material was gathered right underneath her chest, and then flowed to match the toile at her arms. The whole look put together made her look like she was floating through the air, each movement fluid and effortless.
And then Kenna reached over her head and secured a small diamond pendant across her neck. And Lorelai looked in the mirror and Kenna's eyes met hers. And Kenna said, "I think you might just make every man in court fall in love with you."
