Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters.
Jacqueline was nearly through the window and into her rooms as someone knocked on her bedroom door. An involuntary gasp escaped her lips as she then fell through her open window, tumbling to the stone floor. She swore under her breath as she landed, hard, onto her knees and hands. "Your highness?" a voice called from behind the door as she scrambled up, trying to right herself.
"Princess?" they called again, sounding a little worried as they knocked once more. Once Jacqueline was standing again, she attempted to smooth out her skirts and hair as she rushed to answer the door.
"Yes?" she answered the knocking, opening the door just a crack.
"Your highness," the voice greeted, a slight mocking tone to his voice and a smirk playing at his lips. The man standing behind the door, was a knight and captain of her guard. Jacqueline couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sight of the man, who was a childhood friend of hers. Sir Henry of Colline stood before her as she opened the door slightly, revealing that he was in full dress armour. Though the knight was a friend of hers, by purely platonic nature, she couldn't deny how dashing the tall, burly red headed man looked. It was no secret that many of the ladies of court fawned over him, now more than ever with his recent promotion to commander of her guard. It was more a dress title than anything, but a prestigious one at that.
Henry was, in fact, one of the youngest men to ever have held the title. Jacqueline had been thrilled to hear that one of her close friends had gotten the job, as opposed to some stuffy Lord who hadn't seen a battlefield since his days as a squire. Of course, the princess had given his name to her father, the king, and they had both observed his accomplishments at the tourneys held in Galla throughout the past year.
The knight himself had no clue that Jacqueline had given his name to her father, and she planned on keeping it that way. He had earned the position on his own accord, but hearing that she had possibly had a hand in him getting there would be too big a blow for his ego. The princess had no want of dealing with the inevitable blow out that would soon follow.
"Henry, please, no formalities. You know that," Jacqueline insisted, her voice low so that any prying eyes couldn't hear. Most nobles of the Gallan court found that Jacqueline's dislike for the use of titles was only another indicator that she was an unfit heir to the throne. They thought that it was merely a sign of her being too comfortable with being 'common'.
The handsome knight merely smirked, a knowing look on his face as she sighed in frustration. Henry always insisted on using her titles, for the mere reason that it bothered her immensely. "Of course, your highness. I am here simply to remind you that the feast being held in your honour is started soon. You were being so quiet, I wanted to ensure that you were still here."
The princess scoffed, a look of mock hurt on her face. "Me? Leave my chambers? Preposterous, a princess would never do such a thing. As you see, I am here, clearly," she insisted, the look on her face was straighter than any gamblers.
In reply, Henry merely raised a pair of ginger brows, and - rather boldly - reached out and plucked an ivy leaf from her loose, raven black curls. The knight began to grin wickedly as the look of realization dawned on the princess' face as she quickly snatched the leaf away from him before anyone else saw the evidence of her little adventure. "I wonder how that got there? In your plantless chambers?"
"Oh, shush! So what if I climbed out the window to get some fresh air. I'm suffocating in here!" the princess whispered with a dramatic flare as she hung to the doorframe, rolling her eyes to the back of her head and mimicking fainting. The knight merely chuckled and shook his head at her theatrics.
"The queen sent a message, informing you that the feast tonight was a rather large one. I fear that your favourite person sent you one as well, commanding that you," the knight held up a finger to motion for her to wait as he paused to unfold the note which he had been holding in his hand. "'Behave and dress appropriately, you are to be sitting with the crowned prince and any shenanigans will be punished.'" The knight finished speaking with a look of mocking fear, his eyes wide and mouth in the shape of a small 'o'. Jacqueline snatched the note from him and reread it, making sure that he wasn't just teasing her.
The princess rolled her eyes as she crumpled the note and tossed it to the closest waste bin in her rooms. "Have my handmaids draw me a bath. The journey was long and I have yet to soak after the ride." The tone that Jacqueline's voice suddenly held was one that did not come easily to most, and was one that normally was heard when passed edicts of law, or commanding great armies.
When the princess looked back up at the knight before her, she noticed that he was smiling down at her in earnest. "What?" she demanded to know, her voice slipping back into her previous mocking tone. Henry merely shook his head, trying to hide the smile that had appeared.
"Oh nothing, simply me being in awe of how easily you can switch from Jacqueline to 'the crowned princess of Galla'," was his short reply as he shook his head. "As your highness commands," he said quickly as she began to defend herself , his voice still holding that tone of mocking that he seemed to reserve just for her.
She let out a rather un princess-like noise of frustration at his words, muttering curses under her breath for his insistence of being such a nuisance.
The bath was put together quickly, and the moment Jacqueline's body hit the warm of the water she let out a soft groan of pleasure. Steam still rose from the oil infused water, one of her new handmaids made a sound to warn her of the heat, another more experienced one merely shushed her and let their future monarch hop into the scalding hot water. The heat seemed to make the stresses of court, and of her travels just melt away. Normally, the princess hated being waited on hand and foot. The constant presence of people just exasperated her. But, it was times like these where she truly appreciated the maid washing her hair and massaging her head and neck while doing so.
Jacqueline was completely serene in that moment, but it was a short lived serenity, as one of her handmaidens spoke up inquiring what she was planning on wearing to the feast that evening. The princess opened her eyes then, realizing that she couldn't simply remain in the bath all night like she had just planned to do only seconds ago. She hummed softly to herself, and then sighed as she scrubbed her skin with a bar of lovely smelling soap.
"Truthfully, I had given it no thought... Marie, what do you think? You always know best when it comes to these sorts of things," Jacqueline spoke, her voice was soft and kind. The princess truly was grateful to her little band of maids, without them she would simply walk around the palace in a potato sack.
"Were you wishing for a more Tortallan look? Or a more traditional Gallan look, my lady?" the handmaiden closest to her right spoke. Jacqueline hadn't been able to get her handmaids to call her simply by her name, but she had at least been able to talk them down to simply calling her 'my lady' as opposed to 'your highness' every moment they spoke with her.
The princess' eyes moved to a petite looking lady working on preparing her vanity for the chore of styling her hair and applying that evening's face paint. "Catherine, you're knowledgeable in court on matters. Would it be better of me to showcase Gallan fashions tonight, or to style myself more Tortallan?"
The lady in waiting looked startled to have been addressed, but nodded her head in a slightly curtsy in acknowledgement of being spoken to. The woman was a small thing, but had a stern face and a no-nonsense attitude. She knew everything there was to know about any court, be it Gallan or foreign. She was by far a favourite of the princess. "I have overheard Queen Lianne insisting that her courtiers look as Gallan as possible. My suggestion would be to honour that and dress in the Gallan fashion as well."
The princess dropped her hands into the water with a loud 'splash'! Clearly she was dreading the thought of donning another corset and having to haul around a skirt three times her size. "Very well, how about the blue one? With the sapphires? The least we can do is honour their royal family by wearing their colours. All the maids in the room agreed, Jacqueline smiled kindly to them all as she dunked her head beneath the now lukewarm water of her bath.
Jacqueline briefly contemplated just staying below the surface and not coming back up, then she wouldn't have to wear anymore of those Gods awful gowns. She broke the surface of the water then with a gasp for air after holding her breath for so long. None of the other women in the room seemed phased by the princess' odd behavior, seemingly used to it.
"Very well," she spoke as she rose from the water. The strangest part of adapting to being a princess was the fact that barring sleep, you never got to be alone. Even when you washed the room was full of a group of women, only one of them there to actually aid you in anyway. The rest merely sat there and 'attended'. It was the strangest custom, and the princess would never get used to it, but luckily she wasn't shy of showing off her body.
"Ready the blue gown, and the sapphire jewelry to accompany it. Ladies, the rest is in your hands," Jacqueline said with a note of finality as she wrapped a drying cloth around herself and squeezed the excess water from her hair. All the women around her went off to fetch what needed to be fetched, giving the princess a moment of being alone as she sighed. She silently wished that she could just spend the night curled up in her chambers, alone.
A/N: Yeah, I know I haven't updated in like two years. This chapter isn't even really anything interesting, useful or plot driven but I'm just gonna put it there because of reasons.