Chapter Six
Alanna walked through the gardens. It felt peaceful, reminiscent of the times before she had come to Tortall. But running through her head were many thoughts. Tonight would be the first ball of the season. It would be the first time she would meet Prince Jonathon. She wondered about him. Was he actually as handsome as she had seen in the portrait (or as the other court ladies had said)? What would he be like? She hoped he wouldn't be as the other Tortallans were – drab and stuffy. But most of all, would she like him? Or actually, would he like her, as Lady Etiquette had often emphasized these two weeks. And according to Lady Etiquette, he most certainly would not. She was too wild, unrefined and unproper.
A princess was supposed to be the model of a perfect court lady – elegant, refined, keeping with the fashion, – which in Tortall, was currently horrid – modest, and she did not consort with those below her station. She, Alanna met none of those, according to the Lady Etiquette (and she was sure also, to the other courtiers). She did not care for embroidery, for in Clarus, it had been the work of only tailors and seamstresses. But in Tortall, there seemed to be no end to the embroidering of tapestries. She was most certainly not refined, having run off without an escort. Her raiment was immodest – for it was not keeping with the fashion and was vulgar – for only common people did not wear corsets. She was impudent, having remarked uncourteously (even if she had not truly meant it) towards some of Tortall's (strange) customs and etiquette. With this all, she supposed it would not matter if Prince Jonathon did like her, for (apparently) the people of Tortall would decide she was not fit to be Queen, according to Lady Etiquette. The bell rang four times; it was exactly three and a half hours until tonight's banquet. She decided to go back to her chambers.
Celia was there, tidying up the drawing room. They talked of the coming ball. Celia was sure that the Prince would like Alanna, after all, it was just that most of the Tortallans happened to be rather boring. And the Prince sounded like someone who would not be boring or drab, as she had heard from passing courtiers and servants. Celia said she was sure they would come to love each other. Alanna felt reassured, after all, Celia did see more people than she did and surely at least some of them were not boring or drab. They talked nervously about Alanna's reception in Tortall; while Celia was quickly accepted, Alanna was afraid that she might not be well accepted. But Celia was sure that Alanna would be accepted well by most of the courtiers; after all, the King and Queen would have known she was right for their kingdom. Alanna wondered greatly about other court ladies, apart from her ladies-in-waiting. Perhaps there would be some ladies that were not so . . . so . . . drab, said Celia. After all, surely they weren't all the same, Celia said. Then suddenly, there was only one and a half hours until the banquet.
She dressed in a fine herringbone wool gown of lilac. The gown was in a Clarusan style, with long flared sleeves and a flared skirt, but she supposed it was the best she could do for Tortallan style. There was a puff at each shoulder, and cream colored ribbons were crisscrossed over the bodice. Ribbons were also crisscrossed on the upper sleeves and they hung down to the ends of her sleeves, which were quite long. Her slippers were lilac silk and beaded with pearls. Her hair was done in a more complicated style than usual circlet. Two braids were pulled back from the sides of her head, and then twisted into a knot, with the rest of the hair left loose. Two thin accent braids were slightly crossed over at the back. Then the Duchess came to escort her to the banquet. She directed a rather disapproving look towards Alanna's gown, but said nothing.
Over the past two weeks, she had been met with persistence over the topic of proper dress. Alanna had refused to dress in court fashion, instead, donning the immodest dress of her homeland. She sighed. If things continued this way, the next Queen was to have a hard time as Princess.
The banquet was far by the largest she had ever attended. It was the first time she had set eyes on Prince Jonathon and he seemed as handsome as she had seen in the portrait. After the announcement of the betrothal, the banquet commenced. It seemed as if every noble in Tortall was present. And it was not helping her conversation with the Prince. Many eyes seemed to be turned upon them and their mouths ready to gossip. The Prince himself was not that bad, she supposed. He had thought her raiment quite strange though.
"Why do you not dress in our fashion?" he had asked.
"Because I find it strange, as you do mine," she replied. "In Clarus, our dress is not as restricting, or heavy. I mean no offense, but I find Tortallan dress rather uncomfortable and ostentatious.
"But our dress is more modest. Does your empire not find it scandalous to show off parts of ladies' chemises?"
"It is simply just the style," she replied.
They had discussed the festivals of their lands. It was surprising to find out that the monarchs and nobles did not participate in any festivals with commoners. They were above such consorting, said the Prince. Alanna had explained that in some festivals, monarchs mingled with commoners because the people expected to see their King and speak to him. Monarchs did not consider themselves "above such consorting". After all, they were leaders, not rulers. She was also shocked to find out that he thought games such as Chase the Pig, tug-of-war, and the pole race improper for "ladies" as he had said. Improper? Unmannerly? She was quite confused at this Tortallan etiquette. But there was not much time left to flounder in her thoughts as the banquet was over and the King and Queen were leading the nobles into the ballroom.
They – the King and Queen – sat upon tall golden thrones presiding over the ball. She and the Prince led the first dance. It was not the most complicated of the Tortallan dances she had learned, but it seemed rather stiff and formal. After a few dances, the Prince left to dance with several other ladies of the court. She sat down to observe the ball. Most of the matrons tended to wear darker gowns as opposed to the bright (and rather ostentatious) gowns of the younger ladies. They sat amongst themselves, gossiping. A few men danced with their wives, but it seemed that most of the dancers were younger ladies and knights. Squires walked amongst the dancers and the seated, offering refreshments. She took time to observe the dress that the Prince had said was "proper" and "modest". The gowns the ladies wore seemed to be very heavy and rather stiff, as opposed to the more flowing gowns she wore. The fabrics were very rich, mostly damasks, brocades, and velvets. The bodices of the gowns were rather stiff and slightly cone shaped. The skirts were very wide and slightly rounded and stiff, as opposed to the skirts on Clarusan style gowns, which were sometimes wide, but flared and more flowing. Some of the other skirts worn by the Tortallan court ladies were slightly bell-shaped and most of them opened up to reveal often elaborately patterned or embroidered underskirts. The sleeves apparently consisted of two sleeves, a bell-shaped over sleeve that sometimes ended between the elbow and wrist and an under sleeve that ended around the wrist. The under sleeve was rounded and sometimes had a part that stuck out, making the upper sleeve seem wider. Around the waist, many ladies wore girdles. They were similar in shape to the type on Clarusan gowns, but were much more elaborate, often set with many precious stones. Their jewelry was also elaborate,.with ropes of pearls or gold chains adorned with precious stones that were often so long they were wrapped once around the neck and left to hang down quite far or tucked into the bodice She could not imagine running or really doing much of anything (unless it was embroidery) in such gowns. They apparently wore such gowns everyday, though they were usually less elaborate.
She observed the King and Queen, who seemed to be very loving towards each other. She spotted the Prince talking to them, and then he walked towards her and asked her to dance. She accepted politely, as was the custom. As they danced, they did not really talk of much. He asked how she liked Tortall and tonight's ball. She replied that they were both quite pleasant, though secretly she thought otherwise. After another dance, he left and went to dance with a dark-haired lady. She had noticed that this particular lady had garnered the attentions of many knights, but had danced many times with the Prince. The other ladies dressed in bright, trimmed gowns, but she was clad simply in an undecorated gown of green opening onto a white underskirt, with simple white under sleeves. With her dark hair, green eyes and milk white complexion, she stood out from the other ladies with their golden tresses, blue eyes and rosy complexions. She did not observe them for much longer because she had been asked to dance by a brown-haired knight.
A/N: Well, another chapter. *He, he*. Was that Delia?
On clothing and such – My Tortallan dress is inspired by the gowns of the Tudor period. Tortallan dress always had that sort of feel, so I've decided to make their gowns like that. It also serves to illustrate the stiff court Alanna enters and the restrictions. Tortallan dress also tends to be ostentatious, representing that a lot of the nobles tend to be snobby, i.e. – the Duchess. Clarusan dress, by contrast is not stiff and restricted. It's inspired by medieval gowns which had long flared sleeves, and a wide, but flowing gown. Men's dress for both empires is mostly the same – tunic and hose or breeches. For examples of Tudor dress go here – www.uvm.edu/hag/sca/tudor/.
For examples of Medieval dress go here – www.enchantedcostumes.com/medieval_costumes.shtml .