A/N: This chapter isn't the greatest, so I might go back later and edit it.
I kind of skipped past some stuff, but I think I'll touch up on it in the
next chapter. Also in the next chapter will be the start of Summer, Mirra,
and Scarlett's new life in Uralby. I hope you enjoy. Thanks a ton for the
reviews. =)
Chapter 11
The day of the wedding, I woke up earlier than usual. Folded neatly on the floor was the new (but very plain and simple) dress that Annabelle had had made for all the female servants in the castle, to wear for the wedding. Strangely enough, I wasn't dreading the wedding, and I felt no sadness. Only pure happiness filled me. I had decided that I wouldn't wallow in my own self-pity or tell myself all the things I could that would make me feel miserable. I wanted this to be a happy day for both the couple and myself.
I changed into the dress and styled my hair before going downstairs to help the others with the last-minute preparations. Among a group of scullery maids in the kitchen were Mirra and Scarlett, and I rushed to them to help with the baking of both breakfast and some of the food to be eaten at the wedding. Scarlett thanked me with extreme gratitude for offering to help, considering how enormously busy she'd be all day without my and the other scullery maids' assistance.
For five hours we worked in that kitchen, dashing around from here to there and back again. Amazingly, I was only slightly messed up, with just a bit of flour on my skirt and my hair disheveled. Nothing I couldn't fix. I did so quickly, and then stepped into the hall, where many of the guests were beginning to mingle, making small talk while some servants finished decorating the alter. I went to look at the area in which the wedding would take place.
I was dazzled. A shaded garden with many bright sunflowers had been transformed into a magical wonderland. The altar consisted of a wooden arch that had daffodils, daises, and white roses on it. A carpet of dark red rose petals was scattered around the place where the bride and groom would stand. Seats were situated in the appropriate places, and candles made the scene all the more romantic. The entire event would be completely and thoroughly exquisite.
Even though I'd sworn to myself that I'd be happy for the couple the entire day, I felt some self-pity when I looked at the scene. A deep, overwhelming ache filled my heart, and it occurred to me that something this splendid could only happen to a princess, not a lowly servant. I tried not to think about the future or what would happen when Annabelle and Cynric became married. I sat down on the ground and stared at the altar as my eyes brimmed with tears, sniffling and shaking silently. When I felt calm enough, I stood and walked back to the castle. In the shadows beneath a nearby tree I saw a figure that had a remarkable resemblance to Cyn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The ceremony started out wonderfully. I was calm and collected now, and back to feeling bubbly. I stood on the sidelines of the seating area, a smile displayed upon my lips. Cynric stood in the front, beaming, looking proudly at his bride (who was walking down the aisle). Princess Annabelle looked just as happy, but there seemed to be a sort of restraint and guilt in her face. Violins and crickets were heard in the background, but nobody was paying attention to anything besides the bride and groom. Annabelle reached the altar and stood beside her man. I noticed that she seemed to have difficulty looking Cyn in the eye. The background sounds stopped (except for the crickets) and the minister began speaking. His voice was clear and loud. Annabelle gnawed on her lower lip, and seemed fidgety. Cyn was oblivious to this. His wide grin was shining just as brightly as ever, and he stood tall.
Annabelle was becoming increasingly restless, and I saw her look out across the people seated near her. Her eyes stopped when they saw one of Cyn's knights. Her face froze, and I glanced between the two and suddenly understood what was going on. My stomach twisted, because I had a premonition of what was about to happen. Annabelle stood frozen for several moments, seemingly unaware of her surroundings or what was going on. Then, startling everyone, she interrupted the minister's droning voice. Her eyes never left the face of Cyn's knight while she spoke.
"I can't do this," she said plainly. It wasn't very loud, but loud enough to be noticed by the groom, minister, and all the people sitting closest to them. The minister stopped speaking and looked down at Annabelle. Cyn, who was still holding Annabelle's hands, now looked at his would-be bride with confusion.
"Can't do what?" he asked. Annabelle finally broke her gaze on the knight and looked at Cynric sadly. I heard some murmurs from behind me, people asking what had just happened.
"I can't marry you," she replied quietly.
"Why?" Cyn asked, looking frantically at her.
"I don't love you." Annabelle looked down at the ground, and when she turned her eyes back upon Cyn's face, a few tears trickled along her face. "I just now realized how senseless it would be to marry a man I don't love, when I could very easily be married to a man I do." Cyn visibly deflated. He looked crushed and horrified. He withdrew his hands from Annabelle's, and took a step back. Annabelle looked at the other man, and walked toward him. They took each other's hands, and the man looked joyous. Annabelle smiled at him, and then turned to face Cyn again.
"I love Sir Bradley," she said, "and we both want to get married." There was absolute silence for a long while.
"Fine," was Cynric's simple reply. He nodded, comprehending what was happening. He looked at the two, who were now embracing, and then his gaze turned to Will, sitting a mere three seats to the left of Sir Bradley. Will looked mortified, but managed to give Cyn a sympathetic look. Cyn's gaze finally turned to me. I will never forget the look he gave me. It was a cold stare, filled with hate. I shivered, and turned my face down. He knew that somehow I was involved with what had happened. Then he spun on his heel and walked away out of the garden.
A week later I lie on my straw mattress staring up my hole-filled ceiling, thinking. Cyn was gone already. He'd packed and left as soon as he could. Will had gone with him. Most of the guests were gone; now there were only about a dozen, and all of them were leaving that day. Annabelle and Sir Bradley had eloped. The spell had been lifted the evening of the wedding, as soon as the two had announced they wanted to get married.
Being free from the curse felt no different. The only things that had changed were that the roses and ivy along the castle walls were fewer than they had been, and all the servants were free to leave the castle. I guess being stranded in a tiny castle away from all civilization had been the only bad part of the curse, the only part that affected our lives. I knew that most of the servants were staying at the castle, afraid to leave and see what new and terrible things might be going on in the world. I still didn't know what I wanted to do. I was so confused about everything at the moment. My biggest problem was what to do next. I was free to do as I pleased; yet I found I didn't enjoy this new liberty.
After a while of deep thought I dressed myself and went to the kitchen to have a talk with Mirra and Scarlett. Amazingly, a new realization had reached me in the small period of time I had been lying there thinking. I knew what I wanted to do and I needed to tell them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as they had finished washing the dishes from our noon meal, Mirra and Scarlett joined me in an unoccupied sitting room. I had gone into the kitchen and requested their presence earlier that day, telling them I needed to have a serious talk with them. They took their seats in two chairs beside mine, and then Scarlett asked me what it was that I had needed to talk to them about.
"First of all," I said, switching my gaze back and forth between the two of them, "I want to apologize for being such an unworthy and terrible friend these past years."
"What do you mean? You haven't been-" Mirra tried to talk, but I interrupted her.
"No. Don't object. You and I both know it's true. I've been the worst possible 'friend' in the world, and I want to apologize. I don't know if it's because I became so absorbed in the prince, or if it was by some other fault, but I hope you can forgive me."
"Of course we do!" Scarlett exclaimed.
"Whether or not you've been a good friend, we love you all the same, and there's no way we wouldn't forgive you," Mirra said. Both of them leaned toward me earnestly with caring looks. I smiled at them, and then became solemn again.
"Secondly, I want to apologize for being so mesmerized with Prince Cynric. I know I was a fool, and though I can't say I'm completely over him yet, I'm not as love-stricken with him as I used to be. I've learned my lesson. No longer will I pursue a man who has no interest in me." To this they said nothing, only nodded at me understandingly.
"Now we need to talk about what we're going to do from here on."
All of us agreed that we wanted to leave the castle. The place that I had once considered my home, my haven was now a haunting, empty wasteland I yearned to be free from. We only had to decide where it was we would go.
"Summer, I don't mean to upset you, but do you think we could go to Uralby? I'd love to see what it looks like. The knights told tales of that kingdom, and all of them made the place seem fantastically wonderful." Mirra asked me that question with nervousness and caution in her voice. Scarlett shyly admitted she longed to see Cyn's kingdom too.
"Besides," she added, "you've got a home there. You were known as Lady Elaine, right?"
"I don't see why we shouldn't go to Uralby, even if it does mean a chance of running into the kingdom's prince, but I'd rather not return to the life I led as Lady Elaine. It was dreadful. I have no idea how the wealthy people there stay sane, seeing as how boring it is. There's absolutely nothing for them to do besides go to parties, and that gets very boring after a while."
"That's perfectly fine with me," Scarlett said, and Mirra agreed. "I think I'd miss cooking, and I doubt that I'd fit in with high society."
"We can find work there," Mirra suggested. Scarlett and I approved of that. We decided that the following week we would trek to the kingdom of Uralby and search for work once we arrived there.
Chapter 11
The day of the wedding, I woke up earlier than usual. Folded neatly on the floor was the new (but very plain and simple) dress that Annabelle had had made for all the female servants in the castle, to wear for the wedding. Strangely enough, I wasn't dreading the wedding, and I felt no sadness. Only pure happiness filled me. I had decided that I wouldn't wallow in my own self-pity or tell myself all the things I could that would make me feel miserable. I wanted this to be a happy day for both the couple and myself.
I changed into the dress and styled my hair before going downstairs to help the others with the last-minute preparations. Among a group of scullery maids in the kitchen were Mirra and Scarlett, and I rushed to them to help with the baking of both breakfast and some of the food to be eaten at the wedding. Scarlett thanked me with extreme gratitude for offering to help, considering how enormously busy she'd be all day without my and the other scullery maids' assistance.
For five hours we worked in that kitchen, dashing around from here to there and back again. Amazingly, I was only slightly messed up, with just a bit of flour on my skirt and my hair disheveled. Nothing I couldn't fix. I did so quickly, and then stepped into the hall, where many of the guests were beginning to mingle, making small talk while some servants finished decorating the alter. I went to look at the area in which the wedding would take place.
I was dazzled. A shaded garden with many bright sunflowers had been transformed into a magical wonderland. The altar consisted of a wooden arch that had daffodils, daises, and white roses on it. A carpet of dark red rose petals was scattered around the place where the bride and groom would stand. Seats were situated in the appropriate places, and candles made the scene all the more romantic. The entire event would be completely and thoroughly exquisite.
Even though I'd sworn to myself that I'd be happy for the couple the entire day, I felt some self-pity when I looked at the scene. A deep, overwhelming ache filled my heart, and it occurred to me that something this splendid could only happen to a princess, not a lowly servant. I tried not to think about the future or what would happen when Annabelle and Cynric became married. I sat down on the ground and stared at the altar as my eyes brimmed with tears, sniffling and shaking silently. When I felt calm enough, I stood and walked back to the castle. In the shadows beneath a nearby tree I saw a figure that had a remarkable resemblance to Cyn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The ceremony started out wonderfully. I was calm and collected now, and back to feeling bubbly. I stood on the sidelines of the seating area, a smile displayed upon my lips. Cynric stood in the front, beaming, looking proudly at his bride (who was walking down the aisle). Princess Annabelle looked just as happy, but there seemed to be a sort of restraint and guilt in her face. Violins and crickets were heard in the background, but nobody was paying attention to anything besides the bride and groom. Annabelle reached the altar and stood beside her man. I noticed that she seemed to have difficulty looking Cyn in the eye. The background sounds stopped (except for the crickets) and the minister began speaking. His voice was clear and loud. Annabelle gnawed on her lower lip, and seemed fidgety. Cyn was oblivious to this. His wide grin was shining just as brightly as ever, and he stood tall.
Annabelle was becoming increasingly restless, and I saw her look out across the people seated near her. Her eyes stopped when they saw one of Cyn's knights. Her face froze, and I glanced between the two and suddenly understood what was going on. My stomach twisted, because I had a premonition of what was about to happen. Annabelle stood frozen for several moments, seemingly unaware of her surroundings or what was going on. Then, startling everyone, she interrupted the minister's droning voice. Her eyes never left the face of Cyn's knight while she spoke.
"I can't do this," she said plainly. It wasn't very loud, but loud enough to be noticed by the groom, minister, and all the people sitting closest to them. The minister stopped speaking and looked down at Annabelle. Cyn, who was still holding Annabelle's hands, now looked at his would-be bride with confusion.
"Can't do what?" he asked. Annabelle finally broke her gaze on the knight and looked at Cynric sadly. I heard some murmurs from behind me, people asking what had just happened.
"I can't marry you," she replied quietly.
"Why?" Cyn asked, looking frantically at her.
"I don't love you." Annabelle looked down at the ground, and when she turned her eyes back upon Cyn's face, a few tears trickled along her face. "I just now realized how senseless it would be to marry a man I don't love, when I could very easily be married to a man I do." Cyn visibly deflated. He looked crushed and horrified. He withdrew his hands from Annabelle's, and took a step back. Annabelle looked at the other man, and walked toward him. They took each other's hands, and the man looked joyous. Annabelle smiled at him, and then turned to face Cyn again.
"I love Sir Bradley," she said, "and we both want to get married." There was absolute silence for a long while.
"Fine," was Cynric's simple reply. He nodded, comprehending what was happening. He looked at the two, who were now embracing, and then his gaze turned to Will, sitting a mere three seats to the left of Sir Bradley. Will looked mortified, but managed to give Cyn a sympathetic look. Cyn's gaze finally turned to me. I will never forget the look he gave me. It was a cold stare, filled with hate. I shivered, and turned my face down. He knew that somehow I was involved with what had happened. Then he spun on his heel and walked away out of the garden.
A week later I lie on my straw mattress staring up my hole-filled ceiling, thinking. Cyn was gone already. He'd packed and left as soon as he could. Will had gone with him. Most of the guests were gone; now there were only about a dozen, and all of them were leaving that day. Annabelle and Sir Bradley had eloped. The spell had been lifted the evening of the wedding, as soon as the two had announced they wanted to get married.
Being free from the curse felt no different. The only things that had changed were that the roses and ivy along the castle walls were fewer than they had been, and all the servants were free to leave the castle. I guess being stranded in a tiny castle away from all civilization had been the only bad part of the curse, the only part that affected our lives. I knew that most of the servants were staying at the castle, afraid to leave and see what new and terrible things might be going on in the world. I still didn't know what I wanted to do. I was so confused about everything at the moment. My biggest problem was what to do next. I was free to do as I pleased; yet I found I didn't enjoy this new liberty.
After a while of deep thought I dressed myself and went to the kitchen to have a talk with Mirra and Scarlett. Amazingly, a new realization had reached me in the small period of time I had been lying there thinking. I knew what I wanted to do and I needed to tell them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as they had finished washing the dishes from our noon meal, Mirra and Scarlett joined me in an unoccupied sitting room. I had gone into the kitchen and requested their presence earlier that day, telling them I needed to have a serious talk with them. They took their seats in two chairs beside mine, and then Scarlett asked me what it was that I had needed to talk to them about.
"First of all," I said, switching my gaze back and forth between the two of them, "I want to apologize for being such an unworthy and terrible friend these past years."
"What do you mean? You haven't been-" Mirra tried to talk, but I interrupted her.
"No. Don't object. You and I both know it's true. I've been the worst possible 'friend' in the world, and I want to apologize. I don't know if it's because I became so absorbed in the prince, or if it was by some other fault, but I hope you can forgive me."
"Of course we do!" Scarlett exclaimed.
"Whether or not you've been a good friend, we love you all the same, and there's no way we wouldn't forgive you," Mirra said. Both of them leaned toward me earnestly with caring looks. I smiled at them, and then became solemn again.
"Secondly, I want to apologize for being so mesmerized with Prince Cynric. I know I was a fool, and though I can't say I'm completely over him yet, I'm not as love-stricken with him as I used to be. I've learned my lesson. No longer will I pursue a man who has no interest in me." To this they said nothing, only nodded at me understandingly.
"Now we need to talk about what we're going to do from here on."
All of us agreed that we wanted to leave the castle. The place that I had once considered my home, my haven was now a haunting, empty wasteland I yearned to be free from. We only had to decide where it was we would go.
"Summer, I don't mean to upset you, but do you think we could go to Uralby? I'd love to see what it looks like. The knights told tales of that kingdom, and all of them made the place seem fantastically wonderful." Mirra asked me that question with nervousness and caution in her voice. Scarlett shyly admitted she longed to see Cyn's kingdom too.
"Besides," she added, "you've got a home there. You were known as Lady Elaine, right?"
"I don't see why we shouldn't go to Uralby, even if it does mean a chance of running into the kingdom's prince, but I'd rather not return to the life I led as Lady Elaine. It was dreadful. I have no idea how the wealthy people there stay sane, seeing as how boring it is. There's absolutely nothing for them to do besides go to parties, and that gets very boring after a while."
"That's perfectly fine with me," Scarlett said, and Mirra agreed. "I think I'd miss cooking, and I doubt that I'd fit in with high society."
"We can find work there," Mirra suggested. Scarlett and I approved of that. We decided that the following week we would trek to the kingdom of Uralby and search for work once we arrived there.