Alanna woke up at dusk to find herself rudely waken by Jon coughing at her.
'We have arrived', he said gruffly, and descended the carriage without another word.
Grumbling Alanna roused herself fully and felt as annoyed as a cat woken suddenly from a comfortable sleep. Frustrated and a little disoriented, she descended the carriage and was surprised that Jon was waiting for her to aid her down the steps.
'This is Conte park; my country estate,' he said as he offered an arm to Alanna, 'We rarely have visitors here so there may be a slight feeling of isolation during your stay here. It is a quite life that is adopted in the park and things would take place at a slower pace than that which happens at court. Life is less formal and I hope you would find it to your taste. The housekeeper would arrive shortly and would show you to your room.'
With that, Jon swiftly left Alanna in the hall of 'the house' on her own. It was more like a palace that a house with its marble floors and staircases. Its high ceilings and tall windows were somewhat imposing yet there was a sense of home to it. The windows were flung open and Alanna could hear the wildlife and a faint whisper of a stream. This certainly is a beautiful house, she thought, and was interrupted from her reverie by the housekeeper coming into the hall. She was a nice old woman with a kind face and a bustling mother like character. She approached Alanna smiling and spoke to her as a grandmother would to her granddaughter. There was no hint of the strict social hierarchies in place here and Alanna could see that she would be happy and would grow to like and love this old lady.
After a few minutes of idle conversation, the topic turned onto that of the prince.
'So we have you to thank for bringing the young Jonathan home do we?' asked Mary, as she wished to be called.
'That may be open to debate,' Alanna answered, 'it was something of a royal order that had caused me to be here.'
'Really, that is very shocking,' replied Mary, ' this does not sound like their majesties to do such things, in fact I had received from her majesty a letter only this morning which had only good to say and praises to sing about you.'
'Oh I do not mean that the queen had order me here, it had been the work of the Prince with the aid of the king', replied Alanna.
'That cannot be so,' replied Mary, 'Jonathan could never want to force anyone to do anything they do not want to.'
Alanna was very shocked at that.
'I beg your pardon madam but I cannot believe that that is possible. Since I had arrived in this country I had been doing nothing but the orders given to me by the prince. His arrogance at court and his presumptuous superiority has lead me to believe that he had behaved very similarly to everyone. His desire is to control everything and everyone has to know their place and abide by the rules he set.'
'It is true that Jonathan can be rather determined in his way but he had never shown me an ounce of arrogance all his life,' replied a flustered Mary, 'he is the epitome of goodness and fairness.'
'I can see that we have very different ideas and opinions about the prince' Alanna laughed, wondering why the opinion of this old lady differed so much from her own. 'We cannot stand her and idle all day, could you please lead me to my rooms, I wish to recover from my journey, it had been long.'
'Of course my dear', right this way. 'Now Jonathan was very specific about the location of your bedchamber and your rooms. It is usual for the prince and his betrothed to rest in adjacent rooms. However, Jonathan feared that that arrangement at court had made you uneasy and has required me to place you in the room used by the Queen when she stays. It is a lovely room located in the east wing and overlooking the gardens.
With that she led Alanna through the many corridors of the house. Every wall was filled with pictures of old kings and queens. Unlike the imposing state portraits, as can be found in the galleries at the palace in Corus, these portraits were family pictures, showing the royalty with their families.
'Here we are', said Mary suddenly as they turned a corner, 'your room'.
She opened into the most breathtaking room in the world, though simply furnished the room was elegant and perfectly complimented by the views of the garden outside.
'Beautiful isn't it' said Mary, correctly interpreting Alanna's awestruck face. 'Jonathan was most determined for you to have this room, it really is the pride of the house.
Alanna stood in awe struck silence, how could someone so seemly self centred as the prince understand so much of nature and beauty to create such a beautiful house. She shook her head and deemed it impossible; no doubt he had acquired some famous architect or designer to help him.
Mary looked at Alanna intently, 'you know Jonathan is not a bad person. He is often nervous in court, so much is expected of him. As the heir he is expected to act a certain way and his upbringing has taught him to be proud and yes, maybe even arrogant. All I am asking is that you give him a chance, he must have brought you're here for a reason. It'll all turn out well, you'll see.'
With that, she left, reminding Alanna that the park was now hers to explore. Alanna sat down on the bed, deep in thought.
'This should be an interesting month.' She said aloud. With that she started to unpack.
'We have arrived', he said gruffly, and descended the carriage without another word.
Grumbling Alanna roused herself fully and felt as annoyed as a cat woken suddenly from a comfortable sleep. Frustrated and a little disoriented, she descended the carriage and was surprised that Jon was waiting for her to aid her down the steps.
'This is Conte park; my country estate,' he said as he offered an arm to Alanna, 'We rarely have visitors here so there may be a slight feeling of isolation during your stay here. It is a quite life that is adopted in the park and things would take place at a slower pace than that which happens at court. Life is less formal and I hope you would find it to your taste. The housekeeper would arrive shortly and would show you to your room.'
With that, Jon swiftly left Alanna in the hall of 'the house' on her own. It was more like a palace that a house with its marble floors and staircases. Its high ceilings and tall windows were somewhat imposing yet there was a sense of home to it. The windows were flung open and Alanna could hear the wildlife and a faint whisper of a stream. This certainly is a beautiful house, she thought, and was interrupted from her reverie by the housekeeper coming into the hall. She was a nice old woman with a kind face and a bustling mother like character. She approached Alanna smiling and spoke to her as a grandmother would to her granddaughter. There was no hint of the strict social hierarchies in place here and Alanna could see that she would be happy and would grow to like and love this old lady.
After a few minutes of idle conversation, the topic turned onto that of the prince.
'So we have you to thank for bringing the young Jonathan home do we?' asked Mary, as she wished to be called.
'That may be open to debate,' Alanna answered, 'it was something of a royal order that had caused me to be here.'
'Really, that is very shocking,' replied Mary, ' this does not sound like their majesties to do such things, in fact I had received from her majesty a letter only this morning which had only good to say and praises to sing about you.'
'Oh I do not mean that the queen had order me here, it had been the work of the Prince with the aid of the king', replied Alanna.
'That cannot be so,' replied Mary, 'Jonathan could never want to force anyone to do anything they do not want to.'
Alanna was very shocked at that.
'I beg your pardon madam but I cannot believe that that is possible. Since I had arrived in this country I had been doing nothing but the orders given to me by the prince. His arrogance at court and his presumptuous superiority has lead me to believe that he had behaved very similarly to everyone. His desire is to control everything and everyone has to know their place and abide by the rules he set.'
'It is true that Jonathan can be rather determined in his way but he had never shown me an ounce of arrogance all his life,' replied a flustered Mary, 'he is the epitome of goodness and fairness.'
'I can see that we have very different ideas and opinions about the prince' Alanna laughed, wondering why the opinion of this old lady differed so much from her own. 'We cannot stand her and idle all day, could you please lead me to my rooms, I wish to recover from my journey, it had been long.'
'Of course my dear', right this way. 'Now Jonathan was very specific about the location of your bedchamber and your rooms. It is usual for the prince and his betrothed to rest in adjacent rooms. However, Jonathan feared that that arrangement at court had made you uneasy and has required me to place you in the room used by the Queen when she stays. It is a lovely room located in the east wing and overlooking the gardens.
With that she led Alanna through the many corridors of the house. Every wall was filled with pictures of old kings and queens. Unlike the imposing state portraits, as can be found in the galleries at the palace in Corus, these portraits were family pictures, showing the royalty with their families.
'Here we are', said Mary suddenly as they turned a corner, 'your room'.
She opened into the most breathtaking room in the world, though simply furnished the room was elegant and perfectly complimented by the views of the garden outside.
'Beautiful isn't it' said Mary, correctly interpreting Alanna's awestruck face. 'Jonathan was most determined for you to have this room, it really is the pride of the house.
Alanna stood in awe struck silence, how could someone so seemly self centred as the prince understand so much of nature and beauty to create such a beautiful house. She shook her head and deemed it impossible; no doubt he had acquired some famous architect or designer to help him.
Mary looked at Alanna intently, 'you know Jonathan is not a bad person. He is often nervous in court, so much is expected of him. As the heir he is expected to act a certain way and his upbringing has taught him to be proud and yes, maybe even arrogant. All I am asking is that you give him a chance, he must have brought you're here for a reason. It'll all turn out well, you'll see.'
With that, she left, reminding Alanna that the park was now hers to explore. Alanna sat down on the bed, deep in thought.
'This should be an interesting month.' She said aloud. With that she started to unpack.