Chapter Two

I sat in my room, watching the first rain of the season pour down outside. I couldn't leave my room, because I'd gotten lost every time I had left it the past day. The manor had over fifty rooms, with a fireplace in each one, on two floors. That was all I could remember from the tour three days ago. Everything else Rebecca had said hadn't really registered.

Just as I was thinking about her, the door opened, and she walked in, holding a pile of laundry. She grinned at me, flopped down on the bed, and started sorting it out. A few minuets later, she walked over to me. "Ge – I mean, Lady", she said, "You should start getting ready now for the palace. You're due there in... three hours." Before I could say anything, she bounded over to the bed, picked up several dresses, and held the first one up to me. It was a hideous pink, and I made a face, which made us both laugh.

"Um, Rebecca, I don't need three hours to get ready", I told her. "And I can do with out the 'lady'. Besides, I thought the royal family was... you know, low key." It was a relief not to speak so stiffly with her as I did with everyone else now. She had seemed shy on the first day, but her mask had quickly fallen off to reveal the true character.

Now, Rebecca gave me one of her charming, redhead grins. "It's still important to look nice – shows some respect, La – Gemma", she scolded me mockingly. "Specially with that Frellan prince lurking about." She gave me a wink, and continued holding up dresses.

I rolled my eyes. "Probably some stuffy old brat", I retorted, flinching as she slipped a corset on me and began to pull tight. Rebecca giggled. "Nah", she drawled, "they say he's a... frisky lad", she told me giddily as she nearly suffocated me. "I look forward to meeting him, then", I said with a cynical smile. I gasped; it was hard to talk at all with the thing forcing the air from my lungs. Rebecca noticed, and made me sit down on the bed. "The Ladies need to adjust to these", she drawled with a smirk. "They can be hard on the ribcage the first few times around."

I scrunched up my shoulders in pain. "The first few times?" I gasped, leaning forward. "More like... a permanent... pain..." Rebecca frowned, but dragged me to my feet. "Alright, I suppose we can loosen it just a tad", she said in a disappointed tone. The pressure on my bones loosened slightly, but it was still all I could think about. Rebecca looked put out, though, so I didn't say anything. I didn't want to kill my only companion on the third day of our relationship.

After several more dresses, we decided on a light green one with curved neckline and spring green ribbons at the bodice. After messing with my hair for an hour, Rebecca was satisfied with the elegant bun she'd produced. I was on the verge of exploding and falling apart. Would I have to go through this torture every time before seeing the royal family?

Turned out that it had taken three hours to get ready – the carriage was on the verge of leaving without me just before I scurried inside. Ingrid looked lovely in deep red silk, and Mattie reminded me of a pink flower. She was only thirteen, so she had no idea what it felt like to have your ribcage cracked apart. I was sure Ingrid was wearing a corset – but her face was impassive. I couldn't help being jealous.

The outside of the palace was cream, and its five turrets were capped with roofs of copper shingles. An arc passed from the top of one center turret to the other. The walls gleamed, and the copper shone in the late sunlight. The palace made it difficult to hate having come to Frell. Servants leaned out of the lower windows, calling to each other. The upper windows were made of colored glass. The courtyard was gigantic, ten times the size of our own, and three footmen stepped up to the carriage in order to escort Ingrid, Mattie and I up the sophisticated white banister.

I tried to get a good look at my footman's face, but his cap was drawn low down so that I couldn't see anything. He seemed to find something funny – he was hiding a laugh. The double doors swung open, and I stepped away from him, glaring. He turned his head in the opposite direction, and I caught a chuckle escaping his lips. I was about to open my mouth to make a sharp reply when Ingrid gave my arm a tight tug. I looked up in time to see her laughing. I heard a yell from somewhere near me, and if Ingrid hadn't pulled me out of the way, I would've been knocked over by someone literally flying down the banister!

I laughed out loud, not believing it. I so wanted to try that! I hadn't known servants were allowed to slide down banisters here. I was stunned when the woman who'd slid down landed gracefully on her feet and nodded to us, still laughing. Mattie threw me an estranged look. "So sorry - " she let out a burst of laughter "– I'm... Ella of Frell... it's a pleasure... to meet Sir Frederick's relatives..." her laughter died away, and my eyes widened. This was the Queen of Kyrria? I was impressed.

I curtseyed, wobbling. "I'm Gemma, of... of Eldred, your Highness", I introduced myself clumsily. The Queen smiled at me, taking both my hands in hers. "You look like your father, Gemma", she told me. "I miss him... every day. I'm sorry for your loss..." she drifted off, lost in thought. These people had loved my father? What was wrong with them?

A man walked into the room. His walk left no doubt about whom he was, although his young face was still freckled, and his eyes sparkled with fun. His gaze traveled from his wife to me, and I saw something stir in his eyes – a memory. Did I really look that much like my dead father? "Lady Gemma, I've been waiting to meet the maiden your father spoke of on countless occasions." He bowed.

I was taken aback. The King was bowing to me? Deep red, I muttered, "Thank-you. You're very kind, your highness." The King shook his head, grinning. "No daughter, or niece, or sister in law of Frederick should call me 'highness', Ladies. We can do without the formalities. I trust you've met Ella, my wife?" The Queen snapped from her daydream, and smiled dazedly at us.

"Of course, Char", she murmured to her husband. "I nearly collided with Gemma when I slid down the stair-rail." That produced a laugh from him – and I loved his laugh. Full of life and fun. I was so confused, though. They were treating me as equals to them – had father been so important and loved in this household? Had he been some kind of god?

I smiled sardonically. That wasn't possible. He was a vicious man. It was as if Frell and I knew two different people. Mattie looked just as confused as I felt, but smiled nonetheless. Ingrid, always being the smooth operator, was exchanging warm greetings with the King and Queen. Both kept looking in my direction and smiling with such kindness, almost as if they saw me as my own father.

The thought sent shivers down my spine.

Several minuets later, the Queen cleared her throat. "Our friend and cook, Mandy, is serving dinner now. Would you join us?"

Ingrid nodded gratefully. I could tell she liked the King and Queen. On the way to the dining hall, I wondered where their son and daughter were. Shouldn't they have welcomed us along with their parents?

The palace was beautiful on the inside, too – tapestries on nearly every wall of hunting scenes, court scenes, landscapes... I noticed that miniature things with wings lighted all chandeliers – each one gave off a bright glow as it fluttered back and forth in its place. The banisters were all made from either elfin wood or marble found in the gnome caverns. I noticed that every time we passed a stair rail, the royal couple was barely able to resist a slide, until I found it hard, too.

Suddenly, Seth popped into my mind. It would be fun to slide down the banister with him, I caught myself thinking, and was forced to pinch myself as we were led into the dining room.

It was much like ours at Eldred – luxurious, but comfortable. The Queen must've read my thoughts, because she pulled out a chair for me, saying, "This is the room we use for friends of ours. The table in the formal dining hall is so long that you can barely see the person at the opposite end." I giggled, surprising myself.

As we sat down, the King seemed to get more and more agitated, until he stood up, pacing the room.

"What is it, Char?" Ella asked him.

He turned to face us, an irritated look on his face. "I told Sebastian to be here at seven, but he's disappeared – again! As has Katrina." Ella turned to our confused faces. "Sebastian is our son and Katrina our daughter." Her face took on an annoyed look. "They're late, as always –" The double doors swinging open interrupted her. A girl walked in, maybe a year younger than me. Her long, dark hair was tousled all the way down to her hips, and she had several smudges of dirt on her pale skin, accenting her copper colored eyes. Her dress was torn along the hem and at the neckline. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. She looked a lot like I would've looked, had I not been forced into a corset and washed.

I'd managed relatively well so far with the vicious thing, but now it started cutting off my air again, now and then.

Don't think about it, Gem, I told myself fiercely. This is supposed to be important.

Katrina stopped walking towards us when she saw me, and stared. Her eyes were wide, and her smile ebbed slowly away. It was all I could do not to squirm under her penetrating gaze. Never taking her eyes off me, she curtseyed. "You must be Gemma", she said in a strained, throaty voice. I nodded, wondering why she was acting so strange.

"Nice to meet you", I said, trying to break the ice and breathing hard through my corset. It couldn't have been just because of my resemblance to father that she continued to stare so, and made no more response. Char stood, noticing the tension.

"Katrina, you're late again", he said exasperatedly.

The princess finally tore her eyes away from me, smiled at Ingrid and Mattie, and turned to Char. "Sorry, I was out riding. Won't happen again." She smiled apologetically at everyone, but avoided my gaze.

"And where would your brother be?" Ella prompted. Katrina grinned, her face amused. "As usual, I have no idea." She seemed so friendly – to everyone but me. What had I done? She didn't even know me!

The food was extravagantly good – I'd never had anything like it, but couldn't eat very much because my ribcage threatened to crack whenever I swallowed. The royal family (or the three quarters that I'd met) was so funny and kind, providing much laughter and talks of customs, upcoming events, and people. Katrina was very talkative, especially to Mattie – but she never spoke directly to me. It was a relief to excuse myself after dessert – I'd earned a break after hours in a suffocating corset and around a princess that seemed to hate me.

With the directions of a servant, I found my way into a part of the gardens. Although the trimmed hedges, fragrant roses, and structured fountains were distracting from the increasing pain in my ribcage, they weren't distracting enough. By the end of just another ten minuets, I could barely walk from pain.

I bent over, panting, clutching at the base of a wooden garden arch. The stabs of pain grew larger and longer with every ragged breath, and the garden turned hazy and began to spin. Panicking, I rasped out a pathetic 'help', but no one could've heard. I tore frantically at the collar of my dress, kneeling on the ground, but to no avail. I felt as if a thousand knives were being thrust into my stomach, and stopped breathing altogether from fear of the pain.

I looked up in time to see a dark figure approaching me on the path, and staggered a few steps in its direction – until a horrible darkness sucked me to the ground.

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