Chapter Three
Daralis spent the next two hours being lavishly pampered by her newly designated handmaiden in her newly designated washroom in the royal wing of the palace. The diamond necklace rested on the marble basin, next to Daralis. Fluffy bubbles surrounded her, and scented soaps of various types were rubbed into her hair, their oil counterparts scenting her bath water and treating her skin. The fingers of her handmaiden, Imsiriel, massaged her foamy hair and she felt her muscles relax against the tub, the groove carved into the stone completely fitting her body and helping her to settle back and still be in access to Imsiriel. She released a small sigh, and closed her eyes. The steaming water rose in vaporous wafts around her, and the medley of scents filled her nose.
"You know, Imsi," Imsiriel had given Daralis permission to call her Imsi at the difficulty she had with pronouncing it at first, even though she did get it eventually. She had decided to ask Alklithion if she could call him 'Alky' later. "I could really get used to this."
"I should hope so, Princess Daralis, for now that King Thranduil has welcomed you into the royal family, he will be quite hard- pressed indeed to let you go. Not to mention your father."
"What about him?" Daralis sat up and turned, leaving Imsiriel with soapy, but empty hands.
"No, Princess, I did not mean it that way. It is just that Prince Legolas refuses to marry, and he wants no company but that of family and friends- none of the maidens in the realm can take his fancy. Oh, but all he does is pine, truth be known. I am sure that his own child will be able to cheer him up, you see." Daralis gave an accepting yet suspicious hum, and settled back to let Imsiriel finish.
"King Thranduil told me that he would send someone to tell him to come home early. Do you know when he would be back?"
"Well, Princess, they left yesterday, and so most likely Prince Legolas would be back tomorrow evening." Daralis felt the butterflies that had retreated into their chrysalises burst out and attack her insides.
"Wow.. that's very soon, isn't it?"
"Not necessarily, Princess. They may even return more quickly, for I am sure that His Majesty would have bid them rush back."
"Oh."
"Well now, you are done. Just dip your head in," Daralis felt a hand on her head before she was pushed underwater and rinsed. She shot back out of the water, gasping madly.
"Imsi,"
"Yes, Princess?"
"Two things - Stop calling me 'Princess'. And the next time you do that rinsing thing, could you give me a bit of a warning before you do?"
"Yes, Prin- Yes, Miss, I shall." Daralis rolled her eyes.
"If it's 'Miss' or 'Princess', then I'll take 'Princess' back."
Imsiriel then rose a basin of warm water and doused Daralis with it, sudsy remnants running down her face. Her hair was swept up, and wrapped in a towel before Imsiriel held up a silken coverlet for Daralis to step into. She did so, and was ushered into a connecting room, where her breath halted at the sight that met her as she stepped through the doorway.
The deep green velvet canopy bed was covered in plush down comforters, with crisp, smooth cream colored satin sheets beneath. The rich wood of the frame had carvings of a strange font, and it shone from the light entering through the double glass doors opening to a balcony that curved to make a round outward wall to the room. The wall that separated her room from the next began a straight wall, and it was against this that her bed was placed. The forest green velvet of the canopy matched that of the curtains on the cream framed windows, which had been drawn aside and tied. An enormous wardrobe was near the door on their right side, next to which was a claw-footed looking glass, and a vanity was set up on the same wall as her bed three yards away. The floor was covered in plush deep green carpeting. A rich wood table matching that of her bed was set in the open space between her bed and the doors, and several hundred candles were on tall stands from the floor around the room, all extinguished. The tops of the two bedside tables of the same wood as her bed held candles, but the drawers they contained were empty. A desk with writing paper, multicolored inks and quills, letter wax and the crest of the royal family of Mirkwood was near the balcony, and was surrounded by candles.
Daralis was scanning the room, which was larger than the second floor of her house, as she spoke breathlessly.
"Is this my room?"
"Well yes of course, Princess. I wouldn't take you into someone else's room to dress, now would I?" Daralis cracked a smile, but she was still dazed by her living quarters. Imsiriel called her attention.
"Here are some dresses for you to wear, and you must go and be measured right away. Your father is returning tomorrow, and you must have a suitable dress to wear, and you also need a full wardrobe, as I assume you shall be staying for a while?" Imsiriel winked at her. Daralis rolled her eyes.
"Maybe you haven't seen this room. I won't be leaving unless you force me to physically, I mean." Imsiriel responded with a laugh. One of the few handmaidens who spoke the Common Tongue, Imsiriel was a stunning beauty even in her plain outfit, with flaxen hair as most of the Mirkwood Elves possessed, and a bright smile that came easily.
She opened the wooden wardrobe, and looking appraisingly at Daralis' form, selected a dress. It was midnight blue, with a velvet top layer and an opening at the stomach which revealed a satin underlayer. They both created a train behind her, and the swooping bell sleeves had a cuff of satin.
"Oh Imsi," Daralis breathed, "It's beautiful. Am I supposed to wear that?"
"That you are, Princess. Now dress quickly, if you will. You have to go to an appointment to be measured!"
If quickly was an hour, then Daralis' preparation time was quite long indeed. It took Imsiriel half an hour to negotiate with her newest ward an acceptable tightness for her bodice, and another to show her how to put on the dress. She left her by herself to put on the dress while she got the necessary items for pinning her hair, and when she returned fifteen minutes later, she realized that while Daralis' attempts were correct, she was donning the dress upside-down. Another half an hour to smooth it out, and fifteen more minutes to put it on correctly. Then began the hair pinning, which took an hour and a half as Imsiriel began with one hundred brush strokes to Daralis' silken brown locks. When she began to pin her hair, Daralis kept moving her head in such a way that before her hair could be secured, it had fallen down to its original state and needed to be reset with fifty brush strokes. They then had to find a place to put her necklace. Finally, after the fifteen minutes it took to get her slippers on, due to Daralis' dispute that she could and should do it herself, they left, three hours and forty-five minutes after she had risen from the tub.
"Oh, Imsi, do you think they'll be upset?"
"Princess, you are the future Sovereign of Mirkwood. In all honesty, it does not matter how upset they are."
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It was the dinner hour in Mirkwood, and when the smells from the kitchen wafted all the way up to her room, Daralis realized that it had officially been more than two days since she had eaten. She was almost dizzy with hunger, and she sat on the bed to take a short nap before the meal. When she had fully lain on the bed, she realized something else. She was being swallowed by a cloud. She let out an audible moan at the soft, fluffy bed, the most comfortable bed she had ever been in. She fell asleep in almost an instant.
Half an hour later, knocking on her door awakened her. Imsiriel entered, and at once glance at her she threw her hands up in the air.
"Look at you, Princess! Only hours before dinnertime and you are dozing? Up! Up, up, get up!" Daralis stretched, still slightly dazed from her sudden and unexpected wake up call. She felt an hand on her arm pulling her up.
"Come now, quickly! Change out of that dress, and into this one," Imsiriel was at the wardrobe, selecting a gown she had already decided Daralis would wear for tonight. It was a satin, champagne colored gown that followed her figure, unlike the belled skirts of the one she had worn that day. The neck line tapered down, and halfway down the shoulders the sleeves began, more bell sleeves that hung low when she rose her arms. The gown split, revealing white, gauzy satin, both of which went into the train, which trailed two feet behind her. The cuffs of her sleeves were of the same white satin as her underlayer, and her slippers were made of the same champagne fabric as her dress. Imsiriel let her hair down and brushed it another one hundred times, then swept it behind her. She put on her mother's necklace.
"You look amazing, Princess. Stunning. " Daralis smiled at her, but then they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Daralis opened it, to see Thranduil waiting for her. Imsiriel curtsied low and stayed that way.
"Kin- Grandfather, what are you doing here?"
"I have come to escort you to dinner, of course." Daralis nervously bit her lip. She had no idea of what manners were expected of her, or how to use the silverware here, or how to speak to the other guests, if they could understand each other at all
"Daralis?" Thranduil waved a hand in front of her face. She snapped out of her daze.
"What? What is it? Imsi, stand up, would you?" Imsiriel did so, blushing furiously as she looked at Thranduil.
"Your Majesty, if I may?" Thranduil gave Imsiriel leave to speak with a wave of his hand.
" Princess Daralis.. is having a problem with adjusting to our customs. She will not allow me to call her by her title, Highness, and dressing her that is another story altogether." Thranduil raised an eyebrow.
"I see. However, Imsiriel, while these issues are of importance, they must be addressed at a later time. It is time for dinner, and my granddaughter has not eaten all day, to my knowledge."
"Will all due respect, Highness, for I ask this question out of ignorance, does it make a difference?"
"Indeed it does, Lady Imsiriel! She has lived her life as a human thus far! Surely her habits cannot simply perish in a matter of mere hours?" The king held out his arm, and Imsiriel instructed Daralis as to how to properly take it. They left the room with Imsiriel calling out instructions behind them -
"Keep your back straight, Princess! Head held high, yes, like that! Walk with smaller steps, you will be considered oafish" They went on for quite a while, thanks to the sensitive ears of the two walking, and when Daralis could hear no more, Thranduil dictated for her.
"She would like you to speak softly, and properly, and to move little as she does not wish for you to wrinkle your gown or upset your hair"
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Dinner had been a relatively silent affair. Daralis had been introduced to the nobles that would be joining them. Lord Palansirion, who worked with Mirkwood's Army forces, Lord Rûdhrûthen, who worked with the border guards, and other such important figures of the court whose names she could not pronounce properly.
But Daralis sat there in silence, aside from the polite introduction and the necessary answers to the generic questions she was being asked. She ate, but her hunger had subsided as her meeting with her father came nearer. She managed to eat one dish before she was altogether a mess.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm really tired. I think I'll go to bed early." She rose, along with everyone else at the table.
"Well you don't have to come with me, I'm sure I'll be alright," Confused, she began to walk, and they sat back down. She raised an eyebrow, but continued.
She was quickly becoming lost in the labyrinth that was the royal floor when she heard a soft, almost familiar voice behind her.
"Are you lost, penneth?" She whirled around, her gown following her, to see who had spoken. When he stepped forward and into the light cast by the nearest sconce on the wall, she gasped, her eyes filling with tears.
"It's you.. It's really you."
Penneth- Little one, I think. Hehe. I forget.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ORLANDO BLOOM! :)
I'm sorry for the cliffhanger- sort of. Maybe if I get a lot of reviews, I'll update really, really soon! (HINT, HINT!!!!!!!!!)