6- Marsha
"Everyone would like to catch the attention of the Prince obviously, but I know, and I have thought about this for a very long time that too many women trying to vie for the attention of the Prince will leave many broken-hearted ladies, though I know if I tried, I could have the Prince wrapped around my finger because let's be honest here, I'm the prettiest debutante here but I have decided, rather kindly might I add, to not pursue the Prince like everyone else."
"How kind," Daria said sarcastically.
"I just wish these other girls were as understanding as you. They take one look at me, not even talking to me to see if I'm horrible or not and judging me based on their jealousy of me. Really, it's not fair!"
"Well, life's not fair," Daria said monotonously.
"Life shouldn't be about…"
Daria blocked out the girl's squeaky, know-it-all voice; a speciality of hers.
The girl who was nattering on was that same over-enthusiastic mousy-haired girl who had nearly fallen off her chair before. Daria looked down at the girl through slanted eyes, waiting for a break so she could interrupt…and wait she did. She didn't even know the girl's name! Christine and she had stood alone while all the other debutantes formed groups. Daria had noticed (a little too late) this girl sidling up to them. Once she started talking, she didn't even think of stopping for breath, she could talk and talk…about anything and nothing at all.
"…It's about trust, friendship and loyalty. Not backstabbing friends who had held you in the deepest regards. Not when they need you-"
"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name," Daria cut in, hoping she didn't sound rude, beside her; Christine gave a sigh of relief.
The girl stopped talking. Silence truly was golden. The girl looked lost for a moment and then said, still in her know-it-all voice:
"Marsha. Marsha Ludlow."
"How nice to meet you, I'm Daria."
"Christine," Christine said.
"Anyway, as I was saying, betrayal is the root of all problems in my book…"
Christine and Daria looked at each other helplessly as Marsha carried on clueless.
"Well look who we have here."
Daria and Christine spun around to face Porpentina and her ever-increasing number of cronies.
Christine blanched.
"Christine the baby and her sitter," Porpentina said loudly, no doubt wanting everyone to hear.
Daria sighed mentally, totally unaffected by Porpentina's childish taunts. She pulled Christine away from Porpentina's group of sidekicks wordlessly, not wanting to waste her breath.
"I wouldn't waste my breath if I were you," Marsha cut in, pushing her way into the group. She looked up at Porpentina through flashing blue eyes.
"Who do you think you are?" Porpentina questioned, sniffing contemptuously. "You're obviously well below me, so please don't associate yourself with me." Porpentina looked Marsha up and down coldly, before sniffing and flouncing off.
"Girls like that; those are the girls that think they're better than me, obviously jealous of me," Marsha proclaimed to Daria and Christine.
Christine frowned lightly before saying a quiet "Thanks."
"Oh my pleasure, my pleasure. Me and you…Christine was it? We have to stick together…all these other girls are against us."
Daria smirked as Christine stumbled over her words.
"Well I…I suppose so…but-"
Madam Blythe clapped her hands curtly and all the debutantes except for Daria and Christine, gathered around her like she was going to hand out cookies.
"Good luck Christine, you've found yourself a best friend," Daria told Christine quietly, patting her on the back. Christine rolled her eyes.
"Please, no."
Madam Blythe's voice cut their conversation short.
"Now girls, every day this week you must come to this room for your lessons," Madam Blythe whispered, almost conspiratorially. "Remember, your presentation at Court and your first official ball are less than a week away!"
The girls squealed in excitement.
"Oh, I'm so nervous," Christine said, wringing her hands in frustration.
"Don't be," Daria said reassuringly as Madam Blythe waved the girls out of the room. "You're only going to be introduced to the most important people in the country," she said lightly.
Christine paled.
----------
"I think it was quite exciting really. This is preparation for the rest of my life," Christine said, nodding her head.
"Don't be so dramatic," Daria said. "I'm sure you've done all the things we're going to do with Madam Blythe before, in all those lessons you've been having for the past ten years."
Daria and Christine stopped in the hallway, between their two respective rooms.
"I don't think I'll come tomorrow Christine. First off, I'm sure Madam Blythe and I will not get along and two, it's boring."
"Oh, but you must," Christine said insistently. "Why else have you come if not to follow me wherever I go?"
Daria creases her forehead; sure her pride had been wounded by Christine's words.
The truth was that she felt embarrassed to take part in a class where every other student was younger than her.
"I'll see you at dinner," Daria said shortly and entered her own room.
"Oh Lady Daria, you've arrived!" Sienna said as Daria closed the door behind her.
"Yes, at last! Tomorrow I will pretend to be ill so as not to take part in the class, you'll have to help me Sienna."
"I din't know you were the sneaky type ma'am," Sienna said good-naturedly as she dusted the tabletops.
"No, I'm not. It's just that I happen to know that I will be ill tomorrow."
The two girls smiled at each other.
"Oh yes! A letter arrived for you this mornin' ma'am," Sienna said, scrabbling to pull out a small white letter.
Daria frowned curiously as she took the letter and sat down on her bed.
"Whoever would write to me?" She asked no one in particular, as she looked over the letter.
Dear Daria,
You have not forgotten me already have you? I hope you and Christine are well. I am suffering from a blasted cold which has stopped me from taking my regular walks but Sir Peter has been ever so kind and has visited me once already! Mama says he means something by it but I don't want to get my hopes up.
How is the Castle? Is it as beautiful as the last time I saw it? You've probably made many friends and have forgotten me already (though it's been less than a day!) Now you cannot say that I am a bad friend. Sir Peter says that you should come and visit me because I am ill and only real friends visit ill friends. Mama says he means something by that as well. Really, next time he's going to ask me if I'm alright and Mama's going to think he's proposed! A somewhat informative letter from your ill friend who has nothing better to do than write letters to everyone she knows. Write soon.
Love from
Eleanor
Daria smiled at the letter, familiar warmth rose in her heart. She was slightly worried at the number of times Sir Peter had been mentioned in her letter. Daria hoped nothing would come of it. She sat down at her table and composed a letter to Eleanor, stopping shortly before dinner.
She waited in Christine's room for more than twenty minutes before said girl was ready to leave. Daria rubbed her hungry stomach.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Christine asked.
"I am more than sure," Daria said, not sure at all.
Daria marched down the stairs, dragging an out-of-breath Christine behind her.
"Slow down Daria, really, what's the rush?"
"My stomach," Daria glanced back at the girl and glowered before crashing into something round and almost soft.
Daria yelped as she crashed to the floor taking Christine with her.
"I'm, I'm so sorry Ladies. My apologies."
Daria looked up through blurry eyes, fixing her lopsided glasses.
She recognised the man as the short, plump man Lord Levin had introduced the day before.
He helped them both up and the girls stood for a moment, not knowing what to do.
"Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" He asked them both.
"No. Thank you for asking though," Daria said politely, slightly irritated that they were now going to be late for dinner. He, Freidman, if Daria remembered correctly, looked her over slowly with his probing green eyes. Daria wrapped her arms around her chest uncomfortably. It seemed an age before Christine said,
"You're…Freidman." Her voice cut through the silence.
"Yes. Lord Nathaniel Freidman. I am a…distant relation of the King," he said. He smiled at them both slightly, his intimidating eyes lingering on Daria. Daria smiled, turned red and looked away. She still felt his eyes on her as Christine thought it well to introduce herself.
"I am Lady Christine." She looked at Daria, waiting for her to say something but Daria looked determinedly down.
"And this is Lady Daria, my cousin."
"Oh? A beautiful name for a beautiful lady." His voice was quiet but Daria heard his words clearly. She turned even redder, a slight anger rising like bile in her throat.
What's his game, she thought.
She refrained from saying anything to him and said,
"Come Christine, we'd better go or we'll miss the best part of dinner." She tugged Christine after her as they walked away. Daria felt his gaze on her back. She turned back and caught his daunting gaze on her. She didn't miss the look in her eyes. It frightened her.
Once in the Main Dining Hall, she breathed a sigh of relief, but she could not forget the look on his face, she didn't think she ever would.
"Daria, what's the matter?" Christine asked concernedly, her eyebrows furrowed.
"It's…It's nothing…really."
"Christine! Daria! Over here!"
"Oh no," Daria and Christine said in unison as they turned to face a beaming Marsha.
"Come and sit with me, I insist, remember you did say we were friends now and that we'd have to stick together while there are girls jealous of us out there. Really, it's ridiculous the way…"
Daria sighed audibly, not that Marsha would ever notice. She hoped, if anything, that Marsha would be the diversion she needed to get Freidman out of her mind. So she and Christine sat and dined with Marsha as she prattled on and on and on…
A/N:Hmm...Not my best I don't think. But I just wanted to get something (anything) out before school starts tomorrow (groans). I think those are all the main characters introduced, but there may be more as I'm making this up as I go along. Once again, I didn't know what to call the chapter.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means so much:
li'l bling bling: Thanks
cinnamon: You liked the twist! That's good:)
Twist130: Just because she's meant to follow Christine around, but that's not gonna happen. Daria's going in alone:)
flammingirl: I don't think they did say whether Eleanor hated Sir Peter, at least I don't think they did. Hmmm...I seriously have to read this book again, I got a memory like a seive.
Li Hudson: nervous This is my first story that I seriously want to complete so thanks for the compliments:) I hope I can live up to your expectations...
Amber: I'll try to...hopefully. It's hard trying to get the rightbalance of dialogue and description. Thanks for reviewing!
CaptainFantastic: Thank you. I hope I can keep you interested.
If you've read this please review because feedback would be appreciated:-)