Sorry this is really, really late. I've been on vacation in New York City!
Enjoy
~Chemistry~
Clara is marched into the throne room. She knows she doesn't look very princess-y. No shoes, hair un-combed, and wearing a borrowed nightdress, she looks more like a street urchin than anything. The marble floors are freezing under her feet. The inside of the palace is beautiful in the way that a museum is beautiful; gilded, cold, and intimidating. Lovely but untouchable.
The throne room is the same only with the addition of two really big chairs. They're ornately carved from dark wood and lined with velvet. The room is otherwise empty. Inset columns decorate the long hall disappearing into the vaulted ceiling. Two story arched stain glass windows throw multicolored patterns of light across the tiled floor. It's the only thing cheerful looking about the place.
A group of men and women stand at the end of the hall. Their extravagant clothing make their appearance ethereal. The men in tunics or mail, and the women in long billowing gowns. When they hear Clara's approach they turn with surprise. The king and queen are easy to pick out due to their crowns sculpted in silver and amethyst.
Clara's escorts bow formally, binding at the waist. She isn't sure what to do so Clara just bows her head awkwardly. The king's mouth falls open when he sees her and the queen's eyes narrow slightly before she smiles.
"Oswin!" cries the king rushing forward.
He swoops her into his arms, hugging her forcefully. Clara feels terrible. She doesn't want to give the poor man hope only to take it away. She meets the queen's eyes over his shoulder. The woman is scrutinizing her carefully, her expression hawk-like.
The king finally takes in Clara's disheveled appearance. He turns red glancing around at the other people in the throne room.
"Good lord! You're not decent! Where are your clothes? Where have you been?" he rambles.
Clara decides this had gone on long enough, "I'm sorry, umm… you're Majesty, but I'm not your daughter. I tried explaining this to your men. My name is Clara."
The man's eyes widen then glazed over. The king's face goes blank and his shoulders slump slightly. Clara blinks in surprise. What's wrong with him?
"That's nice Oswin." he says with a vapid smile and toneless voice.
What the hell?
"No. I'm not-"
"That's enough dear. Clearly you've been through quite the ordeal." the queen says, cutting her off. She dares Clara to challenge her. "Now, you shouldn't be in public like this. I'll have the maids sent up to help you look more presentable for our guests."
She knows I'm not her daughter, Clara thinks. She just doesn't want anyone else to know.
Clara finally takes in the other people in the room. There's a young man in fine gray wool with a proud face and blonde hair. There are also two other women. A girl in a fluffy dress, a little younger than Clara. Actually she looks a lot like Clara herself, same dark eyes, same hair. Clara's afraid to think about that too hard. She doesn't want to know what that could mean.
The other woman has red hair which is the brightest shade of any color Clara's seen in Shades. She's obviously a solider of some kind. Delectate chain mail shows under her gray tunic at the neck and arms. She has a sword, dagger, and several mysterious pouches belted at her waist. But it's her male counterpart who catches Clara's eyes.
He's tall and thin, and dressed exactly the same as the female soldier. His dark hair flops down over his angular face. He's good looking, if unusual. Their eyes meet and Clara feels a bolt of electricity run down her spine. She shivers and forgets everything else in the room.
She wants to move closer but her feet are rooted to the spot. His eyes - Clara can't decide if they're green or blue - widened and his lips part slightly. Chemistry. She doesn't have any other way to describe it. Just chemistry which makes her heart beat faster and sends tingles across her skin.
It's over as soon as it begins. The queen drags her out of the throne room to a servant waiting to take her upstairs. Clara can't help glancing back at the handsome solider. He's still watching her, his expression unreadable. The other man is staring too, yet Clara hardly notices.
The maid takes her up to Princess Oswin's chambers. They go up three flights of stairs and through several corridors before they reach the right wing. Clara doubts that she'll be able to find her way back without help. She keeps thinking about the man. Clara's never experienced anything like that before. Sure she's been attracted to people but nothing like that.
Getting home is what she should be focusing on though. Clara tries to put the butterflies in her stomach out of her mind.
Oswin's bedroom is huge. It has a sitting area with a small fireplace and an antique vanity set. The bed itself is fantastic. Large with an ornate frame and sheer canopy. Clara resists the urge to throw herself onto the plush mattress and sink into the pillows. Doors led off the main room to a walk-in closet and on-suite bath. There are even a pair of French doors that open onto a little balcony overlooking the gardens. Oswin has a pretty nice life.
Three maids shuffle into the room. Identified by their plain pale purple dresses and leggings. None of them are much older than Clara herself and they break out in huge smiles when they see her. One girl has even redder hair than the solider downstairs.
"Princess you're back!" cries a girl with fair skin and dark hair. "The 'ole staff 'as been outta their 'eads with worry!"
"Oh umm… I'm not her."
"What'da ya mean, miss?"
"There's been a mistake. I'm not Oswin." Clara's getting tired of explaining this to everyone. It's kinda sad that no one knows Oswin well enough to see the difference.
The ladies glance at each other with concern. Clara can tell they don't believe her. They probably think she's lost her marbles or is under a spell or something. She sighs internally. The only way to get through this is to smile and nod.
"Well either way miss we need to get you ready for dinner." says the oldest of the maids. She's statuesque with a stern mouth. Clara figures arguing with her is a bad idea.
Food sounds wonderful since she hadn't eaten all day. Her current ability to keep down any food at this point is up in the air though. Especially if she's supposed to eat with Mr. Zombie King and his ice lady. Yeah that's going to be an awesome meal.
The girls, whose names turn out to be Jenny, Vastra, and Amy, set to work on her. Vastra's clearly in charge of the group, giving orders and overseeing everything. Jenny 's very calm and quiet by comparison. The red head, Amy, on the other hand, has no attention span what-so-ever. She's constantly moving and talking, while not getting a lot done.
"What on Earth have you been doing?" Amy laments, "Your nails are a wreak."
Clara doesn't know how to respond. The whole situation is extremely weird. The maids don't give her any time for embarrassment. They practically drown her in the bathtub and scrub her skin raw. She tries to control her blushing as they buff and polish, and comb her into perfection.
Amy dries Clara's hair while relating all the palace gossip she's missed out on. Clara has no clue who she's talking about but she does notice that a lot of Amy's comments are about a guard named Rory. What he'd been doing and what he'd said to her lately and how she'd been there to rescue him when he almost fell down the stairs. Vastra and Jenny exchange knowing smiles behind her back. Obviously Amy's infatuation is nothing new.
Clara finds herself smiling too. Back home she has Nina, but Nina's more interested in football and 'accidentally' setting things on fire than gossiping about boys. It's kinda nice to do something girly for a change. Though Clara gets the feeling that these girls could handle themselves pretty well from the way they work.
"Oh wow." Clara breathes looking in the mirror.
She's always been cute but the girl looking back at her is a supermodel. Her skin is smooth and soft. Her hair is artfully pined up leaving a few curled strands hanging to her shoulders. Her makeup is understated bringing out the darkness of her eyes and the color in her lips. Clara has never been very concerned about her appearance but right now she's stunned. These girls are magicians .
Amy and Jenny laugh at her reaction.
"Now you just need a dress." Vastra says disappearing into the closet.
"The Prince is going to be there, pick out something fun."
Vastra doesn't respond. They can hear her shuffling things around.
"The Prince?" Clara asks.
"Prince 'arold of the Gray Court." says Jenny slowly, "Didn't cho see 'em when you came in?"
Clara gets a brief flash of the proud faced young man in the throne room. "Oh right."
Amy smiles, "He's so handsome."
Clara hadn't really noticed, she'd been too distracted. "Who was the man with him? The solider?"
"The Gray Knight." says Vastra stepping back into the room. She's holding a long silk gown. "He travels everywhere with the Prince."
The girls set to work lacing Clara into the dress. The delicately beaded bodice hugs her curves and the skirt falls in loose waves to her ankles. She feels really out of place in something this fancy.
"I met him when they first came in. He's actually really nice unlike most of the knights around here." Amy explains, "His name is John Smith."
Sorry this is really, really late. I've been on vacation in New York City!
Enjoy
Notes:
The Prince I'm envisioning as a younger version of John Simm's Master.
after this chapter the action is really going to pick up because I like adventure stories ;)