Unspoken

Quarters

Marshall ushered me down the long and winding halls of the palace. I already feared I would would get lost easily without guidance but kept silent afraid of upsetting anyone. We walked in silence for a little while longer before Marshall stopped in front of a set of French double doors. He pulled one of the handles and the doors opened. He stepped inside and waved me in. 

As soon as I stepped through the door my breath was taken. These rooms looked vastly different then the rest of the palace. It was bright and cheerful. Bright whites and pops of my favorite shade of sky blue, a stark contrast from the darkness of the others rooms within the palace. I let out a small gasp, and quickly brought my hand to my mouth trying to cover my surprise. A huge smile broke out across Marshall's face, he looked proud of himself. 

"I've been working on this room for awhile for you" he whispered. I jumped at the sound of his voice. It was low and soft but hearing anyone speak was startling. I looked up at him with wide eyes. 

"Oh.. umm.." he started to stumble on his words when he saw my surprise. He paused. 

"You can always speak to me..."  he finally said. I stared at him for a moment working up the courage to use my voice. 

"Th- thank you.." I managed with a small whisper. Marshall's eyes softened as he looked at me. 

"Well... I'll leave you to get settled in, your ladies will be here shortly" his voice was still soft. He gave me a nod and turned to walk out of the room. I let out a long breath I didn't realize I had been holding as soon as the door closed. 

I walked over to the bed and ran my hands along the top of the elaborate silk bedspread topping it. I walked to the vanity next and sat down in front of the mirror. My hair wasn't quite in place anymore after the long drive. I pulled the pins out slowly and let it drop to my waist with a bounce. I had just started to run the brush through it when I hear the door click open. 

I look up from the mirror to see who it is and I see Colton standing in the doorway, looking embarrassed at himself for not knocking. He had changed from his gray guardsman uniform into a black suit, his dark brown hair slicked back on his head. He and Marshall looked so different, he was tall like Marshall was but more lean with a narrower frame. The one striking similarity they shared was their piercing green eyes, their mothers eyes. 

He shifted his weight a little, looking uncomfortable. I realized my hair was down and quickly wrapped it up into a tight coil and pinned it into place. I formed a fist with my hand and circled it around my chest to sign an apology. He looked down and shook his head a little. "No, I apologize" he said quickly. "I should have knocked first." His head was still down as he spoke to me. "Dinner is almost ready and your ladies will be here to dress you." He looked up at me and then quickly turned and left the room. 

Im not used to being spoken too so much, it seems the Emperor and Princes are looser with their tongues then anyone I had been around before but I guess they have that right. A few moments later a soft knock rapped on the door and I walked over to open it. Two ladies walked into the room and quickly signed hello and curtsied. I put my hand to my forehead and signed hello in return as the lifted back up from their curtsy. They looked so similar to each other, almost identical in every way except for their dresses, each wearing a different colored one. 

I motioned my hands to ask for their names. The girl in the yellow dress signed "Eva" and the girl in the orange signed "Ava" then at the same time the signed "twins" and giggled a little. I smiled at them and sat back down at my vanity table. Ava walked to my large closet and emerged with a new gown in her arms. It was red, the Emperor's house color. 

Eva came behind me and started to re-wrap my hair into a nice updo while I applied more powder to my face. It looked like everything in my room had been fully stocked with anything I might need. I applied soft liner to my top and bottom lashes and stood to get my gown on. Ava pulled the hoop up over the slip I already had on from my previous gown and Eva carefully placed the new gown over my head as I slipped my arms inside of it. Ava pulled the bottom over the hoop and stepped back. 

She put her hands together over her chest and gave a smile of approval. As I smoothed the soft satin skirt down over the slip and hop I heard another soft knock on the door. Ava slipped my heels onto my feet as Eva went to answer the door. I saw her bow low out of the corner of my eye as Ava finished fasting my heel and I turned to see Marshall had stepped into the room. He wore a tuxedo now, a velvet red suit jacket the same shade as my gown and black slim fitting trousers. He looked dashing in it. 

He walked over to me and gave a bow, I curtsied in return. The girls gave me a quick nod and hurried from the room, trying not to let giggles escape their mouths. As soon as the door shut Marshall beamed a wide smile at me. I looked down at the ground nervously but gave a small smile in return. 

"I see you've found your closet okay?" He asked. 

"Yes. Thank you" I whispered back, playing nervously with my hands at my side. He c****d his head to the side and looked at me for a moment. 

"You don't have to be nervous around me Adeline." He grabbed my hand and stopped it from fidgeting with my skirt. I brought my eyes up from the floor and looked at his face. He seemed genuine but other then my young brother and Beatrice I hadn't known kindness from anyone else since my mother had passed. 

"I'm sorry.." he said out of nowhere. "I'm sorry that I let him hurt you." His face looked sad now. Like he was disappointed in himself. I started to shake my head no but he put his hand under my chin to stop it. "It is still my fault. And I will do everything I can to keep that from happening again." He finished. I gave him a nod and he took his hand away and held it out for me to loop my arm through again. 

"Well, are you ready for dinner?" He asked. I nodded my head yes again and he led us to the door. As soon as we stepped out of the room I could feel my stomach ball up again remembering that the Emperor would be there. I prayed in my head that I wouldn't do anything to offend him this evening and told myself to keep my head down and silent as we made our way to the dinner hall.