Chapter 7
1722 Words
"And did you see the way he twirled her? Oh it was wonderful!" Liziath sighed contently as she fell dramatically in the fluffs of Aria's bed.
The three sisters had been up for about an hour, blabbing about the ball last night. Or better yet, Liziath had been blabbing about it.
Tina was only there because her young sister dragged her in with no room for escape. Tina wasn't the one for romantic talks, so all she did was agree with everything Liziath said.
Strangely, Aria was in the mood for her sister's gushing. She couldn’t help but think about every passing second of last night's ball. The prince had been so light on his feet, and held her so flushed against him every time they danced. He would also gaze at her for extended periods of moments without saying anything, yet it was strange or intimidating. It oddly made her feel cherished and admired.
"His friend was a bit strange," Tina mumbled as she picked on her finger nails. She felt annoyed by Joshua all night, yet she didn’t know why. "He stared at me for no reason."
"Hhmm. Rather strange indeed," Aria said with hidden mischief in her tone. She shared a look with Liziath, and they both recognised that this was new. Normally, it was Tina and Liziath against Aria, not the other way around.
"I think he likes you," Liziath sang with a high pitched sequel, and the look of horror on Tina's face sent both sisters into a fit of laughter.
"I beg your pardon?"
"He fancies you and you do too." Aria picked up where Liziath left off, causing Tina's cheeks to burn in a bright red as she shuffled from the bed and to her feet.
"Nonsense! I know nothing about the young man, and he knows nothing about me. You two are always so caught up in your fairytale land. I want nothing to do with it." And with that, Tina left with whatever dignity she had left.
However, Aria and Liziath only laughed louder as the door closed. For once, someone was on Liziath's side with her romance fantasies, and Aria thought it wouldn't hurt to dream a bit.
A knock sounded on Aria's bedroom door, and they quickly shuffled from their odd laying down position to the edge of the bed with their ankles crossed and backs straight.
The door opened, revealing Queen Sylvia in all her beauty, already dressed and ready for the day, unlike the girls who still wore nightgowns.
"Good morning my dears," she greeted sweetly as she gently kissed each of their cheeks.
They hummed in reply as the queen strode to Aria's wardrobe.
"Is something the matter, Mother?" Aria asked in slight worry as her mother furiously searched through her wardrobe. Normally her lady-in-waiting was the one who chose her day's attire and helped her get dressed. The queen only took over on special occasions for instance a ball, as she liked to help get her daughters ready for a big event.
"Nothing to worry about," she mumbled but still searched frantically. "I just need to find...Yes!" She beamed proudly as she pulled a peach dress from Aria's bundles of dresses. Aria didn’t recognize it, but it seemed as if it had been in there for ages.
"Is there a special occasion today?" Liziath asked eagerly as she wanted nothing more than another scene in this 'love story' to watch.
Sylvia rolled her eyes at her daughter but replied anyway. "Of course. It is the first day of Aria's courting. The first day is always the most important," she explained. Liziath and Queen Sylvia beamed excitedly as Aria gazed at the dress.
"Isn’t it a bit much? I would go for something more casual like..." she trailed as she ventured to her large wardrobe and pulled out a simple baby-blue gown. It screamed beauty but at the same time it was subtle and graceful. With the perfect pannier, Aria was sure that the dress would be perfect.
"That's lovely!" Liziath beamed. "I cannot wait to see how-"
"Oh Lizzy you will not be there with them." The queen laughed lightly at her daughter's ignorance. "It is not the three of you who will be married, now is it?"
Liziath frowned and slumped in disappointment. Aria felt pity for her, knowing that her sister simply loved a good romance, but she couldn’t help but chuckle a bit too.
"What will we do today?"
"That is solely up to you and the prince, my dear," Sylvia replied. "The two of you should get acquainted with each other under your own order and comfort. He will meet you downstairs for breakfast, but after, it is up to you to decide what you do--respecting the rules, of course."
Aria nodded in understanding as nerves suddenly grew in her. They will be alone--again.
The only time they were alone was yesterday when she gave him the tour. It was pleasant, but she was racking in nerves.
"I want to court too," Liziath mumbled before excusing herself to get ready for breakfast. Even at 20 years old Liziath acted like a baby at times. It was all too cute.
After helping Aria get ready for the day, Queen Sylvia led her to breakfast where everyone was already seated at the table. Tina was dressed and sitting in her usual chair, trying really hard not to look in Joshua’s direction who was seated across from her. Liziath was sitting beside her with her regular enthusiastic eyes already watching Aria as she sat across from Chad.
Chad thought he had a reign on his nerves all morning, but it all went out the window once he saw her again. She looked splendid today, he acknowledged as she sat directly in front of him. Aria offered him a smile but dropped her gaze from his. She was excited about the day she'd spend with him, but she didn’t want to show it too much.
Breakfast went quite well for the most part. Their conversation was kept to a minimum, but it was lovely and peaceful. Chad had to try his best to keep a band on his composure whenever he tried something new. The food was magnificent, and he felt like he'd eat this all day everyday if he got the chance. But he had to remember that he was a prince and the food shouldn't seem strange to him.
One breakfast was over, the servers returned to take their dishes, and Tina immediately excused herself as if her seat had been on fire. Liziath left too after nudging Aria's shoulder to give her a knowing look. Soon, everyone left and all who remained were the king, Aria and Chad.
"Aria," Andreas called, seeing that the two needed a push. "Why don’t you continue to show the prince the rest of the castle. The weather is quite nice today."
Aria nodded. "Of course. That is, if you want to?" she asked in uncertainty as she turned to Chad. After all, she didn’t know if he was an outside person. Little did she know that it was his favourite place to be.
With a smile, Chad rose to his feet with her as she led him from the dining room.
"So how has your morning been?" Chad asked after a few minutes of walking. The silence was deafening.
"It has been lovely, thank you." Silence fell between them again, and Chad noticed how she twined her fingers together as she walked. A nervous habit, maybe?
"That is a lovely ring," he pointed out as he admired the piece of jewel on her finger. Aria beamed proudly at the ring as she met his warm blue eyes.
"Thank you. It was my mother's. She said it was a family heirloom for all the first born children. Such a prize."
"Indeed."
"What about you? Are you a first born?" she asked out of mere curiosity, but her face immediately fell in horror. "Oh my, I am so sorry. I completely forgot what happened to your brothers. Please excuse my carelessness." Aria gulped as guilt and embarrassment took over her every nerve.
What brothers? Chad thought. Joshua surely hasn't told him anything about Zadkiel's brothers, so he had no idea what got the princess so worked up.
However, he recognised that her slip up has made her uncomfortable, and he wanted to assure her not to worry about it. It was obviously something bad.
"It's okay, Princess Aria." He made a bold move and reached for her intertwined fingers. She took a sharp intake of breath as their strides stopped. "You were building conversation. I am not offended or anything. That was a long time ago." He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake by saying that. After all, he didn’t know what happened to Zadkiel's siblings.
"Are you sure? That was quite inconsiderate of me." Her voice was so small and sweet. Chad could see the regret evident in her eyes and on her face. Even if he was the real Zadkiel and she made this slip up, he knew he simply couldn't have stayed upset with her.
"I am very sure," he said with as much reassurance as he could muster. "But if you want to know more about me, you mustn't hesitate to ask," he added but immediately regretted it when he recognised that questions that he didn't know the answer for could easily arise.
Hopefully she wouldn’t ask too much today. Chad still had so much more to learn about Zadkiel, and he didn’t want to make any contradictions to what the princess might already know.
Just like this new information about his brothers. What happened to them?
Aria didn’t say anything else, she simply nodded with a small smile as she continued to lead home through the castle. Finally, they arrived at a door and a guard pushed it open as they stepped out into the open air.
Immediately, the tranquillity of the outside welcomed them, and all tension and nerves evaporated when Aria touched her fingers to his, and so began the first day of their courtship.
- Writer
