Snippet #1465074

Wisps of dark hair blew around her pale face as Adelaide Damian stared with her brown eyes across the city below her window. She could feel the beat of the soft morning sun against her bare arms, the gentle breeze that shook the whispering trees. The blue sky above was crystal clear without a cloud to be seen. A smile illuminated her red lips briefly, before it faded just as quickly. It was a beautiful day and Adelaide should of been out riding on her horse Storm, but there would be no time for that today. Behind her there was a shuffling somewhere in the depths of her room. She ignored it completely, her eyes drawn to some rearing horses, clearly spooked by something or someone. Their handles were whipping their hindquarters in fury. Shaking her head, she could only watch the scene unfold. That's not the way to handle them... She thought bitterly to herself, absent-mindedly tugging at a fine string that hung from her under-garments for her dress. The horses were for the tournament. The one she was being made to attend. To be seen, but not heard as her father carefully put it. With a roll of her eyes, she roughly pulled the heavy curtains across the window and sat down heavily at her dressing room table. Instantly soft hands were running through her hair, twisting, turning, pulling, doing all that they could to tame the wildness of it all. Her father had explicitly implied that he wanted her in her best and her mother had added that if she were to find a fine gentlemen....Adelaide had stopped listening at that moment. Finding a "fine gentlemen" as her mother put it was the last thing that Adelaide was interested in. Marriage was not top of her list when it came to her favourite things.

Staring blankly into the mirror, Adelaide watched in silence as her maid, Mary, pulled her hair back and plaited it elegantly so that it would fall over one shoulder. She expertly tied it at the bottom with a fine silky ribbon. She tucked the last few strands of hair away so that they didn't stick out. Adelaide herself hated the plait and would take it out the moment she had left the room. "There Ada, I'm sure you look beautiful." The white eyes of her maid had never worried Adelaide, but it was the blindness that put her on edge. She had grown attached to Mary, a young maid with a wave of long blonde hair that was always secured tightly in a bun. Due to an accident that she would never mention again, Mary was blinded, but still maintained her job castle as Adelaide's maid. It caused the young girl to worry about her and her welfare, even though she was reminded on a constant basis that Mary was fine to continue working. "Your mother suggested you wore the green dress today." Mary was bustling through the dresses that hung ready to be assessed by the Princess. "Or the blue one. You know, the light ones." By some miracle that Adelaide never understood, she picked out the exact one that she meant. Shaking her head, she turned on her chair to watch Mary.

"I would like the red one with the cream lacing please Mary," She said in a quiet voice, getting to her feet. Mary's head snapped up and she frowned, but without question took a hold of the red one and proceed to carry it to the screens, where she helped Adelaide to dress every day. If she being made to attend this stupid tournament, well she would wear what she wanted to wear. With a smile that the maid could not see, she joined her and did as she was told whilst Mary tightened her corset, pulled on her dress and did varying other things that Adelaide would have never known how to do. Once she was ready, she gave herself a quick look in the mirror, smoothing the dress so that it lay flat around her thighs. It was a beautiful dress, given to her by some potential suitor, who Adelaide had believed to be slimy and disgusting, much to her mother's disappointment. When her hair was tied in a plait, she looked so much younger and more vulnerable. It made her angry. She didn't want to be seen as vulnerable or weak in the eyes of a man. She could defend herself well enough and probably better than a lot of men. However, she would never be allowed to show this. Oh, her father would have her ousted from the Kingdom faster than she could blink. It deeply saddened her that she was not allowed to do half the things her brothers could. Jealousy was a big problem from Adelaide, but she did not love her brothers any less. In fact, she loved them and would do anything to protect them.

"Thank you Mary. You can go now." She told the maid, who bowed before leaving the Princess alone with her thoughts. But it was only moments later that Adelaide, too, left the room and began to walk the corridors of their castle, in the hope of catching sight of some of the arrivals so that she could judge them herself. Her only hope was that she didn't bump into her father or mother before everyone assembled in the throne room....