Princess
Thea
Rycroft
Thea
Rycroft
Thea clenched her fists once more, watching Slaine as he left. No longer wanting to wait in her room all alone, she pulled out the map Aryn had made of the castle and headed towards the library. "What does he know..." She grumbled to herself, opening the doors of the library. She made her way to the table she was sitting at yesterday, the stack of books still there. She plopped down on one of the chairs and picked up the book she hadn't finished, because Slaine interrupted her reading.
Spending a majority of the morning reading, Thea had immersed herself in different books. They were mainly of the fable and fairy tale genre, but also ventured into humorous ones as well. The book she was currently reading was about a young man who was said to be the defender of a tyrannized town. He runs afoul of the town's authority and is forced to turn into an outlaw. With his band of thieves, he robs from the rich, and gives back to the poor. All the while still having time to woo a lovely Maid, foil the cruel Sheriff's unlawful rules, and keep the wicked Prince off the throne.
Thea got to a passage that had rather difficult words, she could not understand what they meant, even when reading the sentence to make sense of them. "Aryn, what does 'purloined' mean?" She called out, reading the passage over trying to figure it out.
There was no answer.
"Whatever." Thea continued reading, albeit being a little confused, due to not knowing the word. "What about 'trepidation'?" She looked over she shoulder this time, then around the room when she didn't spot Aryn. Closing the book, she stood up. "Aryn, where did you go?"
Again, there was no answer to her questions.
That's when it hit her. Of course Aryn wasn't here. He was gone. The King slashed a giant, deep cut on Aryn's chest. He's in hiding, probably dying from blood loss. And it was all Thea's fault "Stupid...Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why did you! Why did you do that! I've told you! I have told you over and over again! So why? Why!" She sounded like a broken record, angrily repeating herself. She looked to the stack of books, then growled, and swept her arms across the table, tossing all the books off. "Ugh!" She was so mad at herself.
Aryn's voice rang through her head. "Sooner or later, there will be consequences for not doing as you are told."
Thea crouched on the floor, raising her hands to cover her ears. "I knew that, so why did I not listen to you...Because of me, you're..." She started to get tears in her eyes again. She needed to pull herself together, lunch was in about an hour and the King will probably show up again. She couldn't skip it. She has already missed two meals when the King attended, missing a third would probably not play out well for her. Taking a few deep breaths, she finally straightened herself up. She wiped the tears away and then exited the library.
The Princess decided it was best to change before going to lunch. She took out the map once again and followed the directions to get back to her room. Once there, she stared at the dress that was left for her to wear in the morning. Sighing, Thea undressed and tried to get the dress on. It was a rather tight fitting dress, a deep blue in color. The back was a corset-like contraction, which she couldn't lace up by herself. The neckline was low, exposing the tops of her breast. Looking at herself in the mirror instantly annoyed her. How could women wear these types of dresses? She took the dress off and went to her closet.
Thea only had very few dresses from her country, if she were to wear a dress, it would be something she's more comfortable in. The dress was still "commoner-like, but it wasn't trousers, so she hoped they wouldn't complain. It seemed much shorter than the dresses of this country, only going a little past the knees, whereas the dresses here were floor length, some with a train that dragged on the floor. She put on the under shirt, a mid-long sleeved maroon top, that went a few inches past her elbows. It had a collar with a tan trim around the neck and four white buttons over the chest. She buttoned up all four buttons, not wanting anything to show. She then put on white stockings that covered up showing the skin of her legs. The actual dress was tan, it had short sleeves and a low neckline. The neckline had a purple and light purple trim, with a plain round golden broach in the middle. Thea fastened a small brown leather belt around her waist and finally put on matching brown boots that went midway up her calves. She looked back in the mirror, contempt with her outfit, but frowned at the sight of her hair. It was a mess. The braid had hair coming undone and some baby hairs were sticking out.
Walking into the washroom, Thea got her hands wet and started to pat down her hair, making it so that it looked somewhat presentable. One last look in the mirror, before sighing. "Good enough..." She muttered to herself, leaving her room and heading down the stairs, back to the dining hall.
Upon entering, the whispers amid the guests were the way things normally are, among a few other inputs. "I'm surprised she showed up." "At least she changed out of those horrid trousers."
As usual, Thea kept quiet. She glanced over to where Aryn was injured, relieved to see the blood was cleaned up. She took Aa seat, and the Kind showed up shortly after. He paid no mind to her, for which she was grateful, though they were only a few seats from each other. She kept her eyes down, solely focusing on her food only. A few more hours and then she will have to spend the night in Slaine's chambers, waiting on Aryn's return. She wished time would just fly-by, so she can get that over with.
Which it seemed like it did. After lunch was over and everyone dispersed, Thea took a stroll around the gardens that Slaine had shown her. She wasn't really bothered by anyone. Here and there, a few soldiers told her she couldn't go somewhere, a maid or two asked if she needed anything, and some rather annoying female guests ridiculed her. But she ignored them all, only listening to the soldiers, not wanting to get into trouble for entering a place she'd wasn't allowed to. Normally, she would even ignore the soldier's warnings because Aryn was by she side. Without him near, she feared that if she didn't try to abide by the rules, something bad would likely happen.
Night fell shortly after. Thea had gone back into the library to read some more. Church bells in the distance chimed, signaling nightfall. Closing the book she was currently reading, the Princess sighed and left the library. She made her way up the stairs and over to Slaine's room, where she knocked on the door. There was no answer at first. So she knocked again, before just entering the room.
Slaine was sitting on across a couch that was next to a window. "Took you long enough..." His attention moved to Thea when she walked inside, but only for a short while.
Thea stepped closer, only being a few feet from Slaine now. "I forgot to ask. What are the conditions to the wager if I manage to win?" She thought for a second before adding, "Do you die?"
Slaine seemed rather bored with this whole situation, as his reply was very dull. "I don't think so...Disappointed?" He went quiet, most likely thinking of something. "Well, if you must really returns, I guess I'll withdraw his charges of treason. I'd grant him pardon and allow his entrance into the castle once again." His response was a bit of a surprise to Thea, she didn't expect him to suggest leniency. "Now that you know, you can relax." For which the Princess did, but only a little. She pulled on the silver chain, that was always around her neck, to reveal a small thin whistle. She raised it to her lips, taking a deep breath, before blowing. That apparently caught Slaine's attention again, as he looked at her and asked, "What are you doing?"
Thea's eyes were closed and she lowered the whistle. A small smile formed upon her lips. "You would not understand." was all she said.