Snippet #2681616

Annabelle woke to a soft knock at her door. She groaned, exhausted from the day before. To her, it seemed, she had merely shut her eyes before the knock sounded. With bleary eyes she gazed about her dark room. What time was it? The knock came once more only it had increased in volume and someone called her name. "Just a minute" she called horsley. She waked to her window and pulled back the curtains. Immediately regretting it, she closed them in order to block out the bright sun as it lit up the world and bounced off glass and metal in the city. She looked around the room and found a green dress laid out for her on the ottoman. It was soft to the touch and light. A nice spring dress, Annabelle would've guessed.

She dressed as quickly as she could and combed her fingers through her hair. It was still a bit of a mess and, under normal circumstances, she wouldn't appear before the master looking like this, but these were not normal circumstances. She sighed and went to the door where a servant was waiting to escort her. She thought about asking where they were going, but decided to stay quiet. Her stomach growled and she silently hoped it was to breakfast. Unfortunately, they had passed the dining room (or what looked like the dining room) and continued until they reached a rather large room full of pillars. There were comfy looking chairs and a large stage on one side of the room. There were others there already including two people on the stage, a man and woman, both beautiful and graceful. Her stomach was in knots as the room grew quiet and the man began to speak.

She wasn't entirely surprised to find the man to be Master Kenner, but the woman beside him... was she his wife? He seemed to adore her and it warmed Annabelle's heart a little to see. A man who loves a woman like that, to be so gentle, has to be a good man. Maybe the rumors were wrong? Then the words hit her. Something worse? What was worse? Annabelle was sure it was many things, but the way she spoke frightened the girl just a little bit.