Far From Never

“Morgan Elisha” Father says, demanding my attention.

“Yes Father?” I respond in a sweet voice. He is trying his hardest not to show his true nature to our guests. If they had not been here he would have released all his anger out on me in a verbal nature and then taken out the rage on Victor for allowing me to do such a thing.

“Escort the Princess Davina to the suite that has been prepared for her near your rooms,” he orders.

I swallow the smart remark that was raising in my throat, “Yes father.”

“And I expect you to be down for dinner in appropriate dress” he says as I turn away.

I don’t say a word to Princess Davina but I hear her follow me. I head towards a door in the wall, by passing the main door. The back was faster and had less traffic. The first set of stairs is immediately inside the door and I take the steps two at a time even though I know Davina’s dress restricts her movements. The stairs start to spiral and a window appears showing a view down into the kitchens where dinner is being prepared. The stairs level out into a brick corridor and I turn through the second doorway on my right. This leads to the second set of spiral stairs, these far more open than the tight brick ones.

“This is Banphrionsa Landing,” I say, stopping to wait for her. I expected her to be winded and slightly disheveled, but when she crested the stairs right behind me, her breathing was calm and not a hair out of place.

“Banphrionsa?” she asks.

“Means princess” I explain, “The next landing is Banrion Landing or Queen Landing.”

“What about the landing above that?” she asks.

“The le Cheile Rioga” I say quietly. Those rooms had not been occupied since my mother’s death.

“What does that mean?” she persists.

“Together Royal. It can only be used by the king and queen but only when they are together.” Her face begins to fall as she realizes that that means that the entire floor has been empty for years. I continue about the names of different parts of the castle.

“Across the courtyard is the men’s side of the castle. An Choroin means The Crown and those are for the crown prince. They are on the same level as the Banphrionsa. Above that and equal to the Banrion is the Riail Ríogh, the King’s Rule. Everyone else refers to it as the Buile le Riail, the Rage’s Rule.”

I stop once we reach the far west end of the corridor. “Here are your rooms for the duration of your stay,” I turn away, “At least for the duration of your stay as an unmarried woman.”

Davina’s POV

“Thank you” I say and step into the suite. Morgan walks away without a word and I hear a door farther down the corridor slam shut. I turn to examine the room. On the far wall are three large glassless windows. A breeze blows through moving the curtains from their stationary posts. There is a large bed with heavy curtains gathered at the posts. The curtains trail a foot on the floor and are dark but have a gold sheen to them.

Across from the bed is a large vanity with a mirror that is twice the size. It is made of dark wood with gold inlay in the crevices of the engravings. On it sits a number of perfume bottles, jars of make-up, a gold hand mirror, and a matching brush. In the middle of the room was a set of chairs, sparingly stuffed but draped with many different furs to add warmth. Tucked in the corner was the fireplace, large and engraved in a similar fashion to the vanity, with gold in the designs. It was nearer to the bed then I have ever seen and scared me for it was a fire hazard.

Just then, a servant girl arrived from another room off this one. The door from which she exited was billowing steam. “Your bath is ready milady,” she offers.

“Thank you” I respond with a smile, “Um, the fire place, it’s in quite a dangerous place don’t you think? The bed might catch on fire with such long curtains.”

“Oh, well the curtains are to keep the cold air out from the open windows. They are made of a special treated fur that burns slowly as are all the curtains within the castle” she explains, “And the grate in front of the fire is specially designed to direct any excess flames upward and away from the bed.”

“You speak very well for a servant” I complement her speech.

“All servants are educated in proper speech” she looks to the ground.

“That’s nice of your majesty the King” I smile.

“Oh no, it wasn’t the King who commanded it, it was Queen Petra who thought it best for both parties. So they could understand us and we could understand them” she raises her head slightly. The thought of the late queen seems to have raised her spirits, “May she rest in peace” she adds as a last thought.

“You can leave me to my bath, by the time I’m done my lady’s maid should have arrived with my trunks” I slip my shoes off and the girl curtsies and leaves through a side door.

I walk to the room containing the bath and as I open it, a wall of steam hits me. I shed my clothes and slide into the hot water. The grime that caked my body from the ride soaked away into the soapy bubbles. I rested my head on cushion placed at the top of the porcelain. My eyes close and the stress of the day takes over.

My eyes open at the sound of water splashing into the bath. Alise is at the foot of the bath pouring an oil over the bubbles. The soft smell of cherry blossoms fill the small room and it reminds me of home where the trees are in full bloom. I pull my hair out of the water and let it flow off the side of the tub. I closed my eyes once more as Alise begins to wash my hair and massage my scalp.

Alise wrings out my hair and I jump awake. “You’re going to clear the bath of water if you don’t sit still!”

She’s right, the water is to the rim and the bubbles had all but disappeared. I must have been asleep for a long time. “How much longer until dinner?”

“Just enough time for you to get ready,” Alise says wrapping a towel around my head. I stand and let the water and bubbles slide off my body and take a deep breath. Alise walks over and wraps a far larger towel around my slim form. In the bathroom, there is another large vanity and mirror situated next to a fireplace shaped just right for drying off.

I walk to the chair and sit with my face to the fire. Alise takes a heavy brush and dips the fine bristles in oil. The oil has gold dust speckled through it and is scents the same as my soaps. Cherry blossoms are somewhat of my signature scent because it is a sign of my kingdom as am I. She brushes the oil through my damp hair and then, as a mix of oil and water falls to the stone floor, she begins to style i

A few hours later, my hair is done and my dress is on. It’s of a yellow fabric with brown leather straps crossing the bodice in large, vertical swoops. It’s light, moves freely, and has large pick-ups all around the skirt creating layers while there only being a few. With my shoes on, I sit patiently on the couch, waiting for my escort to arrive so he can show me the way.

There’s a knock on the door and Alise moves to open it. Behind the door is a man with shoulders as broad as Prince Victor’s. He is just as tall and stands with the same stance. The look in his eyes was the biggest difference I could see. He looked as if he was always having fun and rarely had a serious moment, unlike the prince who looked serious much of the time.

“Good evening Princess Davina” he bows at the waist, “I’m Sir Langston and I’ll be escorting you to the Private Dining hall.”