The Royal Scandal | Prince William |

Important Questions

September 14, 2012

Holding her breath while eating slowly becomes easier. While she's sure people will understand if she picks at her food she still tries her best to eat as much as she can at each dinner. Even if it means she'll be speed walking to the closest restroom like there's a sale at the outlet within the hour.

The plain vegetables go down the easiest, but she still can't look at meat without wanting to squirm, so she pushes that aside.

All around her the most important political figures in Malaysia eat and converse. The prime minister and his wife are across from her, and beside her is The Queen Lady Consort of Malaysia while the King and Sultan is beside William.

It's odd being separated, but easier to navigate now than it was years ago at her first Balmoral dinner. The Queen and her get along well, but the conversations aren't long in depth chats, and there are stretches of time where Jaclyn is left to listen to the muffled chatter around her, and push around her food.

A few of the times she takes the chance to glance around the opulent dining room, shimmering in gold and cascading light from the chandeliers. Every corner of the table is covered if not with plates, glasses and silverware then with flowers with rich meanings that she can't begin to understand.

"This must be why you're so tiny."

"Excuse me?" Her head snaps up at the statement, because there's no hint of questioning, turning to look at the blonde woman next to her. Her hair is lighter but graying blonde, bigger on top and hairsprayed so the texture is brittle, and her eyes are dark and intrusive, scanning Jaclyn up and down and repeating.

"Oh," her voice chimes, a smile snaking over her lips, "I'm just saying you're so small. Most women are twice your size by this time." Her eyes once again fall to Jaclyn's stomach which is mostly hidden beneath the green swaths of modest fabric.

Jaclyn fights the urge to furrow her brow, and look upon the woman as if she's crazy. Instead she laughs softly, clearly forced and choked, but she laughs. "Well not all women are the same."

"Is it part of your condition?" She continues, completely unashamed of her questioning while turning back to her plate, sawing through the cooked vegetables with odd vigor. "The Ellers Danos?" Her hand waves slightly with her fork, the mispronunciation setting Jaclyn's smiling teeth on edge, and it bothers her to no end that she can't place the woman's face.

"Umm-"

"You look quite healthy to me, are you sure you have it?"

"Quite." The knife in her hand shakes, knuckle pressing to the table to hide the tension and white coloring. The smile she receives in return is sharp, jagged edges with matching piercing eyes that make her shudder.

She turns to the man beside her, intimately touching his shoulder, and that's when Jaclyn realizes who she is. The wife of the British High Commissioner in Malaysia. "Dear, do you remember me ever being that small?"

Jaclyn's gaze turns awkwardly back to her plate, to the cut but mostly untouched food. She contemplates forcing more down, but the scent curls up through the air until it burns her insides. The couple's sharp voices turn to bells in her ears, clanging against the walls of her head until she has to clench her eyes.

It's been so long since someone has criticized her so openly, even if the insults are hidden behind a smile and gleaming jewels, that internally she shuts down.