I Am Bree - Book 1

Chapter 10 - A Castle and a Prince

    I awoke with a start as the coach jolted to a halt. Beside me, the others were yawning and stretching. Glancing out the window, I saw it must be late in the afternoon, leaving little time before the beginning of the ball.

    For the first day of celebration, the king invited all the attendees to stay in the palace until they could find somewhere else, the long-standing tradition for the New Year's ball. Father had told me it had something to do with the king long before our current monarch, but I found I couldn't recall the details anymore.

    Before I had a chance to feel bereft at this realization, the coach door opened, and I was ushered out. At the sight before me, my breath caught in my throat, and I stood mutely staring.

    The castle stood before me, huge and majestic, a credit to Falea's former architects. I had never imagined it could be any better than the illustrations I'd seen in books, but it exceeded my imagination in every capacity. There were towering domes, stretching high into the sky as though they could bore a holes in it. To each pointed roof was attached the king's banner, snapping and playing in the breezes that passed by.

    As my eyes traveled down, I saw that we were standing in a huge, nearly-paved courtyard. Directly in front of us was a long flight of stairs, tapering elegantly as they reached what must have been enormous double doors. Far away as we were, I could just make out the intricate carvings in the wood of the doors.

    Two footmen rushed to our aid as Mother and the girls were helped out. They bowed to Mother, and I noticed one wink brazenly at Flora—who blushed to her hairline and looked at him coquettishly through her eyelashes. Adella sneered in disgust at her sister.

    "Does my lady need assistance with the baggage?" The taller one queried, inclining his head respectfully.

    "Why, yes, if you would be so kind." Mother nodded slightly, making the absurd feathers in her hat dance. "Our maid here will be glad to assist you in whatever way she can." She motioned to me with a smile. "She'll show you what to do."

    "Right," he smiled at me.

    He wasn't a young man, pushing into his late forties, I would have guessed, but there was a certain kindness about him. I think he wasn't fooled by Mother's airs in the least. He looked far too smart for that—smart enough to have seen the airs common women put on when they wanted people to pay attention to them.

    "Hans, here, will take you to your room." He motioned to his companion who bowed low with a few too many flourishes. What he saw in Flora, I was unsure, but he certainly was putting on a show of impressing her.

    "I was just going to ask about that." Mother laughed playfully. She seemed to have forgotten the last twenty or thirty years of her life and was acting like a maiden that had never seen a man in armor before. "My daughters and I are thoroughly exhausted from our long journey and would be glad of a few moments to freshen up for tonight's festivities."

    "Of course," the footman nodded patiently. "Hans will take you where you want to go." He smiled, showing two rows of small, pearly-white teeth.

    "I think I'll stay for a moment to make sure our maid behaves herself." Adella grinned maliciously at me, rubbing in my shame with expertise. "She does have a habit of running off before things are quite finished." The footman turned to me. Now, he would dislike me. I lowered my head, grinding my teeth together.

    "Hmm," he mused thoughtfully. "She looks like a steady lass—good enough to go to one of the king's balls, I'll warrant. She's right pretty, too." I looked up quickly, and he winked at me. It was an entirely different sort of wink from the one Hans had given Flora. It was like he was sharing a secret with me and wanted me to keep it to myself. "I think I'm capable of managing her, milady." He turned back to Adella with a smile.