Diana is the only legitimate child of the king of Zaar. Her whole life she has been in turmoil, her parents' separation casting her claim to the throne into question.
But now she finds herself in the calm before the storm. Her father is dying, leav...
The dresses above are worn by the Queen and her ladies(the red one is her, the off the shoulder hailey, the other beige one Camila and the blue one Selena)
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The gathering room in the chapter. *************************************
Diana stood in front of her bedroom mirror,tugging at her cinched waist. Today was gonna be rough.
For the last few years, Diana had gotten used to dealing with delegates and priests and her father but today was a different kind of challenge. Mingling with court socialites was a part of politics that could make or break a monarch. Her father had taken it too lightly, choosing instead to spend his time at brothels and poker houses with his army friends. It had led to his downfall of course. He died a shell of the man he used to be with his least favourite child as the next successor. That too a girl. He must be turning over in his grave.
But enough about him. This was her day-scratch that this was her era-and she intended to make an impression. And so , no matter how uncomfortable she felt about socialising with a bunch of strangers or how mundane the gossip got, she was gonna go out there looking her best and charm her way into everyone's good graces.
And so she threw open her double doors and walked towards the great parlour, her guards two feet behind. Her clanging heels were met with three other pairs as soon as she exited her wing of the castle.
She took a quick glance around. Selena her same boring self but what was interesting was the other two. They seemed to be wearing the same colour.
Hailey kept glaring over at Camila, no doubt bothered by having to share the spotlight. Same old Hailey.
What was interesting though was the new girl Camila. She seemed totally oblivious, staring straight ahead. Smart girl.
Diana was jolted out of her thoughts as guards pulled open the gold doors leading to their destination. This is it.
She couldn't believe she was doing this with a new girl by her side and someone she didn't really trust. She cursed herself for not thinking of this before.
'Cousin dear' a Spanish accent exclaimed.
She pushed aside her panic and raised her hand for the Spaniard to kiss. The man in front of her had thick black hair and olive skin tone, his voice loud and boisterous.
'I see the Queen has finally risen' , his eyes twinkled while he spoke.
His tone was half serious and have joking. She remembered how he always used to call her that when she was younger as she was always quiet exceptionally bossy.
'No one rolls out of bed looking like this Erik'
I turned towards the Queen's reserved corner as a way to end the conversation and heard three pairs of heels following me,a little more unsure this time. The room could be overwhelming.
As we took a seat I made use of the precious few seconds I had alone with my ladies. No one could approach me without being invited but it was rude to keep them waiting too long.
'I know you are well versed in court rules but I want to make somethings clear. Never trust anyone,specially your family, never promise anything and be polite to everyone but friendly to no one. You are ladies of the court now not mere maidens.'
My speech seemed to have shaken everyone up a bit so I smiled in hopes that it would be enough to make their fear less obvious to our audience. We were in the company of vultures.
'Emily I haven't seen you in a while,I hope everything's okay at home?' I kept my tone neutral. Starting with a week candidate seemed apt.
'Ye-es your highness everything's just fine. I have just been a bit ill these past few months.' She shuttered her way through the sentence. It occurred to me that this was the very first time she had been in court after her abortion that her family tried oh so hard to cover up. Alas, gossip travels fast here.
I felt a tinge if guilt as I kept my eyes fixed on her. But this is the way it works. I started off the day on shaky ground, I had to cement my reputation for the crowd even if it meant bullying a vulnerable girl.
'I can see that' I heard my voice come out coldly as my eyes slid to her stomach.
I could feel every person's eyes on her. The snickers and whispered voices. Vulnerability kills.
Just then I was yanked out of my thoughts. A square came running up to me. He whispered something into my guard's ears and scurried off.
My guard looked uncertain. Then he inched closer and bent down to my level.
'The visiting prince requests your company over breakfast your royal highness.'
My hands fisted up my dress as I contemplated my answer.
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A/N Hope you guys liked this chapter. The story really kicks off in the next one.
