The Knight's Rose

Chapter Twenty-One ~ The Blossom of a Rose

Chapter Twenty-One  ~ The Blossom of a Rose

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"Oh my!" Naida exclaimed as I turned around to face her. I was dressed in a dark blue gown that fell heavily on my non-existent hips. The sleeves were long at the end and were coated in a silvery blue tone. It shimmered slightly in the morning light and made soft dress sounds whenever I moved. It was beautiful and would have made any maiden happy at the mere sight of it.

Yet, I couldn't even feel an inch of happiness.

"You look so beautiful, Rose," Prim whispered, her own eyes tired and weary. She sat beside the many other gowns that were strewn across the large bed. Lily nodded her head in agreement, her face split into a wide smile.

It had been about two days since I received the news of my apparent royal lineage. For those two days, I had developed a most clingy relationship with Nikolai's bed. I couldn't remove myself from its grasps as it enveloped me in a parade of duvets and pillows.

Nikolai had requested that I stayed in his room for my own protection as he feared the King might cause me bodily harm if I were left alone. I accepted the request, red face and all, and even though we shared a room we didn't share the bed.

Turns out I do actually have some sort of restraint.

Who knew?

Nikolai couldn't spend as much time with me anymore because of his upcoming coronation. When he was here, my dark thoughts wouldn't prevail as much, but they spoke in high volumes when I was alone. They ripped me to pieces over and over again as they relayed every part of that dreaded day.

Prim and Lily would stay with me sometimes, but they too also had a dark heavy cloud following their every footsteps. We usually made small talk with placid smiles on our faces as we tried to ignore the heavy truth.

Finally, Princess Naida graced me with her illustrious presence and ordered me out of bed. We were going to try on gowns for the ball was her only excited excuse. I couldn't reject her so I allowed myself to leave Nikolai's room and follow her.

"Thank you," I whispered, as I turned back again at the mirror. My dull brown eyes portrayed only my cold sadness and I looked oddly dead inside.

Wonderful.

I tried to smile and grimaced when my expression turned half-crazed.

"Hm, it does bring something to the table, doesn't it?" Naida said while walking over to me. She stood behind me as she smiled before leafing the finger with pads of her dress. "Yet, I don't think this is the dress."

"Don't force yourself," she said in the softest of voices that barely reached my ears. Before I could even give her a questioning look, she had turned around and walked back to the scattered gowns.

"Have you found something for yourself, Lily dear?" Naida asked Lily, who sat on one of the white cushioned chairs. The only thing happy about this moment was the excitement on Lily's face as she tried on the grand apparels.

"I have," she whispered as she hugged a saturated pink dress to herself. It had thin straps with a sparkly white upper top that faded into a nice peachy pink at the bottom.

Naida nodded before reaching out to pluck a dress from the bed. From where I stood, I could see that she was choosing from the big dresses pile. A lady-in-waiting provided her services by helping her pull it out.

It was beautiful.

The lady-in-waiting helped me out of the blue dress and folded it into her arms. I was left in my cream bodice that was secured snuggly around my waist. She then began to help me put on the dress, and for a minute I couldn't breathe from its sheer beauty.