She felt blessed, like the Stars themselves had granted her this. There was no limit, no rules or constraints. She was boundless; she was home, safe and secure in his unbreakable embrace.
~
Shackled in an abrupt and demanding upbringing, Althera is...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It was evening by the time Kartella sent for her the next day. She had been sitting by her bed with an full stomach and drooping eyes when one of her usual maids came bustling in with a basin of clean water and a washing cloth. Althera thought it was just another part of her nightly routine at first, but when the maid hastily explained she was ordered to be in the presence of the king, her heart began racing.
She was sure there had been no king she was informed of. But then she should have known when she arrived at the castle that there would be a ruler, which meant she was in a foreign kingdom, and she had no clue on how she had ended up in the home of the royal family. She felt ashamed for not realizing sooner.
With much protesting, Althera was pushed onto the stool of the dressing table, the maid shifting her body so that she faced the mirror. She grimaced at the bleary-eyed reflection that looked back at her. The maid yanked a comb through her knotted hair without warning, and Althera restrained a yelp of pain. Her servants, especially the maids, always complained about her appearance, and that she needed to take care of it if she wanted to be a docile and well-groomed lady - Althera rolled her eyes behind the maids' backs at that.
Althera stood her ground, however, when the maid took out the powder and other assortments of products that had her squirming at the sight of. The maid's mouth formed into a frown of disapproval, but she gave in and hustled over to Althera's dressing room. She had more gowns hanging on the racks of her closet than she desired, and she hadn't touched half of them, sticking mostly to plain fabrics and materials of dark colors.
The maid hurried back with a stack of gowns that piled higher than her head. They landed in a heap on the lavender sheets of Althera's large bed. It took longer for the maid to choose her outfit for tonight than it did for her to actually tug it on. To Althera's dismay, the dress was a coppery gold, and the silky material allowed the light from her chandelier to glance off it in an entrancing way that made her cringe. She wasn't used to being covered in beautiful clothing and made to endure more of the suffocating tightness the maid had put on her bodice. And she certainly wasn't accustomed to her tousled hair being fixed into place with pearly pins too fancy for her liking.
When she was dressed and ready, the maid urged her out of the room and into the hall, not prohibiting her even a fleeting look at herself in the mirror. She didn't mind how she looked, though the thought of coming face to face with the king made her palms sweaty. The maid didn't help either with her growing anxiety, and merely led her down the maze of hallways. Now that she could see properly, Althera gaped in awe at the design of the hallways. Carpets she hadn't noticed before were laid out on the marble floor of the grand palace. She'd tripped a few times over the expensive rugs laid out on the stone floor - she blamed the unnecessary jewels and other sorts of ridiculous decorations clinging to her slippers.
As they passed down another hall, Althera realized the architecture of the building had changed. The walls were of a simpler stone structure and nothing like the painted, golden walls from before.
