reading or imagining a young prince scaling the walls of my balcony to come and rescue me from this place. My head was
always in the clouds as my mother would say.
Stepping through the entrance as the curtains were pulled back, everyone stopped talking amongst themselves as they
bowed or curtsied in my wake. Smiling at them all softly, I headed towards my mother’s side. She and Talia were dressed up
just as elegantly as me. Our mother however, had left her copper locks loose and sitting beautifully on her bare shoulders, her
gold dress glittered in the candlelight.
Whereas Talia was dressed more modishly, at her age it was custom for her to show minimal amounts of skin. Her hair like
our mother’s was left to be wild and free. She had more of our father’s looks, sun-kissed skin and brown eyes. But there was
still no doubt she was mother’s, as that copper hair shone brightly against the candlelight. The same copper hair we siblings all
shared with each other.
“Ah, my daughter finally graces us with her presence.”
My father’s voice bellowed out as he clapped, of course, showing the pretence that he cared if I were there or not. As I
took my seat in between my mother and Talia, Norok rose from his and again, everyone stayed silent, hanging on to every word
he said.
“Yes, I am pleased my sister has finally joined us, for I have an announcement. Granted the king would have loved to have
announced this himself, I asked him kindly if he would permit me.”
Norok, the tall, dark and handsome type of the family, was a mixture of both of our parents. The tall stance of our father, the
copper hair of our mother, his hazel eyes, and his skin were a mixture of them both. Tanned and gorgeous. He was the man most
women wanted to marry and the envy of all men.
“Come here, my dear.”
Norok’s voice brought me out of my thoughts as a small, petite girl stepped out from the crowd. She wore a rose-pink dress
that complimented her pale skin and gave her long, jet black hair a beautiful contrast.
“Lady Gelda and I would like to announce our betrothal.”
The crowd erupted into a chorus of claps and small cheers and as I clapped lightly, my mind wondered. When did all this
happen, and how did I miss it? Talia whispered into my ear, “Father demanded he marry her, for she is believed to be with
child. If she doesn’t bleed, Norok has but a week to wed and if she does bleed, she will be shunned by the court, a disgrace
Mother has said.”
Talia, although the youngest of us three, was very good at finding out information, and I highly doubted that our mother and
father had told her any of that. Most likely, it came from one of Lady Gelda’s lady’s maids and then she passed that information
onto one of Talia’s maids and so forth.