I had only  a very loose idea for what I wanted to do with this story and it shows in the first day I was writing. Much of it is pointless and cringe.

It was a beautiful day in the kingdom and her father was coming home! That thought was foremost in Miryanna's mind as she skipped down the corridor, unheedful of the onlooking stares. She reached the passageway that led to the battlements and ran all the way to the top. From up there, she could see the almost the whole city laid out before her. She raised a hand to shade her eyes from the sun and gazed out longingly, wishing to be out in the city amongst the people instead of stuck in the castle awaiting her father there. She wanted to be the first person he saw when he came in the gate. But that was not to be. Her aunt, the queen, insisted that she stay and wait like a lady, and while Miryanna was usually just fine with that, today, seeing her father was her top priority.

Okay not so bad. Upbeat and happy. Yay. Is it explicitly clear yet that I had n o i d e a w h a t i w a s d o i n g w i t h t h i s s t o r y . _ .

She was distracted from her thoughts as another person came up the stairs. But this was no guard or average person, as their rich clothing and tiara attested. This was the princess of the kingdom, Miryanna's cousin.

Establish that Miryanna is a member of the royal family. Check.

"Oh, there you are," She exclaimed as soon as she saw Miryanna perched up there.

"Hey, Nynesi, were you looking for me?" Miryana said in response.

"Well, as a matter of fact, mother is looking for you, but she made me join her in her quest." was her cousins response.

"Alright," Miryanna says and jumps down to the ground and follows her cousin down the stairs and to find the queen.

The ran into almost in to her as they were walking down the corridor.

"Oh, there you two are," she said as she saw them. "Now Miryanna, I know you're excited about you father coming home, and I don't blame you one bit, but could you please try to remember that you're seventeen and not twelve?" She asked.

Miryana bit her lip, somewhat ashamed of how she had been acting. Somewhat, but not quite.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Miryanna. I haven't connected with her like I have other ocs, but I do like her. When writing this, I wanted to find a happy medium between 'ugh everything girly is dumb" and "absolutely must be the most perfect little lady and all times". She's fine with being a normal person with big dreams.

"You're right, aunt, I'm sorry, but I'm still really excited!" She responded, doing little hops on her toes.

The queen laughed. "Well as I said, I don't blame you one bit for being excited. I know when I my father came home after a long journey there was practically nothing that could stop me. But still," she said growing serious again, "you want to show you're father that you're mature enough to stop behaving like a child. Else, how will you convince him to let you go with him one day?"

Miryanna sighed, "I guess you're right." And the trio continued down the hallway on their way to the throne room.

They entered and went straight to the throne on which the king was sitting.

"Ah, there you three are," He said, a smile on his face. Although sometimes times were hard in the kingdom, and he had to make tough decisions often, the king always seemed to find a reason to smile. Miryanna admired that about her uncle.

She smiled back and her aunt replied. "Yes, we're all here. Now what time did you say Dominic would be returning? It must be at least past noon by this time.

"Yes, it's an hour past noon, and Dominic said he would be returning at mid afternoon."

Miryanna sighed. Mid afternoon? That seemed like forever. Well, she thought on a cheerier note, that was closer than it had been this morning.

She almost missed what her cousin was saying to her.

"Oh, Miryanna, your hair is tangled, want to head to your room and fix it up a bit?"

Miryanna smiled again. Although her cousin was the princess, and could be snobbish sometimes, she was still an enjoyable person to be around for the most part.

Listen, I like Nynesi too. If you wanted to see more dynamics between these two, believe me you're not the only one being disappointed

"Sure," She replied and the two went off to Miryanna's chambers.

Miryanna's father was the ambassador for the kingdom of Terinnia and thus was away a lot. But, as the queen was Miryanna's father's sister, she insisted on harboring Miryana while her father was away on his long trips. This was just fine with Miryannna and her cousin, as the two girls loved to hang out together.

Now they were at the door to Miryanna's room, and the two entered to Miryanna's slightly messy room.

"Oh, Miryana, " Her cousin said, a note of displeasure in her tone. "You didn't finish cleaning did you?" she said disapprovingly.

From everything i recall about who Nynesi was as a person, U are one 2 talk. I thought Miryanna was supposed to be the neater one.

Miryanna shrugged and said sheepishly, "I was too excited."

Her cousin shook her head, and then laughed. "Well it's better than it was, and that's saying something. Now where are your brush and comb?" She asked, now going over to the vanity and mirror and picked up the ivory brush and comb. "Here, now just sit on the bed and I'll do something wonderful with your hair." Her cousin said.

Miryanna complied and took a seat on the feather mattress. She felt her cousin stroking the brush through her long dark red hair.

Ensue long description of hair playing with and a switch to the present tense because i needed that word count

"Your hair is so thick!" Nynesi exclaimed.

Miryana grins, "You make it sound like that's a good thing."

Miryannna doesn't see it, but she just knows that Nynesi is rolling her eyes.

"Alright, what do want me to do with your hair?" Nynesi asked.

"Hmm, can you do that braided bun you did last week?"

"Sure thing." She said, and started with an intricate braid that would be coiled up into a bun.

Is it possible to describe braids as anything other than intricate, messy, or simple?

"Could you hold this for a second?" Nynesi asked and Miryanna reached up her hand to hold the lock of hair in place as Nynesi dashed back to the vanity to grab a few hair pins and dashed tight back to take the lock of hair and pin it in place.

It took a few minutes, but at last, all of Miryanna's abundant hair was in place.

A few minutes? Elaborate hairstyles can take HOURS

Nynesi grinned in satisfaction as she surveyed her work.

Miryanna went to over to the vanity to take a look. She had to admit that the way the hair framed her ivory skin and complimented her hazel green eyes was very attractive indeed. She reached up to gently finger her cousin's workmanship, "Thanks,"

Nynesi grinned wider, "My pleasure. You look beautiful with you hair up that way, if I do say so myself," She added.

Both girls giggled and started for the throne room.

On the way there, Miryanna suggested that instead, they take another trip to the battlement to wait. Nynesi was just fine with that, so the two of them made their way, slower this time, to the top part of the castle.

"Oh," Nynesi breathed as she looked out to the full view she was beholding, "It's so pretty!" She said as she looked intently into the vast expanse.

"I know," Miryanna said as she joined her cousin in surveying the wide world from the lofty place. "That's why I come up here so often. It's like you can see all they way to the end of the world!" She said, sweeping her arm in a wide gesture.

Nynesi smirked, "Or at least to the end of the city,"

Miryanna playfully nudged her cousin, "Stick in the mud," She teased.

Mynesi nudged her back. "At least my head isn't stuck up in the stars,"

Generic teasing

"Ah, but the air is so clear up there. It's wonderful for thinking,"

They both laughed and settled to gazing out to the wild blue yonder and when they tired of that, they settled to observing the peasants and noblemen alike that walked the city streets below.

"Oh, look," Nynesi pointed, "There's Andarin."

Ah yes, establish the love interest. Hmm, let's make him a nice looking young nobleman, brown hair, basic, charming.. yeah that'll be perf.

"What, where?" Miryanna looked in the direction Nynesi was pointing, and sure enough she saw her beloved Andarin as he walked through the bustling crowd. Miryanna's eyes followed him and saw him approach someone. A tall dark haired man, as far as Miryanna and Nynesi could see. Andarin and the man exchanged words and then parted ways, Andarin heading back to the castle, and the dark haired man disappearing into the crowd. Miryanna didn't try and track where the stranger went, however, as all she had eyes for was Andarin. She lost track of him when he entered the castle gates, but since he entered, she had no doubt she'd see him soon.

Ooohh a tall dark haired man. *sigh* I have entirely too many tall dark haired men in my stories. thanks tolkien.

Nynesi turned to Miryanna, a knowing smile on her face, "Excited to see your lover, eh?"

Fun fact: i thought the word "lover" sounded a bit much for Miryanna and Andarin's more casual courtship, but boyfriend/girlfriend sounded too modern. I couldn't find a satisfactory synonym though, and eventually forgot about it till now.

Miyanna blushed, "Well, wouldn't you be if you suddenly saw Balso coming up the street?" She commented, referring to the handsome young nobleman that Nynesi had fallen for.

Another fun fact: this is the first, last, and only time anyone named Balso is mentioned.

Nynesi brushed the comment off, "That's besides the point," and pointed out another personage making her way down the street. "How many bracelets can you fit on one wrist?" She exclaimed.

Fun fact: all the people mentioned in their people watching are never seen or heard from again.

Miryanna also inspected the jewelry ridden lady walking down the street like she owned it, her faithful servant in tow. "Well, it seems that she'd run out of wrist so she started on the arm." She stated matter-of-factly.

"And those, earrings! You'd think her ears would just fall right off," Nynesi continued.

"I myself am more impressed with her dress." Miryanna remarked.

Nynesi also inspected the lady's dress. "That's certainly a large amount of satin and velvet,"

I unironically wish i had that much jewelry and clothing

They watched until she disappeared into the crowd, then sought out another subject to watch.

Miryanna soon spotted one. "Look there," She gestured at a war-like young woman sauntering along.

Nynesi's brows raised, "She looks tough,"

"To say the least," Miryanna added. "Look at the scars on her face," Miryanna observed, "she looks like she's been in many fights."

Nynesi nodded, "And her limp," Her eyes traveled over the crowd again, but she was suddenly distracted by Miryanna's yelp of surprise. She whipped her head around to see whatever was the matter and saw Miryanna playfully smacking Andarin, who had just arrived, on the side of the head. But they were both laughing.

"So, how's the city, with it's two ever watchful guardians?" He teased.

"Oh stop it. This is the first time in ages that we've both been up here," Miryanna denied.

"We were just up here, making observations and passing the time until her father arrives." Nynesi stated, nodding in Miryanna's direction.

"Your father's coming home today?" He turned to Miryanna, his brows quirked.

She snorted, "As if you didn't know. I've been reminding you every day for the past week."

Andarin laughed again, his light brown eyes sparkling with merriment. "I know, I know, I was teasing."

Miryanna rolled her eyes, "Typical you," she said and grinned again. Of a sudden, she looked up at the sun, "Say, it should be near mid afternoon by this time,"

Ah yes, typical Andarin. So classic. Haha.

"It was soon to be mid afternoon when I left my house, which was about ten minutes ago," He offered.

Miryanna immediately leaned over the battlements to get the best view of the nearby gate, looking to see her father's familiar face. Her eyes lit up the instant she saw him. "There he is! I see him!"

The convenience

She rushed back down the stairs, her friends close behind.

"Miryanna, slow down!" Nynesi called after her, "We're indoors."

Miryanna slowed from her almost sprint to a fast walk, and Nynesi and Andarin caught up with her easily.

"Whew," Andarin made a show of wiping sweat from his brow, "If you didn't have your skirts and were outside in a big wide open space, I'll bet you could outrun even the deer," 

I used to think it was cool to just be that fast, but after being a sprinter for three years, put in all that work towards being fast, and have the new kid who's never run track before beat me in all the intervals, i know am finding myself in the getting over stage of being high-key jealous

"Haha," She replied sarcastically, "It's not like that'll ever happen, I'm seventeen. Too old to be dashing to and fro about the world."

"True, true," Nynesi commented.

They reached the entrance to the throne room and entered, and to Miryanna's utmost delight, there was her father, making his grand entrance to deliver his news to the king.

Miryanna's smile couldn't possibly get any wider, but she refrained from running up and hugging him right away. He had more important things to do currently.

He bowed before the king, "Greetings, my lord," he straightened, "I bring good news from Fasik

So ye that's the first day of writing. I forgot to mention it in the A/N, but let me also say that this is a NaNo novel, and that means that the word count was the top priority. Sometimes the story had to suffer, but the word count prevailed and that was life in the November of 2016.