Supposed Royalty has been published and the first chapter is out. Go check it out!!

                                   Bonus scene.                  

A young lady with dull brown eyes and an oversized bonnet fastened to her head was seated under a tree, a hand resting on a folded knee. She often wondered why the English man who discovered gravity sat under a tree at the first place It couldn't be for the same reasons as her could it? A squirrel scurried past her causing her to squeal and almost give away her hiding place to her grand mama who was surely looking for her at the moment. Pressing a hand over her mouth she parted a few thin branches and leaves spotting no one she heaved a relieved sigh.

Her Grand mama's apple tree was one of a kind with branches sweeping the floor, thick foliage and fruits enough to feed the whole village, some of the stupid villagers believed old lady Ventus was a witch who made the enormous apple tree by casting a spell. Fools. Her grand mama was anything but a witch, they just didn't want to believe that the poor family who could hardly afford to buy a fertilizer could be blessed with such harvest. They weren't wrong about one thing though, her grand mama did look like a witch with her marvellously wrinkled face and liver spots due to the harsh climatic condition of the village, she could pass for a cold blooded leech with translucent skin and aristocratic way of doing things. Though in her late 70s she held herself with such grace and posture Adelaide didn't possess and that annoyed the senior citizen than any other thing.

Adelaide held her breath as she heard dried fallen leaves being crunched under foot. There was only one person she knew that could walk that fast on an uneven ground and the person was approaching her hiding place. There was a pause in which she released the breath she holding in.

"It's alright gamma can never find me here." Placing a hand on the left side of her chest, she patted herself down. The apple tree had been her shelter anytime she needed to escape from the claws of her grand mama since she was 12. Gamma never once thought to part the thick foliage around the apple tree in search of her grand baby who always ran away from responsibilities. No sane would think to hide in a place full of thorns and insectivorous plants but she should have known her grand baby was no sane person.

"There you are!" Was the only warning Adelaide had before a pair of large hands reached into the foliage and snatched her up. Before she knew what hit her she was standing in front of a furious gamma. She could have sworn there was smoke emerging from her grand mama's ears and nose, she took a step back and the old hag took two. Her once placid eyes were narrowed so much it left two thin lines in place of her eyes. Adelaide's mind was running two miles per second in search for what excuse she could give for hiding behind a thick foliage.

"Why. Are. You. Still. Here." The cold look her gamma was giving her was enough to kill at the spot and Adelaide knew she'd definitely get a punishment if she didn't look for a decent excuse but guess whose brain didn't work under pressure?

"Er, because you're talking to me? And it's wrong to walk away when being talked to?" Again her eyes narrowed and Adelaide was beginning to worry if it would ever be able to open again after so much pressure had been put on the lids.

"Let me rephrase, why are you still here standing in front of me when you should be in the town square signing up for the selection?"

"Oh that..... Well I was on my way there and thought why waste my time signing up for a position I'll never be picked for when I could just spend my time taking good care of Gamma's beautiful apple tree." If there was anything gamma loved other than politics then it was her apple tree. Her expression softened at the mention of the tree and she appeared to be in deep thought.

"In that case.."

Adelaide's ears perked up at that. If she was lucky gamma would see that signing up for the selection was a waste of time and would let her do whatever she liked at home.

"You should go sign up real quick and spend the rest of the afternoon watering the tree and also help me in the corn field. Ha, that's a nice idea. Be quick I'll wait for you in the barn." And with that gamma turned on her heels and headed towards the barn muttering something that sounded like 'Good luck.'

With a slumped shoulder and defeated look Adelaide made her way towards the direction of the town's square.

                                                   ***

The town square was full just as she expected, in rare days like that which people see as an opportunity to climb higher in the social status everyone was always present and at that moment friends became enemies and enemies became greater enemies and at the end they all come together forgetting they were enemies days ago just to spite whoever was the lucky one. An high table was placed on a podium, two men in suits sat behind the table hands writing furiously. Whoever brought the idea of using the town square for the enrollment was probably not the smartest, there was the great hall of Nahum where most of the court proceedings and commoner's wedding took place but instead they chose to do it out in the sun for the sun to fry the poor people whose only offense was trying to climb higher in the society's ladder. To someone like Adelaide that was probably offensive enough, she just never saw the need to be high up in the society, as if there weren't enough snubs among the commoners.

A certain young man was surrounded by young 5 girls, all from high class families. Of course, no lower class member would try to go near the duke of Cornwall without the assent of the duke himself but when did Adelaide ever follow rules? With a giant smile on her face, she skipped to where The duke was, holding her too long gown made from cotton fabric. Attention was immediately drawn to her and two of the girls rolled their eyes and left the gathering, those ones knew that whenever they were with the duke and Adelaide arrived, they would only embarrass themselves by staying longer. The other three girls were probably the dumb ones or didn't know of Adelaide because they pretended as if she wasn't there and continued buzzing all over the duke. That annoyed Adelaide a great deal, she hated being ignored.

She clapped her hands as if squashing a disturbing fly and fixed them with her best don't you dare me look she learnt from her gamma.

"What are you still waiting for? Evaporate!!" The girls seemed to be too slow at understanding simple logic because they just gaped at her.

"What? You don't understand that? It means fade away, disappear, get your fat asses away from him." The girls looked back to the duke, probably for affirmation or another thing, who knew? They were dumb anyways.

"You heard her." The duke stated. The nitwits finally got the hint and left with a bemused expression on their faces. "Fare thee well, doofus." Adelaide added. Turning to her lifelong best friend she grinned and bowed, not caring that it was improper for a lady to bow to a man. Edward only laughed and patted his best friend's head, after 4 years he was used to her weird ways it was what attracted him to her anyways.

"Stop doing that you silly girl." He chuckled, reaching out he tucked the fallen strands of her blonde hair packed into a rough bun behind her ears.

"Yes, your oh so high and mighty duke of Numbskulls and dunderhead. By the way, I think you and the prince would make a nice match. Your children would be such adorable little oafs." Edward blinked.

"What?!" Adelaide rolled her eyes, she often did that whenever she was with Edward, sometimes she thought he was too slow for a duke and an important one at that but then again, the whole human population except her gamma appeared dumb to her.

"Well look around, you're the only man around here except the officials since no man is actually expected to sign up for the selection. And unless you suddenly grew a hole, you shouldn't be here."

"Oh that! Well you know my sister...she celebrated her 15th birthday months ago and is now qualified for the selection. She insisted on coming and mama is busy with the preparation of the ball that'll take place this evening so I had no choice than to be her escort." He ruffled his hair with his hands, looking lost and frustrated. Poor thing.

Adelaide didn't know much about Alexia Seymour but she knew that Edward's sister was just as snobby as their mother, she learnt that from when she met her at a ball. The only thing that kept Adelaide from shoving her prim face into the carpeted floor was knowing that her brother wouldn't be pleased.

"I still want to shove her delicate make up caked face up her derrière though." Adelaide complained.

"She's my sister!!"

"I know, and I don't care.." He sighed.

"She's just a little girl, Addie. She's a saint really when you get to know her better."

"I think 4 years is enough time if I actually cared one bit about her,sorry but that's the true, there is no excuse to her behaviours, she's just a little spoiled brat who is a replica of your self absorbed mother."

"Oh fudge! Why are you so damn straight, don't you have a filter in your mouth?" Edward was trying to suppress a laugh as he found the expression Addie had on while describing his family funny.

"I don't need one but if your sister and mother did have one in their mouths the poor town folks would have an easy time but then again, completely cutting their tongues off would be better." It was then she noticed that the line was getting longer and if she didn't join it right then, she'd end up sleeping in the town square.

Edward Seymour noticed his friend looking towards the long line, he frowned. When he heard the news of the selection, he never expected Addie to sign up for it. There were few things his friend took interest in, the selection was definitely not part of it, she hated everything that included high class fellows so he couldn't quite grab why she seemed eager to join the line.

"Never thought I'd see the day my beloved friend would take interest in occasions like this, anyways a crown would surely look good on you, must be the unmatched beauty of the prince that has got you enchanted. I think you and the Prince would make a nice match, I give my full support." He threw her words back at her. Addie pouted, it had skipped her mind to tell Edward of her saddening predicament and now he was taunting her because of it.

"You think I want to be here? I wonder if you know me at all. Gamma's gone crazy, she thinks I have a chance against those prim and proper ladies that'd partake in the selection, even if I get chosen as a participant, there's no way I'd be a part of the elites, I might as well go there to enjoy the food. Come to think of it, there'd be so much food , there might even be lamb stew and fish sticks and toaster strudel and chip casserole or even...pop tarts." Her stomach grumbled in anticipation of the said foods. Maybe being chosen wasn't the end of the world after all, she'd get a break from the dry crusty bread that was their daily meal in the family.

"Let me take a wild guess, you didn't get a chance to hide at your 'apple tree' shelter before she pounced on you, or....maybe she found out your hiding place. That must be it!! Oh goodness! How did she?!" Edward faked surprise, she could see the edges of his lips twitching giving away his desire to laugh out loud at her condition. Her eyes wandered over her 'dear' friend who had been her only friend for 4 years now. He had definitely changed from the scrawny boy she met those long years ago. His Titan's shoulders were broad, supporting his burly physique, his Roman nose and well defined cheek bones which sat above a concrete jaw definitely did the job of catching the eyes of the fairer sex. His viking gold hair which was always neatly combed to a side and his eyes which resembled the sea on a storm free day were in perfect proportion with each other. He couldn't be compared to that other boy who was feets shorter with less defined jawline and a no broad shoulders.

Some would wonder how two people of different social standing came to be such close friends, well it was a story she could tell by heart.

                                                 ***

It was a sunny day in the Oryn kingdom. When was it ever not sunny? A naughty 13 year old girl in a dress made from cotton material stood outside the gate of the Cornwall family. People were there to pay their last homage to the late duke of Cornwall who had just passed away due to a long time sickness, except the girl. She had heard of the tragedy and thought 'what better occasion to sell Gamma's apples than this?' So she plucked lots of apples, put them in a jute sack and off she went to the gate of the deceased, to sell her apples.

To her dismay, nobody bought the apples from her even though she offered them up for prices 10 times lesser than the market value of apples they just gave her weird looks, some even trying to shoo her away. Such downers.
She had packed her wares and was preparing to go home as the sun still beat down mercilessly on her She wasn't about to have liver spots on her face like her gamma. She stopped short however when she saw a boy of around her age sitting all by himself under a tree. Thinking maybe he'd be different from the older people and take interest in her juicy apples, she made her way towards him.

The boy looked up and when footsteps neared him, it was a girl his age in a mole ridden cotton dress, he cringed and looked away. He wasn't in the mood to be nice to anyone so he decided to just ignore her till she got the hint and went away. What he wasn't expecting was that the girl would reach out and pull his hair when he ignored her. His surprise at her actions pushed away any anger he felt and he turned to look at her, finally giving her the attention she deserved. She was a little thing in a dress two sizes too big for her and eyes too large to be normal, he could tell she was from a lower class family and that made him feel a tad bit sorry for her, it didn't completely erase his irritation though. He was tired of people laying hands on his shoulders telling him it's going to be alright, telling him he had to man up and take up the responsibilities his father left behind, telling him he was responsible for his mother and sister even at that young age. He didn't want the consolation the girl wanted to offer to him so he told her and to his greatest surprise she scoffed and told him she was there to sell apples to him and not to console him. He momentarily forgot his distress and thought of a very good plan.

He'd give her a gold coin and she'd have to listen to him rant for as long as he wanted. She agreed and that was the start of their lifelong friendship. He told her of his greedy uncles and how they were ready to take over his father's properties and throw him, his mother and sister out if he didn't quickly take the title and work hard to ensure the continuation of his father's businesses. They agreed to keep meeting at the beginning of each month under that same particular tree and continue their trade. After a while, the boy felt a little selfish and would ask the girl to talk too in which she would rant about the unfairness in the way people of lower class were treated and her hate for those higher up. Soon they both forgot about the money and would talk things they had in common and soon enough, they didn't only meet at the tree alone but at her house, never at his though.

Someone clicked the fingers in front of her, startling her from the dreamy state she had gone into. Edward grinned down at her, wriggling his eyebrow in a suggestive manner. She shoved him so hard he almost landed on his butt, annoying her even more when his laughter intensified. People were starting to glare at them. Most of them were ladies anyways. Adelaide always wondered the use of women in the society, except cooking and caring for the youngsters they were pretty useless and what annoyed her most was that they were contented with being useless. She shook the thought away, not wanting to dwell on it.

She sighed.

"I better go join the line now, or else I'll have to travel to Timbuktu before I can join the line if I wait one more minute." The corner of her lips were pulled down in a frown, her mind going through the excuses she could give her gamma if she went back home without signing but found none.

"One would think you were a martyr giving up her life for something she didn't believe in with the look you have on."

"Indeed I am." Effectively putting on a brave face, she marched towards the line, ignoring the last jab from Edward.

            
                                                   ***

Want more of this? Check out supposed royalty by AkanbiFavour