The first lights of dawn weren't yet up when Isabela could feel herself be shook awake.

"Just five more minutes… Please…," Isabela mumbled, begging, still half asleep.

"Samuilu." The voice was stern.

Isabela's eyelids jolted open quickly. She was wide awake.

That sure as hell isn't Oeddaf's voice, Isabela thought to herself.

Oeddaf was the man who was the first person who came to people's minds when they thought of the Vaduva's servants.

That's mother's voice, Isabela thought.

"Get up," the voice commanded again.

Isabela sat up quickly, her medium length hair a mess. "Mother… What a surprise," she said, trying to sound surprised.

"Samuilu…" Elena Vaduva sounded disappointed.

"You know…" Isabela began, brushing the hair out of her face. "I could've swore you were Oeddaf."

Elena, who's arms were crossed, raised a raven colored eyebrow.

"By the way… where is that old rascal Oeddaf?" Isabela tilted her head around the room, looking for him.

Finally, she spotted Oeddaf by the opening of the door. "Oeddaf!" She began. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"I tried to!" Oeddaf started, defensively. "I tried multiple times. …and when you told me 'five more minutes' twenty-four times-"

Isabela nervously laughed.

Oeddaf continued, "I decided it was high time I brought your mother—-the Queen—-in."

Isabela bounced her head a little. "Sooo…" She trailed off. "I slept in. Oops." She shrugged a little.

"Yes." Elena then said, hostilely, "Oops is right."

Isabela pulled a face slightly. "I'm sensing I did something wrong."

Elena exhaled so loudly that Isabela could've sworn she saw the shelves rattle. "You have a big day ahead of you."

"What do you mean?" Isabela questioned.

"Oeddaf!" Elena called, clapping, not at all answering her daughter's question. "Get my son changed."

Oeddaf nodded, heading into the room.

Elena stepped out of the room for a moment.

"I can change myself, thank you very much!" Isabela began. "I'm nineteen years old!"

Oeddaf was holding some fancy trousers and a silk tunic. "Sire, I-"

Isabela yanked them away from Oeddaf. "Begone, Oeddaf. I can do this myself. I'm not five years old."

Oeddaf nodded, heading off in the direction of the second part of the room. "As you wish, sire."

After Isabela changed, she pulled a face.

These clothes were more extraviengent then the ones she typically wore.

These make me look like a clotpole, Isabela thought to herself, shuddering.

Soon after, Elena entered the room again.

Isabela turned around to face her mother. "I'm finished."

"Yes, yes, I can see that," Elena began. "Now…" she trailed off. "Let me do something about that hair… you have bedhead… it looks like a opossum crawled onto your head, made a nest, and died."

"Oh! Good! Thanks, Mother." Isabela rolled her eyes.

Elena smiled. "Anytime." She took a brush and aggressively took it through Isabela's hair, to which the younger woman protested every step of the way. Once the queen was done brushing through her child's hair, she stood in front of her child. She pulled a face. "We really need someone to cut your hair… Oeddaf! Cut my son's hair, will you-"

"No! No!" Isabela exclaimed. "Disregard that command, Oeddaf. I'm perfectly content with the length of my hair."

Elena commented, "Samuilu, it makes you look like a girl."

"What if I want to look like a girl?" Isabela began. "Is that really so wrong of me?"

The queen rolled her eyes. "Not this again-" She paused for a moment before continuing. "Samuilu, you are delusional."

Isabela angrily exhaled.

"Now…" Elena began. "Make sure you remain presentable."

Isabela raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You're going to meet the suitors later today… You know… because you're supposed to get married?"

Fuck. Fuck, Isabela's mind began. Is that day really here?

"I thought I said I wanted no part in marrying princesses," Isabela fummed. "They're all so… stuck-up… entitled… think that the world revolves around them."

Isabela went to turn away from her mother, but Elena yanked her back, aggressively. "You are going to marry one of them whether you like it or not. I'm not going to have my only son parade around with some harlot only to have a bastard!"

"Ah… fuck you," Isabela hissed at her mother.

"Samuilu!" Her mother yelled, gasping.

"Just shut up! I'm not marrying any of them!" Isabela shouted. Her shoulders tensed.

Elena backhanded Isabela across the face which seemed to freak Isabela out.

Isabela slowly started to inch away from her mother afterward.

"You haven't met any of them! Acco, Aelma, Berewolijizja, and Lampinia are all beautiful and kind hearted women. I assure you," the queen said. "We need you to marry one of them, so we can have alliances with other kingdoms."

"It's always about alliances with you people," Isabela mumbled under her breath which was basically inaudible.  "I'm still not going to marry any of them," she then said, rubbing the red mark on her face.

The queen went to leave, after huffing, and called over her shoulder, "You will change your mind about it." With that, the queen left the room.

Oeddaf looked back and forth from Elena and Isabela before deciding to follow the queen out of the room.

Isabela sighed, still rubbing the impact site. Then coughed.

Silence.

Cough. Cough. Cough.

It was practically uncontrollable now.

A few days ago, she had woke up and been having coughing fits on and off ever since.

She had heard a mysterious disease called "the Black Death" but she hadn't worried about it.

After the coughing started to slow, the area under Isabela's eyes felt wet. I think I'm crying, Isabela rolled her eyes. She had just assumed her eyes had been watering due to the fact of how much she had been coughing.

Isabela sighed before she wiped her hand over her face. She pulled her hand back only to see large amounts of red.

It's blood. She gulped.