Chapter 3
Katie opened the door for Jade as she stepped out of the room.
"His majesty and the Queen are waiting for you in the dining hall." Katie informed her with a smile. Jade frowned but said nothing as Katie slowly closed the door. His majesty and the Queen? Jade frantically looked around, there was nobody in sight. She was in a long stone corridor lit only by the soft candle light that hung from the walls. It was clear at this point that Jade was in a castle and in some weird way she seemed to be it's princess. Her parents were the King and Queen and her supposed best friend was not her best friend but instead her maid. Jade nodded to herself, that all made perfect sense...not. She needed to get out of here or wake up. She still wasn't sure which one was the right one to do. Jade sighed and ran a hand down the elegant green dress she had seen hanging on the wardrobe that morning. It seemed to float around her as she moved and it was fitted perfectly to her figure...although she was still struggling to breath. She soon realised that taking deep breaths was impossible with the corset crushing her lungs, she had to take much shorter more frequent breaths. It was making her head hurt a little as it wasn't used to being denied that much oxygen. Jade turned around and looked both ways down the corridor, either side looked exactly the same and she had no idea where she was meant to be going. Jade decided to go left, she looked at the plain stone walls as she walked down the ridiculously long corridor. The simple green pumps she was wearing were concealed by her long dress had little to no sole on them, which meant Jade could clearly feel every stone beneath her. She eventually came to the end of the corridor only to be faced with another that looked exactly the same. After a short look left and right she decided to make a right turn. She had to come across someone at some point. She took another right, then a left, then a right until she turned a corner and saw a man walking towards her. Jade felt relieved to have found someone but the closer she got the more suspicious the character before her became. He wore a long black cloak that was worn and slightly torn at the edges with age. His over sized hood covered his face and in his right hand there was a large wooden staff with a beautiful white crystal on top, which appeared to glow in the warm light of the candles fire.
"Good morning Princess Jade." The man said with a voice like silk when the two were about to cross paths. Jade stood silently and watched as the man bowed ever so slightly and raised his left hand to push his hood back revealing his face. Jade prevented herself from gasping at the man's handsome features. His skin was perfectly smooth, his cheekbones so sharp they could cut her and his eyes a crystal shade of blue that seemed to be staring right into her soul. He had rather long chocolate brown hair that hung softly just above his eyebrows, his lips were full and a healthy pink colour. Jade looked down at her feet. The man looked not a day older than 30 but his eyes were so full of wisdom that there was no possible way they could have belonged to a middle aged man. For not the first Jade felt her voice unavailable. After a short silence the man spoke again. "Are you quite alright this morning my Lady? You seem to be rather out of it."
"N-no I'm fine." She managed to stutter. There was a moment of silence. Jade's eyes remained to the floor as the handsome stranger's eyes looked her up and down with a frown. "A-actually I've got a headache and I seem to have forgotten where I'm going." She lied, praying that he would buy it.
"I see, well I'll be honoured to show you to wherever you're going." He told her as if he believed it but the frown never left his face.
"I was heading to the dining hall to have breakfast with my parents."
"Yes of course. It's this way." He said stepping to the side and gesturing to the way which he had just come. He turned around and held out his left arm for Jade to take as they walked together. Trying to hide the blush creeping up on her face Jade cautiously took his arm. The two walked in absolute silence. The man beside her seemed to be perfectly comfortable, while Jade was fidgety and on edge. She didn't like silence, she never had. She had always been the one to feel the need to fill the silence in the room. Although this time she had nothing to say. What could she say? This man was clearly no idiot, Jade knew from the look in his eyes that he had not brought her lie completely yet he had said nothing and acted as if he had. If Jade said anything more at that time she might have gotten herself in trouble. Jade spotted two men in armour as they came around the corner. The two were very similar in build, one had brown hair will the other had hair so dark it looked almost black and a large, untamed beard. Both stopped as Jade and her companion walked by and bowed. Jade stared at them, unaware of what to do. She looked to the man who seemed to know a lot more than he let on, only to saw that his eyes were glued forward. He hadn't even glanced at the two knights, as if they weren't worth his time. After they had passed the knights Jade could hear the two marching away in perfect unison. A short amount of time passed before Jade and her mysterious saviour came across a very large wooden doorway with two guards standing in front of it. They were dressed from head to toe in armour with helmets concealing their faces and spears in their hands. The man stopped abruptly in front of the door as the two guards moved to open the heavy wooden doors. "This is the dining hall my lady. If your headache doesn't go I suggest you take yourself to bed. It would send the kingdom into quite a state of alarm if it's Princess was to fall ill." The last sentence he spoke sounded more like a threat to Jade but she said nothing as the stranger untangled their arms, turned and glided away.
Jade sighed and turned to face the open doorway before her. The two guards stood patiently by the doors and waited for her to walk into the room. Jade did so only to see a rather large room, once again made of stone with many tall glass windows down either side which gave the room more light than the poorly lit corridors she had walked down. In the middle of the room there was a very long wooden table and at the far end Jade could see a male figure at the head of the table and a female figure to his right. Jade flinched slightly as the sound of the doors being closed echoed throughout the room, causing the two figures to glance up at her. Jade just stood there, her feet stuck to the floor and wishing that she could sink into the stones beneath her feet.
"Well don't just stand there child come and sit down." Boomed a demanding voice of the woman from the other end of the room. Jade hurried over to the third seat available on the King's left and sat down, eyeing the two characters before her. They looked like her parents but her Mum would never have spoken to her like that. The woman before her wore an elegant beige dress with red floral designs on it. Her dark brown hair had been pulled from her face and styled so that a beautiful crown could sit on her small head. Around her neck she wore a diamond necklace and her hand were covered in exquisite rings of many different shapes and sized. The woman's natural beauty seemed to be hidden by the permanent scowl on her face and the expression that she had just eaten something sour. The man that resembled her Dad was a lot larger than Jade was used too. His face had a slight glow of pink as he breathed heavily as if simply sitting was wearing him out. There was not a single hair out of place on his head which acted as a cushion to the large gold crown on top of his head. He wore a rather ill fitted tunic that seemed to be bursting at the seams with gold embroidery leaf patterns all over it. Around his neck he wore several thick gold necklaces with several gems embedded in it as a display of wealth.
"You're late Jade. You know how I despise tardiness." The King said in a threatening tone. Jade looked at him as he sat there, clearly expecting an answer.
"Sorry Dad." She said looking at the table.
"What was that?" The King barked. "I have told you to know call me 'Dad.' I am you Father and you will address me as such. 'Dad' is a term used only by commoners, it is disrespectful and rude." His face had become more pink with rage.
"Sorry Father." Jade squeaked. Her answer seemed to came him down. He raised his hand in the air and clicked his fingers which caused a hidden door in the corner of the room to open as three women came in all in maids outfits. In their hands they each carried a silver plate covered with a silver lid with a small handle on the top. Jade watched as the three maids gently placed a plate in front of each of them and lifted the lid to reveal a plate of sausages, bacon, scrambled egg, tomato and mushrooms. Jade felt herself gag at the sight of the mushrooms, she had hated them ever since she was a small child. The three maids hurriedly left the room there was silent. The King and Queen instantly picked up the silver knife and fork and dug in while Jade had been a little hesitant.
"What is the news on the Kingdom of Sky?" Jade's 'Mother' asked looking directly at her husband.
"Much of the same. King Harold is still gravely ill but the council have come the the decision that Prince Francis shall be named King if he should fade." He replied gravely.
"But he's only a boy of 15. To place him on the throne at such a young age is not the best of ideas. He will be seen as weak, his rule undermined and with the threat of the Kingdom of Forest..."
"I am well ware." He interrupted. "They could every well look at this as an opportunity to end their kingdoms feud which is why I am making it clear that our alliance with the Kingdom of Sky still remains strong. Their King might be young but the Kingdom of Sky's army is much more skilled than our own, that remains a fact and the Kingdom of Grass are aware of this."
"So if this should turn into a war we are planning to take up arms with the Kingdom of Sky?"
"Indeed we are. They have been our allies for many years now. They have helped us in times of need and we have helped them. I have no intention on turned my back on them, besides young Francis might need some guidance. I feel that job lies with me, I was after all present at his birth, it seems like the right thing to do." Jade was listening intently. She didn't understand it at all but she could tell that this was a political conversation. War wasn't the typical light hearted conversation she was used to having over breakfast, although Jade felt very much excluded. This was a conversation between the King and the Queen, not a husband and wife or a Mother and a Father. Even if Jade understood what they were talking about and had something to add to the conversation, something told her that her thoughts would not be welcome.
"Jade stop slouching. It's not becoming of a princess." The Queen ordered with a voice that cut right through her.
"Sorry Mother." Jade sheepishly replied sitting up as straight as she could while trying to breath like a normal human being.
"What's the matter with you this morning? You were late, you've disrespected your Father and now you're slouching." She listed the things Jade had done wrong that morning like a judge reading out a sentence to a criminal.
"Sorry Mother I'm just not feel well this morning."
"That's no excuse. You are the Princess, the future Queen you must always be the image of perfection. To not be would be to let the Kingdom down." Jade said nothing, she didn't really know what to say in response to the high demands the Queen made of her. Jade was beginning to feel very sick. The pressure put on her by both the King and the Queen, the situation she was in which she understood nothing of and the suffocating corset around her chest were starting to get to her. "How is the search for Jade's husband coming along?" The Queen asked of the King as he stuffed his face with bacon.
"Very well. I have picked a few suitable gentleman from the Kingdom's wealthiest families. They should make for fine King's." Jade looked at both the King and Queen.
"My husband?" Jade questioned without thinking about it. The Queen glared at her.
"Yes your husband. I'm not having this conversation with you again Jade. I have told you that you cannot rule this Kingdom without a husband by your side. Since we don't have a male heir it is up to you to carry on our family's bloodline and insure that one of our own remains on the throne. Your Father is picking the perfect suitor who you will marry and who will become King when you're Father passes."
"So I don't have any say in who I'm supposed to be marrying?" Jade snapped, her blood beginning to boil.
"Well of course not. It's not for you to decide who should become King. As a princess your only way of serving the Kingdom is to produce heirs. A Queen cannot rule without a husband by her side even if she is the only child of the King and Queen." Jade found herself glaring at her supposed 'mother'.
"Jade I don't understand what the problem is. You have been made aware of this plan when you became a woman and you have always understood and accepted your role without question. As the Kingdom's Princess it is your duty to serve the Kingdom and this is the only way you are able to do that." The Kind explained calmly.
"And if I was male my role would be different would it?"
"Of course it would. You would take over from your Father as King and we would marry you to a woman of noble birth, but you are not male so I don't see why it should matter." The Queen snapped.
"So either way I would have no choice in who I marry? Why can't I marry who I choose? Why can't I marry someone I love?"
"Love?" The Queen scoffed. "You do not marry for love Jade you marry for convenience. Nothing more." Jade looked between the two characters before her. Yes, convenience. It was clear that their marriage had been for convenience, Jade felt no love between the two. The parents she knew had married for love, Jade had been born into a loving home were her parents adored each other. How lucky she had been to have them as parents rather than these parents from hell who seemed to care little for each other and the daughter they shared.
"Jade you're becoming quite upset. Perhaps it's because you are not feeling well. I suggest you go back to your bedroom and calm down, we will see you at dinner when you have calmed yourself." The King told her. Jade stood up in a huff and practically ran out of the room...
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