Blinking groggily, I vigorously rubbed my eyes as the first rays of sunlight shone weakly through the shutters. I shivered and pulled my thin nightdress closer to my body, it was the first day of the new aenuaiel and it was freezing. Stumbling into the privy, I pulled a comb through my tangled hair, wincing as one of its spines broke off. I washed my hair in the bucket of water we kept upstairs and massaged the perfumed oils my mother kept for special occasions into my scalp to clean it. As it dried, I scoured my room for my ceremonial outfit. A white dress that flowed down to my mid calf. It wasn't anything particularly special, and it was rather loose. I dislike tight, figure revealing dresses as I am slightly podgy. I hate the way I look. My boring, mud coloured hair that falls almost completely straight to my mid back, my murky eyes that are a mixture of green, blue, grey and some other colour that looks like it crawled from a swamp somewhere, my extremely pale skin which makes my freckles stand out, my square face. I am not pretty at all. The only attractive feature I possess is my well shaped eyebrows and I do not think that any potential suitors will be interested in someone who only has mildly interesting eyebrows.
I cleaned my teeth with a brush and paste made from flour, water and crushed mint leaves before going downstairs. The ceremony was at 10 bells and 7 bells had just rung. My mother fussed over my hair as I ate breakfast, attempting to make it do something. Eventually, she gave up and plaited it before twisting into a knot at the back of my head. A few strands immediately escaped and began floating around my face. My mother is very beautiful with her curvy figure, curly dark chestnut hair that only had a few silver streaks at her temples. Her skin was tanned and her forest green eyes crinkled when she smiled. She was a gardener for one of the noble houses. My father had left for his work early in order to come and watch the ceremony, he was an archivist at the royal library but didn't get paid much. He would give lectures to the scholars on the history of the realms and commanded reasonable respect among the historians of the land but not among everyone else. I came from a rather common family and so we needed all the coin my parents could earn, that is why my mother also painted in her free time to sell at the markets. The shorter bell rang to indicate that it was 8 bells and a half bell so I washed my face and brushed my teeth again before sliding my shoes onto my feet and walking out of the door. I am a rather slow walker so I always leave early, better to arrive early and be bored than be late in front of the whole Citadel.
Dust from the roads swirled around me as I walked, our part of the Citadel devoid of horses and carriages unlike the inner circles. Houses sprung up around me and a few more citizens began walking. The further into the Citadel I walked, the more people began to fill the streets as the region woke up. The five inner circles around the most important buildings, the Gridiron Amphitheatre, the Mages' Guildhall and the Palace of King Ranhun which towered above the rest of the buildings. This was no mean feat, for the closer you got to the centre of the Citadel, the buildings became larger and far more opulent in their decoration and size for the occupants were richer and of noble heritage. The sound of chattering voices and the clatter of hooves on the cobblestone paths that paved the inner circles echoed around me. The metallic ringing that signaled 9 bells and a half bell was much louder here and I jumped startled as it sounded. Entering the central circle, I saw a large amount of stalls stationed around the Amphitheatre using the ceremony as a way to acquire more customers. This was a large event in the realm and the entire Citadel as well as a few extras would be filling the Amphitheatre at 10 bells to watch the proceedings. Music swirled and filled the air, a soft but lively melody played upon a fiddle by a man with long firey hair. I swallowed nervously and began to browse the nearby stalls, desperately trying to take my mind off the fear I could feel slowly twisting its way through my insides. My throat felt dry. I swallowed again. The buildings seemed taller, the structures looming above me. The smells were stronger now, overpowering, a multitude of sounds assaulted my ears and deafened me. My head pounded and my ears rang, colours stood out brightly, sharp contrasts against each other. Head spinning, I stumbled and fell hard against a wall. Crumpling to the floor, I clapped my hands over my ears attempting to drown out the cacophony of noise. Then as quickly as it had come, it subsided and everything went back to normal. No one seemed to have noticed so I stood and walked as fast as I dared towards the Amphitheatre, glancing around furtively.
These episodes occurred often, even more frequently in recent months. They were normally caused by nerves or a similar feeling in a loud area or tight space. If there were lots of people, then I had to do my best to conceal them. My parents were not aware, I had only told Nurone.
The doors to the Amphitheatre admitted me easily, the magic imbued stones knowing that I was of the group to take part in today's ceremony. I couldn't help but gaze around I'm awe, the edifice was open to the sky which shone royal blue. Seats rose in rows of thousands, made of sandstone mined in the desert region of Scahrabé. In the centre of the Amphitheatre, a platform had been constructed from shining white marble that shimmered against the sandy floor. I must have looked a little lost for a guard made his way over to where I was standing and told me to wait with the other children in a hidden area I hadn't noticed.
Thanking him, I trotted over and tried not to think about who these people would become after today. My hands twisted the fabric of my dress and I licked my lips. My home was on the outskirts of the Citadel. I had few friends and those I had were not anywhere near my age. The other children had formed groups yet I stood alone. I looked at the floor. Never more had I wished for someone my own age with whom to converse. I felt eyes on me and turned to see a boy with hair the colour of spun gold glaring icily at me. "I suppose that you are not from the inner circles?" He sneered. I stared at him. He then moved his hand and stretched out his arm. "Corben Anglacar, at your service." I was astounded. He grinned, "Many fall for the persona of nobility, I use it to feel people's personalities." I reached up and shook his hand. I felt shocked, the Anglacar family were one of the highest noble families, they lived in the inner circle. "Eshrae." I replied. "Pleasure to meet you." He smiled at me.
"It is nice to meet someone with a fresh personality, many either respond in a more spoiled manner or shy away. A few become rather violent. You however, just remained impassive. I suppose that you are used to being slighted." I nodded before touching his arm lightly to turn him towards the platform. The ten bells had rung, the ceremony was about to begin.