"This way Milady," Beth Called out to Aurora, seeing as she was lagging behind, staring at some framed painting on the wall. Beth knew they were running a little behind schedule and thus wanted to get to the testing hall as soon as possible.
"Coming!" Aurora chimed as she had gotten distracted by a grand portrait of the King and Queen on the wall.
She thought that they looked like complete opposites of each other. The Queen was like a beautiful fairy princess, with her elegant white hair and charming pale blue eyes. While the king, on the other hand, looked like a scary man, with his sharp jaw and piercing amber eyes.
She had gotten lost in thought while trying to imagine what prince Torryn looked like. She wondered what colour hair he would have and what colour eyes he would have. She started wondering about what he was like... what were his hobbies, was he very smart or gifted. Did he like a certain food. Would he like her once they met...? Would they get along at all? Would he call off their engagement?
She hurriedly skipped the distance to Beth's side once she heard the urgency in her voice. Beth and Aurora walked very quickly to the hall entrance and the guards standing at the door bowed to them and then opened the large silver doors for them.
They were immediately greeted by the grandeur of the silver and hall. From the terribly complex carvings on the walls to the pristine marble flaws, from the light sparkling into the room coming in from the large stained crystal windows, the decadence of the Royal palace amazed Aurora every time she went there.
As she looked around the hall, she saw that the seating area on the side of the hall was already filled with nobles. All were already seated and chatting amongst each other, waiting for the procession to start.
A butler dressed in the uniform colours of white and blue, showed them to the viewing area where all the other nobles were seated. Since Beth was just a servant, she had to sit behind the viewing area with all the other nobles servants, while the butler led Aurora to the very front of the viewing area, to her vacant seat.
Aurora tried not to grimace when she saw Sienna Sonnenheim sitting down in the seat next to hers.
"Good morning Aurora," Sienna smiled primly. "I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't see you here..." Aurora knew that the comment wasn't sincere, but just a formality that Sienna used to greet her when in public.
"No need to be concerned. I made it." Aurora replied trying to mimic a happy smile on her face.
Aurora shuffled to her seat and sat down quietly, the disappointment washing over her face. She had hoped that Sienna wouldn't be at the hall to view the prince today. She had hoped that she wouldn't see her and have to talk to her.
"I'm curious," Began Sienna. "Did you bring a gift for prince Torryn?" Sienna's bright green eyes looked curiously at Aurora's face.
Aurora looked back at Sienna and couldn't help but notice how lovely her long curly blonde hair was paired with her emerald eyes. Everyone was always complimenting Sienna on her beauty and grace. Justly so, because Sienna really was a gem, even among the nobles. While her beauty was obviously superior, her intelligence was at the top of the class at the academy. Moreover, after years of living in a noble society, Sienna had become very good at playing the game of nobility. She knew just what to say at just the right time, to steal everybody's hearts and win everybody's favor. A skill that was beyond poor Aurora, who wore her emotions and thoughts on her sleeve, and found it very hard to deceive people.
"Yes, I did," Aurora replied with a genuine smile, getting excited thinking about her gift.
"It is a coat pin I had forged back at the Eastern mines, from the first piece of gold I ever dug up." Aurora grinned, proud of herself. She had spent hours digging through the dirt, making herself completely filthy, to the dismay of Beth back at the eastern mines. However, she had been determined to dig up her own gold. She remembered the feeling of elation she felt when she finally saw the shiny clump of gold still merged with a black rock. She thought it would make a meaningful present to give to Prince Torryn after he had finished with his tests.
Sienna tried not to snicker a the idea of one measly golden coat pin. Sienna sometimes marveled at how stupid Aurora could be. She had already been in Azlantean for half a year and yet still could not pick up on social cues or customs.
"That's nice..." Sienna snickered while thinking the opposite.
"Well," She began, straightening up in her seat, ready to describe the marvelous gift she was giving to the prince.
"I arranged for a quilt to be woven in his honor, from Asmanian silver and unicorn hair. The sewers my father employs worked non-stop yesterday to prepare it for the Prince." Sienna smiled smugly, as she turned to Aurora to see her reaction.
Aurora's gut twitched painfully at hearing what Sienna had gotten Prince Torryn. Just a moment ago Aurora had thought that her gift was a lovely gift, but now she felt that her gift was no better than dirt compared to Sienna's. She had been so caught up in trying to get him something personal and meaningful, she had forgotten about the high standards of gifting that Azlantean practised.
A knot formed in her stomach when she realised how embarrassing it was going to be to give her gift to the prince after Sienna would give him her special quilt. Aurora's cheeks were heating up rapidly and she found that just being in the hall felt uncomfortable. She wanted to go home and hide in the closet where nobody would ever find it. She was going to be ridiculed when she gave her gift to the prince.
Aurora was about to enter full-blown panic mode, when a calm voice beside her, spoke gently to her.
"Don't worry about it." She looked up to be met with a familiar pair of red eyes, Lord Entellion Rhysand, one of her kinder classmates at the academy. Entellion hardly ever spoke, and usually kept to himself. He even sat at a desk by himself in all his classes.
She sucked in a breath of relief at seeing him. Although his red eyes and black hair made him look scary, Aurora knew that unlike the others from the academy, Entellion had never made fun of her.
"He's a prince. He had all the riches in the world. I doubt he'll care about whose gifts are more valuable or not," he said then turned away from her to face forwards.
Aurora realised that she was being ridiculous and followed by Entellion's example and faced forward. ready for the prince's arrival.
"That sounds like a lovely gift, Lady Sienna," Aurora commented not looking Sienna in her eyes. Her head held high, knowing that she had not been caught in Sienna's trap.
Sienna snickered loudly this time and faced forward while gritting her teeth angrily.
"Royal Prince Torryn Leonis Rosenheim enters!" Boomed the voice of an announcer.
Everyone immediately perked up and turned their heads towards the big silver doors, impatiently waiting for the Prince's entry. Most of them had been unable to catch a glimpse of the Prince when he arrived yesterday due to the large crowds blocking their view. So they were especially curious to see him.
Everyone gasped as the young prince entered, even the servants and guards who had been trained to be quiet and keep a straight face couldn't help before nah startled by the young prince's appearance. As they saw him enter and gazed at his frosty white hair paired with the Royal amber eyes, everyone was in awe.
Aurora was absolutely speechless. She knew that the prince was a few years younger than her. He was not yet seven years old, while she was ten years old, and yet, as she looked at him, he looked like he was her age if not older. She was completely awestruck by him. She couldn't take her eyes off him. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating but it seemed like he was going in slow motion and that the air around him was sparkling. She sighed softly as she couldn't help but smile down at him from the viewing box.
Sienna couldn't believe her eyes. She had never seen someone their age who was so beautiful, besides herself of course. She shook her head in disbelief. The prince was far too handsome, definitely too handsome for Aurora. She turned to look at Aurora, disgusted about the way Aurora was ogling the prince.
No. She definitely doesn't deserve him.
The 'lost prince' should be with someone who's right for him, not some dirty girl from the Eastern mines who doesn't know anything about etiquette or grace. The handsome lost prince should be with someone who would be a better match for him...
'Someone like me.' Sienna thought...