Morgianna woke the day of her birthday in a pleasant mood. Dreaming of all the foods she would be able to eat, and the "surprise" her parents had told her she would be getting. She had begged for days for even the slightest hint of what it could be, but they would only tell her to be patient.
"Soph, do you know what the surprise is? Is it a pony perhaps, oooooh or maybe they finally are going to give me some of those rare books I had been wishing." She had hearts in her eyes as she imagined the expensive books and all the knowledge they would contain.
Sophia did know what the surprise was but she also knew that the moment her mistress discovered what it was she would be a lot less excited. She wanted her to stay happy on this day for as long as she could because tonight would be tense. Everyone in the castle had been informed of the "surprise", or rather the importance of making sure the surprises would be comfortable upon their arrival. She along with all the staff was instructed that Morgianna was not to find out that the Princes would be attending the party.
A person would have to be blind if they did not notice the way Morgianna acted around the Princes. Her parents could look away if they wished to pretend it was a girl being shy around cute boys, but Sophia knew. She knew that Morgianna was not a girl crushing on a boy, but one trying desperately to avoid them.
"I am sorry, but I was not informed of it being a pony or books. Is that what you requested?" She worded her sentence in a way that would not make her a liar, but she knew that the smart girl would probably pick up the double meaning. No, her surprise was most definitely not a pony or books, and no she would not get the answer from Sophia.
With a pout on her small smooth face Morgianna looked up at Sophia. "Please tell me, I promise I won't tell anyone that I know, and I will act really surprised later when I get it." She clasped her hands together in a begging motion and was half tempted to drop to her knees to add to the look. However with her height she was already at too much of a disadvantage and needed her cute face to be easily seen.
Sophia wanted desperately to warn her, to tell her just what she was waiting for, but she couldn't. Everyone would notice when she started acting differently and as she is her personal maid and the person who spends the most time around her, it would not be hard to guess who had spilled the beans. "Miss, just wait until tonight, everyone will arrive within 7 hours and I am sure your parents will not make you wait much longer than that. Now, shall I have your bath prepared? We just got in new oil."
...
The bath was a whole hour by itself and Morgianna found that she had been scrubbed a ridiculous amount. Her skin felt raw and had a slight tinge of pink to it as if the maids who helped her feared there to be the slightest spec of dust on her skin even while submerged in water. She had hated being helped to bathe when younger, but when she grew up with most of these women already seeing her body she gave up in trying to stop it anymore. Twelve years is a long time to continue fighting the losing battle. Her mother would never let her escape from being a proper lady, and if letting a couple of older women do their job kept her mother from giving her an earful she would make that trade.
The new oil that Sophia had mentioned smelled like Orange creme ice cream and it had made Morgianna feel ravenous for some sweets. However, much to her horror the carnival was still in full swing in her quarters. After the bath she was poked and prodded, eyebrows tweezed to perfect arches, creams for her face, cremes for her feet and hands. She had so many things being done to her at one time all she could do was stand complacently, hoping that the torture would end.
All she wanted was to go to the kitchen and raid the desserts that were surely still warm, but the maids would not release her for even a moment. They were all lively discussing what she would wear, how her hair should be, how much or how little makeup she should wear. Morgianna was exhausted and she had only been awake for a couple of hours.
"Oh you know she has to look her best tonight, I say we put her in that pink dress that was just purchased last month. It would look so cute on her."
"No no no, blue goes well with so much and I heard a certain someone would be attending."
"Red is what she always wears, and I admit that she wears it quite well. However I am sure the Princes would not care what color she is in once they see how beautiful she is." The moment the maid finished speaking she clamped a hand over her mouth.
Morgianna closed her eyes and exhaled to calm her nerves. "I am sorry, but did you say that the Princes would be in attendance this evening?" She had blanked her features, but the maids had already felt the shift in her mood. They would never admit it but they found her slightly scary when she was angry. She had never hurt them, but her eyes looked so cold.
The second maid that had spoken about the blue dress tried to recover the conversation by denying that the Princes would be in attendance but quickly fell quiet as Morgianna's eyes bore into hers.
All three wanted to escape, but they had a duty to fulfill and that duty was making sure Morgianna looked her absolute best. The Duchess had explicitly stated 'She is to be no less than perfect. I do not want even a strand of hair to be out of place. She is trying to win the hearts of Princes.' Duchess Lillian looked so excited trying to play matchmaker for her daughter they felt sorry for the girl.
If Morgianna thought she could get away with it she would escape the castle grounds and not return for a couple of days, but her mother would be very likely to kill her, and she quite liked living.
"So It is safe to assume that the surprise is that they will be in attendance... of course that would be the surprise." Morgianna was speaking to nobody in particular and did not need them to answer. Her mood had soured quite a deal and now could only hope for the day to pass by quickly. 'Well shall we continue?" Her words helped alleviate the nervousness in the maids as they once again resumed preparing her. Only now instead of feeling like a girl going to a party, she felt like a lamb being prepared for slaughter.