"Atarah!"
Shouted a lady in a plain beige gown, with hairs nicely combed and folded into a bun at the lower back of her head. The girl with sparkly cornflower blue eyes turned as her name being called and she let go of the rabbit she holding in her hands.
Atarah was sitting in a massive garden with the layer of grass spread till the vision ends. Her yellow, lace gown was filthy because of playing in the garden and grabbing were hopping around her. Atarah looked at the lady with no curiosity, it was like she was here to tell her of the same thing that she did every day.
"You should not be sneaking out of your room when we have royal guests in the palace."
The lady said dusting off the dirt from Atarah's gown. Atarah stood there in silence and let her maiden do the job. She was still focused on the rabbits who were taking the most fun out of the sunny day.
"It's okay, Felizah. The guests are in the different chamber of the palace and I don't think anyone of them would be interested to visit the gardens at this hour of the day."
Atarah said with her sweet, manipulative voice which was enough to please anyone. All of Felizah's anger subsided as Atarah put a hand on her shoulder. Felizah had been giving her services to this palace since she was a teenager. She had been Atarah's caretaker since she was born and loved Atarah more than anyone else in the universe. Even Atarah's mother had never given her the love which Felizah had. Her unconditional love for Atarah was the reason she never had her own family. She dedicated all her time to raising Atarah.
And now, when she sees Atarah grown into a sixteen-year-old, beautiful and charismatic princess, she worried more about her childish behavior. Atarah was a princess and soon would be a queen once she married a king. Her behavior was always held in observation by the royal court members to calculate if she was capable of being a good queen.
Atarah was the kind of girl who always won everyone's heart with her talk but sometimes her childish behavior and questioning at certain topics would worry the royal family. Despite everything Atarah did, she was well-reputed and loved by her people. Her kingdom, Zayeania was a land of happiness and Atarah Windsor was the future queen. There had been many wedding proposals for Atarah but none of them was a fit because before choosing a husband for Atarah, it should be kept in mind that the guy should be equally capable of handling the vast kingdom.
Ambrose Coldwell, the prince of Tunedic kingdom was invited to visit the royal palace for the purpose. This was the reason, why Felizah was so concerned about Atarah's behavior.
"If you know that this isn't the time one should be visiting the gardens then what are you doing here in this sunny weather?"
Atarah stayed quiet for a while. She didn't want to offend Felizah by saying anything wrong.
"Those rabbits. They were hungry since yesterday. Nobody paid attention to them since the guests have arrived so I needed to take care of them myself."
She admitted truthfully.
"I suppose, you have fed them enough. Back to your room now!"
Although Felizah was a servant, Atarah gave her power to command and over her because whatever Felizah said always favored and protected Atarah.
Felizah took Atarah back to her room and helped her out of her filthy gown.
"Go and take a bath before someone calls for you."
She said and went out of the bathroom. When Atarah was completely clean after the bath, Felizah and few other maids helped her dress up and get ready. They braided her long blonde hair into a ponytail and decorated it with pearls to match her evening white gown.
"Gorgeous as always!"
Felizah complimented Atarah's beauty while other maids were clearing and organizing the table.
"The queen is calling for you, your highness."
A maid curtsied as she delivered the queen's message.
Atarah nodded and followed the servant to the queen's chamber. She curtsied in front of the queen and she nodded in return.
"The royal family from Hawirith would like to see you tonight at the dinner. I would want you to look your best and dress up most elegantly. Prince Ambrose could be the person for whom we all are willingly looking for. He is handsome, smart, and well capable of being the next king of this kingdom."
Queen Celeste explained everything to her daughter calmly and hoped Atarah to understand the importance of all this. But, did Atarah understand the responsibilities she was going to inherit from her parents when she becomes the queen along with a wife? It would be difficult for any girl to be one of those at a time but Atarah had to overtake both the responsibilities together as there was no guarantee of Queen Celeste's life because of her health issues and the kingdom needed a new queen before Queen Celeste could retire.
"I understand, mother. You don't need to worry about it."
Atarah assured her mother with a sweet smile that the queen couldn't stop herself from smiling back at her. Although Atarah didn't understand the things she was going to face shortly she would say anything to assure her mother that she was going to do things right.
Atarah went back to her room in dismay. She did not want to meet the prince or his family. She did not want to marry. She couldn't think of too many responsibilities at a time. She was just a young, teenage girl and everything was happening rapidly around her!
"It's splendid!"
Atarah heard Felizah's voice as she entered the room. She saw a beautiful gown displayed in the middle of her room and the maids were sewing button on it.
"Atarah, come here. See, the tailor made you such a beautiful gown for the dinner tonight."
Felizah said excitedly, already imagining Atarah in that gown. But Atarah only smiled and didn't comment on it. The gown was undoubtedly beautiful but Atarah didn't know if she was ready for the dinner that was scheduled for her. Everything frightened her.
"Just a bit of finishing and thread work is needed before the princess could finally wear it."
Said a maid and two of them started working on it and Atarah quietly took a seat in the chair near the balcony.