My teeth were starting to ache from biting down on them. It helped distract me from the pain as my head maid, Emma, held the bottom of my hair in her hand while she viciously ran a brush through the tangles.
My father had sent a servant to summon me to his presence and as I had been in the stables at the time Emma had franticly scrubbed me down in the bath, stuffed me into my best gown and was now attacking my tangled hair with such force I was becoming concerned there would be no hair left on my head.
"Is there really a need for all this?" I said between gritted teeth, "Father barely looks at me as it is, I doubt he will notice how thoroughly my hair has been brushed."
"Perhaps my lady, but your father has never requested a private audience with you before and as you are my charge it would fall on my head as much as yours if I allowed you to be seen as if you had been passing your time rolling in the mud behind the pig pen."
I looked up, but instead of seeing Emma's reflection behind me there was only the view from the open window that one of the maids had opened to allow the late summer breeze to air out my bedchamber.
It never occurred to me how odd it might seem that there was no mirror in my room, I had never been allowed to have a mirror since as long as I could remember.
Emma finished with her personal crusade against my hair and quickly fashioned it into a large braid that ended at my waist. She proclaimed she was finished and bid me to stand and face her for my final inspection.
Since I wasn't allowed any mirrors, I had no real opinion on my appearance. I spent the bulk of my days either in the vast library or the stables on my father's estate. Anywhere to avoid being around people.
"You'll do." She said, as she brushed a few tendrils behind my ear. "Come quickly, best not to keep your father waiting."
We turned and left my private apartments and started down the south stairway that would take us to the main rooms in the castle. I slowly approached the large, heavily ornate doors that lead to the receiving chamber where my father and occasionally my stepmother would welcome important guests and landowners and surfs could present themselves to my father for help, money or advice.
I took a deep breath as the Guard closest to me averted his eyes and opened the left chamber door and I heard Emma whisper "Courage, my lady." as I walked inside.
My high heels clicked loudly on the ornate marble floors as I approached my father and, surprisingly, my stepmother. They sat on a pair of chairs swathed in gold cloth which were placed underneath a heavily carved wooden arch with our family crest that had been commissioned by my great grandfather after he has been bestowed his Lordship from the then King of Atharia.
On the walls hung vivid tapestries hundreds of years old and several large, sumptuous rugs were placed along the marble floors. Each window was made of crystal panels that reflected rainbows onto the marble floor, and some had stained glass work of the Gods. It was a room meant to shock and awe, to remind the landowners and the minor lords just how wealthy my family was, and how powerful.
I felt my face begin to burn as I approached my father and stepmother and quickly bent my face to the floor as I swept a low curtsy. I had learned from my childhood that looking directly into their eyes was something both of them hated and so I avoided doing it at all costs.
"How dare you keep your father and myself waiting all morning! You would think a girl in your position would come running when she is called, not act like a spoiled princess at her leisure" my stepmother, Lady Matilla snapped.
"I apologize my lady, I happened to be in the stables when the servant found me." I stated with my eyes firmly fixed on the floor.
I heard my stepmother take a breath, seemingly to scold me for spending more time than I ought outside my rooms when I noticed my father raise a hand which caused her to quiet down immediately.
"Hyacinth."
I raised my head slightly, enough to be able to make out my father's boots in my line of sight.
"I have news for you, come this morning from the Kingdom of Atharia."
My mouth dropped open slightly as I struggled to think of what possible news from the Royal family could be pertaining to me.
"As you turned eighteen last month and became of age to marry, I sent word to King Garrick in hopes of offering your hand to his son, Prince Ronan. This morning a messenger arrived with word that my proposal had been accepted. You are to leave tomorrow for the Capital, where the wedding will take place in two weeks' time."
In my shock I gasped loudly and quickly looked up at my father, who merely stroked his beard and stared at me with eyes as dark as a starless night.
"I…me? Marry Prince Ronan?" I gasped, "I cannot!"
"You ungrateful brat!" my stepmother sneered at me with curved full lips and a flash of anger in her sky blue eyes.
Many men in my realm of Monfort wrote poems and songs of my stepmother, Lady Matilla's, beauty and sweet voice. Yet in my lifetime, I had only been treated to the sight of her anger and distaste of me whenever I happened to be in her sight. Her hatred of me was no secret in the castle, and I did my best to avoid her when I could lest I wanted to be subjected to her malice.
"Your father tells you that you are to have the highest honor any young girl on the continent could wish for, yet instead of you being on your knees in gratitude you act as if the match is beneath you!"
I pulled my lower lip in between my teeth and bit down until the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I tried not to fall to the ground and break down sobbing in raw fear.
Prince Ronan, second son of King Garrick, was said to be a cold and unfeeling brute of a young man. Already a military officer in his father's army from the young age of eighteen after his numerous battle victories, where he was said to have no mercy to the kingdom's enemies. Even the women and children.
I had heard my younger maids whispering tales from the Capital that he was hideously deformed. That an accident in his childhood had left him with scars all across his face and body, causing him to walk with a limp. That he was cruel to women, and how his first betrothal had ended due to his violent treatment towards the poor girl. To the point that her father had paid an enormous sum of money to the royal family to release his daughter from the engagement.
I licked my dry, cracked lips and tried to calm my racing heart before it beat out of my chest and broke through my rib cage onto the polished marble floors.
"I apologize for my outburst; I am indeed grateful My Lord and Lady. I only meant that I was surprised by my father's choice in husband. Would not one of my sisters be a better choice to be a princess? I have no ambition to rise in rank, and I have no training in the ways of the court."
"It is precisely your ignorance that makes you an attractive choice as a bride for the prince." My father stated as I could feel his eyes burning onto my face.
"The prince is only a second son, and with Prince Magnus so beloved by the kingdom there is no doubt he will become King upon Garrick's death. Ronan does not need a wife to be the center of the court's attention, or the kingdoms darling. He simply needs a fertile woman to bear his children and nothing more. And since your…affliction." My father stated, with a sneer shaping his mouth "Has left you with no other offers of marriage, I suggest you be grateful that you will no longer be a burden to me and your stepmother and can be of some use to this family."
"Besides" My stepmother said, "We have plans for your sisters' futures. I might remind you that if Prince Ronan had not so luckily become available, you might have remained locked in the south wing for the rest of your life."
It was not a threat but the truth, that I knew with no doubt. I knew my parents would take no chances for someone to see me and possibly damage any chances my stepsisters would have for a grand marriage. And for one moment, becoming the bride of Prince Ronan seemed a better prospect then being shut away for the rest of my life. No husband, no friends except for my maids, no children..
"I have already informed Emma of the arrangements; she will be leaving with you along with the rest of your household in the morning for the Capital. I suggest you take tonight to be grateful for this opportunity I have given you." My father said with a sweep of his hand, heavily adorned with his signet ring and his wedding ring.
"We will be at your wedding in two weeks with your sisters. I hope by then you have learned enough manners to contain your silly outbursts lest you embarrass us." My stepmother glared at me as I swept the both of them a deep curtsy, mumbled a repeated apology and turned and left the room at a graceful walk. Though with all my might I wanted to run out of the room, run down the palace steps and throw myself into the river to drown.