Seated on the right side of the king, who was speaking to a lord dressed in an all brown plaid tunic, with Representative Olvina on her right pointing out the names of the lords and ladies around them. Moira stared at the sparkling, shiny silver platters of baked hog, roasted chicken, great big boiled eggs the size of a small pillow, pan seared steaks, mashed and roasted potatoes sided with onion and garlic, whole baked fish; the dazzling overly complicated wine pouring devices of golden-ish silver gears and rods pushing and pulling corks on and off that poured perfect wine amounts into your glass, more of the thinnest glass mechanisms holding the thick red substance.
It was overwhelming to look at, the realization that this will be her life from now on was slowly dawning on her, slowly filling her with worry. What if Addam never shows, never sees her? What if he does and is disgusted by her size, by her intelligence, or lack of? The thought of the future always had her worried.
Trying to ignore the quiet voice in the back of her mind, she leans back a bit to see if she could find Jalla at the table, but was nowhere to be found. As she began to ask Olvina where she was the king stands and raises a glass of the red liquid.
"What a wonderful night! I thank you all and welcome you to this celebration, though I have to say it is quite embarrassing that one of the honored guests is not here, yet again-" The majority of the table bursts into laughter, the king raised his hand slightly to hush them. "I have to say it is a great relief that my future daughter-in-law is an exceptionally beautiful woman, I feel nothing for all the hearts broken in the Domes, Odiovitae is blessed by your presence. To my son, The Bastard Prince Addam, and soon-to-be Daughter, Lady Moira!"
"To Lady Moira and The Prince!"
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Nearly an hour later, Moira could hardly walk properly after the feast, she enjoyed the dessert portion of the night the most, as they served silverberry tarts, fruit pies, and the flakiest strudels she had ever tasted topped with creme and drizzled in chocolate. Slowly the crowd left, each guest leaving to their rooms or leaving the castle entirely. And soon, there was only the king, Olvina and a few other members of the court, King Soren excused himself while Olvina insisted on showing a little bit of the castle. Walking through the halls with Olvina by her side was less anxious than the entire herd of court members surrounding them.
"So?" Olvina asked. "Did you enjoy dinner? I find my grandson too much at times. I request a small gathering to welcome you, he wants his entire flock of hens and its obnoxious."
Moira laughs and sighs, finally being able to speak freely. "I agree, though it is nice to meet Sir Collin of Rockwood and hear his issues of the Rock Forest. Did his keep really burn down? I thought it was rock?"
Olvina chuckles lightly, coughing a bit, and smiles. "Don't let him hear that, but yes, it was confusing, considering his keep WAS made of stone." Leading Moira down the well lit corridor, they passed probably thirty to forty doors down the labyrinthine hall, that led her to a very large off-color door. It was not painted like the rest of the house, completely wood with a cast iron pull handle.
"I wanted to first show you this room before I show you to your chamber and depart for the night. Vyvian as Second and your tutor, you will be here frequently, and I know that you'll be spending quite a lot of time here..." And with a single push revealed the largest library Moira had ever seen, a paneled window from floor to ceiling that showed another part of the castle and part of the cliff road where Moira climbed in the carriage.
It was decorated differently as well, not black and white and gold like the rest of the castle, but red and bronze and brown woods with colorful tiled floors in an intricate flower design. On either wall were three stories of balconies with books lining on dark wood shelves from window to wall. The rainbow of leather bound books dazzled in her eyes as she stepped forward into the library. There were wooden seats with fluffy red pillows and three desks in the middle of the room with iron candle holders holding pale yellow candles, with books and papers strewn about, the smell of fresh parchment and wax filled the air as she brushed through the papers.
The clouds seemed to have dissipated when Moira looked outside, the snow white ground reflected the moon's face, the calm of the night soothed her. She fixed her himation as she stared into the darkness, looking at the roofing of the castle below her, following it up to the tower, left of the window, where a light shone through the night.
"It is inspiring here, Lady Olvina."
Olvina laughed nervously and smiled, "Its actually Queen Olvina, since we are alone-"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I did not know-" Moira looked at her with a face full of worry, she was afraid of insulting her again after the last incident in Hephliheim
"No, no, it's alright. It's humbling coming from you, sweet girl. Since we are to be family soon, just Olvina is fine, but in front of the Court, it is 'queen'." Olvina explained. "But it is getting late, and I am thoroughly exhausted from the trip and that wonderful feast. Shall we?"
"We shall." Moira proclaimed, looking up at the tower, where the light shone no more, and followed behind Olvina through more corridors, up another set of stairs and to a small hall of doors, where Olvina led her to the last door. As Moira was about to open the door, Olvina grabbed her by the shoulders, looking rather apprehensive.
"If you need anything, anything at all, Lady Moira, please don't hesitate to call out my name, I will hear you, if I am here, of course."
Moira looked in her deep, honey-like, brown eyes, troubled by Olvina's concerned tone, and smiled.
"You must have 'super' hearing to be able to hear me speak." Moira joked. Olvina did not laugh, making her look down, shuffling her feet.
Moira stammered out, "I- I will. Why?"
Olvina smiled for a second then returned her to her cold face. "There are venomous snakes in the garden, Moira, and you are a sweet mouse. You are in one of the safest places in the world, but you are human... Be careful with the women at court, they were not happy when you were chosen for Prince Addam, and from the looks of tonight have certainly not changed their minds."
"Oh-" Moira said, thinking of all the nice women she met, their wonderful gowns and kind demeanor. Could one of them be plotting against her at this very moment? She looked down the corridor and back to Olvina. "I will. Err- thank you."
"Yes. Well, goodnight, I will see you on the morrow."
"Goodnight, Queen Olvina." Moira said with a low curtsy, but as she stood, Olvina was gone. Upon entering her chambers, the room was very dark, except for the pale candle light in metal lanterns on a few side tables. Squinting, she saw is was one giant room in an L shape, divided into three 'rooms' separated by sheer white curtains hanging from rods on the ceiling: the sitting area, as you walk in, with a very large bay window shining in night light and lots of simply decorated furniture of dark greens and mouse-y browns, then to the right was a few stairs and up to a somewhat dining area for guests, a small four person table with matching chairs of deep black wood, an unlit fireplace made of gray brick with an iron gate.
Walking forward, through the sitting area, was a spiral staircase and lots of empty book shelves, that led up to the bedroom. Climbing the steps, Moira entered on the left side of the room, where saw a cozy canopy bed in the middle of the room with a thick yellow wool blanket, paired with two yellow chairs at the end of the bed with a miniature table sat between them, where she saw a very tired Jalla leaning on her head on her hand to keep from falling asleep, and failing. Seeing Moira, Jalla gives a wide smile, stands abruptly and gives a long stretch and a yawn.
"Oh-" she said in between yawns. "Hello you."
Moira rolls her eyes in Jalla's attempt to stay awake. "Hello you back. Where did you go?"
Jalla trudges over to Moira, fumbling with the pins to her himation. "Oh, well, Vyvian and I are technically servants so we were not seated with you. I was in the kitchens being interrogated by the cooks."
"Interrogated?" What for? We've only just arrived." Moira exclaims, turning to see Jalla's face, which did not look concerned. Jalla snickers and shakes her head.
"Not an actual interrogation, Moi-fish, they wanted to know what you like, what you don't like, favorite foods and all that. They didn't quite understand that I was also you handmaid, so Vyvian introduced me as your private secretary of sorts. They even asked about your allergies-"
"Allergies? To food?" Moira questioned with a laugh.
"Yes. Apparently, they serve a few species of fish that most people are allergic to, but Queen Mother Olvina loves them so they keep them ready in the kitchens." Jalla unwrapped the stola and threw it lazily on the large chest on the far right of the room which Moira recognized as the chest that held all her clothes. "So how was it?"
"How was what? Being flaunted in front of the entire court or meeting the king and his family?" Moira asked, half-nakedly waking over to the chest and opening it to see the faint outline of all the clothes, pulling out what felt like the silk night gown she wore the night before and slipping it on.
Jalla scoffed teasingly, "The party in general, stupid."
"Oh, I suppose it went well. Afterward Queen Olvina showed me the library where I'll be taking lessons about Odiovitae and whatever else. And I saw 'him'."
"Him?" Jalla asked, sounding worried, looking over.
"Addam. My betrothed."