--Before the General's Arrival, The Castle - Left Wing, Living Quarters--
"The General will arrive soon and until the General arrives, attend to Miss Katherina. Take her around the castle, most especially help her settle down." Lord Killian said to the maid that was assigned to take care of Miss Katherine.
Katherine stirred as she heard a familiar voice speak, her head was throbbing due to her bumping her head on the carriage door. It felt slightly better due to the ice around her forehead.
She could hear footsteps approach her but Katherine's futile attempts to pretend to be sleeping didn't fool the maid as the girl said, "Milady, I know you're awake,"
Katherine's eyes slowly swung open to see a young girl with dark brown eyes smiling at her. "My name is Lily, Lord Killian asked me to tend to your well being-,"
"Wait," Katherine said abruptly, interrupting the young maid. She began to feel bad at her sudden outburst so she smiled at the maid and began to speak, "Lily, is it? Where is Lord Killian if I may ask?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. He said he'd be back soon and that he was preparing for the arrival of the General and the Captain-" Lily started but Katherine interrupted her.
"What? Is he going to kidnap them too?" Katherine snorted out followed by a peal of soft laughter. She laughed even harder thinking about it and soon Lily started to chuckle too.
Slowly Katherine's amusement died down, "Take me to Lord Killian," she demanded. Lily shuffled around at first but from the look on Katherine's face, Lily could tell she wasn't in the mood for compromise.
Lily simply nodded and helped Katherine off the bed and led her to the courtyard that resided within the walls of the castle.
Not long after, the two girls saw Lord Killian and an old man having a conversation. Katherine quietly observed as Lily approached them to get Lord Killian's attention. Both Katherine and Lily greeted the men before Lily stepped back. She was a far enough distance that she couldn't hear what was being discussed.
Lord Killian gestured for Katherine to come forth and sit beside him. "Lord Killian, it would be honourably kind of you to return me home-"
"That cannot be done, milady," Lord Killian swiftly responded to the girl. Although he had his regrets for the situation surrounding her arrival, he couldn't take her back to the manor.
"Excuse me?" Katherine furrowed her eyebrows in frustration, truly because she felt as though her requests weren't being taken seriously.
Just as Killian was about to respond, the old man smiled at the girl before speaking, "I am Advisor Daniel,"
Katherine briefly assessed the man before raising an eyebrow to listen to what he had to say. "My dear, no one intends for you to be queen anytime soon, there is still time to get you accustomed." He stood up and slowly walked towards the exit of the courtyard, leaving Killian and Katherine to discuss.
Katherine remained silent as she was trying to process the immediate change her life was going under.
"There are people on here to help you," Killian said breaking the silence, Katherine looked up at the man and glared at him silently.
"Look, I'm sorry about the other day I didn't mean to hurt you if I did," he smiled apologetically at the brunette who seemed to want to wring his neck.
Katherine looked away and stared off into the distance and briefly admired the beauty of the castle. The wind blew gently causing her long brown hair to dance along with the wind.
Killian chuckled, he had barely offended the girl and she refused to speak with him. "You clearly haven't met any of the royal assholes yet."
Katherine directed her attention back to Killian, "If you need anything just let me know, I'm mostly in the courtroom." He stood up and bowed his head at Katherine as Lily did the same to him from the tree she was standing beside.
Katherine had just noticed that Lily was far enough to still be in calling distance but not enough to hear the conversation they just had. She wondered if all the maids did this under the monarch's orders, maybe to avoid the spread of rumours.
The slight blush that appeared on Lily's cheeks wasn't hard to miss as Lord Killian passed by her. Katherine took notice of this but decided not to point it out as it wasn't her place to.
Throughout the rest of the day, Katherine had asked Lily to take her around the castle.
The gardens were almost like that of a maze to which it had four exits that led to different parts of the castle.
"How long have you worked here?" Katherine was curious as Lily seemed to know the castle like the back of her hand.
"I grew up here, my mother was Queen Orizelle's handmaiden, may she rest in peace. After spending all your life within the walls of this place, it becomes natural," She said while leading the way out of the garden.
Katherine noticed something unusual about the maid, "Are you human?" she asked the girl curiously.
"I am of werewolf descent but the gene must've skipped a generation," Katherine nodded in understanding as Lily answered her question. She quickly changed the topic to avoid making the maid feel uncomfortable.
They continued walking and were met with another dead end but luckily one of the gardeners kindly led them out.
Katherine was truly amazed at how breathtaking the fountain in the middle of the maze was. It made it easy to find one's way out of the maze as the sun would glisten against the water drops.
There was a lot of commotion about the arrival of the general and the captain. Katherine couldn't help but wonder what they were like, she turned and asked Lily about the general.
"The General is the son of Queen Orizelle, he was betrothed to Lady Victoria, the youngest sister of Lord Killian. I'm not sure what happened but he cancelled his engagement and travelled to the Cyrene Kingdom. While he was gone, his mother, the Queen, died." Lily sighed then continued speaking.
"That's all I've heard about the general, if you wish to know more, speak with Lord Killian."
"What about the Captain?" Katherine inquired while entering her assigned room.
"Well there's not much to say about him, he barely stays in the royal court let alone the castle," Lily replied. Soon after the noise outside magnified, it was a little past dusk as Katherine and Lily approached the room balcony to see what was happening.
Katherine was left speechless as a carriage made for royalty approached the royal court in the far distance. Two men stepped down from the carriage, although she could barely see their faces she could see the poise that emitted from their powerful aura.
--The Nydisian Kingdom, The Castle, The Royal Court--"How does it feel to be King?" Llewellyn half-joked as he and Lucian walked through the halls of the royal court of Nydisia.The crown had now been officially passed unto Lucian until the girl, Katherina Daventin, ascends the throne. "Is it supposed to feel any different?" Lucian queried his friend, with his eyebrow that raised perfectly.Lucian smirked knowingly. Before and after becoming King of Nydisia, the entire kingdom has always been under his rule. The only difference is that with the crown his rule is absolute.Llewellyn chuckled while shaking his head as they walked through one of the entrances of the gardens that connected the court and the palace. "You know the people would prefer it this way,""And what way is that?" Lucian had a fair idea of what the people wanted.Llewellyn frowned as he turned to look Lucian in the eye under the scorching hot sun. He stopp
--The Nydisian Kingdom, Country of Balewen, Wikerstone Manor--The ladies in waiting alongside Minister Wikerstone's youngest daughter gossiped freely while having their afternoon tea.Word had spread in less than a day that the General had returned and has now assumed the position of King.Everyone in the kingdom knew just how powerful the general was and for him to ascend the throne did three things to the citizens of Nydisia.Those that hoped to oppose him, hid in their own shadows. Those that hoped to gain his favour, continued to seek it. And those that hoped to be his wife, were more determined than ever now that he was King."Oh, you don't have to be rude about it, Macie. I'm merely pointing out that if he was to be wed, it wouldn't be with someone that can't fit into her newly made corsets," Lady Murie retorted while placing her teacup back on her tray.The woman who went by the name Lady Macie was fuming at Lady Mur
--The Nydisia Kingdom, The Castle, The Right-Wing Living Quarters--"My lady, the King requested that this letter is to be delivered to you and that you have breakfast with him in the dining hall," Lily said, passing the letter one of her fellow maids had given to her.Katherine inhaled as Lily tied her corset from the back. The dresses Katherine had received were luxurious and more expensive compared to the ones she had at Lady Morgan's manor.Seeing as Lily didn't make the corset unbreathable tight, the dress Katherine wore was very comfortable and fit for a lady that was to appear in front of a king to wear.Lily had offered to do her hair but Katherine refused. She always felt more relaxed with her long wavy hair resting calmly around her lower waist.After drinking the iced tea that Lily had specifically brought as per Katherine's request. Katherine opened the letter from the King and it read:To Lady Katherina Dave
--The Nydisian Kingdom, The Castle, Dining Hall--Immediately, Katherine knew he was talking about her avoidance of eye contact. She turned to look at him, but the presence of the maids had already captured his attention.They all murmured 'Milady' or 'Milord' as they dropped our meals. The food smelled divine but Katherine couldn't muster much of an appetite.She didn't really pay attention to the food as she was more curious as to what the King had to say to her. "I prefer to be called Katherine, milord," Katherine said respectfully then reached forward to grasp a cup of water."Very well, you may address me as Lucian. Forgive me if there have been any inconveniences." She silently shook her head.He seems so straightforward and uptight, it was quite difficult to know what he'd be offended by, she thought to herself."Are you not hungry?" Lucian frowned at her whilst he was munching on a breadstick and sipping what was eit
--The Nydisian Kingdom, The Castle, Left-Wing--Katherine couldn't help but stare at the garden from her room balcony as the sun was starting to rise. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice Lily was trying to get her attention."The Captain is requesting your presence, milady, I've already taken your bag downstairs. I wish you a safe journey." Lily said while packing the last bit of Katherine's load. Katherine smiled at the maid that has been nothing but kind since her arrival.Considering it's been less than a week since Katherine's arrival in the castle, the King was kind enough to have her closet filled with fine attire.As Katherine made her way down the stairs, she crossed paths with the man she had begun to tolerate, Lord Killian.He respectfully bowed her way as Lily greeted him. Katherine turned back briefly to notice shared glances between Lord Killian and Lily.The General and the King, mention
--The Nydisian Kingdom, Eraregord, Othes Forest--After several failed attempts of trying to build a fire. Katherine finally managed to do so with the help of Llewellyn, of course."I believe I was five when I built my first fire," Llewellyn chuckled in a lame attempt to tease her."Well not everyone had such an eventful childhood," Katherine said while rolling her eyes and finding a comfy spot of grass to lay on."Enlighten me, how so?" Katherine barely spoke about her life before Lady Morgan, it was uncomfortable reliving those memories but as time passed, one could say it didn't bother her as much."I grew up in a town full of bandits and my parents were both alcoholics and gamblers." Katherine sighed.Her mother was probably the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had midnight black hair and her eyes were so bright and warm. Katherine's heart ached thinking about the faded memories of her mother."What hap
--The Nydisian Kingdom, Eraregord, Othes Forest--Katherine looked up to see his red eyes staring into the fire. It wasn't until now that she noticed the slight scar on his lip. It was a thin line that crossed on the very edge of his upper lip.As if knowing what she was staring out he looked down and caught her gaze. She quickly averted her gaze and looked to where Llewellyn was once standing as he walked into the forest.Lucian was still seated calmly behind her with his back against one of the trees and with her seated directly in front of him, her back to his chest.Being unable to bear the silence, Katherine finally spoke, "Tell me a story,""Milord," She quickly added wanting to remain respectful.His already deep voice was low and sounded like a hum, "You have to be more specific than that, do you wish to hear about the tales of the creatures below sea level or the creatures that plague the earth realm,"Kather
--The Nydisian Kingdom, Eraregord, Othes Forest--Katherine remained silent not knowing what to say in regards to what Lucian had revealed about his mother.It was more or less a realization of why the kingdom is as it is and why Daniel wanted Lucian branded with the royal crest to ensure his loyalty.It was no secret that his mother was beheaded, the entire kingdom was still in shock of what had happened.They continued to bask in the silence that wrapped around the thick air. "What about the sea creatures you told of?" Katherine asked, cutting the silence in half.As a child, the only thing that would bring Katherine comfort was storytelling and as she grew up she became more intrigued by novels and the writings of experts.To Katherine, stories were a kind of safe place where her imagination could run as wild and as free as it pleases.Lucian leaned forward and Katherine began to adjust where she was seated until s