December 25, 1178
The steward joined the captain at the side of the carpet, robbing Anna of her last barrier between herself and the royals. The queen barely paid Mona a glance but surveyed Anna with the scrutiny that Mona's mother had only reserved for new fabrics. She probably knew--some sixth sense that only great queens possessed. This wouldn't end well. Why had she gone along with this, again?Ah, right. Because the one day she'd dared sleep later than Mona, she'd woken to find the princess wearing the wrong dress, fawning loudly over 'my lady's lovely brown eyes' and 'your majesty's pretty chestnut curls'. For all they hadn't seen them, the guards had heard enough by the time they'd arrived that Anna had little choice but to go with it; a blond, green-eyed Princess Ramona would have led them to falsely suspect what was actually the truth with a dark-eyed brunette, and any thought of that would have been read as an insult, and good luck insulting foreign royalty without serious political repercussions.
That said, the question of how to sort out this mess was now needlessly difficult.
"Your highness." The king reached for Anna's hand, but it took him a couple swipes to grab it. He was as nervous as she was and that was somewhat comforting. Somewhat not, though; the fact that he cared enough to be nervous would make things all the more troubling when the truth came out. "I... trust you had a pleasant journey?"It took a second to remind herself that he was talking to her and not Mona. "Yes, your majesty. Thank you."
Adrius flashed a shy smile and placed a kiss on her hand. His fingers beneath her own were soft and his lips were even softer. Must have been the sea air. "I'm glad to hear it."
He kissed her hand again, as if unsure that the first time had been sufficient. Mona smirked and the queen's eyes flickered. Anna tried to decide whether she minded, and whether she ought to. He was quite handsome and she wanted to tell him that, but it seemed cruel to lead him too far off course. "The carriage was very comfortable. My king is too kind.""The carriage is my mother's own. She was the one who volunteered it." The queen cleared her throat. Startled, Adrius jerked his head in her direction with a hasty nod. "This is my mother, Queen Devidra of Carvallon."
The queen's mouth twitched into a curve, but her eyes remained sharp and shrewd, not unlike the captain's behind her. She didn't look nearly old enough to be the king's mother, but Anna had pictured her as such. Devidra of Carvallon did not seem the type to be swayed by mere age. "Princess Ramona. We are honored to have you."Anna replied with a clumsy curtsy while Mona followed suit much more gracefully. She thought she saw the captain's brow arch. "I am most honored to be here, your majesty."
Satisfied, the queen crossed her arms and glanced back at her son. He took the hint with the same fumbling awkwardness of Anna's bow. "I hope you're hungry. We're having a feast tonight. The cooks have been working all day, and everyone who's walked past the kitchens says it smells delicious. And there's going to be a strawberry pie for dessert. Do you like strawberry pie?"From the looks of it, it was a favorite of his. Anna smiled. "I love strawberry pie."
The king beamed--something she'd never thought possible of a king. The poor man, so obviously anxious yet so pleased that he'd made the right decisions. How would he take it, learning that they'd been for the wrong girl? Mona didn't care much for strawberry pie."Adrius, don't get ahead of yourself. Supper won't be ready for another hour." The queen stepped forward and locked gazes with Anna. Her eyes hadn't changed once since they'd arrived. "You must be tired, and perhaps you'd like to change for the feast. I shall show you to your room."
NEXT CHAPTER:
15 comments:
Ack. Sorry for being lame again.
*zzzzz*
O.O OH! MY! GOD!
Of all the things I expected! THIS wasn't one of them! You caught me again! XD
And now in retrospect I can see so many hints that I missed entirely! *shakes head at self* Foreshadowing is waisted on me to be sure!
But this is awesome! XD All the potential drama! It may very well become my favorite Naroni storyline of all time!
Mona is such a clever little minx! XD If only the kind of education she had could be as easily transferred as her clothes!
Truly, I can't imagine a girl less likely to be comfortable in the role of a princess. ^^ Poor Anna, err her highness Princess Ramona. XD (I always liked the name Ramona too.)
Well, she should be getting along better with Adrius than I suspect the real Mona would. ^^
That was kind of what my foreshadowing was about... That Adrius wouldn't get along all that great with Mona and instead fall in love with her maid. Cliché, I know. But it has happened often enough (in tales). ^^
I have only one question: Why is Zareth going along with this? He's seen who the real princess is after all!
Well, I can't wait to find out! ^^
And I don't find this chapter lame at all! Much the reverse actually! (Besides the splendid turn of events that made me so giddy, I mean. ^^)
"That was kind of what my foreshadowing was about... "
err, I meant "my foreboding" of course. Geez.... ~~
Heh... I meant lame as in crashing early and getting the post up late again :P
Oh, Anna's definitely not comfortable with all of this--we'll get a little more insight in the next post ;) But yeah, she does seem better suited to Adrius than the real Mona is, which could cause some serious drama.
As for Zareth... well, it could be partly because he doesn't want to get in trouble for looking ;) But I get the sense that it's more than that. We'll be seeing more of him, so maybe things will become more clear after we get to know him better ;)
That. Was. Brilliant!!!
You know, and the funny thing was, I was remembering all these fairy tales that feature the maid bullying the princess into switching places with her. And I was wondering if the Carvallon themselves were planning something along those lines. I mean, it seemed like a really, really bad idea to just send the princess and her maid with nobody who knows which is which with them. This kind of thing is bound to happen at some point.
But I never imagined that Mona herself would instigate it.
And indeed, why is Zareth keeping quiet? Like you said, he knows the difference. Seems to me like the most loyal thing to do would have been to take one look at Mona and Anna as they got out the carriage and said, "Ladies, switch back. Thank you." But he didn't ... interesting. Very, very interesting.
I cannot wait to see how this all turns out. :D
The Carvalli methods really do lend themselves to schemes like this. It's almost as if they were designed that way... ;)
As for Zareth, it could be any number of things. His relationship with Devidra is quite complicated, but he doesn't really bare her any ill will. There's probably an element of covering his own ass, but there's got to be more there.
I get the feeling Devidra suspects somethings up... I mean, wouldn't they have received word that the princess Ramona was blonde? And it would be too much of a coincidence that her maid just happened to match that description and she did not.... But I sense she's going to play along with it, almost like she's testing their characters hmmmmm, I agree with the above comments, this storyline is getting better and better :)
She did seem a bit suspicious, did she? I doubt she would have inquired about Mona's appearance (other than maybe the basic "Is she pretty?"), but she might know that the Dovian/Naroni Royal Family is generally blond. The jig would probably be up if Devidra had ever met Laralita, since Mona did get many of her facial features.
But if she does suspect, she probably has reasons for holding back ;)
*LULZ* Why Princess Ramona, you look nothing like either of your parents! This would seem to be a dangerous thing that has the potential to end very badly. Man, Mona must have really wanted get out of this marriage. And Mona is really throwing herself under the bus for something that was a simple misunderstanding + Mona being all woe-is-me.
"And ANNA is really throwing herself..." I should read the comments I type before I hit the post button. :p
Heheh. Devidra might have met Roderick at some point. She might not have met Laralita, though; for all she knows, Laralita is a dark-eyed brunette.
Mona is... well, she's very, very young. Too young to want to get married, for sure :S
Anna is pretty screwed if word gets out.
Oh wow! Wow! This is seriously dangerous stuff. What will happen to Anna if they find out. I can't imagine things would go well for her. Could this sort of thing amount to treason?
What a scary little lady Mona is pulling this kind of stunt on her maid. She obviously doesn't care what happens to anyone but herself.
What an awesome twist Van, I'm looking forward to reading more of this storyline :)
It's a risky move, and most people would probably assume Anna to be the instigator, her being the person of less social standing in the switch. If the wrong people find out and don't give anyone a chance to explain themselves, this would mean trouble.
Mona is in that selfish teenage phase where it really is all about her. I suppose it's sort of justified in the sense that no one was thinking about her when they sent her off to marry Adrius, but it's not like Anna had a hand in that decision. It's a dick move on Mona's part, for sure.
Thanks, Verity! :)
Words to describe Mona: selfish, childish, irresponsible, entitled, brat, spoiled, rude, I could go on
I mentioned before about a women walking into a marriage with her head held high and this situation could have been the perfect example; sure she wasn't thrilled about it but it was for the good of her people (in both Naroni and Carvallon)
And to do that to Anna without her knowledge really shows how little she thinks of the girl "Oh she's just Anna Whateverherlastnameis, she doesn't *matter* only I matter. I don't want to be married so i can just make *her* do it"
I was so going to be on Monas side, because she seemed to be doing what a Princess should do; holding her head up and doing what is best for her country. I really thought she'd make the most out of her marriage but apparently I was wrong. When this comes out there will be hell to pay, not just for Mona and Anna but for naroni as well and she doesn't even care....
Those words are all quite Mona. That said, when you're that young and sent off to marry a stranger without any say in the matter, I doubt that looking for ways out is an unnatural reaction.
As for what happens with Anna, stay tuned...
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