Saying the castle is huge would be an understatement. I figured my memories of visiting here as a child were kind of exaggerated, but nope. Ten of my own houses could easily fit inside. There is no way I'm not going to get lost inside.
“Edith?” Mother calls.
Crap. I need to get a grip. I’ll be meeting them in a few minutes. I walk up the stairs and try not to think about the huge stones crashing down on top of me. A maid leads up to my room. The bed is big enough to comfortably fit five adults. The walls are adorned with silks. I was right, the closet already has all of my dresses and a few more. I assume they're gifts.
After I am able to set down my bag and have a look at the room, the maid says, “The princess is waiting on you.”
“Just the princess?” I ask.
“Yes mam, the prince seems to have other duties.” she says.
Well that's nice, I wonder if I've already offended him…
The maid motions for me to hurry. I take a breath and look at my mother, “Is it too late to go back into my tree?”
She glances at me angrily for a second before she sighs and drops the expression. She steps closer and pulls me into a hug, “Darling, I know it's scary, but look at the bright side, You know them. It seems like practically every day you would all be together. When I married your father, I didn’t know him at all.”
“But I don't really know them anymore, and I have to choose between them,” I say.
“I thought you've been writing letters? Like I told you,” Mother says.
I think back to all the times Mother told me to write letters to the twins now that we were too old to play together and they were too busy to visit, “About that…”
Mother laughs lightly, “Of course, well no use fretting over it now. I know you will make the best choice. I love you.”
The maid led me through the castle. Each of the halls look the same. The walls are dark rock and the floor is red carpet with gold trimming. Even the paintings look like they are repeating. We reach a room that has couches and a short table.
The maid brings me to one of the couches and I take a seat, “I’ll go fetch the princess and some tea. Please wait here.”
I sit still for a few minutes and try not to pull at the loose strings on my dress. I pull at the skin by my fingernails and end up bleeding. I resist the urge to wipe it on the couch.
I quickly pull my finger out of my mouth and hope I didn't smear my lipstick when the maid opens the door. The maid walks in with a white tea set, and a goddess follows right behind her. I stand quickly. This must be the princess. She’s at least half a foot taller than me. She stands so poised, like her spent years training herself not to slouch. Even her chin curves at just the right angle to suggest superiority and beauty. Her long blonde hair falls in curtains on her back and the front is fastened into a neat bun. Her dress is a deep crimson, a striking contrast to her deep green eyes. Somehow she pulls it off perfectly.
I stick out my hand, “Nice to see you again, I don't know if you remember me, I’m-” she cuts me off and pulls me into a hug. She smells like honey and roses.
“Edith, I’ve missed you.” she says, she grabs my hand and pulls me to the love seat to sit beside her. The maid pours each of us a cup of tea, “How have you been?”
“I’ve been great, how about you?” I ask.
“I have been very busy. Mother and Father have kept Nicholas and I in so many classes to prepare us for ruling,”she says then looks over to the empty sofa, “I’m sorry he couldn't be here. No one can find him.”
What does that mean? “No one can find him? Isn’t that worrying?” I ask.
“Not particularly,” she says the sighs, “He disappears like this sometimes.”
That can't be good for the kingdom. Maybe I'm meant to choose Nichole.
We stay for a couple hours talking about the weather and memories we share. I learned her favorite color is fallow. “The light brown on a baby deer,” she had said. Deer happen to be her second favorite animal. When I asked for her first favorite, she told me she would show me some day. She had three chocolate cookies with her tea. She said ther cookies were her guilty pleasure and she takes her tea with cream.
The light starts to dim in the room before she suggests we head back to our rooms for dinner.
“Most of us take our dinners in our offices or champers so we can catch up with work while we eat, but on Sundays all the women have brunch together, and on Friday’s the family dines together,” she says.
After we say our goodbyes, I follow the maid back to my room. I lay back on my bed. She was gorgeous. She changed a lot since we were little. My clearest memory of what she looked like was when we snuck into her mother’s room to try on some of her jewelry and dresses. She made me put on the pinkest dress her mother owned. I kept tripping over it. She tried to braid my hair, but the memory of bushing out the knots the next day still haunts me. The dress was falling off my shoulders.
“Do I look beautiful?” I asked when she was finished. I know I meant to ask if I looked as pretty as her. Even back then she had long blonde hair and a lovely smile. I wonder if she still has such a lovely smile?
After circling around me she decided to answer with the smile I always loved to see, “You look like a flower!”
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