Young Writers Society

Alice | Her Room

"Sun?" She groaned.

Before Alice even opened her eyes she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face. It was so welcoming after what felt like eons of cold and wet. She could feel Linza trying to comfort her, but dismissed the snake. "Enough, Linza. I'm fine. Thank you." The door opened slightly before closing again. Alice frowned and stood up, walking over to the window and looking down.

"Should we try and escape?" Alice asked, more to herself than to Linza. She walked over and pressed an ear to the door. Footsteps were coming down the hall, and fast. "I don't see the point, we're several stories up and the only exit is soon going to be blocked."

"I suppose you're right." Alice mumbled and sat back down on her bed. The throbbing was starting in her head again, so she pressed the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb. Linza was becoming uncertain, and Alice could feel it. "What's wrong?"

"There's another Ancient around."

*sorry for the crap post, first day of school.*

The King-Castle/Palace Library
The warm, dark embrace of sleep slowly faded to gray, and Aldric was forced to swim to the surface of the world of the living. He lifted his head from his desk and immediately felt the kink in his neck: he had fallen asleep at his work again. These days he had become increasingly restless, and sleep did not come easily. So he was grateful at least for the few moments of respite he had been allowed. Still, he wondered what had caused his arousal.
“My lord, it’s the girl.” A rather plain looking servant girl said meekly. “She has…” King Ravenaus snapped awake.
“At last.” He mumbled. The king pushed aside the maps and various tomes littered about the table and got to his feet
“Shall I tell them to bring her to you?” the girl asked. The king sighed and raked his hair with his fingers. He strode over to one of the tall, narrow windows of the library and stared out at the courtyard below. “My lord?’ the servant asked again.
“Make sure she has a good breakfast, but do not allow her to leave her room.” He finally said. The servant bowed. “And tell everyone to not touch her.”
“Yes my lord.” She said.
‘Now leave.” Her light footsteps soon faded down the hall. Now alone, the king began to pace. Sasari would not be pleased, but the king couldn’t afford to tell him about the girl, not yet. The king wondered if she could possibly be able to help him, but he wasn’t very hopeful. At any rate he wanted to keep her away from the ancient, for as long as possible, and that time was indeed short. The king wondered how long it would be before Sasari found him again. It had been a long time, a very long time…
A shadow seemed to fall across the floor of the library, and a sudden dizziness overcame him. Aldric’s vision blurred. “No” he thought. “He’s here. He can’t be here. Not now.” Aldric half ran, half stumbled out into the hall. He had to get away. He had to get away…

(Hope I'm doing this right! If not, please PM me!)

Sofia Armani | Palace Gardens

I blinked at the flowers, which seemed very brighter today, probably because of the sun. I stretched my arms forward, letting out a sigh. So peaceful, I thought to myself. It took me 30 minutes after breakfast to get away from Aidrianna's grasp. I remember having a maid stall for me, while I escaped from the Fitting room. I rolled my eyes and laughed quietly at the thought.

I inhaled the air. It smelled rather lovely here. I sat down on the ground, the skirt of my dress touching the dirty green grass. I let down my hair and puffed it a bit and smiled. Now I feel more comfortable. I closed my eyes and thought about... nothing. I smirked and exhaled.

Although, my peaceful moment was ruined by footsteps heading towards the garden. I exhaled in annoyance and stood up and turned around.

"My lady, Marianne can't stall her Highness any longer," Paisley, my personal maid, informed me. I nodded and lifted my skirt as I walked up the steps and back into the palace. I listened to the clicks of my heels as I rushed towards the Fitting room, along with Paisley behind me. I took a peek in the Fitting room, to see what was going on.

"Marianna! I don't need any refreshments! Now let me through, I need to see Sofie's new gown!" I heard my wretched stepmother's nasely voice, and I rolled my eyes at my nickname.

"Hurry, my lady!" Paisley whispered. I nodded and quickly walked back into the Fitting room, and Paisley began undressing me. I stepped into my new gown and pulled it up so Paisley could tie the corset quickly. I tied my hair the way it was before and stood on the podium, pretending to examine myself as Aidrianna walked in. She gasped at the sight.

"Lovely! Just lovely! See Sofia? Purple looks lovely on you!" she cried. I rolle my eyes and gave a thank you glance towards my two faithful servants and look back towards the mirror. Disgusting. Purple is disgusting.

Alice | Her Room

"Dear God child, stop pacing! You're going to wear a hole in the floor." Linza snapped inside of Alice's head, she was starting to give the girl a headache. Alice paid no mind to the snake and continued walking back and forth across her room. One way lead to the window-- where she'd look down for a few moments -- and the other way lead back to the door. Every time she contemplated reaching up and opening the door. Her dress flowed around her calves as her pace increased in speed.

"I can't, Linza. We've never had to deal with another Ancient before." She finally paused, "Or have we? Oh god, I can't remember anything. All I remember is water. Miles and miles of salty sea water, and a boat. I remember a boat." Alice flopped down on the bed and looked up at the stone ceiling. "First thing is first, we have to find out where we are and why we're here."

"I can assure you that you've never dealt with another Ancient before. This may get dangerous, Alice. The other Ancients aren't as human friendly as I am. I need you to actually listen to me if things start getting uneasy." The snake's voice was laced with more authority than Alice was used to hearing from her. A chill ran down her spine before she laid down on her bed like a starfish. Her head was swimming with thoughts, and those thoughts were becoming an ocean of worry. Luckily, she had her life jacket-- Linza -- she wouldn't drown. This brought a small smile to her lips.

A knock at the door sent Alice to her feet in a rush. Linza had finally stopped talking. At the moment Alice needed to know if it was safe to open the door or not, she stopped talking. The door creaked open slowly before a dark-skinned girl brought in a tray of food. "Your breakfast, miss." Alice looked down at the tray of food. Even though she hadn't eaten in days, the food didn't look appetizing.

"This is far too much, would you like to sit and eat with me?" She smiled and gestured to the food, "See Linza, they seem like nice people." She added in a whisper.

Sarah Coppenbarger | Alice's room

I knocked at the door softly, but my mind still buzzed with what I had seen just moments before. The king was obviously distressed, why else would have ran past me in the corridor like that? It wasn't proper. He had been muttering something about getting away. It didn't make any sense. The only people that ever went into his rooms were officials and guards.

But now I needed to keep Alice in bed. I waited for some response to my knock, but there was none so I just opened the door slowly.

"Your breakfast, miss." I said seeing Alice still in her bed.

"This is far too much, would you like to sit and eat with me?" She said as I gave her the tray. Then her lips moved as if she was mouthing something under her breath, but no sound came out. I hesitated, I did have work I could do elsewhere, but the king had stated to keep her in her room so that is what she would do.

"Well, I guess I could eat just a bite." Sarah smiled. She had already eaten at home, but the scrambled eggs and the muffin with butter on the side did look delicious. But the king also said to make sure Alice ate she reminded herself. "You eat first and then I'll take the leftovers." The girl almost looked like she was grimacing.

"No no, I always get rich food, take as much as you want. We can talk while you eat." Sarah awkwardly sat at the very edge of the bed, holding most of her weight with her legs so that she didn't shift the blankets.

"How about we eat together?"

"Alright," she said handing Sarah the fork and taking the spoon to scoop up some of the vanilla yogurt. "So why are you here?" Sarah picked at the eggs for a moment,

"I'm not very interesting, why don't we talk about you?"

"Well what would you like to know?" Sarah ate some more silently she didn't want to be rude or prying so finally she just asked what had been on her lips.

"What do you do?"

"What do you mean?" Alice asked her face unreadable. Sarah blushed,

"Oh nothing, I shouldn't have asked."

"No really, what do you mean?"

"I mean with all the time you have, what could you do with so much free time?" Sarah's bit her lip trying not to get upset by the way she stumbled over her words. Alice laughed. It wasn't cruel, but Sarah turned away.

"Well you know I don't have as much free time as you think..."

Sorry for the lame post

The King--Underneath the Castle/Palace
Aldric couldn’t think clearly. There were voices inside his head, moaning and screaming. The floor was tilting wildly, spinning in a direction that he couldn’t place. “What is this madness?” he cursed silently. He felt blind, and very slow. Still, he forced his body to move, one foot in front of the other. The guards and servants ad mysteriously vanished. Which was good…he wouldn’t want anyone to see him in his weakness. Corridors and hallways seemed to whirl past him in a blur. He had no idea where he was going, nut continued on anyway, led on by come primal instinct. His feet led him down through the castle, to a very old part of the palace, and down further, into the decaying, unused cellars. He found himself racing along a narrow corridor, passing rows of doorways which led to what had once been storerooms. Now their wooden doors rotted on their hinges. At last, Aldric came to the end of the hall, and to what was presumably a crumbling brick wall. Frantically, he pushed aside the debris which had fallen there, revealing a steel door. Aldric jammed the blade of his dagger into the lock and pried it open—he had long before tossed the key, troublesome thing, and the door swung open with much scraping and whining. This seemed to cause the voices in his head to grow to a feverish pitch, and he stumbled through the doorway. Leaning heavily on the natural stone wall, Aldric made his way down a long, narrow flight of steps. The tunnel was unlit, and he hadn’t brought a lantern, but he didn’t need one. His feet led him down the old familiar path, and Aldric retraced his well worn footsteps. Presently he came to the end of the winding tunnel, and here he found himself standing before a stone door. It was arched and smooth and there was a small circular hollow in its center. Carved in around this were strange, cruel looking symbols, runes inlaid with silver. It was a spell to bind that which lied within the door, and to keep that without from entering. Aldric had it built specifically for this purpose, but he hardly believed that the incantation worked. However, he did believe that none but him could enter. Aldric took from the folds of his cloak a smooth round stone, held in place by a silver chain. He placed the stone in the hollow of the door and turned it. With a heavy grinding, the door slid aside. Breathing heavily, the king stepped inside. The door closed behind him and gradually his eyes adjusted to the faint light within the chamber. It was a carved, round room with a high arched ceiling and, though spacious, there was essentially nothing here. It had been built for “divination purposes,” as Aldric liked to say. Purple luminescent crystals cast watery reflections on a marble floor. A platform rose up from the center of this floor, a few steps leading up to a shallow pool carved into the stone. The water had been here for ages, and yet it remained cool and clear. The noise inside Aldric’s head became unbearable, and he crumpled to the ground. There was so much pain.
“Make them stop!” he grasped the sides of his head. “Make them stop!” He was answered with a crack like thunder which rumbled through the chamber, and then there was silence. Aldric’s body sagged in relief and he drew in a ragged breath.
“Aldric,” a soothing, deep voice whispered. “You have come at last.”

Alice | Her Room

Alice smirked, thinking of how adorable this girl was. She was like a small child talking to a very old person for the first time, but in this case Alice had no doubt the girl may be older than her. She plunged her spoon into the yogurt again, and watched it get smothered beneath the dairy product. With that she frowned and placed the spoon down; moving onto the toast. "I still don't like the feeling I'm getting from being here, Alice."

"Unlike you, she can hear me when I talk." Alice mumbled into her toast. Sometimes that snake worried too much. If there was any immediate danger she would have taken over by now, and protected Alice's body. The servant girl glanced at her again, but quickly smiled when she met her gaze. "You don't have to be afraid to look at me. I'm not going to spontaneously combust." Alice smirked and let out a little hum, "As for free time... well that's the least of my worries. I don't suppose a servant girl-- a mere pawn in this game -- would know why I'm being kept here, and where here is?"

Linza hissed quietly inside Alice's mind, as she continued warning her over and over about the danger of this place and the other Ancient. Her voice was ringing in Alice's ears and it was beginning to make her headache worse. The room began to spin wildly, Alice had to brace herself to keep from falling over.

She gritted her teeth before blurting "Would you just shut up!"

Once again sorry for the bad post, I have to leave for school in a few minutes.

Sarah Coppenbarger | Alice's room

I jumped straight up as Alice shouted. I was instantly on my feet. What in the world did she mean? I wasn't even talking to her.

"Would you like me to go miss?" I asked a bit regretfully. I had heard weird rumors about this girl and this certainly was a sign that they weren't all from women who had run out of true things to gossip of. If this was true then I wanted to learn as much as I could about this girl.

"No no, you can stay, I need someone to talk to." This contradiction made Sarah's eyes go a bit wide, but she kept her composer.

"Can I sit back down miss?"

"Go ahead," Alice said gesturing to the huge queen sized bed. Sarah sat down in the silence. Her thoughts were wiring. Why had the king told her to tell everyone not to touch Alice. She had assumed that he had meant not to disturb her, but was that really true? Sarah's eyes took a quick glance at Alice's hands. They seemed O.K. They weren't riddled with any obvious sickness.

And then there was the whisperings. The cleaning girls said they heard Alice talking to herself sometimes, often even shouting, but it sounded as if Alice though there was another person there. Plus all the rumors didn't come from the castle. John said a girl was washed up on shore and then taken away by guards a few weeks ago. Guards from the castle no less. Just about the same time as this new girl had appeared.

Finally the silence was broken.

"Well aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what miss?" Sarah asked though she knew exactly what was meant.

"Who I was shouting at."

"That's not proper miss."

"But don't you want to know?"

"A bit miss... I've heard rumors."

Zaiden | Dining Room

"I wonder if rats can lick their own tails." I narrowed my eyes at the grey creature as it scurried across the lawn. "Or bite them... I'm not sure why they'd want to do that though. If I had a tail, I wouldn't bite it. I would like to have one though..."

The fellow who lived next to me greatly resembled a rat, except he was far larger, and quite frankly, a lot hairier. A pleasant man though, to be fair, despite the fact he threw rocks at me when I smiled at him every morning. I tried looking agitated once, but he tagged curses along with he stones that day. Maybe he suffered some form of mental disease. Poor fellow.

I lifted my eyes away from the grass, and it was only now I realised there was a young woman inspecting the flowers that had been planted in the palace grounds. I gathered she was some form of royalty, but I honestly didn't care much. All of the princesses looked the same to me. In fact, half of the prince's looked like princesses. Come to think of it, the rat I just spotted looked like royalty... Smooth coat and such.

"Not much like that rat in my street. Speaking of that fellow, I swear one of its legs is hanging off... or it might just be its tail..." I paused. "I wonder if it tries to lick it."

All I knew was that the rat I'd seen moments ago certainly didn't have a gammy leg. Perhaps that was the effect a place like this had on you, even if you were a rodent. I couldn't see it affecting me though. At this rate, I'd always dress as sophisticatedly as a rabid dog that suffers from blindness. With a sigh, I turned away from the window. I was supposed to be setting the dining room table, but after a short while, I became bored. Who could blame me? Besides, it wasn't as though there seemed to be anyone around. Everyone must have been preoccupied with something else. As my eyes caught site of the pile of cutlery I was supposed to set out neatly, an idea leaped into my head and danced around inside my skull in excitement. I grinned.

A fair amount of minutes later, there was a wobbly, yet extremely impressive (if I may say so myself) tower of silver knives and forks. I'd also placed a large table spoon on top of the pile, which completed the magnificent piece of art. I stepped back, and then admired my masterpiece. Beautiful. My grin faded slightly as I noticed the tower wobble. Then it wobbled some more. Then some more. Oh, no... I hadn't even blinked when I heard ear-shattering crash, and just like that, there was a pile of silver scattered over both the table and the floor. Oh, this wasn't good...

That was when I heard footsteps, and it was easy to tell that they were heading in my direction. It was probably the worst thing to do, but I practically sprinted towards the dining room's doorway. If I got out quick enough, no one would have known it was me. It was my first day working here, and I hardly wanted to be kicked out this early. I was so concentrated on getting out, I didn't take any notice of where I was going. I glanced back at my fallen tower when I was steps away from the door, and as I did so, I found myself colliding into something firm, yet soft.

Before I knew it, I heard a loud crash for the second time today. Standing in from of me with her eyes wide was a servant with dark features, and on the floor was a wooden tray along with mess of smashed cutlery and squished food. As I locked eyes with the servant, I briefly recognised her from earlier on today. Her name was A something...? I wasn't sure. I wasn't paying attention when someone told me--I was too concentrated on the man's facial hair.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Uh..." I tried to think of something--anything--to say, and I was doing so in an intense rush. That was probably why I said what I said next.

"Can rats lick their tails?"



((Sorry for the both dodgy and long post. Please don't eat my face.))

Abigail

Had he honestly just asked her what she thought he had, or Abigail merely mistranslated it? Do rays lick their tails? No, no it mist have been mistranslated. True, people said such odd things here, but that was bordering the lined of total idiocy. Of course, it was entirely probable that the boy-thing in front of her was cursed with stupidity... but that was a wicked thought.

Abigail blinked down at the mess, and then up at the pale boy. The shock wore off, allowing her expression to press itself back into its typical blank demeanor. She stooped, gathering the tray and mess in one arm. Now, did she risk answering him, or did she remain silent?

"Y-yes, they do." If she had understood properly, then this shouldn't be too much of a problem, should it? Assuming he could understand a word she was saying, damn her accent. "To stay clean." It was true; she had seen it back home, and quite often at her... old work place. "They..." What was the word, again? "They lick-" yes, that was right- "all over their place." That didn't sound quite as right, but it was too late to take it back now.

She pushed herself up with her free hand, almost wincing when a stream off hot tea slithered down her chest. Blast it- she had thought the cup had been empty-- she had just ruined her last wrap. Ruined it! Not to mention the burn... Well, it burned. That was much easier to fix than the wrap and the dignity that had just been shattered, though. Ah, well, it could be worse. Much worse.

The boy- man? said something as she turned, though she hadn't been paying enough attention to decipher what it had been. At the moment, Abigail was focused on cleaning up this mess before Zaira could throw a fit. Damn that woman and her cruelty.

She swept over to the counter, hesitating a moment before dumping the entire disaster onto the surface. Somebody else could clean it- she needed to finish this. "What did you say?" she called, reaching up to rummage around in the cupboards. Her fingers wrapped around a fresh, unchipped teacup, which she pulled out and set on a cleaner section of counter. Tea- tea and a different biscuit. Oh gods and spirits, would she rather have toast? Had sh specified? No- she hadn't. Abigail would bring both, just in case.

She had returned at the doorway, brand new tray in-hand, before the odd boy could even answer her question. Her gaze fell on the mess in the dining room, to which she merely arched an eyebrow. How had she not heard that?

Alice | Her Room

"Rumors. Ha." Alice smirked and looked down at her hands. "Does something really count as a rumor if it's true? I suppose by definition..." She trailed off and looked up at the ceiling. Linza had finally quieted down, but Alice could sense her resentment. Perhaps not resentment, but she definitely wasn't Alice's biggest fan of the day. She turned her attention back to the servant girl. "Have you ever heard of the Ancients?"

"Of course, miss. Everyone has heard those legends." She was eyeing Alice questioningly now. Alice stopped picking at the dish of food and met the girl's eyes with a look that questioned her.

"Legends?" She laughed quietly. Linza would have rolled her eyes at that comment for sure. "You may want to tell Linza she's just a legend. I don't think she'd be particularly fond of that. Linza is the one I talk to, by the way." Alice stood slowly and smoothed out the folds of her dress. She expected the girl to spew out questions like a fountain, or a geyser, or something else that spewed out something like the questions she was expecting from the girl.

When she turned back to the girl, she was staring at Alice like she had two heads and a giant wart to top it. "Don't believe me?" Alice asked with a smile, "Silly little pawn."

Sarah Coppenbarger| Alice's Room

I stared at the girl. Maybe she was crazy. Who else would:

1. Think that the Ancients were real.
2. Suggest that I of all people should talk to one of them.

And

3. Call someone a 'silly little pawn' to their face.

Alice laughed again then before I could react she was already changed into her day clothes and flouncing out of the room. I finally got my voice back.

"Wait, you're not supposed to go out!" I begged. She obviously ignored me. Grabbing the tray of half eaten food I ran out of the room behind her. She somehow had gotten to the end of the corridor already. I ran after her just managing not to trip over my outrages skirts. "It was the kings orders. If you don't stay in your room you know I'll be the one to be punished!" Instantly Alice whipped around. I took a few steps. I don't think I had ever said something that loud before let alone something that showed how much I cared that much. The girl was obviously surprised as well. I blushed red under her gaze and then stared at my feet. "I'm so sorry miss, I didn't mean it. How can I ever repay you?"

But instead of replying the girl just laughed again and started walking again. I quickened my steps to follow her.

"You think you would be the only one who would be punished if it came to that? How silly you are." I bit my lip. Would she really be punished? How? I didn't know what to think. We were speed walking twoards the kings rooms. I cringed to think at how this would turn out.

"So the king knows you believe in the Ancients?" I asked.

"Oh he knows," she laughed, "oh he knows." Why did she sound that way? It was almost spiteful, but I couldn't tell.

"But he doesn't believe in them, or why else would he be keeping you in your room, right?" I was surprised this slipped out through my lips. Maybe that yelling had made me more comfortable with getting myself into trouble.

Mircea | Palace - The Sanaz Rooms:

Mircea was trying to get the damn woman to leave. It was too early in the morning for visitors, and besides, his sister was still asleep. Lady Zaria persisted, though. He scowled and turned to face her, abandoning the view over the water from his sitting room window. The dark haired woman was still chattering on about how much he was worth. Like Mircea cared.

"I'm afraid, my lady," Mircea began, giving her a cold look, "That you are going to have to leave. My sister is still sleep. I'd hate to see what the Princess would do if you were lingering around...." Here, he paused for a moment, crossing to the table. "Unwanted." He couldn't deny it, though. Lady Zaria was beautiful, in a dark, sultry and extremely tempting way. But Mircea had had enough of people trying to pry stuff out of him in the last few months. It was just becoming irritating now.

Lady Zaria gave him this...look and kept on talking. Mircea felt like he'd just been told to shut up. And then perhaps slapped. Damn this infuriating woman. She gave him a charming smile and followed him. Mircea glanced at wall, impatient. He wanted the woman gone, but like most women, she wasn't budging. Why was it that so many seeked his fortune? He wasn't even in his own land, let alone his own palace. 'Technically King', my fortune, he thought, scowling at the wall since scowling at the woman didn't work. Besides, wasn't she engaged to Prince Xavier?

"Look," he said, turning towards her. He was at the end of his patience and the woman was damn annoying. "I think we've established this, Lady Zaria. I. Am. Not. Interested. In. You. Period." He took a deep breath and crossed back to the window, staring out of it. "Now, can you please leave before my sister wakes up and throws a fit?"


((Crappy first post. Enjoy, Synn. Zaria's being a menace, apparently. o.O Hope I didn't mess anything up too much.))

Alice | Roaming the Castle

"That is what I'm trying to find out, and the only way to do that is to speak to this king of yours. Does anyone know where he is?" Alice had been turning down whatever halls had seemed promising, all the while Linza was telling her they needed to find an exit. The long stone hallways seemed endless sometimes, but Alice moved on and tried to ignore the Ancient. She turned back to the servant girl. "Well?"

"Perhaps his personal guard, but you weren't even supposed to leave your room in the first place." She sighed and continued following Alice, even when her pace began to steadily increase. The windows seemed to woosh by, and before long Alice realized she had begun running.

"Alice, where in heavens name are you going. There was a flight of stairs back there. We should work on getting you out of here before we find out which ancient roams these halls." The snake just wouldn't shut up, and she was beginning to drive Alice mad, "I sense another Ancient... but this one is familiar.

"So nothing to worry about, now shut up." Alice had finally run out of steam, and leaned into the wall to catch her breath. Angry voices were coming from the room to her left. Curious, Alice ducked beside a vase and waited. A male voice had yelled something that she hadn't caught before a woman came storming out of the room and disappeared down the hall. Alice peeked in and couldn't see anyone there.

"Alice, we have to leave. Now. Two ancients are two times the trouble, even if my hunch is correct and one of them is my ally.

Alice's head was swimming with pain and dizziness. She ducked into the room and closed the door behind her. She needed a place to hide until she could clear her mind.

(Ohmygod, I just made another crappy post. I'm so sorry, gym class has murdered my muscles and my will to do anything right.)

Xavier | Xavier's Bedroom
"You have a busy day today, My Lord. Do you want me to relay your schedule?"

I grunted. My Lord. How shallow it sounded. There was a time that a man would give his life for his Lord. Now the words barely carried meaning. They were just a way of acknowledging my superiority.

"No thank you, I have it memorized. Has Earl Loyd arrived safely at Dregovia? It is of utmost importance that we keep peace with our neighbors."

"Yes, My Lord. So far nothing unexpected has been reported."

"Good. The preparations for my honeymoon can go ahead then."

I will finally be able to visit another country. Nothing my Father can do will stop me.

"One last thing My Lord. Zaira said that she wont be able to see you this morning as she has some business to attend to."

"I probably wouldn't have been able to see her anyway. As you said, I have a busy schedule. Now, please allow me some time to prepare for the day."
Again? She seems to have had a lot of "Business" to attend to recently. I've barely been able to speak to her. Could she been having cold feet?
"Actually Rueben, clear my schedule. Something more important has come up. Their is no point in preparing a wedding if their isn't a Bride."
Perhaps a good talk will help her? She really hasn't been herself recently. Unless... No, those rumors are false. Zaira just isn't like that. Could she be like that? After all, as much as I love her, she does sometimes seem... uncomfortable when I catch her of guard, especially when she is around other men. No, I refuse to believe those baseless rumors. Zaira is as much in love with me as I am in love with her. She is just nervous. After all it is a huge step. Yes that's it, just pre-marital jitters. So a good chat will do fine. Now where are my equestrian clothes...