Untitled (Draft 2,and more!)

Prologue – How Scarlet came to be

When Miss Alia Catherine entered the palace for the first time, all eyes were turned on her. It was undoubtedly the beauty she seemed to radiate, making everyone around her, seem average at the most. Her large blue eyes, full pink lips, curly baby blond hair coupled nicely with her graceful posture. Every young man admired this beauty that brought happiness to every room she entered.

It was just the way her parents wanted it. To have their daughter help them climb in society. She, having an exceptional beauty, but hardly any intelligence, was unaware of the plan her parents had. She was presented to the court as a lady in waiting to Princess Annabelle. The princess was not too thrilled to have her scarce beauty clouded by this angel, so she easily despised her, causing life for the young girl to be very hard.

It was a cold October night, the night of a great ball where Ms. Alia’s life was changed forever. The princess had, of course, ditched her the first moment she could and then she was left roaming the crowded ball room, alone.

She sat through the first dance, which almost never happened, as she always had a partner. She took no notice as everyone stared at her, wondering why such beauty sat all alone.

That’s when Count Shenrik approached her. He was hardly what you’d call handsome with his square jaw, lean body, brown eyes and brown hair, yet he was not ugly, either. He smiled at her and asked her to dance with him. She agreed, as she didn’t want to sit through another dance. He danced with her through the entire night, never looking at another girl. It all happened very quickly then, they were married less than a year later.

By the time the count had realized how shallow his wife was, she had already given him a daughter. Scarlet Anne was a beautiful young baby, that somewhat bonded the troubled couple. In the years to come, they learned to love each other truly, his intelligence evening out her beauty, so it was a huge blow to the countess when her husband died suddenly and unexpectedly. The cause is still unknown, although many believe it to be a suicide.

It was that day that she swore to fulfill her husband’s desire; she believed it to be his last. He wanted Scarlet to marry someone with the rank of a duke or higher. She would do it no matter what.

Chapter 1

The castle looked magnificent when you looked at it from outside. It was by no means as large as any of the other castles in Velekrikorn, yet it was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. It was painted in a soft golden color and it had scarlet roses growing on its walls. There was a vast garden stretching out before it ,full of rose bushes ,red roses .They were favorites of countess Alia Catherine Shenrik ,the widow who lived there with her adolescent daughter ,countess Scarlet Anne Shenrik.

To the countess, nothing was more important than her daughter’s welfare in life and with the not too feministic views she had, it was no wonder she thought there was no other way but to marry her daughter off to someone rich. Her life had been controlled by her parents for most of the time and she had certain unshakable ideas about life and her meaning into it.

To sixteen year old Scarlet the castle had been more of a prison cell than anything else for two years now. Her mom had made her fate quite clear and nothing Scarlet would say would shake her mum’s ludicrous ideas away. She tried, in vain to explain to her mum how there was no way her mum could make her do anything she didn’t want to, and that her fate had already been decided by herself, she was going to find the book.

It was a mystical treasure, with empty pages that were said to possess a power to no measure. It was said that once a person wrote a wish in it, no matter what that wish might be, that wish will most certainly came true. However, only one person had been known to have written in the book. His desire had been for people to learn of the book, to know that exists and it had happened. The legend said that people all over Velekrikorn heard the strange ,mystical voice that seemed to echo all over the lands : The desire has been fulfilled ,the book has been found ,the book of the impossible is not just a legend ,not just a legend ,I repeat ,Sir Rion has found it and made it useful. The book will remain here to serve the brave .” – Nothing is known of the man’s fate after that .Only the fact that the book is still there is known and people have set out on dangerous journeys. The casualties were many. No one has returned. Everyone has been looking in vain, but Scarlet knew that it was her destiny, her fate. The instant she heard about the book she felt a need, no that wasn’t the right word, she felt a craving to find it. It was vital for her to find it. Nothing would stop her. No amounts of persuasions were enough to make her give up. It was like she was bound to the book, like her whole being was centered around it for the rest of her life and nothing else mattered.

Chapter 2

Sunday morning saw Scarlet lying across the bed, while her ladies in waiting, Marie and Savoii were trying to make her get up, and do something.

“What’s the point? If my mum sees me she’ll start blabbing about getting married, again! UGH I just can’t deal with it.” –She said to her pillow, her voice muffled.

Marie rolled her eyes and shook her by the shoulders.

“Okay, Ms. Oh- my-life-sucks-because-things-didn’t-go-my-way-so-I’m-being-a-brat. Get up NOW, or I’ll make you.”

“Shut up, Marie. - Scarlet pulled her soft covers over her head.

Savoii ,who had been relatively quite up to this point ,calmly walked up to her bed and pulled out all her covers ,causing the chilly September air ,coming through the opened window make its way towards Scarlet.

“YOU B-

“Careful now, your highness, don’t want to say something UN lady like.” –Savoii snickered.

“Ugh.”-Scarlet moaned as she got up. - “If my mum sees me today I will hold you two personally responsible.”

“She won’t. Here’s why. We’re taking you out to the village, today.” – Marie said.

“Fine.”- Scarlet said grudgingly as she walked towards her bathroom.

Savoii was a year younger than Scarlet, but she was really mature for her age. Often, she was more mature than Scarlet herself. She had gone through great personal drama, when her dad, a respectful admiral had passed away. That had left her an orphan, because her mother had passed on in child birth. The king had took pity upon the then, ten year old girl, he had given her the title “Lady”, for the simple reason that she had endured much grief, at such a tender age and was still good at concealing it .He had then heard that countess Alia was looking for a second lady in waiting for her daughter, so he had sent her to live off with them. She never showed her grief to Alia, but Scarlet and Marie were well aware of it. Savoii really loved her father, apparently and it was hard for her to get over the fact that she’d never see him again.

Marie was a different story. She was the youngest daughter of a rich merchant who decided that living with a countess would bring her to the right company. He believed that there she would meet someone of great rank, someone she would marry. He hoped in vain. Marie, who was beautiful and two years older than Scarlet, had already met her true love in the form of the oldest son of the village’s doctor. He was twenty, handsome and seemed to love Marie back. No one knew, of this love except Scarlet and Savoii, of course, because they were her closest people and only they were entitled to know.

As the two girls chatted lightly while Scarlet got ready, Scarlet was deep in thought.

“How will I escape this prison cell? I can always rely on Savoii, to run away with me, but Marie…she’s deeply in love, I can’t even begin to imagine asking her. She’d never agree. Oh, she’d want to...well that’s fine. I have my whole life in front of me and my mum hasn’t been trying out her matchmaking skills ,for a long time now ,when she decides which spoilt ,rich idiot is fit for me I can run off. For now I am safe.”

After Scarlet was ready to leave she got out of her bathroom. Marie and Savoii were lost in a conversation. She was pretty sure it was Marie’s idea, why not take Scarlet out AND see the cute, doctor’s son Chris in the meanwhile? She rolled her eyes as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She’d never been anything special. Her large brown eyes and honey brown hair were very ordinary. Her features were all of average size. She didn’t see anything remotely special about herself in the least. Her eyes slid down to what she was wearing and she realized she was still in her nightgown, she got out of it quickly and looked for something to wear. Whenever they went to the village they pretended not to be noble. They pretended to be peasant girls, from a different village, who only came here once in a while, because they loved the tiny village so much. The village, named after its master, the count, was Shenrik.

Scarlet put on a plain coral gown. It was nothing too special. A lot of the girls in the village owned similar attire, so she didn’t look strange. Her friends were ready, too.

They set out, with Marie handing her a cold croissant, so they don’t have to stop by the dining hall. Their attempts to avoid the countess were in vain. She still spotted them and you could basically see the triumph of her eyes.

“Huh. Well she knew we were avoiding her then.”- Scarlet thought.

“Scarlet, my darling, you will never believe it. I found him. He’s perfect for you!” – Scarlet’s eyes filled with horror as she stared at her mother. Naturally, her mum misread her expression and thought it was surprise, or excitement.

“Yes, I know it’s quite sudden. He will come stay with us for a couple of weeks, of course, so you can decide whether you like him or not. “– And if you don’t like him ,you’ll still marry him. – Scarlet added silently to herself.

Marie and Savoii looked uncomfortable. They didn’t keep their promise and scarlet got pretty mad when something like that happened.

“His name is Oscar. He’s the eldest son of Lord Oscar Boyle. He’s quite a catch. Lovely green eyes and wavy brown hair.”

“Great, thanks mum. Again I need to remind you that I have no intention of getting married as I will be looking for-“

“Oh for the love of god, Scarlet. Get over it, will you? – Her mum rolled her eyes and walked away.

Scarlet’s anger turned towards her best friends. They both looked like they wished they could die. She took three deep breaths and then said:

“Let’s go.”