ANGELINA

Angelina sat on her bed with Victor at her side. Her arms were wrapped around his waist and she didn't intend to let go of him. He made her feel safe and warm and comfortable. Angelina couldn't stop shaking, no matter how much she tried. She closed her eyes for a second and let the warmth of her friend sink in. She felt his heartbeat, and she felt his breath moving her hair slightly. Before she knew it the world slipped away and she went to sleep.

* * * * *

She awoke with someone shaking her.

"Get up, Aria. You need to get into your bed gown. Come on." Marigold demanded.

"Do I have to?" Angelina groaned.

"Yes, dear. We must clean all that makeup off and get you dressed. Plus, don't forget about your hair." Marigold replied, pulling the warm blankets off Angelina.

"Fine." Angelina agreed, getting up and letting two maids help her off the bed.

"Good." Marigold replied, walking over to the large wardrobe.

A maid looked into the closet and grabbed a white, cotton nightgown. Marigold grabbed the gown from the maid and walked back to Angie. The maids who helped Angie out of bed helped her get undressed and then helped her get dressed into the nightgown. After she was dressed the maids walked her into the bathroom and to a small metal basin which held warm water and had a small wash towel draped over the side. One of the maids grabbed the damp towel and washed all the makeup off her sticky face. The maid gave her a disapproving look and then shook her head. Then she stayed behind in the bathroom while the others took Angie to the vanity to take her hair out of the now messy bun. She sat down on the vanity stool and looked at herself. She looked like a mess. She still felt Victor's warmth on her small body. She wondered where he had gone. Probably to his room. Then, she wondered if he had put her into her bed and put her covers over her. Or was it Marigold? Who knows, it could've been anyone. Whatever. What time was it? When she looked back into the mirror her blond hair was a big mop. Marigold helped Angie up and looked her over, then she sighed.

"Go to bed." She said.

"What time is it, Marigold?" Angelina asked tirededly.

"Quarter after the 11th hour." Marigold answered. "Now I insist, go to bed, you need it."

"Okay," Angelina yawned, starting for her bed.

She fell into her bed and sighed. Two maids came over to her and tucked her in and fluffed the pillows. Angelina said goodnight, then the maids bowed and followed Marigold out the door. The one maid who was cleaning the bathroom came out and sighed dramatically and looked over towards Angie. She then walked around the room and blew out all the candles. When every single candle was blown out she walked out of the room. Angelina looked up at the dark ceiling. The room was so dark, she couldn't even see the other sides of the room. A sigh escaped Angelina's and she closed her eyes. Then, she fell asleep.

* * * * *

Angelina woke up to someone shaking her awake. Angie groaned, then opened her eyes. The room was bright, so it made her squint. When she turned over onto her back she saw Marigold leaning over her. Her messy brown hair fell onto her broad shoulders, and her hazel eyes were demanding and serious. Marigold's small fingers were grasped around Angelina's arm.

"Wake up, time to get ready for breakfast!" She said seriously.

"Ok." Angelina replied, throwing the blankets off her body, then getting up.

As usual, maids were rushing around trying to get everything done and ready. Angie, for some reason, was used to the maids doing everything for her. She remembered when she was a little girl she and her old best friend, Everest, used to dream of living in a castle, or a mansion, maids doing everything for them, and being able to do whatever they wanted. But, of course, Everest had moved away when the two were seven. It was the saddest day of her life, well, before all of the stuff that has been happening happened. Angie hopped out of bed and walked over to the bathroom so she could take a bath. Three maids followed behind her, in close pursuit. When Angelina got into the incredibly large bathroom, the maids helped her take off her nightgown, and they helped her into a warm bath, which had been prepared by two maids who were leaving the bathroom to do something else. Once she was fully into the bath she sighed and sank down. Then, a maid started washing her blond hair, and once again another washed her body, but this time with a weird kind of soap that smelled like a mixture of lavender and banana.

After ten minutes, she was already dressed and at the vanity getting her hair and makeup on. Angelina looked down at her pale blue dress. It had puffy shoulders, lace at the bottom, a silky touch, long medieval sleeves, and a white bow on the back of her waist. A maid with dark black hair and a black dress with a white apron was painting her lips and putting pink powder on her cheeks, while another one with orange hair and the same outfit was putting mascara on her long eyelashes. The one maid from last night that had blown out the candles was curling Angelina's blond hair with a hot metal rod. Angie didn't dare move, fearing she would get a bad burn.

"Get on up. Your appearance is all done. Now it's time for breakfast, come on." Marigold demanded sweetly, looking Angie over like she did yesterday.

"Yes ma'am." Angelina sighed obedintly, then followed Marigold out of the magnificent bedroom.

They passed the guards and went down the long, well-lit hall. Marigold straightened her back and lifted her chin as she walked. Angelina took her example and did the same. Marigold, Angelina, and two other maids went down the stairs together. Then, they walked down an unfamiliar hall to a large room. There were multiple people in the room just speaking about the latest news, wine glasses in their hands. There was orange liquid in some glasses and purple liquid in the others. When Angelina entered a majority of the people gazed at her, like she was some kind of painting people looked at in a museum. Marigold stepped beside her.

"Act casual, and try not to bore people with your talk. Do what most of them say. All of these people are very important." Marigold warned in a low whisper.

"Got it." Angelina replied, also in a low whisper. They walked forward.

Then, an announcer called, "Lady Aria." Then, gestured to Angie.

Angelina walked forward in front of the King's, Queen's, and the two Princes' thrones, and curtseyed. Then, went over to where Sarah and Chadrick were talking. They gave her a small smile, then continued talking. After all the visitors were announced the breakfast started. Everyone made their way to a large, long, golden table and sat down. Alywin glanced at Angie, then gestured for her to sit right next to him. Angelina walked over and sat next to him.

"You look stunning this morning." Alywin complemented with a shy smile.

"Thank you very much, Prince Alywin. I could say the same about you, except handsome." Angie giggled.

"Anytime, Lady Aria." Alywin replied with a low laugh.

Suddenly, someone tapped a piece of silverware on their glass. It was King Egbert. The king cleared his throat.

"Thank you all for joining us this fine morning. I'm not too fond of speeches so I'm not going to make one, but I just want to thank all of my visitors that are here today. Toast to that!" He called.

"Toast to no speeches!" The room echoed.

"Let's eat, shall we!" King Egbert announced.

The whole room filled with the sound of silverware against the glass plates as everyone started to eat. The food that was placed in front of them were; grapes, breakfast roll, a muffin, a weird type of egg, and a patty of strange meat. Angelina eyed the food then popped a grape into her mouth. The grape was fresh and juicy. Then, Angie took a small bite of the breakfast roll. It was buttery and smooth, but also flaky. Alywin leaned over to her.

"Good, huh?" He said with a smirk.

Angelina nodded.

"Probably not used to this much food. Guess what, there's even more coming." Alywin winked, looking over towards a door that was spewing out waiters with large metal trays filled with all kinds of foods.

"At one point I've had this much food. When, I... um... was still with my parents." Angelina sighed.

"Sarah and Chadrick aren't your real parents?" Alywin asked cautiously.

"N-no." Angelina shook her head.

"I'm so sorry, Aria." Alywin said sympetaly.

"My life is kind of a huge mess. I would tell you, but it's a very long story." Angelina spoke softly, staring at her plate.

"I get it, maybe, later?" Alywin asked.

"Maybe. But, I will warn you ahead of time, it's a crazy story. You'll probably think I'm some physco girl."

"Doubt it." Alywin said with a wink.

Angelina giggled nervously, then continued eating her muffin.

After everyone ate, they danced to the beautiful music being played by an orchestra, or what they called them, an orkester.

Angelina took a swig of the strange orange juice. It tasted like peppermint mixed with orange juice. Angie tried to keep her face of disgust from showing.

Alyson saw her face and nudged her, "What, do you not like it?"

"Not at all. What is it?" Angelina asked.

"We call it ojkine. It has orange juice, strawberries, crushed watermelon seeds, a mint paste, and tomato juice. It's our signature drink, we have it every morning."

"Sounds... interesting." Angie replied, looking at the weird juice.

"Ya, I guess it is." Alywin replied, a smirk on his face.

Angie laughed then looked around the room and a girl, probably in her twenties or so, was staring at her. When she saw Angelina looking, she looked the other way. Angelina pretended to look away to see if the woman was still going to look back at her. Sure enough, the woman did. She realized Angelina's little skit and glared at her. Angelina looked her into the eye with a pleasant look on her face trying to soften up the woman's expression. It didn't. The girl looked away and took a swig of her drink. Angelina began to get bored, the boredom reaching every inch of her body. She wished something interesting would happen before she quite literally fell back asleep. Suddenly, waiters came into the room and gathered everyone's drinks and plates. Angie smiled at the girl while she gathered her dishes and said a soft thank you. The girl just looked at her and walked away quickly outside of the room, confused. Then, suddenly, the orkester stopped playing their beautiful music. Angelina looked at Alywin, who was standing next to her, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Why'd they stop?" Angie asked impatiently.

"It's time for this bidding thing my father does every morning."

"Bidding? Bidding on what?"

"Girls to clean people's houses for them."

Angelina looked around the room, waiting for the next 'entertainment' act. She noticed intoxicated men and women laughing hysterically with eager looks. Wasn't it too early for drinking? Angie shook her head and looked away. Finally, King Egbert stepped onto a small stage and cleared his voice.

"Now for our next entertainment. Lets see, who shall we pick today." He said, scanning the people in the room.

Finally Egbert pointed at a girl with very light blond hair in a yellow dress. She looked about Angelina's age at least maybe a year or two older.

"Come here, darling. What is your name?" King Egbert asked.

The girl stepped forward out of the crowd and stood before the king, "Abiellel, your majesty."

"Beautiful name. Come up here on the platform with me, Abiellel."

"Yes, your majesty." She replied, stepping up onto the platform with the king.

King Egbert laughed and set his hand on her shoulder. Angelina noticed that he was a tiny bit intoxicated. The girl became instantly uncomfortable, wiggling.

"Now, let's get started!" King Egbert shouted.

The crowd grew louder. King Egbert turned to the guards and then to the girl.

"Guards, you know what to do." He laughed, swaying back and forth.

Two guards went over to the girl and grabbed her arms. They forced her to walk over to a large chair and threw her onto it. The now scared girl fought the guards.

"I wouldn't fight, pumpkin." One of the guards demanded.

Then, the two guards strapped her arms to the decorated chair and walked away, making sure she wouldn't run off. King Egbert stood where he was, eager. He looked at the crowd, then the girl.

"Now, let's start. Anyone want to start it?" King Egbert asked loudly.

"That's terrible! She doesn't want to!" Angelina hissed quietly.

A man with large muscles and a glass of something raised his hand, "Oye! I do, King Egbert. I say five coins!"

"Anyone want to go higher?" King Egbert asked the crowd.

Alywin noticed Angelina's look of horror, "I know, sick. The deal is my father picks a random girl from the crowd and sends her off with the highest bidder for two days... It's a terrible tradition we do."

"How about ten coins! I'll do ten!" Another guy yelled.

"Thirteen coins!" Another one demanded.

"I say thirty!" A guy said. The guy was in a nice, fancy suit and had a top hat on.

"Welcome, Nico! Glad you finally came!" The king announced. "Any other takers? No? The girl is yours Nico, but remember only two days."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the drill. Pretty girl come NOW." Nico demanded. "You're coming with me. I'm going to make you my maid."

The guards untied the ropes around her wrists and ankles and dragged her over to Nico. Nico grabbed the girl and walked out the door with her. Angelina was so shook, she looked at Alywin with a horrified face.

"I warned you, did I not." Alywin reminded her.

"I know. Why didn't you tell me that was going to happen?"

"I hate talking about it. It makes me want to puke. Just bidding off random girls who don't need to be some dude's maid." Alywin replied.

"Does this happen everyday?" Angie asked cautiously.

"Yes, everyone comes to these. Every single morning, this terrible thing happens. I just hope it will never be you." He replied, staring into Angie's eyes.

"Me too." Angie replied.