[IC] The Making of a New Queen

[pyroman]

Samsul nodded practically jumping off of the horse and leading it over to where the other two were. The guards would take care of the horses while he was with the Princess, and just as he predicted a few guards came to bring the three horses back to the stables. He walked back to Anastasia and turned his head to look at the castle that lie in the center of the capital. It was truly a great palace and it would only get better as they get closer.

The great doors of the castle were slowly opened and at the door were a group of the Royal guards, all in unique uniforms that seemed to scream how important they were, and in the center of the guards was Queen Elana herself, and although she didn't show it she was getting very emotional about seeing her daughter for the first time in so long. They all stepped forward and the guards eventually stopped while the Queen slowly walked up to her daughter, inspecting her features and seeing just how much she was like her self and her father. She stood there calmly and stopped as Samsul moved out of the way.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked toward the castle as the doors opened. She swallowed as she watched the guards exit with the queen.She watched the Queen as she walked toward her, inspecting her. In all her years of imagining her mother, her eyes, her hair, her hands, she had never expected them to be so similar to her own. When she was young she liked to believe her eyes were her father's but it seemed they were very much her mother's. Her blonde hair was her father's as the Queen had a deep warm colour. Ana took her in as much as she did herself, both comparing their imaginations with the real thing. Anastasia curtised deeply, "Your highness..."

A man in white gloves ran over to her and took her shoulder, pulling them back, fixing her posture. She looked over her shoulder at him as he bowed, taking her bag, and stepped back. Well, that was strange. She looked back at her mother and met her own eyes, she spoke quietly, "I never thought I would get to meet my mother..."

She began to fiddle with her hands and the man stepped forward again, he held them together. Holding her own hands, she stopped her fidgeting. She looked at the man and whispered, "Who are you?"

The man bowed, "Forgive me, Princess. I am Sir Gerald, I will be one of your teachers..."

She nodded her head and continued to whisper, a smile on her face, "Well... You are kinda ruining the moment."

Gerald laughed softly and bowed again, "My apologies, Princess."

She turned back to her mother, "I see you are all eager to take me from peasant to Princess...."

[pyroman]

Elana smiled lightly at her daughter, who had seemed so much like herself in her earlier years. She was doing her best to keep her emotions under control, but she could feel them slipping away from her grasp slowly. the Queen took a deep breath to regain herself and nodded at her daughter. "Yes, my daughter. You are to be trained as royalty as soon as possible. Please though," She sighed with a small smile. "I'm not just the Queen, but also your own mother. The formalities only have to go so far." She just wanted to be a mother for her, and not just the queen. Of course she had to see that her daughter became perfect to be the next Queen, she felt bad for missing so many milestones in her daughter's life and just wanted to be there for her.

Samsul had stood at attention as Elana spoke to Anastasia, and was actually surprised to see that the Queen was turning in his direction. She had no need to, and he had expected for her to break in to a fit of sobs while holding her daughter tightly. That did not happen since she had a great amount of control over her emotions, and smiled warmly at the Lost Elf. "Thank you Samsul for retrieving her." He nodded to her and bowed just a little. The queen turned back to Anastasia and laughed just a little. "We will have a celebration and a feast tonight! For the first time in so long that I have seen my own daughter." By the end of her words, she was holding her daughter tightly in her arms and refused to let go.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked at the Queen with wide eyes when she said formalities only had to go so far. She stared at the woman as she turned to Samsul. Was she to call the Queen mother? That just seemed strange, then again this was all rather strange. The woman turned back to her and pulled her into her arms. Ana stood there for a moment, unable to think about what she was supposed to do with the Queen hugging her. Slowly, she wrapped her own arms around the woman and hugged her back. She stood there for sometime, hugging the other woman until her words registered, "Feast... Like... With other people..."

She could not even big to fathom all the rules that she would have to know just to eat at the feast. Not to mention, how she would have to look. She was already wearing her best dress which was probably twently folds below the worst dress of a lady. Seeing her apparent distress, Gerald walked over and took her hand, "Now, Princess, you needn't worry. You will be fit for a feast once we've cleaned you up a bit."

Anastasia looked at her mother, whose arms were still around her, "So soon though... I don't know anything about being a Princess... Or even a Lady..."

Melor whined at her feet and she looked down at him. She smiled at him, "Quiet, Melor."

[pyroman]

Elana smiled down at the dog who whined at his owner's feet, and moved her gaze back to her daughter who had brought him along. Elana had always said that she wanted a dog, but she hadn't ever gotten one because it didn't seem like the kind of thing a Queen would do, getting such a small animal that many has considered annoying on many levels. She was glad that her daughter had one, and would have been even happier if her daughter would convince her to get a dog of her own, she was a queen, so she didn't have time for things like that, but the princess before her would give herself more leniency through the kingdom and in the eyes of other royals and upper class people.

"Gerald, she hasn't been here for more than thirty minutes and you're already getting eager to teach her. Tonight she is allowed to act as she chooses, and since this feast only retains to GreenSpring, there won't be too many people there." She looked at the man who had taken her daughter's hand and hit his wrist with just enough force to make him let go of her.

[tsubasa]

Gerald dropped the Princess's hand, "My apologies, your Highness, I just thought maybe she should get out of her travelling gown."

Anastasia looked at her mother, she wasn't sure what was worse. Trying to be a lady in front of people who knew what a lady looked like or being herself in front of them. The more she thought about it, the more she disliked the thought of either. She smiled at her mother and nodded, "He is probably right... I can feel the dust on me and I fear I'm covering you in it," she laughed lightly, it was strange talking simply to the Queen, "But... I haven't got anything to wear... This is actually my finest dress."

The thought of walking through a group of ladies with their fine gowns in the dusty dress she wore, terrified her. They'd laugh, would they not. What kind of Princess dressed like she did. She was positive that they wouldn't have dresses on hand that would fit her. After all, she had only been there a short period of time and previous to her arrival they would have had no way to gather her measurements. The thought of going to the feast in what she wore started to appear a reality. Maybe she wouldn't mind, had it not been of the snobbish way she had seen Lords and Ladies act. She didn't think her being a Princess would save her from that...

[pyroman]

No matter what problem she seemed to be faced with, Elana was prepared to make sure that everything was right and she was fit for the feast. She just wanted to do so much for her daughter and Samsul could see that she was doing her best from smothering her daughter. He still stood there without motion, watching as everyone else interacted with each other. "Well," He finally input, slowly getting tired of standing there. "If we are to prepare her for the feast tonight, then we should get started then, should we not?" He looked to the Queen who nodded back to him and sighed just lightly. "Samsul is right, we should get you prepared for the night!" She smiled and clapped her hand together as the turned and motioned for Gerald, Samsul, and Anastasia to follow her back in to the castle. The trainer and the Guard bowed in respect to both the Queen and her daughter before entering inside the palace.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked at the guard when he spoke up, had he said anything since they had arrived? She gave her mother a small smile and nodded. She followed her up the stairs. She looked back at Gerald and Samsul as they bowed and did a small awkward curtsy. She didn't know what she was doing. She felt if she copied the Queen in the way of manners, she'd do well with etiquette and horribly with respect to the Queen. She quickly caught up to the Queen and began to fidget again. Gerald took her hands once more, making her hold them again, "You look lovely when you don't fidget. Hold your hands when you feel the need to, it'll help with the nerves."

She gave the man a quick nod. He smiled and fell back a step, falling in line with Samsul. She glanced back at the two of them again before she started to look around the castle. It was nothing like she had ever seen. There was artwork and tapestries as she had never seen before. She looked in awe of it all and of all that was happening. All this time she had kept her head down and thought herself to be nothing only to find out now that she was Princess and destined to be Queen. She shook her head a little and smiled, her emotions still fought within her with how she felt about it.

[pyroman]

The further she walked, the more she grew on a plan that in her mind seemed to help both Samsul and Anastasia. She smiled slightly at the plan and stopped in her steps, turning around to see the three of them in a single file line following herself. She was sure that her plan would help them both out, since Samsul was doing all that he could to ensure that he would be the next head of the royal guards, and Her daughter had a long way to go before actually being considered royal. "Samsul, please come here for a moment, I need to speak to you." She motioned for him to walk towards him and he did as such, stopping at a small distance from her. Elana looked over at her daughter quickly before resuming her focus on the Lost Elf. "What is it, your majesty?" He asked her in a very formal tone of voice. She glanced to her daughter again and nodded at the guard before her. "I want you to watch after her. If you want to be the head of the royal guard you will be doing just that, watching her at all times and making sure she is safe." He nodded and didn't bother to look back, knowing that he wouldn't enjoy this. He was now being told that he was to watch over the peasant woman who had just been announced as the princess, and if Elana had picked up even the smallest amount of disloyalty, she would have gone to more then extreme measures to get her point across.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia stopped narrowly bumping into her mother. She took a step back to give the woman space as she called to Samsul to go over to her. She took a few more steps backwards to give them space as they spoke in hushed tones. As she moved back she bumped into Gerald, stepping on his foot. She gasped and turned around, "I'm so sorry... Are you okay?"

Gerald laughed and nodded his head, "I am fine, Princess. Now, calm down, it is unbefitting to act in such a way."

Ana looked at him, "I was just apologizing."

He smiled and patted her arm, "You were but in a very... sporadic manner," he glanced at the Queen, "But I suppose for tonight you can be as sporadic as you please until we begin our lessons."

Anastasia nodded her head and smiled, "I suppose so."

She looked back to her mother, who seemed to be done conversing with Samsul. She stepped forward and toward her, "How much time do we have before the feast?"

[pyroman]

"We have a little more than an hour at the most. It is quite a ride from here to your home, if I have heard correct." Samsul nodded to the Queen's words and glanced at the princess he was nod ordered to guard. Although he didn't show it, he wasn't happy at all with the situation of him having to guard her. It was to help seal his spot as the next head guard, but he was still allowed to complain about it in his head.

The Queen looked over to Gerald and motioned for him to step forward as well. "Gerald, please escort My daughter to the fitting room, she can use my dresses as long as she needs to." He looked back over to the Lost Elf and then to her daughter. "I will have another world with Samsul, please go and find a dress that you'd like." She practically shooed her daughter away so she could tell him a few more things, that may or may not effect his thoughts about the situation at hand.

[tsubasa]

Gerald bowed to the Queen before placing a hand on Anastasia's back. He guided the girl away from the two and took her to the fitting room. Anastasia's eyes widened when she saw the amount of dresses her mother had. It was startling, in fact. She ran her fingers over them as she looked at each of them. Gerald stood with his hands behind his back, "I would choose one with a corset, Princess. That way if they are too large they corset can be pulled tighter. I believe her Highness keeps those gowns at the back."

Ana nodded and moved to the back as instructed and found a light blue dress with gold designs. She pulled it out and looked at it, "This pretty."

Gerald looked at it and nodded, "It will do. I will grab a few maids to help you."

Anastasia waited and soon three women walked into the room. She looked at them and they curtsied. The three of them quickly set to work without even introducing themselves. Once she was in the dress, they sat her down. They smiled at her, "We are going to do your hair, if you wouldn't mind, Princess."

Ana shook her head, "Not at all."

It wasn't long before she stood in front of the mirror, her hair up in a neat bun with flowers peeking out of it. She hadn't even seen them grab the flowers, how had they managed that. She grabbed her skirts and curtsied to them, "Thank you."

The three girls smiled and curtsied deeply back, "No, Princess, thank you."

Anastasia left the fitting room and met Gerald just outside. He looked at her, "Now, you look like a Princess."

[pyroman]

As soon as Gerald and Anastasia left the area, Elana ordered for the rest of the guards to leave so that should would be able to speak to Samsul privately. He wasn't going to show any of his current emotions, but as a Queen, she had to be good with people, and she was lucky that she was good at reading emotions easily. As the last of the guards left the area, the Lost Elf turned to the Queen and looked at her blankly. "You wanted to speak to me about something, your majesty?"

She took a short breath before looking down the halls and relaxing her posture, not standing up as tall as she was before and kept her eyes on the halls. "It's about all of this. About my daughter's return, about the end of the war, your race, it's about so many things, Samsul and I can only hope that you understand why I put you as her personal guard." Her voice was also different, much more calm and relaxed than it was before, and in most cases the look she had on in public was mainly just an act. She had to be like that for her citizens and prove to be a positive example for them. "I also know that it may or may not have been the best decision to bring her back, but we will need her. She will have to take the throne, whether or not she is ready." She continued on, talking about why she made the choice to bring her back instead of leaving her there to grow a normal and simple life like she wanted to. Samsul still had questions as to what she knew about his race, and he knew that she would provide his answer in time. "Your race will grow like it once has, and it will spread throughout GreenSpring and maybe through the other countries as well. You have great strength, and I know that you'll be the one to lead them back to greatness like they once had."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked at Gerald and smiled. He placed his hands on her shoulders, fixing her posture, "I know your mother said you are allowed to act as you wish tonight... But I would hate if any of the Lords and Ladies didn't believe in you because of what they saw tonight," he walked around to the front of her, "Chin high, neck long, shoulders back."

Ana tried to do as he said but it was a lot to take in and it was just walking. She sighed, this was going to be a lot of work. Gerald smiled at her, "Don't think about it too much. Just be confident and don't fidget."

Ana nodded her head, "Confident, don't fidget."

Gerald walked with Anastasia back to her mother and the guard slowly. He watched her as she tried to heed his rules, repeating them over and over in her head. When her mother came into view again, she smiled, "Gerald told me to pick a corset dress... So that we could pull it tighter if needed.... Does... Does it look good?"

[pyroman]

Samsul looked at his Queen with a little confusion, it was obvious that she knew more than she let on, but he wondered just how much she knew. "My Queen, I will follow your decision with all of this, but are you sure that it is safe for the princess-"

"She isn't a princess, yet." She interrupted, speaking in a more serious tone of voice. "I just want to see my daughter being herself, not the product of endless molding in to the 'perfect' queen." Samsul nodded, seeing that Elana wanted just a normal daughter, not one influenced by all of the other royals or anything else. "It's why I'm holding the feast so soon. She doesn't have time to prepare to be perfect and she'll realize that she'll be fine just as her self." He nodded once more, turning his head as he could see Gerald and Anastasia in the distance. Soon after the Queen stopped talking and smiled at her daughter, walking over to her and nodded when she asked how she looked. "You look amazing, my daughter. Perfect for the feast."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled at her mother as she complimented her. This was easily the finest dress she had ever worn and she felt as though she shouldn't be in it. Surely, she should be going out and milking the cows or helping Mama prepare dinner. Not attending a dinner in a beautiful dress, surrounded by Lords and Ladies. She noticed something was missing and looked around, "Where is Melor?"

A moment later, the dog came bounding around the corner with the three maids who had dressed her chasing behind him. She covered her mouth, hiding her smile as she watched dog run over to her. Around his neck was a poor tied bow that matched her dress. She laughed a little, it seemed he was not as compliant as they thought his would be. No, not her Melor. She looked at him and he sat, panting away. Reaching behind him, she fixed his bow and gave him a kiss on his head, "Perfect."

She stood again and looked at her mother, "I... suppose it is time."

[pyroman]

Elana nodded and smiled with agreement, glancing at Samsul who was now standing at attention. "Yes, it is, now please follow me to the dining hall and we can begin the feast!" Her tone of excitement had caused Gerald to bow with a smile and the Lost elf to simply nod.He glanced over at the dog a few times and so did Elana, but neither of them said anything about him and the Queen led them all through the halls and to the dining hall.

It was a rather large room, fit for seating a small army and the Dining hall was also known to some as the ball room, which the then the ornate tables and chairs would be moved to the sides of the room to give space for people who wished to dance. A small group of men on the other side of the room were playing instruments, playing a slow and graceful tune just as The queen and everyone else entered the dining hall. She turned to her daughter and smiled. "Well, people will be joining us soon, so just relax until then."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia nodded to her mother and stepped away from her, exploring the room slightly. Melor followed a step behind her, calm and seeming slightly uncomfortable with the change in scenery. She looked down at the tables and the silverware and plates with golden trimming. It was amazing what people spent their money on. She walked over to the band and smiled at them as they played. She curtsied to them before she walked away. She glanced down at Melor who still followed her, "You aren't going to be allowed to stay you know..."

The dog looked up at her at the sound of her voice. She smiled softly, "It is a fancy dinner, you can't run around under the tables like you do at home."

The dog looked ahead again as she went. She looked toward the table at the very front of the room. It appeared to be where they would be sitting. The chairs were slightly larger, making it all appear a little more regal. She walked over to it and looked at Melor, "Sit," she said when he stood below the chair that she assumed she would be sitting in. The dog sat down and she smiled, "Down.."

Melor lowered himself to the ground and curled up beside her chair, "Stay."

[pyroman]

As Anastasia moved away from the Queen, Gerald did as well and moved to the other trainers and teacher to talk about the Princess. Elana had seen this and watched all of the other in the dining hall before turning to Samsul, who was still standing at attention. Although the music played just loud enough for her to talk normally, she whispered just in case people were close and heard her. "Samsul, please watch my daughter and keep an eye out for those 'suitors.'" She spoke the last word with some venom, clearly showing how she felt about the subjects. He nodded simply and kept quiet. "She is a fully capable woman and can rule this kingdom by herself, just like I am now."

He didn't care what would happen to her personally, but it was his orders to watch her, so he was going to do just that. "You are excused now, Samsul, just watch her and make sure things go smoothly." He nodded and the two of them parted ways. Elana moved to a rather ornate chair that stood out from the others. It originally belonged to her husband, but since she now rules and leads GreenSpring, the chair was hers. She sat down and looked to the people around her, some of them she had actually enjoyed their company, but the others were just rich people without hearts, looking for a way to get more money.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked to her mother as she came and took a seat at the table. She watched as people began to enter in their fine dress and suits. She grabbed her chair when Gerald came over and pulled it out for her. She smiled at him then took the seat next to her mother. Gerald pushed it in for her before disappearing to talk to his colleagues. She reached down and pet Melor, who was laying quietly by her seat, happy to be close to her. She looked at mother again and leaned closer to her, "Do these people know about... Well, about me? Should I talk to them... Or does that happen after the feast?"

She held her hands tightly together, to prevent herself from fidgeting. As much as her mother said she was to act as she wished, she wished to make a good impression. The fact that she knew little to nothing besides the miniscule things that Gerald told her when they were walking back to the Queen. She looked to the open floor space and then the band, "Is there going to be dancing? I don't know how to dance... At least not like you do here..."