The Girl: Part 7

Author's Note: I know. Sorry for the wait. I hadn't realized I ran out of material until I pulled up the posting page. So yeah. Had to type more and edit. Here 'tis.

And the guy in the picture SHOULD be Casper.
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Along the way, other royal guests were rising and beginning to walk down there as well. However, the only person Nicolette actually socialized with was Princess Edith of Fremin. She was dressed in elaborate archery gear which confused Nicolette. Edith explained that she was participating in the day’s events too. She had a beautiful blue bow hanging across her chest and had numerous blue arrows attached to it in a pouch.
"So, are you enjoying life as a high ranking woman in court?" Edith asked with a smile.
"It’s alright I suppose. Much better than my previous life I guess. But still, there are some things I can’t stand," Nicolette said with a small chuckle.
"Like?" the princess pushed.

"Like the fact that I get a crumb of food everyday. That’s where I feel like I’m in the dungeon," she said giggling. Edith smiled and chuckled as well. She seemed very lively but still insightful at the same time. Edith sped up to talk with the king about his kingdom.
"Good morning your highness!" an excited voice called. Nicolette turned around smiling and ready to greet anyone but saw nobody. She turned to her right, where her prince was and there was Mirabelle. And she wasn’t addressing Nicolette. She was addressing the prince.
Nicolette tried to wave to the girl but got nothing in response. Mirabelle just gave her the same cold look she gave at dinner the previous night and continued talking with the prince.

It didn’t usually bother Nicolette when people were talking with the prince. Except it did now. It could have been the way they looked at each other, they way they were constantly giggling like 2 little children, or the way he kissed her hand extra long. She wasn’t sure why, or how for that matter, but she wanted them separated.
"Your highness, Peter?" Nicolette said tapping him on the shoulder.
"Yes Nicolette m’lady?" he said dizzily.
"Do you know where we are to sit?" she said innocently, glad she had pulled his attention away from her.
"In the big, red seats with gold embellishments near the top of the stairs. Why?" he said pointing to 5 royal-looking seats near the top of the stairs.

"Don’t want to get lost or anything," she said sweetly, "Why don’t you join us Mirabelle?"
"There are only 5 seats there, but I would if I could," she said bitterly. She had caught on that Nicolette wasn’t too pleased with her either. Rivals from the start. That didn’t particularly please Nicolette but she decided she would deal with it peacefully.
Prince Peter reluctantly kissed Mirabelle’s hand a final time and guided Nicolette to the seats. He sat her down before sitting down himself, a polite gesture. She waited patiently, twirling a loose piece of curved hair.

Eyes were staring up at her. Either they knew who she was, or they assumed who she was. A young girl came up to Nicolette and asked innocently, "Are you the queen yet?"
"I am not dear," Nicolette said with a sweet smile. The little girl gave her a side-ways look, curtsied a little bit, and ran off to meet her sisters.
"But, of course, you will be right?" Peter added, surprising her. She quickly caught her breathe and turned to face him. She gave him the same look the little girl gave her. He gave a side-ways smile, half-heartedly and turned back to look at Mirabelle sitting gracefully nearby.

Nicolette sighed quietly under her breath. Defeated this time. She watched the jousters parade through the grounds and prepare for the jousting. The crowd roared in excitement when the King himself marched in. His wife waved to him softly, gracefully.
Nicolette pondered about who the other jouster was, and absentmindedly watched him. She began twirling the loose strand of hair again and slouched back in her chair. If it wasn’t for the overwhelming noise, she could have fallen asleep.

"NICOLETTE!" a loud, rather annoying voice called. Aucassin. Gosh. How did he find her? She turned to face him reluctantly and sure enough, he was prancing her way.
"Incredible Nicolette! Over night, you became a woman of high dignity and honor in court. I applaud you," he said respectfully. Respectfully. That wasn’t a word you used to describe Aucassin usually. She smiled politely and rose to quickly curtsy.
"Nice to see you again Aucassin. You look pleasant today," she said noticing his fine clothing. His hair was still disheveled though. He grinned and glanced down at his fresh clothing.

"I suppose I do. Mother presented these clothes to me along with with my betrothed Countess Charlotte of Paletine," he said proudly. Nicolette was ashamed when her mouth actually plunged open. She swiftly closed it and wiped her shock off her face.
"Wow Aucassin. What a surprise! I never imagined you to hold still long enough to get a wife. Congratulations sir," she said bringing back her old teasing.
"Thanks Nicolette. I appreciate your support," he said grinning. She smiled back and he bowed once more and turned on his heel to leave. She watched the back of his curly brown hair as he trotted away to meet up with a somewhat pretty girl.

Wow, she thought to herself. Much has happened in 2 days for him as well. Nicolette was surprised when she felt a pang of jealousy hit her in the gut. But she had more than him now. She shook her head and the feelings she had just encountered.
She sat back down in the cushioned seat and tried her hardest to focus on the games. But they were so droning and long that she couldn’t help but let her thoughts wander back to the previous night. And Casper. She thought of the promise she had made to see him again and felt a little bit guilty. Her loyalties were to the Prince first, she reminded herself.
But still. She couldn’t shake the nagging thought that she would get to talk to him again tonight. Maybe she could wiggle his real name out. Or maybe his real name was Casper.
She let herself ponder this until Peter gently shook her shoulder. She looked to him and gave him an unhappy look because he interrupted her train of thought.

Quickly, the look was wiped off Nicolette’s face when she saw the Queen and King and someone else quickly approaching them. The Queen was of course kindly smiling and waving gently. The King stood tall in his position after winning the jousting round. He then proceeded to lose to an unlucky contestant who mysteriously disappeared shortly after. But who was following behind them?
All three of them sat down simultaneously so Nicolette didn’t even catch a glimpse of the third person. She assumed it was Prince Peter’s brother and that only proceeded to make her curiosity grow. However, Nicolette found it difficult to subtly check out what he looked like.

Finally, the King noticed her leaning forward in her chair and ever so slightly turning her head. He grinned widely and looked to his son. He grabbed his arm and threw him up from his chair. Wow. The King was stronger than expected for his age. The prince stumbled over his crossed legs and then steadied himself.
CASPER? No way! She looked at him wide-eyed as he turned a steel glaze at his father for throwing him. He had the same long blonde hair except that today, instead of being unruly and wild, it was slicked back into a small ponytail in the back of his neck.
He started to extend a hand when he realized that this was no commoner that he was introducing himself to again. He bowed over gracefully and Nicolette foolishly followed his example and bowed. She rose up quickly blushing and then stepped down into a deep curtsy. The Queen and Casper giggled to themselves.

Then Casper, or rather, Prince Oliver realized the awkwardness of the situation and said, "Hello madam. I’m Prince Oliver." Nicolette caught on that he was pretending to have never had met her and she played along.
"Hello Cas- I mean Prince Oliver. How nice to finally meet you. For the first time," she said with a mischievous grin. He didn’t return the smile. His face was grim. Wasn’t it girls who had mood swings? She shook the thought off and returned to her seat.

The games droned. And droned. And just when she thought she couldn’t take it any longer, Prince Peter woke her from her daze of boredom and touched her hand gently. The gesture sent shivers down her spine. He was really lovely. When she looked up, he was looking down at her with a puzzled look on his face and motioned for her to get up. Quickly, she rose up and followed behind him as the entire royal family exited the scene.
Crowds were looking up longingly as they waltzed away and into the castle. Each person (or pair in the King and Queen’s case) broke away from the group as they entered their room. Nicolette entered her room to be greeted by about 5 maids. She grumpily shooed them off and fell forwards onto her bed. Not a very graceful movement but comforting. The same thing she did at the cottage after a long day of Aucassin blabbing in her ears and relentless chores and duties from her parents.

But she missed them. She missed even her frumpy old stepmother. She missed exchanging witticisms with Aucassins. She missed feeding Golda the cow and Maddox, Galliard, and Jasmine the chickens.
NONSENSE. Nicolette had only been away from home for two days and already she missed things she never thought she would miss. She lifted her head up and looked around. Silks, pearls, expensive perfumes, and of course her giant Venetian mirrors were the first things she saw. She had everything she had wanted as a young girl here.
A knock on the door prevented her from slapping herself into sense. She walked over and opened it up to see nothing. When she gazed down, a note laid down. Slowly, Nicolette lifted it up, closed the door, and walked to her desk. She sat down and held the note in both her hands. It was on thick paper and folded in half perfectly. After looking around first, Nicolette held it up to her nose and breathed in. Smelt like paper. Aw. She had kind of hoped it smelt nice, like cologne or perfume.

Slowly, she unfolded it and looked at the slanted, messy writing.
She read it over again and again. She finally stopped reading it when she was convinced she had memorized everything anyway. Swiftly, she pulled out her own stationary and scrambled for a pen. Nicolette wrote:
She tried to keep my note as short as possible and had to restart repeatedly. Naturally, she threw all the drafts in the trash and folded the final copy once and slid it into the front cover of one of her books. He didn’t give her any directions to his room or any answers to her questions.

Quietly, she pulled myself together and walked out of my room. She walked to the throne room where she half-heartedly looked for him. Although, she wasn’t really expecting to find him there since he seemed a bit reserved. But surprisingly, there he was! He didn’t look directly at her but it seemed as though he knew she was there.
She walked up to him grandly and handed him the book saying, "Here Prince Peter. This is a book as a present like a promise so that we will be on the same terms at this moment, tonight, and in the future." She emphasized the tonight part enough for him to nod knowingly and accept the book. Quietly, they parted ways and acted like the exchange was nothing but a formality.

When Nicolette finally reached her room, she smiled quietly to herself. The day dragged on after the exchange. She kept to herself in her room, studying the Latin books she was given yesterday. Finally, the sun crept over the horizon leaving a dim glow and forcing people to light chandeliers and candles so the evening activities could continue. Nicolette probably should have been out there socializing with the visitors to their kingdom but she didn’t want to waste energy on that.
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And I agree with 14 people who voted in the poll last week. I really enjoy anime but there is some CRUD out there. Like Fruits Basket. That anime was absolutely awful. Tohru made me want to puke sugar. She is such a Mary-Sue. Hopefully Nicolette isn't a Mary-Sue...

Anyway. Check in soon (or later) for an update. Nicolette's evening talking with Ollie is up next. Don't forget to comment and participate in the poll.