Dazed

by Katie Hauenstein

  Dazed

  Rose of Petrichoria

  Prequel

  By Katie Hauenstein

  Copyright 2018 © Katie Hauenstein

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review.

  Trademarked names appear throughout this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

  The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. Artist of original image is Irina Alexandrovna.

  For my daughter,

  whose burgeoning desire to learn to read

  inspires me to write.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  10 Years Before Forgotten

  On July seventh, a day the world will never forget, I stood with Father and Mother on the balcony at the front of Evergreen Palace. Our flag, brown with a green evergreen arched by twelve ivory stars, flapped in the gentle summer breeze. The courtyard was filled with people. In fact, the city streets were full, as well. Even though I couldn’t see the roads and alleys from where I was, I knew people from all over Arboria, wearing black, crowded the roads to be together on this occasion.

  It was the Memorial Day of the Dazed. The day Oramatosis was released to the public. It was a day we remembered the cost of one man selfishly giving into the temptation for more power. His surrender to temptation led to our ancestors’ minds being altered, and to the ruin of the world we had to rebuild from scratch.

  Father was speaking, reminding us all that we must always be diligent to be conscious of our minds at all times. Temptation comes at unexpected times and if we do not stop it, it can ruin our lives and the lives of those around us. I shook my head sadly. All those people were dead because of it.

  When presented with the vaccine cure to prevent the infection of Oramatosis, there were some people who were too prideful or too scared to take it. They are dead now, also.

  A tear slid down my cheek. It was two hundred years ago. No matter how much time passes, I don’t think I will ever be able to spend the Memorial Day of the Dazed without a shed tear or two, even if I wasn’t there when it happened.

  “We will now begin our day of silence,” Father said. It would be the last thing spoken in our kingdom that day. All over the world, people were having similar services and at some point early in the morning, every leader would say the same words in their own languages. All over the world, there would be silence for remembrance.

  In Arboria, we took it a step further. With the silence, we also spent the day in solitude and fasting. We remembered how alone the Dazed were, and that a good number of them starved to death in their insanity.

  We had to remember. We could not let it happen again. If I had anything to say or do about it, it would not happen again.

  A big part of my training growing up was to restrain myself when temptation of any kind presented itself to me. I was successful, overall, but I was only human. Peter was my downfall. I wasn’t supposed to fall in love, but I did, and he loved me in return.

  Everyone silently emptied the streets and went to their rooms. Whether it was a hotel room or a personal room, today everyone would spend it the same way: alone and reflecting on the temptations that come across us as individuals every day.

  When I made it back to my room at the top of Evergreen Palace, I laid down on my overstuffed sofa. I didn’t bother changing out of my dress. My assistant had the day off and I was proud that I was able to get the corset on all by myself. I didn’t want to undo that work quite yet.

  I sighed.

  Pride.

  Standing up, I unzipped the flowy black dress that was made especially for today and began making work of the darned corset. My fingers were still sore from working at putting it on, and taking it off certainly was not helping.

  I hope my fingers don’t bleed.

  The hope was in vain, though. About midway through unlatching the corset, I felt a prick of blood on my right ring finger. Rather than stop me, it just made me move quicker, wanting to get it over with.

  At least the dress is black…

  Finally, I finished and carefully peeled the corset and dress all the way off. Before touching any other clothing, I walked into my bathroom and turned on the faucet. Hissing, I put my hands under the clear water, which turned pink as the blood from multiple fingertips mingled with it.

  After shutting off the faucet, I opened a drawer and pulled out my small cut weaver and traced it along my fingertips, quickly healing the superficial wounds.

  Deciding on a short nightgown, I put it on and laid back on the sofa again. Temptation.

  What temptations always plague me? Pride. Discontent. Anger. Peter.

  Oddly enough, the desire for more power had never been a temptation of mine. In fact, I would gladly give up my place as heir to the Crown for the chance to live a normal life. In less than a month’s time, my seven suitors would be presented to me. One was Peter, but there was no guarantee Father would choose him.

  Closing my eyes, I prayed for wisdom, patience, and contentment in my circumstances. I prayed that my kingdom would never see a time as dark as the time when the world was overrun with the insanity of the Daze.

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  “Why? Why did I have to be born during the hottest time of the year?” I complained as I awaited entry to the ballroom. Tugging at the bottom of my right sleeve, I continued my whining. “Seriously. That and corsets and – why am I wearing long sleeves? Who picked this dress, anyway?”

  “You did,” responded my exasperated cousin, Ella. “You said the sleeves were lovely and you liked the way they belled out.”

  “Well – it was a dumb idea.” The dress was lovely, but incredibly uncomfortable in the heat. The emerald green color brought out the deep green of my eyes. Having a square neck, it allowed full view of my long, black hair laying in soft, unnatural, curls against my pale skin. Normally, my hair was stick straight, but I had m
y assistant put some curls in it for the evening’s event.

  “I tried to tell you that, but you wouldn’t listen.”

  I turned and gave her a dirty look and puckered my lips. She was smiling and it was so big, it extended up to her sparkling blue eyes. “I see you find my predicament funny,” I noted.

  “A little.” She began to laugh at that, causing her tight, blonde curls to bounce. A short reflection of my protest made me realize how ridiculous I was being and I rolled my eyes with a laugh, too.

  “You’re right. I am standing in a palace grumbling about a ball gown. Princess Problems.” We laughed harder.

  When I was going on about an issue I only had because I was being a frilly Princess, one of us would claim “Princess Problems” and pull me back to earth. Not that people in my kingdom were suffering by any means.

  Indeed, Arboria was in its prime. Our exportation of lumber and fruits, found only in our part of the world anymore, was on the rise. The people were happy and we were getting ready to enter into an exciting event. Well, it was exciting for everyone but me.

  “Are you nervous?” Ella asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “What kind of question is that? Of course I’m nervous!” I replied incredulously.

  Ella looked down to her folded hands. “I’m sorry. It was a dumb question. I do not envy you having to do this. There are many benefits to being the Princess of Arboria, but this is not one of them.”

  I nodded. “Not everything is imported silks and chocolates. Despite the beautiful home and fancy things, there are still sacrifices to be made.”

  We moved forward as Father and Mother made their entrance. Ella put a hand on my shoulder. “It worked out for Uncle Aaron, Rose. It could work out for you.”

  “Seventy-five percent.” I said with gritted teeth. I was repeating the statistic of successful results for this particular tradition I had memorized and had ungraciously been reminding anyone who said anything like Ella had to me. Father always replied with something about success being relative, while Mother would scowl at me and remind me that happiness wasn’t a requirement of being Queen. I didn’t expect her to understand. She had benefited greatly from the arrangement and they did have success with happiness.

  Ella knew better than to take it any further. Having her by my side meant the world to me. It was a declaration of her commitment to help me through everything in the coming months. Her entrance would be her declaration of accepting the position of Crown Princess’ Maiden – and it was her time to go in.

  She squeezed my shoulder one last time and released me as she went into the room. Lucky lady. This was the closest she would ever come to having to participate in anything remotely like the King’s Test. In a month and two days, it would begin for me. In around four months and two days, it would be over and six of seven eligible young noblemen would be available for Ella to choose from.

  As I waited for my turn to go in, I tried to convince myself that the process wasn’t medieval. It was my duty and it was an honor.

  An honor. Right. What an honor to spend three months with men competing for me like I am some kind of prize.

  Though I knew the history of the Test, I still did not understand how the first King of Arboria could have possibly found it to be the most reasonable route for his daughter to marry. Maybe she fell in love with a loser – or a commoner. I tapped the toe of my shoe on the hardwood floor.

  Would it be so wrong to fall in love with a commoner?

  Because I would never get the opportunity to marry for love at all, much less with a commoner, the question was irrelevant. I knew from the gossip shows on the holocomm and fan columns in the Daily Net that the men of the kingdom found me beautiful. They would probably kill for the chance to marry me; there probably would have been an uprising if the original plan for foreigners to participate in this generation’s King’s Test went through.

  The doors to the ballroom opening alerted me to my time of entrance. When I came in, the herald announced me. “Her Royal Highness, Princess Miriam Petrichoria of Arboria!” As I descended the steps, I took in the sight of the line of seven men before me. All were handsome; three I barely knew, two were identical twins whom I had known since childhood, one was my best friend, and one was my true love – a true love I should not have.

  I smiled demurely when I stopped at the end of the stairs and waited for the herald to continue. “Men of this generation’s King’s Test, please step forward as I introduce you to the Princess.” At this, each man began to discreetly preen. Some stood straighter and puffed out their chests, some dropped folded hands to sides, some rearranged their feet, and some did all of those things plus shake their heads to make sure their hair was just right.

  “Count Brian of Birch!” The herald announced. The first gentleman in line stepped forward. He was short, but not shorter than me, and stocky with bright blue eyes and military cropped blond hair. I didn’t know him well, but knew he was accomplished in the Royal Arborian Guard. “Princess Miriam, I look forward to getting to know you better over the next few months,” he said politely as he took my hand and kissed it, then stepped back in line. All of that was done without a hint of a smile.

  Ha! He doesn’t want to be here any more than I do. I wonder if he already loves someone else, too.

  “Count Christopher of Alder!” The herald continued and the man every girl in the kingdom, besides me, deemed the most handsome stepped forward. “I think we will make an excellent match, Princess Miriam,” he said with a cocky smile plastered on his fake-tanned face. He bent into a bow, keeping his dark eyes glued to mine, and kissed my hand, then stepped back.

  No, we won’t, Mr. Confident. If I have anything to do with it, you’ll be the first to go.

  See, that was the problem. Not all the noblemen were jerks, but more than half of them were, as far as I could tell.

  “Count Leonard of Elm!” The older twin, by seconds, stepped forward. He kept his bright orange hair ear length and his bangs were always in his sea-green eyes, creating a sort of tick in which he flung his head back to the right to keep them out. He believed he was God’s gift to women. Granted, he was good-looking, but a woman needs much more than a handsome face to make her happy. “I know we will make a great pair, Princess Miriam,” he said when he bowed and kissed my hand, then stepped back.

  What a shame they can’t hear each other. How original.

  “Count Lincoln of Elm!” The younger twin, with buzzed red hair and the same green eyes, stepped forward. While his brother believed he was God’s gift to women, Lincoln knew he was God’s gift to the world. “I promise to rule justly and fairly with you, Princess Miriam,” he said as he bowed and stepped back.

  No kiss? At least I know his end game. This is a path to the Crown, not my heart for this one.

  “Count Peter of Juniper!” My love stepped forward. He was taller than me by a half foot with chocolate brown eyes, short blonde hair, and he was strong enough to literally sweep me off my feet. With a giant grin, he said, “I will do my best, Rose,” as he bowed, kissed my hand, then stepped back.

  I hope your best is good enough, Peter.

  It was no secret that Peter wasn’t the brightest lightening in a stormy sky, but he was a good man, charming, and he loved me.

  “Count Stephan of Oak!” Up stepped a man who was like a brother to me. He was tall and deceptively lanky, with nearly tip-of-ears length, light brown hair and grey-green eyes. He smiled warmly at me and looked at me with what appeared to be true adoration in his eyes. “This should be fun, Rose.” He bowed, kissed my hand, and then stepped back.

  What was that look about?

  “Count Theodore of Willow!” My favorite dance partner. He was about the same height as Peter, but kept his black hair long and pulled back in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. He held my gaze with his brown eyes, which were shining with a glint of humor. I had no idea what he was thinking, but whatever it was amused him. “I look forward to knowing you in a s
etting besides the dance floor. You will be dancing with me tonight, yes?” he said as he bowed, kissed my hand, awaited my answering nod, then stepped back.

  Of course we are. I have to dance with all of you once.

  “Ladies and gentlemen! The men of this generation’s King’s Test!” the herald declared. The room erupted in applause and shouts of jubilation. “Now, Princess Miriam will choose her partner for dancing The Rose to officially begin our evening of celebration!”

  Chapter 2

  Of course, I already knew who my dance partner would be. Everyone else probably knew, as well. I always began balls with Peter now, much to Theo’s chagrin. Seeing as though it was a special occasion, however, I decided to at least pretend to think about it.

  I made a scene of beginning at the end of the line with Theo and strolling thoughtfully to the other, making eye contact with each man. When I turned around to make my way back, I stopped at Leonard and teased him by raising my brow at him. When he put a stupid grin on his face, I continued on and the room laughed. Finally, I stopped at Peter and gave him my hand.