Angelina spent the following winter months dividing her time between school, sitting in court and practicing her sword training. Sir Taz was also beginning to teach her hand-to-hand combat. Lady Elise joined in to learn this also.
Chapter 11
Pennington
Once in awhile when Angelina attended court she would catch her father looking at the empty throne beside him or at something that would remind him of the Queen. She could see the pain in his eyes even though he told her there wasn't anything wrong. She decided not to press the issue. It did seem to get worse as the anniversary of her mother's death came closer. It was almost time for the "Changing of the Seasons" celebration. This year the celebration would be held in Pennington, the home of Lord Jeffrey and Lady Kathleen Eller. Phillip was looking forward to it and to spending time with Julia. The "Changing of Seasons" celebration the following year would be held in Talenvar and this would be when Phillip and Julia would marry.
As everyone was getting ready for the trip to Pennington, Angelina and Amberlynn picked a large basket full of the newly opened white roses and took them to the family crypt to place on their mother's tomb. They weren't able to place flowers on her tomb during the winter months so they left the ones that were there and visited when they could. While they were removing the old dried flowers, their father joined them. All three helped place the roses on the Queen's coffin and then they placed the dried flowers in the basket and left. They would be leaving for Pennington in a few hours. The journey to Pennington would take close to a month.
The trip was long and uneventful. Their party arrived two days before the beginning of the celebration. Most of the attendees were already there. Pennington was encircled by a ten foot high stone wall, broken only by the wide road which ran into the city of Pennington. The stone wall extended almost a half mile from the edge of town. In between were gently rolling fields. During the time when the celebration came to Pennington, a large section of the field was left for the pitching of tents. The rest of the land was tilled and seeds were planted. There were many crops that were planted beyond the stone wall as well. In the center of Pennington was the Eller estate. The Eller estate was encompassed by another stone wall only three feet high. Between this wall and the estate itself were gardens and walkways. The estate was four stories tall and made of stone. The town surrounded the estate with a circle of buildings and a circle of road then another ring of buildings and continued this way leaving the last circle of buildings before the fields. There were streets running between buildings also. The main street ran straight through Pennington and to the Eller estate.
Angelina liked Pennington the best out of all the places they had traveled because of the unique set up of circles.
The celebration was as wonderful as usual; however, the royal family was more subdued because this was the first year they would celebrate without their mother and Queen. The Ellers were delighted to see the royal family again and Julia and Phillip spent as much time together as they could. Julia's younger sister Heather didn't bother them this year, being more interested in spending her time talking to the vendors and craftsmen and learning a bit here and there of their trades. Julia and Phillip were glad to have time alone, except for their armed escort who usually was Sir Taz.
Heather Eller would spend hours making different things out of all types of different materials. She had helped the master carpenter make a large cedar chest for a wedding gift to her sister. Heather had the carpenter get her started on how to carve a design on the top lid of the chest. She was making a design of horses running across a field, their manes and tails streaming in the wind. She had shown the chest to Angelina and Elise and they were very impressed with her work. She said she still had a few weeks of work left on it before it would be completely finished.
The celebration flew by and it was time to journey home.
Chapter 12
A Royal Wedding
There wasn't much to do during the warm months except be tutored by Terigg and practice swords here and there. Amberlynn spent time with Angelina and Elise sitting in the gardens reading and having lunch. Phillip was spending his time with his father. It wasn't long before winter settled in and with it the hustle and bustle of getting things ready for the royal wedding and having the "Changing of Seasons" celebration in Talenvar.
Angelina decided to give the rose goblets she had purchased in Eldorfess to Phillip and Julia as one of her wedding gifts to them. She had wanted to give them to her mother and father but that was when her mother had become ill and passed away. Angelina sighed as she looked at the delicate glass goblets before she carefully wrapped them and placed them in a satin satchel.
The celebration would be more exciting than ever because of the prince's wedding. Guests started showing up a fortnight or more before the celebration was scheduled to begin. Tents were being staked on the fields right beyond the moat. Since there was going to be a royal wedding there were even more guests than usual. Closer to the celebration itself, the inns would fill up and even the extra rooms that some of the townsfolk had would be filled in no time. The castle was bustling with all types of activities. The servants were extra careful in their cleaning so that everything would be spotless. The floor and furniture of the church where the ceremony would take place had been polished and was so shiny that the furniture was reflected in the cream colored marbled floor. The seamstress was putting the final touches on Phillip's white tunic and leggings which were trimmed in gold with a gold sash. A small emblem of Talenvar was embroidered in gold on the upper left side of his tunic. The shoemaker had delivered his new white leather boots. Angelina and Amberlynn had new gowns made. Amberlynn had a deep blue gown with white lace trim on the cuffs of her sleeves. Angelina chose a deep burgundy gown. Their father would be wearing a royal blue outfit with dyed blue leather boots to match. All of the royal family would be wearing their crowns.
The wedding would take place on the first night of the "Changing of Seasons" celebration. There would be a huge feast prepared at the castle and on the field near the main gates. This way there wouldn't be a large crowd at one place. Most of the townsfolk would wait until the royal procession of the prince and his wife made its way through town before they would go to the feasting outside the gates. Some of the townsfolk and most of the guests would feast at the castle.
Julia and her family arrived three days before the wedding. The Ellers would stay at the castle for the duration of the festivities. The Ellers were given rooms down the hall from Angelina and her sister. Phillip had his room closer to his father. Angelina and Amberlynn helped Heather and Julia get settled in. Julia was excited and nervous about the upcoming event.
"Julia," began Angelina as she was helping her with her clothes, "are you going to allow us to see your dress before the wedding?" She was anxious to get a peak at it.
Julia got a huge smile on her face. "Of course," she said as she went over to a large trunk that had been brought in. She opened the trunk and removed the soft white cloth that was over her dress to keep the dust off. She then pulled the carefully folded dress out of the trunk.
"It's beautiful," exclaimed Amberlynn as she took the bottom of the dress and fluffed it out to get a better look.
The dress was all white satin with crystal beads and pearls sewn on the sleeves and bodice. The dress was tapered at the waist and flared out. The back of the dress had pearl buttons set close together from the neck to the waist. There was a six foot train on the dress. This would be bustled up underneath the large satin bow after the ceremony. Around the hem of the dress were pearls and crystal beads sewn in a delicate design. There was a slip with netting that would go underneath the dress to fluff the skirt out. The veil was delicate silk netting and the halo of the veil would sit as a crown upon Julia's head. This would be removed during the ceremony and she would receive a gold crown inset with jewels, for she would someday be Queen of Talenvar when Phillip became King.
The girls were thrilled with the gown
and very excited for Julia. They convinced Julia to put it on for them. They didn't have to convince her too much, she was eager to show them.
The next few days flew by. On the eve before the wedding there was a small celebration and light feasting. Everyone retired early for tomorrow would be an eventful day.
The next morning, everyone had a large breakfast because they wouldn't eat again until after the wedding that evening. Julia was required to stay in her chambers until it was time for her to go to the church. The future bride and groom were not permitted to see each other until the ceremony. As the time drew near, Angelina and Amberlynn went out into the gardens and picked flowers to make a bouquet for Julia. They picked both red and white roses and arranged them before wrapping the stems of the flowers in a piece of white satin. They then tied the cloth together with a white satin ribbon, letting the ends of the ribbon hang. They presented the flower bouquet to Julia before they left to take their place at the church. Julia only had a few more minutes to wait before she would be leaving to head to the church with her family.
It wasn't long after Angelina and Amberlynn arrived at the church and made their way to the front where their father and Phillip waited, when the musicians began playing to announce the bride. Julie entered looking radiant. She slowly started up the aisle as Heather walked in front of her tossing rose pedals on the floor. Julia's mother and father followed a few feet behind her. When Heather reached the front of the church, she stepped off to the left to stand at the first pew. Julia came to stand next to Phillip and before the priest. Julia's parents took their place beside Heather. Angelina and Amberlynn then stepped over to the first pew on the right. Their father remained standing beside Phillip where he would remain throughout the ceremony. The priest motioned everyone except the three standing with him to take their seats. The ceremony went smoothly. Angelina was worried because when she spoke with Phillip earlier he seemed pretty nervous. When the new couple was introduced there was thunderous applause and the church bells rang in the tower to let all know that the Prince was now married.
Angelina couldn't believe all of the food that filled the tables in the large dining hall. It seemed to her that there was always something going on that required a large feast. She and her family mingled with the guests. Julia and Phillip were the center of attention and Angelina was glad that she could relax a little and not have to entertain her guests as much as usual. Lady Elise had joined Angelina shortly after the ceremony and they were now sampling the delicious food. The celebration lasted well into the night and some of the guests didn't retire until it was close to daybreak. The celebration continued with the same exuberance and Angelina was considering this year's to be one of the best. That was until she overheard a few of the ladies talking with one another about how they thought it was time for the King to remarried and rumor had it there were a number of eligible women with their eye on the King. Normally this kind of gossip would not have bothered her because she knew that all rumors were to be taken with a grain of salt. Many a time what you heard was not the exact telling of what actually happened; however, this talk did bother her. She decided to keep a close eye when she could on the people speaking with her father for the rest of the celebration. As she observed her father she noticed that there were a number of eligible women flirting with him. She then believed that there was something to what she had overheard. She also noticed that her father was taking an interest in Lady Faleasha.
Lady Faleasha had been recently widowed. Her husband, Lord Jess, had complained of a headache and gone to bed. Lady Faleasha was unable to wake him the next morning. They had two daughters Maypre and Glasha who were not much older than Phillip.
Angelina hadn't socialized with them more than she had to because the sisters were quite snobbish. Not with her because she was a princess, but with some of Angelina's friends of lesser title. She mentioned her feelings to Lady Elise.
"Angelina," began Elise, "some day you will have to face the fact that your father will remarry. You should not think about how you feel but how your father feels. If he decides to remarry, you should be happy that he found a companion." She sighed as she put her hand on Angelina's arm in comfort. "You shouldn't feel betrayed or hurt because your father would never try to replace your mother, only fill a void in his life where he needs someone there for him."
"You're right," she replied. "It's just that in a way I don't want him to ever find someone else. But that's not fair to him. I don't know how I'll feel when it actually happens."
After the participants returned home at the end of that year's celebration, it was still a few more months before Julia was settled in and things returned to normal.
Chapter 13
A New Family
It was a few months later when Lady Faleasha and her daughters were invited by the King to visit for a few weeks. Phillip didn't seem to be fazed by the news, he was too busy being happily married and with the recent news of Julia being with child, he was engrossed with his new life. Amberlynn told Angelina that she was hoping their father would remarry because the castle seemed empty without a Queen.
Angelina on the other hand was not very happy about the whole situation. She of course kept this to herself, only telling Elise her true feelings. It wouldn't have been bad if Lady Faleasha was single but she had two daughters of whom Angelina wasn't very fond. She was feeling more and more unhappy as the day of their arrival approached. All the servants in the castle were happy and gossip was abundant. This seemed to irritate Angelina further.
It wasn't until the night before they were to arrive that Angelina finally accepted the fact that her father would probably marry this woman some time in the future. She had retired early, lying in bed for some time before drifting off to sleep. It was in her dreams that her mother came to her.
"Angelina," her mother softly called to her as she drifted through the clouds, heading toward her daughter.
Angelina glanced around her. She was again surrounded by clouds and she could feel their coolness as they swirled around her. "Mother, is that you?" she called in response. She could hardly believe it was her mother as she reached her and embraced her. "I've missed you so much." Angelina was crying and clinging to her mother.
"It's alright my darling," soothed her mother as she released her daughter and stepped back.
Angelina wiped the tears from her face.
"Before I left, I told your father to find a new Queen." She smiled at her daughter. "Your father needs someone and if he chooses Lady Faleasha to be his wife, I want you, your brother and sister to support him on that decision."
"But I don't want or need a new mother," she protested.
"She won't be replacing me. I'll always be your mother. You might not realize it now but you will be glad to have her there while you are growing up. I know it will be hard at first but you must give it a chance." Her mother stopped as if she heard something and glanced over her shoulder before turning back to face her daughter. "It's time for me to go. Remember, I'll always be with you."
With those last words her mother slowly faded into the clouds and was gone.
Angelina woke up and noticed that there were still a few hours before she had to get up so she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep. When she woke that morning she couldn't remember all that she dreamed about but did know that she was to give Lady Faleasha and her daughters a chance.
She was surprised to find that she actually liked Lady Faleasha. She wasn't too thrilled with her snobbish daughters. She did, however, give them a warm welcome and played the part of hostess along with the rest of her family for the duration of their stay.
The King had them visit two more times that winter and before their third visit, he called his children into his private chambers. He wanted them to know that no one would ever replace their mother and that he had decided to ask Lady Faleasha for her hand in marriage. He wanted to know how they felt about it. Phillip and Amberlynn were actually excited about the news. Angelina on the other
hand wasn't thrilled about the idea. She put aside her feelings and told her father that she would welcome her and her daughters into the family.
After Kalen asked Lady Faleasha to marry him, he sent a letter to the Daskars in Eldorfess so they would be the first to know. After that a formal announcement was made and the news swept throughout the kingdom. The marriage would take place at Talenvar before the family left for Wayferd for the "Changing of Seasons" celebration.
The King's marriage to Lady Faleasha called for a huge celebration and the new royal family was a day late in beginning their trip to Wayferd.
It was a difficult time for Angelina, having a new mother and Queen and two new sisters. So many changes were happening. She wasn't happy with her new sisters. They had been snobs when she first met them but now with their new titles as princesses, they were even worse. They were enjoying all of the new found attention from the eligible men and the way that people were extra polite to them since they now were royalty. The girls were pushing their limits. Elise had informed her that she heard talk about their rude and arrogant behavior. Angelina dismissed the talk because she wasn't ready to lecture her sisters just yet on their manners. She knew that if she did it would surely get back to her father and he would think that she was trying to find fault with them because she wasn't happy with his marriage. So she let things go. It wasn't long after the celebration had ended and they returned home when Angelina had to confront the two women.
The Uzan Crystal Page 13