| strikes of gold; |
(*) The news of his arrival had reached her before any official announcements were actually made and she had her gossiping entourage to thank for that. As soon as she had gotten up that morning, her maids had made a fuss of which dress she should wear and how they should fix her hair-- all unusual activities for they knew how much she preferred waking up to the serenity of their normal mornings.
They tell her in excited chatter of the man she was going to be meeting today. They retell stories of his war escapades in hopes of impressing her but the princess remained uninterested; her thoughts instead were focused on the brewing annoyance that had settled in the pit of her stomach. It was strikingly unusual for her to be asked to meet the nobles and it was even more unusual for her people to be this excited about it.
Surely, this was the queen’s doing; one of her ploys to dispose of the her in the most diplomatic way possible-- marriage. Therefore, Hikari found herself already in a foul mood even before she met the Lieutenant Colonel.
She walked with slow steps to the courtyard, her pace evident proof of her displeasure at having to meet him. The bright reds and striking gold of her clothes were ironically reflective of her emotions; it was not often that she felt fiercely passionate about disobeying her stepmother but when the moment presented itself, such as today, it was almost hard for her to follow through with her stepmother’s wishes.
But before she could change her mind and walk away, she found herself at the courtyard’s entrance and heard the guard already announcing her arrival. It was too late to turn back now.
[ rgjiyong ]