I love writing, and this idea just came to me. I doubt it will be continued, let alone finished, but I guess it can serve as a little sample of my writing or something(:
The dress was beautiful. Black silk, draped perfectly over every curve. It left just enough to the imagination. The sash was a creamy white, matching the ribbon that decorated my own ebony locks. I looked exquisite. Unrivaled in looks and of course, in rank.
My hair was up in a curly bun of sorts, with soft tendrils that had been beaded with tiny pearls. My shoes were black as well, and the delicate straps would stand out against my pale skin.
“Mother…how do I look?” I asked softly, raising my violet eyes to meet hers. Of course, they were the same shade – It was what had made father choose her as his companion. She was the luckiest of the land, with deep purple irises that had made her the envy of countless other women.
“Nice,” was all she said, turning to fiddle with some leftover ribbon. I tried not to be hurt – my mother never was one for showing emotion. Though it was acceptable in private, I don’t think she ever was able to take off her reserved public face.
My maid, Elsa, gave me a smile, showing crooked yellowed teeth that simply didn’t fit her pretty face.
“You look beautiful mistress,” she insisted, adding another stroke of makeup only my already perfect skin. “Erik will be willing to give away his own legs to have you for his own.”
My heart fluttered. Erik was a family acquaintance. He was dashingly handsome and obscenely rich – just what I liked in a suitor.
“Let’s hope he keeps his appendages and the bulk of his estate,” my mother, ever serious, cut in. “It would be unfortunate indeed if he was crippled, and even worse if he was poor.” I rolled my eyes, but nodded in understanding. She was right.
“Father would never allow me to marry anyone who was lacking in either status or money.” I reminded mother softly, wincing as Elsa pulled the laces of my corset with all her might. The dress, still on its form, had an impossibly tapered waist, so it was necessary to force my body to comply.
“Of course he wouldn’t,” mother agreed. “It would look shameful to the family.”
I nodded again, gasping for air as another maid began tugging with Elsa, constricted my body even further. After a minute of inspection, they fitted me with the dress. My mother offered a nod of approval, so the maids sent for my father.
“You will make the perfect prize for any man,” he said with a smile, and I couldn’t help but grin back happily. It was everything I had ever hoped to be.
“Have you decided whom I will wed?” I asked, brimming with excitement. He only gave me a knowing smile. Over the past year, I’d heard rumors of many men (young and old) that had come to proposition father for my hand in marriage.
He laughed, his eyes twinkling with the secret that I wasn’t privy to. I pouted, though I was only playing along, but soon broke into a smile again. We both knew Erik was the best choice by far. Handsome, rich, from a loyal high class family – he was everything that my father had been looking for in my future husband.
Suddenly the door was thrust opened, and an old servant stepped inside.
“Sir!” he said, bowing deeply. “The guests are beginning to arrive.” He was staring straight ahead, and although it was against the rules, I tried to meet his eyes with my own. It was a game I had played since I was younger. Until recently, even my personal maids weren’t “worthy” of meeting my eyes. Like any young girl, I craved friendship that I couldn’t have.
“Good,” my father said, his personality reverting to it’s harsh public face. I frowned slightly, but was careful to keep my face almost entirely devoid of emotion.
Then the world stopped. I had turned to look back at the soldier, and to my surprise, his eyes met mine. They were soft and brown, like a piece of milk chocolate that had been melted to perfection.
“HOW DARE YOU!” My father boomed, and I flinched back in shock and surprise.
“I’m sorry sir, I –“
“YOU KNOW THE RULES, SWINE.” My father growled, grabbing the elderly man by the collar and dragging him from the room.
I could heard thuds and cries in the hallway outside my room, and my stomach twisted. I didn’t know my glance could evoke such punishment. I wanted to apologize, but that was forbidden as well. I simply had to sit there and try not to think about what was happening to the poor man who had the misfortune of looking into my eyes.
My father returned a moment later, looking flustered. I offered him a weak smile, and he grinned warmly back at me.
“I will see you at dinner, then, my little princess.” He gave me a tiny kiss on the forehead before leaving the room, my mother trailing along after him in her elegant purple gown.
My maids, silent until this moment, began whispering to each other about my dress, jointly deciding where the pins should go and other such matters.
I tried to focus on the party, on the news of my engagement, which would surely be announced, but all I could think of was the brown eyes of the servant, and of how they didn’t remind me of dirt and filth like they should’ve.
sortofazombie 