Sleeping Beauty: Retold

[Raynesleigh]

Sleeping Beauty: Retold

Role play for Elynor and Raynesleigh only. Do not post[/center]

[Raynesleigh]

Once Upon a time....

Princess Seraphyna of Richarte did not like this one bit. She was meeting her betrothed again for the third time. Her parents were behind her and sitting on the throne as she stood and awaited the entrance of Prince Raphael and his sister Princess Griffin. Sera had never met Princess Griffin but heard she was similar in looks with her weakling brother. Even Sera could handle a bow and arrow better than he could. She sighed, brushing her ash-blonde hair back from her face then turning to look at her mother who was smiling encouraging while her father was enjoying a goblet of wine. Wine was something he truly enjoyed.

She took a deep breath and adjusted her gown. the cloth for her dresses were made by another countries spinning wheels as they had been outlawed from her kingdom for as long as she could remember. It made the clothes more expensive but it was something her parents insisted upon. She did get to sew her own clothes though. That was good. All they did not do in her kingdom, was spin and dye the fabric used.

So here she stood in an ice blue and white dress with a corset stiyled top with laces going back and forth in a criss crross pattern across her chest, long sleeves that billowed with silk at the end and a silver circlet set in her white-gold hair with sapphires that matched the icy blue color of her eyes. She was an ethereal beauty but did not put much stock in that beauty. her talents were more than mere beauty. She spent her days in the village helping girls with their chores or sewing together new dresses and shirts for those who needed it. She could use a bow and arrow as well as any knight and had a good voice that she used to sing the ballads at supper. The princess was well rounded and well educated. Not that it mattered a whit considering that her future was laid out before her to marry a dolt of a prince. Which was what Raphael was.

Sera took a deep breath and watched as the large doors to the main chamber of the palace opened and the King and Queen of Beamontagne entered and then bowed before them. She curtseyed.

"King Rupert. It is good to see you again," Sera's father Leopold said as he stood and approached Rupert and they made their greeting. Her mother did the same with Queen Catrina. She just stood there. What was she supposed to do? Then she saw the Prince and Princess as Rupert introduced them. She curtseyed slowly.

"It is good to see you again," she told Raphael though she did not mean it. She did not like him. He was not a man even given his age and she was being forced to marry him. All for the betterment of her people and to unite the two into one strong unit of military and family. The child she had through Raphael would be heir to both kingdoms.

She sighed heavily and then turned to Princess Griffin. "And it is nice to finally meet you, your highness...your father and mother have spoken of you on their previous visits..." she said simply and gave a smile. "I hope we get to know one another well...until after my birthday when I marry your brother."

[elynor]

Princess Griffin had always known her brother was an idiot. At one point, he had tried to get better, gain some level of competence. But he had realised that things never quite seemed to go his way. She was two years younger than him, but had been giving him extra lessons for as long as she could remember. She had even learned how to wield a sword so that she could be his sparring partner. Really, she felt bad watching him sometimes, and felt bad for feeling bad. Simply put, he lacked talent. But it was so difficult to tell someone who attempted to get better that they really should just stop and save themselves the pain. So she said nothing and kept trying, as hard as she could. She even dimmed her own abilities to make him seem better (and, in the case of sparring, to make him lose less badly). She said nice things, although she liked to tease him, too. It wasn't that she didn't like him. She loved her brother, incompetence and all. He was a genuinely good person, even if he lived in his own world. But sometimes, she looked at him being taught the politics of their country, and she felt painfully jealous. She enjoyed being a girl, but she wished that others saw her as a true candidate for the throne, not one who would bear the next heir, if, heaven forbid, anything were to happen with dear Raphael and his spouse.

It was a combination of moral support and politeness that brought her to the other castle. Dressed in a simple gown of silver-grey, brown hair woven into a plait-bun, pinned at the back of her head, she glanced at the other princess, her brother's fiancee, Seraphyna. She had determined that she would do her best to act the wallflower, something to complement the other princess's light. She had also, originally, determined that she wouldn't like the other girl. She was protective of her brother, the brother that was being more or less sold for the sake of their land. Stuck in a marriage where his spouse would probably be constantly judging or criticising behind his back. She could defend him from bullies that used their fists. In such a delicate situation, defending him from one that used words would be much more difficult.

Still, she had to be polite. Polite to the bitch princess.

"Don't worry, Raph," she muttered to her brother, giving his hand a reassurring squeeze as the door opened. By now, he looked positively green. She just hoped he wouldn't lose his lunch over his future wife or in-laws' clothes.

But as they walked through the doors, towards the other royal family, Griffin's previous images of the other princess were lost. She had wanted to see someone who personified evil, who made it clear that she would be nothing short of Raphael's personal devil, if only so Griffin's suspicions could be confirmed. But she really was just another girl. Fragile, slight, and not any happier about this marriage than Griffin herself was. It was almost a disappointment.

"Yes, nice," she heard her brother say, snapping her out of her reverie. Already, he was forgetting how to be a real prince. "Charming," he added feebly. She'd really have to help.

"I'm charmed," Griffin said, after the other princess's greeting. "I'd like to say I've heard a lot about you, but this one," she punched her brother's arm gently. He looked mildly affronted. "Is terribly secretive. He's been concealing quite a beauty." She glanced at her brother, who looked grateful that she had made an effort to converse.

"Would you get us something to drink, brother, dear?" Griffin continued. "The journey here has left me quite parched." She didn't like treating her brother like a servant, but at least it would save him from ruining the princess's gown. He looked like he needed a few moments to recover.

"So you're her highness, Princess Seraphyna..." Griffin added, almost to herself. She seemed to be inspecting the princess. "He isn't cut out for this. Raphael, I mean. He's a darling, but not very... princely, shall we say. I hope we can all get out of this with only a few tears shed. I love my brother, but I don't love it when he cries. In fact, I don't like it one bit."

[Raynesleigh]

She watched as Raphael went to get drinks while the parents merged off to do their own business speakings. She bit her bottom lip and looked back at Griffin. "I know all to well...Granted he is nice and kind...but...I do not know..." She shook her head, trying not to be offensive. She really did not like being offensive to anyone or try to hurt anyone's feelings so on this matter, it was probably best that she kept her mouth shut. Clearing her throat, she gave a smile. "But feel free to call me Sera. My name is a mouthful at best," she smiled.

She bit her bottom lip. "Would seem our parents are engaged in a conversation and judging by the topic, they will be at it for quite a few hours. Your brother and yourself are welcome to go to the great hall and eat. I imagine the journey was long and fraught with some unappetizing tavern food," she said with a soft laugh, turning to see if she could find Raphael but it would seem he had disappeared without a trace. Knowing his nervousness tended to end with an empty stomach, she got the feeling he had gone off to enjoy a few moments privacy. Though enjoy wouldn't necessarily be the right word. "Unless you would rather I show you to your apartments so you could rest and get settled..." she smiled.

"Ah yes Sera. that would be the thing to do," her father's voice called to her and she turned and nodded before looking at Griffin. Sera wished she was taller. She had always been so slight of figure and tiny. For once she wished she was at eye level but seemed to only be able to reach just under Griffin's nose. It was about the same height she had on Raphael. What a shame that. She sighed and gave another smile.

"I suppose I better do as I am told, after we find your brother of course," she added then bit her bottom lip and led Griffin from the throne room and into a nearby passageway where she saw Raphael emptying his stomach into a bucket. She sighed and approached him. What a shame this man would be her husband. "Your highness...are you alright?" she asked, wondering why he was being so violently sick. She hoped she did not make him so nervous. Lord but she was only a slight fifteen year old girl.