Chapter 3: Rags

<p>Charis put her hand on the platinum pull-down door knob, taking a deep breath, and opened the door. She slowly entered the room, seeing a 250 sq ft bedroom. Inside her bedroom was a light brown wood canopy bed that had a queen-size mattress, sheer white curtains, and soft gray blankets. Underneath the bed was a white rug, and beside the bed were glass bedside tables. The ceiling was tall and had a crystal chandelier. The floors were white marble, all the walls except for one were painted a soft gray. The accent wall had soft gray and white wallpaper that had an ogee pattern on it. There was a white stone vanity with a mirror on it and a chair in front of it. On a wall was a big window that was covered by gray curtains, and by another wall sat a white loveseat. Next to the bed was a gray rope that connected to a bell that alerted the palace servants if you were in need, and on a wall, there was another white door that led to a closet. <br/><br/>She walked into the room, marveling at its beauty, thinking, 'This room is so fancy, it's so beautiful. I've never in my life seen such a beautiful room.' She walked over to the rope, thinking, 'I wonder what this does.' She pulled on the rope, hearing nothing, thinking, 'What a strange thing to have in a room. Why have it here when it doesn't do anything?' <br/><br/>She walked over to the closet, opened it, and saw a rack of low class dresses. She looked through the clothing, thinking, 'How beautiful are these? These clothes are stunning.' <br/><br/>She continued looking through the clothing until she came across a pastel, banana yellow dress. The dress was floor length, and short puffy sleeves, and had an empire waist. She smiled, grabbed the dress, and thought, 'It's so beautiful.' <br/><br/>She walked over to the mirror and held the dress up to her body, thinking, 'I have to try it on.' <br/><br/>She changed out of her clothes, putting on the new dress, and looked at her reflection in the mirror. 'I've never worn anything so fancy in my life,' She thought as she looked at her reflection, marveling at the dress. <br/><br/>As she stood there looking at her reflection, she heard a knock at her door. She looked towards the door and said, "Come in." <br/><br/>The door opened, and a woman wearing a white and brown knee length, peasant style, dress walked in. The skirt on the dress had a white tie around apron on it, and she had her long black hair up in a high bun. <br/><br/>The woman bowed, saying, "How may I help you?" Charis said, "Help me… I don't understand." The woman looked at Charis, saying, "You called for me." Charis said, "I call for you?" The woman smiled, saying, "You pulled the rope." Charis looked at the rope and said, "Oh, I'm sorry I troubled you. I didn't mean to call anyone." The woman said, "This must be your first time in the castle." Charis said, "It's that obvious, huh? Adiel and Aaron didn't give me much information on anything. They just escorted me to this room when His Highness ordered me to this room, so I don't know much." The woman gasped, saying, "Then you're Lady Charis?" Charis smiled, saying, "I am. How did you know that?" The woman said, "The whole castle is talking about you. Things get around here pretty quickly, especially when there's a woman as extraordinary as you. Forgive me for not recognizing you right away, my Lady. Please forgive me if I have offended you." Charis said, "No offense taken." The woman said, "We simply must get you a new dress." Charis looked down at her dress, looked at the woman, and said, "What's wrong with the dress I have on?" The woman smiled and said, "A woman of your stature should not be in such peasant clothing. We simply must find you a dress fitting for a princess." Charis said, "I think the dress looks beautiful. I mean His Highness has given me such beautiful clothing, regardless of if they're high class or not, I shall wear whatever clothes His Highness provides for me to wear. As a matter of fact, if you do not mind, I would like to see His Highness so that I might thank him for the clothing. If you would please take me to him." The woman said, "If it pleases you, my Lady, I shall take you to him right now." Charis smiled, saying, "It would please me very much, and I would be very grateful to you." The woman bowed and said, "Alright, my Lady, come follow me." <br/><br/>The woman escorted Charis to the King's Office. They stood in front of the door to the King's Office, and the woman said, "Are you sure you want to talk to His Highness right now, my Lady? He can be very upset when he is disturbed." Charis smiled softly, saying, "Yes, I want to see His Highness." The woman said, "Yes, my Lady," knocked on the door, hearing Donato say, "Come in," with harshness in his voice, and she entered the room along with Charis seeing Donato standing by his desk, his back facing them. <br/> <br/>"This better be important for you to interrupt me," Donato growled. The woman and Charis bowed, and the woman said, "My Lady requested to see you." He turned around, seeing Charis and the woman standing there, looking down. He felt his heart begin to race as he said to the woman in the same growling tone, "Leave us." <br/><br/>The woman bowed once more and left the room, closing the door behind her. <br/><br/>Donato looked at Charis, feeling his heart beat faster and faster against his chest as he growled at her, "What do you want?" Charis said, "I wanted to thank you for the dress Your Highness." Donato eyes widened as he scoffed, saying, "You wanted to thank me… For the peasant dress?" She smiled, saying, "Yes, Your Highness. It is beautiful." He walked up to her, grabbed her arm, and said, "You want to thank me for a peasant dress. I don't believe you… Tell me what you really want. Money, power, what is it?" She said, "No, Your Highness, I want none of those things." He tightened his grip around her arm, saying, "Look at me and tell me what you truly want. What did you come to me for?" She looked into his eyes, saying, "I came to tell you I love the dress. It's so beautiful that I couldn't wait to tell you." He loosened his grip as she smiled at him and he thought, 'How can she be so happy in rags,' he slowly let go of her, as she said, "Thank you for such beautiful clothing. I have never seen my favorite color on a dress, let alone a dress as beautiful as this one." He looked away from her, saying, "If this is all you truly wanted to say to me, then you've said it, now leave me be."<br/><br/> She bowed, saying, "If it pleases you, Your Highness, I will go." She left the room, smiling, closing the door behind her, as he watched her leave, thinking, 'She truly… Truly only wanted to thank me… She thanks me for rags… Why…'</p>