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Monday- 1:34 PM
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The movement of the carriage had shaken the young prince, causing him to return from his sleepy state and into the position where he could hear his father speaking. That young man had light brown skin, blonde hair that was clearly dyed and growing from the roots to show his original black color and dark brown eyes. He was not too thin nor big, he was fit though, however wasn't too muscular, though it was clear he had worked out. He was going on about the same thing that he had been speaking about for the past three days. That being the arranged marriage he was not happy about. "And remember son, don't keep up your 'shy act'. No woman likes a shy husband. They want a bold, strong, brave man to protect her." Spoke the man that was tall and muscular, a clear face with no hair upon his head.
Apollo rolled his eyes, "'It isn't an act…" He muttered under his breath. That caused the man to tense, a scowl appearing upon his face. "What was that, boy? Speak up if you have something to say." The blonde male had sat up as he glared at his father. "It isn't an act you dull man!" He bit back, he saw as the older man opened his mouth to speak only for him to be cut off by the woman next to him. The woman had curly brown hair that was in a fancy bun, her brown eyes were almond shaped. She had worn a dress that wasn't too flashy, but when it was seen, people immediately knew she was not a peasant. "Calm down, dears. We don't want to be all wild up. We need to make a good impression." She spoke, her voice soothing, as if listening to it could put anyone to sleep.
The two boys glared at each other before Apollo looked out of the window while Marshall turned to his wife to quietly rant to her as she had a very annoyed expression. Apollo watched as the forest was slowly turning into a paved road. The image of a kingdom came into view, he instantly knew that they were growing closer to their destination, and he felt anxious. He was not ready to meet anyone, especially if it was because they were going to get married due to their parents forcing them to. He took a deep breath as he fixed up his hair into a low hanging ponytail before going to stare down at the hands in his lap. They still had a good hour until they officially arrived. They only just got onto the Owl Lands' property, which was knowingly very big, both in the town and woodlands.
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Monday 2:10 PM
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The sound of the front doors of the Castle is heard as well as the clanking of armor and a very distressed woman. "My King, we are back with your daughter." Said one Knight as he sat down, said girl. She looked up to see her father standing there, his face turning from worried to relief. He rushed down to gently grab Amaya's hands. "Oh, my sweet daughter. Where did you go? Are you hurt at all?" He asked frantically, causing the Princess to roll her eyes. "I'm fine, Pa." She spoke, her voice laced with hints of annoyance. Lacey frowned, "Yes, but where did you go off to? Please tell me you didn't bother Karla with your shenanigans again." Amaya looked to the side, "I was with her, and she didn't mind... I helped her with some stuff." She spoke with a huff. The King sighed with slight annoyance, but some relief to know she was with someone he knew he could trust. He patted her head, "Oh... Amaya. Please give her a break, I'm sure that she is a very busy person. Now could you please go get dressed? We can talk about this more later, but please, go." He said, causing Amaya to scoff.
They stood there silent for a while, The King staring at his daughter with a pleading look. That caused her to sigh out gently. "Fine… only if I get to pick out my own dress and you keep the maids out of my room." She spoke, trying to put up a bargain. Lacey had to think about that, looking her up and down before rolling his eyes. "Alright, just as long as you look somewhat presentable." That response made the young woman perk up, she immediately began rushing out of the throne room. "Thank you, dad, bye!" She exclaimed as she ran. Lacey shook his head as he crossed his arms. "Be back in less than forty minutes!"
He watched as the door that led to the living quarters closed. He moved to sit down upon his Throne, staring down at his lap, praying to the Gods above that this would all go okay.
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Monday 2:19
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Amaya rushed up to her quarters, slamming the door open. She sighed before looking around to see that no one would be there to bother her. She walked over to her closet, looking through it for anything that was a dress but didn't look too girly. She didn't find anything wrong with looking girly, though, she didn't think it fit her quite well. Though, she did enjoy some dresses, just as long as they had pockets, and she could be flexible in them. As she was scanning the clothes, her eyes laid upon a piece of clothing that was a forest green color. She walked over to it and grabbed it form the hangers. Her eyes widened as she smiled, the design and the colors really caught her eye. She put it on and walked over to the mirror after having a huge struggle with the zipper.
The dress as stated previously, was a forest green color, thought the chest area had black strings that when she pulled them into a bow, it shaped out her body very well. The skirt to the dress had a bit of poof to it, but it stayed laying straight down. She was very satisfied with how it looked and walked over to her vanity, brushing her hair out. She had some makeup laying upon it from when she was a teenager, though due to products she had to use to take it off irritated her skin, she chose to not wear it unless she was doing something especially special. However, today was not the day that it would be needed. She pulled her hair into a half up and half down style, admiring herself in the mirror some before standing up, walking over to where she had her shoes laid out. She mostly had normal shoes that she could be athletic in and flats. And today, she felt like she could wear flats and so, she put on black ones to match the outfit.
She took one last good look at herself in the mirror before grabbing her crown, which she usually hated wearing, but today, just for her father, she was going to wear it. She placed it upon her head before walking out, noticing she still had about ten minutes to get to the throne room, and so she took her time. It was only a five-minute walk anyway. As she was walking, she found her hand slip into what she just realized was a pocket, she gasped and looked down and smiled widely. "Oh, hell yes! Now that is what I'm talking about!" She exclaimed to herself, gaining some surprised looks from some of the maids and butlers who were standing around talking. She had felt her face go red with embarrassment. "Ah, sorry! Continue on, I just got a bit excited." The group just nodded and went back to what they were talking about.
Amaya continued to walk along the hallways, looking at the pictures that were along the walls. There were some of her parents, though, she was sadly in none of them unless it was only with her father. She felt a slight feeling of sadness go through her, she still never realized how to deal with the idea that she would never know her mother, especially due to the fact she was dead... though, she knew that she died for what was right, protecting her family and kingdom. She took a deep breathe before sighing out.
She found herself at the throne doors and opened them. She tensed right as her father looked over to her. Lacey quickly stood up, running up to her. "Oh, look at you my sweet dear! You look so beautiful... just like your mother. You have no idea how proud of you she would be. Especially due to your personality." He informed; Amaya felt her frown turn into a smile. "Thanks... I know." She added on. That was until they realized the time. "Alright darling, sit in your throne. We have to be ready for when they arrive." He spoke, taking his daughters hand and walked up to the step platform that held the thrones. They both sat down on their respected ones.
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Monday 2:25
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The carriage came to a halt. The door opened to reveal the woman that was driving it, putting down a step for them to walk out on. "We have arrived at the Castle of the Owl Lands my lords. Please watch your step as you walk down the stairs." She informed, taking a step to the side. The first to leave was Marshall, then Lily and then it was Apollo's turn. He stood up, patting down his outfit before walking down the steps. He looked around to see a very colorful and beautiful castle. He was pulled out of his state of awe right as his mother walked up to him and began to wipe off his face. "Make sure you make a good impression, Mijo. We are counting on you." She spoke, giving his cheek a soft pat. Apollo nodded, melting at her touch. He was so sure that if he was only raised by his father then he would have been driven off the edge and would've run away.
Their sentimental moment was ruined by the sound of Armour moving around. The three looked over to what seemed to be a knight. The person in metal dress did a simple bow to the royals. "Welcome to the Owl Lands. Please come with me your majesties." Spoke a muffled voice that then led the way toward the doors of the castle. The doors were then swung open to reveal a somewhat dim room. His parents and the knight walked in. Apollo then took a shaky breath and then followed them, keeping his eyes reverted to the ground, to avoid any eye contact until he reached the rulers of the Owl Lands.
Once they were standing right in front of the Thrones, he looked up. He then felt a hand on his head which made him bow down in front of the royalty. He looked over to see his parents bowing while his father side eyed him before looking up to the King. "Thank you for having us, my King. We are very pleased to meet you and we are looking forward to getting to know you." Spoke Marshall before standing up properly. "As you know, I am Marshall Match, this is my wonderful wife, Lily Match and our son, Apollo Match." He informed. "Well, hello. Please drop all professionalism and let's talk to each other normally. We'd need to get used to it." Lacey spoke up before standing up, motioning for Amaya to do so as well. "My name is Lacey Dash, and this is my lovely daughter, Amaya Dash. We are very pleased to meet you, please enjoy your time here with us and let us be friends till the end." He introduced themselves.
"How about we go ahead and chat over dinner-?" He was then cut off by a person running in through the doors. It was a person in all knight Armour besides for the headpiece, black curly hair that went down to their shoulders, about 5'5 and a ton of bags in their hands. "I'm so sorry I am late! My carriage got snagged on a rock and so its immobile at the moment, I had to carry all of your things here!" Exclaimed the person. The Match family immediately looked over to the person. "Hash?" Apollo called out. "Are you okay?" He asked, the other nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine. No one was hurt." Hash informed. "Do you have no sense of respect? Apollo, I told you that if you couldn't get your little friend under control then I would fire them!" spoke Marshall in a very rough tone. "But dad-" Apollo spoke before being cut off.
"Now is that any way to talk to someone who works for you? While you are in our kingdom, you will treat every employee with proper respect. Now, let's head to the dining hall for our dinner and to get to know each other, shall we?" He Lacey ordered. Marshall looked to the other king with a forced smile, though you could see just how irritated he was in his eyes. "I apologize, we shall." The bald man spoke through gritted teeth. "Yes, thank you. I apologize for our Knight and for my husband's disrespect." Lily added before they all walked away. Apollo and Amaya were about to follow as well as Hash until Amaya saw just how much the Knight was struggling. "Hey, you can just put the bags over there. Our maids and butlers will take care of it. You can just go ahead and join us for dinner." Informed the red head.
Hash had a relieved look on their face. "Yes, thank you so much." They replied before placing the bags down and rushing to join them. "I thought that the carriages were built to withstand rocks." Spoke Apollo. "Well, yeah. They were, but I think your father knew that one was not. I think he wants to sabotage me." They informed with a huff. "Right... that makes sense." The blonde replied. Right as Amaya was going to try and add herself to the conversation, she was cut off by her father. "Hurry up, dears!" He called out, causing the young adults to rush on to catch up.
Let the joined dinner commence.
I did draw the scene out a little too long, but I hope you all enjoyed it!