Blindsided

Sitting on the chair in front of her vanity, Flora tapped her foot nervously. She had asked Amelia to see if either Staci or Ana would be able to help her prepare for this dinner with Prince Osip. Flora wanted to look as flawless as possible, because she knew that it was likely she would experience an interrogation from the prince. He had mentioned to her that he wanted to know more about his brother's future wife, but she had heard that before from Prince Alexei. However, Flora anticipated that this dinner would be nothing like the lunch she had with the crown prince. The two princes might as well have been night and day. Their personalities didn't exactly scream sibling synchronicity.

A quiet rap came from the door before Amelia entered the room. Behind her were both Staci and Ana, to Flora's relief. The two of them bowed to Flora, awaiting her direction. "Alright, so I have a dinner with Prince Osip, and I need to look perfect." The two sisters exchanged a weary glance with each other, a rare sighting of their inner thoughts. "Is something wrong?"

The one Flora had learned as Ana spoke up, "No your highness." She had said that, but Flora didn't believe Ana actually felt that way. Flora gave her a look as if to say, go on. Ana straightened her back and sighed, exchanging another glance with her sister before whispering, "His highness has an... unusual approach to things." Ana definitely had more to say, but she wouldn't speak of anything that could be construed in a negative way about the Usoros. They did have a reputation for punishing those who disobeyed them.

"Well," Flora clapped her hands together firmly. "Nonetheless, he wants to 'get to know me'" Flora told the servants, using air quotes. "Whatever that means, I can't make an idiot of myself from the start looking like a common fool. Please help me get dressed into something fitting."

Staci went to Flora's chests, picking through her many dresses. She had a frown on her face as she examined each one. Flora had noticed that the more time they spent with her, the more open they became. Still, the two women were more stoic than most she had met in her time. More emotions from them was about the same as anyone else's bare minimum.

"Is there something wrong with the dresses?"

"Of course not your highness," Staci corrected, removing the frown from her face. "There is just so much fabric here." Of course her dresses wouldn't fit for palace activities. Her fashion was Pranian, and coming to Leosta meant that her clothes wouldn't match the style. What was she going to do?

Seeing Flora's worry, Ana chimed in a modest volume, "if your highness will allow, we can alter one of these gowns to better fit the occasion." Flora nodded her approval, causing Staci to pick a dark green dress out of the chest before she left the room. "As there is still time, I will assist Lady Amelia with your hair."

Flora tried to hide her surprise from the woman calling Amelia a lady. Even if they had both agreed it was best for her to be perceived as a highborn, it still felt off. Thankfully, Ana didn't seem to notice Flora's confusion as she quickly got to work brushing and then braiding her hair. As the two ladies were finishing her makeup, Staci had returned with the altered gown in tow. Quickly, they dressed her in a much thinner version of her old dress. The structure of the gown was still relatively the same, except Staci had removed numerous layers of petticoats from the skirt and regathered the waist. Flora had to admit, Staci had done an impressive amount of work in only a few short hours.

Before she knew it, Flora was walking with a guard toward the dining room near Prince Osip. According to Ana, it was a neutral area for the royal children to hold events. Flora knocked gently on the door, not wanting to seem too abrupt, but almost instantly, the door swung open, exposing a young woman close to Flora's age. The woman greeted her with a smooth smile, but her eyes held a viscous spark in them. The same color of eyes as both of her brothers. "Welcome princess."

Bowing, Flora assessed the situation. She had expected to only dine with Prince Osip, but now she also had to deal with another royal member. "Good evening your highness." Flora flashed a polite grin to hide her shock. "It's an honor to finally meet you." A pit in her stomach formed as she thought of how she was going to handle two different Usoros at once. As she entered the room, Flora only saw the prince and the princess in the room among the servants, so that at least was a small blessing.

"I've been waiting to meet you princess," the princess said over her shoulder, a curtain of inky black hair flicking over her back. She looked a lot more similar to Prince Osip in build, skinny and trim. Both of them had strong cheekbones and long limbs. "We've all heard SO much about you."

"Valeria, be nice," Prince Osip called out to her, but his eyes had the same dangerous spark as his sister. "She is a guest here."

Flora bowed to the prince as well, resigning to the anticipation that this night was going to be filled with snaps and barbs. He was sitting at the head of the table, while his sister walked around his chair to sit next to him on the prince's left. Prince Osip gestured to a chair on his right with a thin hand. As Flora sat down in her seat, she examined the table. It had a stark white table cloth adorned with candlesticks and magical orbs to light the room. The silverware was already set, a gorgeous silver with intricate designs of bell flowers around the handles and the rims of the plates. The prince was dressed quite casually, with a plain brown tunic with simple embroidery around the neck and wrists. Looking back at the princess, she noticed that she wasn't dressed in a gown, but a tunic and loose-fitting pants. Flora had never seen a noblewoman dressed in such a manner, but she obviously wouldn't say a word about it.

Princess Valeria must have caught Flora glancing in her direction, because she started up a conversation, "Osip tells me that you were with one of our phoenixes yesterday." Flora detected irritation in the princess voice much like Prince Osip yesterday. "That's quite bold of you, is it not?"

Feeling like she was being interrogated already, Flora steeled herself, answering calmly, "like I told his highness yesterday, I couldn't stand by and let that bird wither away."

"Don't you think that trained keepers are better suited to tend to our phoenixes than a princess with no experience with anything other than clothing and eating." It hadn't taken Princess Valeria long before she had dropped her act. However, she still had a smile on her face, as venomous as it was.

Taking a deep breath, Flora replied in a sweet voice, "as that may be your highness, it seemed as if the keepers were busy tending to maybe a hundred other animals they must watch over. The bird sought out someone's help, and I was happy to oblige." She wasn't going to break over someone being openly hostile. This wasn't Flora's first time around this game.

Princess Valeria snickered in a nasty way. "Oh, I've heard about your 'magic'," she scoffed at the idea of Flora's skills. "Not much more useful than talking to ghosts and birds is it?" The princess reached up a thin hand and snapped at a servant nearby. "Bring me some wine." She turned back to Flora, a ferociousness in her eyes. "You are just so perfect for our Andrei, aren't you?"

This was the second time that one of the royal children had mentioned that. Was there something about Prince Andrei that they didn't like? Why were they talking down to Flora while at the same time acting as if their brother was a match for her? There had to be something going on here that she wasn't quite grasping. Disliking a sibling is one thing, flat out insulting and showing distaste for a sibling is another. This dinner was a good opportunity for her to figure out more information about the royal family. "I hope to be your highness."

The princess loudly cackled at Flora, wiping the corner of her eyes. "Andrei couldn't hope to dream of marrying anything higher than a Pranian princess." Flora had to bite her cheek to keep herself from snapping back at her. "What must be going through father's head to mix the bloodlines is beyond me."

"Valeria," Prince Osip warned. He hadn't spoken a peep since they had all sat down, not even moving a finger.

Princess Valeria waved a hand toward the prince, brushing him off. "Whatever the case, what could Leosta ever have to gain from this sham? Obviously this benefits Prana WAY more than us." Again, she snickered, "well, I guess we at least get Andrei taken care of." The princess cackled again as if she had told an amazing joke.

Thankfully, servants appeared through the door, carrying a heaping tray of food and drinks. A male servant sat down the single tray of food containing the entire meal. He made quick work of serving first the prince, then the princess, and finally Flora. Cautiously, a female servant appeared behind Princess Valeria and poured her a glass of deep merlot. The princess made eye contact with Flora, sneering at her, "you must want some wine, considering your tendencies."

It took everything in Flora not to hide her face underneath her napkin. Even remembering how foolish she behaved that night was painful. So all of the Leostan royals had heard about that cocktail party months ago... What an awesome image they must all have of her. The one thing that kept Flora from retorting with her own insult was that they must have only heard about the drunk Flora, nothing else, because the princess would have definitely mentioned that vision by now if she knew. Flora cast a mild smile in the princess's direction, not about to let someone like her get under her skin. "No thank you, your highness. I'm fine with my water here." She lifted her glass and took a delicate sip. No way in hell was she going to drink any alcohol in front of these royals.

"Such a shame, I would have liked to see what my brother saw in you." Princess Valeria tsked. What did the princess even mean by that comment? Finally, granting Flora some reprieve, Princess Valeria started eating her meal. She liked the princess a lot more with her mouth shut.

Despite barely having anything to eat throughout the day, Flora had no apatite. She still forced food down her throat, not wanting to seem rude. The last thing she needed was the Usoros critiquing her manners at an invited dinner. The conversation stopped as they all ate silently. It wasn't strange from Prince Osip, but Flora would have expected Princess Valeria to throw in at least a few more quick jabs. Regardless, Flora enjoyed the few moments of calm while she swallowed the strongly spiced food.

Taking one last glug of wine, Princess Valeria slammed down her glass announcing, "as much fun as this has been, I have other things to do." She rose from her chair and sauntered toward the door, glancing back at Flora. "I had fun princess, let's chat again." Flora only responded with a thin smile.

Prince Osip also rose from his chair, flicking a hand at her without even meeting her eyes. "Dismissed."

Ignoring the rudeness of the gesture, Flora took the order gladly. Anywhere would have been better than this dining room. She practically ran through the halls, racing to get back to her only sanctuary in the dark palace. Barging through the doors to her bedroom, Flora flopped down onto her bed, taking in the peacefulness of it. Amelia peaked her head into the room, timidly inquiring, "how was the dinner yer highness?"

Flora didn't even lift her head from the blankets as she answered, "I have found someone new to despise."