"Your Highness," he bowed to them with grace.

"Bianca, this is my army General, Arnik Keyle."

​​

The man bowed his head.

Bianca bowed back with a smile.

"Tomorrow I will be marrying her in the Temple of Chimala," Brantley said trying to maintain a serious face but there was an undercurrent of excitement.

There was a twinkle in General's eyes mixed with shock on his face as his eyes widened and his mouth fell open as his mind tried to register what his king just said. After a long moment of silence, the General placed his hand on the pommel of his sword, stomped straight and said, "I will go and make all the arrangements and inform others." There was nervousness, which enveloped his entire being. He looked at Bianca with so much respect and awe that a lump formed in his throat. Then he looked past her towards the people who had accompanied her. He instructed all the servants to immediately get in action and take the guests to the guestrooms.

Bianca watched as the servants scurried around in their indigo dresses sprinkled with white dots. She could feel their eager glances towards her as they hurried. There was a murmur and thrill and the whole atmosphere was charged like electricity.

Bianca was overwhelmed with a sudden wave of emotion as she struggled to find her footing in a new world. Her hand was touching Brantley's and she automatically caught hold of his index finger. Feeling her anxiety, Brantley held her hand and intertwined his fingers around hers. She felt better, even safe.

As they walked through the main hall, a woman came running towards them. She bowed her head. "Your Highness!" she breathed as she tried her best not to glance at him, but to see Bianca.

A tall woman wearing a gown of indigo and white, which marked her as one of the servants of the palace, stood before them. The only difference was that she wore a corsage of satin indigo flowers pinned on her dress. Her warm and friendly face had wrinkles around her eyes. With black hair neatly braided and swept past her shoulders, she looked experienced. She bowed to Bianca. "Holly Gyster," she said as she looked at Bianca with utmost interest. "Your servant in attendance."

"Take the lady to my personal apartments and see that she is taken care of properly. We can't wait a moment longer."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Holly bowed again.

Brantley turned to Bianca and said, "She will be taking care of you. I have to attend a few urgent council meetings and will join you in an hour."

A little anxious, Bianca nodded with a feeble smile.

"Don't worry Bianca, Holly is going to take care of you nicely." He took her hand to his lips and pressed a warm kiss. Without wasting time, he left her with Holly.

Bianca gazed at his back for a long time.

"Come along, Your Highness." The way Holly said enthusiastically with delightful expressions, it made her cheeks red. She was too pleased to be of assistance to Bianca. "I will take you to your royal chambers."

Bianca took a deep breath and found herself fixed at her place.

Holly smiled at her again and encouraged her, "Please come this way Your Royal Highness."

Overwhelmed with everything around her, Bianca followed her. Just an hour before she was in the Silver Mansion minding her own business, and now she was in a palace, which had waited for her. She had been to Ixoviya many times before and had seen how the servants had behaved around them, pampering them at every possible step, but she did not control things, or they weren't exclusively for her. This… was different.

As she walked along, she noticed that there was a pathway of stone on the left side that ran along the length, which ended with a portcullis. The cobblestone road was dry and hard. This was perhaps the only entrance in and out of the palace. There was a line of royal guards standing just on the outside and inside of the portcullis. Torches lit the entire pathway and illuminated the place. The weather was pretty hot and she was drenched in sweat.

"Your Royal Highness, this way please," said Holly as she pushed open a heavy wooden door, which had dragons crafted in the frames. The doors opened into a landing, which was at the foot of a stairwell.

Bianca huffed. "This is so hot!" she said and as she looked up at the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a room with tall ceilings and heavy chandeliers. The dark wooden floor was polished. Bianca scanned the room. To say it was huge was an understatement. The walls were made from white marble and appeared cooler. A line of floor to ceiling windows lined the back wall, which faced the mountainside.

Holly waited for her as she took a quick round of the royal chambers. She noticed that there was a bedroom on the left, which had an attached bathroom that was bigger than her room. The four poster bed was big and could accommodate five people without anyone noticing the other. Its gossamer white curtains were neatly tied on the sides. The linen was green, white and gold—very stately. Right behind the bed was the royal crest—two dragons facing each other embroidered from gold thread over green silk. It was mesmerizing.

Everything was just… large. The furniture was beautiful and she noticed that it was old fashioned, perhaps vintage.

"Your Highness, the king will be calling upon his council members to meet you and I am sure he expects you to meet them in an hour. Would you like to get dressed?" said Holly.

"How do you know?" asked Bianca because she never heard that conversation between her and Brantley.

"I was informed about it by Arnik on my way to meet you."

"Oh!"

Holly looked at her expectantly.

"Okay," Bianca replied.

In the next one hour, Bianca was given a bath with aromatic soaps and dressed. When she looked at herself in the large oval mirror of the dressing table in the dressing room, she thought she looked like a Disney princess—beautiful and stunning. Her dress consisted of long skirts with sleeves of crimson that were puffed on the shoulders. The crimson bodice had intricately embroidered white roses with golden centers. Half of her hair was pinned at the back with pearl pins and the rest fell in loose waves over her exposed shoulders.

Only a royal servant could bring about this kind of an effect. Bianca had never been dressed like this. Her eighteenth birthday was turning into a fairy tale and she loved it. She didn't know what was going to happen the next day, and she decided to live just today.

"You look beautiful," said Holly as tears formed in her eyes. The palace was seeing a queen after so long that Holly was almost in the state of worshipping her. "There's just one thing that remains," she said and quickly took out a white pearl necklace from the box on the dressing table and clasped it around her neck. "Perfect!"

"Thank you Holly," said Bianca with a smile and her dimple appeared.

"It is my pleasure, Your Highness," she said, and then she moved to pick up a tiara for her to wear.