More writing, less studying...
The next episode of this story thing:
Even her jealous uncle liked her well enough, until one day, when he was, as usual, up in his tower room plotting away, the thought occurred to him that perhaps he could get at his brother through the girl. And so one day little Violet, at the age of six, found herself being loomed over by her uncle, who cheerfully presented her with a toy bear, of his own making. It was a fine toy, for when he put his mind to it her uncle was quite skilled at the making of things. She was delighted, and it was only when her nursemaid examined it later that evening was it found to contain poisons in the little sewn-on eyes. No danger had come to the princess, but there was a great outcry and the king's brother immediately found. He claimed his innocence, said it must have been the merchant he bought the glass eyes from. The merchant was discovered on his way out of town, tried, and found guilty, for he was a foreign merchant and his command of the language was poor.
Princess Violet found the whole ordeal quite upsetting, because she had been rather fond of the bear, having declared it to be her favorite toy. But as children do, the next day she found a new bear on her bed, even better than the last, and was once again delighted. This toy then became the best toy in the world, for a whole week before the honor was then bestowed upon a little doll made out to be a fairy.
Overall, life was all well and good until her sixteenth year. However, before delving into the tragic tale and telling, of course to the horror of my gentle reader, of the harsh trials the dear princess had to suffer, a moment should be taken to describing the young princess as she was when she turned sixteen.
Violet grew to be of average height, and of slightly higher than average good looks. She was not stunningly beautiful-there was nothing special about her complexion (it was just slighly darker than normal for she loved being outside), her eyes were a simple blue, her hair was not black as night nor gold as wheat, the sun, or anything else golden in shade, but a nice rich brown that shone copper when in direct sunlight. She was fairly athletic for a princess, though she was not generally given to wild horseback riding, nor fencing. She was an excellent dancer and did not have an entirely poor singing voice, though nothing to attract the attention of crowds, kings or heavenly beings. She was fairly clever, and was in the habit of contradicting her tutors on everything they said that was at all disagreeable to her. What truly vexed these tutors about the princess, however, was that she was usually correct. But she was not so bright and intelligent that too much was to be made of it; only that her tutors found her troublesome and she received the occasional lecture from her father on the matter. She felt neutrally about etiquette, the same about history, passionate about politics, spiteful of mathematics, and fond of languages though she had no real faculty for them. While she was sweetly tempered for the most part, she was prone to arguing and was occasionally called stubborn. Really, she was a rather normal princess.
And so, with Violet's character and appearance firmly in our minds, let us return to the story.
On Princess Violet's sixteenth birthday, disaster struck. Her dear uncle, of whom she had been rather fond, and in the habit of trying to pry from his study for games with the family, had found himself a faction among some of the courtiers. He had enough support that one day he decided a coup was finally in order. And he chose the princess's sixteenth birthday to do it, while she was still too young to take her father's place upon his death.
Other than that...there's a ceili tonight. This is quite exciting.
Even her jealous uncle liked her well enough, until one day, when he was, as usual, up in his tower room plotting away, the thought occurred to him that perhaps he could get at his brother through the girl. And so one day little Violet, at the age of six, found herself being loomed over by her uncle, who cheerfully presented her with a toy bear, of his own making. It was a fine toy, for when he put his mind to it her uncle was quite skilled at the making of things. She was delighted, and it was only when her nursemaid examined it later that evening was it found to contain poisons in the little sewn-on eyes. No danger had come to the princess, but there was a great outcry and the king's brother immediately found. He claimed his innocence, said it must have been the merchant he bought the glass eyes from. The merchant was discovered on his way out of town, tried, and found guilty, for he was a foreign merchant and his command of the language was poor.
Princess Violet found the whole ordeal quite upsetting, because she had been rather fond of the bear, having declared it to be her favorite toy. But as children do, the next day she found a new bear on her bed, even better than the last, and was once again delighted. This toy then became the best toy in the world, for a whole week before the honor was then bestowed upon a little doll made out to be a fairy.
Overall, life was all well and good until her sixteenth year. However, before delving into the tragic tale and telling, of course to the horror of my gentle reader, of the harsh trials the dear princess had to suffer, a moment should be taken to describing the young princess as she was when she turned sixteen.
Violet grew to be of average height, and of slightly higher than average good looks. She was not stunningly beautiful-there was nothing special about her complexion (it was just slighly darker than normal for she loved being outside), her eyes were a simple blue, her hair was not black as night nor gold as wheat, the sun, or anything else golden in shade, but a nice rich brown that shone copper when in direct sunlight. She was fairly athletic for a princess, though she was not generally given to wild horseback riding, nor fencing. She was an excellent dancer and did not have an entirely poor singing voice, though nothing to attract the attention of crowds, kings or heavenly beings. She was fairly clever, and was in the habit of contradicting her tutors on everything they said that was at all disagreeable to her. What truly vexed these tutors about the princess, however, was that she was usually correct. But she was not so bright and intelligent that too much was to be made of it; only that her tutors found her troublesome and she received the occasional lecture from her father on the matter. She felt neutrally about etiquette, the same about history, passionate about politics, spiteful of mathematics, and fond of languages though she had no real faculty for them. While she was sweetly tempered for the most part, she was prone to arguing and was occasionally called stubborn. Really, she was a rather normal princess.
And so, with Violet's character and appearance firmly in our minds, let us return to the story.
On Princess Violet's sixteenth birthday, disaster struck. Her dear uncle, of whom she had been rather fond, and in the habit of trying to pry from his study for games with the family, had found himself a faction among some of the courtiers. He had enough support that one day he decided a coup was finally in order. And he chose the princess's sixteenth birthday to do it, while she was still too young to take her father's place upon his death.
Other than that...there's a ceili tonight. This is quite exciting.