<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px"><div class="quotetitle"><input class="button2 btnlite" onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = '';      this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Hide'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerText = ''; this.value = 'Show'; }" style="text-align:center;width:100px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" type="button" value="Show"/></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w434/Alycia_Monique/Ella_zpsb37f7ba6.jpg">[ img ]</a></div></div></div></div><br/><div style="text-align: center;">- - - -</div><br/><br/>"Princess Maria Antonia Daniella Angelique ," came a quiet, hesitant voice at her door, accompanying the three knocks prior.<br/><br/>Dulcet violet eyes slowly fluttered open, barely visible among the silken sheets she found herself tangled amid. Vision blurred, she closed them again, groaning quietly as her door opened and the soft foot steps of her lady-in-waiting reached her, making their normal path to her window. Heavy drapes brushed against the floor as they were shifted open, light pouring through the window to fill her room with a warm light...A warm light that made her eyes burn, even if closed. Ducking her head under the sheets completely, Maria hoped her lady-in-waiting would leave her be, but her hope was in vain. The firm grip came faster than she'd have liked, pulling her sheets back, and sighing.<br/><br/>"Princess...Why must you fight the inevitable?"<br/><br/>Maria said nothing, instead sitting up slowly, arms stretching out as she tried to force herself to wake up to a more coherent level. Her eyes opened again, blinking themselves clear as her hands reached up to her hair, trying to work through the tangle of golden waves that had escaped her braid. Silk whispered over her frame as it fell away from her, sheets coming to bunch up at her feet while she looked around her room, sadness filling her eyes. Sliding her feet over the edge of the bed, her steps hit the cold stone floor below her and a shiver ran through her frame. Pushing the cold aside, Maria moved to the window, leaning against the frame as her gaze roamed around the kingdom, a silent tear trickling down her alabaster cheek.<br/><br/>It was just two days prior that she'd found out her hand was promised to the prince of their rival kingdom, in an effort to reach a truce, to stop the needless killing of their people. Since then, she'd hardly said a word, watching her world getting packed around her as she continued her needle-point with a bit of an angry finesse. Portraits that once held flowers in bloom were now marred with images of battle, the only way she could get out her feelings to the shock of her ladies. Each needle point she finished was quickly hastened away from her and disposed of.<span style="font-style: italic">"Thoughts of such evil and gore are not right for someone of your nature,"</span>they kept telling her. As if anger was something only men felt.<br/><br/>Simprina, her lady-in-waiting, moved silently behind her, preparing her wash basin and her clothes as yet another lady-in-waiting walked in, closing the door behind her. This one, however, carried a new edition to her dress that she was told to...test out.<span style="font-style: italic">"Before anyone else - can wear these - We must first!"</span>Simprina had gasped out the previous day.<br/><br/>As far as Maria was concerned, this new edition was completely ridiculous. It took her ladies twenty minutes to get her into the corset, before it was even laced up. The lacing alone took another ten to make sure it was optimally tight, holding in her non-existent fat.<br/><br/>Once the corset was firmly in place, Simprina reassuring her she looked perfect and thin, comparing her side profile to that of a coin, the elaborate fabrics were draped over her slight form. The clothing weighing her down, she braced on a table for balance as they fiddled with it all, slipping her feet into her matching shoes. Thankfully, just as she'd begun to get lightheaded from the compression of her body in the corset, she was allowed to sit down, her hair being firmly combed out as compliments showered over her.<br/><br/>Maria didn't hear them. Her mind was elsewhere, among all the memories that she'd gathered in these many halls, among the people she'd come to know...People she'd have to leave when this truce went through. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she steeled herself, her violet eyes stormy while the rest remained placid and serene.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I will do what's best for this kingdom...This is what I want...</span>she told herself before her eyes closed and her head dipped slightly.<span style="font-style: italic">...This is what I want...</span>