After all of the suitors and their families had finally left for the night, Marie turned to her father. Her emerald green eyes were blazing with anger and frustration.

“I can’t believe you, Father, first you spring a surprise Gala on, and now you are forcing me into doing two one on one meetings every other day! You did not even bother to tell me beforehand!” she shouted, in a rare display of temper.

Her father’s face turned red with indignation, and for a moment Marie wondered if he would attempt to strike her. Her muscles tensed in preparation for a confrontation and she subtly assumed a wider stance. Much to her disappointment though, her father took a few deep breaths and regained control of himself.

"I almost wish he would have tried to hit me. If he had I would at least be able to take out my frustrations on him in a way that would (maybe) make him realize that I am not some pretty china doll. He is a-"

Her reflection was interrupted when her father spoke.

“Daughter, I have put up with your unladylike behavior for this long only because I hoped that you would outgrow it on your own. You are 19 Marie, and as it seems you will not, I am giving you two choices, and if you don’t choose, I will choose for you.”

Marie’s eyes widened in shock and anger at her father’s icy tone and her polite expression slipped. Although she quickly reassumed her usual polite mask, she knew that her father had caught a glimpse of her true emotions

"Damn him! I know he is my father but by the gods, he ought to burn in hellfire! If he thinks he can make me pick a husband now or keep me from sparring with Carline he’ll learn that I’ve grown claws.” she thought viciously.

“Either you continue with the private audiences and Gala’s, or I will simply pick a husband for you as most fathers do,” he said his voice leaving no room for an argument.

“I guess I finally overstepped my bounds, no point in making him angrier, he's likely to make me do something stupid, like go to an embroidery class or something,” Marie thought.

Shuddering inwardly at her passing thought, she curtsied gracefully. With that in mind, even though replying to her father's ultimatum politely was the last thing that Marie wanted to do, she replied to her father formally,

“Of course Father, my apologies, I would like to continue with the Gala’s and private audiences.”

Her father nodded in smug satisfaction turned to leave and then said,

“Oh, and Marie my darling, don’t attempt to drag this out. Beginning today, you will only have one year to find a husband. If you have not chosen one by then, I will marry you off to whomever I please”

Marie was beyond pissed but she waited for him to leave before venting an explosive sigh out of her nose. As upset as she was, after beckoning Baine she kept her pace slow so that her elderly chaperone could keep up. As they headed towards her chambers Marie's anger grew. She half hoped that Baine would say something that agreed with her father so she could take her anger out on him and immediately felt guilty.

“Baine isn’t the one who is trying to marry you off to the highest bidder, Father is.” she thought trying to keep a lid on her anger.

When Marie reached the stairs, she told Baine goodnight and flopped onto her bed, fancy dress and all, and screamed into her pillow.

"Why can't Father just leave me alone? I swear it is his sole goal in life is to make me as miserable as he can! I wish Mother were here, she was always good at reasoning with him."

She thought, a wave of sadness coursing through her as she thought of her mother. Suddenly there was a knock on the door,

“Who is it?” Marie called as she hastily sat up on the bed and smoothed her hair.

“It is your new maid, Nadasia, my Lady” an unfamiliar female voice responded.

“You may come in,” Marie said, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself.

The door opened and a beautiful young woman with long black hair and dark skin, dressed in a maid’s garb walked into the room looking at the floor.

Marie sighed “Please, look at me Nadasia I do not care for formalities in private.”

“Oh, who am I kidding? To tell the truth, I don’t care about them at all, but even I must keep up some semblance of appearances."

Marie thought to herself as she spoke.

Nadasia looked up slightly, still not meeting Marie’s eyes.

“May I be of any assistance my Lady?” she asked softly, seeming nervous.

“You can start by calling me Marie,” she said, smiling as Nadasia’s head jerked up quickly in surprise. When she did, Marie could see that her new maid had beautiful blue eyes, that perfectly complemented her darker skin and hair color.

"As you wish my- Marie” Nadasia replied.

"Now that we have that settled, would you mind helping me out of this wrenched gown?”

Marie asked, motioning to her stupidly fancy black dress. Nadasia quickly did as Marie had asked and the second the dress was off, Marie thanked Nadasia. Dismissing her, Marie grabbed the closest nightgown she could find. The dark indigo color made it one of her top five favorites. After she changed into it, she used the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Then she slipped under her soft silky sheets, sighing as the soft comfort of her down-filled mattress enveloped her. Stretching out her left arm she gently tapped her glowing yellow lamp crystal twice to turn it off. Despite the stress of the day, she fell asleep quickly.