Zofia slept late. She really shouldn't have, but she did. She woke up in her new bed with her cheeks still sticky from the sobbing she did through the night. She would marry a man she didn't love. A man she didn't know. She wondered what they would speak about if they were to talk to each other again. If they would even talk. She wondered how they would share a bed, or if they were even supposed to share a bed. It was a horrible move on his part, choosing a woman who was not fit to be a queen at all. She washed her face in her simple basin and put a simple light grey dress on that Juniper had picked out. She was not looking forward to the day at all. Zofia had only then started to realize what was happening, what she was getting into, that she would be made queen, that she would have a whole new place in the castle and that every other girl in the kingdom would hate her for it. It was like a wall was crumbling down around her, her defenses weakening. She had been fine where she was, dreaming that Nik would ask her to marry him and staying in a small house with little to no possessions, sharing a bed with her sister. Her heart ached for her sister. She had nothing that meant something to her. She lost her whole life when he had taken her away, with not even a pendant to remember her family or her mother by. Zofia knew she would never be able to face her father again either. She was not going to be bitter about that part. The only thing she was horribly sad about was not getting to say a proper goodbye to her sister, and that she wasn't able to save her from her father. Zofia tugged her blonde curls up into a bun and stepped out of her room. She was met with a face, an eager face that had her falling back against her door. 

"Your highness, I apologize. Please, let me help you."The dark haired woman said, careful to not touch Zofia. She frowned at her. She vaguely remembered seeing her face the day before.

"Who are you?" She questioned her, frowning. She stood upright again and brushed her thin dress off. "It's Zofia." She added, not liking the new title that was being forced upon her. 

"I am Livina, your highness, your handmaiden." She pointed out. Zofia hated hearing that. Could she not brush her own hair and make her own bed? Now she had someone who was going to do that for her. Furthermore, this Livina ignored her request at wanting to be called by her name. She simply nodded, and opened her bedroom door back up. Livina moved inside before Zofia followed. "Let me do your hair?" She offered. 

"It is done." Zofia countered, frowning at her. 

"Let me help." She insisted as she pulled her down into the stool and started to re-do her hair. Livina made her look like a dog, so she fixed her hair herself as someone came in with Juniper.  He was standing ready with a white ribbon that had numbers scrawled all over it. She stared at all the people in her space. Zofia was about to greet them when instead she jumped, nearly out of her skin. A door slammed and a voice boomed down the corridor. 

"How many times do I have to tell you? Do not move my papers!" Draegon shouted. He passed Zofia's door, walking swiftly. She caught a glimpse of him, with a few other men. Once he was out of ear shot, one of his young new servants ran past in tears. Zofia wanted to cry herself. She supposed that the servants that were previously his were about to be hers too. She did not want servants. She did not want people who would be her friends to be her slaves. Perhaps they were the very women that he would sneak in and out of his room. Rumors regarding the king were abundant. She was yet to see the whores that everyone said he has. She didn't know how she would deal with being the queen to a man who liked to share his bed, apparently. The girls whispered a lot, too. For all she knew, he was only putting on a show so he could get some legitimate heir. Zofia's mind wandered. Maybe he had made some favorite whore pregnant and she was going to be the cover for the kid, only to mysteriously die during her 'labor.'

"Let's get to it then." The man said in a singsong voice. He hurried over to Zofia with his ribbon, starting to wrap it around every part of her body. "A nice figure, truly a nice figure. I can see something tight on you." He offered, standing back and waving his hand. She gathered that he was the dressmaker. Juniper stood there looking all proud as he jumped back in to measure more parts of the future queen, parts she didn't know she had. 

"I don't want to look like a pumpkin." Zofia admitted to him, hoping her input would make a difference. 

"No pumpkin it is, my queen! I'm a dressmaker, not a farmer." He agreed, impressed at her for some reason. "Goddess?" He asked. Zofia looked at Juniper then at Lavina - who was fidgeting with straightening things up. 

"Yes?" Zofia agreed, confused. He spun her around before he paused. He put his fingers to his lips as he thought. Zofia sized him up in turn, feeling it would make her a little braver to stare at the one who was staring at her. 

"You need to put a different dress on. That thing is doing nothing for you." He said with a 'tsk.' Zofia chuckled. Marco waved his hand and Lavina quickly came over to help Zofia take the dress off. She covered herself as soon as she was left in only her under dress. Juniper excused herself. 

"As future queen, you really need to start taking care of your appearance, girl." He scolded her. He went over to the cupboard in the bedroom and filtered through the dresses that hung in it. He came back with something similar in color to the dress that she had been wearing, only it was much better looking, a figure fitting dress with sculpted shoulders. Zofia slipped it on and Livina did the buttons as Marco fiddled with her hair. She was probably foolish to think she would be getting away with wearing the comfortable dresses that she always used to wear. Marco turned to a dresser, and quickly turned around to put some black jewelry on Zofia.

"Such a beautiful queen." Marco gushed as he put his hands together. Zofia's eyes found the vanity mirror, which she stared at for a moment. It was a beautiful sight that stared back at her, but she felt unlike herself now that a professional had a hand in her appearance. She cast her eyes down sadly. If only her sister could see this. 

"I would need to get used to this." She said as she got up and ran her hands down her hips. She certainly couldn't wait to show Niklaus or Bella. The last person on her mind to present herself to was the king. Zofia turned just as Juniper stepped into the bedroom. She started to tear up. "Who would have thought that this only cost ten gold pieces?" She asked the older woman sarcastically, who wanted to cry even more at her statement. Marco wrapped his ribbon back around his neck and kissed the queen's cheeks before he sauntered out of there, mumbling about how he needed to get started on this wonderful dress. Zofia wasn't in the least bit excited. She wanted to crawl back into her old, small bed and cry. 

"Come on, dear. The king would like to see you." Juniper urged her on. Zofia squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before complying. She took Juniper's arm and walked out with her, down the hall and down the stairs. Draegon was standing before a few men, who were seated on the couches in the living area. He had been telling them about the new expense report on the repairs to the local schools, but he paused and his eyes moved over to the women in the doorway. Juniper let go of Zofia and stepped out of the picture. Draegon was staring again and it angered his bride to be. She wanted to shout at him and ask him why he was doing that. She bit her lip so hard that it turned red. her hands balled into fists at her sides. She composed herself as best she could in front of the guests. 

"Sit." He instructed, pointing to a chair for her. "Gentlemen. The future queen will be sitting in on our meetings so that she would be able to conduct the business if I were to not be here." He announced to everyone. Zofia took a seat as the whispers started up. Taking the seat was perhaps not the best way to put it. She nearly fell upon his announcement. She could hear what they were saying, talking about her and how she wasn't even of noble birth. She looked at all of the men nervously, then at Draegon. He was looking at her, ignoring the things that the men said, likely even agreeing with them. She cast her eyes downwards. Draegon cleared his throat and won the attention of the men back before he carried on talking. 

"As I was saying. Zofia, I was hoping you would take on one of the projects in town that need tending to?" Draegon put the attention on her. All eyes shifted to her. It was then that she noticed Dex sitting and taking notes. 

"A-alright?" She offered, but there was silence. "I am aware that you are tending to the repair of the schools, your highness. Perhaps then I can take charge of restoration of the old quarters?" Zofia changed her tone quickly. She wanted to sound smart, to prove that she wasn't just some stupid girl that Draegon could parade around and make fun of. There was more chatter among the men. They put their heads together and hurried whispers at one another. Zofia felt stupid for a moment. The old quarters had been destroyed some way or another many years ago. It was mostly in shambles and she was surprised no one had gotten around to repairing that yet. It was dangerous, and it lowered the aesthetic value of the kingdom. 

"We accept." The men said plainly. 

"Very well, Zofia?" Draegon turned back to her. She had thought that it was all over with, but clearly not. She looked at Draegon, wondering deeply why he was set out to embarrass her. She bit her lip. 

"We should gather men in town and give them wages for their work. First, I would say it all needs to be cleaned up. We need to salvage what we can before we rebuild with that." Zofia decided. Apparently it was the right decision, because the men nodded. Dex made notes. 

"The next order of business is the cattle going missing in the western section of Caledon." Dex told the king. The men muttered to one another, then nodded and turned their attention to the king. Zofia sat quietly for the rest of the meeting, enduring the odd glances that Draegon threw her way, and the glares the men gave. She wished for some tea, or anything to distract her. It was torture. 

* * * * * * * * * *