1 Unexpected Critter

Gwendolyn peered her nose above the pages of the novel she was reading to spare a glance at the critter who made their way into the study which was full head to toe of books tucked away in large wooden cases that spanned the entire room. She smiled at her youngest brother who scratched his tawny with highlights of the golden hair that she and her mother had before remembering what he had to say.

While waiting for his important news that he had so soon forgotten, her eyes brushed over the light that streamed through the windows, making the study a wash of a golden hue. Her father's study was immaculate in all ways possible with huge arching ceilings with brushed paintings of angels and blue skies.

His desk was a dark ebony wood that was pushed towards the huge glass windows that spanned from the floors to the top that overlooked the expansive lands of the gardens planted with her mother's favorite wisteria flowers that were now in bloom with the spring season. She would walk the grounds in the evening to clear her thoughts.

Her novel wasn't as intriguing as the expression on her brother's face, and she flipped the book over down at the end of the velvety floral chaise she was sitting on. It was a timeless classic full of sweet romance which was a stark contrast to the life she was living since she didn't take too well with male company. It was her forte to scare them off with her dry conversations. It wasn't surprising when she couldn't keep female companions either.

She loved to read in her free time or walk around the estate with her family when she wasn't harped around by her mother to accept invitations for tea time with other ladies to keep up with the empire gossip which she couldn't care less about. It was tiring to go to long parties for hours a day to do nothing but sit around.

Gwen avoided those invitations as much as possible which earned her the reputation of a shy flower. In her opinion, it was rather drab to live the lifestyle of chasing after people's assessments, first impressions, and clothing or personality styles that would rotate within a few months.

Despite her being past the ideal young marrying age at the age of twenty-four, she was still pretty new on the marriage market and during this age, marriage was all that young women talked about. It filled her head with nonsense. She wrinkled her nose at the storytelling of the ladies she had tea with a couple of weeks back about the rendezvous with a handsome stranger.

Adrian finally ran forward with wide eyes and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and out of her seat. She had to rearrange her dress, and her brother brushed her off by continuing to try and get her to hurry.

What could be so important to make such haste? Gwen smoothed a hand down the tiered pink skirt of her square neck lined dress with full lanterned sleeves and quickly followed after Adrian.

"Father is in the throne room sitting with mother," Adrian said. "I said that I saw you in the study earlier, so I came to fetch you."

Gwen ruffled his hair. "Thank you."

"I don't know what they want to say, but it has something to do with you."

"What could it be?" she questioned herself quietly.

The hallways of the mansion were beautiful marble with large paintings hung on the walls that her mother had carefully chosen for each wing of the palace. The throne room was in the front of the palace, and Gwen smiled at the guards along the way.

The guards nodded their heads with a bow, and Gwen waved them up. Her family made sure to drop all formalities with servants around the mansion, but the servants still were polite. Gwen wanted to keep that tradition since it kept a sense of unity among both nobles and commoners.

In the large mansion, her family members didn't need to be closely watched since there was protection around every corner. She had her knight who tended to follow her whenever she stepped off the grounds of the estate, but she didn't want someone to wait on her hand in feet in the house. Her father was one of the empire's strongest generals and went through fifteen years of grueling civil wars years before Gwendolyn was born.

Peace was restored when the emperor seized rule with the aid of talented individuals along with her father. He met her mother, with intelligence and wit which had snared the hearts of the empire, and got married.

The House of Caddell came back wealthy from many expeditions as well. All in all, her parents walked so that she and her siblings could run and have a fulfilling and successful life. Her family was close to one another, more so than the façade that nobles put on for dining parties.