High School Ramblings

High School Ramblings, 2

This is another excerpt from my first story, and it's dated two, almost three years later than the previous Zine entry. Irene is Gwendolyn's sister, and Camelot is Irene's husband. Queen Gwen, the main character's mother, is dead. Andiysies and Gwendolyn have five children. Irene has hurt herself and can not walk. This excerpt starts in the early morning.

"Shall I send for some food?" I said. (Gwendolyn) I didn't realize that everyone else had eaten.

"If you need something to eat, go ahead. We've already eaten this morning," King Andiysies said. "Wait, let me send for your food. I have a surprise for you." My husband left the chamber, and had a mischievous grin on his face.

We all waited with baited breath. A platter of food came, and it had a note on it.

My dearest Gwendolyn, will you join me for a night of surprises? It will be just you and me if my mother will agree to take the children tonight. -Andiysies.-

"Queen Rachel, would you take the children tonight?" I asked, hopeful that she would say yes. I really wanted a night away from the children and to be alone with Andiysies for once.

"Wha-Oh! Of course I will. Gwenavere and Alturas are so well behaved for their age. When Andiysies and Camelot were that age, they were simply terrors." The queen smiled and nodded her head in approval. The matter was set, and I ate my morning meal.

Soon after I was finished, and a servant had taken my tray, Irene got a surprise. A chair with wheels was brought in.

"My dear wife," Camelot said, "this wheeled chair is for you to move around the castle in. I have placed ramps on all of the stairs so that you can move between levels of the castle. Mother didn't want you to walk yet, so I had this created." King Camelot helped Irene into the chair.

"Oh, Camelot! You didn't have to do this for me. I could have just sat in bed, you know."

Queen Rachel gave Irene a stern look. "No, Irene, you could #not# have just sat in bed. You have queenly duties that you must attend to. Use the chair, and move freely about the castle. It would not be good for you to sit in bed all the time, nor move from that place. Trust me, I should know."

The rest of the day passed quickly. Before I knew it, the sun had started to set.

"Please excuse me. I must prepare to meet my husband." I left Irene's chambers, and set off to change in the guest chambers that had been set aside for Andiysies and I. I chose a robin's-egg blue dress, and put it on. It was a bit tight around my belly, but I didn't care, it was my husband's favorite dress.

Andiysies came in, just ad my personal maid had finished my hair. I stood to greet him, and his expression turned sour.

"My dear, why do you insist up on wearing dresses that make you look uncomfortable? Yes, I know that this is my favorite dress, but let me help you with your choice of wardrobe tonight. Close your eyes!" I did so, and i heard Andiysies leave the chamber. Moments later, her returned. "Open your eyes, and tell me what you think."

When I opened my eyes, I saw the most beautiful dress. It was light blue-purple in color. "Oh, Andiysies, it's beautiful!" Other than those words, I was not able to speak.

"Well? Put it on, Gwendolyn. I dare say that you'll be more comfortable in that."

"Yes, your Highness." I was overcome with a fit of humor. "you are my King and I must obey you."

Catching my playfulness, Andiysies pretended to become angry."Queen Gwendolyn, you are wasting my patience. I am in a hurry to start our romantic evening."

"Yes, your Highness, I will hurry, you Highness." I laughed, and Andiysies left so that I could change. The dress was of the softest, warmest, and lightest silken material that I had ever seen or felt. It shimmered and changed colors when I moved. It changed from more purple to less, and from more blue to less. There was no waist to it, and was at least six meters long than it needed to be on all sides but the front.

Andiysies came back in, and I hugged him. "I absolutely love it!"

He laughed. "I knew you would like it. The fabric is three different colors, all interwoven with a shiny white silk. That's why it shimmers." We kissed, and I waited for Andiysies to continue. "Now, do you feel like eating, or receiving a surprise?"

"Oh, let's not eat now. I'm not hungry just yet."

"All right then, be prepared to be swept off your feet!" and he did just that. He took me to a waiting carriage. There was a messenger waiting beside the carriage, and Andiysies told him to warn the people that we were coming.

"Tell who?"

"Wait and see," was all he said. We were whisked away from the castle in an instant. We had just entered a forest when Andiysies told me to look out my window.

Outside, along the road, peasants were lined up holding pieces of parchment that had letters written on them. They spelled: 'Dearest Gwendolyn,' and then there were no more. A bit farther down the road, there were more peasants. 'You are the love of my life.'

One of the peasants came up to the carriage, and handed me a large bouquet of white fresh carnations. "Frum th' King, mah Queen."

"Oh, Andiysies, I don't deserve these. I haven't done anything to deserve them."

"My dearest Gwendolyn, being my wife is reason enough. I created this night in honor of your expectancy of our sixth child."

"You've won me over." I sighed. "I'm becoming hungry. May we go eat now?"

"Just as soon as we've exited this beautiful wood. I have an excellent meal lined up for us." I snuggled against my husband, putting my head on his shoulder.

The wood was indeed beautiful, but there was something wrong. When I looked at the sparkling frost, it made me think of sugar. Thinking of sugar made me think of sweets, which made me think of pastries. In turn, thinking of pastries made me think of delicacies, which made me turn my thoughts to food in general. Thinking of food made me hungrier, so the longer I looked, the hungrier I became.

I closed my eyes, and King Andiysies put his arms around me. "Tired already? But the night has hardly begun."

"No, not tired, at least not yet anyway. I hope there will be plenty of food, because I am beginning to grow weak from the want of food."

"There will be as much of it as you want. And there will be no need to rush when you eat. We have all night."

The castle that we came to was on the edge of the wood. It was a large and unfamiliar one. "Who's castle is this? I've never seen it before."

"This is my uncle's castle. We're actually in a different Kingdom, the Kingdom of Garth. That may explain why you have never seen it before. Uncle Bermuda has heard much about you, and he wanted to meet you. This is a perfect opportunity to do so. He and Aunt Clarinda have two children. One is about Alturas' age, and the other is close to the same age as Cora. My aunt has not had good luck when it comes to giving birth to children."

A jolly fat man came out of the castle to greet us as we got out of the carriage. "Nephew! How good it is to see you! I see that you've brought your beautiful wife. A pleasure, I assure you. A pleasure."

"Hello, Uncle Bermuda. I trust that you got my letter?"

"Yes, of course. What is the occasion, Andiysies?"

"All in good time, Uncle. All in good time."

Inside, the castle seemed bigger than it looked on the outside. It was also very beautiful.

"You have a beautiful castle, King Bermuda." I was awed by the beauty.

"Please, call me Uncle Bermuda. I expect that you are hungry?"

"Yes, very much so."

"Where is Aunt Clarinda, Uncle?" Andiysies was confused.

"She's up in bed with the chills and a slight fever."

"After we eat, I must introduce you to her." Andiysies smiled. "Uncle, there is a small matter that I need to discuss with you in private."

"Now?" Andiysies nodded. "Gwendolyn, go in through these doors. Don't worry, I won't eat your husband."

I went into the Dining Hall. It was a magnificent Dining Hall, grander than any other one I had seen before. The other people in the Hall besides myself were a boy, girl, and their nursemaid. The boy and girl seemed shy, and they looked like they were trying to hide themselves behind their nursemaid. I smiled at them, and the boy had the courage to smile back.

Andiysies and Uncle Bermuda came in, and teh boy ran to his father. "Gwendolyn, this is my son Jared." Uncle Bermuda ruffled his son's hair. "The little girl over there is my daughter Clarissa. Jared, go sit down so that we can eat." Jared did so, and Uncle Bermuda motioned for a servant to bring out the meal. Every meal had courses in Pendan, so I assumed that this was true in Garth.

The first course consisted of two great birds stuffed with leaves of lettuce, beet roots, and bread. A small plate of cold biscuits and butter was placed in front of me.

"Thank you. I was going to ask for some of these." The stuffed birds were very tender and delicious. After the course had been taken away, we began to talk.

"Now, tell me how you two met. I've heard bits and pieces of how you met, but I want to hear the real story."

We told Uncle Bermuda how we met, and that was as far as we had gotten when the next course arrived. It was a light course, consisting of a vegetable salad. For me, it was accompanied by more biscuits and butter.

"Are you sure that I won't be eating all of your biscuits and butter? " I didn't want to deplete the castle of something that they had very little of.

"Not at all." Uncle Bermuda chuckled. "They are my wife's favorite food." We ate, and I felt better about consuming the biscuits. Because the course was so light, I ate two plates of the biscuits. The course was cleared away, and we resumed our conversation.

"How many children do you two lovers have in your three-year marriage?"

I looked at Andiysies, and he looked at me with love in his eyes. "Five, soon to be six," I said.

"How is that possible? This is all so confusing." Uncle Bermuda sighed.

"Uncle, let me explain," Andiysies said. "Alturas and Gwenavere are like twins. Another child, our daughter Cora, was brought into this world alone. Then, our most recent two daughters, Rose and Laurel, are twins. The child that Gendolyn is carrying now will be our sixth child."

As the stew course arrived, we ceased our chatter, for servants are know to pass on anything they hear from their masters.

I was not aware that I was eating more than either man. I did, however, see them exchange confused glances. I really didn't care.

The last course that came was the dessert course. There were a great many small pastries, which pleased me. Throughout the meal, I had been looking for something to please my craving for something sweet and fluffy. Uncle Bermuda allowed his children to have a pastry, and then sent them off to bed.

Andiysies stood up, signaling that he was ready to leave. "Nephew, you do know that Aunt Clarinda will be disappointed if you do not say hello to yer, don't you?" Andiysies nodded, and then we followed Uncle Bermuda up many flights of stairs to his private chambers.

"Clarinda, you have guests." Uncle Bermuda ushered us in ahead of him.

Sitting on the bed was a woman. She was pale from being sick, and she was six months pregnant.

"Hello, Nephew. It is good to see you."

"Hello, Aunt Clarinda. Let me introduce you to my wife, Gwendolyn."

"Good evening, Queen Clarinda." I smiled.

"Dear, please call me Aunt Clarinda. After all, you are family." She smiled back.

"Gwendolyn, we really should be going. There is still more to this special night."

"Why is it a special night? I know of no events."

"Clarinda, let the lovers leave. I will tell you myself."

Andiysies and I left, and he looked troubled.

"What is wrong, my husband?" I didn't want Andiysies to worry.

"You ate so much during the meal. More than I have ever seen you eat."

"I'm an expectant mother. What did you expect?"

"I don't know." He paused. "Are you ready for the next surprise?"

"Of course." I kissed him, and he hugged me.

The next stop was at a quaint little inn. Our presence was commanding, and the innkeeper immediately beckoned for us to follow him. He took us to a ballroom that was smaller than what I was used to, but it was the right size for two people to dance in. Andiysies motioned for the musicians that were already there to start playing, and they started with a lively waltz.

"Oh my!" I exclaimed after the waltz had ended. "We haven't been dancing in, oh, so long! What a wonderful treat." The musicians started to play a slow song, and so we danced. We danced late into the night, enjoying ourselves.

When we were done, the innkeeper came into the ballroom with a cake. "Pardon me, your Majesties, here is a cake, complements of the King." The cake said: 'Congratulations on number six, Gwendolyn'

"Oh, Andiysies, it's lovely!"

"It's not from me, love. I wonder who sent it."

"Pardon me, your Highnesses, but the cake is from King Amadeus."

"Thank you, innkeeper. You may go now." He left. "So the cake is from Father. I will thank him tomorrow. We left the inn, taking the cake with us. "This has been a wonderful night, Andiysies. Thank you."

"It's not over yet. There is one more surprise." The carriage moved away into the night.

I leaned my head against Andiysies's shoulder. The seats were comfortable, and I was warm. "This has been a wonderful night."

"You said that earlier."

"I know, but it's been so wonderful that I thought that I should say it again." I closed my eyes to imprint the night so far in my mind. I must have fallen asleep, for, when I opened my eyes, it was morning. Andiysies was sitting next to the bed.

"Good morning, sleepyface. No, don't even think of apologizing. I should have known not to keep you out that late."

"That's all right. I closed my eyes to imprint the memory of our dance in my mind. I really didn't mean to fall asleep." I yawned. "You said that there was more to last night."

"Get dressed and eat first." Andiysies stood up to leave. "I'll see you in the Dining Hall."

I put on a deep red velvet dress, and followed my husband downstairs. As I entered the Hall, Andiysies motioned to a servant, and by the time I reached the table, the morning meal was set. It was a truly wonderful and peaceful meal.

After we ate, I rose to leave the Hall with my husband.

"Sit down. I'll be back for you. This is the last surprise." I waited, and he returned shortly. "Come, dear, the surprise awaits you in our chambers." Up we went, Andiysies smiling in anticipation. There, on the bed, was another dress.

"Another one? You really didn't have to do all this for me."

"It is a perfect opportunity to do this for you. You would have gotten it sooner or later. Try it on, I want to see how it looks on you," Andiysies said as he went to an outer chamber.

I put the purple-gold dress on. It was the loveliest dress that I had ever seen.