Abby yawned and cracked open her eyes…. Oh hell she was still here. Sighing, she razed herself into a sitting position. She heard a lot of bustling and commotion outside her room and called for Lady Jo to enquire.
"Oh My Lady! Thank goodness you are awake! After last night's excursion I thought you would sleep the day away and of course that could not happen. We have so much to do!"
Abby groaned. The dreaded ceremony was now one day away. But somehow it seemed a bit less daunting. That amazing spark she felt with the King was tempting but still she needed to find a way to get back home. She stretched and looked inquiringly at Lady Jo, " So where do we begin?"
"First off we need to get you fed, cleaned and dressed for.the day. Then we will have you measured for your wedding attire and we go over the ceremony and what you need to say and do."
Lady Jo clapped her hand summoning maids who laid out Abby's breakfast. " Eat quickly but not too quickly we cannot have it coming back up!"
Hours later Abby rubbed her fingers in circles against her throbbing temples. Lady Jo was a task master!
" Again My Lady! Your bow must be perfect! Slowly and gracefully lower yourself to the ground like this and then place your fingers together like so and bow." She said as she demonstrated.
" Must I wear this heavy headdress when I am practicing! It throws off my balance!"
"Yes! You must!" came Lady Jo's scandalized reply, " It is part of the traditional wedding garments and since you will be wearing it during the ceremony you may ask well learn to bow with it on!"
"It looks silly with my hair! Huge black headdress with my bright red hair. Isn't there any other option?"
Lady Jo looked even more offended. " No my Lady there is not. No foreign woman of your ummm coloring has ever had the honor of marrying into the dynasty. Therefore it has never even had to be thought of. You are the first. There have been pairings with other species but those were never of royal birth.
Abby sat there quietly and contemplated on that. And then she did a double take. "Excuse me, did you say other species?"
Lady Jo did a haughty sniff and said, "why yes. It is quite common for average villagers to mate with werewolves, or other fae creatures. Except for witches as we are currently at war with them. But it is unheard of for royalty to marry any of the other Fae creatures because of their dragon lineage. They only marry other royals; some locally, some from realms who we trade or have treaties with but only those who were dragon born shifters or humans. Which is why you being a Princess from a Foreign realm makes you acceptable."
Oh Bloody hell! thought Abby. What have I got myself into now? If they find out I'm not truly a Princess what will they do to me?