21 -- Preparations.

Laura stretched, shamelessly yawning wide into her pillow. She had slept extremely late, going through the basics that had to be taken care of before they welcomed the Vampires.
Even though she was extremely tired, this part of running a kingdom appealed to her. Inviting dignitaries and welcoming guests. She loved it all.
She threw off her covers, standing and stretching her arms over her head again. She could feel the knots in her neck and shoulder unwind and she sighed. The days left till Prince Nicholas's arrival could be counted on her fingers and that spurred her movements the most.
She got dressed in under an hour, a feat for her and left Suzy alone in her room as she marched down to the halls. Elaine was already there, a troop of guards and maids hunkered on the floor, waiting for her. They all stood when she came in and greeted her, some with a frown and the other with indifference.
Laura tried not to make her hurt show and promised herself that she'd show them her competence this way. She told Elaine how she wanted to clean to go, shocked when Elaine suggested that she go back to her room.
"I need to take part in this, Elle. Let me." She squeezed Elaine's hand in hers, praying desperately that she would.
"Alright." Elaine patted her cheek and turned back to the gathered crowd, frowning when she saw them listening closely to Laura and her.
"Can we get back to work now? Austin, let your men take down the chandeliers so they can be scrubbed. We'd need ladders in here. Shuffer's boys, did they come with the equipment for the stairs and banisters?" Austin, who's a lanky man of about thirty five looked flustered by the amount of questions thrown at him and froze, simply blinking at Elaine.
"Well, speak up, boy." She barked and that got him to snap out of his trance. He nodded, his head still bobbing even as Elaine turned away from him, facing Mariella, the cook.
"We'd need a big feast." Mariella raised her hand then, slowly turning to look at Laura. Elaine waved her hand, telling her to speak.
"The kitchens are in disarray. You obviously don't expect us to cook for a crowd of over hundred with the meager stock we have in our barns. It simply won't do."
Growing up, Laura had always been afraid of her and this time wasn't different. She gulped as she tried to look Mariella squarely in the eye. But her eyes kept drifting to the huge, red birthmark on the edge of Mariella's eye and she gave up the pretense of looking into her eyes, settling on that red skin instead.
"Of course, I expected so." She hadn't, but she didn't want to make it seem like she didn't know that the kitchen and food in the kingdom was strained. She hadn't known that as well.
"I'd go down to the Bakery immediately and I'd let him know of our predicament. We can think of side pieces to go with the baked goods, I believe so. Right, Mariella?" Mariella nodded quickly, shock evident on her face.
"And the side pieces would barely take a thing. Oh dear." Laura placed her palm on her forehead, feeling her temperature skyrocket. "That's just day one. Whatever we are going to be feeding them. We don't even know how long they'll be here for."
She felt like giving into one of her Father's fainting spells but Elaine's arms around her shoulder stopped her from collapsing. She turned to look at Elaine.
"We'd have to get everything we need from the next town and that'd take two days. We don't have the money for that. Or rather, our resources are limited."
Elaine bussed her on the chin and turned to Austin. "Get Banks here. Let him know that The Princess requires his presence here at once and that we need the treasury to be open. Also, make sure the fastest horse is saddled and our best horseman is available. We'd need to be on the move before sundown."
Laura looked up at Elaine, unshed tears brimming in her eyes. She didn't know what she would do without her. Elaine had always come through for her and she was so grateful.
Austin ran out of the hall and Elaine instructed the maids to start washing linens and the curtains, for rooms to be aired and for the fireplace and grates to be swept. She wanted everywhere to look pristine and Laura couldn't have agreed more.
Mariella ran out of the room then, three scullery maids following after her. Laura turned to look at Elaine and remembered then that she had to pay a visit to the baker.
"I'll be off now." She dashed around Elaine, ignoring her cries to take a guard and ran out of the castle. She had just reached the gates when she screeched to a halt, narrowly missing bumping into Mary. She gaped at her.
"What are you doing here?" She looked down at her boots and saw that there was a scuff at the tops, probably caused by grinding her toes into the gravel grounds to stop her movement.
Mary looked down at her boots and smiled as well. "I promised you that I'd come visiting, so here I am."
Laura looked around them and putting her arm around Mary's shoulder, she walked the two of them outside the gates, nodding at the guard that kept watch at the gate and her stink eye. She looked around once they got outside as well and Mary yanked her arm off her shoulder.
"What are you looking for?"
Laura, her head still stretched to look behind a tree, answered, "Mathias. Where's that little rascal."
Mary breathed a laugh, not understanding her friend's infatuation with her baby brother. "My mom came back a few minutes ago so I had to leave him with her. She was so tired, but she missed her baby so much."
"And you, she didn't miss you so much?" Laura slanted a look at Mary. She had always teased her about Mrs. Sutherland's unwavering love for Mathias, and her dwindling love for Mary. It wasn't the truth, but Laura kept joking about it.
"Har. You're just jealous because she has Mattie all to herself this morning. Don't worry, I told her that you'd stop by." Linking their arms together, Mary led them down the slope, the girls chattering about dresses.
"You were coming to see me so early in the morning, I hope that there's no issue?" Mary regarded Laura's face closely. Laura was always prone to lying about her true feelings and she didn't want her friend to be that way with her.
"Oh No. I was heading down to the bakery. There's going to be a huge feast in a few days' time."
"How few? Can I join?" They had just gotten to the front of the village when Laura stopped them, turning to look at Mary.
"I'd want you to be there, in all honesty. But I don't think it would be wise. You see, we're having the Vampires over." She tried to make her voice as silent as ever, hoping that Mary heard her. She did, judging by the shout she gave immediately after Laura's proclamation.
"The vampires!" Laura's palm came over her mouth and her words were muffled.
"If I take off my hand, promise me that you won't shout." Mary nodded and Laura took her hand off, her hand a few inches from Mary's face, in case Mary wanted to scream again.
"What are we doing entertaining them? Those blood leeches." Mary gripped her arms tightly, wanting to shake the same fear she had whenever she thought about the vampires into her friend. But it looked like Laura would not be moved.
Laura turned her face away and immediately, Mary knew that something was wrong. She walked in front of Laura and kept putting herself in Laura's averted gaze till she was forced to look into her eyes. Mary sighed.
"Tell me what's going on, Laura. I'm frightened. For you." Mary hoped that this wouldn't be one of the times where Laura proved to be headstrong. Getting Laura to talk then would be a waste because once her mind was set up, she didn't back down from that decision.
"I'm getting married to Prince Nicholas."
Mary stared at her, unblinking. Laura frowned only then remembering that Mary might not know who he was.
"He's the Prince. The next on the throne."
Mary rolled her eyes at that. "Of course I know who Prince Nicholas is. It's like asking the Faeries who you are and then they look confused." Laura wanted to point out that the comparison wasn't the same but she kept quiet.
"Why did The King declare that? I thought he was leaving you to handle this betrothal thing by yourself." They had started walking again and their arms were wrapped around each other.
"Well, he's growing weaker by the minute and I think he wants to see me get married quickly. As a Father this time, he wants to make sure I'm taken care of. And also as the King, for this kingdom to prosper."
There was a comfortable silence as the two of them walked, simply breathing in the fresh air. Even as the kingdom was falling, the air here remained the best in all regions.
"I guess the Prince is a worthy enough suitor and would be good for both you and the kingdom. Your father would not have suggested him to you or even taken notice of him if it was a different matter. Although, I hear that he's a terrible flirt."
Laura looked at Mary and laughed. "And how did you come by such information? If I recall, you've never left this village in your entire life." They had just gotten to the baker but they stood outside, wanting to finish with their discussion.
"Mama travels and hears all such things. She tells me everything." Mary raised her chin in the air, smiling down at me. We both laughed as we pushed into the shop, thankful that there wasn't a crowd.
Peterson and two elderly women were the only ones around and he smiled at them both, placing the ladies' breads in a wicker basket. The ladies turned their noses up as they walked by Laura, not stopping to acknowledge her.
Laura didn't let that deter her, skipping over to Peterson, she greeted him and they began to talk about the preparations. She didn't tell him about the people visiting and looked at Mary, hoping that Mary wouldn't divulge the fact that vampires were coming to town.
After speaking with them for a few minutes, Peterson went inside, selecting samples and bringing them out to show her. Laura had never, for once in her life, thought much about food and it was a relief that Mary was there with her and she did most of the talking.
Mary handled the transaction smoothly, Laura only interfering to tell Peterson the amount of people they were expecting. After about an hour, they were done.
"Thank you, so much." Laura breathed out her thanks, letting Peterson know how grateful she was that he finally agreed to do everything at a discount price. She rose from her seat and cut a glance at Mary, wincing when she saw that Mary dozed on a couch.
"I'd make sure she gets home." Peterson, seeing her dilemma, offered. But Laura knew that I'd make her a terrible friend to leave Mary sleeping in the baker's shop. Anyone could walk in. Heaven's Lord, even Mrs. Sutherland.
Thinking on how frightening Mrs. Sutherland's ire would be when she found out that Laura had left Mary at the shop, dozing, she jammed her foot into Mary's calf, sending a prayer to the Moon Goddess when Mary jerked up.
"We have to leave, Mary." She didn't wait for Mary to agree with that but instead, linked her arm through Mary's and marched them out of the shop.