Chapter 7 4

It was finally the Runaway day and Esmeray had never been so nervous like she was now. She overheard Yamla's voice at the beginning of dawn as she woke Akasha up in her room downstairs, she still wasn't able to sleep. She heard Akasha grumbling as they went about whatever ritual they had, for in their heads, the King was going to choose Akasha as his bride. Even though a part of Esmeray's mind knew that no one will ever choose her as Papa wasn't going to present her to the group of gentlemen or their parents, she still had this nervous feeling at the pit of her heart.

Was it because she was going to wear the dress Jezebel had bought for her? Or maybe because Jezebel had tried to make sure her skin looked flawless too with the little skincare she knew as an old woman. She felt like a baby, certainly and was so both eager and anxious about the fact that she was going there. She went downstairs before the break of dawn as she did all the work that was assigned to her, for she wanted to have enough time in getting ready.

She heard Papa's voice in Akasha's room as both he and Yamla kept on complimenting her on the dress Esmeray had bought and somehow she wished she didn't buy that beautiful dress for her. But the moment she set her feet into the shop, it caught her eyes and she knew she just had to get it. She rushed upstairs, knowing in about an hour now they will all be in Papa's new car on their way to the location where the runaway took place every three months.

She took her bath as diligently as she had always done and when she was done, with the little costumes she had, Esmeray made sure her face looked flawless and she stared at her broken mirror with a soft satisfied smile dangling on her lips. There wasn't much on her, not even a single jewel or a crown but to her...she was certain she looked like a queen in all her grace.

"Esmeray! We're about to leave!" Papa called out from downstairs and while she hurriedly stood to her feet, her eyes caught the ring, and she smiled before she slid it into her finger, wondering how it fitted her perfectly as though she had been measured.

"I'm coming, Papa!" She yelled. Closing the door to the attic, Esmeray rushed downstairs and found them all seated in the car. She locked the house and slid the key into her gown pocket, knowing so well she would have to come back home early to make dinner for them before they do.

She hopped into the car with an apologetic smile on her lips and when she turned to where Akasha sat with an arrogant look as she smiled having had it in mind that she was going to become the Queen of Phaya Empire in a few days, Esmeray couldn't help but see how strikingly gorgeous she looked. "You look beautiful, Akasha." She mentioned with a harmless smile and only got a glare as an answer.

They drove in silence, with only Papa's favourite classic album booming through the speakers of his car as Yamla slightly turned to look at her before she turned her attention back to the road, "Where did you get that dress, Dan?" She mostly called her that, and Esmeray had concluded that it was because she hated her so much that calling her complete name would certainly irk her. And she hated it whenever she called her Dan.

"Umm..." she began, trying to find a befitting answer so none of them could roar at her or even get her a beating when they were back. And it had always been said, for a lie to be believed, one had to reveal even though a pinch of the truth. "I got it at the thrift store after I bought Akasha the dress, with the remaining change."

Akasha and Yamla turned to her with a glare and with her mouth filled with venom, Yamla spoke, "How dare you do that without asking, Esmeray?! Why didn't you bring the change back home?"

She was about to reply, even though with a stutter when for the first time in her life Papa came to her rescue. "I knew the money I gave her was too much, Lam. I'm glad she bought something good with the change, can't you see that at least she looked presentable? We can't have her be Akasha's chaperone when she's looking like a stranded cat, do we? That won't favour Akasha."

Yamla scoffed and turned to look through the window, she didn't see anything beautiful here, all she saw was a pulchritudinous looking young lady that had her breath hitched the first time she set her feet out of the house. This was looking no presentable, and even though she knew Akasha looked so dashing, still most men will choose Esmeray over her. She shuddered at the thought, but the only thing that kept her at ease was that she knew Papa was only going to introduce Akasha to the gentlemen there, and maybe if they were lucky, the king will choose her.

When they arrived at the stadium located at the outskirts of Dewhurst, Esmeray sighed as she felt her palms got sweaty. They all got down from the car and entered the vast place that one could never see its end. There were tents prepared for the royal and aristocratic families and she wondered which tent belonged to that man. She would appreciate it better if he didn't come out to everyone's seeing. For she knew, she would never get to see him that way.