Chapter 5 Disappointment

Pierre gulped in fear as she felt her mother's gaze on her.

"Come". Queen Regina called in a monotone tone, her gaze still on Pierre.

"O-okay mother". Pierre stuttered a little as she forced her legs to move towards her mother.

WIth every step she took came a tight feeling in her gut, she hated this dinner already, hated the thought of being alone with her mother for more than five minutes(although couple maids were stationed at some corners of the dinning hall) but sadly she couldn't do anything to stop this dinner.

As she neared her mother she stopped walking, avoiding to look at her piercing emerald green eyes and Looking elsewhere instead.

"Sit". Came Queen Regina's next command and Pierre obeyed immediately, sitting on the chair opposite Queen Regina's.

As soon as Pierre sat down, the maids that we're stationed on some of the corners of the dinning hall immediately walked up to Pierre and her mother and they stood behind their backs - ready to be ordered around. No one spoke and there was silence for a while making Pierre to wonder what her mother was thinking about-.

"Why aren't you eating?". Queen Regina's voice broke the silence and also jolted Pierre out of her thought.

Pierre looked at the feast in front of her- fried chicken and rice with stew coupled with a bowl of curry chicken soup, baked beans and tomatoes, eggs and rashers and up to a dozen sliced honey glazed hams, fried potatoes with a bowl of hot steaming tomato sauce and lastly at the center of the dinning table sat a giant mouthwatering roast chicken on a golden platter- it's brown golden colour seemed to glitter, wheather it was just an imagination or not she wasn't sure. A couple of pomegranates and lemon sliced in half were used to garnish the mouthwatering roast chicken and by the right and left side of the roast chicken also sat silver bowls of fresh strawberries, grapes and red apples.

Seeing all these almost made Pierre's eyes to bulge out of their sockets, who in their right mind would serve all these food and expect just two people- an adult and a seven year old to eat it up? The maids obviously! Pierre then looked behind her and gave the two maid which stood behind her a 'are you guys out of your minds?' look but the maids completely avoided her eyes for they kept their eyes 'glued' at their feet without daring to look up once. Pierre sighed internally before thinking; did they think they were pigs or starving prisoners who hasn't eaten for ages?

And as if her mother heard her thoughts she spoke out; "I'm expecting guests after we have dinner".

Pierre internally sighed in relief before glancing down at the feast before her. All the different dishes, to simply put it were all mouthwatering and could make you hungry for a taste but somehow Pierre couldn't find the appetite to eat and also didn't know how to break this to her mother due to the fear that she might not take this likely.

After what seemed like eternity, which was actually a minute she finally summoned the courage to speak her mind. " I'm not really hungry mother". Pierre stated, not daring to look at her mother's face.

Queen Regina exhaled. "Alright then, how did today's archery practice go?" She asked raising her perfectly arched brow.

Pierre mentally sighed in relief that her mother didn't scold her for not eating, before replying quietly, "It went well mother".

"By well, do you mean you hit the bull's eye?" Queen Regina questioned eagerly.

Pierre gulped in fear before croaking out the answer. "N-no mother"

The dinning hall turned silent again for about a minute after Pierre gave her answer. Queen Regina sighed again but this time in disappointment,"thought as much, and to think I was actually expecting a positive response tsk.".

Pierre felt like hiding in a hole and crying, how on earth did her mother expect her to be able to shoot the target board just for learning for about four hours? It was so clear that her mother disliked her. She could see with the corners of her eyes that the maids behind her mother's back were giving her a look of pity which made her feel even worse. She didn't need their pity, heck she didn't need anyone's pity because this was her fate and she had to bear it alone.

Queen Regina seeing that Pierre hadn't utter a word angrily hit the the dinning table with her fist which rattled the plates and bowls filled with food and fruits and in turn made Pierre and the maids startled. "One week! One week Pierre! I expect you to be able to shoot an arrow perfectly and to also hit the target board in one week or else... Trust me you don't want to know what I'm capable of doing child, trust me". Queen Regina said threateningly making Pierre and even the maids gulp in fear of the Queen's ruth.

Pierre nodded quickly, her heart beating fast against her rib cage. Her mother's change of mood was expected but was so sudden it scared the hell out of her.

"I have nothing else to say to you Pierre, you're such a disappointment now leave my sight this instant!" Queen Regina spat glaring at Pierre.

Pierre swallowed her saliva and nodded weakly, "Thanks for inviting me for dinner mother". She muttered before hurriedly leaving the dinning hall but soon controlled her pace to a normal one as soon as she sighted some women walking towards her direction.

They were seven of them and three looked like they were in their mid thirties while the remaining four looked like they were in their early forties, but despite the age differences they all were beautiful in their own ways and were also wearing expensive jewelries and were clothed in beautiful silks and high quality material gowns. They all were chatting in high pitched posh and sickening sweet voices which made Pierre slightly irritated.

'This must be the guests she said she was expecting', Pierre thought as she remembered Queen's Regina's words about expecting guests. And Pierre guessed that they might be really wealthy noble women or wives of dukes.

"Good evening Ladies". Pierre greeted them as they neared and they all gasped.

"Oh my Goodness! Are you Queen Regina's son Pierre?" One of the ladies with blonde hair and brown eyes asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Yes I am-".

"My God! you're so beautiful!" Another chirped in.

"You're supposed to say handsome Maria, because he's a boy not a girl! Isn't that right Pierre?" Another with Auburn hair and blue eyes questioned Pierre though she didn't seem too sure about Pierre's gender herself.

Pierre rolled her eyes and was about to reply-.

"Wow! such delicate and feminine looks, never have I ever seen a boy that looks so much like a girl! Even my beautiful daughter Cherry doesn't stand a chance against him in terms of beauty!" Another lady said looking at Pierre with adoring eyes.

"He's so cute! Look at those teal eyes. They are the combination of his mother's and father's!"

"Well I'm not that surprised by his looks because both his parents are real stunners, especially his father late king Eliot. That man was so devilishly handsome that both married and single ladies chased after him". One of the ladies with platinum blonde hair and grey eyes said gazing at Pierre with her Piercing grey eyes.

"Yeah-".

"Good evening Ladies, the Queen asked me to lead you guys to the dinning hall right now". A guard Interrupted them as he relaid Queen Regina's orders.

"Oh how silly of us! We totally forget why we were here in the first place and that was because we were distracted by this beautiful Pearl here".

"His name his Pierre Jennifer, not Pearl!"

"Whatever, well bye Pierre! I hope to meet you again".

"Yeah me too!"

"Me three!"

"Me four!"

"Bye Pierre!"

"See you next time Pierre!"

"Yeah, see you next time!" Said the last Lady and finally they all left, following the guard to the dinning hall.

Pierre heaved a sigh of relief as they all left. Never in her life had she seen Noble women act like that and seeing those women act the way they did was shocking.

She knew she had good looks, even the maids would at times gush and compliment her and they would start their little gossips of how she was going to make ladies run after her when she comes of age.

Even Talia was not left out but they all didn't make a big deal out of it like those ladies did earlier. She sighed before walking away. She walked aimlessly through the castle and refrained from going to her chamber although it was past her bedtime.

'You are a disappointment!' Pierre's mother's voice echoed in her head thus making her stop in her tracks. She inhaled deep and then exhaled, clenching her hands in a fist she continued walking but this time with a destination in mind.

***

Pierre stood in front of the oak wood door. She seemed hesitant about opening it, she sighed and tightened the grip she had on the latern she was currently holding.

Finally summoning every ounce of courage in her she grabbed the knob of the door and twisted it and to her suprise - it opened! The smell of dust and cobwebs greeted her nostril making her sneeze hard. She gently wiped her nose with the back of her hand and walked into the dark room.

Pierre raised the latern she was holding above her head and it's bright golden yellow light illuminated the dark room showing a familiar giant potriat of a sinfully beautiful young man with cerelean blue eyes and shoulder length shiny blonde hair identical to Pierre's. The man on the potriat was wearing a plate armour and held a sword in his hand and he was in a fighting stance. Beside the portrait was another painting of the same man but this time he was wearing a white sleeve and black pants and he had a quiver filled with arrows strapped on his back also he was aiming an arrow as if he was about to shoot it out of the portrait.

Pierre walked closer to the second painting and reach for it - stroking it affectionately as soon as she touched it.

"Father...I hope I'm not a disappointment to you too". She muttered in despondency.