Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Stephanie was woken up in the same way she was even morning, with light that was way to bright in her eyes. Everything was the same, and she liked it that way. Change was rare and Stephanie thought it should stay that way. She moved aside her comforter and took a step into the cold floor. Yep, everything was the same as always. There wasn't a kingdom but a city and a town. Stephanie was a princess but there was still a separate government, they were just the face of the area. Even they family didn't quite understand how it worked, they weren't famous or notable they weren't highly regarded and nobody really knew about her existence except for some of the friends she had.

The hallways seemed to go on forever and the walls were cold and smooth. Only the lights let off a warm glow, just as they always were. Everything in the castle was cold, her crown, the floor, the was, even she herself was a little cold.

It was supposed to be nice out today. The clouds would be elsewhere and the sky a nice blue. The brick pathways would have heat coming off of them and the sun would be shining down. Stephanie got ready and started the walk into town.

Adaline woke up, the soft golden light of the sun illuminating her room. It was too nice of a day to spend it inside, good thing she wouldn't have to. The farmers market was today and she had to set up her stand. She gathered her stuff together, herbs, spices, and many varieties of flowers.

With the sun shining down the house was hot, way too hot. The dark wooden floor burned and so did the windowsills. Adaline could only hope that the flowers would be good for the market in this sweltering heat. She put on a pair of sandals and went to the garden to pick some more flowers and harvest sunflower seeds.

By the time she was done setting up her stand the market was just about to start, she hoped that she could attract business to keep her flower shop open. The city was a decent size, she knew a few people but didn't have many friends. One of her closest friends was Sir Squiggle, she had no clue how he obtained that name but they were pals nonetheless. Sir Squiggle was a writer and book binder, he had his own section in the flower shop to sell his work.

It was a pretty slow day at the market but that was probably because it was only 8am. More people would come soon. The heat would also get worse, she might just quickly check out the one stall that was selling fans and get one herself. Or, she still had the list of what she needed to bring. So she just folded it up, it worked well enough for now.

As more interested individuals came to the market she was doing good, sales wise. Everything was going well for her, she might be able to keep her flower shop open. There was always a bit of small talk happening amongst the individuals walking through the market, the chatter was nice and it made the place more lively than the colorful stands.

One of the topics brought up again and again was that of the royal family. Nobody knew why they had one or what they did. It was kind of funny if you were to ask her about it. She wondered if they had ever been to the market before.

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Stephanie was almost at the market. She could hear the chatter in the distance and see a few colorful stands pop up in the horizon. A gentle breeze picked up, cold against the general 94° weather of the day.
The sun was blazing down with no remorse, only the one or two odd clouds shielding it's fury from the world every now and again. The chatter picked up, she was now at the beginning of the market, with certainty the cold drink stands would be getting a lot of customers. Stephanie thought about getting a fan, one of those folding ones that have their own language. Out of all of the stands one caught her eye, not because it was flashy but because it was simple and a dull lilac color. The stall (which was selling flowers and herbs) had a nice energy to it. The girl at the stand had fluffy coils of pale yellowish hair, a warm almond skin tone, and was wearing a straw hat with a flower and purple ribbon adorning it. The girl at the stand looked like she would melt if she got out of the shade of the stall, maybe she needed a fan as well.

Adaline had been at her stand since 6 am and she hasn't eaten much at all. It was now 12pm and she was starving. The market would end soon and she didn't want to adventure into the city by herself, so she decided that she would get a snack from here and then make food at home. Adaline was still thinking about the ridiculousness of the royal family. Adaline had never seen the royalty before, but the girl looking at her from a few feet away definitely had energy of the royal variety, adaline could see the crown in the girls tote. Eventually though, the girl walked away into the crowd.

Stephanie made her way to a stall selling folding fans. They were really pretty although some were more intricate than others.

Stephanie picked out two, one of them a dusty rose color with dark wooden ribs and the other a dandelion yellow with lighter wooden ribs. (Catch me getting fan terminology wrong). She paid and started heading back to the flower booth she saw earlier.

Adaline saw the sparkle of a crown from a satchel as the light fell over the girl she saw prior that day. Maybe they would talk and maybe even get along well enough to be friends. The girl walked up to her stall and slammed a fan on the counter of the stall, sliding it twords Adaline. Suddenly the girl in pink spoke "you looked like you were going to die in this heat" that surprised Adaline as she thought she was hiding her uncomfortableness to the weather really well. "Oh I didn't think I looked as badly as I felt in this weather" Adaline said quietly, she started to ramble a bit about how the sun hates her and how her flowers didn't look sellable any longer.

Stephanie was a bit impatient cutting the girls ramble short, " it's not that you look bad it's just really hot and you looked really uncomfortable, I'm Stephanie by the way. I don't think I've seen you around before." Her tone may have been flatter and more unwelcoming than intended but the pale haired girl just seemed to perk up a bit. " Oh I'm adaline and I moved here a month or two ago. It just took me a while to work up the courage to get out of my house!" She was a bit loud but not a bad kind of loud, like a sunshiney loud, like a bird chirping songs near your open window kind of loud. It was nice

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Chapter coming soon <3