Wondering the halls {open}

[Natalia Delgado]

Natalia was wondering the halls with nothing better to do. Each heard someone’s foot steps she hid her self. Natalia was not like the rest of the princesses here. She had her own mind set on what she wanted not what her parents wanted. As well as she wasn’t as pretty as most of the girls here and being that she was different her clothing was different as well. The way she dressed was not as much as what a princess wore but that didn’t stop her from being happy and comfy.

Walking around Natalia noticed how beautiful the hallways were in this place. The paintings, the floors even the stairs seem to be magical. Noticing a big window she walked towards it and looked out of it. With a big smile she could see the whole front yard through that window. Never have she figured she was so high up in this place.

Turning away from the window when she saw a few princesses and prince walking. With a small smile she kept walking. Seeing a few white walls Natalia couldn’t help but wanting to paint on the white walls. To make it look magical if she could. But she new she couldn’t do that so her thoughts went away with that.

As Nat walked a song began to pop in her mind that she heard a while back and began to sing it.

I can see
when you stay low nothing happens
Does it feel right?

Late at night
things I thought I'd put behind me
haunt my mind

I just know there's no escape now
once it's set its eyes on you
but I won't run, have to stare it in the eye

Stand my ground, I won't give in
No more denying, I gotta face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand My Ground

It's all around
getting stronger, coming closer
into my world

I can feel
that it's time for me to face it
can I take it?

Though this might just be the ending
of the life I held so dear
but I won't run, there's no turning back from here

Stand my ground, I won't give in
No more denying, I gotta face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand My Ground

All I know for sure is I'm trying
I will always stand my ground

Stand my ground, I won't give in (I won't give in)
I won't give up (I won't give up)
no more denying, I got to face it
won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
if I don't make it, someone else will

Stand my ground, I won't give in
No more denying, I gotta face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand My Ground.


As she sang that song she was kind of dancing to it as well. The movies kind of just flowed with her as she sang the song. This was one of her favorite songs she had heard. But then again she had so many favorite songs. As she got done with the song she hoped nobody had heard her singing since she though she heard foot steps walking this way.

[Fidela Velasquez]

“Come, my darling,” Fidela cooed, reaching into her canary’s cage. The bright yellow bird tried to hop away from her hand, scolding her with its whistles and chirps for trying to trap it but it was no use. She cornered her and carefully curled her fingers around her fragile body, cradling her in her palm as pulled her hand out through the door. “There, now that was not so bad, was it? Silly Aria, I just wanted to put you in a smaller cage so you could enjoy the gardens with me!”

Kissing the tiny head that peeked out of her fingers, the Spanish noblewoman carried her cherished pet across the room and just as promised, placed it in a little cage that she could easy bring outside. Fidela had grown terribly lonely in her chambers with no one but her canary to keep her company. Her lover, the Spanish king, was extremely busy with the matters of state that accompanied such gatherings of monarchs and the other courtiers from their kingdom avoided her like the plague. She hoped that if she went out to the gardens, she would be able to meet a foreign lord or lady who would perhaps be her friend for as long as they stayed at Peterhof Palace.

She placed a light scarf over the cage to keep Aria quiet as they walked through the corridors and made sure she had her fan before lifting her bird off the table and leaving the room. She told her maid where she was going just in case the king wanted to find her and then took off in the direction of the gardens. Something distracted her along her journey, however, and a distinctively Spanish voice hit her ears as she rounded a corner. With a frightened gasp, she ducked back to hide, her spine pressed against the wall behind her.

When she first went to court in Madrid, Fidela started to make friends among the other lords and ladies but all that ended the moment rumors started drifting around that she had become the king’s mistress. If they befriended her, they would risk angering the queen and her children. Lady Velasquez was ostracized from everyone but the king himself and she took to avoiding them whenever possible. She could not bear to see their looks of disdain.

She peeked around the corner to see if the Spaniard was still there and cursed her luck when she realized it was one of the princesses. She was dancing around to the song she was singing to herself and in any other circumstance, Fidela would have probably giggled at the sight. Her lover’s children could be so strange at times! Unfortunately, she knew Princess Delgado would have no desire to speak to her father’s mistress and quickly pressed herself against the wall once more. She wanted to avoid a confrontation at all costs.

Little Aria, on the other hand, did not feel the same way. Fidela’s quick movements had caused the scarf covering her cage to fall to the ground, allowing the bird to hear the princess’s song. It immediately began to sing along, chirping and whistling as she hopped around on her perch. “No, no, no!” her mistress begged in a whisper, dropping to her knees to grab the scarf as she hastily tried to cover her up once more. “Quiet, little one! She will hear you!”

[Natalia Delgado]

When Natalia turned around when she got done with her song she had heard a bird. Biting her lower lip she had known what bird did that and who it belonged to. Looking to the window she wanted to see if she could see the reflection of her father’s mistress. Natalia was somewhat ashamed to be the princess of Spain because of her father. Of course her father wondered why Natalia nor any of the other princess and prince could find a wife or husband.

Seeing that she could not see the reflection she took a deep breath. “I know your there Fidela Velasquez. That is your bird that was singing along with me. You do not need to hid from me.” Natalia had said. Her Spanish accent was heard greatly. Nat was somewhat jealous of this lady. On her beauty as well as her father’s attention. Since Fidela came into his life Natalia had not had a strong daughter father relationship as she once did when she was younger. Natalia had not talked to her siblings about her and how they felt she was scared that they would make fun of her if she did.

The front of her body was facing the window but her head was looking over her shoulder. “When one is done singing and only thing could be heard was a bird at the last minute there is no point in trying to get the bird to quiet.”

Her hands were on her sides. Her red dress moved a little as she moved her legs. It was hard for this princess to stand still but she wanted to show that she was royalty and Fidela was nothing with out her father. The dress was not as much of a help. It was not what a princess would wear but it was given to her by her grandmother as well as the flats she wore. Normally she would wonder around barefooted but she figured around this place she would try to wear shoes.

[Fidela Velasquez]

Fidela bit her lip and closed her eyes when the princess addressed her by her name. Little Aria had ruined everything and there was no way of escaping now. It would be terribly rude to not speak to the princess when she already knew that she was there so with a deep breath, she forced a smile and stepped out from behind the corner. “Princesa,” she said, dropping into the deepest curtsey she could manage. Her dark green skirts folded beneath her and her black curls bounced against her face as she lowered her gaze towards the floor. “My sincerest apologies, your highness, I did not mean to interrupt your song. I was just on my way to the gardens and the scarf fell off her cage.”

There was a time when she saw the young princess as a potential friend but that hope was dashed the moment the king took her to his bed. What girl in her right mind would want to befriend her father’s mistress? Especially when that mistress was around the same age as most of his daughters? Fidela could not blame the princesses and queen for treating her with such contempt but that did not mean it hurt any less. She was terribly lonely and would have loved to have any one of them as her friend.

But unfortunately, she knew such a relationship was completely out of the question now that she had such a controversial place in court. She kept her head bowed and stayed in her courtesy, waiting for the princess to address her again. She hoped that Natalia would just dismiss her but prepared herself for the worst, just in case. Fidela had grown used to being insulted by other female courtiers and though the young princess never seemed like one to use such hurtful words, she readied herself for them anyway.

[Natalia Delgado]

Natalia shook her head. “You did not interrupt my song Fidela.” Looking away from her she could still see the pretty women who was behind her. When she had first meet her she was hoping for a new friend someone who could maybe help her out. But when she saw what happened she didn’t know if she could be friends with her. She did not hate this lady no she hated her father for doing this to her mother and to the family. “The bird is meant to sing. It is a birds nature to sing when they hear a song from time to time.”

Natalia looked at the lady. “The sad thing is after my father meet he changed.” Natalia turned her head to look at her. “His mind has only been on you and what is important. He loves his wife my mother. There is no changing that nor will he drop her. The sad thing is my relationship with him as a daughter dropped after he meet you.” Natalia turned her head and looked out the window. She did not wish to be bitter towards the mistress. With a sigh she looked at her. “One day we should have lunch get to know each other since you are going to be around more often.” At least she was going to try.

Looking at her she had been in a bowing position. “You can stop bowing Fidela.” Turning totally around Natalia looked at the bird. “Your lucky he gave you a bird. I tried to ask for a pet he told me no. Sure I get to ride his horse but the one I ride is not mine. I wanted a small pet like a rabbit or a ferret.” Natalia stopped looking at the bird and just sigh. “There is nothing to do here really.”

[Fidela Velasquez]

Fidela listened with a broken heart to the things the young princess told her. She knew what it was like to grow up desperate for a father’s love and hated that she was the cause of Natalia’s feelings of abandonment. When she became the king’s lover, she knew that his relationship with his wife would suffer but she never would have expected it to cause his children such pain. She looked down at the little bird in her cage and for the briefest of moments, contemplated ending her affair.

But after mulling it over in her mind, she realized that she was not strong enough to do such a thing. She cared deeply for the king and thought that he felt the same way about her. He was always spoiling her with gifts and affection, calling her by sweet little nicknames and making her blush. Was that not love? Fidela read many books growing up and that was how they described that emotion. They were in love and she could not break off their relationship just because his daughter was hurt. Kings had mistresses all the time, it was another thing she read about in her books, and Natalia should have known it was nothing against her.

Still, her heart went out to the poor girl and she felt obligated to at least try to repair the relationship between father and daughter. She slowly rose to her full height once the princess gave her permission though her dark eyes stayed glued to the floor between their feet. The king’s mistress did not feel like she had the right to meet Natalia’s gaze. “I will mention this when I see him again,” she replied quietly. “Perhaps he meant to find you a pet but became busy with something else and forgot. I will remind him that you would like a rabbit of a ferret and I am certain you will have one by the end of the day.”

Her eyes flickered up for a short moment after hearing the princess say there was nothing to do in Peterhof palace. Fidela felt the same way and wanted to ask if Natalia would have liked to join her in the gardens but she did not have the courage to do so. The poor girl just finished telling her how much her relationship with her father had suffered since he took a mistress, it would be cruel to force her to endure her presence!

[Natalia Delgado]

Natalia kept her gaze at this mistress. She would never thought that her father would do such a filthy thing to her family. To have a mistress in there home every day every night. She hoped that one day her mother and the rest of her family would do something about this. Soon enough her brother would take the thrown and maybe he would do something about this. Natalia new that Fidela would never understand how much her being there hurt her and her relationship with the rest of the family.

When she spoke Natalia got mad. “I do not need your help with my father. Don’t speak as if you know my father. You know nothing of him. He only buys things for you so it’ll make up for having a wife and children. He does the same thing to my mother. He buys things for her to make up for having you here. You have no right to talk to him about my feelings.” Natalia didn’t want her father to speak to her just because she told him to. “If you talk to him he’ll only be doing things because you told him to not because he wants to.”

Natalia turned her back from her and looked out once again. “If you are going to talk to someone its rude to look down. You should know that.” Natalia was still upset that Fidela was going to talk to her father about her. Natalia didn’t hare Fidela she had actually liked her before she found out about her and her father. “I don’t need him to buy me a pet. I had found two of them I brought them home and of course he said he didn’t want animals in his house. Yet he let you have an animal. If you want my father you can have him. But remember he won’t love you as much as he loves his wife. If he did love you as much then maybe he would take you out more like he does my mother.” That was Natalia could see but she wasn’t sure if it was true or not.

Looking down to the floor she did not wanting her to see her face on how much pain there was. Natalia didn’t know if the rest of her family was okay with this. If she was the only one who saw this was wrong.

[Fidela Velasquez]

The princess's words felt like a slap across Fidela's face and it took all her strength to keep from bursting into tears like a young child. She was a grown woman and had to be more in control of her emotions than that. Raising her gaze because her gesture of submission seemed to upset Natalia, she looked the other girl straight in the eyes and decided she would not allow her to hurt her. As the king's mistress, she knew him better than anyone else in the royal court and the things the princess said to her, while painful, were completely untrue. At least, they were in Fidela's naive mind.

She knew she should have held her tongue but she had been insulted and needed to save her pride, even if it meant upsetting the princess. There would be hell to pay for speaking that way but she was certain her lover would be able to save her from the scandal. “I know your father very well, your Highness,” she insisted, her gaze never wavering. “You can continue to live in your fairytale if you wish but I know that he does not love your mother like he loves me. We are very close, Princess, and while he may buy the queen gifts to appease her, I am the one who shares his bed at night. You are his daughter but you do not know him as I do. I know him better than anyone.”

Fidela swelled with a surge of courage after speaking so boldly and she held her head high with a smug smile as soon as she was finished. She felt as though she could conquer the world and knew she would never let another person make her feel badly for her position in court. She had the favor of the king and that was enough for her. Dipping her chin just slightly in a feigned show of respect for the princess, she tightened her hold on her bird cage and said, “Now if you will excuse me, I believe Aria and I were on our way to the garden. It was a pleasure speaking to you, Princess.”

[Natalia Delgado]

Natalia was mad at the words that were said by Fidela. “Why do you wish to tear are family apart? What have we ever done to you?” Natalia tired to hold the tears. “You’re a too young for him. I don’t even understand why your with him. If you have a child that child can not be queen or king Fidela. You would have to hid that child. My father can not claim that child as his own.” Natalia new what would happen if he did claim a child of another woman. It would leave him dead or banished from Spain. “

“You are to hold that tongue woman. You are not allowed to talk to me like that. You are lucky I am peaceful person.” Natalia looked at her “You are a monster taking a father away from his own daughter. I saw that happen with friends of mine. With people I see when I walk the street. I thought I was lucky that my father loved his family. But you came along and it seems that he don’t love none of us. If anyone in my family gets hurt you will be the blame. You already tore down a relationship Fidela. I hope you are happy to take down a fathers love for a daughter.” Natalia looked down and turned away. She was trying to hold her tears.
“My father shares the bed with his wife Fidela. I don’t understand how someone can love two woman but he loves the both of you. I know more then you think I do Fidela. My father my think I’m a good daughter but I’m always watching always hearing things. When his not in his studies I read what he writes. I’m not stupid Fidela. He does love you but he loves my mother as well.”
Natalia wanted to say more but she new it was not in her place to speak any more. “Before you leave ask me this. Since you know my father so well as you say you do. Why does he hate me now? Ever since he met you he has ignored me but pay attention to my siblings. Tell me that one before you leave.” That was something Natalia wanted to know. Was it because they were almost the same age or was it because her father just hated her because words were being through the mind because of this woman.