Of course, Radia thought to herself. Why would the royals care about their people. She sighed, leaning back against the door frame. She was about to go into her room and get settled in when she saw he was stopped by a servant. She quietly watched while they exchanged words, and didn't look away when he turned around. There was no point in pretending she wasn't watching, she didn't even hear what the said anyways. She tilted her head. "Now? Why? For what?" She asked, and then another question popped up. "How? I don't have any 'fancy' clothes."

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James simply sighed, when he saw she'd been watching the conversation, but he supposed that he'd expected her to, really. "For a dinner, with some of your possible suitors, myself, and my parents. And you, of course. We often do this, with our new 'arrivals.'" He explained, with air quotes, when he said "arrivals", since they were all more or less prisoners, anyways. "You seem to forget you're in a castle. Do you seriously think that we don't have a literal ton of clothes here, for occasions such as this?" He said, almost jokingly.

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Radia tilted her head. "Suitors..." She whispered to herself, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. Radia cringed slightly, barely noticeable. She had forgotten she was in a castle, and everything that went along with being in a castle. Balls, parties, dinners. Radia had been looking at the castle as more of a prison where she was to be confined for the rest of her days unless she was able to slip past and run away. "You sell them off?" She asks, rather emotionlessly as she stared into space a bit.

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James watched her for a moment, almost sympathetically. Or, he at least didn't seem totally cold and uncaring about what happened to her. "No. It's sort of a competitive thing, honestly, and it's pretty awful. It'd probably be whoever gets to you first, in whatever way." He responded. "I'm not gonna lie, the whole thing's bad, especially since you don't get a choice." James told her, seeming to hesitate, before reaching a hand out, to lightly place it on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I really am." He said, as genuinely as he could manage, saying it out of an impulse, almost.

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Radia scoffed. A competition. The royals just kept getting better and better. Radia hugged the books closer to her chest. His words racked through her head, making no sense until he finished. She looked at his hand, and then slowly raised her gaze to his. She didn't respond at first. How does one react to first contact after a week? What could she say? At first, she didn't believe him, but why would he have a reason to lie to her. She sighed. "I guess I should start prepping." She said quietly. She straightened her back, and composed herself as best she could. She lightly shrugged his hand off and dipped her head. "I'll... See you later." She smiled weakly before disappearing into her room.

((Want to time skip to the dinner/right before the dinner?))

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James watched her with slightly narrower eyes, until she responded, trying to guess what she was thinking, maybe. "A couple of servants will come for you, to get you fitted, and actually dress you up and all that." He told her, with a small nod, returning his hand to his side eventually, watching her walk away. He seemed to almost hesitate for a moment, before doing the same, turning, and walking away.

(sure, right before might be good. maybe james has to go escort her?)

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The servants had finally left. They'd come nearly as soon as James had left to clean her, dress her, fix her hair, everything. Radia was exhausted from just that. She didn't even think she'd be able to go to the party without falling asleep in her food. She probably would, just to scare off the other suitors, competitors. Radia had wanted so badly to cry once the Prince had left, but five people showed up pulling carts of clothing and a large bucket filled with steaming water, with soap. They'd undressed her and cleaned her and dried her. Radia felt uncomfortable the whole time, but when she tried shooting them away, more would come, so shed given up. After the bath, they dressed her in ten different dresses before finding the perfect one, and Radia had to admit it was rather pretty, and comfortable.

They did her makeup next, fiddling around her face, lips, and eyes. Last done was her hair wich they braided and twisted into plaits atop her head, only leaving one strand loose and curled on the right side of her face. They gave her shoes-- which perplexed Radia because the dress covered her feet, so why was there need for shoes?-- last, which she still hadn't put on. They were black, and flat, comfortable enough. They admired her and giggled over her for a few minutes before finally, slowly, streaming out and into the hallway, saying someone would come to escort her soon. Which brought Radia to where she was now: sitting on the chair in front of her window. She'd debated taking off the dress and makeup, her own form of rebelling more, but she went against it. It would only be worse for her.

((Sure. (= ))

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James only had a few servants that helped him get ready, as he typically insisted that he was capable of at least bathing and dressing himself, on his own, and he wasn't wrong, of course. He only let them adjust his clothes, and tie his hair up, though he still didn't like it. He shooed away the extra jewels and such that they brought him, things a prince might be expected to wear, since he thought it was just too much. His parents always insisted that he did, since they tended to dress pretty eccentrically, lots of jewels and expensive clothes, solely to show off their wealth and status. James had stopped dressing like that, when he was about ten, but they still tried to get him to dress like that again, every single time he had to dress for some kind of event.

He let out a quick sigh of relief when the servants were finally gone, but that relief quickly faded, as one came back, and explained that he had to escort their latest arrival to the dining hall. James sighed, then in annoyance, and shooed that servant away, almost reluctantly leaving his quarters, and walking to her room, lightly knocking on the door.
(i might try and find some kind of outfit for him, too, if i have the time ;0 he looks really nice though, if that helps, lol)

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Radia startled out of her thoughts as someone knocked on her door. She got up and walked over to her bed where the shoes sat, waiting to be worn. She quickly dropped them onto the ground and slipped them on. She looked down at the dress, making sure she looked alright. She took a deep breath before walking over to the door. She hesitated with her hand on the handle. No one had told her who was to bring her to the dining hall. She doubted it would be anyone of importance, probably a servant, but she didn't want to embarrass herself nonetheless. She opened the door and was startled to see James there. She felt her cheeks flush, but she hopped it was hidden-- before leaving, the servants had told her to pinch her cheeks to bring color to them, and when she looked into the mirror, it seemed to work. "Uh, hi." She greeted. Her took in his outfit, finer than what he usually wore, but nothing extremely elegant, no rings, diamonds, jewels. But he didn't need them. He had his own charm in that plain type of elegant. She wondered how many of their prisoners he had had to watch get sold off to some other rich person. She wondered if he had to escort them to their auction, misery. He didn't seem to happy to do anything for her.

((Alright =D Here is Radia's Outfit *Clicky* ))

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(nice ;0)

James waited rather impatiently to open the door, mostly feeling so impatient and slightly annoyed, because of the whole servant thing. They usually never helped his mood, especially at times likes this. Or, any time, really. He briefly looked her over, glad that the servants hadn't gone totally overboard this time, as this was nothing compared to how he'd seen a few people dressed, from the servants, before. "It seems I'm going to escort you." He stated simply. "Let me know, if it's too much for you, alright? Because, I doubt they'll leave you alone very much. It will get overwhelming, very quickly, probably." He told her, in a quieter voice, since a few servants were still floating around, and he did not want them to hear.

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"It seems so," Radia mumbled under her breath to his first comment. She looked past him, into the hallway, wondering what would actually happen in the dining room. Was he exaggerating? Anyway, how would he know? He had never been in her current situation. She clenched her jaw slightly. "Fine. Alright." She responded, slightly coldly. She wouldn't tell him anything. She wasn't that weak or petty. She couldn't rely on him to fix her whole escape. If she wanted to escape the palace, she would need to get through this dinner without his help. "Let's get this over with then." She offered up, ready to leave and go to the dining room. She started coming up with a plan. She couldn't escape the castle yet, not on her own, she didn't know it well enough. But maybe, if she could get one of the suitors to warm up to her, she could use him to get out. Something along those lines. She'd just have to play along with the suitors, if she lasted long enough. No matter how much she planned, she was not ready for this.

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James nodded slightly, taking her tone and such as her being frustrated, that she had to do this. He wasn't mad about it, though. He could understand being frustrated right now, easily. He turned, and started walking to the dining hall, somewhat quickly, so he wouldn't get yelled at, for being late, or something. James occasionally glanced back at her, watching for signs of her being uncomfortable, or overwhelmed already, from the sheer thought of all of this. He'd been to other dinners, where his parents sort of showed off commoners they caught, and they were almost never happy during it, and his family, the suitors and all that, never left them alone, during the whole thing. Really, it was just a competition, and it always had been. James wanted to change that whole thing, one day, too.

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Radia follows, keeping her usual distance. Her mind was racing with a whole lot of thoughts, and she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept going back to when her father had tried marrying her off. She didn't hate him for it, she just wished he had talked to her. This was different. Then, she could leave whenever she wanted, and she eventually did. Here, she was trapped. She put her hands behind her back, fiddling around to get her nerves out. She tried to walk tall, remain impassive, but plans, thoughts, memories they all kept crowding her mind. She debated turning around and running back to her cell. No, you have to go. It may be your only way out. I kept walking, trying to clear my mind. I notice James looking back every once in a while. "Worried?" I ask.

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James couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking, about the dinner, specifically. Sure, he knew she didn't seem to be looking forward to it, but he wanted to know if she was curious, about it, honestly. "Somewhat. I'm worried for your sake, if anything. I know who's coming to this dinner, one's always drunk, one is quite ugly, and the other, well, he's just rude and snobby." He said, and shrugged slightly, choosing to face forward as he spoke, though his expression was one of slight disgust, about his relatives. All the decent ones were already married, honestly. He eventually stopped in front of the doors to the dining hall, looking back at her, briefly.

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Radia was confused by his first comment, but flinched at the rest. She figured the best option to go with was the drunk one. He probably wouldn't have enough common sense to keep her from escaping. The other two would probably know enough to keep her caged. She shuddered at the thought. Before she knew it, they were at the dining room doors. She took a deep breath in, righted herself, and looked up at James. "Ready?" She asked him, sounding as confident as she could. She gave a smile, hoping it worked. She did not want him worrying about her. That meant that there was something to worry about, but Radia knew she could hold her own. She had a plan. She kept telling herself so, and so she wouldn't-- couldn't-- stray. If she did, it would all crash and burn, and a chance at escaping would leave without her.

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