Leah Squires: Final Major Project Creative Extract
Chapter Three: Seren
Veira and I walk up towards the castle, the sand and dirt of the path over the grassy cliffs crunching beneath our boots. The sun begins its descent into the ocean, its glow illuminating the sky in a pink haze, yet no warmth reaches us. Instead, the wind sweeps along the water’s surface and whips up through the waves, crashing into us in a cold collision of salt and sea spray. I clutch my hooded cloak around me with cold hands, and call out to Veira, “At this rate we’ll arrive at the ball looking like peasants!” Veira is quiet for a moment, as she often is when taking care to select honest words, or of course, when she refuses to speak at all. The latter will probably form her behaviour this evening. Amidst all her protests before we left the cottage, I had to remind her that this was a party. All she needs to do is look presentable, stay silent, and smile. “It’s all right,” she calls back. “Our cloaks are doing what they’re supposed to do.” As ever, I contemplate the truth of her statement and look down at my cloak, which has indeed taken the brunt of the weather’s force. Running a hand underneath my hood confirms my hair is also relatively well-protected. I painstakingly wove glittering threads through several braids, which I wrapped around my crown and pinned into place. Then I decorated the coronet with pearlescent jewels, a satin ribbon, and white blossoms from the peach tree in our garden. Veira