Today, I read up to chapter eleven in the book Fairest. Since my last blog, Aza has arrived at the castle. At the wedding, she sees the new queen for the first time along with the rest of the royal family (Prince Ijori, King Oscara, and his sister, Princess Elaine). Although the queen had been described as "merely pretty", she is incredibly gorgeous. I think that perhaps this has something to do with the title. Is it possible that she was somehow changed? Another thing that I believe may be important is that the queen wasn't able to sing at her wedding. Although this is bad luck, Aza still believes that the queen must have a true heart for the King to love her. Whenever Aza meets the Queen, she is so nervous that the Queen tries to comfort her.

The next day, she starts to explore the castle. When Aza walks in on a composing game, the Prince asks her to be on his team. They get along well throughout the game. This makes me wonder if she will become friends with him. I think that she may end up staying at the castle. Her ability to get along with other species like dwarves would make her an asset to the government. Later on in the day, Aza runs into Queen Ivi who is hiding from the choirmaster. The queen has a "unique" voice, but thinks that it is perfect the way that it is. If the queen thinks herself so much better than others in every way, how will she treat all of her subjects?

Today, I read the beginning of a book called Fairest. The book was written by Gail Carson Levine, the same author who wrote Ella Enchanted along with other fairy tale spinoffs. Fairest is narrated by Aza, or Lark, during what seems to be medieval times. As a baby, she was abandoned at the Featherbed Inn. Although the identity of her mother isn't revealed, she says that she was left in a velvet blanket edged with gold. I think that the blanket may play a large part in the rest of the book. It shows that she was born to wealth and possibly a title. Since her mother was rich, I don't understand why she abandoned Aza. I think that it is possible that she was an illegitimate child, or maybe part dwarf due to the color of her hair(hutn). Only dwarves can see or have hutn colored hair, which seems charcoal colored to humans. Although she is hideous to human guests, she looks alright to dwarves (large bones, pale blue skin, and black hair like them).

When one of guests, the Duchess of Olixo, decides to bring Aza to the King's wedding (a marriage to commoner Ivi from Kyrria), Aza is forced to oblige. This means facing hundreds of people who will stare at her. In Ayortha, beauty and a nice singing voice are needed to fit in. Aza has a wonderful voice, but is considered ugly. Due to her looks, her adoptive mother hopes that Aza will make a name for herself at the Sings surrounding the wedding (like a dance, but you show off by singing). Hopefully, her talents like mimicry and illusing (throwing her singing voice, a talent only she has), will help her. The thing that I wonder about, is how people who have never witnessed these skills before will view them. They may see her as an ogre using an enchantment (she looks like one), and try to lock her up. Either way, I think that her voice will influence the outcome of the book.