This was stupid.

The whole thing was just stupid.

Annalise Chamberlain was doing her best to keep her tongue held and her anger buried, but it wasn't exactly easy. What was the point of balls and parties? To find a suitor? To gain some allies? Despite her noble upbringing, the young woman had never understood all that went into it. Her parents had tried over and over again to get it to stick, but one can't lead a horse to water and make it drink it, too. If she wanted to retain the information, she would have.

Instead, over the years, she had stood in the back and watched all of the other rich snobs around her form business deals and then break those deals by the next get-together. She'd seen women and men cheat on their significant others (but God forbid the scandal!) and had heard some of the most passive-aggressive things a person could say about another with the sweetest smile on their face.

It had never been a life that had appealed to her.

Unfortunately for her and her family, however, there was another level to it all.

Yes, yes, the dear old Chamberlain's were involved with some kind of family rivalry. Anna could never say specifically what it was about or what had led to it, but did it really matter? All she knew was that her family hated this other family and they always had to up one another. Some kind of feud that had lasted for generations.

With a sigh, she did her best to release the tension in her body, pushing loose brunette strands behind her ear as she swayed with the movement of the carriage. That family would be there that night. Both under the same roof for the first time in years with the promise that they would behave themselves. Anna wasn't the one to worry about it.

It would always be her "perfect" mother and father. The two who wanted to see these people fail.

It was sad and exhausting.

Looking up from her hands, which she had rested in her lap, she decided to peak out of the curtain, feeling the carriage start slowing down. They had approached the hosting family's house now (something about celebrating an engagement, from what she'd heard the maids saying) and was about ready to jump out of the mode of transportation.

"Alright. Remember, chins up. Heads held high," she heard her father say. All she could do was nod before they came to a full stop. The door was pulled open a moment later, and in practiced formation, her father, then her mother, then herself would step out. Her father's suit seemed flawless in the light and her mother's dress sparkled like a thousand stars.

The blue dress Anna wore sparkled as well but it wasn't nearly as pretty with its "diamonds and pearls" as her mother's. She wouldn't complain. It made it that much easier to cling to the wall the moment she was allowed to roam around. Once introductions were over, she'd be free to go for a while.

By the stars, she couldn't wait to step onto a balcony and just stay away from the people inside the ballroom...