Dr. Charles Dunnavant stepped off the sailboat onto the crooked old dock and glanced up at the grandeur of Mt. Sabastian. After marveling at it a moment, he followed the rippling ridges of the mountain down to where the rest of the island spread out before it in a swell of green trees and pale sand, which caught the afternoon sun and cast it back against his eyes in a blinding shimmer.
“All of this is mine,†he whispered, still quite unable to believe it. If someone had told him a year ago that he would spend his millions buying an island and settling there for the rest of his life, he would have laughed at them. But that was before he had set foot on Annabel Island and felt its mysterious lure. He remembered the first time he had seen that mountain rising up before him and the quiet sailboats skimming the shore…even then he had known…
A delicately insistent voice interrupted his musings.
“Help me onto the dock, Charles.â€
Dr. Dunnavant turned abruptly back to the boat. His wife was poised on the edge of it, holding out her hand.
“Isn’t it magnificent? It gets better every time I see it!†he exclaimed as he assisted Lily Dunnavant onto the dock. She adjusted her hat and squinted up at the oddly-shaped mountain.
“It’s beautiful, dear. I wonder if the house is ready for us?â€
Charles smiled fondly at his wife. When they had boarded the sailboat at the mainland, she had seemed eager for their new adventure, but now there was a smidgen of nervousness in her usually serene face.
“Don’t fret, darling — of course it’s ready,†he said, offering her his arm. “Everything’s been taken care of. When you climb into your bed tonight, you’ll feel as if you’d never left home, but you’ll sleep better than you’ve slept in your whole life.â€
Lily brightened, reassured by his comforting words and authoritative tone. She was a woman who liked to be pampered and taken care of, and Charles had never disappointed her in that regard.
A horse and buggy whisked them away down the already laid out roads to their new house. As the island was small, it only took them a few pleasant minutes. “There it is,†said Charles, as they rounded a bend in the road.
Lily wound her arm through her husband’s and leaned into him. “We’re really here,†she murmured.
Grinning from ear to ear, Charles helped his wife out of the buggy and sent the driver off to the stables. When he turned back to her, he saw she had already passed through the gate and was now standing on the front walk, gazing at the house.
“You like it, then?†Charles asked, strolling up beside her.
She turned to him with an uncertain smile. “It’s lovely, dear. Only…†she paused and lowered her lashes, “Don’t you think it’s a bit…large?â€
“Large? What the devil do you mean? You always said you wanted a mansion.” One corner of his mouth drew back into an odd, amused smile. “Are you worried that it’s too big to keep up? You know we’ll hire servants as soon as we can.”
“It’s not that, it’s…” Lily looked into her husband’s eyes. The look upon his face at that moment was so full of excitement that she couldn’t bear to mar it. “Never mind, dear,†she said, placing her hands on his shoulders. “It’s absolutely perfect. Shall we have a look inside?â€
Charles’s moustache gave a little twitch. “I thought we might stand out here for a spell,†he said teasingly. “It’s such good weather…”
Lily gasped. “Charles!â€
“Oh, very well, darling. You know I can’t resist you when you look at me like that.†He reached up to rest a gloved hand against her cheek. “You’re the most splendid creature on earth, and now you’re in the most splendid place on earth. What do you think of that?â€
A gentle blush colored Lily’s cheeks. “You sound as if you’re courting me all over again,†she said, glancing downward.
“Well,†said Charles merrily. “I suppose I am, in a sense! We’re starting over, you and I. Shall I carry you over the threshold?â€
Lily nodded, and Charles scooped her up into his arms.
In this fashion they entered the Dunnavant mansion and began their lives anew.
(NOTE: This is the intro to my Royal Kingdom Challenge. I’m hoping to write short updates for these so I can post more often, but we’ll see how it goes. Stay tuned for more!)
WHOA Jen – this house is amazing!!! Really, it looks so beautiful, and I like the fact that you made it purple/black – it’s SO great! I’m extremely excited on how it looks from the inside, defintely! And Lily is such a pretty lady, she has a great mesh, that extremely thin waist like in former times, great great great! Can’t wait to read on! Oh I believe you’re having loads of fun with this, so please keep going! My legacy family if currently starting to drive me insane… whoosh, really *lol*, I hope it’s somewhat calmer down at Annabel Island! – hoping to update my blog soon, anyway. Greetings, Eva
I think Im already in love with this story! That house, the people, the way you write it, its all great!!
Keep it up Jen, I want to read more!!! *jumps up and down*
This is so fabulous Jen! The house, like Eve M said, is just so amazing. I looks like it will be an exciting story. Are you having a good time playing the Royal Challenge? I’m really looking forward to reading more and I already like these characters!
This story looks fun :) And wow, that’s a beautiful house.
Beautiful. And, you take the most amazing sim pictures. You’re very talented. I’m excited to find out about this beautiful island and its inhabitants.
Please put this house up for download! I tried to build a sim sized replica of the sim doll house once and I almost did it but then I messed up on the roof where you have to make it pointy. Forgive me for not knowing what to call it! Tell me how you did that roof and I’ll leave you alone!
The house ( palace ) it´s lovely, really beautiful, here in Portugal ( Sintra ) we have alots of Palaces like this one.
Great job and the pictures are so beautiful too.
And good storie :)
Sorry my bad spelling.
Abso-specta-lutelarly friggin’ gorgeous. Quite simply.
I can’t wait for the next update! :D
Wow…. *crickets chirping* O.O *sigh of happiness*
Wow, another “timely” update!! I love it Jen, good luck with the challenge!!
I forgot, I love Lily’s hair. It’s so pretty. And Charles’ mustache is hot. :)
I was thinking of exactly was Eva was. She has a pa-rit-ty little waistline. Whoa. haha i wanna see the inside of the house. I love the roof on the house. The pointed one..its so sublime. Good job.
LOL…those crazy handlebar mustaches… :-D
BTW, Lily’s dress, hat, and hair are all from All About Style (with meshes from Chriko, Biene, and sussifriberg, respectively) — I just felt like I should mention that since Lily owes 99% of her beauty to those creations!
Oh, and the pointy roof on the house was created by Brasstex over at Mod the Sims 2. I think he must have cloned it from a column. It can be a little tricky to work with (it’s only one size), but it’s pretty cool.
Thanks for all of the comments, everyone — they made my day!
Hey Kath, I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but it said I had to register first, and when I tried to register, it said it was disabled. Just wanted to let you know. I suspect it’s part of the greater troubles you’ve been having with Blogsome. Have you joined SimScribes yet? We have a technical forum over there where you could post questions about Blogsome, and people are pretty good about answering (though it might take a day or two before anyone responds — the boards are a little quiet lately!). I personally have never used Blogsome, so I can’t help you much there. I know it can be very frustrating setting up a blog, but I hope you won’t give up! Best of luck whatever you decide to do. :-)
Lovely house! So looking forward to this new family and the neighborhood is really nice, is it a maxi layout or one that was made by you.
Oh Jen…I love it! The house, the sims, the story line…you’ve managed to blow us all away yet again! The story so far seems too good to be true…like one of the openings to a horror movie! LOL I can’t wait to see the next update! Great job and keep up the good work!
Thanks Jen. I really dont get why it wont let people comment on the blog. It did before…but now it wont.
Its driving me mad x.x
@__@
Is preedy.
Charles reminds me of the showman in the coconut’s song.
For some reason.
xD
Terrific story, Jen!
Charles and Lily seem like such a wonderful couple; I can’t wait to see what you have in store for them.
Wow, you really build a gorgeous house. I’m very curious how it will look from the inside. And I can’t wait for Nightlife to come out so you will be able to take pictures of the island from the roof terrace with the landscaping and other houses to be seen.
Also, I think Charles and Lily are an interesting couple. I wonder how the islanders are going to like them.
Jen, I got my blog working! ^^ Thanks to Amanda that is.
So now Im not giving up, and I have a new update up.
Yay! :D
Great update, you’re the BomB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to get my own blog!!!!!!!!
I love the house. Can’t wait to see pics of the inside.
Wow! I’m excited. I can hardly wait to see what you do with this challenge! First post for the story, and you’ve already got me hooked. Something about the way you write in conjunction with the excellent pictures makes me feel like I’m practically there. Keep it up. :)
i can’t wait until the next installment, Jen! :) (doesn’t that house look like the Will Lloyd Wright Dollhouse?)
Hey guys, I’m about halfway through the next update — it always takes me longer than I think it will, dangnabbit — so I’m hoping it’ll be up tomorrow night. I spent a couple of hours last night and tonight just trying to get our internet connection to work again, so that took up a good chunk of my time. It magically started working again, which is good — the cable people weren’t going to take a look at it until TUESDAY! Don’t they understand how badly some of us need our internet??
So it’s really late now, and my bed beckons… But I wanted to answer PRMami’s question first: the neighborhood terrain I used for Annabel Island is a Maxis-made one (I think). It’s basically an oddly-shaped island with a big mountain ridge on one side of it.
Oh, and I’ve seen some Will Wright dollhouse replicas on the Sims 2 Exchange (and maybe at Mod the Sims 2) — just do a search on “dollhouse”. I didn’t realize my house looked that much like it! heh.
Gorgeous!!!
I hadn’t even heard of the Royal Kingdom Challenge! Where have I been? ;-) Now I *must* download some 18th century clothing.