BECKY AND SAMMY helped me as we discussed my two-and-a-half weeks of hell. Stanley and his team had done so many makeovers on me, that I didn’t want to look at myself in the mirror, scared that I might find a second Arianna or Nichole.
They’d made me go to boring events and functions, told me how to sit. How to think twice before I opened my mouth to speak, sometimes even a third time.
It wasn’t me at all and it sure wasn’t the way my father and mother were either. I had to admit, the only place I did enjoy myself was when we visited the hospitals.
I would constantly find myself playing with the sick children. They weren’t kidding when they said a Swallow Annex couldn’t heal children, but they could care for them.
Children were fragile and small, and the Swallow Annex healing was a bit too much for their bodies to handle. So there were plenty of children, sick children who needed either transplants or medicine to heal them the old fashioned way.
Hospitals were filled with Swallow Annexes and every time I went to one, I searched desperately for Constance. But she was never there.
The political stuff they tried to teach me was my worst nightmare. Lucian hadn’t been joking when he said he used to fall asleep. It was boring and only when they started to clash heads and have words with one another did I actually learn something.
The Minister of Wealth, Conrad Divalgo, was hard headed. I guessed he had to be in order to work with Paegeia’s finances. He was constantly stopping me as I left, begging to work with mine.
Understandably, I declined as I really didn’t like how he handled his personal finances The Minister of Health, who wasn’t Constance, but a short fat guy with a name I couldn’t even pronounce, always wanted money to fix areas that had issues with public health.
Things didn’t make sense to me during these conversations, as I know Queen Margerite had fund raisers for this type of funding.
There were two advisers, Philip Seymore and Henry Vladimir, both had many different degrees that were as long as my arms, and the words coming out of their mouths were foreign, most of the time I had no idea what they meant and they were using English words, at least I think they were English.
When I thought about how on earth I was going to get all of this stuff into my head, understand what they mean and work out how to deal with the problems, it always boiled to one thing. I should’ve never made that promise to my dad.
He was born to be a king. Me, I had no idea how to even speak my mind, let alone make decisions about ruling a country.
I wondered if my mother struggled like this too when my father chose her to be his queen.
At night, I would silently scream for help. For someone to hear me and to get me out of here. I felt so trapped and more than half of me didn’t want to be a princess. I wasn’t cut out to be one.
I missed my old life, even if death was constantly chasing me. I missed my friends.
The worst was last night, at my so-called birthday party, which hadn’t even been held on my birthday. It was yet another makeover session that took up almost my entire day, and at night most of the time I was surrounded by girls I didn’t even know.
They were the children of some important figures in Paegeia, forced to be my friends. They spoke about shallow things, mostly surrounding my dragon who was still MIA.
When I saw Queen Margerite, I thought the nightmare would end, but when I saw Stanley close by, I couldn’t even tell her what kind of hell I was in.
He’d threatened me on numerous occasions, saying that if I didn’t learn these things, I wouldn’t get one cent of the money that was in my father’s vault. I still had to prove I was their child, that I was the princess, my blood wasn’t enough.
And this morning, I’d woken up on my birthday and found Becky. Now I was going back to the known. Back to what was normal.
“When we saw those pictures of you having fun, we thought that you’d forgotten about all of us.”
“Sammy.” I looked at her. “You are my friends, and those pictures, I was praying that you guys would notice that I was asking for help. I didn’t know what else I could do other than to act the complete opposite of a princess.” I looked at her, thinking of the hurt she must have felt. “Nothing would ever break up our friendship, nothing. It’s us three with our other halves, well the two of your other halves, against the world. That’s never going to change, no matter what these idiots say. You must never doubt that.”
Sammy grabbed me tightly around the neck, and pulled me in for a hug. I felt Becky getting pulled in too and for the first time in a long time, I felt like Elena Watkins, Malone, Squire, or whatever my name was supposed to be now.
Becky pushed both of us away and held us at elbow length with a stern look in her eyes. “Then today we make a pact, speak to you first before we believe anything else.” She looked at me for agreement.
“Deal,” I said.
“Works for me,” Sammy seconded. “We wanted to see you when we were in Tith, but that blonde biatch told us in her sweetest tone and most beautiful smile that you had a new life now. A princess are surrounded by cool kids. Blugh.”
“They are so evil.”
“If you ask me, all of this has one man written all over it. King Caleb,” Sammy said angrily.
We both looked at her.
“You must see that? I mean he has been trying to strip you of your title even before all of us knew about the vault.”
“He can take it,” I said solemnly. “If this is what it takes to be a princess, then I don’t want it.”
Becky gasped. “Elena you don’t mean that.”
“Yes, Becky. I do. I have everything I need right here. I don’t need all of Paegeia, or my father’s money.”
“You seriously believed that idiot?” Becky scolded. “They can’t take away what is yours, Elena. That’s called stealing.”
All of us laughed at her reply.
“Like I said, I’m too vulnerable to be a princess. I’m not like Arianna, and I’m definitely not like my mother. I’ve been reading her journals. She was amazing since the day she was born. In the beginning she actually hated my father.”
“What!” both of them said and I giggled.
I started to tell them the story of my royal grandmother and the balls that she’d forced my father to attend. My father was betrothed to another with the surname of Longbottom. They gasped at that which made me giggle. The woman was horrible and had been a thorn in my mom’s butt ever since they were little, but this one particular masked ball change all of it.
My grandmother actually held a lottery, the prize being two sets of tickets for this ball, and let everyone in Paegeia participate.
Queen Margerite, who was my mother’s best friend, won one set and dragged my mom along with.
Everyone helped them to get there, my grandmother altered her wedding dress and made my mother look like a fairy princess, my grandfather, who was sick at the time made her beautiful wings and a beautiful mask that covered half her face. I guessed it was from him that I got my love of art. I remembered my mother speaking a lot about his health and how she and my mother had to work extra hard to keep her five other siblings fed and warm.
She described herself as beautiful in her journal, which was odd because my mother never thought of herself as beautiful, even though she was.
Sammy and Becky listened with huge eyes and broad smiles as I told them a different version of a Cinderella story, a real-life one, but she didn’t want to get Prince Charming. She actually wanted to scold him because of what they’d done to their people. Raising taxes on a monthly basis, killing them slowly because they couldn’t afford food or to pay for restorations on their small houses, unable to prepare them for the winter.
She was ready to confront the prince but before things even started a stranger pretended to be her brother, apologized on her behalf to the prince as she poked him, and he led her out the ballroom into a beautiful garden.
My mother was so furious at the guy, but realized later that he’d done her a favor. If they were to hang her or lock her up for confronting the Prince of Paegeia, her family would suffer.
She’d given this stranger a piece of her mind though, and told him exactly what she thought about the prince, and somehow in a couple of hours she fell in love with him without her knowing who he was because of the masks.
She described a kiss they’d shared in one of those mazes Lucian had showed me. The ones that kept changing their paths in the full moon, and before they got out, one separated my mom from her mystery guy. Then the clock struck twelve.
Sammy and Becky shrieked.
“You got to be shitting me!”
“I swear, it reads like a fairy tale novel,” I replied and carried on with my mother’s story, of how she was forced to say goodbye and ran back to the castle to find Queen Margerite who was looking for her everywhere. One of their friends was a coachman for a very wealthy man in their village and he had to get back before two, in order to be on time for his master, that’s why they couldn’t stay longer. But twelve o’clock was also the revealing of the masks and when this guy ran into the building taking off his mask, my mom realized it was the real prince and not just some random guy.
“The Prince pretended to be someone else just for the night, and that is how they met without knowing who each of them were?”
“No wonder he loved her so much,” Sammy said in a dreamy voice.
“I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t there to see it, remember.”
Becky stroked my arm.
“The journals help though. I get to meet my mom before she was a royal and see my father and what type of a guy he was through her eyes.”
“What happened afterwards?”
“I haven’t read further than that. But I’m dying to pick it up again. It was the only thing that kept me sane through all this mess.”
“Well, we can read a chapter every night if you don’t mind,” Becky said.
“Yes, that would be nice,” I whispered and smiled.
“I still struggle believing Queen Catherine and Queen Margerite weren’t born royalty,” Sammy said.
“Their friendship reminds me a lot of the one we share,” I said.
“They were BFF’s too?”
I nodded.
“Then we will be best friends forever,” Sammy exclaimed.
“Forever and ever,” Becky agreed. She let go of me with another gasp. “Before I forget, open your present.” She shoved a small box into my hand.
“You know I don’t need anything.”
“It’s your birthday, and you’re welcome. This is something you need desperately.”
I untied the ribbon as I looked at her with my eyebrows knitted together and a skeptical smile. I opened the box. Inside was a pair of huge CQ sunglasses. I lifted them up and they dangled from my fingers. “I don’t understand. You said I needed it desperately?”
“If you are going to rebel against all of this, you need to do it in style,” Becky said, “and a pair of shades to hide those eye rolls and raised eyebrows…in my opinion, is needing it desperately.”
Sammy and I laughed and Becky joined in.
“I missed you guys so much. I haven’t laughed in weeks.”
“Well, the nightmare is over now. King Helmut had a meeting with the Ancients this morning, he wasn’t very happy about any of this, and they’ve decided on a different technique,” Sammy explained. “Besides, Queen Margerite is one tough queen. You’ll learn a lot from her, Elena.”
“She sure is.” I thought about her again and how she’d made her entrance yelling Stan’s head off. Then I remembered what she’d interrupted. “Hey, how did you guys found out about this?”
“I was miserable last night, not getting invited to your party,” Sammy said. “Dad phoned Queen Margerite who organized last night for you, and when she told him that she did invite all of us, well let’s just say the truth came out and she knew something wasn’t right.”
I took a deep breath. “Sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t….”
Becky touched my arm and gave me a stern look. “Hey it wasn’t you. If only we’d seen your plea and not thought the worst, this nightmare would’ve been over sooner.” She looked around. “And this hotel wouldn’t have been standing here today.” Becky got up and zipped up one of my bags.
I closed the second and Sammy the third.
“Ready?” Becky asked.
“To go back to normality? I’m so ready.”
WE TOOK THE elevator after the bellboy came to take my luggage. A song with no lyrics played softly in the background. I hated the song as I’d been forced to listen to it every day for the past three days. Even though I’d stayed in the most beautiful suite, without these two girls, I could live in the Taj Mahal, and it wouldn’t have been the same.
When the doors opened up, camera flashes winked in our faces. Sammy pressed the close button while Becky held out her hand.
“Your glasses, Elena?” she asked and I handed my new designer bag to her. She looked at it first. “Nice, I like.”
“I knew you would, that’s why I got you guys one too.”
“You did?!” Sammy clapped her hands and jumped on the spot.
“Focus Sammy,” Becky said and dug her hand into my bag. She took out my glasses and put them on my head. “You look like a real rebel without a cause.”
I giggled.
“We ready?” Sammy asked.
“So ready, open up,” Becky said and Sammy pressed the button again.
The flashes continued and I didn’t answer any of their questions. Most wanted to confirm if I was giving up on my princess duties, blah, blah, blah. I wasn’t giving up, but I wasn’t going to be forced to learn them the way they wanted me to.
Sir Robert made his way through the cockroaches and grabbed my arm gently to lead me through the crowd of people with their flashing lights. From there it was easy to get to the limo. He was so good at yelling “The princess has nothing to say at this moment,” that I felt so stupid to have released him from his duties when he’d wanted to come on this crazy mission with me.
Sammy climbed in first and I followed after Becky. Sir Robert slid in last and the guard that came with Queen Margerite, who was already in the limo, shut the door.
She grabbed my hand in hers and smiled at me again. “Don’t worry, you won’t be forced to do anything ever again,” she said softly and kissed me on my forehead again, forcing me to lie on her chest as any mother would to comfort their child.
I closed my eyes as I breathed in her sweet flowery and vanilla fragrance. This nightmare was officially over.
Queen Margerite took us to the Port in Elm where I’d stayed for the past few days. It was crowded again with people wanting more pictures but with her guard and Sir Robert, we found the private departure section quickly.
Lucille, George, Isabel and Dean waited in the room which was decorated with beautiful couches and a gorgeous glass bar at the back.
The first pair of arms that hugged me belonged to Lucille. Tears threatened to come again but the past few days they’d drilled it into me not to cry, as princesses are fierce and do not show tears or fear.
Becoming a princess was really hard, and I’d always thought Arianna had it so easy.
I’d only thought about the wealth being able to buy whatever her little heart desired and not about the down side of it all. I hated the limelight; hated it when Lucian and I were together and I hated it even more alone.
They’d forgotten him so easily with me being the long lost princess Paegeia had been waiting for. I still missed him, but I was also angry at him for lying to me. He’d known all those times whose voice was in my head, and hadn’t said anything.
I would never love another the way I loved him, and now that I had everything, I would never know who liked me for me, or who liked me because of my crown.
Yeah, it wasn’t as easy as I’d thought it would be.
“It’s okay, Elena. You are safe now.” Lucille kissed me the same way Queen Margerite had this morning.
Isabel was next. Guilt laced her eyes. I knew why she felt like that. If Blake had owned up to his responsibility, none of this would have happened. It wasn’t her fault, but still she felt it. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“Don’t be, it was going to happen no matter what.” I looked up at her and smiled again. “I’m glad it did, now I know why Blake is this way with them. They completely deserve it.”
She giggled. “Always searching for that silver lining.”
“It was one of your mother’s traits too,” Queen Margerite added. “You are so much like her, Elena. It’s good to be around you.”
I huffed. “I beg to differ. My mom was amazing. Her journals help me so much.”
“Did she ever speak about me in them?”
“All the time. I’m reading about the ball.”
Queen Margerite laughed. “It feels like yesterday. You should’ve seen her face when we finally were inside that carriage.”
“Shhh, don’t tell us.” Becky stopped her. “We’re going to read about it tonight.”
“You are sharing this with them?” she asked me with a sweet smile.
“They’re my best friends. We don’t have secrets.” My eyes fell as I said those words. We did have secrets, one I couldn’t tell them. That the Greatest King who ever lived was still alive, trapped as Goran’s prisoner, guarded by the Saadedine.
Queen Margerite gave me that look, the look that said she knew I wasn’t being completely honest and gave me another soft smile and a hug. “Your secret is safe with me,” she whispered and let go of me.
I greeted Dean and George with a hug and slapped my hands together. “So where are we going?”
“We’re just waiting for Helmut and Emanuel and then you will see.” Queen Margerite took a seat on one of the sofas. I sunk down onto the one across from her with Becky and Sammy next to me.
George and Dean stood by the bar, getting us some sodas.
I had to ask them something I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help it. “Any of you heard about the whereabouts of that stupid dragon of mine?” I mumbled.
Sammy’s head rested on her palm and her eyes darted back at Becky.
I found her reading a magazine with her shades resting on her head.
“What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Becky asked.
“First the room and now this, and don’t tell me I am imagining it.”
“The room?” Becky looked at me with a frown.
“Before Sammy gave me the explanation about how you guys found out, and now this when I mentioned Blake’s name….oh shit. What did he do now?” He was responsible for me, but then again, I was also responsible for him.
“He didn’t do anything, Elena. He’s just not back and we have no idea where he is.”
“Then why so secretive?” I asked.
“Because we don’t have the answers,” Sammy said simply.
“And you are imagining things,” Becky added with her nose stuck inside her magazine again.
“Mmmm,” I said and leaned back into the sofa.
George and Dean came back with sodas and I decided to let it go. There was no way to force it out of them if they didn’t want to tell me, just like they couldn’t force things out of me.
“So where do you guys think we are going?” George asked.
“Dunno!” Becky said. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I hate surprises.”
“No you don’t. You loved your welcome surprise.”
He gave her a guilty smile.
“You knew about that, didn’t you?”
“C’mon Becks, I can read you like a book. When you told me to go home, I knew something was up.”
She tsked at him and rolled her eyes.
The rest of us just laughed.
The two boys started speaking to each other as my mind wandered back to Blake again.
I missed my abilities, but it was a good thing that I hadn’t had them the past couple of weeks. Otherwise Stan would’ve been a heap of ash, his entire freaking team would’ve been. Still, I’d tried so hard to summon my fire, and nothing happened. Acid, ice, chlorine, none of it appeared. It was frustrating and I hated not knowing if Cheng and Lucian was right about this voice in my head. Did it belong to Paul, or was it Blake’s?
The one in the ring didn’t sound anything like the voice that once occupied my thoughts, and a part of me knew that it wasn’t. It had to be Paul’s. But then there was the curiosity in Blake that time he’d asked me about it, and the Lucian ordeal when I’d told him about what I heard. It was frustrating not knowing for sure.
“What’s up?” Sammy asked and I could see in the corner of my eyes that Becky wanted to know too.
“It’s hard to explain.” I blew out a breath, a frustrated breath. “Ever since I lost Cara and claimed your brother … nothing makes sense anymore.”
Sammy stroked my back. “It’s normal, Elena.”
I left it there, it wasn’t normal. I would never truly feel normal again.
George moved closer to Becky and he started to whisper vulgar things into her ear. My hearing was good, but not as good as when Cara had been with me.
Becky giggled and pushed him away playfully.
I struggled to imagine me and Blake playing around and looking at each other the way they did, speaking about things like that. It was really hard thinking that he would ever feel this way about me. It would be unreal and then it hit me.
I couldn’t force Blake to dent if he didn’t want to. Even if he needed it, I couldn’t force him to be with me. The only thing that stayed in my mind was the thought of letting him go. Of giving him back his freedom.
