Treachery, Royalty, and Annoying Girls

Chapter 1, Part 4

"Uh, err," Marilyna looked at him, the most dumbfounded expression on her face. "It's not what it looks like, Your Majesty" She giggled, nervously.

"Well then you obviously didn't see what I saw, Miss..." He was cut off by a quick curtsey and Marilyna's nervous voice.

"Marilyna Anne Fawson, at your service." This time, the nervousness was replaced with shyness.

"I know. I already know everyone who's coming. You are the first three to arrive." He told her.

"We are?" She asked dumbly. I was holding back an extremely unlady like laugh. She didn't understand the message in the car, I thought to myself, and she was about to slap me, just for a dumb comment. I needed to thank him if I ever got to talk to him alone.

The prince led us inside. Marilyna kept on pushing conversation on him and it was awkward for both of them. I was trying to bite back my laughter. "Prince Andrew, you look amazing today," over and over to the point where she would just call him Andrew, as if they've known each other for a long time. He was obviously getting uncomfortable. "I would appreciate it if you would be formal with me, as we are not friends at the moment." He said. He was very calm as he spoke. She gaped up at him, "but, An-"

"I told you to be formal with me. So that means, Your Majesty or Your Highness. Understood?"

"Yes, And-... Your Highness." She looked down at her feet, embarrassed. I was trying to stifle my laughter again. It's funny that she can't learn how to respect boundaries, especially the prince's.

Kasiandre leaned over to me and whispered, "She needs to learn some respect, that spoiled brat."

"Truth." I agreed with her. She was a little bit spoiled. No, not a little bit. A lot a bit, but I don't really like the idea of her overhearing us so I kept quiet. "So, your majesty," she said with mock respect. "Ms. Fawson, please stop talking to me, it's giving me a massive headache. If you could please go to the back with the other girls, you would be doing me a great service."

"I-"

"Please?" He was begging her to leave him alone.

"I'm sorry, Andrew. I- I mean your highness." She stopped and backed up. Tears welled up in her eyes and you could see the mascara gooping up. As one tear fell, a black stain followed. I was stifling my laughter as we approached the building. Sleek white walls, with golden spires. It was almost like the palace was built out of a fairytale. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

"Hmm? What?" I didn't realize I stopped to look at the structure in front of me. "Oh, right, keep walking." I caught up with Kasiandre. "It's amazing. I've never seen anything like it." I whispered as if not to disturb the beauty. She grabbed my arm and pulled me, apparently I was being too slow. I was dragged into the palace by my new friend. We waited in a large room for around an hour waiting for the last girls to arrive. The last 6 arrived at the same time, loudly laughing and yelling. The queen came in with another woman and the king and the 6 last girls settled down.

"Hello, ladies!" the queen exclaimed. "Today is about you getting settled! Maybe I will come visit you later. Or not, I guess we will see." Some of the girls politely giggled as if it was funny. I didn't see it, so I smiled a little. The queen led us to the great hall where several girls waited. "Each of you will get two maids each. She started listing off names. Around 5 minutes later "Callix, your maids are Amara and Riley." Two girls from the back of the group came up to introduce themselves to me. They looked like twins and around the same age I was.. One had blue eyes with flecks of gold and light brown hair that brightened in the light. The other had the same blue eyes but darker hair. They both had freckles across their noses that spread to their cheeks. The girls were abound the same height as I was and had silver name tags on their dresses. "I'm Amara," The one with the darker hair said, "And that's Riley."

"Hi," Riley spoke softly as she curtsied. Amara handed me a silver tag that had my name engraved in it. There were also small diamonds bordering the edges. It was beautiful and faintly shimmered in the sunlight. It wasn't blinding but it wasn't dull. "Thank you," I said to them.

"Riley did the engraving and added the diamonds so it's not as plain as the others." Amara smiled. When I looked around I saw only one other person with a decorated name tag. It only stood out because the red diamonds and the bright red engraving. The name on the piece of metal was Jenni. She was one of the girls who came in loudly; she seems like the type of girl who seeks attention. Her tag was hurting my eyes, so I looked away to survey the competition. All the other girls seemed to have the perfect bodies. Straight teeth, perfect hair, perfect proportions. No, I would not be comparing myself to those girls. I'm going to at least try. I heard that the families are getting paid a lot, so maybe we might be able to get a good doctor for my mom.

The queen was standing there watching as some made new friends and some weighing who's going and who's staying. I wouldn't be surprised if I was one of those girls who would be gone first. I can't do anything. I can barely talk to the other kids at school, how could I win over a prince?