Little Princess

Invitation

*Nymeria's P.O.V*

I left the library shortly after I finished reading the children's books. I took them plus the other books I wanted to read back to my room. I pushed my door open and carried my books to my vanity, dumping the books onto the vanity.

I glanced around my room and noticed that there was a letter on my bed. I walked over, picking it up. I snorted, shaking my head when I recognized my mother's handwriting on the outside of the letter. Castien must have put it on my bed after I left, knowing that I would find her writing either amusing or upsetting.

I ripped open the letter, a small smile on my face as I read over it. It was the same as it always was. Her vicious words about me being a disappointment and failure only served to amuse me. She vaguely danced around the topic of my brother, trying to say that certain people shouldn't come back into the family. I rolled my eyes as I sat the letter down.

She knew better than to outright talk crap about my brother. She had learned that only a couple days after my grandmama's passing when she wrote a letter saying that his would be next if he was still alive after so long. She hadn't expected me to show up at her house and she certainly hadn't expected me to fight her. I played dirty, pinning her to the ground by her hair and slamming my hand into her face. It took Castien and two other guards to pull me off while the neighbors watched. Ever since, she never mentioned him directly in a letter.

I looked up when there was a knock on the door. I put the letter down, heading to the door quickly. I opened it slightly, surprised to see a maid at the door. She had a letter in her hands which she offered me rather quickly.

"Queen Riniya asked me to deliver this to you," she said. I took the letter, barely getting a thank you past my lips with how fast the maid left. I thought that was a little strange but didn't say anything, looking down at the letter curiously. It was an invitation to tea, written and signed by Queen Riniya. I looked at the clock on the wall of my room, realizing that I had about an hour from the time she had written down.

I went to my vanity, leaving my door slightly ajar. I stared at myself in the mirror as I tried to braid my hair into the neat crown braid from yesterday. I eventually gave up, deciding to leave my hair into two pigtail braids. I hadn't bothered to put on any makeup after my shower earlier but I carefully applied some now. I went with a simple eyeshadow with some sparkle, some eyeliner, and some lip gloss. I don't know why I wanted to impress her but I did.

I sat around for the rest of the time, wondering how I was supposed to know where she had tea. I also decided I would be returning the books Queen Riniya had given me once I was there. I was drawn out of my thoughts by a knock on the door about ten minutes before I was told to arrive.

I went to the door, the children's books tucked against my chest. I had been re-reading them in the meantime as I waited. I was surprised to find the same maid that delivered the letter standing there. She informed me she would be taking me to the tea room. I followed her, keeping the books held close to my chest so she wouldn't see what they were about. It didn't take long for us to get there, I wasn't sure exactly what part of the castle we were in at this point. She left me in front of the door and I knocked, surprised at how quickly the door opened.

"Ah, you've decided to join us," Queen Riniya said, a small smile on her lips as she pulled me into the room. Us? I looked around and realized that the other queens were there. Of course they would be, it made sense after all. "You brought the books I gave you, how did you enjoy them?" she asked when she saw the books I was holding. That garnered the attention of the other queens although I could tell they were trying to be subtle about it.

"I liked them, the illustrations were really good," I said hesitantly as I looked down at the books I was holding. "But I don't need books on how to regulate my emotions," I said firmly as I tried to hand the books to her.

"Oh of course you do, we all saw how badly you let your emotions affect how you react to things," Queen Morticia said. My cheeks flushed when I realized that they had all been on in giving me these books. "No reason to be ashamed about it, sometimes we have big feelings we don't know how to handle," she said. Her tone sounded slightly patronizing as she referenced a part of the book and I frowned slightly.

"Come sit down with us, I am sure sitting would be much better than just standing there," Queen Belladonna said as she smiled softly. "Sadly you are stuck between Morticia and Elvira, I wished to have you sitting by me but luck of the straws," she shrugged. Had they really drawn straws over who would sit with me?

I shook my head as I hesitantly made my way to the open seat, my heels clicking on the ground soundly. It hadn't happened in so long, I was actually surprised when my foot twisted slightly when I took a step and sent me falling down. I cursed my luck as my ankle throbbed slightly from being twisted in the fall as I fell in front of the queens. Was it just my luck to end up falling on my butt every single time they were around? My eyes burned with unshed tears as my lower lip trembled.