Royal Jester

37. Anastasia

It had been a month since Ana arrived at the castle, and to say she had been miserable the entire time was no sort of exaggeration. 

After failing to contact her boyfriend, the princess' parents had basically banned her from using pretty much everything that used internet. It was safe to say it had been a long four weeks.

She had first tried to pass the time by visiting the town, but - because practically everything would remind her of Mason - she was almost never not crying. She finally decided that maybe it wasn't such a good idea when someone asked if she needed to go to the hospital.

She'd never seen so many panicked people in one place. 

So Ana came up with the wonderful idea of learning some new hobbies, and with the help of the royal chefs, she began baking. A lot. 

At this point she was regularly making at least three pastries a day, and she made sure to taste test all of them. She knew that she had gained a bit of weight from eating so much (she'd blamed it on stress anytime someone mentioned it) but she didn't have the time to care. 

How could she when she was spending every waking moment of her life just trying to leave?

"That's perfect, your highness." Mary, the head chef, complemented when Ana showed her the crème brûlée she had just finished caramelizing. 

Ana grinned, "Really?" She had been slightly nervous at the thought of using a blow torch to melt the sugar but it was definitely way less scary than she assumed it would be. "Here," she handed the chef a spoon, "Try it with me." 

Crème brûlée was one of the princess' favorite deserts, so it would be much more convenient if she was able to make it herself. 

Using the edge of her own spoon, Ana gently broke the caramelized sugar before dipping her spoon in to scoop up the custard. She lifted the piece of silverware in a cheers gesture, to which Mary chuckled softly, before placing it in her mouth. 

She hummed at the taste, savoring the hint of vanilla and the texture of the sugar on her tongue. "Like I said your highness, it's perfect." 

"I can't wait for Mason to try this," Ana smiled softly as she took another bite. "He's so particular about his deserts but I'm positive that he would like this. And even if he didn't I know that he would still try it for me." 

"I don't mean to pry, your highness," Mary began hesitantly and Ana gave her a small nod to say that it was okay to continue. "But who exactly is Mason? You talk about him an awfully lot." 

"Oh," Ana set the dish down on the steel table in front of her. "Well Mason is-," (was she allowed to tell her that they were dating?), "Mason is a very good friend of mine, although I think I might have a small crush on him." She winked, giving her a playful smile. 

Mary giggled, "He must be a great man if you like him, you highness." 

Ana sighed fondly, her throat constricting as she said, "He's a wonderful man." 

~~~

"Jeremy," the princess called out just as she saw her older brother walk into the foyer. He turned at the sound of his name before taking a few steps in her direction. 

"What is it?" He sounded impatient and Ana smiled as she realized where he was most likely going. At her silence Jeremy groaned, "Come on, I'm running out of daylight here," he joked. 

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "If you're going where I think you're going then I have something to give you." 

Jeremy's eyebrows raised and he crossed his arms over his chest as he gave her a curious look. "And this is going to a be a nice something I hope?"