The Incredibly Consequential Life of Charlie Zappala

Chapter Thirteen: A Little Princess Detour

Althea led them further down the hall, turning down a couple unfamiliar ways. That wasn't saying much, though, since most of the castle was completely unfamiliar to Charlie. At least it felt like a shorter trek than walking to any other parts of the castle. A pair of double doors marked the entrance. These were sized normally, but carved from a rich would Charlie would ont pretend to be able to identify.

The room inside was about as fancy as Charlie expected it to be. Its size, while not as vast as the throne room, would still even the upper crustiest of middle class kids wanting for an upgraded bedroom. Thin, golden vines covered empty spaces and framed everything else. There was a drawing area, a handful of bookshelves, and a large, fragile-looking vanity towards the front of the room. In the back sat a large, square bed and a bulky armoire. Everything not coated in gold was colored a delicate sky blue.

There wasn't as much natural light in the room as Charlie had expected, but it certainly wasn't dark. A handful of windows the same size as the ones in Charlie's covered the back wall, the kind that opened from the bottom just barely enough to let the air in. It inadvertently reminded Charlie of college for a split second.

The austerity of Althea's room made Charlie understand the concept of a commoner. They felt like whatever they touched would instantly break or turn to dust from their unworthiness. The feeling of being out of place began whirring within them.

"Well?" Althea started. "What do you think of it?"

"It's beautiful," Charlie stammered. "It really suits you."

She blushed. "Thank you." She motioned to the bed. "Would you like to sit?"

"Oh. On the bed. That's not weird to you or anything?"

She frowned. "Why would it be?"

They shook their head. "No, no reason. I guess it's a culture thing. When I was a teenager my mom used to get super freaked out about me taking certain friends into my room, much less us sitting on the actual bed. It's fine, though. It doesn't mean—never mind."

Althea eyed them carefully before sitting on the bed herself. "Alright. Please."

Charlie took a couple deliberate steps over and sat down next to her.

The two were quiet for a minute.

"So, uh," Charlie stuttered. "Do you have any hobbies?"

She almost laughed. "Hobbies?"

"Yeah. Like, what did you do for fun around here? I know nothing about this place, which I guess I should if I'm supposed to be some great hero or whatever."

"Ah, I see. So you would like to know about our unique activities like cross swatch and squash volley."

"I mean, those sound kind of awesome and probably unnecessarily complicated, but I was just asking about you, first. What sort of unique activities do you do?"

"Oh." She smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. "Well, I don't particularly have much time for activities, actually. Being royal, it is nearly a full time task."

"Yeah, it used to be hella restrictive back in the day," Charlie commented, like the laws of the European feudal system actually applied to this fantastically anachronic fantasy world.

"But I do enjoy reading."

"Oh yeah?" they sat up, trying to strain genuine interest. Not that Charlie didn't enjoy reading. Hell, Charlie loved reading as a kid, but such a trait was nearly the free space on the fantasy heroine bingo sheet. "What kind of things do you like to read?"