Previous to Ever After

Three

The next morning I woke up to the sound of my mother ripping the blankets off of my body.

"Darling, if I've told you once, I've told you one thousand times, a princess should always rise at dawn!" She sang sourly as she folded my comforter and placed it at the bottom of my bed.

"Mother," I groaned. I pulled my pillow over my head as she opened the curtains and let the light into the dark room.

She sighed and snatched the pillow from my hands. I sat up and glared at her as she dropped the pillow on the floor. "Up," she growled. Then she walked out of the room in one swift motion. I stood up with my fists clenched and grabbed my robe, putting it on and tying the strap. Then I walked into the hall and down the grand stair case.

The dining table was already set up for breakfast even though it was six in the morning. Mother was sitting in her usual seat, at the right side next to the head of the table, reading a book. She looked up at me when I walked in. Even though she was in her nightdress, her hair was perfectly combed, falling down her shoulders neatly, and her makeup was already done.

"You look like you've just been through a tornado," she said returning her eyes to her book. I touched my bedhead as I sat down across from her.

My father and Lawrence were still sound asleep in bed. And I was sitting with my mother as she read a stupid book about, I looked down at the cover page, Proper Manners and Edict.

"We're not done with what happened last night," she eventually said, not looking up.

"Mother-"

"Why can't you just obey rules? I don't set that many!" She replied as she set her book down on the table.

"Mother–"

"Okay, I set many, but they aren't that hard to follow, Genevieve. I follow them every day. Why can't you just be–"

"Just be what?" I said cutting her off as I sat up. "A better daughter?"

"That is not what I was going to say, young lady."

"Oh, please," I said sitting back in my chair. "That's all you ever say," I mumbled.

She stared at me, her mouth pressed in a tight line. Just then, our head butler, Albert, walked in carrying a glass of orange juice. He placed it in front of me, knowing it was my favorite morning beverage. I didn't take my eyes off my mother as she looked up at him and let out a sigh. "Albert, would you go wake Bernard, please?"

"Of course, your highness," Albert said as he left to wake my father.

We sat in silence as Lawrence came strutting into the dining hall, already dressed in a burgundy suit, his hair combed over to one side. Leave it to Lawrence to look like he was heading to a king's ball at six in the morning.

"Morning, dear," he said, bending down and kissing my head. I rolled my eyes as mother glared at me and set her glass hard on the table, making all the plates shake and clatter.

"Good morning, Lawrence," she said sweetly when I didn't reply. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, perfectly, Queen Kimberly," he said looking up at her. "But could you ask the maid to fluff the pillows a little bit more tonight? I've got this awful kink in my neck that just won't go away, and their poor job preparing the bed last night didn't help much."

Mother smiled sweetly. "Of course, dear, I'll tell them right away."

I drummed my fingers on the table. The maids did enough in this bloody castle, they didn't need to be worrying about fluffing the damned pillows for a prince who needed his hair to be combed one hundred times each night before he went to bed.