Mirror, Mirror

1.05 Family

The weeks leading up to Starla's birthday were incredibly stressful. She always took ownership of planning and executing her own birthday balls, which meant a lot of the complicated logistics fell on her shoulders. She hated it, but she also hated thinking about anyone else doing it instead. She didn't trust anyone else to handle it.

There was so much to figure out, and she felt overwhelmed. There was the food, the staff, the guests, the decorations, materials for her dress.

As for her studies, they were going... fine. That is to say, she was excelling in every discipline except magic. She was growing anxious about it. There was only one other Ice Princess in history whose powers had manifested when she was 20. If Starla's magic didn't come in by her 21st birthday, she would officially be the latest-blooming Ice Princess.

Starla was in a perpetual bad mood.

"I said I wanted lavender for the napkins," she snapped. "Does this look lavender to you?"

"They don't have lavender," Poppy said huffily.

"You know what, I'll make it myself," Starla said. "Since you two are useless."

"Star, we're trying our best," Riv protested.

"Well, do better," Starla said.

"Why do you always get like this before your birthday?" Riv grumbled.

"Riv, she's under a lot of stress right now," Poppy said.

"I know," Riv grumbled. "It doesn't mean she has to act like Ri-Yu." Starla flinched.

"Rivero!" Poppy said, pushing him. "That is NOT ok."

"Excuse me?" Starla snapped, glaring at Riv, who immediately blanched.

"I was just joking, sheesh," Riv said, then sheepishly mumbled. "Sorry."

"Star, you know he doesn't mean that," Poppy said frantically, picking up the napkin that Starla hadn't realized she'd dropped. "You're nothing like Ri-Yu."

"I'm doing the rest of this myself," Starla said. "I don't need your help. Now leave me alone." She turned around and began working on the dress on her own.

"Oh," Poppy said in a small voice. "Ok. Let us know if you need us." Starla heard footsteps retreating.

Finally. Quiet.

❖

Today was Friday.

Normally, Starla liked Fridays. It meant there was to be family dinner, like there was every Friday, rain or shine. It was when Starla, her cousins, her aunts, and her father both cooked and ate dinner together. For one night, the royal kitchen workers and ladies-in-waiting were shooed off to have the evening off, and the royal family had the entire kitchen and dining room to themselves. Just the six of them, no guests, so no need to act. Aunt Crystallia's wife, Aunt Sleetia, came from a family of cooks whose love language was cooking together. She had started this unusual tradition as soon as Starla and her cousins were old enough to be in the kitchen in order to "teach them what it means to work" and help bring the family together following the death of the Queen, despite the protests of the royal working staff. These nights were always full of laughter and warmth, and Starla looked forward to them— even on days where she'd flopped in front of her aunt.

Unfortunately, Starla was still upset at Riv, so things were immediately awkward. To make matters worse, her father the King was nowhere to be seen, He'd been doing that a lot lately, showing up later and later.

So, they began cooking without him. They washed their hands, and Aunt Sleetia started explaining the recipe as she set a pot of water on the stove to boil. She stopped abruptly, her eyes narrowing and flickering between Starla and Riv as they stood on opposite sides of the room.