Annika the Fifth

Chapter Two

The ride to the palace was mostly quiet. The odd man tried to start a conversation with me once before I told him I was interested in talking. I stared out the window. This was so strange, I was living in the orphanage, and then the next thing I knew I was chosen to be the fifth princess by some...Fortune Relic? I glanced at the man and I smiled. I forced a smile back and looked out the window again. I hope he wasn't trying to kidnap me. Although I do have a knife in my backpack so I'm sure I'll be safe.

Now I've never seen the Princess Palace up close but I've seen it drawn in books. But it looked very beautiful in person. It was huge and it looked old but in a way that made it look nice. Two guards were standing in the front when we walked in. I looked around, the ceiling was so high, that I felt like the tallest ladder couldn't even reach it. The walls were nicely painted, almost as if they had just been painted. Painted portraits were hung on the long walls that seemed to stretch on forever. "You have to meet Lady Mary," the man said, "She is the lady in waiting. You know who a lady in waiting is, right?"

I nodded. Did he think I was dumb just because I was a villager? Yeah, he probably does. The man looked rather excited. "And you'll get to meet all the other princesses," he said, "

"Are they all noble girls?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

I was definitely sure of my answer when the man didn't answer, she just walked faster. "Come along now, Princess Annika," he said cheerfully, "I can't wait for you to meet the other girls,"

It felt like a joke when he called me a princess. I didn't feel like one. Though I will soon enough.

The other girls in question already looked like princesses. Their hair was neatly done, and they had on these nice dresses. They looked like dolls. They all stared at me as if they were dolls too. Creepy dolls. As if they were going to jump at me and kill me as soon as I was alone with them. Which is probably what they were going to do by the way they looked at me. Lady Mary got up and as soon as she did the other girls got up as well. The reason why I knew that was her was because she was the oldest, about fifty. "You must be Annika," Lady Mary said stiffly, almost like she wanted to gag just seeing me, "And I am your lady in waiting, Lady Mary,"

It sounded like it hurt to say that. I wanted to turn around and walk away but then I remembered about Tomas. And if I do find him, we'd have a much better life here than in the village. I plastered a smile on my face and nodded. "Nice to meet you," I said.

They all stared at me and my smile was starting to hurt my face from how uncomfortable it was. "I'm sure Alfred told you why you were chosen," Lady Mary continued, "It was definitely not at random. It was because of the Fortune Relic. It can show the future--"

"Yes, ma'am," I blurted, "He told me,"

Lady Mary raised her eyebrow at me and I gave her another smile. She then folded her arms and raised her chin. "Very well then," she said.

Lady Mary then motioned her hand to the other princesses. "I will introduce you to the other girls," she said.

She motioned them to step forward and they all did at the same time. I hate to admit it but they looked perfect. Lady Mary placed each of her hands on two of the girls' shoulders. I just realized the two of them looked identical. They both had long sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Maybe that's why they looked creepy. "These are Adelaide and Elizabeth," Lady Mary said, "Daughters of Count Fulbert,"

I nodded even though I wasn't sure why I needed to know who their fathers were. I was sure Lady Mary wanted to remind me that I wasn't special or anything. Just a dirty peasant girl. I wonder if they knew that I had no parents. Lady Mary then went on to the next girl. She had golden blonde hair that reached to her armpits. She also had teal eyes that matched her pretty teal dress. I frowned slightly, all of them had blonde hair, even the 4th one. I was the only one with brown hair and it didn't even look good since it seemed to be sticking everywhere. "This is Cordelia," Lady Mary said, "Daughter of Count Renout,"

I forced a smile again, still unsure what to do with the last piece of information. Lady Mary then went over to the last girl. She had on this nice purple dress and I immediately knew she was wealthier than the three other girls. She had light short blonde hair and green eyes. "And this," Lady Mary said with a smile, "Is Maya, daughter of Count Reginald,"

I also immediately knew that Maya was going to be the favorite.

Lady Mary led us through some halls, followed by Alfred. "I know it's late but I want to show you girls one thing before you go to sleep," Lady Mary said, "And that is the Fortune Relic. I assume you all know what it is,"

All the girls nodded and I did too even though I just learned what it was today. I could hardly believe that something could tell you the future. "It's a crystal ball that can show you an image of the future," Lady Mary went on, "But we try not to use it often. But we will use it for something very important,"

"To see which one of you will be queen!" Alfred said excitedly.

Lady Mary sighed and went on. "But that won't be until the end of this week. And of course, your parents will come for the event as well as all the noblemen, countesses..."

I looked over at Adelaide, Elizabeth, and Cordelia. They all looked at each other excitedly while Maya kept her face forward. I knew she didn't say anything to me but I knew she was the most snobbish of the four. I hoped I wouldn't be queen. That would be too much work. Besides, whoever is queen has to live in the Queen's Palace, not too far from here. But it's been vacant for a very long time. Lady Mary then let out a sad sigh which made everyone look at her. "It's a shame what happened to those five," she said.

I assumed she was talking about the five princesses. Princess Lydia, Scarlett, Arabella, Ophelia, and Alexandra. I felt guilty when everyone suddenly had somber expressions while I was the only one who seemed unaffected by this at all. So I looked down and sighed softly just to let them know I cared as well. "Before the tragedy, Alexandra was going to be queen," Lady Mary went on, "I'm sure she would've been a wonderful queen,"

I nodded and sighed again since that's what everyone else was doing. But then I blinked and looked up. That didn't make sense. "Did you also use the Fortune Relic?" I asked Lady Mary as she took us down some long stairs.

She looked a bit startled at me speaking and turned to me. "Yes...we did," she said

"But wouldn't it show one of us instead of her?" I asked, "Since it shows the future,"

There was complete silence. I mean, it already was silent before but for some reason, the air in the room felt tense. Lady Mary stopped walking which made everyone else stop walking too. I regretted saying what I did, especially when Lady Mary turned around and stared me dead in the eyes. "I didn't mean to..." I said slowly and quietly, "I mean..."

"I know you're not used to decorum," Lady Mary said harshly, "But you should know how to not be an insensitive human being. Especially when regarding one of the last princesses,"

It seemed like the air froze. It was like I was frozen along with it. I bit the inside of my lip, my eyes not leaving her furious eyes. It felt like an eternity. Lady Mary then whipped around and began walking again, taking us down the flight of stone steps. I walked slowly and faced downward. I could feel the girl's eyes bugging into my head like daggers.

***

This is a short chapter...just like the previous one. But I hope you guys still like it and also the switch up with povs. I know the story just started but do you like the main character Annika? I really like her name. Anyway, thanks for reading!