Annika the Fifth

Chapter Three

We got to the end of the stairs, Lady Mary unlocked the door. "Only I have the key," she told us, "No one is allowed to go in here,"

She then unlocked the door and I sucked in my breath. I was still confused about how the Fortune Relic worked based on my question earlier but I wanted to forget about that. In the middle of the empty room, there was a shiny-looking stand. Probably made out of gold. On top of it was a shiny crystal ball being held up by this fancy decorative stand. Even Maya stared at it in awe. "I trust none of you to tell anyone where this is," Lady Mary said. I could have sworn I saw her glance at me before continuing. "It could be dangerous if more people know more about the Fortune Relic. Understand?"

We all nodded and then we headed back upstairs.

Lady Mary told us that we each had our own personal maids and that they'd be the ones taking us to our bedrooms upstairs. Everyone else's maids were there so I had to wait with just Lady Mary because Alfred had left. I didn't feel comfortable with her and I couldn't help feeling suspicious about her either. Even though I felt what I asked was wrong I still can't help being confused by how she reacted. Almost like she was hiding something. Just then a young woman arrived quickly into the parlor. "I'm sorry," she said, "I was cleaning--"

"Just take her to her bedroom, Isabella," Lady Mary said dismissively.

Isabella sighed and nodded and then I followed her away from the parlor. For some reason, Isabella reminded me of me. It wasn't just because she had brown hair she sort of looked like she was out of place. A better word for it, she felt like she was out of place. "I'm sorry I was late," Isabella apologized as we walked up the stairs. The stairs were so shiny, I gripped the railing just to make sure I didn't fall off. I just nodded, barely hearing her. She took me up stares and through some hallways until she opened the large doors to my room. She turned on the lights and smiled. "This will be your room," she said happily, "Now let me help--"

"Thank you," I said with a yawn, not realizing how tired I was. My room was huge, even bigger than the orphanage or my old house combined. It had huge doors to a closet which I assumed was a walk-in closet. There was this canopy bed with fancy-looking bed sheets as well. It just wants me to lay down more. Isabella smiled a little. "Don't you want to get changed?" she asked.

I hardly heard her.

"Thanks, goodnight," I said and closed the door and turned off the lights. I took off my shoes and laid down, quickly falling asleep.

It felt as though a second later I woke up but it was ten hours. Isabella burst into my room. "Sorry, princess!" she said and snatched the covers off of me. I quickly sat up, almost forgetting where I was. "What? What happened?" I asked, rubbing my eyes because everything looked so blurry.

Isabella was dragging me out of bed. "I was supposed to wake you up," she said, "But I overslept!"

She opened one of the doors and dragged me inside the bathroom. I could barely acknowledge how beautiful it looked while she turned on the faucet of the bathtub and started removing my apron from my dress. "Um, what are you doing?" I asked

"Just remove your clothes and get in the tub," she ordered and then rushed out of the bathroom. I just stood there. She wasn't going to help me bathe...was she? I definitely couldn't get used to this. Eventually, I took off my clothes and waited in the filling bathtub. I hugged my legs close to me and Isabella rushed in with a dress and shoes and dumped them on the table before coming over to me. "Uh, I can bathe myself..." I began but she just ignored me so I knew there was no use in fighting it. She poured some soap in and it made bubbles very quickly. She turned off the faucet and then began scrubbing my back with their very coarse-feeling brush. I wouldn't be surprised if I found some of my skin on it. She then dragged me out of the bathtub and threw a towel at me. "How could I have overslept?" Isabella muttered to herself, "Late twice in a row,"

I still had soap suds on me but at least I smelled like roses. Whatever roses smelled like anyway.

I had to dry myself quickly before Isabella threw a dress over me. I felt very itchy as soon as she put it on and I was starting to miss my villager clothes. But I knew that era would be over when she threw them directly in the trash. As if that whole thing wasn't enough, Isabella began pulling out my hair with a brush. Each time she did, she'd send my head flying backward. But it did look shinier and very pretty. Still, my neck hurts. After putting on my shoes she pulled me out of the bathroom while I was basically flying behind her. She even dragged me down the stairs and I tried to hold onto the railings but it was no use. I could hardly tell where we were going because everything just looked like we were on a speeding carriage as we zoomed by. Eventually, Isabella stopped running and she made me stand straight. In front of me was a long table where the three other girls were sitting along with Lady Mary at the head of the table. They were all staring at me which was no different than yesterday night. "Sorry, miss," Isabella said, "It's not her fault I--"

"Annika, you may be seated," Lady Mary interrupted.

I glanced at Isabella and her arms dropped to her sides before turning around to leave. I sat on one of the chairs, making sure it wasn't near Lady Mary. But Maya and Adelaide were already sitting on either side of her anyway. I looked at how all the other princesses were eating. They all cut their pancakes with a knife and picked them up with their forks all while doing it so delicately. I picked up my knife and fork and cut away. I could feel them looking at me. I knew that they thought I was going to eat like some animal. Still, of course, they had something to say. "She's eating with the wrong fork," Cordelia whispered to Elizabeth.

They both giggled and I looked up at them and they quickly looked down at their plates. I rolled my eyes and faced back down. I hope they knew how annoying they were being and I couldn't care less what fork I was using. As long as I could eat with it, I was perfectly fine.

Lady Mary cleared her throat which made everyone look up so I did too. "Now since you all just arrived at the palace, you won't be going to school until tomorrow," she said, "And I assume you all go to Alexandra Preparatory Academy,"

Did they really name the school after the late princess? She's probably more favored than I thought. Even so, I was the only one who didn't nod. "Oh, of course," Lady Mary said, "How could I forget about you, Annika,"

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and I just smiled which definitely looked forced. "It will be your first time at school so surely there will be extra help provided to you," Lady Mary said, "That way you can catch up with the rest of the students,"

The girls giggled and I frowned. She was making me sound like I didn't go to school or something. She was even more annoying than all of the other girls. I was so mad I couldn't help speaking up this time. "Lady Mary," I said, "Thank you but in case you're wondering I know how a school works,"

The girls laughing stopped and they all stared at me. I could do nothing but stare back. Lady Mary's subtle smirk was wiped off her face and she adjusted her posture. "Hm, we'll see," she said.

We'll see? I'm sure she never went to school because she was too busy getting privately tutored or something. If she was wealthy at all that is. Lady Mary cleared her throat once again. "I want all of you girls to know that on the day we learn who the queen is, there will be a coronation for you all which is why we have to rehearse,"

I felt my stomach sink. It's not a good thing to be unsure of yourself, especially in this situation, but I had a feeling I'd mess up sometime during every rehearsal. And I also had a feeling everyone else knew that too.

***

Hi again! What do you think of all the character? Me personally, I don't like Maya and Lady Mary but that's obvious. I know there's not much characters to actually have a favorite but there are a few more characters on the way. Thanks for reading!