Annika the Fifth

Chapter Five

By the time it was dinner, I had already made good friends with Addie, Eliza, and Cora. And they didn't care about which utensil I used. I told them about my brother, the orphanage, and how I was going to search for my brother. "It's like my favorite play," Eliza had said, "It's called Echos of the Unknown and it's about a girl trying to find her father, not brother,"

The table was much louder than earlier this morning. Lady Mary turned to Maya. "Don't you want to talk to the other girls?" she asked.

Maya shook her head and gave a look at me before replying. "It's not proper to talk much during dinner," she said.

Lady Mary blinked and then nodded as if she suddenly thought that was true. "Maya is right," she said, "You all should be more like her,"

Maya smirked at me but I didn't care. She was just mad that no one else liked her. But Addie faced her plate and went silent. I think this whole Maya being queen thing is getting inside her head. When it was nearing the end of dinner, Lady Mary reminded us about school tomorrow. "I want you girls to remember that even though you are princesses, that doesn't make you any different than before you heard the news," she said.

I knew Maya wasn't going to remember that. I bet she was snobby her whole life. But it's not like Lady Mary is going to care.

After dinner, Addie, Eliza, and Cora told me how much I was going to love their school. "It wasn't always called Alexandra," Cora told me, "It changed when she died,"

"That's nice," I said, "How come everyone seems to like Alexandra best?"

I regretted asking that last part because I didn't want a repeat from yesterday. Luckily, none of them seemed to mind. Eliza just shrugged. "She was supposed to be queen," she said, "Maybe that's why,"

That whole "Alexandra was supposed to be the queen" still doesn't make sense to me. I'm sure the Fortune Relic would have shown one of us as queen. But like I said before, I didn't want a repeat of yesterday. "It's a shame Alexandra didn't get to be queen," Maya said from behind us, "Luckily her best friend will fulfill her role for her,"

Maya giggled and twirled ahead of us and I wanted to gag. Addie huffed and Eliza patted her reassuringly on the back. "Maya's always been jealous of Alexandra," Cora said bitterly, "She's a horrible friend,"

"Wait," I said, "You knew Alexandra and Maya were friends?"

The three of them looked at me like I was ridiculous and nodded. "We all go to the same school," Eliza said, "I mean..went...I don't know,"

"But when Maya told you that earlier you seemed shocked," I reminded them.

They looked at each other and then shrugged.

"Anyway, good night, Annika," Cora said.

They waved at me as they walked ahead. I just stared. There were so many things I didn't get at all.

It was my first real night at the palace and it felt real too because I wore a nightgown that was way more comfortable than that dress. Still, it only lasted good for so long until the light peaked through the curtains and my door burst open. "You're late!" Isabella cried.

Go figure.

It was a repeat of yesterday morning except instead of a dress, it was a school uniform. A light blue collared shirt with a dark blue skirt, white knee-high socks, and hard shiny black shoes. At least I didn't have to wear a dress the whole day. Isabella practically dragged me out the door, carrying my school bag. Luckily she didn't try explaining herself to Lady Mary, she just left me to go to the dining room myself. "Oh," she said as she turned back around, "Have a good day at school, Princess,"

I smiled. "Thanks,"

By the time I made it to the dining room, everyone was starting to come out. "You missed breakfast," Cora said

"Silly maid," Eliza said, "I feel horrible for you,"

I frowned. I just felt bad for Isabella, there was no doubt that she was new. I shrugged just as Lady Mary came out of the dining room. She looked me up and down like she was scanning for any imperfections. But I thought I looked quite nice. Isabella even put two matching blue hairpins on either side of my hair. But Lady Mary could care less about that. "Late again," she said, "It better not happen again,"

"It won't," I replied.

But I couldn't promise that.

We went outside and went inside the carriage. "Be careful," Lady Mary told Alfred since he was the one driving the carriage, "We don't want a repeat,"

All of us looked at each other. "Why would she say that?" Addie whispered.

I shrugged. That seemed shady to me. But Alfred promised he'd be careful and we were off. Eliza then clapped her hands excitedly. "I can't wait to see our school," she said

"It's old and been there for years," Maya said, "There's nothing special about it,"

Eliza frowned and Maya ran her fingers through her hair. "What's really important is that we're coming back to school as princesses," she said, "And I will no longer be the friend of a princess,"

Addie, Eliza, Cora, and I gave each other looks. Maya was definitely jealous of Alexandra. I bet Maya doesn't see Alexandra as dead, just a chance to have the spotlight.

When we got to the school, I looked at how huge it was. It wasn't as big as the palace but it was still very big. "Have a good day at school, princesses," Alfred said but he hardly got to finish when Addie pulled me out of the carriage. "Come on," she said, "I want to show you around,"

"Me too!" Eliza and Cora said, following behind us.

Maya was right, the school did look old. But it was well maintained. The walls were made out of brown stone which made me wonder if they were always brown. "Can we show her the theater?" Eliza asked

"Or the sports field?" Cora asked

"Your school has a theater?" I asked.

Eliza nodded excitedly and I think she was about to ramble on about it when Addie put her arm around my shoulder. "This is our school now," Addie said happily, "I can't wait to--"

"Excuse me?"

We turned around and saw a girl smiling at us. She had dark brown hair with black streaks and had two ponytails, half up and half down. On each ponytail, it had a bright green bow on it. "Sorry to interrupt," she said, "But do you know where Mrs. Bedford's classroom is?"

***

I wasn't planning to upload another part today but here I am. Also I know this is the medieval times (or supposed to be the medieval period) but schooling was very limited then and looked very different than what I'm planning so sorry if it's not historically accurate. A lot of things in this book isn't going to be historically accurate but it is alternative history so it doesn't have to be. Anyways, thanks for reading!