The Crown Princess

Chapter One

Lilianna tugged at her dress, her eyes glazed over.  It had been a long morning of nothing but Lady Ethel's nasally voice droning on and on and on.  Lilianna often wondered how sad the poor woman's life must have been for her to decide to spend her years torturing children.  Did she enjoy it?  Lilianna's parents swore that as she got older, she would learn to enjoy the lessons, and apply them to her life.  Yet sixteen long years had passed by, and she still found herself struggling to stay awake.  There was a soft pop as one of the buttons had finally given way on her dress, and clattered noisily on the floor, causing the princess to look up, startled.  A few of the other girls snickered, but Lilianna ignored them.  She'd never really liked any of the palace girls anyways.  In her opinion, they all had their corsets laced too tight.  On that thought, Lilianna smiled smugly.  Years ago, she'd thrown such a tantrum that she was no longer forced to wear her corset.  In fact, most of her ladies in waiting were afraid of her, and spread all kinds of stories about her around the palace.       

Lilianna glanced around the room, into the familiar faces of the other palace children.  Some boys were fidgeting in their chairs, while one boy was sleeping shamelessly with his hair tilted back, snoring loudly.  The girls pretended to be interested in what Lady Ethel was saying, or perhaps they really were interested.  Lilianna assumed that they were just trying to make a good impression on the teacher since she was in charge of their placements.  Some would be knights, others ladies in waiting, maids, or even royal advisors, all depending on Lady Ethel's recommendation.  Yeah, brown-nosers were definitely more up Addison's alley.

Then Lilianna's eyes fell upon her twin sister.  It was like looking into a mirror.  Addison sat with perfect posture, her hands folded neatly in her lap, her violet dress unwrinkled, all of the buttons intact.  Her smile was pleasant, and she actually seemed to be enjoying the lessons.  Her long golden hair hung down to her waist in gentle curls, shining in such a way that it would put the sun to shame.  Addison felt Lilianna's gaze, and returned it for a brief moment before her eyes hardened and she looked away.  This was also nothing new.  Despite any efforts made to keep the princesses close, their personality differences and the subtle dispute over being the crown princess caused the twins to drift apart.  Unfortunately, this mostly was driven by Queen Estelle, who had chosen Addison to be her favorite daughter and spoiled her rotten.  Lilianna had been taken under the wing of her father, but there are some wounds that only a mother could heal.

Someone nudged Lilianna with a great deal of force, causing her to lose her train of thought and come back to the boring reality of her manners lesson. 

"Hey Lil, what are you doing after class?" a boy's voice hissed.  Lilianna looked over and couldn't help but roll her eyes, "why do you even care, Lyle?" she whispered back.  Lyle was short for his age, obviously still awaiting that last growth spurt.  He had dark brown hair that was cropped short, framing his face, and brown eyes that looked falsely menacing.  He was seventeen, just a year older than the princess, yet not much smarter in her opinion.

"We were just wondering if you were gonna come race later?" Lyle asked, a hint of taunting in his voice, "or are you gonna chicken out again?"

"Oh please, Lyle, everyone knows the only reason I didn't come to the race last week was because I had a gown fitting," Lilianna said between clenched teeth.  Lyle snickered, "aw, that's so cute. Princess Lilianna had a gown fitting."  A couple of boys had tuned in on the conversation and joined Lyle in soft laughter.

"You're sitting pretty right now, Lyle," Lilianna said before she could stop herself, "but just wait until I pound you into the dirt like last time." 

Lyle's smile fell, and he glowered at her.  His hands balled into fists, "not today, princess," he sneered, "Chandler made a new course yesterday, and you have no ide--"