The Malay Princess

The Life of The Princess

'Zara!' He calls my name as he opens the door, I am still in my bed with a killer hangover. 

My name is Raja Zara Sarifah, and the person who's calling me is my one-year-older brother, Raja Zarith Husain. I rolled back under my covers even though I hear him. I so lack the energy to deal with this right now. I have too much going on actually. I am regretting taking shots at the bar with those guys I just met. However the party girl does not know how to stop. 

'Apa dia..' I said, but covering my face with the embroidered duvet. 

'Your room smells like shit, legit.' He says, pulling the heavy curtains to the side and revealing the sunlight. Why does my brother need to be so shitty in the morning. 

'That is the smell of a good time abang, it's not like you'd understand what it's like.' I answered, finally coming out of the burrow. The hangover I have is killing me, but I know what today is. It was the day that I am not supposed to be hungover, but here I am. Thank god I didn't have a guy with me last night. I took a whiff of myself, ew, I should get showering. 'Is he here yet?' I asked him, popping my neck and my fingers. It felt nice actually, and yawned as I stretched.

'No, but he's going to be here in an hour. So gi mandi, wash up, be the alternate that you have of yourself.' He says, takes out his phone and makes a phone call. I merely rolled my eyes and dragged myself into the bathroom. 

I have been lucky all my life, not everyone has this. I live in a house with about forty rooms. I have people cook anything that I want so I don't need to cut my fingers or burn my arm. I have a walk-in closet that operates with the best, most modern technology. Money is not an object to me. My room is filled with large, golden furniture that I don't use. 

However, I smoke like a chimney. I use drugs recreationally and I drink hard liquor like its water. Why? The question is always why. 

Because I'm lonely. 

'You look nice today, Za.' My brother compliments me while I put on my makeup on the large vanity. Just enough for me to look appropriate, but not too much that I would look like a whore. A simple blue dress that falls to my knees, accessories on moderation and also a nice kimono to drape. I knew I looked nice, of course I do, it's me we're talking about. 

'Wahai abangku, can you get me my eyedrops?' I asked him, as he sat in my sofa playing his phone. He took the eye drops from my bed side and handed it to me lazily. 

'Just another day of faking your sobriety, yes, my beautiful sister?' He asks me while I leaned my head back and dropped a few into my eyes. 'Have you went into the sauna though? It's going to be a long day for you.' Long days are always like this. He gets a call and takes it, he looks at me and mouths. 'He's here.' 

Dad's home. 

My mother, well, she knows how fucked up I am. It's not like she can do anything about it. Well she could do something about it, but she prefers not to. But ayah, well, he's different. He's out a lot, since he's King. Mother's home a lot since she's holding the fort down for him here. I have always been close to my ayah though, I think he sees the best in me, even though I see the worst. 

It was already in the afternoon so we were scheduled to have lunch. I knew that we were going to have seafood today since ayah likes it so much. The King finally meets his children after being away for almost a month. As soon as I saw him in the front of the dining hall, I ran to him and he opened his arms for an embrace. 'Sayang ayah. How are you?' He says, still draping his arms around me. Ayah was young when he married mom and he was still a bit younger than everybody else when he had us. He became King in his early twenties, a bit younger than usual, and so he had to have his own queen - that is my mother. Even after people saying that ruling a state is too much for a twenty year old, ayah has always been the toughest one. 

Ayah's a good king. 

We sat down and as expected, the expensive seafood comes out. Don't get me wrong, what we have always eaten is expensive, but it's always different when ayah's around. It's much more spectacular, but I think this is my mother's doing. 

'So, berapa lama ayah will stay here for?' I asked, while eating my appetizer.I do eat a lot though, but with ayah, table manners are number one. I don't really like it when he complains about etiquette, but it's not like I can do anything about it. 

'I'm going to Singapore in the morning. Kenapa? Do you want to come with me, princess ayah?' He asks, it has always been like this. Before I had my current lifestyle, I usually would tag along with him, go wherever he goes. But now, it's not really the same anymore. 

'Oh, I have my studies.' I said, 'So another time.' I could see Zarith mouthing 'Ye la tu' in front of me. I kicked him on the shin. 

'Of course. If you finish your A-levels early, then we can send you somewhere out of the country. It's not like we have ever needed to worry about you, kan?' Ayah says with high hopes. I have never had a problem with studying though. To me, it's a job.  I just needed to do it, no questions asked. If I was good at studying, if I had good etiquette; my private life, this other life that I had, would have been kept on the down low and everything on hush. It has been working for the past 20 years of my life, and I don't have to worry about it now. If ayah doesn't know, if the King doesn't know, then I am set for life. 

I just wish I could have told him, that's all.