Crowns And Swords

Chapter One

"Mmmph..."
The sun shone bright in my room as I rose from the sheets. Rubbing my eyes, I let out a huge yawn as I did every other bright summer morning.
"How long did I sleep in this time..?" I whispered to myself quietly, lifting up the heavy covers and sliding off of my mattress. I headed towards the bathroom, where my grandfather clock stood. 10:47. Huh, new record. Better get down there fast then. I reached for the door of the wardrobe and pulled out a simple sky blue gown out from the back. Rushing, I ran for the changing station on the cold, hard floor. With no time to spare, I grabbed my wooden comb and black velvet flats and hurried out the door.

"Good morning, milady!" The guards standing by the doors in the hallway shouted. Trying to fit one flat on my foot as I ran like a horse, I waved back and, accidentally, tripped over one of the nearby maidens feet.
"OOF!!" I shouted as my face and body made contact with the smooth floor. The maiden soon followed after.
"Oh, oh no! I'm incredibly sorry, Your Highness," the young, shy maiden said quietly as she helped me up to my feet.
"No, no, it's fine! I was rushing anyways, so it should be me who apologizes," I replied quickly, wiping the mixture of blood and snot, which was oozing from my face as aftermath from the impact, away from my nose.
"Really? Thank you, Princess!" She squealed with delight, running the opposite direction to where I was facing. I smiled, picked up my comb, put the other shoe on, and continued to run.

Right as I reached the dining hall, I quickly brushed through my hair and tossed my comb aside and quickly shuffled across the room to my seat at the dining table. As I sat quickly down in my seat, messing with my hair to make sure it looked okay, a loud cough came from the right. I turned my head, just to see my mother, the Queen of Deprimere, glowering at me.
"You're late, Giada," Mother said in a low tone.
"Mother, I can explain, I-"
"You say that every time. You were playing chess with the young ladies-in-waiting, weren't you?"
"Noooo..."
"Why can't you play with them during the day during your free time? You literally have hours and hours on end to do whatever, and you choose to play chess with them late at night while everyone's at rest."
"It's more fun at night. And, I'm usually hanging out with Sebastian during my free time. I need my girls, and they need me!"
"Then why can't you just do chess with them during free time?"
"Because Sebastian also needs me!" I exclaimed as my twin brother came into the hall and sat next to me.
"What are we talking about?" Sebastian asked, looking at our mother strangely.
"Giada is always late to breakfast."
"That's not true!! Tell her, Sebastian!"
Sebastian looked at me and whispered, "How can I tell her that you'd rather stay up late playing games and eating food that Mother would highly disapprove of?"
"Ugh! I can't believe this!" I shouted as I banged my head against the table. "This is so unfair!!"
"Unfair? I'm just asking you why you're doing these things! Can't you see that it's a pain for the chefs to wait multiple hours just to make breakfast for you, and then immediately transition into cooking the lunch meal for the few hundred people the live in this very castle? It's ridiculous what you're doing to cause such a huge chain reaction."
"I'll just go without eating then! I'm almost seventeen, it's not like I need the energy!"
"That, my daughter, is a controversial statement. You need to eat properly!"
I scoff. "Then I'll eat on my own schedule!!"
"Don't make the chefs have to go through that!" She exclaimed, then looked at the bit of blood that still oozed from my nose. Mother opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it immediately.
"Good lord, mother! Look, I rushed out of bed to get dressed, tripped over someone's foot, and probably lost my only good comb all to get down here in time for the meal. And now, you're complaining that I'm late and that I should stop interacting with people outside of my educators. I'm going back to my room!" I shouted in anger as I rose from the seat and marched out of the hall. I could hear Sebastian say to Mother from behind, "You can't just do that to her. She's got a bit of a temper, and things like this won't help stop it."