Princess In Training (Book 1)

Chapter 26

My eyelids fly open as I feel my body flying off my bed, I look around to see all of my siblings jumping on my bed. "Wake up it is Christmas!" Ben yells and I finally get them to stop bouncing long enough for me to sit up.

"Guys go get ready, Mia take Clary and help her get ready I will help Sami figure out what a Genovian Christmas is all about." Liz says and everyone but her runs out of my room to go get ready.

"You are all very excited for today." I say as I finally climb out of bed.
"Well since we already have so much, on Christmas and Thanksgiving we take the chance to give back to those in our kingdom who do not have as much." Liz says grabbing my hand and guiding me to the shower. "Go freshen up. I will find your outfit for you and then you and I can start on our adventure." Liz says. I shower as fast as I can and grab a clean pair of undergarments and pull them on before grabbing my bathrobe and heading to my closet.

"Liz?" I say as I open the door.

"Down here!" She yells. I find her in my dress section and she quickly throws a green knee length dress at me. "Start putting the clothes on as I throw them at you." She says and I nod my head as she throws a pair of red and white striped tights at me. I pull on the tights and dress just in time for the red blazer to be thrown at me. She passes me a pair of green wedge heeled ankle boots and starts heading for the door. "I picked out a pair of earrings for you, put them on, loosely curl your hair, no makeup and no tiara. Meet me in the foyer in about 10 minutes." She yells as she runs out of my room. I head over to my vanity and follow her instructions and grab my purse then head down toward the foyer. Once there I see Harry and Ben waiting.

"LIZ WRONG JACKET!" Harry yells and I look at him confused. "Take off the blazer." He says and I follow instructions and moments later I am being tossed a red pea coat. "Try that on." He says and I quickly pull on the pea coat. "Just do not button or close it up." He says and I nod my head. Moments later Liz comes running into the foyer dressed similarly to me.

"Harry where are mom and dad? Ben is supposed to stay with them." Liz says.

"We are right here dear." Eleanor says as she comes around the corner in a long red dress with a green cardigan, my dad next to her in a green button down with a red blazer. Harry and Ben are dressed similarly to Dad. "Clary is also staying with us. Now you three go have some fun." Eleanor says and Liz and Harry both grab my hands and pull me out the door. Once we are down the steps I finally am starting to notice a theme. There are two sleighs outside the castle waiting for us.

"Who is the other sleigh for?" I ask Liz and Harry as we climb into the first one.

"Mia and Alex." Harry answers.

"They are starting on the other side of the village." Liz says.

"Ok wait. I understand that we are giving to the less fortunate today, but giving what exactly?" I ask as Liz places a think and wooly Santa hat on my head.

"To the children we are giving toys, to parents we are giving them the food to have a holiday meal, and money to help them get on their feet." Harry explains.

"Wow, now I understand why you all were so excited this morning." I say laughing. It is about a 2 hour ride to the edge of the kingdom so the entire ride Liz and Harry explain to me what I will be doing, and what the rest of the family is doing.

"So this morning before we left the palace mom gave me this check book. This is just for you for today. Each family knows how much money they are in debt as of right now. Our sleigh is going to stop at the church in each little town. Every family comes walking down to the church, Harry gifts the younger kids with toys, I'll be gifting the teenagers with new clothes and items to help them continue their education. While the kids are distracted you will be writing checks for money and giving out bags of food." Liz explains to me.

"Wow. Ok." I say "I can do that." I say. It was not long before we arrived at the first town's church. We quickly exited the sleigh and entered the church. I take off my pea coat and pull on my blazer and get ready to start handing out food and writing checks. We spend as much time as needed in each and every church until we finally arrive back at the palace. Once there Liz grabs my hand and pulls me towards the guest cottage around back.
"This is the best part of today. These are the people who tonight did not have a warm place to sleep besides in the shelters. So we open up the guest cottage to however many families will fit inside. Our staff serves them tonight." Liz says and then begins heading back to the castle. We walk in the main doors and take off our winter coats and Liz gestures for me to follow her. I follow her through the hallways to the kitchen and when we open the doors we find our parents cooking. Turns out that the Genovian tradition is for the royal family to serve their servants on Christmas. All of us kids pitched in and made a side to go with the turkey our parents were making. After dinner I went up to my suite and when I looked at my little seating area I spotted a couple of presents. I get closer and I see a note on top of all the boxes. I grab the note and read it.

Dear Samantha,

I know that this Christmas is not your normal Christmas so I figured I would give you a few small gifts to try to make the transition easy, so here you are. Enjoy.

Love,

Your Dad

I sit down on my couch and grab the first gift. Iunwrap it to find a beautiful locket. I open the locket and find a picture ofmy dad and I the first time I arrived in Genovia, I smile at the memory andslip the necklace on. I grab the second box and see a framed picture of my dad,Eleanor, all my siblings and I. I smile and set the photo on the table in frontof me and grab the last present. I open the last gift to see a framed pictureof my grandmother and I. I smile and set the picture next to the Family shot. Ismile as I make my way upstairs and into my bed. It has been a long day butthis has been such a wonderfully amazing Christmas.