The Queen of Freaks

Chapter One - Walls

Evanna

Evanna was sick of parties. Every month included preparations for another stupid affair, another farce in which she was thrown in front of some awkward suitor or another. The Harvest Ball would be no better. Squeezed into a tiny corset with her black hair scraped into a tight bun, she chewed on her lip gently. In a few hours, she would be fake-smiling her way through the crowd, accepting hand-kisses from sycophantic chancellors with sons her age. Dear God, she hoped her plan worked.

'He's not a bad-looking guy, you know? Your father's done well this time.'

Evanna practically jumped out of her skin, swivelling around to see a tall redhead waggling her eyebrows mischievously. Her maid, Penny, had a habit of sneaking up on her when she was deep in thought. Then again, when was she not deep in thought?

'Who?' she blinked stupidly at Penny, watching the maid's cheeky, lop-sided smile falter as she did.

'The Chancellor of Cyprus's son?' At another wide-eyed blink from Evanna, Penny added, ' You weren't thinking about him, were you?'

Evanna didn't even bother trying to hide her shame. Penny was her best friend. She knew her well enough to know when she was lying. Plus, they'd spoken about the plan practically every day for the past two weeks, so Penny knew that tonight was the night. Instead, she dipped her head apologetically. 'I can't even remember the guy's name.'

'Well, that's a brilliant start. If you're going to go through with your hair-brained idea, acting like your mind is in the clouds isn't going to do you any favours.'

'I was kinda hoping people would just think I was being regular Evanna.'

'Regular Evanna should know better. You're a princess. Sneaking out of the Palace is bound to get you caught.'

Evanna knew she was right. How could a princess get away with running around London without getting noticed? This was the twenty-third century: the age of the virtual image. The whole world had probably seen her standing awkwardly at the edge during the King's Christmas holo-television speeches, desperately trying to blend in with her surroundings. The farthest reaches of the British Empire had access to every single physical detail about her: her height, her weight – even the exact tone of her toffee skin. There was no way no one would recognise her.

That was the very reason she needed to get out, though, if just for a night. How was it normal that the rest of the world seemed to know more about her than she did? How was it fair? Wouldn't most other seventeen-year-olds be spending their time discovering who they were? She didn't know how she was supposed to find out anything about herself when she'd been stuck inside the Palace from the day of her birth. If she could just spend one night pretending to be normal, then you could guarantee she'd take it. The possibility of getting caught was worth it. She'd take any punishment her father gave her later.

'You're doing it again,' Penny scolded. 'You're phasing out. Stop it.'

'What do you mean? I always phase out, right?'

'Not like that. You're doing your worried lip-biting thing again.'

Evanna pouted, resisting the urge to bite down on her bottom lip harder. 'Only you know about that.'

'I'm the only one who tells you I know about it. Trust me: people notice. You're way too easy to read.'

'Okay, okay. Fine. Who the hell is the Chancellor of Cyprus's son?' Evanna sighed, running her hand along the top of her head and earning herself a frustrated tsk from Penny.