Waking Up A Princess

Chapter Eleven

Princess lessons only began to intensify after the ball. Now that Ailey was officially the princess of Elmira, the world was paying attention to her. Grandfather was extremely busy trying to organize things around the palace and was working to plan events to get the inexperienced princess's name out there. She understood it was important for the people to know who she was. Ailey had grown up in another country quite a ways away. There was a lot she did not know about the country she was now going to call home, and if she ever planned on becoming a descent ruler, she needed to learn at least something. Because she had always been an over-achiever, she had been working her way through the library as quickly as she could manage. It had only been about a week, so of course she hadn't made it very far. 

On top of all the history and culture she was attempting to understand, she needed to learn things like languages, etiquette, and how to behave properly like a princess. French had easily become her favorite - she had taken three years of the language in high school and it come back rather quickly. German wasn't too bad, but because she couldn't roll her R's, she felt silly trying to learn Spanish. The king worried she was pushing herself too hard and allowing her tutors to assign too much, but she refused to give up. 

It wasn't until dinner one night that she had even stopped long enough to realize how tired she was. The king had just asked her something about college and her reply had been a sloppy combination of several languages - none of which had been correct. In her tired state, she hadn't even realized her mistake. She stared down at her barely touched salad and struggled to keep her eyes open. 

"Ailey." She jumped as a warm had was placed on her shoulder. She hadn't heard her grandfather get up. "You need to rest. You are pushing yourself far too hard." The sides of his warm eyes crinkled with concern.

She couldn't stop, she wouldn't let herself. "No," she shook her head carefully. "I have to do this. I have to do what I can." She couldn't allow herself to stop. If she didn't keep learning all that she could, she worried she would never be the princess Elmira so desperately needed.

The king sighed and sat on the empty chair beside her. "You're doing more than enough. From here on, I'm going to assign your tutors the work you will complete each week." Ailey began to protest, but the king held up a hand to stop her. "I'm sorry, Ailey, but you're pushing yourself way too hard at this point. Your parents would not want you to push yourself this hard. It's not healthy."

He was right. Of course he was right, he always was. Part of the reason Ailey was so worried and trying so hard was because she was worried she would never be half the ruler her grandfather was or her father would have been. She couldn't disappoint people - that was her biggest fear. "Okay," she finally consented. There was no point in pushing herself into an empty grave. Nor would anyone be willing to go against the king's direct orders simply so the princess could over work herself.

She ate a few more bites before asking to be excused. She realized she was far too tired to eat what was before her. She only ate as much as she did to please her grandfather. "Wait," he smiled before she could leave the dining room. It was a smaller one than the great one used for dinner parties and was a lot more intimate. It was easy to forget you were in a castle in this room. "Michael has asked that you accompany him tomorrow to an event." He waited to ensure his granddaughter wouldn't protest. 

"Alright," she smiled. Getting out of the castle seemed like a good idea. She had been spending more time in the library than was probably healthy. Liam had remained at a distance. She had only seen him a couple of times and each time he had slipped away before she could speak to him. Michael had stopped by the castle with his father a few days ago and had arranged lunch for the two of them. Other than the two titled men, she knew next to no one in the castle or even the country she was now living in.