Royal Roulette

Chapter 3| Lacey Beginnings

"Rose, you better get up and get ready!" Its almost time for Lacey's banquet," Dimitri calls from the bathroom. "Ughhhhhhhhhhhh, damn royals and their events," I grumble, rubbing my eyes. I walk into my closet and quickly decide to wear traditional guardian clothing. I start to grab the hanger with my shirt when a hand snatches it away. I spin around accusingly. "Liss said you were to wear a dress today, remember?" Dimitri says, the ghost of a smile playing at his lips. "Well comrade, if she wants me to wear a dress then she should have sent one," I answer, thinking I had outsmarted the both of them. "That's the thing," he chuckles, "she did send one." He can't be serious. "Damn," I mutter, "Liss really does think of everything." I stare dumbly at him until he pulls a dress out from behind him. My breath catches in my throat. I reach out, afraid to touch it. "It's amazing," I whisper, completely awestruck by the beautiful dress. It was a deep shade of purple, with little black jewels around the neck. I took it from Dimitri and slipped it on over my head. I look at myself in the mirror. "Wow," I breathe. "Wow is right," Dimitri says, breathing heavily. I laugh at his reaction. "See something you like Comrade?" I tease. The dress comes to my mid thigh, showing off my excellent leg muscles, while the material clings to my curves. I haven't worn anything like this since highschool. I have missed looking sexy. "You ready Roza?" Dimitri asks. I cast one last glance in the mirror and follow him down stairs. "Always," I answer.

We arrive at the royal ballroom running a few minutes late to find a very stressed out Lissa running around with little Lacey in her arms. I jog ( or I tried to, considering how tall my heels were) over to her. "Liss! How is everything?" I ask, genuinely curious. The ballroom was decorated elegantly,with varying shades of the Dragomir colors all over the room. "Great. Everything is great. Could you watch Lacey until the ceremony starts?" Liss asks. I nod and gently take Lacey from Lissa's arms. Today, the little princess is 1 month old. She would receive her crown today. Liss scurried of with her advisor to tend to whatever it was she did at these events. After about an hour, the guests started arriving, so me and Lacey followed Dimitri to the front of the room where Liss sat in her throne. I gently handed Lacey off to her. "You ready?" I asked quietly, knowing just how nervous Liss was. She didn't want her baby to be in the public eye, but as being the queen's daughter, that was nearly impossible. "As ready as I'll ever be," she says with a small smile. With that, she looked out at the sea of onlookers. She put on her queenly smile and said grandly, "Welcome to the Crowning of Princess Lacey Skylynn Dragomir-Ozera." The crowd went wild.

"Thank you everyone," Lissa said, hoping to tone down the volume. The room finally quieted down enough for her to continue. She walks over to me and places baby Lacey in my arms. She then gestures to Lacey and says, "Princess Lacey is 1 month old today. Therefore the council has decided she has earned the title of princess." She then walks over to Christian who is holding a pillow with a very tiny tiara. It has the same jewels as Lissa's, except they are much much smaller. She strides over to me and begins gently placing the tiara on her daughter's head. I see tears forming behind her eyes. Tears of joy at her beautiful daughter who may become her predecessor? Or tears of sorrow that her baby girl will live a life playing politics with royals? She quickly blinks the tears away and gently picks up Lacey. She once again becomes queenly and regal. "I present to you, the official heir to my throne. Princess Lacey Skylynn Dragomir-Ozera," her voice booming off of the walls of the ballroom.

The crowd goes wild, cheering about how great Lacey will be. "Long live the dragon!" they cheer. We begin to exit, me flanking Liss and Lacey, while Dimitri stays near Christian. We make it outside only to find a very morbid scene. On the sidewalk, written in blood, a message is written. It read, "One dragon was enough, but now that there are two, no one is safe my dear. Not Lacey, nor you."