The Five Princes - Preview

Chapter 7 - The New Spy

There were more dance lessons. Etiquette lessons. History lessons. There was a stack of books I suffered through, some because the English was ancient and others because they were incredibly boring. I flipped between staying up late and taking notes, to almost taking all my books and throwing them out the window. But since Evann had taken my phone I had nothing but time anyways. My choices were between eating, sleeping, sitting on the balcony outside my room, or reading.

If this was what being a princess was like, I was over it.

There was a knock at my door.

I shut my textbook, happy at the interruption.

"Come in!"

The door swung open. "You're not even going to check who it is?"

I scrunched my nose. Nikos.

"You're right. Go back outside and shut the door. I'll ask this time."

"You'll lock the door."

"Damn. You weren't supposed to catch onto that."

He gave me a fake grin. "Is this how you treat someone who brings you presents?"

Before I could ask, a half-dozen workers came in, each with a full rack of clothes. Nikos directed them to my closet, which had only one-suitcase's worth of clothes, taking up one-sixteenth of the closet space I was gifted.

"Formal on the left," he commanded the workers. "Dresses in the front and pantsuits in the back. Then casual on the right ... with the other things."

His nose curled at my clothes.

"Don't look at my clothes like that," I said. "They're solid pieces."

"Solid pieces from your middle school days, no doubt," he replied.

I pressed my tongue against my teeth.

"In your current position, you need to have a more mature look," he continued. "It makes the people feel more comfortable with you as a ruler. Wearing a rock-band t-shirt from ten years ago in a leadership position is quirky if done once. It's questionable if done regularly."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of the mirror. He stood behind me, hands on my shoulders.

"We need to create a style for you," he said. "Something uniquely you, but a professional version."

I wriggled out from under his hands. "I don't want to change who I am."

"You're not changing who you are. You're improving who you are. Isn't that what you're supposed to do as an adult?" He snorted, walking away from the mirror. "And you think I'm the one who's childish."

I couldn't see anything that needed improvement. My body was healthy and my clothes fit. Alright, so they were a little baggy and unprofessional. That was the look I was going for anyways.

He went over to my dresser, playing with the makeup and perfume sitting on it. There wasn't much. "I've hired a stylist for you. She'll help you create a style of your own to present to the public."

"I'll just continue to be myself, thank you."

He shook his head. "You still don't get it. You will be yourself. Just a different side of you. Or are you completely one-dimensional?"

I opened my mouth to chew him out, but before I could, a familiar figure walked into the room. She had a graceful, soft air about her, her hair pulled back in a loose bun and her lavender dress wrapping elegantly around her body.

Where had I seen her before?

"Juniper will handle your styling from now on," Nikos said. "She has a detailed eye for fashion and makeup and will teach you what you need to know about being presentable."