05 | The Plight of a Proper Princess

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WALKING IN THE WIND
v. THE PLIGHT OF A PROPER PRINCESS

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  PRINCESS ODETTE HELD HERSELF to such high standards that you'd think she was destined to become the next Aslan

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  PRINCESS ODETTE HELD HERSELF to such high standards that you'd think she was destined to become the next Aslan.

  She refused to admit it out loud because she didn't want to come off as ungrateful, but being a princess was exhausting. It was always so easy for people to assume she lived a life without hardship, but that wasn't true for any human being. To carry the weight of a crown on her head was to carry the weight of gravity pushing against her.

  Being a princess required many rules and expectations that must be honored at all times. Always stand up straight and smile, but don't look so rigid! You look like you're in pain, and we all know that princesses should never display the pain of any kind. Relax your shoulders, but not too much or you'll be perceived as lazy. Hold up your chin, never run, always curtsey. Always speak loudly and clearly but never too sharply unless you want to be deemed as disrespectful. The list went on and on and on.

  Being a princess didn't mean simply looking pretty, wearing lavish gowns, and living in an untouchable bubble. Being a princess meant subjecting yourself to fit someone else's narrative, only that "someone else" was an entire kingdom.

  You might recall that Odette was often viewed as aggressive or fussy or even high-maintenance, but this was only because she was raised as a perfectionist. She needed things to be orderly and perfect. Otherwise, she'd be reprimanded.

  Everyone expected Odette to act one way, and all of those demands contradicted and overlapped with one another. It was arduous, not to mention tiresome! That was why Odette appreciated Hope's presence in her life.

  Odette was 14 when she met Hope. See, Hope's father wasn't just the Captain of the Royal Guard. He was also the knight that accompanied the princess during formal events, so they had a friendship of sorts. He was the one who volunteered Hope to become the princess's new lady-in-waiting after the previous one retired. Odette never forgot what it was like meeting Hope for the first time. Hope never pushed any kind of narrative or stereotype onto the princess. All she expected from Odette were orders. Nothing more, nothing less. Odette loved it.

  But the thing that stood out the most to Odette was the fact that Hope treated her with respect, not because of her status, but because she was a human who deserved it. When Odette commented on this, Hope had said her father raised her to always be kind and respectful to people because "you never know what they might be dealing with at the time." That stuck with the princess. After hearing this, Odette begged Hope to become her new lady-in-waiting. They'd been inseparable since then.

Walking in the Wind ↠ Edmund PevensieWhere stories live. Discover now