Royal Alley

Princess Now

The next day, a servant came at 8 o' clock to wake me up, but as I was still exhausted from not getting much sleep last night, it took me another hour to wake up. Once I got up, instead of getting my maid like she'd asked me to do, I searched through my closet for some pants and a shirt, but instead found a neat row of dresses, all hanging on polished wooden hangers. I found in my closet a thin, light yellow summer dress that I'd gotten from shopping the day before and put it on, but it made my legs feel open and breezy, and I felt exposed in such a small piece of clothing. I hesitated. I hadn't properly looked around my room yet, and my experiences in Royal Alley told me to examine my room carefully before I should feel safe in it. The floor had square tiles of wood that crisscrossed opposite directions every other one, with white walls, enlayed at each corner in intricate golden borders, weaved like rope to make fluid patters. Blue curtains were pulled back against a window on the left wall, and blue curtains also draped from a the ceiling above my pillow to create flowing blue around my headrest. The wall behind the bed was a matching blue, along with the top half of a wall to the right and left of the bed. A squat, white fireplace sat in the middle of the right wall, with a mirror bordered with weaved gold sitting on the mantle. Not far from the end of the bed there was a small square table, with simple chairs of blue plush around it. In front of the window to my left, there was a desk and with a softer looking plush chair behind it. All in all, the room looked spacious, elegant, and very fancy.

After exploring every possible space within my room, I found that the fireplace, window, and door were the only way in and out of the room. A servant was standing outside of my door and greeted me as I came out.

"Good morning, my Princess," said a stern, tall, slim woman with Hispanic features and a Mexican accent. She wore a simple, black dress and black pumps.

"Good morning. Excuse me, I don't know your name," I said.

"My name is Gianna, your highness," she answered respectfully.

"Thank you, Gianna. By the way, you don't need to call me your highness or something like that. Just call me Chantille."

"Yes, Chantille," she said, emotionlessly.

"Is breakfast being served somewhere?" I asked, looking down the hallway.

"You can choose to go to the dining hall, where the chefs will prepare breakfast for you, or you can have it ordered to your room."

"Oh, okay. Um, do you know where my friends are?"

"Yes, they are in their rooms sleeping."

"Where's Eean?"

"He is in a meeting with the King and his advisors. The King wanted me to inform you that your presence would be appreciated as soon as possible."

"Oh, okay, where is it?"

"Would you like breakfast first?"

"I can have it after."

So Gianna turned and led the way down the silent hallway. Every now and then I could hear talking as I passed an open room or when groups of servants walked by. As we continued to walk, I heard yelling in a room farther ahead, and running ahead to see what the matter was.

My eyes felt like they'd just been bombarded with pattern and detail. The walls were almost covered with classical style paintings, and the rug was red, orange leafy pattern that matched the walls. The ceiling had heavy gold designs and was painted in the same theme as the walls. Even the four poster bed, with curtains at each corner, was themed to match the entire room. A glass chandelier hung down from the golden gilded ceiling.

Squinting past the bombardment, I saw Laya standing on one side of the bed, hefting shoes over her head as her servant, a shorter, plump lady with golden hair put up in a bun, stood on the other side waving dresses in front of her.