𝒩ℯ𝓌 ℛℴ𝓎𝒶𝓁𝓈

Chapter 1

Dawn's POV

"I can't believe you married a king," I grumbled, packing my belongings into a small suitcase. My mother had brought up the idea many times since my father's death...but I never actually expected it to happen. And I never expected it to hurt so much. I brushed a picture of him lovingly and took in his near-midnight hair, and his dark blue eyes so similar to mine. "You're going to become a princess and attend a special school, and learn royal activities like Performing and Coordinating," scolded Johanna. "I thought you'd be over the moon," My gaze hardened as I looked her in the eye. Barry always said I had the most piercing stare, and I suspected he meant that as a romantic compliment. I never had the heart to tell him I wasn't interested. "Maybe I'm not quite ready to move on yet," I intended for my voice to be stubborn and protesting, but it came out soft and gentle instead, like the twitter of my Togekiss. Piplup, who I'd forgotten was there on my shoulder, looked at me with concern. "Sweetie," my mother dropped the beautiful yellow lace ball gown she was wearing and wrapped her arms around me instead. I breathed in the familiar scent of vanilla and lavender and felt tears pricking the sides of my eyes. I blinked them away before waterworks could explode and took a deep breath. "No need to worry, right?" I chuckled weakly.  "That's right, dear," she responded fondly. "This will look great on you when you're introduced to the kingdom," she lifted a white dress, simple, with a big white bow on the back. It reached the floor and was very poofy, but elegant. I had to admit, it was really beautiful. "All right," I sighed, giving up the fact that I was a dress person and couldn't refuse anything so stylish. Johanna clapped her hands and got ready to doll me up.

An hour later, I could barely recognize myself. Gone was the young working girl who struggled to feed her family, and in her place was a princess. My long blue hair was loose, and I also wore a pair of short white heels, a chain of shining blue beads, and a tiara in the shape of a heart in the middle, wrought from delicate silver and decorated with crystal. I wore no makeup, probably because my mom said I was so gorgeous without it. But looking at myself in the mirror, I could see where she got it from. "Princess Dawn. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?" asked my mom as she finished knotting a bow for Piplup. "Queen Johanna is better," I agreed. "Prepare for snobs at your school. I hear that Princess Iris of Unova is a total diva," she warned. I stifled a giggle as I slid on a pair of white gloves. "You aren't supposed to talk about your subjects like that," I said in mock-indignance. Johanna rolled her eyes. "Iris is the princess of Unova. She's not my subject," she replied wryly. "Now, because the ceremony is in a few hours, I asked Princess May, your stepsister, to teach you a few things," Stepsister...the word rung like a chime in my head. I hoped she wasn't one of the snobs. The doorbell rang and I rushed to open it. May stood outside with a blindingly perfect smile. her dress was pink and red, and her hair was gathered into a puppy-dog hairstyle. She had blue eyes as well, although hers were more 'noon sky' opposed to my 'evening sky' ones. Her hairstyle was formed out of pale brown hair, and she looked impossibly friendly. "Hello," she chirped. "Dawn?"

I nodded, and her gaze drifted to Johanna and her eyes began to water. Although I didn't know her, I knew how hard it was to lose a parent, just like she had lost her mother. "It's alright," I confirmed. May laughed weakly. "I can't cry here. I'll ruin my mascara," "Hello, May. I realize that I'll never replace your mother, but let's try to be the best we can, okay?" winked my mother kindly-and now, I knew, May's mom as well. "So, in three hours you'll be introduced. It takes forty-five minutes to drive their, and a fifteen-minute check-up. We only have two hours," And in those two hours, she drilled me in royal protocol.