E N T H R O N E D

Preparations

BANG BANG BANG! "HANNELE! GET YOUR PRETTY LITTLE PRINCESS BUTT UP ALREADY! I'VE HIT THIS DOOR 20 TIMES ALREADY AND SOON ENOUGH ITS GOING TO FALL OFF ALONG WITH MY HAND!"

Uh oh. You knew it was important when my mom woke me up instead of Maid Flanna.

I sat up groggily, leaning on my elbow and rubbing my eyes. "What's so important?"

My mother groaned from outside the door. "It's the Galaxy Ball honey! How could you forget?!"

I jolted up. Oh crap, the ball was today! Mother was right, how could I forget?

"Right, obviously! Sorry!" I threw off my covers and ran over to my bathroom, immediately turning the shower on. If I wanted to get me a man at that ball tonight, I needed to get to work.

What's the Galaxy Ball you ask? Oh, only the most prestigious of events where everyone from neighboring kingdoms is invited. It's a pretty rare occasion: the party was only held for the next heir of any of the 10 kingdoms' 15th birthday. It's the perfect place to meet your soulmate. And by soulmate, I mean prince that you're going to be forced to spend the rest of your life as queen with. Sounds fun, right?

Instead of being held on the prince or princess' birthday, it's held a month before. That way, they have time to get to know and hopefully fall in love with their soulmate.

Okay, when I put it like that, it sounds kinda depressing. But I swear it's not!

Thunder boomed loudly outside, shaking the castle. Which technically shouldn't be possible because it's HUGE, but I'm not about to fight with Mother Earth. I flinched, almost poking my eye out with my hair brush. It's not that I didn't like thunderstorms. They're my favorite type of weather. But at that point in time, I was very on edge. This Galaxy Ball wasn't for just any of the kingdom's heirs: it was for me.

Obviously, I should be excited. I'm about to meet the "love of my life!" That's not something you get to do every day. Unless you're, like, Zeus or something, who makes out with practically everyone on the planet.

But it was also incredibly nerve-racking. As a child, I always heard stories of people falling in love not because they were forced to, but because they liked the other person for the real them. Their real personality and looks and actions of selflessness. I always envied those couples. The one with that thing... what's it called? Right. true love.

Being a princess in The System isnt, er, ideal. The Galaxy Ball might sound like this beautiful event where you really DO find your true love no matter who you are, but really? It's quite the opposite. You have to look a certain way, act with a certain attitude, and push all of your emotions to the back of your mind. It's like my mother always says; you're only really loved when you're accepted, and you're only accepted if you're perfect.

As I put on my bathrobe and walked down the hallway to my Maid Flanna's room to get ready, I went through the basics in my head. Straighten your posture, but not too much or you'll look like you have back problems. No one wants a wife with back problems. Head up. Smile even if you're tired. Hands behind your back at all times, unless you're eating (eating without your hands would probably not be elegant). Act confident even if you're in the skimpiest dress. Strut down every corridor like you are the queen that you soon will be, even if your heels are painful to do so in. Say "please" and "thank you." And never, EVER, be yourself.

In the back of my mind, I knew it was wrong. I knew that true love was what life was supposed to be about. Accepting people not because they're perfect but because we're all just trying to live. But I'd grown up as that concept just being a myth. In The System, there were ranks and arranged marriages and big fluffy Persian cats. It's what I've lived with, so why try and change it? I turned out okay. I think...

The problem was, I was incredibly bad at lying. Not just lying about who ate the last cookie or what time I went to sleep, but about who I was too. Which would be a problem if I ever wanted a nice, handsome prince to settle for me.

I knocked on Flan's door lightly, practicing my new and improved self for the ball. Head up, smile, hands behind your back, I thought to myself. Flan opened the door and I gave what I like to call my "best wife" smile. "Good morning ma'am! Thank you for seeing me in my hour of need! I am thrilled to acquire the accessories you have picked out for me!"

Flan blinked, confused for a second. Suddenly, she burst out laughing. "Hann, what the heck are you doing?"

I sighed and let go of my act. "I'm trying to practice my etiquette for the ball tonight! Was it good?"

"Was it good? Well, if you were trying to look like a professional assassin hiding a knife behind your back, it was incredible," she giggled.

"At least I tried!" I walked into the room and sat on her bed. The Maids' rooms weren't quite as glamorous as mine was. They were about as big as my walk-in closet, with a single bed in the corner and one window on the opposite side of the room. Flan had enough room for a desk, a dresser, and her make-up and hair supplies (which took up most of the floor). She didn't even have her own bathroom; all of the maids had to share one at the end of the hall. I mean, how absurd is that?! I tried talking to mother about it once. I didn't think it was fair that Flan, who was a LOT more lady-like than me and would definitely be a better princess than me, got a lesser bedroom just because she lived AND worked here. But the queen declined my request, using the concept "separate but equal." As long as Flanna still had somewhere to sleep, she saw no problem.

Ugh, adults, am I right?

"I really am thankful for you helping me with this though," I said as Flan sat next to me, bringing a bag full of make-up with her. "If I tried to dress myself for this ball, my mother would've had a heart attack."

Flan laughed. "It's no biggie! Anything for a friend. Plus, I specialize in this kind of stuff." She squirted some weird tan liquid, which I assumed was foundation, into her palm, dipped a peice of squishy foam in it, and started dabbing it on my face.

"You're coming with me, right? Who knows, maybe there'll be some handsome servant you can hit it off with," I teased.

"Maybe... but do you think your mom would let me? She already hates that you're friends with someone in the middle class," Flan said.

"I mean, you have a point, but there's no way I'm going to that thing without you. Who else is going to reassure people I'm not about to murder them?"

She laughed and took out what I think is an eyeshadow pallet, dipping a brush in a bright white. "True, true. And I have always wanted to go to one of these kinds of things. Close your eyes."

I did as she said and felt her lightly applying the eyeshadow. That's right, maids never got to go to fancy dinners, let alone balls. It wasn't that they were banned from ever attending or something, it's just that they were never invited. I once sneaked my "boyfriend" who was a servant into a dinner party when I was six, and no one said a thing. Yes, I said "boyfriend." We don't talk about him.

"Well, that's going to change tonight. I'm sneaking you into that ball tonight, whether my mother likes it at all." I opened my eyes and grinned at her.

Flan's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Are you for real?"

"Of course! We both know I couldn't lie even if I wanted to. And I never really liked my mom anyways," I smirked.

She laughed. "Well then Galaxy Ball here we come!"

I cheered and then Flan scolded me for opening my eyes, telling me to close them again. I did so, but couldn't stop smiling. I had a feeling tonight would be one I would remember forever.