Chasing Royalty

The grand doors to our dining hall swing open, breaking off our quiet chatter. William marches inside, taking the time to glare at each of us. “I expect the four princesses to be in the Meeting Room in less than ten minutes. Understand?” Emilienne, one of my quadruplet royal sisters, twists in her seat to catch his eye. “What would be the purpose of this meeting?” “That will be addressed when you arrive.” William stalks out of the room without any further instructions. I frown, “What do you think that could be about?” Emilienne returns to eating her supper, unbothered by William’s unannounced entrance, “It’s probably some boring business that we have to attend to as princesses. Maybe some crops died or something.” Violette shifts in her seat, “What if it’s something more serious than that?” I shrug, “What could have happened?” Neither Violette or Emilienne have an answer. I turn to Alexanne, the final of us quadruplets, “What do you think could have happened?” Her true name is Alexandra, but she’s quietly insisted since she was little that everyone calls her Alexanne. It’s one of the only bold things she’s ever done. Alexanne looks up from her roast, “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” We sit tensely around the table. Emilienne abruptly stands, her chair scraping. “I need to visit my room before this meeting. I’ll see you there.” I rise. “I think I need to do that as well.” My lady in waiting, Grace, trails after me. We’re silent until we reach my quarters. I slip into the room and collapse into a chair. “Do you know what the meeting could be about?” Grace asks. “No idea.” I groan and pick myself up from the chair. Grace scurries forward and smoothes the wrinkles from the back of my dress. I mutter my thanks, nervously running my hands over my hair. “We better get going. It’d be terrible to be the last ones there. I don’t know why my father ever thought it’d be a good idea to put him in charge of an entire kingdom.” I say. Grace raises an eyebrow and pins a strand of hair back into my bun. I bat her hands away, “It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s just a meeting with my sisters and William. If it were important to look like royalty, I’m sure William would have told us.” I lift up my skirts and stride from the room. We walk silently through the chilled halls. Servants dart around us, taking care of the smallest tasks. We reach the grand wooden doors of the meeting room. I take a deep breath as the doorman pulls them open. I raise my chin and wipe all expression from my face. My other three sisters are already inside. Despite my efforts to get her on time, everyone else somehow managed to beat me. They patiently wait for me from their thrones, their ladies in waiting stand directly to their right. I stride to my throne. It’s identical to my other sisters, dark wood with deep blue cushions embroidered with white lilies. Our thrones are positioned in the standard order, the same order that most of our possession take. There is said to be no reason behind the arrangement. Violette. Admira. Emilienne. Alexanne. William glares from the throne in the center of the room. The one that used to belong to my father. William may have more authority over us, but he’s not the king. He’s only an Advisors. They don’t have the right to sit in a throne. William has done this before, trying to pull as much power as he can from his position. I clear my throat, nodding to the throne. He rises from the throne, his fingertips trailing lightly over the dark wood. He addresses each princess staring her directly in the eye, “Violette, Admira, Emilienne, and Alexandra.” Alexanne flinches slightly at her true name, but doesn’t correct him. We curtsy in perfect sync, just as we have been trained. William says, “The day has come that all of you have been anticipating and dreading.” We all know exactly what he’s talking about. “I have something written by your father. He wrote it for you, in case a tragedy happened. Unfortunately, not three days after he wrote this…” My father, King Nathaniel, died in battle two days before our birth. The weight of carrying quadruplets for nine months and my father’s sudden death took all of my mother’s energy. When it came time for her to give birth to us, she had no strength left. The midwives did all they could, but my mother died holding each of our tiny hands. I don’t think any of us were expected to live. With the great knowledge of our doctors, most twins have a good chance of surviving. Triplets might if they’re lucky. Quadruplets, well…the midwives were ecstatic to we had lasted the night. My father and mother had placed William, a trusted friend but not a blood heir, as Advisor of the kingdom. Advisor is not quite the King, but it’s as close as William can ever hope to get. William clings to his position, even when distant heirs and surrounding nations ask for the throne. Before my mother, Queen Cassandra, had died, he left a public message that we, the baby quadruplet princesses, should not rule until we reach the age of sixteen. Even once we reach sixteen, William will still help us with most affairs. Our mother’s message also declared that the order of birth would not decide who ruled the throne. Instead, the one with the greatest qualities and most valued personality traits would rule. The midwives, the only witnesses of the quadruplets’ birth, were sworn to secrecy about not only the information surrounding the birth, but also their identities as well. But we still have two months until our sixteenth birthday, far away from any decisions. William continues, “Your parents decreed will be a competition as to who will be Queen. It will extend for seven weeks, today to a week before your birthday. The winner will be crowned as Queen, and the new ruler of the kingdom, on your sixteenth birthday.” His eyes turn cold as he says. He’s losing his power in two months. “The newest addition in the Royal Gallery will be our way of determining the placement in the competition. Thank you for your time. That will be all.” He pushes the door open. I call after him, “How are we competing? What’s the ‘new addition’?” William turns back, “That information will not be disclosed at this time.” He continues down the hall. I don’t bother following. It was foolish to think he would answer. “What do we do to compete to be Queen?” I address my sisters. With the secluded life in the Castle, my three sisters are easily my closest friends. How will I be able to compete against them? Violette frowns, “I have no idea. He didn’t even read us the letter that he had from our father.” “I am going to learn what that says.” Emilienne promises. “Agreed. But how?” I ask. “We could steal it from him.” Violette suggests. Alexanne soft voice interrupts the silence, “I’m going to the Royal Gallery to see what the ‘newest addition’ is.” We agree, all of us hurrying from the room and through the crisscrossing corridors. We survey the Royal Gallery looking for something new. The granite statues, colorful paintings, and detailed prints are all the same. Sunlight streams through the colored glass windows, tinting the cream walls. “Here,” Alexanne calls out. She stands in front of a new display at the end of the room. A table dressed in a royal white cloth leans against the wall. Our kingdom’s symbol, the white lily, patterns the pale cloth. Four thin glass cylinders stand on the table. Each one has a name imprinted on to it. Violette. Admira. Emilienne. Alexandra. A small, sparkling, blue cube of glass sits in each cylinder, except for one. Except for mine. The other princesses are silent. Whatever the symbolism is, my lack of a cube can’t be good, not when everyone else has one. “I was late…” I say, “I was the last one to the meeting and I questioned him…this is my punishment. I’m not out of the competition, am I? Have I already lost?” “No,” Violette leans closer to the cylinders, “that can’t be fair. We have almost two more months of competition. We don’t know what it means. We should just go to sleep and see what it’s like in the morning.” Emilienne and Alexanne simply stare at the cylinders that will determine their future. Violette shrugs, “Fine, you can all stay here. I’m going to retire to my room. Goodnight to all of you.” We murmur our goodnights. Violette exits the room. Alexanne focuses on her cylinder for a moment longer before following Violette out of the gallery. Emilienne and I stay behind, watching our cylinders intently as if they might change. “What do you think the competition will be like?” Emilienne asks. “I can’t imagine. It looks like it’s already begun, and we don’t even know the rules. There are so many qualities that William must be looking for: kindness, good etiquette, strength, intelligence…” I answer. Do I even have a chance? William and I have never agreed on anything. I can’t win this if he’s the judge. I pretend not to hear my voice shake, “I think I need to be getting to bed.” I push through the doors, fleeing the abruptly suffocating room. My shoes clomp on the uneven stones to my room. Our rooms’ decorations are one of the few things William let us choose for ourselves. Paintings line my light blue walls. My rich purple canopy bed sits in the corner. I stumble forward and collapse on to the pillows. Grace, my lady in waiting, enters my room. She gathers a smile and helps me into my nightgown. “It’ll be fine. You’ll win the competition, no matter what kind it is.” She takes my hair out of my drooping bun and brushes it out. “Not if William’s judging. How can I win when he hates everything I do?” “He doesn’t hate everything you do, and you know it. You deserve to be queen, all you have to do is show him. Your father and mother trusted him, there must be some type of good in him.” “I always knew that they were going to have to decide the Queen somehow but...I never stopped to consider how. I didn’t want to think about it. We always wished they would allow us to rule together and split up the duties between us instead of just one of us taking all the responsibility.” “If you are going to be queen, you’re going to have to work harder than most people regardless.” I sigh and fall back into my bed. Grace only laughs and motions towards her viola leaning against the wall, “Do you want me to play something for you?” Most nights she plays soft melodies until I fall asleep. “No thanks, I need to think for a little bit. Thank you, you can be dismissed.” Grace curtsies and closes the door softly behind her. I lie in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. What could William possibly use as a competition? How can improve my chances? My eyelids start to sink closed. All I can do right now is sleep. If there’s some type of contest tomorrow, I’ll need the energy to focus. I start to drift away into sleep, but my door creaks open. “Admira?” Grace’s anxious face is illuminated by a single candle. “Yes?” I murmur. Why did she have to come just as I was about to fall asleep? Can’t it wait until the morning? “You need to come quickly. Now.” I frown and sit up in bed. “What is it? I’m in my nightgown.” “That’s okay. All the other princesses are in their nightgowns. Come quickly.” I push myself out of my bed, my bare feet landing on the cold ground. “Why are the other princesses out? I thought everyone went to bed.” “They did, but everyone’s awake now. A servant has been murdered in the courtyard.”