Queen Bee

First Impressions

I awake the next morning to the sound of a banging on my door.

    "Miss! Wake up! MISS! Don't make me come in there and wake you up!" A small smile is on my face as I sit up and call "I'm up! Quite making all that noise!" Anna, my maid, sweeps into the room as she does every morning. 

    "Today's the day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the prince is on his way down the lane!" The smile I wore immediately fades. 

    "Wait, he's here already?" 

    "Well, his carriage is on the road to the castle."

    "Oh no." I jump out of bed and grab my hair brush, attempting to untangle a nights worth of hair knots. 

    "Whats the matter?" Anna asks, going into my closet. My eyes water from the pain of the brush tearing my hair apart.

    "I was supposed to greet him." And just like that, Anna completely switches. She runs out of my closet with a dress in hand, completely serious. 

    "I can get you ready in five minutes. Sit. Now." I plop myself in a chair, not wanting to disobey direct orders from Anna herself.

    "Are we going to have enough time?" 

    "Don't ask me stupid questions." She throws the dress on my bed and comes over to me, seizing the hair brush from my hand. A few strokes through my hair and shes magically turned it into a smooth hairdo. 

    "Stand." Somehow, shes already grabbed my corset and is slipping it over my head. 

    "I hate this thing." She doesn't say anything as she ties the strings in the back, but I know she hears me. I let out a few gasps of air as she tightens it up. I sit back down, and like clockwork she is at my feet and slipping pant sleeves on my legs. 

    "You're a God-send."

    "I know." Anna smirks, my dress in hand already. Its a boysenberry purple with a loose fit, slipping over my head without a problem. She goes to my back and begins tying once again. Its not too long or short, it sways just below my knees. She pats my back to signal that shes done and I take a look in the mirror. My auburn hair, obviously from my mother, seems to match it just right. I'm questioning whether that's just in my head when Anna comes up from behind me with a pair of slipper and says "You look lovely." I smile in answer as she lays the white slippers down at my feet. I slip them on and give myself one final look. 

    "I guess I'm ready." Anna squeals and claps her hands in excitement as she grabs my hand and leads me out of my room. 

    "I hope he has a stunning servant as well!" She says, dragging me down the stair case. My heart pounds harder and harder with each step down the stair case. I have a headache by the time we get to the bottom from the bouncing and jarring of my head. We sprint across the grand marble entryway and push through the silver doors just in time to see a carriage pull up in front of the steps. It a bright white one with silver lining that sparkles in the sun. The carriage's curtains block my view from the inside. Anna gives me a little push to get down the stairs and by the time their coachman leaves his place on the top of the carriage I'm standing, out of breath, next to my father.

       "Where's Mother?" I ask, giving him a side glance.

       "Not feeling well. Where were you?"

    "I'm here now, aren't I?" He grunts in response. The coachman opens the carriage door wide and out steps a man.

    "Your majesty!"  My father exclaims at the bald man, bowing deeply. I follow suit, though not as extravagantly. 

    "You Majesty," the man dips his head in a bow. "That sounds very redundant. Please call me Jules!"

    "I agree! You can call me Harald." Both of them stretch a smile over their faces so wide it looks like they're competing to see who can smile the biggest and most fake.

    "And this is my daughter, Princess Adela." I remember to stand back up straight as the king of Franse, or Jules, grabs my hand.

    "A creature of beauty! Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He kisses my hand and I force back a look of disgust. 

    "And to you as well, Your majesty." I join them in the smiling contest as he looks back at my father. Jules looks sort of like my father except that he's much skinnier and has white, fuzzy whiskers on the lower part of his face. They both share the same sort of large and joyous eyes. Deceiving eyes that remind me of a caricature. 

    "I was under the impression that His Highness would be joining us?" My father questions, attempting to look over the other king's shoulders.

    "Oh, he is," his smile fades, "he's just taking his time." A long, awkward moment of silence follows, until another man steps out of the carriage. This one has dark, red hair and a long, skinny body. He seems a lot more informal in the way he takes place next to King Jules. 

    "Ah, here's my boy!" Jules gives the prince a hard pat on the back, causing him to almost topple the pile of books in his hands.

      "Welcome, Your Highness! My daughter and I are very excited to have you here!" Father goes to shake his hand, forcing the prince to stack all of the books on one hand. He smiles and says "I...uh.." then looks at his father.

    "Oh, yeah I forgot. He doesn't speak English." 

    "Oh, I see." Harald slowly takes his hand away from the boy's.

    "You see, he studied many other languages, ones that we found more useful," he says the last word like it leaves a bad taste in his mount and continues, "but I'm sure it will be fine!"

    "Does...does he know any English?" My father asks, seeming to ignore the use of the word "useful".

    "Oh, yeah. Some. I think. Do you?" Now we're all looking at the boy , who looks very embarrassed. 

    "Que?" The prince asks.Then the king says something in their language, which seems to make him feel better.

    "Oh, yes." Jules looks very proud of his response.

    "I'm sure the kids will be able to figure it out! It'll make things more interesting, eh?" 

    "Yes, I'm sure." My father chuckles nervously, giving me a look that says "Good luck". 

    "Shall we head inside, Harald?" Jules asks, not waiting for an answer and barging up the stairs.

    "Yes, lets." He doesn't spare a look at me before following him up. When I look back the prince is standing right in front of me, making me jump.

    "Good day. Olivier." He sticks his free hand out. 

     "Hi.  My name is Adela." I grab his, not sure where this is going. He lets go and points at me.

    "Adela?" I nod my head.

    "Hi." I point at him and say "Your name is Olivier?"  He jabs a thumb at himself and replies "Olivier, oui." My first reflex is to give him a thumbs up, which he then does back to me. He laughs at something. 

    "Hello! Welcome to Astaria Your Highness!" Anna is suddenly behind me, bowing to Olivier. He smiles and says "Good day. Hi." 

    "I think I just taught him 'hi'." I giggle, turning to Anna.

   "Why don't we show him around?" She smiles at me, then at him. 

    "Fine, but please don't leave me alone with him." 

    "I haven't before, have I?" She takes off up the stairs and I follow, waving for Olivier to come up with me. As soon as we enter, a bunch of servants flood around us. They all at once begin asking if Olivier needs anything, if he's hungry, if he's cold, etc. etc. 

    "Merci! Merci!" He says to each and everyone of them as they take his books and a bag I just now realized was draped over his shoulder. I've always known that there's been two types of princes. The buff ones who make girls swoon for a living and the ones like Olivier. They've spent their entire lives studying, so they don't really know how to be social. The only thing those two types have in common is that they're all full of themselves. We manage to escape from the crowd with a little help from Anna yelling for everybody to leave. Well, a lot of help.

    "Where should we take him first?" Anna asks.

    "The kitchen. I'm starving." We lead Olivier to the kitchen like a lost puppy, gaping at everything he sees. I can't blame him. When I was a kid, I was always filled with amazement just at the sight of everything. The paintings, the artifacts in glass cases, and every single wall decal that seemed to have been painted by the gods. Now, all I see are the small imperfections like places where the wallpaper is coming off-reminding me that the walls are as fake as everyone inside.

    The smell of cinnamon and other spices greet us as we open the doors to the kitchen. The usual hustle and bustle of the room is replaced with a single man cursing under his breath. 

    "I'm gonna bring this chicken back to life just so I can kill it again!" Godfrey, the palace chef, says in almost a yell. 

    "Godfrey, we have a guest!" Anna commands, going over to the pantry and opening it. Godfrey's face turns bright red.

    "HEY! Get your s-" then he sees the prince and I as I stifle back a laugh.

    "Oh," his demeanor changes into a much more calm one. "Please forgive me, I wasn't aware we had guests." 

    "I just told you we did." Anna remarks, a mouth full of food.

    "Well maybe I didn't hear you." Godfrey snarls, giving her a nasty look. He then turns back to us and bows, a smile on his face.

    "What can I help you with, Your Highness?" 

    "We're feeling peckish, could you make us a snack please?" I ask.

    "Of course!"

    "Oh, and this is Prince Olivier of Franse."

    "Hi." He says as I motion to him. 

    "Ah, yes. Good morning, Your Highness." Godfrey bows once more and then goes over the pantry. He shoves Anna out of the way and begins to rummage around. Anna lurks back to us, crackers hidden in the pockets of her dress. She silently hands them to me, and I give one to Olivier. He studies it for a moment, then says "Cracker!" A giggle escapes me as he takes a small bite of it.

    "Yeah, that's a cracker. Is that what its called in Franse?" I shove the entire thing in my mouth as I wait for him to answer. He shrugs, then continues snacking. I'm not sure if he understood me, or if he doesn't know. By now, Godfey has moved on to the cooler and is pulling out a chunk of meat. He slabs it on the table and takes a large knife out of his belt. He then begins chopping slices of the brown beat into circles.

    "What's that?" Anna asks, positioning herself right next to him. I'm not sure how old Godfrey is (the mustache makes it hard to tell), but I'd almost say he and Anna  look cute together. Of course, I would never really say that, because just a few months ago Anna told me in confidence that she doesn't like guys. I could understand that, but then she told me she might like girls instead. Not like, but like like. If you catch my drift. I'd never really heard of anyone like that, but I didn't want to upset her so I told her it was probably normal. We haven't really talked about it since.

    "Salami, and its not for you." He bumps her away with his shoulder, forcing Anna to move back with us. I notice that Olivier is looking sort of awkard standing by himself, then I remember my father telling me to give him a good time. 

    "So, Oliver. What other languages do you speak?" He perks up and looks straight at me.

    "Other languages?" He asks and I nod. He lists them off one by one on his fingers, and from what I understand in his flurried Frense words he speaks Jerman, Italion, Koreon, Chenese, and Spainish. 

    "And little English." He adds. 

    "Oh, cool."

    "You?" 

    "Just...just English." My father never figured it would be useful for me to learn any other language.  He nods, still eating his cracker. 

    "bon appétit!" Godfrey exclaims, causing a huge smile to form on Olivier's face. He sets a pair of dishes in front of us on the counter filled with the sliced salami and some cheese.

    "Merci!" 

    "Thank you." Godfrey bows in thanks, then tells us that he has to go prepare for tonight's feast. 

    "Just leave the dishes when your done and I'll clean them!" he adds, pulling the door shut. Anna is now sitting in the corner, picking things off her dress. The first bite of the meat is amazing! It has a smoked taste with complimentary spices that make my mouth water as soon as it hits my tongue. 

    As soon as we finish our meal, Anna says that she has something to show us. Clueless, we blindly follow her through the white halls of the palace. I look at Olivier every so often to make sure he looks decently amused, and I'll admit it's not that bad of a sight. His eyes remind me of a forest with the different mixtures of greens and small dots of canary yellow that spec them. I laugh at myself, then look back at Anna to see that she has stopped. She looks around, making sure no one is around, then places her hand on the wall. She gives a shove, revealing a hidden door in the wall. I gasp, my mouth agape.

    "How long has that been there?" I ask, not believing that I've never seen it in all my years.

    "Since the castle was built. So, about 150 years ago." Anna gives a little smirk, then motions for us to step in. There's a little ledge, so Olivier grabs my hand to help me get in. Not that I needed help.

    "How come I have never seen it?" I stand inside, waiting as Olivier helps Anna in as well. Its not very big, just about 5 and a half feet tall-barely touching Anna's head. Only about 1 and a half persons could fit through the stone walk ways. Anna closes the door with an inside handle, vanquishing any source of light.

    "You've never seen it because its for the servants. Down this hallway and to the second door to the right is an entry way to the seamstress' room." The darkness is unnerving and I feel like someone is watching me every second of the way. I follow Oliver, who decides to take the lead this time, with Anna behind me. A musky smell almost overpowers the sound of our footsteps and dripping water coming from somewhere. Olivier stops and begins to grope the wall. Then I notice that there is an outline of a door.

    "She said the second one."

    "This is that one." He says, in broken English. His vowels are very nasally, like when you get sick. 

    "Oh, sorry." Its not like I can see. He pushes the door open and a golden light breaks through. I fight the urge to push him out of the way as he takes his time getting out because I don't want to be in here a moment longer. He goes to grab my hand to help me again, but this time I ignore it and get step over the ledge myself. He doesn't say anything and steps out of my way. I take a gulp of fresh air, thanking the Heavens for getting me out of there. He goes to push the door close, but I say "Wait for Anna!" 

    "Anna..." He pauses with his eyes squinted like he's thinking. Or constipated. 

    "Whats that word?" He puts his hands together, then pulls one away from the other animatedly.  

    "She left?" 

    "Yes! The door 1." The first door? She said she wouldn't leave me alone with him! Agitation fills my chest as I turn to exit the room. I hear Olivier's footsteps behind me as I go down stairs and throw open a pair of glass doors. I'm greeted by a small outdoor garden. I find a bench and plop down next to some daffodils. Olivier sits next to me on the other side, looking down at the flowers. I turn away, then remember I'm supposed to be giving him a tour.

    "This is a garden. We're taking a break." I spare a glance his way and notice he has something in his hands. Upon closer inspection, I see a small garden snail crawling on his palm.

    "What are you doing?" He holds it up to me and says "We eat it at home." My whole body whips to face him, disgust in my eyes. 

    "Ewe! Well don't eat the snail!" I snatch it from his hand and his eyes go wide.

    "I would not! He is called Ugo!" He says Ugo like you-go

    "You named a snail Ugo?" He gives a hard nod, so I put the snail down on the bench between us. We spend a few moment watching Ugo in a silence.

    "Do you miss Franse?" 

    "miss?" 

    "Yeah, like long for it or want to go back."

    "Oh, yes. My home is much larger. You're home is small." I stand up quickly, feeling my cheeks go red. 

    "Well, its not like we can go and take over innocent people's lives and steal their money, or even want to!" He probably didn't understand what I said, but I made it clear I was angry at his commentary on our palace. I mean, who does this guy think he is!? He can't just walk in here and tell me that my palace is too small for him because his is huge! 

    "I did not mean it that...that..." He struggles to find words, standing up too late because I'm already marching away. I go down a path that is covered with fruit trees so he can't follow and find myself back in the palace. My father would have told me to apologize to him and not say anything. My mother would have told me to hear him out. Except, I don't need to hear him out to already know what he has to say. He's probably say something about how I'm small, so not all small things are bad and chuckle like a creep or how he'd go and make our kingdom and palace better if I'd just marry him like I'm supposed to. What a load of bull crap. I pick mu dress up and begin sprinting down the hall, only stopping to dry the hot tears from my face. I promise you that I'll never cry over a boy, but I do get upset when they may have tricked me for a moment into thinking that they were different than the rest, or when they remind me of how powerless I feel. They're never, ever different. I push my bedroom door open and it slams against the wall. I let it swing shut by itself and throw my body onto my bed. I cover my face with a pillow, praying to just stop existing so I don't have to deal with the consequences of telling a prince off and leaving him alone. A calm presence sits on my bed next to me and gently tears the pillow away from my face. Anna's silvery eyes greet me. 

    "You." I say, seething.

    "Me!" She cheerfully replies. I sit up, my tears drained and a new feeling of betrayal.

    "You said you wouldn't leave me alone with him! Look, now I've gone and messed it up!" She thinks for a moment.

    "I never said I would stay with you-I just said that I've never left you before."

    "Well, why'd you leave me now?" I feel like a little girl again, a little girl who scraped her knee and Anna was the only one there to come fix it. The same Anna who stayed with me all night to change the bandages if needed and to keep me safe when I had nightmares. The Anna who did all of this when she was just a little younger than me right now. 

    "Adela, you're 16. I can't stay with you forever. Plus, I think His Highness is pretty trustworthy." She smiles, and I feel my heat of emotions cool a little.

    "Trust him to be just like all the other pig-headed, money driven princes?" I ask, forcing a little smile. 

    "No, he seems decent. I can tell. Now, tell me how you 'messed it up'?" I tell her what happens, and she looks at me like she did when I was a child. 

    "That's why I might as dig my own grave." 

    "Maybe I could go tell him that you're actually mentally insane and just forgot to take your medicine?" 

    "Anna, be serious!" I beg, thought that is a good idea.

    "Fine!" She laughs. "I'll go talk to him and help him to his room." She pats my shoulder then gets up to leave.

    "Thanks." 

    "No problem, Your Highness." She bows, then leaves me to feel sick in my room alone.