Becoming Queen: A War of Two Kingdoms

Appearance Before the King

    Servants bowed their heads as the crown prince moved through the castle. He couldn't seem to find his dear sister anywhere. He was growing agitated with her avoiding him. She knew she was in the wrong this time, but did she care, not a single bit. He went and checked her rooms, only to find she wasn't there either. Finally, he asked one of her hand maids where the princess was.

    "She went to see His Majesty, Your Highness. She said something about Rosalina running away and needing to be put in a cell once brought back." The servant paused before speaking again, "One more thing, Your Highness, I could get beaten for this, but I don't think it right... The princess... she had one of her other maids hide the dog and threw a tantrum until Rosalina went to go look for it."

    Marcellus' anger flared. Just how far was his sister going to go to torment this poor girl. She was a citizen of this kingdom, and it was his duty to protect them. While yes, he also had other motives for this girl, his at least weren't going to harm her in any way. "Thank you," was the curt reply he gave to the hand maid before turning on his heel and striding towards the throne room.

    He could already hear the high pitched whining voice of his younger sister as he approached the door. Deciding to make a grand entrance, he slapped his hands on the doors and pushed them open causing them to slam as they swung open.

    "What is the meaning of this?" King Lysander angrily questioned his son.

    "Did you find the runaway servant girl?" Penelope grinned as if she had won the war. Thinking that if she got to their father first, he would believe her over Marcellus.

    Marcellus bowed to his father respectfully. "Please forgive my intrusion, father, but I believe you have been misinformed about a particular situation." He gave a look to his sister whose color suddenly drained from her face.

    "What do you mean I have been misinformed?" Now the king was curious. He watched the subtle interactions between his two youngest. They had always been at odds with each other, and it was usually their older brother Dorian who kept the peace between them, but he was gone now.

    "The girl didn't runaway, while yes, it is true she left the castle walls, she never intended to leave. She was merely trying to find Penelope's dog, whom she was told had escaped the grounds."

    The king rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He could clearly see that Penelope had her pet. She never let the dog leave her side except when it was being bathed. "Penelope, what happened by your account?" It seemed like the king was going to take her side, but Marc wasn't about to give up that easily.

    "Well, father, I couldn't find my dog anywhere," she started to say, flipping her blonde curly hair over her shoulder. "I thought I saw him run out of the gate, so I started yelling at my maids to go after him. All of them had returned after he was found, except for her." It was a bald faced lie.

    "I see, and Marcellus, do you have any reason to not believe what your sister is claiming?" Penelope was giving a triumphant smile as her father then questioned Marcellus.

    "I do actually. I have a witness that this was all planned by Penelope to get Rosalina thrown in a cell. Honestly, sister, if you don't want her as your hand maid anymore, you could have just ordered her to the kitchen or laundry." He turned to his father once more, "Furthermore, because of Penelope's actions, Rosalina as sustained an ankle injury and won't be able to perform her duties as a hand maid to Penelope. I belie..."

    Marcellus was unable to finish his sentence before his father stood up and yelled, "She is hurt?!" Slightly taken aback by his father's strange reaction, he simply nodded his head in confirmation. "Penelope, how dare you! I told you she was not to be harmed in any way when I made her your hand maid." This was shocking, the king never yelled at Penelope before, in fact he was always doting on her and letting her get away with anything.

    Penelope's eyes began to fill with tears and her thin bottom lip began to quiver. "Father... I didn't think she was going to get hurt."

    "So you admit to setting her up like this?" Lysander took a deep breath to calm himself down. "My dear Penelope, this is an egregious situation. She is a very important prisoner we have here, though she cannot know that she is important. I cannot stand for this. She will no longer be a hand maid to you, and as your punishment, you will not be getting a replacement hand maid for two months." Most would not see that as a harsh punishment, and it really wasn't. However...

    Penelope screeched in anger. "NO! I need 5 hand maids to help me get ready everyday and to help with Snowflake! How am I supposed to get my beauty sleep and get ready for the ball next month without 5 hand maids!?" She started stomping her feet, the heels she was wearing made a clicking sound on the marble floor. One of the heels snapped and she lost her balance falling over.

    Marcellus had to stifle a laugh at the hilarious sight of his sister's outburst. Balling his fist and bringing it up to his mouth to hide his grin, he coughed only to hide his laughter. The king was not amused. "I have been quite lenient on you it seems. This is not the way a princess of Mairian should behave." He waved for one of the servants to assist her in getting up. "Now, you will go back to your room and reflect on this day. I hope you learn your lesson and won't treat your new hand maid that comes to you in two months as badly as you have Rosalina."

    Penelope was blatantly pouting, but gave a curtsy and said nothing more as she hobbled her way out in her broken shoe. Marcellus took this time to turn back to his father. He was curious about Rosalina now. "Father, you said Rosalina was an important prisoner. I thought she was just a servant here that came to work in the castle when she was an orphaned child." It's true some of the children that came to work in the castle were orphans, or they were the children of other servants there. "What makes her an important prisoner?"

    King Lysander looked at his son momentarily. "If you don't remember how she came to be here, then just leave it. I will tell you everything later, once it is time for you to take the throne."

    Just as he was about to dismiss his son, Marcellus spoke up again. "One more question, Father." The king signaled for him to continue on. "What work will Rosalina be doing once she is able to walk again?"

    Lysander looked at Marcellus, curiosity brewing in his eyes. "Why do you ask, son?"

    "I was curious if she could become one of the maids in charge of cleaning my rooms. The one I currently have is struggling to keep up with it most days." It was not a whole truth, but he was also a lot more convincing than Penelope was. He wanted her to be closer to him so that he could make his attempts to seduce her.

    "Very well. I will grant it. Lenora, make sure you have her moved closer to Prince Marcellus' rooms once she is able to be." Marcellus and Penelope lived on opposite ends of the castle because of their dislike for one another. Lenora, an elderly lady and the head servant of the castle, gave a curtsy and nodded her head. Her face was unreadable, but inside she didn't like this idea. "If that is all, Marcellus, you may go now." He waved his hand to dismiss him.

    "Yes, father. Thank you." Bowing deeply, he smiled to himself. None of the other female servants had been able to resist him, she would be just as easy to persuade he wagered. He walked out of the throne room, feeling a bit cocky and sure of himself. Finally, the most beautiful girl in the castle would be his. Not even the noble ladies held a candle to her beauty.