Compeer

Chapter I

It was just another story; just another tale. It was as generic as every other one I had heard; I could already guess the ending. I would just have to endure it and act like I was actually listening. It didn't matter what I thought, and sadly, it never would.

I looked at the high ceiling and frowned, trying my best to tune out my sister's annoying words. She was raving about another prince she had met at a ball in some faraway land. According to her, she had been a vision in pink. Time, apparently, had stopped when she entered the room, everybody in the ballroom looking at her. Supposedly, that one look was all it took for that prince to 'fall in love with her.'

It was just another story; just another tale. In fact, it was the same one she had been telling for ages. Maybe the names changed, maybe the dress was different, but somehow she always managed to attract the eye of a handsome prince. Even if I had wanted to witness it first hand, I wouldn't have been allowed to—I acted "too barbaric" to attend fancy balls and masquerades. It was a good thing I hated them, or at least, it was a good thing I always managed to convince myself of that.

"And, Amanda, you should have seen me!" Alexandra, continued, looking at me dreamily. "I was simply the belle of the ball!"

I nodded at her, pretending I was interested, and then looked away, rolling my eyes. She continued her story happily. I knew that her desire to tell me her story was not only in aim to make me jealous, but to just hear her own voice. I looked out the window at my kingdom, bobbing my head every so often to her stupid little tale. Her words were just as sickeningly-sweet as her perfume, and it seemed that in both cases she never knew when enough was enough. She kept repeating herself over and over again, but that was expected when she kept telling the same story. It was hard to concentrate with the headache that was slowly developing, and the fact that Alexandra smelled as if she had bathed herself in sugar water and rolled around in a field of overly-pungent flowers was not helping the steady pounding.

"I suppose that it is rather ominous to have so many suitors," she sighed. Ominous? I cocked an eyebrow at her but said nothing. Did she mean odious? Unless, somehow, having so many suitors could have been very foreboding. It was a good thing that she was pretty. After all, that was all that mattered. At least it was in Lumaria.

Lumaria was a very superficial kingdom. I knew that very well, especially since I was ones of its princesses. My father and mother were the king and queen, granting Alexandra the title that she obviously held in high esteem. She loved the pretty gowns, adored the expensive jewelry, and basked in the incessant attention. She was the shining image of a princess, from the very top of that beautifully empty head of hers to the tips of those well-manicured toes.

But I was different.

I hated it all. I despised wearing dresses, dreaded putting on jewels, and disguised myself from the attention of the subjects of the kingdom as much as possible. Unfortunately, I was forced to look like a princess, but at least I did not have to endure the torture of acting like one to impress a crowd.

I suppose that sometimes I wished that my kingdom adored me. When I was younger I tried to make my parents like me. They never hugged me, never kissed me; never showed any kind of affection towards me. I was the child that they had not wanted; the one they would never love. I knew that I wasn't a mistake; I was simply just not what they expected. After years of trying to win the favor of my parents, all of my efforts proved fruitless. And so, I gave up, bent on trying to win over the people of my kingdom. But they, too, turned out to be bumbling idiots, concerned only with money and galas thrown by members of high nobility. Since I was not interested in that, they never so much as looked in my direction.