Royale (Book #1 Royale Series) {Under Revision}

Chapter 25: Cinderella-The Queen's Edition

The Queen's POV

Twenty-two years ago

"Sara! Hurry up! If you don't get there on time, King Jonathan's guards are not going to let you in." My cousin Anna advised me as I took my hair out of its usual braid and attempted to make it look presentable for the Prince's Ball.

"Okay, just a second." I ran my fingers through the curls and attempted to make my frizzy due look like I had styled it this way. When I finished, I examined myself in my small mirror.

I held myself back from touching the glass to make sure it was me. I had never worn makeup before; I didn't even know how to put it on. Anna had to show me. She was not rich, by any means, but her family's situation was a lot better than ours. She put in tons of extra hours at her family's small restaurant just to help me buy a dress for the ball I was going to sneak out to. The dress was soft, not like the torn fabrics that I was used to. It was white, long and flowy. It also did not have sleeves making me feel a bit self conscious as I have never shown this much of my skin before.

My mother had no idea I was planning this. For the night, she would be out helping some other members of our church clean for extra money. The thought made me feel so guilty that it burned. She was out, doing what she could to earn just a little extra money to ensure we would not starve to death while I was going to some ball to try and win a guy I didn't know's heart. The only thing that made it bearable was knowing that I was doing this for the both of us. If Prince David were to take my hand in marriage, our lives would be so much better. We would be royal. And we would never be hungry again.

The only problem with my brilliant plan was that girls aged sixteen to eighteen, all throughout the country, would be coming to this ball with the exact same goal in mind. But for the sake of my mother, I needed to want it more.

"Alright Sara, enough looking, you have to go! Hurry!" Anna insisted. "And make sure you are back before your mother gets home."

I nodded. "And you'll cover for me if I am a little late, right?"

"For as long as I can, which won't be very long when your mother starts asking for you and I don't know what to tell her so do not be late!" Anna pressed. "Now go, Ryan is waiting for you." She said referring to her boyfriend who was going to escort me to the ball in his station wagon. I was lucky that the palace resided right in the next province. Girls from other provinces would need to get on a plane and fly all the way to palace just for the chance that they may get picked. I would only need to travel by car which would take about two hours.

I wasted no time running out of my house and into Ryan's car. It was smelly, but I didn't complain. I've never ridden in a car before. My mother barely made enough money to feed the both of us let alone buy some silly car. These were the things that I needed to keep in mind as I tried to win Prince David's heart tonight. They were my motivation. My mother and I struggled everyday of our lives. She deserved better and so did I.

The night would be long, but there were going to be hundreds, maybe thousands of girls vying for Prince David's hand in marriage tonight. It would take a miracle for him to notice me, but I had to try. The other girls, most of them just wanted the title of being the future Queen, but I was different. I needed this.

"You ready for this?" Ryan asked me as he sped down the street.

"I hope so. I can't afford not to be."

~*~

My patience wore thin as I stood at the back of the line of girls waiting to be granted entrance into the palace. We walked in through the back of the palace through an entrance that would lead right into the ballroom. Currently, there was a long line of girls who had to give their information to the guard before they could go in so he could make sure we were on the list. We were all sent forms and in order to be able to attend, the form had to be submitted within two weeks of the Ball.