Royals [h.s] (WATTYS 2016)

Chapter 2: I have to get married?

My hair is being done especially carefully today since I have an interview with The Islale Paper.

A front cover story about rising controversies about Dominique, my cousin. Duchess Dominique of Perlway. The capital of Islale.

Aside from Dominique being the next in line to the throne, she is also the most bratty and spoiled human being I have ever came across. If only Gabriel was older, Gabriel could be the next in line.

When my parents died, my uncle Harford, Dominique's father, reigned as King until I turned eighteen. He was displeased that he had been dethroned so soon, but laws are laws, kings are kings, and dukes are dukes.

I'm clad in a black, crisp pantsuit the one you see at work. But it's strapless and I covered it up with a faux leopard print jacket. It's like sexy office girl chic with style. More like sexy business queen who tries to act her age somehow.

"Tell us, it's been two years since your return from Germany. How was your experience at boarding school?" The very serious reporter with a bald head if not for the two brown islands in either side of his head asks.

~•~

Only me, my clothes, and a family picture came with me on the private plane to Germany.

Germany was beautiful. The architecture and the environment and the friendly smiles and waves. Boarding school wasn't like that at all.

The city was just a stop away from Krügert, a secluded mountain near the alps. No neighboring villages. Just the grey-colored building surrounded by an invisible electrical fence.

I was the new girl in grade eight in a class of 30. We all had maroon skirts that reached mid-thigh and grey neckties. The guys wore grey pants and maroon vests.

It was a cultural shock and a paradigm shift all at once. Everyone there stood up straighter, spoke with more conviction, stared more intimidatingly than I ever could.

The girls there looked mean and were in fact mean. The popular kids were the dukes or the duchesses or princesses of tiny islands. No one knew that I was the next-in-line to be a queen apart from the principal and only the principal. I lied that I was merely a socialite from Islale.

The nicest girls were outcasts for being fat or too short. I blended in with them for a while even though I was neither fat or short. But even they wouldn't talk to me.

I had a roommate, Dianne Von Hansenburglen. Duchess of Swichza, a neighbor of Islale. She was really, really popular. She may have even been the queen bee. Dozens of girls would pile in our room and heed her every command. She looked like queen-material if she wasn't just a duchess. She never looked at me.

"Is that a picture of Queen Svetlana and King George?" She asked nosily, speaking to me for the first time as I was about to hide the picture. I hadn't noticed that she had come out of the bath already. I just missed my family.

Sure, my siblings sent letters, but only during special occasions like my birthday and Christmas. Cellphones weren't allowed in the campus at all.

"No?" I lied, making it out to be more of a question. She was unconvinced and snatched the picture from me and gasped.

"They are! And there's princess Claudia, Prince George and-" she looked again, closer this time and her eyes went big.

"Sienna! Princess Sienna? Oh my god, why didn't you tell me?" She beamed, hopping onto my bed like we were friends this whole time.

But when word got out, everyone hopped onto me like they were my friends the whole time. Teachers began upping my grade, kids from older grades waved to me, Dianne was dying to do anything I asked, and people were finally starting to notice me.

I knew it was wrong to use my position as my ticket in society, but if I can't have my family, I need at least friends, and that was the only clear path I saw at that time.

Soon I became the queen bee. I was asked out on dates, girls would hop onto my bed, and I would get assigned to be the leader in group work.

In ninth grade, I officially had my first boyfriend. It ended up in flames before I left for Islale.

That's when I began thickening my skin, becoming the queen I am today.

~•~

"Duchess Dominique, insights?" The reporter, who may be gay, tilted his head at me. I let out a small laugh, just as I am supposed to do when I should make people worry less about things.

"The Duchess, my cousin, is very dear to my heart. Honestly, I do not understand why people are putting us up against each other! She may be next in line, and that's great! Although she's not one of my siblings, I'm still lucky to have the crown passed onto someone like Dominique." I smile. The only part that is true in that statement is the part where I want it to be one of my siblings

"Is the queen seeing anyone in particular at the moment?" The reporter hints a sheepish expression. Buy 1 personal question take 1 sheepish expression.

"No. I am not and I am currently not looking for one, so please stop looking for me on Tinder, which I do not have!" I joke, making the reporter and the camera man laugh a bit.

"You're twenty am I correct you highness?" He asks me and I nod.

"What about that ancient Islalean law, if I'm correct, that states that the high crown must wed before they're twenty two?" He gives me a quizzical look.

Oh my god. He's correct. I've forgotten everything about that law from being buried into other duties.

I look behind the camera man and see my advisor saying to keep my personal life private by showing me a cross with her arms.

"I think I would like to keep the details of my personal life until I'm ready to publicize it." I smile. The reporter nods understandingly and moves on to new laws.

I'm supposed to be married soon. The time is ticking, what do I do?

*~*

Long may she reign

(Sienna is 20, and she's supposed to be married by the time she's 22. Excuse any mathematical errors I make in the rest of the story :))