Playing Princess

Playing Princess 1.8

“Izzy usually chooses the dress but I figured I should help you get familiar with her sense of style. The press notice a lot of things about her so you want to be absolutely perfect when you go out in public.”

“No pressure,” I joked, pulling a random top and held it to my chest, wiggling my eyebrows. “How do I look?”

“Very like Izzy only she tends to match her clothes and then ask me for my opinion,” Allegra replied with a grin.

She took the top back and placed it back on the rack while I browsed around nonchalantly, feeling very comfy in fluffy slippers, shorts and a tank top, roaming through my closet. “So tell me again, why am I looking for an outfit to wear? I was half-asleep.”

“You were half-asleep before I even told you last night what you were doing today!” Allegra shook her head, red curls bouncing playfully. “You’re going out for a meeting with the Congress in about an hour and a half, then make an appearance at the luncheon with the political leaders of the world and finally you’ll spend all afternoon riding a horse.”

I froze in my tracks, my fingers locked around one of the coat hangers that I was about to pull off the rack. “No . . . I would have known if I was going to be that busy today instead of finding out now! Allegra, I can’t ride a horse and I can’t meet the Congress! What if I screw something up and they’ll know that it’s not me?”

“There are a couple very close people to the King in the Congress who will help you through the meeting. They know the secret – only a few couple so you’ll be fine.”

“How would you know? Have you been into one of these meetings?” I demanded angrily and tapped my slippers impatiently.

“No but Andrew has and he says he’s never had to say anything unless he was asked something which was very rarely,” she shot back, raising an eyebrow then handed to me an ugly cream pencil skirt, a white blouse and a jacket to match. “You’ll wear that to the meeting and the luncheon. Don’t get any messes on it. We’ll change your choice of clothes when you come back this afternoon.”

“I’ll be out all afternoon?” I squeaked in terror, slapping my hands on my cheeks. “Allegra, I’ve really chewed off much more than I can possibly bite!”

“You have to do this!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air then ran her fingers through her bright curls, blue eyes gleaming in determination. “We have people who know about the secret to help you all the way through – which brings me to trustworthy-person-you-will-meet number two: Joey Lennox. He’s the stable boy and he’ll be your horse riding coach this afternoon.”

“Oh my – no. I refuse! I absolutely refuse.”

Beside my father, I sat straight, my hands folded in my lap and my butt feeling uncomfortably numb on the wooden chair I’d been sitting on for the past half an hour or so. The contacts had been in for too long and they were starting to get just as uncomfortable as my sitting position. I made a mental note to change them later. Men and women ranging from their mid-thirties to their late sixties were arguing loudly while the occasional slap of hands against tables resounded through the room.

“How much longer will this go on for?” I whispered discreetly, angling my chin towards my father who saw by my right, heatedly engaged in a conversation with the Duke sitting beside him.

“Not much longer,” he replied absently then quickly returned to his discussion, a frown on his face.

I sighed impatiently, suppressing the urge to tap my polished fingernails against the armrests of the chair. It was irritating to say the least. I wasn’t asked to talk at all, there had been nothing that I could do except sit there and try not to stare off into space while the members of the Congress discussed and argued over something to do with Andrew and Isabel. I wasn’t sure what and I was sure as hell not intending to pay attention – anything to do with this half of the royal family was definitely not my thing.