"Can't catch me!" A young Princess Primrose ran across the royal front lawn. I grinned. This was the life. Watching Prim play with her nanny, while I studied my books, reading for my upcoming Herbalism level test. Sitting outside, soaking up sun, letting my cells rejuvenate, I was in heaven.
"Why don't you try, Grace?" A voice came up behind me. I whipped around, fully prepared to smack whoever it was in the face.
"Ruben! What is wrong with you? I could have killed you!" Fall Faeries, who require the most sunshine, would die without enough. And since our faces took in most of that light, if any of that tissue was damaged...
"Oh, you wouldn't, Princess. Hey, I've got a proposition for you."
"What?" Ruben was ever the joker. He was my friend, but he was also my enemy. We had a history of an on-again, off-again friendship, but it was one of the strongest friendship in the capital city, Cartia.
"I have a couple of tickets to the Fall Festival. I don't have anyone to come with me. Gloria had a prior commitment." He said it offhandedly, but I knew what he was saying. The Fall Festival was a big deal for Fall Faeries. It was a festival celebrating the rich Fall heritage we all shared. It was also a chance to show off your chosen. Going alone wasn't a very big deal, but going with a partner? The entire realm would know if I, esteemed scholar and mentor to the Princess, went anywhere with anyone.
"Are you kidding? Ruben, that's-"
"Amazing?" He cut me off. "I know. Can't wait to see you in a formal dress!" He stalked off, a huge grin on his face.
"RUBEN!" I yelled. "I hate you!" From that day on, everyone assumed we had an adversarial relationship, but... it wasn't. We were friends, regardless, but eventually, it bloomed into... something more.
The day of the Festival had arrived. I had asked Serina for advice, as she was the closest I had had to a mother. She had told me to accompany him, just this once. She had promptly run to the royal seamstress to order me a custom dress to match my bloom.
"Hold still, Miss. I can't sew this seam if you keep moving!" The seamstress, Katya, grimaced. "Forgive me, Majesty, but she is intolerable!"
"I am sorry, Katya. Thank you for creating such an amazing dress on such short notice. However, I am capable of finishing a garment on my own. I shall get her into it." Serina stared as Katya tried to reason with her, telling her that such a task was not fit for a queen. I smiled when I realized that the seamstress didn't know who exactly she was up against. Serina hurried me back to her apartments, almost as excited as a young girl before her first ball. Or a mother before her daughter's debut. I didn't remember it at the time, but this was to be my first ball as both as a debutante and as the Princess's mentor. And seeing as how Serina was like a mother to me...
"Alright, Grace. Get in the pool." She ushered me into her bathroom, and over to the bathing pool. I was stunned. The queen was letting me use her bathroom?
"Y...your Majesty?"
"Please, Grace. Call me Serina, as I've asked. Tonight is a big night for you, my girl. We must make the most of it."
"Y-Yes, your- I, uh. Yes, Serina."
"Good. Now, come along. Should I call Ophelia and Juliet?" The two girls she had mentioned were both Summers, sent by their parents to live and work at the palace. Their parents were both Falls, but they were... born in Summer. They were notorious among the palace staff for being understandably overzealous with their charges. If they got wind that I was going to a ball... it wouldn't end well.
