First of all, thank you for 60 reads on the whole story. :)
Advanced Happy New Year!!! :)
Enjoy!
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I woke up the next day to sunshine. Well, as much as sunshine goes in a land of ice.
I dressed in a crimson red dress that came just to my knees and had three-fourth sleeves. I would've worn jeans, except that I had princess etiquette lessons today. Then I put on black peep-toe pumps and put my hair in a half-updo.
I went downstairs to the dining room and saw breakfast ready.
Marie-Hale was sitting on the head of the table, not touching her plate yet. She was waiting for me. When she saw me, she gestured to the chair beside her. I sat down.
"Good morning," I said politely.
"Mm," was Marie-Hale's flat response, nodding her head briefly.
The servants served bread, butter, cheese, bacon, hotdogs, eggs, some vegetables, juice, and milk. I am so going to get fat eating here.
"Now, first rule of being a princess," Marie-Hale started immediately. "You are aware of your table manners, right?"
"Of course." I replied.
"Good. As a princess, you must follow them a hundred times more strictly."
I nodded. Throughout breakfast, I was the epitome of princess etiquette in the dining room.
As the servants carried away our plates, Marie-Hale and I walked towards the living room.
On the way, I asked her, being very cautious, "Um, Queen Marie-Hale, where's your..." I hesitated.
"Husband?" Marie-Hale raised an eyebrow. "The king? Don't be shy, Isabelle. Another rule of being a princess is that you should not be shy. A princess is confident. She knows that she is a princess. As for the king, you will meet him soon. He is just away on...business in another kingdom."
She said "business" hesitantly. Hmm. She continued as she sat down on one of the chairs in the living room.
"Here in Callia, we have a different way of ruling, unlike those you read in fairytales. Here, as proclaimed by Queen Cassandra..."
When she said "Queen Cassandra", the servants who hovered around us bowed their heads, as if for respect.
"...women rule. Well, in fairytales, the one who rules with more power is the king, am I right?" She asked. I nodded.
"Well, here, the queen is in supreme. Not the king. So you see, women in Callia are more powerful than their husbands. However, respect must be given to all," She finished.
"Got it," I said.
"Any more questions?"
"Yes," I said. "What is Callia's national language?"
Marie-Hale thought for a moment. "Well, most Callians commonly speak English, that is our national language," she added. "But Latin is also commonly spoken."
"So I have to learn Latin?" I asked.
"Not necessarily. Only if you desire to."
"Got it."
"Now, I must teach you how to act in front of the townspeople. You should not act too arrogant, nor too shy. So sit down here," Marie-Hale patted another chair beside her.
"Now pretend we are in the carriage, and the townspeople are all around. Wave like this," she turned her hand side to side. I copied her.
"Good. Now smile. Not too big, not too small."
I smiled.
"Good!" She encouraged me to be enthusiastic and pleasant at all times, or else the people will think of me as a grouch.
"As a princess, you have to be polite, polite, polite in front of other kingdoms' kings and queens. Curtsy or bow if you have to."
I curtsied perfectly.
"Very good!" Marie-Hale complimented me. "Very graceful."
"Well, I took ballet for three years back in..." I trailed off.
"Ah," she nodded in understanding. "That's good, this way you can be easily taught the last lesson."
"Which is?"
Her lips turned up secretively. "That's a secret." I rolled my eyes in mockery.
"Now," she clapped her hands. "The proper way to walk, talk, and act." She picked up three thick hardbound books.
"Walk with these three books on your head. Keep your chin up, stomach in, back straight, look straight ahead. Heel toe twenty steps. If a book drops, go back and add ten. Walk to the beat of the music."
A servant brought in a high-tech stereo that I've never seen before. Definitely some future thing. Marie-Hale gave the books to me and I balanced them on my head while she set up the music. Why am I even doing this? I just told her I'm a ballet dancer. Now not to sound arrogant, but dancers have the best posture. But I didn't complain as the music started, a slow, but not too slow, piano piece sounded.
I stayed still a few seconds, getting myself used to the beat, and started walking. Chin up, back straight, looking straight ahead, and stomach in.
I walked the twenty steps with no mistake. Marie-Hale stopped the music and I took the books off.
"Great job," she walked over to me. "I should've guessed. You are a dancer, after all."
I grinned. She taught me more lessons, how to talk: softly, politely, but confidently.
The hardest and longest part of etiquette lessons is the acting. It encompasses all the physical lessons and having to execute them with pure royal confidence. I had a hard time thinking that I was a princess, that I deserved this position. It took two hours, not even perfecting it yet when the servants called us to lunch.
After lunch, Marie-Hale and I practiced the acting once more, and I finally perfected it an hour later. Then, we did a run-through everything I learned that day, ending at three o' clock, and Marie-Hale said,
"Let's take a break. You're free to tour the whole castle. Towers, library, game room, dance room, everything. But be back in three hours for dinner, then we'll practice your waltzing."
Waltzing?
Marie-Hale warned me that only one tower is important to see. And that's the right hand front tower. She pointed towards the staircase leading to it.
I asked her, "What about the other towers?"
"Oh, they are just storage rooms for construction materials and other things," She waved her hand dismissively.
*
I walked to a staircase leading to a tower. The tower was just a gigantic, circular room with a piano, three violins, three guitars, a saxophone, a trumpet, and a French horn.
A music room. Great! I can practice my piano skills.
I haven't played in, well, a hundred years now. I hope I can still play.
I stretched my fingers, sat down on the stool, and started playing my favorite song.
"I said remember this moment
In the back of my mind
The time we stood with our shaking hands
The crowds in stands went wild
"We were the kings and the queens
And they read off our names
The night you danced like you knew our lives would never be the same
You held your head like a hero
On a history book page
It was the end of a decade
But the start of an age
"Long live the walls we crashed through
All the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
I was screaming, "long live all the magic we made"
And bring on all the pretenders, one day, we will be remembered..."
I felt so exhilarated after I finished the song.
I walked out of the music room and down into the dance room. I saw a stereo, mirrors along one wall, and some leotards. All this, just for one young girl. I mean, doesn't Marie-Hale feel lonely in this castle? I do. But I have a friend here. Alex. But still.
I grabbed a leotard my size, and changed into it. I turned the music on, and I just danced.
I was in there for about an hour. Then I showered in the adjoining bathroom and changed back into my clothes.
Then I headed to the library. I can just say, wow. It was a room with endless shelves of books. The entrance said, "Just take a book and read, or you can bring it to your room and just return it later."
At the entrance, I could see some markers on some shelves. They were sorters. One said, "Romance". Another said, "Humor", another "Historical", and many more genres.
I walked over to the one marked "Romance".
I saw a tattered copy of "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks. I grabbed it and read off from where I ended the night before I was put in the block of ice. I finished the book an hour later.
I went to the game room and played in there for another hour, and when I finished playing the sixth round of PacMan, I headed over to the dining room. Marie-Hale was waiting for me.
"How'd you like it?" She asked as we ate.
"The castle's amazing. Everything I could ever dream of." I gushed.
"I'm glad."
**
An hour of rest later, we went into the dance room and changed into leotards. Marie-Hale, surprisingly, had the body of an athlete. Must be from dancing.
"Now I will call on our partners for the dance lesson."
She pressed the button on the intercom near the door which broadcasts to the whole castle.
"May I call on Randy Dunn and Carter Azlord to the dance room. I repeat, Randy Dunn and Carter Azlord, to the dance room."
A few minutes later, a tall man of about thirty , with brown hair and the strong body of a dancer walked in.
"Randy. Where's Carter?"
Randy replied, "Oh, he's coming up."
The door opened.
And my heart skipped a beat.