Effie Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Ella, Char, Kyrria, Ayortha, and all that belongs to Gail Carson Levine. Everything else, i just kinda made up.

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"Announcing the Royal Family: King Charmont, Queen and Court Linguist Ella, Princess Eleanor and Princess Fayette."

It's Effie, the young princess thought to herself as she walked into the dining room accompanied by her parents and older sister. Effie, not Fayette. If mother gets to be called Ella, I want to be called Effie.

Fayette. Little fairy. Yuck.

She was turning 15 soon; couldn't they at least just call her Faye?

She walked daintily and nodded politely as the family made their way to the head of the table, but she knew she would rather come running in with her stockings and slide. The marble floor was just made for sliding.

As they sat through the boring state dinner, her sister kept nudging her.

"Sit straight!" she would whisper, or "Doesn't the Duke of Bera look so handsome in blue?"

Effie couldn't care less, not to mention her ribs were black and blue from all the nudging. She desperately wished she was sitting with Mother. Mother always made her laugh.

Effie managed to make it through the dinner without falling asleep and gladly escaped to her room when she was free. Effie loved her room. It was actually a suite, with an entrance room, an entertaining room, a dressing room, and the actual bedroom. The first two were very stiff and formal, with crystal vases and fancy sofas.

Her bedroom was her own, though. Her four-poster bed was white with elfin designs hand-painted in green and on the floor was a fairy rug that had lain in the house her mother had grown up in. Double doors were always thrown wide open to let air in off the balcony.

Effie loved her bedroom because it was a place she could always be alone. No one went there save her parents and her maid, Charlotte. Even when Mandy made her take Tonic (vile stuff) it was in the kitchen, not her room.

Charlotte helped Effie out of her heavy formal gown and into a nightgown, and then Effie sat down at her desk to record the day's events in her diary.

"Being a princess is a great and exciting responsibility." Her mother had said when she had given her the diary. "Recording your thoughts and feelings is helpful."

So far, it hadn't helped at all, except to give her something to do before she went to bed. It made the end of the day feel more official. She closed the diary and hid it in the secret drawer under her desk and headed to bed, yawning.

Sometimes, being a princess just wasn't that exciting.

The next morning at breakfast, Charlotte informed Effie that she had received a letter, and it was waiting for her in her room. Charlotte didn't say who it was from, but her smile told Effie that it was good.

Effie couldn't wait to open the letter, but from breakfast she and her sister went straight to morning lessons. Effie and Eleanor each had personal tutors for all the different languages they were learning, along with arithmetic, history, and politics. In the afternoons, they shared a tutor for music, dancing, and etiquette lessons. They both had to learn much before growing up, but Eleanor's classes were often much longer then Effie's. Eleanor was 17, and being the oldest, was next in line for the Kyrrian throne. Everyone thought it necessary that she learn as much as possible to make a good queen.

Effie considered herself lucky that she was the second born child. While Eleanor sat through extra lessons, Effie would ride her horse, Sandstorm, through the woods, or force one of the page boys to help her improve her sword-fighting skills (something her parents didn't need to find out about.)

By the time she finished her last lesson, she was dying to read the letter. She ran out of the classroom, heading for her room, and crashed right into a maid carrying a tray of food.

"Effie!" Mandy cried. She was standing behind the maid. "That was rude! Apologize!"

"Sorry." Effie said, smiling sheepishly.

"Quite all right, your highness." the maid said, curtsying.

Effie curtsied back, and continued running to her room.

"Just like her mother." Mandy muttered under her breath, leaning down to help the maid clean up.

When Effie reached her room, she was quite out of breath. She had run almost halfway across the castle!

She picked the letter up off the tray on her desk, and threw herself very unlady-like onto her bed. She squealed when she realized the letter was from Aidan, the prince of Ayortha.

Dear Effie,

I'm so glad you came to our ball last month. I was going to strangle Alice before you arrived. All that girl ever does is gossip. That is, when she's not fluttering her eyes or flipping her hair. Doesn't she know she looks like an idiot when she does that? Guess not. Balls are so boring. Leaving the ball early and sneaking into the kitchens was a great idea. Too bad we were caught.

Anyways, about that book you were looking for, I found it. It's written entirely in gnomish and bound in hand woven silk. Your mother will love it!

Annie says hello and wants you to come over again soon to play dolls. I also can't wait to see you again, but if you want to play dolls with me, I swear I'll banish you. Besides, why play with dolls when you have me, the handsomest doll there is?

Yours truly,

Aidan.

Effie giggled. Aidan was her bestest friend in the entire world. They had met when Aidan was 3 and Effie was just a newborn. He said that even then, he knew they would cause mischief and mayhem, and Effie believed him. Aidan was not like the other gentlemen Effie knew. She and Aidan still acted like children, and loved to sneak around and play pranks on each other.

Actually, she and Aidan went beyond being best friends. They were betrothed, and would some day grow up and get married. Effie loved the fact that she was going to marry Aidan. He was her best friend, and she knew they would spend their whole lives having fun together.

She quickly took out a sheet of stationary and began a reply.