One: A Birthday Surprise
'Young Alyss', as she was often called, gently tapped on the door of Prince Nolan Heart's bedchamber. She whispered, "Nolan, it's Emalie's birthday. We simply must go surprise her." Nolan mumbled something that Young Alyss couldn't distinguish. She continued to whisper through the door, "Alright, Nol, you give me no choice. I'll go wake her by myself, but if Molly or Queen Alyss or Dodge catch me, I'm taking you down with me!" She turned to leave and the door opened behind her.
"Lyssie, you're frustratingly manipulative," Nolan grumbled. "Why do you never call Molly 'mother'?"
"I don't think it fits her," Alyss said offhandedly. They crept through Heart Palace as the sun just barely began to rise outside. When they reached Princess Emalie's door, Young Alyss glanced at Nolan. He looked mischievous and she nodded. They opened the door quietly and stepped inside. The princess was wrapped up in her blankets and curled up into a little ball with her head at the wrong side of the bed. Young Alyss grinned. She moved Emalie's pillow so that it was touching Emalie's feet, then imagined it into a pile of gwormies. Then she and Nolan loudly chorused, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMALIE!"
Emalie screamed and without a glance behind her, Alyss fled. She knew from the sound of bare feet hitting stone floors behind her that either Nolan had escaped behind her or Emalie was chasing her. She was inclined to believe the former, because Emalie hadn't yet actually followed them after they'd pranked her. When she reached Nolan's door, she turned around panting. Her best friend was approaching the door, and the distant sounds of Emalie's screams were echoing down the hall towards them.
"Lyssie… Emalie's… going to… murder… us… for… that," Nolan panted.
"Pssh, she's not the one I'm worried about. With our combined imaginations, we can take Emalie easily. On the other hand, if your mother or my mother decides to kill us, I don't think even Dodge can help us," Alyss mused.
Bibwit Harte, the tutor who had tutored 4 or 5 generations of queens (when they were still future queens) including Princess Emalie Heart, approached them in the hallway. He said, "Unless my incredibly good ears are deceiving me, you two have just pulled your annual birthday prank on Emalie."
"That we did, Bibwit. So, are you going to tell Molly or Older Alyss this year?" Young Alyss replied reasonably politely.
"Neither, as they have obviously already noticed the results of your prank," said Bibwit. Young Alyss and Nolan both whipped around to see Queen Alyss (also frequently referred to as 'Older Alyss' by members of the royal family and the queen's advisors and friends) and her bodyguard and good friend, Homburg Molly, approaching them. Homburg Molly made eye contact with her daughter, who knew immediately that it was clearly too early for her and Nolan to be in trouble.
"Nolan, Alyss, generally I do not object to the two of you pulling a prank on Emalie on her birthday every year, but when the pranks get to the point where they're happening at this hour of the morning, I have to draw the line," Older Alyss said sternly.
"Em woke you up, didn't she?" Nolan said amusedly. The queen nodded and behind her, Molly mimicked the face Emalie had made when they'd made their appearance in her room (which usually only lasted long enough to ascertain that Nolan and Young Alyss were behind the screams).
"I'm going back to bed, and I don't want to hear one more sound out of the two of you or out of Emalie until breakfast," Older Alyss said, then she turned and walked away down the hall. Young Alyss grimaced as her namesake walked away. Bibwit had left sometime during the conversation, leaving Nolan and Young Alyss with Homburg Molly.
"Alyss," Molly began sternly.
"Before you begin, I'd like to point out that it was just a prank, and we do this every year and if I were you, I'd have long since given up on lecturing Nolan and I on how immature it is, because it's completely lost on us," Young Alyss said to her mother.
"That wasn't what I was going to say. Alyss, Nolan, did you really only choose to turn her pillow into gwormies this year? Because it seems to be far beneath your usual standards," Molly replied.
"Oh, don't worry, Molly. This was just the beginning," Nolan said with a mischievous look in his green eyes.
"That's what I was afraid of," Molly murmured as she walked away from the two 17-year-olds who were talking in low voices, presumably about their plans for the rest of the day.