Chapter One

September 12

"Catherine Ronell's Acadamy for Princesses". In other words C.R.A.P which true to it's name it crap! I hate this stupid finishing school, with it's ettiquette, it's propriety, it's bossy know it all headmasters.

"Aila keep your head up"

"Aila keep your chin down"

"Aila why don't you get this right?"

Maybe because Aila's chin is connected to her head, when one goes up the other must too! These people are such idiots. Anyways, soon i'll be back to my Kingdom of Elocin where someday i'll rule as queen! At the end of each school year, C.R.A.P. holds a ball where many suiters will show up, and maybe, if one decides to court you, you are free to leave forever!! If you aren't chosen, then of course, you come back next year. I'm 16, this is my first year here, and i will not blow it, especially since Prince Charming will be one of the suitors this year!! How romantic...but here i cam blabbering away again.

The Kingdom of Elocin is a little poorer than the other kingdoms that princesses here go to. Ella, Cinderella's daughter is from Brabon, which is about 10 times the size of Elocin. In fact, it is the biggest kingdom in the world. I hate how the headmaster will let her have whatever little ella wishes! And here i have to work to stay at this school my country is so poor. But whatever, tomorrow is the first real day of classes, today all we did was orientation where the headmaster will place you in groups depending on skill level in deportment, ettiquette, and other usless crap. Guess who was placed in the highest group, and guess who was placed in the lowest of the five groups. Need i say that the size of your kingdom, or how much money you have can make all the difference??

I'm too disgusted with this school to write tonight.

Ailenova of Elocin

The next day, Aila was woken at the crack of dawn, before any of the other students were awake, to be intructed on what her job was to be.

"Princess? Princess Aila?" she heard a voice whisper as to not awaken any of the other girls in her dorm. "The headmistriss wants to speak with you."

"Who is this..." was the grumbled reply.

"I'm Lydia, I'm to be your maid miss, all the lady's get one, but please hurry, i was supposed to wake you just before dawn, but I always seem to be foregetting something these days..."

Great, so she was stuck with the forgetful maid, who probably was just found in some street corner and assigned to her because they didn't want to waste a real maid on little old Aila, of the small and poor country.

"Hurry miss!"

ugh, was all Aila was thinking

Head Mistress Ronell's quarters were by far finer than any of the girls', besides maybe Ella's who got her own set of rooms instead of sleeping with the rest of the girls in the dorm. Satin sheets graced the bed. Velvet window curtains of a stunning emerald green brought warmth into the room with the toasty brown coloring on four of the walls. The one thing that spoiled the room, was the large picture of herself, Catherine Ronell, sitting on the wall opposite when you just walked in, so the first thing Aila saw as she walked into the room, was a giant portraite, of the headmistress's head.

You can't get any weirder than that, Aila realized

"Ah, Aila," a formidable voice belonging to the Headmistress herself declared, "you're late. But never mind that now, you are to help in the kitchens as a cook's helper since our last one seems to have run off with a stable hand. Every morning, you shall wake at dawn, get dressed and ready, and report to the head chef. After breakfast is served, you may join the other students for your classes. There will be no need for you to help consistantly with lunch or dinner, unless we desperately need your help. I trust you don't object to these tasks?"

Help in the kitchens!! What was she thinking, Aila of Elocin to work with the servants! When they said jobs Aila thought she'd be tutoring some of the younger children or something of that sort! Not working, as in working like servants! Still, what could she do, she needed this school to help her find a husband to rule with her, so she can finally step up as queen, what she'd been dreaming to do since she was a little girl. The ways she could help her country as queen! She'd studied with her father's old tutor every since he died 7 years ago. She keow things about economics, and geography, literature, languages, that her step-mother could only dream about! Her mother died in child-birth having her. When her father re-married, he stated that Matilda would act as regent until she had someone to rule with her. Those blasted documents he wrote stated it all.

After a moment's hesitation, Aila replied, "no, no problem at all"